True to form, M&Co’s chairman and managing director is remaining tight-lipped on the value retailer’s recession-busting success

Even the most avid retail watcher could be forgiven for not knowing who Iain McGeoch is.

The Scottish fashion tycoon typically keeps his profile lower than the Dead Sea. Although a regular at some industry functions, he is able to walk into a room, down the high street or into one of his shops without drawing the curious stares that would greet some of his more showy peers.

But McGeoch is one of the richest men in retail. Value fashion retailer M&Co, which is family owned and run by him, has made him a Sunday Times Rich List fixture. He and his brother Lennie - now no longer involved in M&Co - are valued at £107m.

McGeoch’s avoidance of publicity - there are no photographs of him available and he did not want to be interviewed - reflects a modest and understated style. While engaging and good company in private, he has not allowed himself to be built up as a personality in the industry.

He put plenty of elbow grease into building up M&Co, which was originally a pawnbroker founded in 1834. He jokes that at one time he knew every AA man between Birmingham and Glasgow, such was the time that he spent on the road scouting new locations. His travels took him in the main to market towns and secondary locations overlooked by, or not of interest to, bigger retailers such as the supermarkets that have since carved out positions in value fashion.

M&Co’s presence in places such as Blairgowrie or Hitchin has given the retailer a point of difference from rivals that tend to focus on retail parks or bigger towns and cities. Accessibility, combined with improved product, provides the retailer with a pool of consumers in many ways overlooked by other store groups.

McGeoch, managing director as well as chairman of M&Co, took majority control of the business at the end of 2001 when he bought out Lennie’s half of the shares for a reported £50m. The business remains very much a family affair - directors include McGeoch’s son Andy, for example.

All change

Although a well-established business, McGeoch realised some years ago that it had to change. The shift to the M&Co name from Mackays reflected other changes to what was an old-fashioned value specialist in order to keep up with the times.

There was more emphasis on fashionability and product quality as McGeoch forecast that the rise of value chains such as Primark and Matalan and the innovations that they brought meant that established value clothing retailers could no longer rely on pure low-price appeal.

The changes seem to have worked. Last week M&Co reported profits had doubled last year, despite the recession, as the retailer’s focus on fashionability kept shoppers coming through the doors. The retailer sold more product at full price than it had ever done before and at the same time kept a tight grip on costs and borrowings.

In an unusual departure from M&Co’s typical preference to keep its affairs to itself, the retailer last week press-released last year’s results. That may simply reflect the trend among many private retailers to make their figures public in order to enhance their reputations and make it easier to attract high-calibre staff.

But there has been speculation in the past that M&Co might be sold and the decision to publicise its performance may prompt similar murmurs again. McGeoch of course knows the answer, but he’s not telling.

Age 64

Role Chairman and managing director of M&Co

M&Co headquarters Renfrew, Scotland

Most likely to say Nothing

Least likely to say “Is that Hello! magazine? Would you like to come and do a photoshoot at my home?”

M&Co’s results for the Financial year to February 26

£182m

M&Co’s sales

£25m

EBITDA

8.3%

Increase in like-for-likes

£15.2m

Operating profit

£17.6m

Cash generated