The new broom at Dixons, John Browett, has called in the Boston Consulting Group to analyse and report on the whole DSGi business.

Boston Consulting will have quite a task in conducting this strategic review as DSGi has 1,300 outlets in 28 countries and employs 40,000 people.

It is no secret that DSGi shares have been in the doldrums for some time and the directors have publicly acknowledged that Christmas sales were below forecast.

 In November, the company revealed that profits were down by 25 per cent. DSGi has also been making very cautious statements about future business trends and profits.

Some of the financial pundits, like Tony Shiret of the Credit Suisse Bank, have been saying that it should close 200 Currys stores.

DSGi’s directors will perhaps find this bank’s comment ironic as they will, like me, remember when Credit Suisse was itself sending shivers down their employees' spines when it embarked on a series of redundancies.

However, Mark Feltham, DSGi’s property asset director, recently spoke at a property directors forum and his comments gave a clear hint as to the latest thinking at Dixons board level.

Mr Feltham addressed some of his remarks to the property owners and institutions that own many retail sites.

He warned them that shopping habits were changing. DSGi had an expanding online presence, but the bricks-and-mortar stores had performed less well.

He said: “If I was a landlord, I would be concerned by DSGi’s future in terms of stores.
Our business is now 12·5 per cent over the internet.”

Mr Feltham, like every dealer I know, wasn’t too keen on rent reviews that were always upwards either.

The DSGi business has even been attracting the attention of entrepreneurs in Australia. A few nights ago, I was listening to Radio Australia on my Roberts internet radio (a great product) and heard an Aussie financial programme discussing the international success of Harvey Norman, the leading stores group that recently opened up in Ireland.

Gerry Harvey, the executive chairman of Harvey Norman, who personally appears in all the Australian advertisements, was quoted as saying he was keeping a close watch on Dixons.

He told the Sydney Morning Herald: “Dixons has an awful lot of problems partly because it was paying exorbitant rents of up to 25 per cent of turnover.”

Now, I must say I doubt whether this is true, but Gerry Harvey did also comment on the length of leases in the UK and how this could become an onerous on-going commitment.

As I have said before, I like it when Dixons is doing well as our whole trade then seems to prosper.

Dixons has always refrained from criticising its competitors in the press and I am surprised that Gerry Harvey has chosen to do so.

When Harveys took over the Australian Vox group, it closed many stores in a cost cutting exercise – let us hope that DSGi does not need to close stores in the UK.

A couple of years ago, Dell was lauding the way it had opened 140 shopping centre kiosks.

This was to be a low-cost way of getting the customers to “touch and feel” products previously only available direct.

Now that Del has decided to sell its TV and PC products in Dixons, Tesco, Carphone Warehouse and other retailers it has closed the kiosk operation.

Another “briliant” concept bites the dust.