Alicia Thompson is leading one of the UK’s fastest growing retailers.
Kick Game has capitalised on the market for rare and sold-out trainers to become the largest reseller of its kind and it is increasingly opening stores across the UK.
In just three years, Thompson has spearheaded growth with sales soaring to well over £50m at the end of 2022.
However, it was a job she thought she had little chance of getting. For when she originally applied for the CFO role, she was eight month pregnant.
Thompson, who previously women’s category lead at Rapha and held roles at Deloitte, is well aware that her pregnancy would have put off many would-be employers.
However, her interviewer, Parminder Basran, founder of Kick Game’s investor VGC, didn’t even ask how it would impact her role.
“A lot of people might think ‘she’s having her first baby, she’ll probably then go off to have her next one soon. It’s a bad idea hiring her’,” she says.
Instead, he was encouraging and flexible and ultimately gave her the job.
“In fact, he let me start working one-day week as CFO. Within three months, I was full-time and loving it.”
Thompson is eternally grateful to Basran: “To have someone really believe in you and not see being a woman or wanting to have a family as a barrier to being a great leader, almost makes me cry thinking about it.”
“He had so much belief and faith in me…and I’ve delivered,” she says discussing the blockbuster growth Kick Game has achieved since.
When she started at the company in early 2020, Kick Game consisted of a team of five that was turning over £2m. In under three years, she’s delivered £50m and now has 160 people.
Thompson has grown with the business, taking on the managing director role a year after she joined, before becoming CEO last year.
Kick Game now trades from nine stores in London, Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester. It has also expanded overseas, recently opening its first European store outside of the UK in Milan.
“We’re becoming a global business and I’m so proud of it and proud of my team. It’s so important to have people championing women and men championing women. It’s been so long overdue,” she says.
Creating a diverse management team at Kick Game
Much like the chance Basran give to her, Thompson is committed to giving other women in the industry the opportunity to thrive.
“It’s so important to have people from all different backgrounds and different genders within organisations and within positions of management or leadership,” she explains.
She adds that there are numerous reasons why more women need to hold senior positions within retail.
“We all think differently and if you look at the genders – we definitely do,” Thompson explains.
“We have a different way of problem-solving and when you’re trying to run an organisation and be creative, and work your way through things, having people with different ways of thinking is invaluable.”
She insists that she tries to promote from within, which has seen Kick Game create leaders from “those that we don’t normally see in those positons but absolutely have a right to be there”.
“I want to give the young ones coming up something to aspire to. I want them to be able to see where they can get to with their careers,” she says.
In line with its efforts to empower females, last year Kick Game launched the SneakHxr Fest, a festival dedicated to celebrating women through a plethora of unique vendors, panel talks and performances from some of the leading talents in the UK.
Located in Protein Studio, Shoreditch, 2022’s event saw thousands of attendees, bringing together the sneaker and streetwear communities and providing a platform for some of the leading figureheads in the industry to showcase their work and talents.
It will return this year, taking place this weekend.
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