In Retail Gazette’s latest content series, we get inside the mind of retail’s most senior leaders to find out what makes them tick. We kick off with B&Q CEO Graham Bell.
Tell us about your morning routine.
My alarm goes off at about 6 to 6.30am. Once showered and dressed, I have a quick scan of my emails and the news, and if I have time, I walk my dogs before my 30 minute drive into the office, arriving about 7 to 7.30am. I’ll grab some tea and toast, and check my diary so I’m all set for the day.
What motivates you? How do you keep driven?
Variety, moving things forward, and wanting B&Q to be bigger and better. I want me and my team’s legacy to be that we made a positive difference – and that is talked about in years’ to come. Interacting with people and the comradery of working with my team keeps me driven every day.
What’s the biggest challenge you’ve ever had in your career and how did you overcome it?
The biggest challenge I faced was March 2020, closing our stores [during lockdown]. This wasn’t about running a successful retail business, this was about saving people’s lives and keeping them safe.
I’d not encountered this type of responsibility before. I believed so strongly that we needed to close the stores to reset and put safety measures in place to protect our colleagues and customers, but I also had the impact on jobs and livelihoods on my mind too. Morally for me it was the right thing to do, to close stores immediately, to protect our staff.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?
The best piece of advice I’ve been given came from my mum – the person who has really inspired me throughout my career. She always said – “if you want something, go out and get it, what’s the worst that could happen? You could be successful”.
Who have you learnt most from in your retail career?
A previous CEO gave me very good advice that I try to put in to practice every day. He said “work hard to listen to get to the best decision”. As CEO I don’t have all the answers, and so listening to, and learning from, my team and other experts is very important.
If you weren’t a retailer, what would you do?
I probably would be a tradesperson. I really enjoy woodworking and so might have been a joiner or carpenter. In my younger days, I was a semi-pro footballer, and still play 5-aside once a week, and so if I wasn’t a retailer my dream job would have been to be a professional footballer.
What keeps you awake at night?
Business-wise, two things. Firstly, our pace of change and whether we’re making the right big decisions now and if they’ll still be right in three to four years time. And, related to that, is whether our strategy is fit for our customers in the future.
What do you do to unwind?
I’ll watch almost any sport, and also play golf and 5-aside football. At home, I’m a really keen DIYer – fixing, creating and building. I also read, and often have a couple of books on the go; usually thrillers, such as John Grisham, as well as murder mysteries.
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