Rakesh Biyani is now Joint MD, Future Group

To get rid of the debt pressure and bounce back,

the Future Group MD Kishore Biyani is leaving no stone unturned. From appointing a committee to suggest measures to eliminate the high inventories and debt pressure to reshuffling top management positions by bringing in family members on board, all initiatives are being tested by the group currently. In a recent development, he has recalled first cousin Rakesh Biyani to take day-to-day control of Future Group’s sprawling, but struggling retail business.

Rakesh Biyani, who has been promoted from Director to Joint MD from April 1, has taken charge of the Rs 12,200-crores P&L account, ruthlessly hack costs, especially in supply-chain and distribution, and improve the profitability of each store. The shift from professionals back to the family is being seen as a crisis-time measure at the retail giant, which manages 16.5 million sq. ft. of retail space across its myriad formats. At holding company Pantaloon Retail, about 60 per cent of EBITDA is being eaten away by interest payments on a debt pile-up of almost Rs 5,000 crores.

Rakesh Biyani’s coming back to the top management position is being cited by the industry as a step to take key decisions like expenditure cut to at least match the Rs 150 crores plus quarterly interest outgo. Professionals find it difficult to take such big decisions during challenging times.

Kishore Biyani is convinced Rakesh is the man for the turnaround. “The kind of strength that Rakesh brings to the table in terms of supply chain management and planning mechanisms is unmatched by even the professionals,” he says. Backed by a board diktat to cut costs, the group has initiated a big revamp of supply chain and logistics and manpower rationalisation. The younger Biyani is seen as the expert in the group in efficiently managing supply chain, distribution, merchandising and cost-cutting given his long years of experience in setting up stores right from scratch.