Passionate about retail, the former Blackwell commercial director has taken on the challenge of resurrecting the three times failed fashion retailer Ethel Austin. Nicola Harrison reports.

Interests

Animal welfare, spending quality time with family and friends in the Ramblers Rest, Coulsdon and watching Arsenal with her husband

To attempt to resurrect Ethel Austin, Sue Townsend must be a bit of a risk-taker. Some of her interests back up that view – she is a big fan of Formula 1, and finds many similarities between the high energy, fast paced sport and retail.

“For me there are so many similarities between Formula 1 and retail, it’s a team and individual sport, has complex strategies that have to be flexible to manage the ever-changing conditions and competition and there is no time to go slow,” says Townsend.

She will be putting that ethos into practice when she attempts the turnaround of Life & Style. Townsend acquired 62 Life & Style stores out of administration for £1.5m last month, and revealed last week that she will dump the brand in favour of the chain’s previous name, Ethel Austin – which remains the name above the door of many of Life & Style’s shops.

The straight-talker plans to take advantage the “fantastic brand and with a deep heritage”, returning the retailer’s offer to “fashion basics at a good price”.

She hopes the loyal Ethel Austin customer base will return to stores. It will be a hard slog for a retailer that has collapsed into administration three times, but you would not bet against the strong-willed and enthusiastic Townsend, who is driven by challenges, particularly turnarounds “where you see the foundations take root and grow”.

She has the strong retail background that should help, having started in the industry when she was 16 as a Saturday assistant in Littlewoods’ food hall.

After her first taste of retail, Townsend was hooked. “My parents weren’t initially impressed when only a year later I announced that I would not be going to university as I knew that I had found the career for me. I wanted to be a retailer,” she says.

The determined youngster joined Bhs, then part of the Storehouse group, and was soon put on a management training programme. Townsend says experience there, and afterwards at then sister chain Mothercare, refined her retailing and operational skills and gave her the “opportunity to be developed by some exceptional retailers, many of which are still supporting and encouraging me to this day”.

Career history

2011 Owner/chief executive, Ethel Austin

2009 Founder/managing director, Gifted In

2005 to 2009 Commercial director, Blackwell UK

2003 to 2005 What If Consulting

1995 to 2003 Retail operations field roles and trading executive, Mothercare

1986 to 1995 Various roles, Bhs

Chris Martin, chief executive of Irish grocer Musgrave and colleague at Storehouse, has been an influence in her career and helped Townsend develop a numbers-driven approach to retailing.

The Arsenal fan also admires “strong women who have the courage of their convictions”, including Ann Summers chief executive Jacqueline Gold and her own mother.

The 44-year-old people-person loves the personal side of retail – working in enthusiastic retail teams that are “passionate, goal oriented, eternal optimists and always loads of fun”. “My teams are always my inspiration and motivation. Every day you can learn something new in retail and it’s normally from your own team,” she says.

Townsend regards her first promotion to department manager at Bhs as a stand-out moment in her career, as well as winning the Everywoman Director of the Year Award, because she was nominated by her team, suppliers and peer group.

Did Townsend ever consider an alternative career to retail? Joining the RAF or becoming a commercial airline pilot was a dream at one point, but there was one big stumbling block – a fear of flying. “It was going to be somewhat hindering,” jokes Townsend.

She may have missed out on a life in the clouds, but Townsend will have to endure increasingly turbulent times in retail as she relaunches Ethel Austin. But with her grit and determination, the retailer may take flight once again.