- Hardcover: 256 pages
- Publisher: Aurum Press Ltd (27 Oct 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1845131002
- ISBN-13: 978-1845131005
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.8 x 3.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
117,792 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #95 in Books > Business, Finance & Law > Careers > Entrepreneurship
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More About the Author
Product Description
Observer, November 27 2005
" thorough and well-written, with a linking narrative that makes it a rattling good story".
Frank Kane
Product Description
Philip Green, owner of, amongst much else, British Home Stores, reached billionaire status faster than anyone else in British history. Today he is worth [pound]3.6 billion and is reckoned to be the country's fourth richest citizen. This is the first biography of a man whose aggressive business tactics and brash lifestyle have transformed the staid image of British retailing, and who is likely to remain in the headlines for as long as his ultimate prize, Marks & Spencer, continues to elude his grasp.. A middle-class Jewish boy from North London who left school at fifteen, Green started and failed with four businesses before he made it with his fifth venture, Jean Jeannie, which he sold to Lee Cooper for an enormous profit that set him on the road to fame and fortune. But there were pitfalls on the way; in particular, his involvement with Amber Day, a public company, left him with an abiding dislike for both the City establishment and outside investors. Ever since, he has relied upon a close group of like-minded entrepreneurs, including Tom Hunter the sports shoe millionaire and the Barclay twins, to help fund his buccaneering forays into Britain's High Streets. The authors describe Green's takeover and highly profitable break up of the Sears empire created by one of his business heroes, Charles Clore, and his first audacious attempt to seize control of Marks & Spencer at the end of 1999. Frustrated, in part by what were widely perceived as unfair tactics on the part of M&S, Green then turned his attention to the ailing BHS, for which he paid a mere [pound]200 million and then transformed its fortunes to such an extent that, in 2004, he was able to transfer dividends totalling [pound]400 million to his Monaco tax haven. His appetite unsated, Green then turned his attention to the Arcadia Group, which included brands such as Miss Selfridge, Top Shop and Dorothy Perkins before making another bid for M&S in 2004. Again he was folled, partly because of what he saw as treachery on the part of his former protege Stuart Rose, the man who was appointed by M&S to see off Green's bid. But there seems little doubt that, given the opportunity, he will be back and that this time the personal grudge between the two men will give the contest an added bitterness.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Rather boring,
By
This review is from: Top Man: How Philip Green Built His High Street Empire (Paperback)
I thought I would give this book a go and at times, I did get into it. Other times it was laborious and hard work. I wanted to learn from this book and Philip Green but I didn't. There is incredible detail which is unnecessary and by the time I was about 1/3 of the way through the book, I could already see a pattern of how things would develop and I was right. 2/3 of the way through I put the book down and filed it in my bookcase.
I wanted to learn from the master but the information just didn't come through...
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Britains real Power is Business Not the Politics of Whitehall,
By
This review is from: Top Man: How Philip Green Built His High Street Empire (Paperback)
An intresting read but then Green is an intresting character an intresting flawed a character but non the less a major flair player in British power games.
This bio dwels on Greens early life and ends w near about the time he lanunched his audicious bid for control of M&S. There are not too many pages and with colourfull mavrick character as a subject it is a page turner which is acesable to a reader who has no experiance of Business. The style is lean and to the point and the writer is fair to his subject although Green is ultimatly a some what elusive figure in comparsion to a more public figure such as Alan Sugar and despite his sharp piercing wit gives little a way the writer manages to build up a clear picture of Green and the world he inhibits, in adition laying bare the facts that this country's political system is woryingly in awe of Green and his Business elite.
9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Business Icon's Candid Biography,
By
This review is from: Top Man: How Philip Green Built His High Street Empire (Hardcover)
Authors Stewart Lansley and Andy Forrester do a good job of crafting the story of Philip Green, who bullied, connived, intimidated, schemed, blustered and outworked his way to the top of the heap in British retailing. The son of "business-obsessed" parents, Green learned the value of driving a hard bargain early in life. He specialized in buying goods at distressed prices so that later he could appear gracious when he sold them for a low price and put a tidy profit in his pocket. As the authors deftly portray, Green was a master of retail haggling. In fact, one disappointment is that the book doesn't deviate from its "business-icon biography" mode to delve more deeply into the attitudes and techniques that made Green a killer dealmaker. Guile, intimidation and ruthlessness no doubt played major roles. The authors do a thorough, creditable job of telling the inside story of how Green clawed his way to his current rank as Britain's fifth richest person. At times, however, they focus too much on internal political intricacies that may not interest most readers. That said, we recommend this interesting portrait of a retail tycoon whose whims still affect the daily lives of tens of thousands of Brits.
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