New Comet director looking to make revived business 'as efficient as possible'

Comet’s new director Shawn Lamb has outlined how the revived business will move forward

Comet's new director Shawn Lamb has outlined how he aims to move the revived business forward while making it "as efficient as possible".

Comet was founded in 1933 and became a staple of the UK retail market before its demise in 2012 saw 6,500 jobs lost.

But UK Computer Group, which is now known as the Misco Technologies Group, revived the name in 2019 having bought the rights from Deloitte, which was acting as liquidator.

Lamb said his goal now is to "resurrect the brand" and will pick "a battle at a time" as the business moves forward.

He told CRN: "I think it's difficult to wage a war with someone the size of Amazon. Across the board, you'll pick individual battles and do a great job at marketing and promoting selling individual items and growing from there. I likened it to winning a war by winning a battle at a time.

"Our goal is to resurrect the brand. So where I see it, I see it as a solid organisation that does a great thing for its customers and suppliers."

In a recent interview with CRN, Misco MD Adam Muir said that Comet is "predominantly an online business".

Asked how Comet can avoid a repeat of what happened in 2012, Lamb said not having retail locations will have a "big impact".

He said: "Most businesses go out of business because of their cost structure. Competition rarely puts you out of business, it's your cost that puts you out of business.

"I think that we're going to remain a lean organisation and try to be as efficient as possible. Not having retail locations will have a big impact on that."

Lamb added that the "sentiment around the brand seems to be pretty strong" and is "excited" to take Comet forward.

He said: "This hopefully in a couple of years will be a feel-good story.

"I've been really excited about the amount of vendors that are happy to engage with us. There's been unbelievable support from both old friends and new suppliers."