Clarks is looking for a new chief executive after Mike Shearwood left the business with immediate effect this week following allegations of misconduct.

It leaves the family-owned shoe retailer looking for its fourth leader in three years following the departure of Melissa Potter in September 2015 and the interim tenure of Thomas O’Neill.

This is an appointment Clarks has to get right. Like many traditional high street retailers, the business has battled falling profits in recent years – a challenge exacerbated by problems with stock management.

“The right candidate will have worked for a family business but also experienced a fast-paced corporate environment”

Shearwood had previously spoken of his plan to stabilise the business and put it in a position to grow. His abrupt departure will put a check on any immediate strategic change in direction.

The question now is: who comes next?

Retail boasts some outstanding privately-owned businesses, but family firms can sometimes be challenging to work for as an outsider, particularly someone from a plc background.

Given the lack of pressure to deliver regular shareholder returns, they tend to err on the side of risk aversion and some (but by no means all) concern themselves more with protecting a legacy to leave family members than with executing ambitious expansion plans.

Mike Shearwood

Mike Shearwood left Clarks this week

Family members are likely to have strong views about how the business is run and so an incoming CEO would require strong diplomacy skills as well as patience and a cool head.

The next incumbent at Clarks is likely to encounter similar challenges.

In my mind, the right candidate will have worked for a family business but also experienced a fast-paced corporate environment. Clarks, as much as any other retailer, needs to be agile and responsive to new market trends if it is to prosper.

An outsider should expect some resistance at the start, particularly given the circumstances surrounding Shearwood’s departure, but if they can win around investors and longstanding employees they will be expected – or even relied upon – to stay for the long haul.

It’s hard to see how a money-motivated, performance-driven CEO from a plc background will fit the bill. The Quaker origins of the company mean ethical values are regarded as highly as the short-term pursuit of profit. The CEO will need to show respect for the heritage of the business.

The Clarks role is also a unique retail opportunity because of the head office location in Street, Somerset, the town in which the business was founded by the family in 1825.

A new chief executive will not win the approval of employees and the family by ‘phoning in’ the job from London or even commuting to Somerset. They will need to immerse themselves in Somerset life and be an active part of the community, otherwise they will never get a true feel for the values of the business and its local significance.

It is legitimate to ask whether such people exist. I believe they do and that the Clarks name retains sufficient kudos to attract some excellent candidates. But it will require mutual understanding and compromise across the boardroom table if Clarks is to keep building on its legacy.

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