French Connection has had a tough time recently, but Stephen Marks has the drive to move the business on again, says George MacDonald

French Connection tycoon Stephen Marks has had better years and in some respects the last has been the worst in a decade.

In March, French Connection posted its first annual loss in more than 10 years. And last week, in its interim management statement, the retailer said that trading between February and mid-May had been “in line” with that dismal period – womenswear pretty good, menswear difficult.

Prickly, controversial, sometimes intimidating; the mercurial Marks on a bad day – and there must have been a few lately – could send the bravest running for cover. But, equally, he inspires fierce loyalty. “He’s very driven, like any entrepreneur,” says one person who knows him. “He’s good to work for because he’s inspirational.”

Marks, who still owns almost 42 per cent of the business, takes a hands-on approach to running it and is closely involved in all aspects. One fashion industry source says French Connection “is run more like a small family firm than a public company” and that nothing happens without Marks’s say so.

Quite right too, says one observer. “He’s a self-made man who’s enjoyed great commercial success. That gives you the confidence to know your mind and put forthright opinions forward.”

Marks has more experience than many in retailing through hard times. Having founded the business in 1972, the 61-year-old will remember the dark days of the 1970s, the economic convulsions of the 1980s and the gloomy early 1990s.

That experience has helped him run a tight financial ship as well as a product-focused one. The retailer has £20m net cash on its balance sheet. “They’re in a very strong position to ride through this downturn,” says one observer.

Marks is perhaps most famous for the controversial FCUK marketing campaign – the acronym was originally taken from faxes sent between the retailer’s UK and Hong Kong offices – which prompted tabloid outrage, especially from Daily Mail columnist Lynda Lee-Potter. Her moral outrage backfired as the coverage sent sales of FCUK-branded goods rocketing.

So successful and so brand-defining was FCUK that moving the business on again would be a challenge. But it is one that Marks and the company have met.

Last week’s update revealed that womenswear sales were growing year on year and helped lift the UK and Europe retail division’s like-for-likes by 2 per cent.

One industry source says: “FCUK was a victim of its own success. It generated supra-normal returns and coping with the hangover from that was the mission the company faced.

“To Marks’s credit he’s revitalised French Connection womenswear in the last few seasons – it’s flying.”

Marks’s interests run wide. As a tennis-loving teenager he played as a junior at Wimbledon and he co-financed the hit British crime flick Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.

But fashion made him his fortune, starting with the import of hotpants from Paris to London and culminating in French Connection, which now operates in 30 countries, and includes wholesale and brand extensions such as toiletries.

One person describes Marks as French Connection’s “editor in chief”. He says: “The focus is on design-led, interesting product – and product is the key to the whole thing, whether times are good or bad.”

There is no doubt that times are bad, but the driven Marks will be determined to make the best of them.

The marks connection

  • Stephen Marks originally set up in business with a £17,000 loan
  • He became known as the “hotpants king” after spotting the trend in Paris and importing the product to sell to Miss Selfridge
  • The FCUK ad campaign debuted in 1997
  • French Connection reported a loss of £17.4m last year, compared with a profit of £3.1m the year before
  • Sales in the UK/Europe retail division account for 52 per cent of the group total. Between February 1 and May 16 the division’s sales rose 8 per cent and 2 per cent like for like.