Former Dreams boss Nick Worthington will have to be wide awake to face tough trading conditions in his new role as Carpetright’s operations director for Europe.

Worthington is a retail veteran. His career began in 1982, when he started on the Sainsbury's graduate retail trainee scheme

When it comes to retail, Nick Worthington likes to stay close to home. It emerged last week that the former Dreams boss has swapped beds for floors after being appointed operations director for Europe at Carpetright.

Worthington will be under no illusions about the scale of the task he faces at Carpetright. The retailer issued its third profit warning in six months last week, and its performance has been knocked by brutal trading conditions in the Netherlands - which Worthington takes on as part of his Europe remit.

Carpetright’s latest trading figures for ‘the Rest of Europe’, which includes the Netherlands, Belgium and Ireland, showed a like-for-like sales fall of 5.3% in the eight weeks to March 22.

However, Worthington is no stranger to dealing with a company in turmoil. In April last year Dreams went through its own nightmare when it fell into administration and was bought in a pre-pack by Sun European Partners.

“Worthington will be under no illusions about the scale of the task he faces at Carpetright”

 

Dreams had been hammered in the torrid big-ticket market and Worthington was challenged to steer the company through incredibly difficult waters.

He’ll be able to utilise that knowledge in the tough European market while exploiting his expertise in beds for Carpetright’s burgeoning Sleepright business across the continent.

Worthington is a retail veteran. His career began in 1982, when he started on the Sainsbury’s graduate retail trainee scheme. He spent six years with the grocer before joining Comet as a senior manager for two years.

He then joined electricals specialist Norweb Retail as sales manager. From there he was appointed regional sales manager at furniture retailer Multiyork before starting what would become a 15-year long tenure at Dreams, where he rose from retail sales director to chief executive.

Career highlights

March 2014 Carpetright, operations director for Europe

1998 to 2013 Dreams, various roles culminating in chief executive in 2008

1994 to 1996 Multiyork, regional sales manager

1992 to 1994 Norweb Retail, area sales manager

1984 to 1990 Sainsbury’s, graduate retail trainee

During his five years at the helm Worthington oversaw major store expansion. The retailer opened about 130 stores in five years and invested in major advertising campaigns to raise awareness of the brand.

The personable family man, who has a passion for sports including rugby and golf, left Dreams last year - two months after the buy-out.

But despite managing one of the UK’s biggest beds retailers, it’s notable that the father of two doesn’t possess the big media personality that many of his peers do. His low profile is in stark contrast to Dreams’ flamboyant founder Mike Clare, who embraces the spotlight and regularly speaks at conferences.

Although Worthington may not court the media, inside Dreams, where he spent the majority of his working life, he was undeniably popular.

“The best thing about Nick is he’s so good with people,” Clare previously told Retail Week. “He’s just so popular. He’s had to let people go before and they always come out saying what a nice bloke he is.”

Worthington will need to harness his extensive experience to ensure Carpetright can sleep easy again in Europe.