What: A reflection of the CEO of Harvey Nichols on her journey since day one.

Why it is important: Appointed 10 days before the pandemic, Malothra had to figure out by herself the means to face an unprecedented situation. The synergies with its shareholder based in Hong Kong and with previous experiences of pandemic proved quite helpful.

Harvey Nichols is owned by Dickson Group and represents eight stores in the UK and Ireland. Manju Malothra joined the company in 1998 as an audit manager, and climbed her way across the company since then, till joining the top position 10 days before the Covid hit in 2020.

For her, her inexperience at the job was compensated by the fact that she intimately knew the company, and that she, as other CEOs, had to face something entirely new, where creativity and resilience were more important than previous experience. In addition, Dickson Group, based in Hong Kong, already had experiences of pandemic, and could guide her into making the right decisions, such as closing stores before the government mandate and relocate stocks to its warehouses instead of stores.

Harvey Nichols posted a turnover of £121.3m in 2020 (year ending in March 2021), -45% compared to the previous year, and losses increased from £16.3m to £39.6m.

For Malothra, the death of department stores is a fable, as she mentions that Harvey Nichols, still seen as an authority in the country when it comes to Fashion, has competitive advantages: a curated offer, and a solid customer base.

Interview of Manju Malothra, CEO of Harvey Nichols