INTERVIEW: David Hammond

THERE is a breed of entrepreneur in Scotland whose activities teeter on the edge of showbiz. Their doings are as often at the front of the paper as on the business pages. Publicity is their meat and drink.

David Hammond, who used to employ high-profile retail entrepreneur Tom Hunter as a babysitter, is emphatically not among their number.

The chief executive of the Original Shoe Company chain - now one of Scotland's biggest retailers - does not usually speak to the media, appear in his own adverts, have a glossy PR machine, or go to glitzy award dinners.

''I'd have to borrow a black tie to go to an award ceremony,'' he said at his home in Ayrshire. ''I haven't even got a suit.''

Hammond is a country mile away from the fast-talking executive stereotype. He has just done a deal which has doubled the size of his company overnight, he is estimated to be personally worth millions, and he is planning expansion into England and Ireland.

However, when he drove up to his headquarters in Cumnock, his first conversation was with his warehouse manager.

He wanted to know if he would see him at Shawfield that night. ''Your dog's in the first race and mine's in the final,'' he told him. ''I'll see you there at eight, eh?''

Hammond is a miner's son from five generations of miners. He never made it to the pits because they closed down just as he was leaving school in Kirkconnell, but he is proud of the fact that now he is employing the sons and daughters of the men who lost their jobs then.

Before he bought the beleaguered Sports Connection out of receivership last month for a sum approaching (pounds) 3m, Original Shoe had 36 stores and 470 employees across the UK. The enlarged group now has 60 stores and 700 employees. It made (pounds) 1.5m operating profit on turnover of (pounds) 25m last year and is projecting (pounds) 50m turnover this year.

He is speaking now because he is keen to gain some recognition for his young team - which has an average age of 22 and includes his three children. He also feels the role of the Bank of Scotland was not sufficiently recognised when he did the Sports Connection deal.

''The best business decision I ever made was teaming up with the Bank of Scotland,'' he said. ''They are almost entrepreneurial, and they are not afraid of retail - unlike some banks which are not happy unless they have a charge over your property.

''This bank knows what retail is about, and they don't come knocking on your door if you have a bad week. Scotland should be proud of a company like that.''

BoS supplied extended facilities for the Sports Connection deal, and Hammond also had advice from his 20% venture capital partner, Aberdeen Asset Management.

Blair Nimmo, of KPMG corporate recovery, who was selling Sports Connection, called it a ''difficult negotiation''.

''Of course, it was difficult,'' said Hammond. ''I have been working too hard all my life to start giving money away now.''

His working life began as a floor sweeper in the old Bata shoe factory in Cumnock at the age of 16. He talked himself into a job cutting leather and, using the twin levers of hard work and enthusiasm, worked his way assiduously up the managerial ladder, both in London and abroad. By the age of 23, he was back in charge of 500 workers at the factory where he started.

In the seventies, tiring of union recalcitrance - ''We had six unions in one Bata factory. It was your worst nightmare.'' - he quit management and went out on his own. It was not a glamorous launch.

''I got a wee van and started selling slippers at the outdoor market in Stranraer,'' he said. But within a few years, he had five shops in small towns and was selling at markets all over Scotland.

An early partner was Campbell Hunter, father of high-profile serial entrepreneur Tom Hunter, who is a close friend of Hammond and, in his youth, used to babysit Hammond's children.

Hammond said: ''Campbell took a stake in the business, and I like to think I gave Tom the idea for Sports Division after he saw my books.'' Hunter famously sold Sports Division five years ago for (pounds) 260m.

Hammond identified shifting consumer patterns in the early nineties, with non-brand, market-style goods coming to the High Street in the shape of store like Poundstretchers, and decided that branded goods were the smart place to be. He established the Original Shoe chain in 1993, selling ranges such as Timberland.

The stores are bright, cheerful, and throbbing with youth-friendly music. Hammond said: ''A wee girl told me that sometimes she went into the shop midweek even if she had no money, because it put her in mind of the weekend.''

He says Original Shoe's core customer market is in the 15 to 30 range and Sports Connection in the five to 15 area, so they will ''dovetail nicely'' in casual, urban sportswear. He already has outlets in England, and believes that that is where expansion will focus, backed by a (pounds) 1m advertising campaign.

He said: ''Sports Connection will be integrated within three months, and within a year from now, we will be advancing into England an acre at a time, like William Wallace.

''The company has been growing at about 10% a year, and even if I had a year of negative growth, the business would still be profitable because the costs are so low. I sleep well at night because of that.''

THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE DOING BUSINESS

On OSC's youth policy

''The average age is 22. If you're north of 35, you should be looking over your shoulder, there's a better guy behind you.''

On Cumnock HQ

''You can run a business as easily from rural Ayrshire as from central Birmingham. Perhaps more easily, since most of my staff live just 10 minutes away.''

On exit strategy

''We've had offers, obviously, but I'm enjoying what I'm doing, and it's not high on my list of priorities. I have no ambition to be filthy rich.''

On expansion

''The difficult time was growing from

four stores to 10. One dud can take you down. Beyond that, a bad one isn't so important.''

On consolidation

''Even with my experience, I would struggle to start a two or three shop chain now. That's why in big shopping centres, you see the same 40-odd tenants.''

On publicity

''The cult of personality is grossly wrong. I am not the be-all and end -all of the Original Shoe Company. I am just a cog in the wheel.''

On executive

responsibility

''In companies this size, the chief executive has an easier job than the guy on the

shop floor or the lad responsible for

taking in (pounds) 20m of shoes a year. I steer

the ship a bit, but these are the

key guys.''