Kevin Hawkins is outspoken about the quality of communications at the BRC. Liz Hamson interviews him on the eve of his move there as director general
Three weeks ago, Kevin Hawkins stopped at the garage on his way to work when his phone went. It was British Retail Consortium chairman David Felwick. “He rang to offer me the job just as I was just filling up the car. I nearly spilt petrol over the forecourt and started a merry blaze,” chuckles Safeway’s former director of communications.
Happily he didn’t and last week he was announced as Bill Moyes’ successor as director general of the BRC, where he is expected to create a spark of a different kind. Speaking to The Grocer on his penultimate day at Safeway, Hawkins talks frankly about the last few months at the Hayes head office and what attracted him to the BRC, where he starts work on Monday April 19.
We are the only people at the retailer’s Upper Brook Street offices in London and the deserted space only serves to reinforce the fact that Safeway has almost vacated the building. As Hawkins unhurriedly concludes a phone call and takes a seat, his relaxed demeanour could not be more different from the last time I met him, which was just after the OFT referred Morrisons’ bid to the Competition Commission last March.
The decision still rankles. “We didn’t anticipate they would bottle out. So much time could have been saved. It is a miracle we kept the business going. The Competition Commission didn’t see anything wrong with Morrisons, so why the hell did the OFT not come to the same conclusion?”
The continuing uncertainty sent Safeway’s share price tumbling, but by December the end game was finally under way. The sense of relief was huge, confesses Hawkins. “We’ve been in no man’s land for 14 months although it was clear when the Competition Commission Report came out in September 2003 that Morrisons was going to win. Nevertheless, it took an awful long time between that and the final acquisition. That was the most difficult time.”
Only in late December was Hawkins’ suspicion there was not to be a role for him at the new company confirmed. “After Christmas it became clear not only that Morrisons would win but that the whole thing was going to move to Bradford. They reiterated that it was a takeover not a merger - and there’s no point in hiding behind weasel words - but it was clear to me then that I was not going to be working out my time at the combined group.”
With uncanny timing, the BRC job came up in January. Hawkins, who is 56, fancied one last professional challenge. And it is a big one, he concedes. “I think Bill Moyes did a lot to build the organisation but what has become clear is that the communication between the BRC and its members needs to be better,” he says bluntly.
“It’s one thing for an organisation to do a good job, but the members have got to know it is doing a good job. And that’s not done by sending 25-page emails to people. The BRC must take on board the fact that a lot of members, big and small, take a lot of their information from TV and radio. That’s where the message is not getting over.”
Which is where Felwick hopes Hawkins will come in. Hawkins has become an informal spokesman for the grocery industry and enjoys his regular jousts with the media’s finest, though it is not the likes of Jeremy Paxman that he worries about most. “John Humphrys is a sharp cookie and you bullshit him at your peril. I’ve argued with him but I always try to answer the question. He goes for the jugular if he thinks the answer is evasive. I’ve always had a healthy respect for Jimmy Young as well: he was gently probing and you would find yourself saying more than you would to a more aggressive interviewer.”
By his own admission his role as spokesman made him “kind of close” to the BRC job, as did earlier stints as regional director at the CBI and director of communications at WHS. Having toyed with one or two options, but “nothing sat on my shoulders”, he accepted the offer.
Meanwhile, the Safeway takeover went through on March 8 and 20 Morrisons staff ensconced themselves on the top floor of Safeway’s Hayes offices and began ringing the changes. The last few weeks have been tough for Safeway staff, says Hawkins. “Inevitably, the level of apprehension has grown. It’s one thing to understand there will be job losses, another to find that your job is going to be among them,” he says wryly.
As for the new regime, he is now out of the loop, but understands that the majority of 300 job losses in the first phase of the rationalisation programme will be on the trading floor. The legal, finance, IT, HR and supply chain divisions are likely to remain intact for the time being, he says.
He believes the rumours that Morrisons is about to kick off a price war are unfounded. “Why should any retailer want to shred margins for minor gains? Ken’s priority is to integrate the businesses, not start a price war.” However, he concedes there will inevitably be losers among the suppliers, especially those dependent on Safeway, which he concedes is bad news.
As is the dominance of Tesco if it goes unchecked, some would argue. Former chief executive Carlos Criado-Perez recently made his feelings about the power of the UK’s number one supermarket clear. Hawkins is more sanguine, pointing out that Tesco’s empire building in the more liberal planning climate of the early 1990s was bound to leave it in a powerful position. However, he takes issue with the Competition Commission’s distinction between one-stop and convenience which opened the way for Tesco to acquire c-store chain T&S.
Asked what went wrong at Safeway, he doesn’t blame the relative might of Tesco but the lack of coherent brand positioning by Safeway. “The old American Safeway knew what it was about: fresh food and customer service. In the UK, it lost its focus after the Argyll takeover in 1987. If you’re not about quality or price, where are you? Safeway never really worked out what it stood for.”
A decade later, as speculation of a merger with Asda mounted, the writing was on the wall. “When Allan Leighton was keen to do the merger, both said we didn’t see a future for ourselves as independent companies. When Carlos joined, he halted the slide but his strategy implicitly recognised that we could not compete with the big boys.
“The Gonzalez deals and the store reformatting were short-term guerrilla tactics to generate some breathing space so we could undertake some brand positioning.”
That never happened. Neither did all the long-term initiatives it was working on. Now Hawkins is looking ahead to his new role. He says he is confident he will continue to be as outspoken as he was at Safeway, despite the disparate nature of the BRC’s membership. He also hopes he will be able to persuade Sir Ken Morrison, Arcadia and Somerfield back into the fold as well as add authority to the BRC’s lobbying strategy.
“We’ve a bit of coalition building to do. I was involved in one of the last lobbying efforts - to liberalise Sunday trading hours in the early 1990s. The lesson that was learned there, and one I will try to put into practice at the BRC, is that you don’t just argue as a group of retailers but think about other groups, consumers for instance, and try to build up a coalition of interest.”
After nine years at Safeway, Hawkins relishes the idea of a new challenge: “Plainly, the existing strategy is not working, but I wouldn’t give up because this government is so market-oriented that as long as you put the right argument across it’ll listen.”
As he exits the supermarket sector, does he have any regrets?
“Good question. Maybe, if I’d gone to Safeway when Argyll took over I might have been able to dig my toes in for a more rigorous definition of the Safeway brand. Then things might have been different.”
Three weeks ago, Kevin Hawkins stopped at the garage on his way to work when his phone went. It was British Retail Consortium chairman David Felwick. “He rang to offer me the job just as I was just filling up the car. I nearly spilt petrol over the forecourt and started a merry blaze,” chuckles Safeway’s former director of communications.
Happily he didn’t and last week he was announced as Bill Moyes’ successor as director general of the BRC, where he is expected to create a spark of a different kind. Speaking to The Grocer on his penultimate day at Safeway, Hawkins talks frankly about the last few months at the Hayes head office and what attracted him to the BRC, where he starts work on Monday April 19.
We are the only people at the retailer’s Upper Brook Street offices in London and the deserted space only serves to reinforce the fact that Safeway has almost vacated the building. As Hawkins unhurriedly concludes a phone call and takes a seat, his relaxed demeanour could not be more different from the last time I met him, which was just after the OFT referred Morrisons’ bid to the Competition Commission last March.
The decision still rankles. “We didn’t anticipate they would bottle out. So much time could have been saved. It is a miracle we kept the business going. The Competition Commission didn’t see anything wrong with Morrisons, so why the hell did the OFT not come to the same conclusion?”
The continuing uncertainty sent Safeway’s share price tumbling, but by December the end game was finally under way. The sense of relief was huge, confesses Hawkins. “We’ve been in no man’s land for 14 months although it was clear when the Competition Commission Report came out in September 2003 that Morrisons was going to win. Nevertheless, it took an awful long time between that and the final acquisition. That was the most difficult time.”
Only in late December was Hawkins’ suspicion there was not to be a role for him at the new company confirmed. “After Christmas it became clear not only that Morrisons would win but that the whole thing was going to move to Bradford. They reiterated that it was a takeover not a merger - and there’s no point in hiding behind weasel words - but it was clear to me then that I was not going to be working out my time at the combined group.”
With uncanny timing, the BRC job came up in January. Hawkins, who is 56, fancied one last professional challenge. And it is a big one, he concedes. “I think Bill Moyes did a lot to build the organisation but what has become clear is that the communication between the BRC and its members needs to be better,” he says bluntly.
“It’s one thing for an organisation to do a good job, but the members have got to know it is doing a good job. And that’s not done by sending 25-page emails to people. The BRC must take on board the fact that a lot of members, big and small, take a lot of their information from TV and radio. That’s where the message is not getting over.”
Which is where Felwick hopes Hawkins will come in. Hawkins has become an informal spokesman for the grocery industry and enjoys his regular jousts with the media’s finest, though it is not the likes of Jeremy Paxman that he worries about most. “John Humphrys is a sharp cookie and you bullshit him at your peril. I’ve argued with him but I always try to answer the question. He goes for the jugular if he thinks the answer is evasive. I’ve always had a healthy respect for Jimmy Young as well: he was gently probing and you would find yourself saying more than you would to a more aggressive interviewer.”
By his own admission his role as spokesman made him “kind of close” to the BRC job, as did earlier stints as regional director at the CBI and director of communications at WHS. Having toyed with one or two options, but “nothing sat on my shoulders”, he accepted the offer.
Meanwhile, the Safeway takeover went through on March 8 and 20 Morrisons staff ensconced themselves on the top floor of Safeway’s Hayes offices and began ringing the changes. The last few weeks have been tough for Safeway staff, says Hawkins. “Inevitably, the level of apprehension has grown. It’s one thing to understand there will be job losses, another to find that your job is going to be among them,” he says wryly.
As for the new regime, he is now out of the loop, but understands that the majority of 300 job losses in the first phase of the rationalisation programme will be on the trading floor. The legal, finance, IT, HR and supply chain divisions are likely to remain intact for the time being, he says.
He believes the rumours that Morrisons is about to kick off a price war are unfounded. “Why should any retailer want to shred margins for minor gains? Ken’s priority is to integrate the businesses, not start a price war.” However, he concedes there will inevitably be losers among the suppliers, especially those dependent on Safeway, which he concedes is bad news.
As is the dominance of Tesco if it goes unchecked, some would argue. Former chief executive Carlos Criado-Perez recently made his feelings about the power of the UK’s number one supermarket clear. Hawkins is more sanguine, pointing out that Tesco’s empire building in the more liberal planning climate of the early 1990s was bound to leave it in a powerful position. However, he takes issue with the Competition Commission’s distinction between one-stop and convenience which opened the way for Tesco to acquire c-store chain T&S.
Asked what went wrong at Safeway, he doesn’t blame the relative might of Tesco but the lack of coherent brand positioning by Safeway. “The old American Safeway knew what it was about: fresh food and customer service. In the UK, it lost its focus after the Argyll takeover in 1987. If you’re not about quality or price, where are you? Safeway never really worked out what it stood for.”
A decade later, as speculation of a merger with Asda mounted, the writing was on the wall. “When Allan Leighton was keen to do the merger, both said we didn’t see a future for ourselves as independent companies. When Carlos joined, he halted the slide but his strategy implicitly recognised that we could not compete with the big boys.
“The Gonzalez deals and the store reformatting were short-term guerrilla tactics to generate some breathing space so we could undertake some brand positioning.”
That never happened. Neither did all the long-term initiatives it was working on. Now Hawkins is looking ahead to his new role. He says he is confident he will continue to be as outspoken as he was at Safeway, despite the disparate nature of the BRC’s membership. He also hopes he will be able to persuade Sir Ken Morrison, Arcadia and Somerfield back into the fold as well as add authority to the BRC’s lobbying strategy.
“We’ve a bit of coalition building to do. I was involved in one of the last lobbying efforts - to liberalise Sunday trading hours in the early 1990s. The lesson that was learned there, and one I will try to put into practice at the BRC, is that you don’t just argue as a group of retailers but think about other groups, consumers for instance, and try to build up a coalition of interest.”
After nine years at Safeway, Hawkins relishes the idea of a new challenge: “Plainly, the existing strategy is not working, but I wouldn’t give up because this government is so market-oriented that as long as you put the right argument across it’ll listen.”
As he exits the supermarket sector, does he have any regrets?
“Good question. Maybe, if I’d gone to Safeway when Argyll took over I might have been able to dig my toes in for a more rigorous definition of the Safeway brand. Then things might have been different.”
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