Peter Williams
Peter Williams is chair of Superdry, Mister Spex and Sophia Webster
OpinionPeter 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.
- Opinion
Opinion: A question put to Sir Philip Green that could restore public trust
The parliamentary inquiries into BHS and Sports Direct do not show the side of the retail business that Peter Williams recognises.
- Opinion
Opinion: Why an unclear retail proposition will ultimately fail
At the Retail Week Live conference a few weeks ago, I listened to Darren Topp, chief executive of BHS, and Ted Baker’s Ray Kelvin.
- Opinion
Opinion: Crossrail is a Christmas gift for retailers in London’s West End
Crossrail benefits are already starting to show with station revamps kick-starting the rejuvenation of the West End shopping experience.
- Opinion
Peter Williams: Reunions remind me how retail’s changed, mostly for the good
Sadly - for me - I’m in an era of my life when I am passing certain landmarks, and I’ve recently been to two significant reunions.
- Opinion
Comment: Drive footfall by making Oxford Street vehicle free
Shoppers deserve much better than the dangerous, polluted conditions stifling pedestrians on London’s busiest high street.
- Opinion
Comment: Retail’s unique vitality is due to its diversity
The diverse and inclusive mix of staff and shoppers that makes the retail industry so exciting is worth protecting across the sector.
