Gordon joined the company in 2002 when the brand was struggling to keep its head above water. It was losing £20m pa and was mired in debt. But now it is making £20m and has £35m in the bank. It has a presence in 38 countries around the world and a thriving Direct service. So how has he turned it around?

According to Gordon there were five key areas of focus. Firstly, it was about getting the product back to where it needed to be. "We needed to be much more fashionable with more clothing product in particular," he says. "We have very high qualities now and the contemporary nature of our design and product works all the way around the world in 38 countries."

Gordon also focused attention on 'fixing' the shop with a newly-designed high street store with a better product mix including more - and more fashionable - clothing, and a slightly reduced range of home and travel accessories, focusing on the best-sellers. Two of the out-of-town stores have also been redesigned with a new shop fit and extra services put in place, and Gordon is now planning to roll this out across all the stores.

Customer service was the third area identified, with the product knowledge of staff now greatly improved. And then came the infrastructure. The company is centralising its distribution to increase efficiency. Availability has improved from 65 per cent to 90-odd per cent.

"The fifth area is sourcing our product," says Gordon. "Pretty much everything comes from India, China or region. Now 85 per cent of our clothing is designed and manufactured directly by us in Asia.

"That has worked well and we have opened up our own offices in India."

The company is now into a growth phase this involves looking at the store portfolio, reducing the size of the largest stores, closing those in the wrong places and opening new stores to fill gaps in the coverage.

The long-term goal is for 80 per cent of the population to be within easy reach of a Mothercare store, something Gordon thinks is achievable. He points to the Direct service as another area of the business that is growing very fast. The internet and catalogue operation is drawing in 10 per cent of Mothercare's current custom and the company website is also available in all UK stores.

"Generally, in-store the staff do it for you, helping you to negotiate through the site," adds Gordon. "It's made to make us look larger. It might be a small store with a small range but most of our stuff is on-line."

Internationally, the business is also booming. In the first quarter of 2006 there was 28 per cent overseas growth and the company now has 290 stores in 38 countries.

"We are a global brand and it's very, very exciting," says Gordon, who says the latest openings have been in India where there are now five stores and more to come this year. "We hope to open 150 internationally in the next three years. There will be some new countries and some new stores in existing countries."

In the UK, Gordon doesn't want to say how many stores will open each year, instead he prefers to say that if great opportunities come along he will take them and if they don't, he won't.

With 160 stores on the high street and 75 in out-of-town centres in the UK, Mothercare is enjoying success in both formats. "They complement each other very well," says Gordon.

And with 85 per cent of pregnant mums visiting Mothercare, it is important the company keeps on its toes. "We are incredibly well-known," says Gordon, "and we have been providing outstanding specialist services and products for 40 years. We meet the needs and aspirations of parents and children."

Company results

Preliminary Results for 53 weeks ended 1 April 2006

Group sales: up 5.6% to £482.7m (2005: £457.2m)

Group pretax profit before exceptionals: up 8.7% to £21.3m (2005: £19.6m)

UK sales: up 3.4% to £414.6m (2005: £401.1m), including Direct in Home up 18.8% to £20.2m (2005: £17.0m) and Direct in Store up 34.0% to £20.9m (2005: £15.6m)

UK store like for like sales: up 0.4% in the second half (down 0.3% for the full year)

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