Kalms sees no benefit in the euro

THERE is no need for the Government to urge the nation's leading electrical retailer, Dixons, to accept euros at the tills. Though headed by veteran eurosceptic Sir Stanley Kalms, it stands ready to accept cash in whatever form it comes - and, perhaps, to make a turn on it.

'We accept dollars, we accept European currencies. We will be very happy to accept the euro as the currency of a major part of the world,' Kalms said.

This does not mean that Kalms, at 70, has changed his views of a lifetime. He believes that those who will wish to pay in the single currency will be 'minuscule' and the chances that the British people will demand to use more euros are 'between zero and nil'.

The public is 'geared to sterling and people still think in terms of feet, rather than metres, even in business. These are traditional values and I don't see any benefit in switching to euros'.

Kalms, who never minces his words, mocks rivals such as Marks & Spencer, who have moved to dual-cash registers.

'They are not my model of a retailer,' he says. 'It makes zero sense, unless they anticipate a vast amount of French people coming to London, having closed their French stores because their products are unsaleable there! It stretches one's imagination to assume that those same customers will come to London to buy the products they would not buy in France.'

Defending the pound

KALMS has just stepped down from 'Business for Sterling', the mainstream lobby group for keeping the pound, because of potential conflict of interest following his recent decision to become treasurer of Ian Duncan Smith's newlook Conservative Party. He displaces controversial Belize entrepreneur Lord Ashcroft.

Kalms believes there are enough high-profile British entrepreneurs ready to defend sterling in his place. They include other boardroom veterans Lords Hanson and Weinstock, as well as rising stars Clive Jacobs of soon-to-be floated Holiday Autos and Next's Simon Wolfson, the youngest FTSE 100 chief executive.

Kalms points out that most of the euro-opponents, like himself, are entrepreneurs. The euro-enthusiasts, such as newly-knighted Unilever chairman Sir Niall Fitzgerald, work for multi-national companies. 'The danger for both of us is that we use our company name to represent our views. I don't represent Dixon's views any more than Niall Fitzgerald represents Unilever's. I think that should be made clear.'

Nevertheless, he believes that 'multi-nationals represent a different stream of thinking - an extremely selfish stream of thinking, in that they are entirely focused on the economics of their company. 'I think they are visually impaired. They do not take a broader view.'

The Dixons boss makes it plain that he never lets politics get in the way of running the business, which he led from a single photographic shop opened by his father in 1948, to a public company in 1962.

Over the decades, it has become Britain's dominant electrical retailer, operating not just through Dixons, but Currys, PC World and the Link.

Kalms, who finally plans to retire in September, is the last of the great retail entrepreneurs. He rode out storms in the US, where the Dixons formula had a rare failure, but did not blot out new horizons. He was among the first backers of the internet through Freeserve, recognising the commercial potential of providing free access.

The Dixons boss seems unbothered that the company he created will not pass down to the next generation. His own offspring were not that interested.

A dapper man, with an unfussy London accent, Kalms always puts the visitor to his Mayfair offices at ease. He is never short of an opinion whether on business ethics, media coverage of Israel, or even the well-disguised promise of Ian Duncan Smith.

Recently, Europe is the issue that has propelled him furthest into the public eye. 'We have a big business in Europe and have just opened two large PC Worlds outside Paris. We will purchase in euros. For us, it is simply a currency and we must divorce the currency from political ideology.'

Massive dangers

HE IS dismissive of those who claim companies should adopt the euro to cut transaction costs. 'While the bean-counters may have problems, these are not significant to corporate strategy. Massive disadvantages overwhelm the argument. If you look at the labour costs in France, arising from the 35-hour-week, you see massive dangers. Bureaucracy in Europe is a nightmare. Labour regulations deny the right to dismiss staff without a huge process. That cuts at the very heart of the market economy philosophy. The French and the European system retain some of their fortress mentality,' said Kalms. But the days when electronic imports were frowned upon and dealt with at a remote customs location are over. Even diehards accept that electronics is now a global industry

Kalms seems unconcerned that British eurosceptics failed to make much impact during last year's General Election, when Tory leader William Hague fought on a platform of 'save the pound'. 'With hindsight, it wasn't the time to make it the issue. I think the leader felt he had to mark everybody's card with his views, and I don't criticise.'

Despite Labour's attempts to shape public opinion in a pro-euro way, Kalms is firmly of the view that Britain is not ready to go into the euro. 'It's quite true that Europe is not ready for us, and it's in a bit of a mess itself. So it is much more than the simple issue of a referendum.'

His reasoning is pragmatic. 'The concept of 23 disparate countries binding ourselves irrevocably and irreversibly into an economic federal system fills me with absolute horror. I do not believe that is a serious working structure. It goes against the grain of other experiments. It is defying the logic of the 21st century to put disparate groups together. The democratic deficit is almost insoluble.'

Quitting is nonsense

KALMS abhors the idea of being part of an enlarged federal Europe, where powerful bureaucrats hold sway, and Britain has just one of 23 votes. 'Even without the extra countries, we don't punch our weight. We are deliberately cutting off the force of our economy. We're becoming a small part of a large group, instead of dominating our society,' he said.

Kalms does not regard himself as a euro extremist and scorns those who want Britain out of Europe altogether. 'We are not outers. We believe it is nonsense to talk about coming out of Europe. I'd be happy to have a larger Europe, if it's just merely a group of countries coming together in a common trading bloc.'

Kalms really draws the line on sovereignty. It is often argued that France may have surrendered its currency and interest-rate setting to Frankfurt, but will never subjugate its culture or nationalism. Kalms profoundly disagrees. He compares what is happening in France with the French revolution's guillotine. 'When they cut someone's head off, because blood keeps circulating, the head stayed alive for two minutes. That is France today. It's got two minutes of life left. It will still carry on making noises - gestures like keeping out British beef. But, inch by inch, its powers are sliced away. Nationalism will be superseded by apathy - and the almost unbelievable power of bureaucracy.'

As he sees it, the single currency is the start of a journey that will lead to the elimination of sovereignty and democracy in the nations of euroland. But not if Stanley Kalms can help it.