THE YOUNG BUCK by CHRIS BECK
It took considerable time and some convincing for Henry Buck’s buyer Tim Cecil Jr to trade half-pipes for the family business.
When Tim Cecil Jr first worked for Henry Buck’s he rode his skateboard to the office wearing a suit. Like many 19-year-olds, he was unsure about what he wanted in life, and quit after eight months to explore the possibilities. He also felt the weight of expectations, being the most likely successor to a century-old company steeped in tradition.
Six years later in 2002, Tim Cecil Sr, Tim’s uncle and managing director of Henry Buck’s, called the family – brother Jon and mother Sue – and board together to discuss the company’s future.
“When you get into your 60s you have to think about it,” he says of succession planning. “You have a corporate responsibility to your employees, your suppliers, the bank. It is preferable to have family members in the business who customers and suppliers can relate to. I used to say to Jon, Tim Jr’s father, ‘I think we may have to leave Tim out of the equation’.”
James, Tim Jr’s elder brother and musician with the popular band Architecture In Helsinki, had made it clear his heart was in music.
Jon broached the subject again with Tim Jr and this time he jumped at the chance. He had spent the previous six years immersed in skateboard culture, travelling and living a meagre lifestyle.“He has learnt the tough knocks on the outside,” Tim Sr says of his nephew. “He was making his own way in life; he certainly wasn’t asking for help. A lot of the time he had no money. When he came here it was a secure haven for him to come into. But he brought a lot of that wisdom into the business with him. He learnt on the sidewalk, if you like.”
At the age of 25, Tim Jr was reflective and looking for consolidation in his life. Three months before he decided to join the family firm, he was badly beaten up by a large group of drunks in the city as he walked home with his wife, Rhiannon.
“For some reason that did change my perspective on life,” he says as he sits in his uncle’s chair at the Melbourne headquarters of Henry Buck’s. “To a degree it showed me what was important in life. I didn’t want people to be taking things away from me. Being attacked like that really does feel like something is being taken from you. It drove me harder towards wanting to be successful. I can’t explain it fully; it’s subliminal to a degree. It gave me perspective, and it made me want to live my life with intention and purpose.” Tim Jr is now the buyer for the casual departments in the business: casual knitwear, sportswear, belts, shoes, dressing gowns and underwear. It’s a long way from skate culture. As part of the job he travels with Tim Sr and fellow buyer Paolo Michelini to fairs and factories in Europe and the US. Tim Sr sees a certain change in the company’s collection since his nephew has come on board.
“It’s younger, it’s more edgy,” Tim Sr says, “We buy Etro and some of these brands that are quite fashionable compared to the more traditional lines that we have always carried. He and Paolo just about live in each other’s pockets, talking fashion, suppliers, fabric, prices.
“I’m often asked, ‘Is Tim your successor?’ And the answer is, I don’t know,” Tim Sr reflects. “Running a retail business is tough, and he may decide he is not cut out for it. But I would certainly love for him to be on the senior management, on the board. It’s carrying the culture forward, and Tim is the one who can do that; he is family, carrying the flame if you like.”
Tim Sr was 22 when he joined Henry Buck’s in 1963. He had made his home in London after studying languages in France, and never intended to join the business that Henry and Laura Buck pioneered with a small tailoring shop at the end of the 19th century. When Tim Sr returned to Australia and did some holiday work in the shop, he fell in love with the merchandise, the shops and the people.
“I think Tim’s the same,” he says. Tim and Tim (as they are known collectively) talk about each other with fondness and also the kind of reserve that comes with a traditional family company. They have a working relationship. But Tim Sr, who admits he knew Tim less in his skateboarding days than as a child, says, “I put my arm around him from time to time; I’m not ashamed of that.”
Wearing a conservative shirt and perfectly knotted tie, Tim Jr says that before he joined Henry Buck’s he wore baggy pants and sneakers, and managed skateboard shops. He was drawn to skateboarding because he saw it as a form of self-expression.
“The whole culture itself is about being an individual,” he explains. “[But] I guess to a degree that industry doesn’t evolve much. It’s
not highly professional. There was always a blurred line with the business side and the social side because it is a very social industry.” Now, he says he enjoys the separation of work and his social life despite the occasional chat about fabrics at family get-togethers. He still skateboards when he has time and is in the process of buying a house and hopes to build a ramp in the backyard for him and his five-year-old son, Riley. He also has a three-year-old daughter, Mia, with Rhiannon.
Riley and Mia have featured in several catalogues, just as Tim Jr and James did as children 25 years ago. “I like to keep Riley involved in the company in some way, whether visiting me in the shop or featuring in the catalogues,” Tim Jr says. “If he wants to work in the company I would love him to be here. Me being the fifth and him the sixth generation – that is a nice thing.”
