Nick Hollingworth, chief executive of Austin Reed, is a retail man through and through. Before taking the helm of the 106-year- old clothes store, Mr Hollingworth was a managing director of Arcadia Group where he controlled the Dorothy Perkins and Burton chains. Before that he was group managing director of Etam and Evans, and he has enjoyed an uninterrupted series of senior retail appointments for the past 15years.
Although Austin Reed represents the most upmarket of his jobs, it is also the most taxing. Yesterday, Mr Hollingworth rejected a bid approach from the property group Dawnay Day. The famous gentleman’s outfitter has attracted endless takeover interest from other retailers, property funds and from the grandson of the group’s founder. With such interest, it is no wonder that Mr Hollingworth’s favourite word at the time of his appointment to Austin Reed was “ discombobulate”, meaning “to throw into confusion”.