Move of the week: Nigel Oddy makes his new home at The Range

Oddy is a consummate retail professional having spent over 20 years with M&S and the past decade in director-level roles at House of Fraser.

These are slick, corporate operations are a world away from The Range which, despite its size, maintains a reputation as being one man’s private fiefdom.

Lord of The Range

That man is Chris Dawson, The Range’s founder and still its beating heart and soul.

Dawson is the polar opposite of a corporate man. He is self-made, gregarious, spontaneous and, by his own admission, a little rough around the edges.

“Dawson is known for his authoritarian and bombastic leadership style and will need to rein in his natural instinct to take charge”

The appointment of Oddy is being interpreted as a move to bring a greater professionalism to what is clearly an exceptional, and profitable business, perhaps with the intention of positioning The Range for a stock-market listing in the near future.

There’s every reason to believe this will prove to be the case.

A colourful partnership

Oddy is a smart man who will have done his homework on the business he is about to join as well as its colourful owner, and will surely have drawn some lines in the sand to ensure his authority is not undermined.

Naturally, there will always be disagreements in relationships where an individual feels such a deep sense of ownership of a business, but such problems are not insurmountable so long as all parties are working towards the same goals.

“Both men will need to make allowances to accommodate the other’s preferred style of doing business”

It would be foolish, however, not to acknowledge the risks in the new arrangement, which will see Dawson work closely alongside his new chief executive rather than take a backseat.

Dawson is known for his authoritarian and bombastic leadership style and will need to rein in his natural instinct to take charge of the situation.

A power struggle at the top of The Range will ultimately be to the detriment of the entire business and both men will need to make allowances to accommodate the other’s preferred style of doing business if the partnership is to work.

If Dawson has genuine ambitions to take the business public, he will need Oddy’s skills of diplomacy to smooth the path to floatation.

Sometimes odd couples work well together because what unites them is greater than what divides them.

Oddy and Dawson may not be a match made in heaven, but who cares, so long as they can find a way of making the relationship work for the greater good.