Ideal World
Television shopping channel broadcasting on Freeview, Sky, Virgin and ITV. Founded in 2000 selling products via television with multi option transactional process based in Peterborough.
The Challenge
How We Did It
Having been presented an opportunity in mid February 2022 to acquire shares in Ideal World initially I was planning to be a passive investor with a light touch.
This then progressed after a couple of visits to find out that the company was in need of some serious attention and resulted in me taking an active role within the company. What better way to do this but as a Chief Operating Officer allowing me to understand all aspects of the company.
Remembering that the company had been running 20 years and a lot of the team have been there a long time the first steps was to review the process and what the low hanging fruit was. The journey of transformation had then begun and in 4 short months I had a decent handle on what was happening and what changes needed to be made. There was a lot of processes that absolutely made sense and there was a lot that just happened and these are the ones that needed to be challenged.
Very quickly there was an introduction of new brands to sell on the website and the television such as Nike, Adidas, Rotary, Dyson, Phillips and Maybelline to name a few. Introducing these brands brought a fresh approach to what we sold and also an aggressive approach on stock that was clearly not selling.
Introduction of new skills within the teams and new talent was also required along with new partnerships such as with the Range, Studio.co.uk, Bon Marche, Virgin Wines and many many more
The start was just the beginning in transforming a television shopping channel into more an omni channel shopping experience for the consumer and looking at a better way in managing the process within an established company.
THE OUTCOME
Within just 4 months there was a vast number of initiatives and changes implemented in various departments leading to my shares being acquired by Sports Direct which is part of the Frasers Group for an undisclosed sum. This allowed me to exit the company having implemented and instigated fundamental changes in processes and strategy.
Personal Learnings
Even though I have the skills to turn a company round very quickly it can only be as quick as the team.
For me it was apparent that I knew the answers to what needed to be done not through chance, but experience and tried and tested methods.