The boss of Topps Tiles’ largest shareholder has fired another verbal salvo at the chain, after it defended its strategy and communication with shareholders.
MS Galleon, which owns 29.9% of the chain, had demanded an overhaul of its leadership and strategy but the retailer replied that it listens to shareholders and digital expansion was t the heart of its strategy.
However the group responded that the statement showed ‘management are incapable of recognising the seriousness of the current situation’ and repeated its criticism of a ‘lack of vision and strategy’ in the business.
Piotr Lipko, MS Galleon md said Topps Tiles is ‘nowhere near being “a truly omnichannel” business,’ adding: ‘We are yet to see them “listening closely” to what we have to say.’
He claimed the online sales referred to by Topps’s statement were ‘almost exclusively derived from Pro Tiler, a separate, online pure play business bought two years ago as part of a costly acquisition. The reality is that Topps Tiles is predominantly a bricks and mortar business with a poorly optimised store portfolio that was written down by £19.4m at last week’s results.
‘This lack of vision and strategy to transform into a modern, omnichannel, online-driven business is largely the reason for the current poor state of the business.’
MS Galleon has previously tried to oust previous chairman Darren Shapland after the chain refused to switch its product sourcing to MS Galleon’s subsidiaries.
