insight into family businesses 19
Haskins: a ’grow your own’ success story
Warren Haskins may have his surname displayed throughout his four southcoast garden centres, but he is quick to credit the success of his business to the people that work for Haskins. Michaela Johns, director of audit for RSM Tenon, sponsor of this Insight feature, and John Burbedge of The Business Magazine spoke with him
“We have a tremendous team and an atmosphere of enthusiasm and co-operation, which makes everything tick, but it doesn’t have to be a family business to have a good working culture. The most important thing we do is employ the right people. It’s our people who make the decisions, serve the customers and run the business,“ says Warren who is chairman of Haskins Garden Centres.
The family name of Haskins has been linked to Dorset horticulture since 1882 when Harry Haskins founded a nursery in Poole. Today, the business headed by fourth generation Warren still sells plants but has evolved to service the wider 21st century retail culture of leisure and pleasure shopping.
Ironically, when a 20-year-old Warren Haskins took on the business in 1969 after his father’s early death he “inherited a retail nursery with a £17,000 turnover, which had diversified into every possible thing to generate income while not necessarily making a profit. I had to rationalise to survive.“ While he learned much from his early mistakes and his father’s knowledgeable employees, Warren quickly grasped the need to direct entrepreneurial ambition and retail innovation into strong sustainable market sectors.
Today Haskins Garden Centres employs 600-staff and has a near £25 million annual turnover. Its business model is large destination garden centres that offer lifestyle choices befitting a department store – books to barbecues, furnishings to food, clothing to coffee-shop temptations, and much more.
But this is no random retail offering. Careful market research, resourcing and merchandising produces the optimum efficiency and return on investment. That constant customer analysis also led Warren Haskins to create the successful HobbyCraft chain of nationwide stores (now sold to investment group Bridgepoint). Apparently, gardening and crafts have a similar customer profile. In
1996 Haskins put a crafts shop on its Longham site. The rest is history ...
Fittingly for a horticulturally- trained specialist from a green- fingered family, Warren Haskins has concentrated on ’growing his own’ – garden centres, that is. Two events led Warren to develop his first consumer-focused garden centre and “put into one place everything I’d learned in the previous 20 years.“
Warren had met Ernest Wertheim in the 1980s – an American consultant who arguably invented the modern garden centre concept – and been inspired by his ideas. Then, in 1994, Sainsbury’s bought Haskins original Ferndown site. It enabled Warren and his team to work with Wertheim to develop the UK’s first purpose- built lifestyle garden centre on a virgin site at Longham.
All commercial opportunities were considered. One was a larger restaurant. “It was an enormous investment at the time. I was worried, but it now brings us business 12 months of the year.“ Large restaurants, and other proven retailing practices, are now featured in the development of all Haskins sites. The company has built organically on its successes, while keeping a keen eye on changing consumer trends.
“At times we are almost retailing leisure. A lot of people come out to our centres just to have a look round, or to have coffee with friends.“ Easy travel and free parking are commercial advantages too.
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – SOLENT & SOUTH CENTRAL – FEBRUARY 2012
None of Warren’s three sisters entered the family business. “That was helpful because I had a free hand at 20.“ It also brought quick decision-making and avoided family differences, such as occurred during his grandfather’s tenure.
Family businesses can be slower to spend or reluctant to seek financial help. Haskins has readily accessed bank-finance. The company is currently investing £15m at its Southampton and Worthing centres.
A family trust ensures financial security for the Haskins. Warren’s sons have their own careers, but his daughter is starting in the business this year. “We have succession plans covering the next 25 years.“
Family links tend to promote stability and confidence among staff, Warren agreed. “In a family business you can take the long-term view on your planning and investment, unrestricted by shareholder pressures.“
Haskins has won many local and professional awards, but trophy hunting is not a corporate objective. “Everybody has a different level of ambition. Ours is to improve the business and give a better customer experience, so we employ good people with that aim.“
Staff locate between centres to assist operational training and experience, but a key focus of Haskins’ family- friendly culture is to look after customers well. “We don’t really have sales people, we have people who advise.“
TIPS FOR FAMILY BUSINESSES FROM RSM TENON
• Consider share schemes to incentivise and retain key staff. These can be tax-efficiently structured to significantly reduce the employees’ rate of tax.
• Early planning of succession issues, whether leading to a sale or involving the next generation, is essential to judge the best timing, protect business value, and consider appropriate tax planning measures such as entrepreneurs’ relief.
• Seek advice on shareholder agreements to ensure that any differences can be resolved amicably and professionally.
• Accessing finance can be a challenge. Seek advice from advisers with a good network of contacts to assess funding options.
• Protect your family’s wealth and assets via well-structured inheritance tax planning.
• Quality and continuity of management is essential to the success of any business, but high-performing family owned businesses recognise the importance of external non-family members such as non-executive directors or business advisers to provide additional expertise and an independent perspective.
A significant business strength, says Warren, is that Haskins trusts its people, lets them get on with things, and lets them learn from their mistakes – just as he did when he joined the company.
“We are happy to be a regional business currently based on four individual businesses, but remember that growth and achievement have been at the heart of this company for 40 years, so that is also part of our culture.“
Details for RSM Tenon Offices Southampton: 023-8064-6464 Basingstoke: 01256-312312 Bournemouth: 01202-204780 Reading: 0118-9530350
www.rsmtenon.com
www.businessmag.co.uk
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