He's become an unofficial ambassador for Derby and runs a blossoming contact solutions business, but he hasn't forgotten his retail roots, writes Mark Simmons.
When David Turner, chief executive of HEROtsc, talked exclusively to Estates Gazette as part of its East Midlands Focus (published last Saturday) about the rationale behind his company taking space in one of the former Egg buildings on Derby's Pride Park, he admitted to keeping his eye on the retail pulse by slipping down to Westfield Derby for a quick browse.
The former store manager for Marks & Spencer, who went on to become one of the executives responsible for setting up M&S Direct before jumping ship to the call centre industry, was very impressed by Hammerson's redeveloped Highcross centre when he recently went on a shopping expedition in Leicester. He admits: "I'm still smitten by the retail bug. I quite like shopping, which is unusual for a man." Particularly, perhaps, for a man who represented his city in his youth playing rugby. Nowadays his tackles are more likely to involve scrums at the checkout. He says: "Bricks and mortar retailing is certainly going to change. There will always be bricks and mortar, but I don't see the need for the same capacity in future as there is now."
Shopping centre developers take note!
Click below to listen to David talk about why HEROtsc chose to occupy office space on Derby's Pride Park and the company's plans for future office expansion.
