Grimsey hails 100-day turnaround at Focus

He set out a 100-day turnaround plan after private equity firm Cerberus bought the business and parachuted him in, along with longstanding associate Bill Hoskins.

Focus had 254 stores,£285 million of debt and an approximate annual EBITDA of£30 million when Grimsey took charge. The business now has 174 stores, debt of less than£100 million and an annual EBITDA of£37 million.

“It is the first time in Focus’s history it has ever had such a balanced position,” said Grimsey. Focus appointed restructuring specialist Hilco to dispose of 52 underperforming stores. So far, it has sold 13 and, outside of the original 52, a portfolio of 28 shops to Home Retail.

The retailer appointed consultancy Penna to carry out a review of its Crewe support centre. Grimsey said the new structure will make Focus more customer-driven, with four category teams – décor, hard side, showroom, and seasonal and gardening. The number of staff will be reduced from 416 to 358, saving about£2 million.

“We’re just finalising the details of who does what at the moment and will announce the new structure to the team on November 19,” said Grimsey.

Focus has also cleared out about£10 million of slow-moving stock through clearance Sales.

Grimsey said: “It’s important to get across that this is the final part of the strategic review and there will be no more job losses, no more core stores sold and we can now focus on being a customer-centric business with an improved balance sheet and grow from here.”

Brand director Richard Bird is carrying out customer research to hone Focus’s brand proposition and completing product range reviews.