with Brian Keogh
CEO of JML Direct
The passing of its founder and chair, John Mills, in April this year is a loss still very clearly felt within JML. It’s a testament to his legacy that JML would change the face of retail for so many reasons.
Its CEO, Brian Keogh, spoke to MacGregor Black’s Finance Consultant, Fraser Graham, about his rise up the ranks after 21 years there and the things he learned from the great man, and others, throughout his career, and how that’s shaped his approach to leadership.
The Evolution of a Retail Pioneer
Ask anyone to think of JML, and most will fondly recall instructional videos at aisle ends in DIY or homewares stores, or the legendary late-night teleshopping experiences that JML became pioneers of, and would spawn a whole industry of UK Teleshopping channels.
It might come as a surprise, therefore, to hear how Brian Keogh, JML’s CEO, is already plotting JML’s future beyond the TV screen as a means to maintain the businesses outstanding growth and performance as a pioneer in the UK retail space in the last 30 years.
It’s not revelatory news to hear Brian’s view of how TV consumption has been totally transformed since the founder of the business, the late, great John Mills, realised the opportunities for TV to drive its unique retail platform forward.
Brian revealed:
“Over the next few years, we’re going to make a transition from TV advertising to social advertising. Linear TV is where we spend most of our advertising money at this moment in time, and it remains the best way to drive sales volume. But at some point over the next three, five, maybe ten years, that’s not going to be the case, because fewer people are watching TV than ever before.”
JML has built a loyal audience through TV, and while he doesn’t take that for granted, he acutely understands that TV isn’t where they’ll continue to win volumes of new fans.
“We need to reach new audiences, and to do that, it’s going to be through social advertising. We need to serve them on their platforms. We’ll be smart about product selection and finding products that appeal to them, so that you’re marketing in the right way to them. It’s going to be a big transition, and that’s not going to happen overnight for us.”
Brian outlines JMLs plans in social as one of the two exciting developments within the business. The other is the onset of AI. He clearly has an appetite for evolution and embracing it in all its forms.
“All businesses are looking for efficiencies and better ways of doing things, especially if tech can free people up to do other things. I sense we’re just scratching the surface of AI’s capabilities, but we’re using it in our packaging, and for copy and image enhancement – things that are time-saving and money-saving as well. So I’m watching closely on how AI adapts, and then how we can adapt to that, over the next three to four years.”
The passing of John Mills, founder of JML back in the mid 80s, is keenly felt by Brian, but he only touches fleetingly on it when asked about what he’d like his own legacy to be during our time together.
He pauses.
“My own legacy? I really don’t know what the honest answer is to that. John’s legacy is the important thing here. His legacy is about what he’s delivered for JML. He was a visionary man. He was well ahead of his time with in-store videos. He was very active politically, an economist by trade, such an intelligent man. He was great with product, and just instinctively knew what would sell well. So when we talk about legacy, I can only say that his is everything that JML has become.”
“If people are talking about me personally? Well, I’d just like to be known as a nice guy. Judged for my abilities, for my personality, for my intellect. And wherever I am, I hope I create a better place to work for the people that I work with.”
From Field Team to the Boardroom
Brian Keogh is an affable, approachable individual. A man who left school in Scotland at 16, but stresses this wasn’t because he was a ‘dropout’ in any shape. He left with several impressive grades, but knew further and higher education wasn’t his calling. He was ready to start earning.
“I remember my first salary was £4,000 a year. That felt like a fortune to a teenager!”
Job number one, office administrator at a printing firm, taught him lessons he never quite realised at the time, but turning his hand to anything and everything – from making the tea to being the internal mail man – taught him a lot about the office environment. He quickly gained promotions as an eager youngster, and was soon exposed to some of the finer points of business operations, working at that firm across buying, selling, logistics and operations.
Already, an all-rounder was being shaped, and under the wing of an individual he would later recognise as a huge influence on his own management style, he worked successfully there for four years.
“At the time, I just thought my boss was a bit officious, a bit hard on people. But when I look back at the way he managed different people in different ways, he was a great people person. He knew those in his team who’d need the carrot and who would need the stick. I just didn’t see it at the time.”
“I was a 17-year-old lad thinking ‘This guy’s shouting at me – what’s going on here?’ But looking back, that was a pivotal moment, because I’ve taken a lot of the good parts of what I saw in his leadership style into what I’ve developed and how I’ve progressed my career over the years.”
Turning 20, a sales job at Carphone Warehouse beckoned before Brian’s relationship with JML then began in 2004. And once more it was a case of learning all sides of the business. He picks up the story:
“I started off in our field team, driving a big Transit van around, merchandising stores, helping the reps, picking stock up from stores, working back from lock-ups and so on. I’ll be honest, it was probably the most enjoyable job I’ve had! You’re out and about in the fresh air, doing manual work, meeting normal people in shops. It was really good. Such a brilliant learning ground.”
From there, Brian moved into sales and regional account management, and that’s where his ascent really started to accelerate. He worked regionally managing Asda and, at the time, with Woolworths for JML.
“Woolworths was our biggest customer at the time. We were in all 820 stores and did massive business with them. We worked at a regional level to grow our promotional count in stores, gain better locations, change the merchandising plans, and really drive sales. That was my first experience with sales at that level.”
A move into national account management soon arrived and he would split his time between Edinburgh and London, and also take on the national accounts for Asda and Boots, two of JML’s biggest customers.
He admits:
“That was the proper eye-opener. You go from being at a regional level, thinking ‘I know what I’m doing here’ to then dealing with head offices and buyers who are very smart, very sharp. Never trying to trip you up, but definitely operating at a higher level than what you’ve previously experienced.”
“I know I made mistakes, especially in the way I communicated. But the best thing I could do was learn from that and adapt going forward. Asda was always a great company to deal with. They were very clear on what they expected from you as a supplier, very clear on what they expected when you weren’t performing as they expected, and that’s all you can really ask for.”
“I was lucky to have some buyers who were very honest and transparent. We knew where we stood, and that really helped me.”
Brian was appointed sales director of the retail business at JML after this period, which was then quickly followed by being installed as chief sales officer and a seat on the board which would encompass a remit across retail, direct-to-consumer sales in the UK, and international distribution partners.
Brian says the teamwork between the other board members became seamless.
“There were three key directors: Ken Daly, our CEO, Shaun Tebble, our COO and me as CSO. and in the background was John as chairman, keeping a keen eye on the three of us. We ran the day-to-day business, and you were involved in everything, never just staying in your lane. You were involved in logistics, product development, and marketing. It was all-encompassing.”
“Getting to grips with the additional parts of the business he’d had no prior experience in was, Brian admits, a tough challenge. Direct-to-consumer, particularly, was a completely different animal to what I was used to. The skills you need are different, people speak in acronyms and terms you don’t initially understand, but you grow your knowledge and you learn from the people around you. That’s stood me in really good stead to get to where I am now.”
The education was positive and Brian was made CEO in the summer of 2024.
Leadership, Legacy & Looking Ahead
He felt the difference immediately:
“Being the person making the final decision is very different to being second or third in command. You’re no longer able to hide behind anything or anyone and you’ve got full responsibility.”
“I embraced that. For me, that was a good thing. I had lots of ideas, lots of things I wanted to improve, and I’ve managed to implement a lot of those now.”
And what are those improvements?
“Some of them, people might not even notice. A lot of it has been subtle. It’s been more around people; the working environment, creating a space where people feel comfortable expressing opinions, using the structures to their advantage, rather than just relying on an individual’s thoughts or decisions. It’s more about cultivating a team spirit and taking the best from each person and using that for strong decision-making.”
But then he also talks about another inspiration, and the great Sir Alex Ferguson, who would famously and very publicly tear the proverbial strip off any so-called ‘superstar’ on the playing staff if they were seen to disrespect any other member of staff at Manchester United.
“What I do well is the ability to communicate across all levels of the business. It’s kind of like the old Fergie style – where you can comfortably talk to the cleaner, your boardroom team, and everyone else in between. I think that’s really important because what I’m trying to do is create an environment where people aren’t afraid to speak up. You can only really do that if they believe they won’t be ridiculed.”
He credits this approach, and a talk many years ago (one he admits that at the time he paid little attention to), to creating an environment where people feel empowered to talk freely.
“I think emotional intelligence is really important. We did this amazing thing, which I didn’t think was amazing at the time, about 14 or 15 years ago. We brought in Dr Paul Stoltz from the US. He wrote a book about emotional intelligence and EQ theory. I have to admit at the time, we all laughed at it. We thought it was just some crazy American thing with lots of buzzwords. But looking back, what he says is really sensible.”
“It was about soaking up and embracing all the different ideas and approaches. Dr Stoltz talks a lot about ‘campers’ and ‘climbers’ within a business. It’s about innovation and fostering culture. The theory is you need a mix of campers and climbers: people who are happy to get on with the day job and keep things running (the campers), and those who strive for more and want to do more, the climbers. Finding the right balance is key.”
Brian says he’s also learnt that he too must be a learner.
“You can’t be happy with everything you do. Self-reflection is really important for leaders and I don’t see that in every leader I come across. But self-reflection, understanding you can make mistakes, and asking yourself ‘What can I do better next time? How can I communicate differently?’ That’s a real skill.”
Life at the top has not all been plain sailing, and Brian admits he has had to make some tough decisions about people he’d rather not have to.
“My remit was clear: reduce operating costs, improve margins, and get the company back to profitability. Within six to eight months, we’ve made a big difference. Unfortunately, we’ve had to lose a couple of roles within the business, and we’ve outsourced some functions.”
Couple that with a thorough review and resetting of supplier contracts, and you can see why Brian, while talking extensively about striving to be a people person, isn’t afraid to make unpopular decisions when it comes to the wider benefit of the business.
Finally, we address the elephant in the room. Any one individual spending 21 years at a single company is a rarity. How does he reflect on the principle that people like him are something of a dying breed?
“I’d be lying if I told you I’ve loved every single day of those 21 years. If anyone did, they’d be some sort of weird robot. Whatever job you’re in, there are going to be times when you question things. Overall though? Yes, 21 years have gone really quickly.”
A deep, deep understanding of the business and its people coupled with an enormous desire to embrace new technologies and new ways of communicating and engaging with customers, you feel the late John Mills will sleep comfortably knowing JML has a bright future with Brian at the helm.