Dr. Martens is an iconic British brand founded in 1960 in Northamptonshire. Originally produced for workers looking for tough, durable boots, the brand was quickly adopted by diverse youth subcultures and associated musical movements. The company successfully listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange in January 2021 (DOCS.L) and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 index.
Hirst joined the team six months after the flotation, and was asked to re-boot the group’s treasury function. Here he speaks to The Treasurer about life in the big boots company
The treasury team is six-strong, including me, and is centralised in our Camden, north London office. Every role apart from one is ‘new’ since our IPO, and it’s taken us a good two years to get to full strength. The company adopted hybrid working some time ago, which means an average of three days out of five in the office. It feels like a good balance and a better solution than the ‘up-to-you’ policy we had in the aftermath of COVID-19.
Our team or anchor day is Tuesday, and we also use that day for a weekly face-to-face team catch-up, and individual one to ones, plus the odd social event after hours. The remaining two days are floating so to speak, and we will confer among each other if face-to- face time is required on projects, etc. The hybrid approach works well for us and having an anchor day for the whole team helps with cohesion and provides good overlap with other finance teams.
The office is pretty quiet on Fridays, which, quite frankly, was a thing way before COVID. Fridays, therefore, offer a good opportunity to catch up on admin, board papers, project reports, updating notes and the sludge list. And good luck getting hold of a banker on a Friday afternoon. I feel they have already enthusiastically embraced a four-day week!
The team has diverse responsibilities from core treasury, insurance, pensions, customer payments and fraud to running a tender for, and appointing, a new travel management company. The last one was somewhat out of the ordinary but demonstrated the versatility of the team when tackling a particular pain point for the business.
My remit was to build the treasury function ab initio. To my mind, the only way to start was to get the right people through the door, as quickly as possible. I’m a firm believer of recruiting carefully and thoughtfully, with due diligence on candidates a key focus. Once they’re on board, then it’s a case of stepping back to let them do their job. We work to outcomes, not set hours. Having put so much effort into onboarding, the most useful thing I can do is not interfere unless I’m asked or to act as a sounding board.
No team member needs to ask permission to be an adult. If we need to have a tough conversation, it’s not because someone had a bit of time out to deal with a personal issue. I’d say the only area where progress has been inadequate is our treasury tech stack. For the most part, we are still on spreadsheets, but this is something we are hoping to address in the new financial year if budget allows.
I expect everyone in the team to have their tentacles in all nooks and crannies of the business. We can’t operate in a vacuum, and to do our jobs properly as strategic business partners we need to build human relationships not just digital relationships (over email, Zoom, etc). Indeed, a key personality trait or quality on my recruitment checklist is that each team member has social skills. Sounds obvious or basic, but some of the most able people I’ve come across in treasury during my career didn’t have socials. Not being able to connect with colleagues, bankers or suppliers just makes life more difficult.
The business has a direct-to-consumer presence in many developed markets, and global reach via wholesalers and distributors. This inevitably introduces complexity and the usual challenges around managing cash in different currencies across the globe and, of course, FX risk.
Not yet! Permira refinanced the company pre-IPO, and, as a result, a EUR term loan and multi-currency RCF mature in Feb 2026.
I don’t think ‘fashion’ is an accurate description of our brand or our products. After all, some products we sell have been around 60+ years, such as our iconic 1460 boot, and are selling as well, if not better than ever. I think most Brits would recognise the DM brand, and increasingly it resonates in other markets around the world, too. It can mean different things to different people, but to me the underlying meaning is one of rebellious self-expression.
It’s fun meeting the suited-and-booted bankers when the whole team is wearing Docs. The more outrageous the design, the better. But take your time when wearing them in. One new supplier who had just won our business invited me to their office to meet the management team including the original founder (it was a FinTech). However, it was painfully obvious that the founder had literally just started wearing his as he limped into and out of the meeting in his effort to impress. DM is by far the most diverse company I’ve worked at, and frankly that’s a breath of fresh air.
Yes! Not only are Docs an iconic brand with an instantly recognisable design, but in a cost-of-living crisis they’re a purchase that’s going to endure for many years. I recommend the winter grip boots for extreme weather. I put these to good use last year when skiing with the family in Slovakia.
This article was taken from Issue 1, 2024 of The Treasurer magazine. For more great insights, members can log in to view the full issue.