Even after nearly 100 years, the Levy family business still moves with the times. Manfreda Cavazza meets the man in the driving seat.

Standing in his Lakeside store, wearing faded jeans and a long-sleeved white T-shirt with the words 'Talent Scout' emblazoned across his chest, managing director Robert Levy could be mistaken for a Blue Inc shopper. Indeed, when Levy describes his target customer - 'an Alfie Moon character, a cheeky chappy who goes on 18 to 30 holidays and likes football' - he could almost be describing himself.

At 34, Levy is a young managing director, but he has grown up in a world steeped in retail. Alongside his older brother Jonathan, he is the third generation to head the family business, which has nearly 100 years of heritage.

The Levys' retail business started in 1912, when holding company A Levy & Son opened a hat shop in Stratford, London. After a few decades, the haberdashery business grew into menswear chain Mister Byrite.

Levy calls on the memory of retail operations director Mick O'Connor, who has been in the business for 33 years, to describe how Mister Byrite was once the place to buy the latest menswear brands. 'It (Mister Byrite) used to be a destination store,' recalls O'Connor. 'I remember when I was working in the Harlow store in 1971, we got this new Ben Sherman shirt in. There must have been three or four hundred people queuing at the door.'

During the 1990s, however, Mister Byrite went down the discount route.

As well as simple loss of direction, the chain found itself caught between heavyweight discounters and supermarkets.

Levy took over from father Barry as joint managing director in 1997, at the age of 27. He had been at the company since he left university, working his way up from the shopfloor and spending time in all areas of the business. Levy says his father recognised the need for the next generation to take the retailer forward.

Levy and his brother decided the chain needed to ditch its discount image and go upmarket, and, in 1998, the first Blue Inc store opened. The repositioning has been designed to take the business back to its heyday of the 1970s, when it was famous for its brands. About 35 per cent of the offer today comprises labels such as Levi's, Kickers and Ben Sherman, while the rest is own-label.

The Mister Byrite fascia no longer exists and all shops have been rebranded Blue Inc. There are 30 stores, with turnover of£22 million, and Levy has ambitions to grow the chain to 50 shops over the next few years. Within the past year, branches at Bluewater and Trafford Park have been revamped with a design created by agency Peter and Pall. Shops in Chelmsford, Basildon, Norwich and Manchester's Market Street have opened, and a store in Romford will be unveiled in November. The business is close to returning to profit following significant investment in refits.

There are 20 staff working at the retailer's head office, based in East London's Blackhorse Lane, and the three main directors are hands-on. Levy is in charge of buying and merchandising, while his brother looks after finance, IT and legal issues. O'Connor is the third director, in charge of the stores, marketing and public relations.

When asked if he had always wanted to work for the family, Levy is flippant.

'I just woke up one morning when I was in the third year at university and decided I wanted to work in fashion,' he says. Working for his father was a logical step. However, before he started, Levy went to Hong Kong to see how product was made in the factories. 'I spent four months counting whiskers on teddy bears.

I didn't even know what quality control was before I left. I learnt everything from the bottom,' he recalls.

Levy's entrepreneurial zeal is evident. While at university, he sold hot dogs to make money - an achievement that seems to engender more pride than his economics degree. It reads like a cliche, but you believe Levy when he says he lives and breathes retail. He works six days a week, spending Saturdays either in a Blue Inc shop or checking out the competition on the high street. Sundays are saved for his wife and two kids.

As might be expected from a family business, the management style at Blue Inc appears relaxed. Sipping coffees in a cafe at Lakeside, it is clear that Levy and O'Connor are friends as well as business partners.

They bounce ideas off each other during the interview and are constantly finishing each other's sentences.

As the business grows, the senior management team might need to be bolstered.

For now, the formula is working. Levy has transformed his family business to move with the times, proving that a young head and a fresh outlook is sometimes exactly what a business needs.

CV

ROBERT LEVY

Age: 34

Lives: Northeast London

Education: degree in economics and international relations, Reading University

Family: married with two children

Interests: tennis, skiing

Favourite book: only reads Stephen King

Favourite holiday: skiing at Beaver Creek in the US

CAREER HISTORY

1997: joint managing director, Blue Inc

1991-97: general roles at A Levy & Son (Blue Inc).

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