From Chaos to Clarity: Why Active Contracts Management Is Essential
- Abuakwa Siaw-Misa
- Jul 15
- 2 min read
At Count & Sol, we’re fascinated by legacy brands, and even more so by what we can learn from them. Only a few names dominated British high streets like the once-mighty fashion empire built by the Arcadia Group. With labels under its belt like Topshop and decades of market presence, Arcadia was a brand machine.
What we admired most was its strong retail identity and loyal customer base, built long before e-commerce was king. But even empires need evolution, and behind the scenes, outdated infrastructure played a key role in its downfall.
Legal Challenges
A number of issues contributed to the downfall of Arcadia, such as its failure to transition and compete with its e-commerce competitors, showing the need to ensure your business operations remain relevant and not stuck in another era. As physical retail suffered, they were locked into inflexible long-term leases, supplier contracts with poor renegotiation terms, and legal processes that couldn’t adapt at pace.
Many of their contracts were likely manually managed, fragmented across departments and we assume they lacked visibility or negotiation room in crisis moments—especially during COVID-19.
For a group of that size, with multiple brands, jurisdictions, and evolving product lines, contract efficiency would have been key.
C&S Tip: If you enter into a number of contracts, ensure you have the following:
Contract Audits & Risk Mapping
Its crucial to understand your current contracts and identify any risks
Modern Contract Lifecycle Management
Important to implement tools (including AI-powered systems) to track, review, and approve contracts faster, with alerts for expiry and renegotiation windows.
Contract Flexibility
Whatever agreement you enter into, whether your lease or suppler, its crucial not to just sign but ensure the terms are negotiated with your best interests that grows with you, with built-in protections, exit routes, and commercial efficiency.
Modern businesses move fast, and your legal infrastructure needs to keep pace. When contracts are scattered, static, outdated or misaligned with your vision, you’re building on shaky ground.
Active contract management isn’t just about staying organised, it’s about securing your business future. For deeper insight into how Count & Sol can support your contract management so you save cost whilst reducing risk with existing or new suppliers, markets or partners, book a consultation today.
