Profile Julie Abraham Sound of success Long known for its first-class customer service and exemplary employee retention rates, Richer Sounds is braving the perfect storm of Brexit, Covid-19 and the Ukraine conflict to emerge as a stand-out hero of the high street. Jane Simms catches up with chief executive Julie Abraham T hirteen years and counting feels like a long apprenticeship. But Julie Abraham, anointed by Richer Sounds founder Julian Richer in 2009 as his eventual successor, has relished every day of it. Eight years of close mentoring until Richer formally appointed her as chief executive in 2017 allowed her to learn from everything Julians learned over the years, she says, adding: I feel very privileged to have had that opportunity. As the company battles the fallout from the pandemic and Brexit, combined with the rising cost of living, the learning curve goes on. Many entrepreneurs struggle to relinquish control of the companies they have founded, usually to the detriment of those businesses, but Richer has long been preoccupied with succession. The most tangible and high-profile manifestation of this was his decision, in May 2019, to transfer 60% of the shares in Richer Sounds, the hi-fi and TV retail chain he founded in 1978, to his employees. He had just turned 60 the age at which his father died suddenly and he felt the time was right to pass the baton. Abraham didnt see her promotion coming. When Julian started to talk about a successor, never in a million years did I think it would be me, she says. He obviously spotted something in me that even I didnt know was there. There were several things, says Richer. Julie had no background in electronics when she joined us, but she did a few different things round the business and adapted very well. Shes loyal, hardworking and well liked, but, most important for a leader, she has great judgement. Unusually for Richer Sounds, Abraham joined head office from the outside. In common with the other directors though, shes been at the company a long time indeed, her 28-year tenure makes her something of a newbie. She had been working for IBM in Bahrain and, while back in the UK on holiday, had coffee with a friend who was marketing director at Richer Sounds. The next thing I knew, Id agreed to have an interview for a job, she recalls. Shortly afterwards, on the day the company opened its 14th store, she joined as a purchasing analyst. It was a big departure, Abraham admits, but Richer Sounds was small and dynamic, so I had the chance to progress. The company has always recruited on attitude and personality, confident it can train people in the right skills. Abraham headed up stock control and purchasing, as well as IT, as she worked her way through and up the business. Then, one bank holiday at Christmas, Julian rang me out of the blue and asked me if Id like to take over from him one day, she says. I thought it was a bit like one of those little Break in case of emergency boxes you see. He gave me a week or so to think about it and I realised there was more to it than that. It has been, she adds, fantastic to work so closely with the man whose legendary leadership skills and business philosophy are encapsulated in the cult classic The Richer Way, now in its sixth edition, and embraced by a raft of retailers eager to see what a sprinkling of Richer dust might do for their organisations. Instead of the resentment that can often creep in when a founder stays too close to a new management team, Abraham counts herself and her colleagues very lucky that Richer, who calls 16 Impact ISSUE 38 2022_pp16-19_Profile.indd 16 22/06/2022 14:52