Initial responsibility for the development, performance and strategic execution of the retail network, reporting directly to John Winning, CEO and 4th generation owner of the business, as well as having p&l responsibility and accountability to the Advisory Board. Working with a variety of leading Brands, many with exclusivity, my broad experience in the retailing of Luxury Brands, was pivotal in pulling together the wide range of skilled resources available within the organisation as a whole, to fulfil the goal of creating a more connected, agile and focused team, setting and then beating again, a number of revenue and profit related records both nationally and individual store based.I personally grew as a Leader within this role, specifically in the art of Mentoring. I reviewed and structured this within various levels of the team from sales people through to store managers, aiming to help them realise their potential and become the best versions of themselves.

From a turnaround project in 2006, through the turmoil of the GFC and out the other side to ignite the potential of one of the worlds most iconic Brands, in the ANZ marketplace.A long and rewarding career path which has tested strategic thinking & execution, within a number of varying market conditions and honed the skills required of a business leader with a diverse natured, national team.In the early days, I was focused on a plan of turnaround. Looking to take the lessons learnt in the development of the successful UK London market and establish the Brand back into the hearts of the ANZ consumer. We raised the bar of store development, customer service and staff quality, taking the Country to record turnover levels.The GFC provided a challenge to us all. A time for clear heads and quick, decisive leadership, our need to deliver on the bottom line was paramount and required a different thought process and strategic direction ... one which I hadn't needed before. I learnt quickly how the needs of this new era had to be well considered and meticulously delivered to tight budgets and timeframes. Looking back, it was a period of intense learning, often needing courage to execute and always needing the support and dedication of the wonderful group of people we had put together in the team. At the end of it, we were leaner, stronger and able to bounce back quickly.And so on to the latest stage of this varied and exciting experience, with investment from EGI, an Australian, family owned Group, with a proven vision in the benefits of luxury retailing. Again, we focus on the need and desire to lift the quality of the Experience in the Brand, investing in stores, people and resources, along with developing brand new channels to market providing a wider reach and greater awareness. Immediately seeing results to our approach, we are experiencing growth well into double digits and expansion of the business well ahead of initial plan.

Responsible for the turnaround of a growing retail business focused on Bang & Olufsen and Panasonic stores. Changing the strategic direction of the business, we engaged the principles of good quality retailing to make sure we gave a first class experience in our stores, to build the value in our offering.Working alongside an inspiring entrepreneur, the combination of our talents for clear and longer term vision, as well as understanding the importance of leading the p&l to sustained and growing bottom line, put the business on a successful footing for sale.

What a wonderful period of growth and development both for the Brand and me personally.A sensational team of like minded, business orientated professionals, came together to take the UK to be the #1 market in the world for the Bang & Olufsen Brand.Starting with a fairly blank canvass, we worked the major independent retailers in the UK AV market through multi brand stores to mono-brand, stand alone Bang & Olufsen Franchise outlets. My focus was the highly important London region, were I developed a network of seriously impressive retailers to take the Brand to incredible heights in a relatively short time frame.The position called upon all the learnings and experience developed from my career to that date, supporting, encouraging and developing our retail Partners own skills, to become successful retailers of this premium Brand, in a market that hadn't seen anything quite like it. Daring, innovative and entrepreneurial outlooks to the vision, were the cornerstones of my approach with the Partners we engaged. It demanded a new approach to AV retailing, one where the Premium nature of the product was portrayed and highlighted within a new style of retail environment, questioning the ordinary, for long lasting and surprising experiences in store.A super challenge for my broad General Management skill sets, as each of the Partners needed help, support, or advice in different areas. Working with these wonderfully talented people also enabled me to learn new things from some of the best in the industry.

What a start this great global Brand gave to me in a fledgling career. Engaged straight from Management College to head up a National Distribution Centre for the famous Maps & Guidebook Division, I cut my teeth at the deep end in people management and ensuring strict deadlines were met for distribution.Given opportunity to develop my passion for HR Management I joined the HR Department and successfully carried out a project to put the right people in the right places at the right time, during a significant change in the company's National Tyre Distribution Centre network.I'm no salesman I told them, but how wrong I was to be proved. Someone in the organisation saw something that they liked and the Company mentored me through the tough and varied world of truck tyre sales and into car tyre specialisation, where I began to use my business skills to work with independent retailers to help them identify new business and growth opportunities, whilst promoting the Michelin Brand.Finally on to open, operate and run a regional sales centre, designed to get back into the heart of our customer base. Here we began to build more value in the services we could offer our customers and help them improve their sales and profitability.