Handover, Richard Gordon (1946- )

English retailing executive. Having started his career at WHSmith Group in 1964, he progressed to managing director of Our Price Music from 1989 to 1995 and then managing director of the WHSmith news distribution business, before becoming the group's chief executive in 1997.

Handover has since been responsible for a major restructuring, divesting the book chain Waterstones and the Virgin Our Price music business in 1998, before acquiring the rival John Menzies retail chain in 1998 and publisher Hodder Headline in 1999. In the same year WHSmith acquired the European Internet bookshop (www.bookshop.co.uk) and launched WHSmith Online. In 2001, he announced a new store-opening programme, to include metro stores, larger stores in high streets, and stores in edge-of-town shopping centres where WHSmith has no presence.

Educated at Blundell's School in Devon, Handover held various junior managerial appointments at WHSmith from 1964. In his first senior appointment at Our Price Music, he developed a strategic partnership with Virgin as WHSmith acquired 50% of Virgin Retail in 1992 to operate its chain of megastores and computer games centres; and in 1994 Our Price and Virgin Retail were merged into Virgin Our Price, in which WHSmith by then held a 75% stake. He became a main board director in 1995, responsible for the operation of the news wholesaling division.

When he became chief executive of WHSmith in 1997, the company consisted of a mixed group of businesses with large losses. Handover sold the extraneous retailing arms to focus on the core businesses: Waterstone's book chain was sold for £300 million (and £250 million of the proceeds were returned to investors through a share buyback), and the share in Virgin Our Price was sold to the Virgin Retail Group for £145 million. With the proceeds, WHSmith acquired the rival newsagent John Menzies Retail chain for £68 million in 1998, and also bought, as sources of content, Hodder Headline, the consumer publisher, for £192 million, and Helicon, a reference publisher.

Handover is chair of Business in the Community's Education Leadership Team, a non-executive director of Nationwide Building Society, and chair of Age Concern Enterprises.