Peter Williams
Peter Williams is chair of Mister Spex and a former chief executive of Selfridges
Opinion‘Why sell Selfridges when department stores are having such a hard time?’
Former Selfridges chief executive Peter Williams ruminates on the iconic department store’s potential sale and makes a special plea to its owner the Weston family.
- Opinion
‘New retail is thriving, but many physical stores face a long haul back’
In the midst of the current uncertainty, it is inevitable that people dwell on the negatives caused by the pandemic and Brexit, but are blind to the fact that some parts of retail are thriving. It’s just not happening everywhere and to everyone.
- Opinion
Peter Williams: ‘To fully restart retail we need a return to pre-Covid behaviour’
When asked my views about looking forward for retail, the honest answer is: “I’m really not sure that I know.”
- Opinion
Peter Williams: ‘The pressure is on for fewer but better stores’
After the experience of the last 10 months, do we really need shops any more? Perhaps we should start by reflecting on how they were created and why we started going to them in the first place.
- Opinion
Peter Williams: ‘The job losses are awful, but fashion needs a cull’
I joined the retail industry rather a long time ago – in 1987 to be precise, at Freemans, the traditional mailorder business that produced a 1,000-page catalogue twice a year.
- Opinion
Peter Williams: ‘A second wave, curfews, empty offices – is this as good as it gets?’
By now we had all hoped that there would be a predictable path back to some kind of steady-state resembling where we were pre-Covid.
- Opinion
Peter Williams: ‘Covid caution means it will take years for city centres to recover’
In my lifetime we have never experienced anything like the Covid pandemic. In the last few months, we have seen seismic changes in the way that both consumers shop and we, as retailers, work.
- Opinion
Peter Williams: In 2019, retailers may as well pull Christmas forecasts from a hat
With the peak trading season for many retailers just kicking off, this is the time of year for finance directors to be at their most anxious as they focus on their forecasts for the financial year.
- Opinion
Peter Williams: Sports Direct and Boohoo give me retail déjà vu
The trouble with getting old, like me, is that you see history repeating itself.
- Opinion
Peter Williams: Boots closures show what must change for stores to thrive
The news that Boots is reviewing its UK store portfolio has been met with a large degree of shock and surprise. Given what is happening to virtually every retailer with a mature store estate, why should this be the case?
- Opinion
Peter Williams: Have department stores missed the boat with digital?
Once upon a time, department stores were defined by their ability to select and edit both brands and product ranges to help customers’ purchasing decisions.
- Opinion
Opinion: Helping founding CEOs give up their 'baby'
The implementation of a chief executive succession plan is tricky in any organisation.
- Opinion
House of Fraser's numbers don't add up 20 years on
I once spent a long time looking at House of Fraser as an acquisition.
- Opinion
Opinion: How Tim Daniels transformed Selfridges
Each of us has certain people who, during our working careers, have helped us in some significant way and as a result become a positive memory.
- Opinion
Opinion: Where retailers are getting it wrong
It’s that time of year again. In the first few weeks of January, retailers report their trading over the Christmas period.
- Opinion
Opinion: How will you create your retail legacy?
With UK politics in such a precarious state, the huge unknowns flowing from the Brexit referendum and the changes in consumer shopping behaviour, I find it hard to remember a more difficult era for retailers to steer their businesses along the best path for long-term prosperity.
- Opinion
Why Amazon's grocery deal doesn’t herald offline shift
The news of Amazon’s planned acquisition of Whole Foods has inevitably led to speculation that online pureplays will ultimately all open physical stores.
- Opinion
Opinion: Why would fashion etailers open stores?
The changes in the retail landscape continue, in terms of brands and consumer behaviour.
- Opinion
Opinion: Marks & Spencer bites the bullet in changed times
The recent strategic update from Marks & Spencer perhaps marks a watershed moment for a business that has been a retail beacon for decades.
- Opinion
Opinion: the insatiable appetite for new tech signals more change in retail
When I first lived in London 40 years ago, Oxford Street stores opened 9am to 6pm Monday to Saturday and one late night until 8pm on Thursday.
