The state of WHSmith’s carpets might prompt mirth on social media, but there’s nothing shabby about the legacy of departing chief executive Steve Clarke.

Clarke, who hands over the reins to Carl Cowling at the end of this month, is going out with a bang. Accompanying his final set of prelims came the £312m acquisition of US travel stores specialist Marshall Retail.

The deal is a fitting conclusion to Clarke’s tenure, epitomising the direction he has taken WHSmith in, from British high streets to the world.

Stephen Clarke

Steve Clarke deserves more credit than is sometimes given for WHSmith’s performance

It has been the right route. During Clarke’s time, WHSmith’s total shareholder return has been an impressive 246%, versus 74% across the FTSE 250.

The success of the strategy is evident in that the travel division generated two-thirds of group profit last year.

While travel is the star of the show, Clarke deserves more credit than is sometimes given for the performance of the high street business.

For a start, unlike some retailers, it is still there – that’s good for hard-pressed town centres and the addition of Post Offices provides a valued service that keeps the lifeblood flowing in communities.

The high street also makes money. Profits of £60m last year may have been flat, but many retailers would be delighted with that in the present environment.

Success story

Other than on results days, Clarke rarely speaks to the media. That’s a shame because as well as steering WHSmith to consistent success, his personal story reflects some of the retail industry’s greatest qualities.

Clarke’s rise highlights retail’s meritocratic nature and the opportunities offered for people from the humblest of origins to get to the top.

He grew up impoverished in Belfast during the Troubles, where, as a child, his family shared a tin bathtub with the neighbours that they passed to each other over the wall.

But retail opened doors – starting at Dixons and taking in Argos before, in 2013, he was appointed to the top job at WHSmith, where he had already played a key role in the turnaround led by his predecessor Kate Swann.

“Never mind the carpets, Clarke leaves Cowling with the firmest of foundations on which to continue to build”

Personally, he has also played his part in showing retail at its best. Clarke has helped break down prejudices. In the only sit-down interview he has ever done, in The Daily Telegraph a couple of years ago, he was open about the mental health issues that had affected people close to him. The retailer invested £250,000 in training its store managers on how to handle colleagues’ mental health problems.

Clarke was also one of the first openly gay chief executives. He didn’t feel the need to get on a soapbox, but his openness about this fact made it all the more powerful – it was just a given; and sent the message that at WHSmith, as in retail generally, diversity should not be a barrier to career progress. That attitude also led him to become an ambassador for Retail Week’s Be Inspired campaign.

What will Clarke do next? After he leaves WHSmith’s head office for the last time next Thursday, he plans to take a well-earned break and spend some quality time with his husband.

There’s nothing scary about this Halloween leaving date. Never mind the carpets, it’s what lies underneath them that counts. Clarke leaves Cowling with the firmest of foundations on which to continue to build.

Analysis: WHSmith takes off with transformational travel deal