Outdoor gear chain Tiso has gone through a “perfect storm” to thrive under new ownership, its boss, Chris Tiso, tells Erikka Askeland
It’s nearly Christmas and I meet Chris Tiso at his shop in Aberdeen.
Named after his family, Tiso was set up by his father, Graham, and mum, Maude, in 1962.
The chain of 17 outdoor-wear and “experience” shops has been described as “iconic” by its relatively new parent company, JD Sports.
Mr Tiso, its boyishly energetic 43-year-old chief executive, has retained 40% ownership of the business since the larger, FTSE 250 group took control just over a year ago.
It is now part of JD Sports’ outdoor division, which includes Millets and Blacks, shop brands that the Bury-based company rescued from administration in 2012.
Back then, Mr Tiso was almost at pains to insist to fans and supporters that nothing would change.
The chain, which caters to outdoor enthusiasts in need of specialist gear and sturdy boots, rather than shell-suit fashion items that just happen to be waterproof, would retain its brand and its commitment to quality.
There are skis leaning up against a banister, part of a recent investment to expand its Blues the Ski Shop brand into its stores in the north.
As we drink a coffee overlooking an array of warm fleece clothing and serious looking climbing gear, Mr Tiso says he has kept his promise to his 300 staff and his customers.
“The year has just flown by. It has been a really exciting year in a lot of ways. Most of all because of how much we have been able to do which has been genuinely exciting,” he enthuses.
JD paid £2million for its stake in Tiso, which also includes Alpine Bikes and George Fisher in Keswick, while also advancing £5million to allow the outdoors chain to settle part of its debts.
The firm, which had booked losses in 2013 and 2012, had been hit by what Mr Tiso describes as a “perfect storm” which meant it was time to start looking for support. The deal was part of a trend which has seen outdoor retailers such Cotswold become owned by Lion Capital, and Nevisport by Trespass.
“We saw simultaneously a couple of disappointing winters back to back, a significant increase in competition, and a faltering economy. For an outdoor retail specialist that is a pretty potent combination,” he recalls.
“We didn’t just do the deal because of a couple of challenges. The business had been around for over 50 years and we had weathered our fair share of storms – and we had had our fair share of bright days too.
“What had become increasingly clear over the course of the last decade was what could only be described as inevitable consolidation in the market.
“It was a market which was maturing and growing more sophisticated and more discerning. It was becoming more aggressive and more competitive too.
“There comes a point where you can reflect on everything you have achieved as a stand-alone business.
“We are really proud as a family of everything we have achieved as an independent business. We funded all our growth and expansion organically. That is something to be proud of.
“But you also have to look to the future, and say, OK, if we want to be a player, we want to not just hold on to market share, we want it to increase.”
Mr Tiso worked on the deal with JD executive chairman Peter Cowgill, which meant he was able to forge a strategic alliance with a group that understands the retail market. JD “gets” Tiso, he says.
“They are not trying to apply a one-size-fits-all formula to us. They see and understand what makes us special and different.
“We talk about it in terms of partnership. This was never about JD taking over Tiso. It was never about Tiso exiting. I’m still here.
He is now prepared to launch further investment in the business – one that perhaps he wasn’t in a position to consider before the buyout.
Already the firm has invested six figures into stock and refits for its stores in Aberdeen and Inverness, and next year the Alpine Bikes shop, an Aberdeen-based chain, will also get refurbished.
Tiso relocated both its stores in Inverness and Aberdeen to bigger premises a few years ago.
In Aberdeen, the firm took over a former carpet shop on John Street. It has the highest conversion rate in the chain – a measure of the number of customers and how much they spend.
“We needed to relocate to bigger premises. We could never have hoped to get premises of this size, with a car park, slap bang in the middle of town.
“Even if we could, we couldn’t have afforded it. I believe we have an Aladdin’s cave for the outdoors,” he says proudly.
“Literally it is a harsh climate up here. If you live and work and play in Aberdeen and Inverness, chances are you need some protective clothing for your body and your feet. It is a really strategic location for us.”
The group has had the shop in Aberdeen for well over 20 years – Mr Tiso says he can’t quite remember when it opened as it was set up when he was a lad.
He was only just out of boyhood – at the age of 21 – when he took over the business after his father died in a tragic boating accident in 1992, forcing Mr Tiso into the hotseat.
Nor was this the last setback Mr Tiso was to face. A few years after taking over the running of the business, he suffered a brain haemorrage before he even hit 30.
And at the start of this year, his 50-year-old brother, Donald, died after falling on a munro near Oban.
It is his mother who has backed him in his drive to keep the business going.
Still cheerful and with enthusiasm undimmed, Mr Tiso remains an active outdoors enthusiast and is pleased to be getting remarried soon.
What would his father think of what he has achieved?
“The business was founded by my mother and father. My mother is still alive. She’ll be 80 next year. I know that she is very, very proud, not least of the fact it has been a long and mostly happy – but at times rocky – road over the past few years, but we are still here.
“What she is particularly proud of is not the size or scale of the business. What she is proud of is the business is still true to the principles it was founded on. Those were her principles. Those were all about service and about applying quality and integrity to everything we do.
“When it is an eponymous business – and if you are a proud man, and I am – you have got to be able, with a clear conscience, to defend everything your business stands for. Do you know what, I can.
“He’d (his father) be proud of how it has changed. The world has changed and we have changed with it.”