Plans for growth?
Edwin Booth
LEADING FROM THE FRONT
Edwin Booth is executive chairman at Booths. As boss of the 176-year- old family firm, which operates 28 stores and employs 3,000 people, he knows a thing or two about leadership.
That role has included spearheading the recent transformation of the Lancashire headquartered business, which has seen major changes in operation and attitude, from board level down.
Edwin, a member of the influential leadership panel brought together for the festival, told delegates: “The business is bigger than the family, it is about all of us, all 3,000 people in it.”
And he explained how every single person in the supermarket group “from the boardroom to the checkouts” has a copy of the group’s ‘purpose’ and its business plan in pocket form.
Edwin said: “We don’t talk about running the business now, we talk about doing business, which means everyone can be involved. It’s not command and control anymore.
“We have a flatter structure because I felt we needed more people to understand how to do what we have all agreed to do.”
He added: “I enjoy leading the business now more than any time. It is much more fun. In business, if you are not having fun, you shouldn’t be doing it.”
Edwin also recalled his own business journey, from his first job in the family firm in one of the company’s warehouses.
He said: “Looking back I would have liked to have worked for somebody else to get that experience of working elsewhere.”
Taking on the leadership theme, Edwin, who is also a former chair of Lancashire’s LEP, said: “I want people who have character, attitude, communication skills.”
He added: “I’ve said for a long time now that trust is probably the most valuable commodity any organisation has.”
A breakdown in trust at board level, he said, “should be dealt with quickly, or as quickly as you can.”
“And always make yourself available to people. My door is always open.”
Helen Clayton, managing partner at Lancashire headquartered accountants and business advisers PM+M, also shared her personal journey to becoming a leader, including her earlier career which saw her experiencing ‘burn out’ on several occasions.
She said: “For me the key to leadership is, ‘being me’. I spent years trying to find out who the real me was and what I was comfortable with.
“When I come into work now it is me, I’m not pretending to be anyone else.” Continued on Page 20
LANCASHIREBUSINES SV
IEW.CO.UK 01253 871111
www.brownandco.uk
We can help you find the right strategy
19
IN VIEW
FESTIVAL OF BUSINESS
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68
