Succession not an issue in Future Group

The Future Group will continue to be led by a family member, who would be chosen on merit and contribution to the business, according to Rakesh Biyani, the chief executive of the group’s retail business and cousin to the founder-promoter, Kishore Biyani.

Clearing the air on the issue of succession and the role of professionals in the group, the younger Biyani said: “I find it very awkward to think so early about succession when my elder brother, Kishore, is still young, not even 50. I wonder why nobody asks who is going to succeed Mukesh Ambani, who owns the biggest business empire in the country.”

Speaking on the sidelines of the launch of the biggest Planet Sports store, at Ambience Mall in South Delhi’s Vasant Kunj area, he said there was no discussion on succession going on within the promoter family. “I believe (it) would be decided on the merit of the family members, just like in any other corporate house. We, as a family, do have expectations to take our business forward.”

Commenting on the recent reports of Kishore Biyani maintaining among his family that they should perform the role of mentors and let the professionals run the business, Rakesh Biyani said, “Even I am not interested in doing day-to-business. We, as a family, have always been mentors and our business has been run by professionals so far. Retail is about setting details. Kishore has set the details of his business long back. As the chief executive of retail operations, my job is to think about future expansion and long-term goals, rather than dealing with day-to-day business affairs. My responsibility is to see that my team works in one direction, towards my strategic destination.”

Growth plans
On Future Group’s tie-up with Carrefour, the French retail giant, he said, “There is a 100 per cent probability of government allowing FDI (foreign direct investing) in multi-brand retailing within the next three months. We are just expecting things in our favour soon. Discussions are also on with Carrefour about a franchise agreement.”

On expansion plans, he said, “We will be coming up with 10 such superstores (15,000-18,000 sq ft area) of Planet Sports by next year. The stores will have extensive offering for lifestyle products, sportswear and equipment across all categories of swimming, water sports, squash, tennis, outdoor, adventure sports, running, training, yoga, golf, fitness, basketball and motor sports. We aim to have the largest collection of international sports and lifestyle brands like Converse, Speedo, Wilson, Prince, Skechers, Salomon, Reebok, Nike and Adidas under one roof. Our focus will be only on metros and mini-metros for Planet Sports’ expansion.”

About Future Group’s tie-up with big builders to provide finishing touches, kitchen fittings and furnishing to homes, he said, “A ‘Design and Build’ service category is just an evolving business vertical for us. Our main focus is still on retail. We are just experimenting with this decision. As a businessman, I would like to utilise every opportunity that comes my way. After buying a semi-finished house, one has to run from pillar to post to get fittings and furnishings of that house done. We realised a big potential here; hence, we have tied up with two construction companies. One is Lavasa Township near Pune and the other one is Nirmal Lifestyle Ltd in Mumbai, as of now.”