Siobhan Almond spent over a decade at JD Sport, helping it to grow into the retail giant it is today.
Working her way up to general counsel, she had global responsibility for all the group's legal operations and was at the heart of efforts to acquire brands across the world. But after the well-documented changes at the top of the business, she decided it was time for a change of her own.
Having joined Manchester-based venture capital investor Praetura Ventures as an operational partner in May, she's now focused on helping companies from all over the North West follow in JD's footsteps and become the next global success story. In an exclusive interview with BusinessLive, Siobhan Almond spoke about what she learnt from her time at JD Sports, why she decided to leave and how she's working to help create the next big thing.
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JD Sports
"When I joined in 2012, JD was just embarking upon its international expansion", she said. It was already a pretty successful UK retailer, successful on the High Street despite the difficulties, and it was just moving into France and Spain. I saw it go on this phenomenal international expansion journey as well continuing the growth in the UK.
"There was double digit like-for-like retail sales consistently year on year which was just unheard of as well as establishing itself in countries where the sports market is different and it's not the same type of High Street. Of course you've got language differences, cultural differences, but we really went on a journey to bring JD Sports to lots of different international territories.
"My role was to see if we were acquiring a business that existed in one international territory already and to assess that business, do all the due diligence and the decide if it was the right business to acquire. We then the actual transaction itself and then post-conclusion, it was about integration.
"It was about learning about that business and I helped them in any way possible. I got them the range of advice that they needed and helped them become part of the group and I guess that process is what has enabled me to be a real help to the portfolio companies within Praetura. I can relate to what they're going through and help them make the decisions about the founders and which ones we think we should back.
"Once these founders have got that investment, it's just the same as some of those I used to work within the JD group. Suddenly they have cash in their own pockets and they are part of a group and they have the expectations of an investor for the first time.
"At JD I worked to get them used to that process and to meet those expectations but to grow in their own way and to cultivate their business and growth strategies in a way that suited them, because every territory and every kind of different iteration of JD was different. So that whole journey that I went through with JD saw huge growth. It's something that I really hope I'm going to be able to use consistently in my current role.
"The goal of lots of founders is they want to be an international, globally successful business and hopefully I can help them share some insights into what we did wrong, what wasn't a success and, obviously, all the things that we did right and that made it a success that it was."
Leaving JD Sports
After more than a decade at JD Sports, Siobhan Almond decided it was time to leave. The group had grown beyond all recognition over her time but with a new chairman, chief executive and chief financial officer, it was time for a fresh start somewhere else.
She said: "It was really for a change. I'm a lawyer and even though my role was everything else as well as a lawyer, it's unusual for lawyers to stay in one place. It's good for me to experience different sectors, different types of businesses. Even though there was a real range of styles of business within the JD group from very small founder-led businesses right until the kind of the FTSE-100 JD entity itself.
"I wanted a different change and, of course, there was a huge change within JD itself. The whole thing is pretty much changed now with a new chairman, new CEO, new CFO and often when that happens, it's the right time to move on and develop new relationships and work with different businesses."
A douse of realism
Praetura Ventures is well-known in the North West for investing in businesses that show great potential for growth. The companies that the firm backs have normally already shown a degree of success before securing additional investment. But success is rarely measured in a straight line and part of Siobhan Almond's role is "to be that shoulder to cry on why when things have slowed down" and then find a solution.
She said: "When you get some founders who are really enthusiastic and who've had maybe some initial success and then it slows down it's a challenge. One of my roles is to be that shoulder to cry on why when things have slowed down and then to try and troubleshoot with them and work out why that might be happening or why they're not getting the traction in the first place.
"I think it's quite easy for a founder to be able to 'do this and, yes, we can do that' and they get that initial interest and they get excited, they want to do everything. What was good about JD was they knew what they were good at, that's where they're most successful.
"JD didn't offer lots of stuff. It went into outdoor retail, fashion, all kinds of different businesses, but really the crux of what was the huge success was the sports fashion retailer and I guess I learned a lot from that.
"There are sometimes difficult conversations, grounding conversations, but ultimately I just try to be the most approachable version of myself. I'm not there with any ulterior motive and that's the kind of unique thing.
"One of the reasons I loved the opportunity to be an operational partner is I'm really there just with the intention of helping those founders and that company with whatever they need. So it might be something that's kind of akin to my background which is something compliance or legal related. It might be something about retail, but again, it might be something totally new for me and it's just having another voice and other sounding boards. I'm not interested in anything other than what's the right thing for that company, and that's quite refreshing for some of the founders."
Her biggest lesson
"To be honest, the thing that I learnt the most and I've seen in other businesses not done as well is the detail. There were lots of things JD could have done better, but what it did do was it had its head in the detail.
"The people that ran the business could tell you about each of its stores, pretty much anywhere in the world, how it was performing. No matter how big it got iIt never lost sight of how important the detail is.
"A big lesson for me is to never get complacent, never just assume that things are going to roll in just because they did last year, and really keep you right on that detail. Most of the founders that I work with are already excellent at the detail.
"But if I ever come across someone who is a little bit lax on that or feels like he or she doesn't need to have their eyes on the detail, I do try and remind them that to really have your finger on the pulse of your business and to know whether or not you're successful that week, and you really need to know that specific detail."
