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The merger between Dixons Retail and Carphone Warehouse should not become a ‘game of thrones’, with execs fighting for senior positions, says its CEO.
No, there will be no King Joffreys, Mothers of Dragons or Rob Starks vying for the top spots here.
Speaking at an FT Innovate event in London, Dixons Carphone CEO Sebastian James was asked about criticism the firm had received in the past, where the management structure was described as “teetering top-heavy", reports The Drum.
And he replied with a reference to HBO’s popular TV show Game of Thrones.
"We were very determined this should not become a game of thrones; that we would reject intrigue. All the people in both teams on Carphone and Dixons sides are very nice, and that’s helpful because there are no unpleasant types jockeying for position," he said.
"Fundamentally over a period of six to seven years, you design a businesses which you want to live in, and that’s what we have done.”
James also said: "[The Dixons Carphone merger] has been more successful and easier than we dared hope.
“We’ve had quite a year, in which we have brought together two strong businesses that had been through their own big transformations in the last five years – from being fundamentally product centric to being much more customer centric."
He admitted the idea for the merger originally dated back to December 18th 2013, when he and former Carphone Warehouse CEO Andrew Harrison talked about how they could work together to change how they talk to customers about merging technologies.
PCR interviewed James and Harrison earlier this year, who said: "We’ll have a store five minutes from your home or office."
