Page 8 - 2019 HW Awards Book

FINALISTS
This award recognises a truly outstanding retailer or builders’ merchant who has shown initiative and enterprise in leading their team. Entrants will be owners, managers or JV partners of a hardware store or builders’ supply merchant.
Brendan Leary
PLACEMAKERS TIMARU AND TWIZEL
Until becoming JV / Owner- Operator of the Timaru and Twizel branches four years ago, Brendan managed PlaceMakers’ trio of South Island frame & truss plants for six years. In his current role he’s seen the Timaru branch grow its customer base (and its quadruple its top line) by growing its trade offering beyond the traditional categories thanks
to feedback from his people in the field. A new showroom and improved trade facilities have also cemented the store’s role in the area, as evidenced by the store’s improved Customer Engagement and Net Promoter Scores.
Blair Page
PLACEMAKERS HORNBY
2007’s Young Retailer of the
Year, Branch Operator Blair has been wearing the blue shirt of PlaceMakers for 14 years so far,
in a wide range of roles and ina variety of locations. In the face of the local market’s post-rebuild contraction, Blair has “worked his magic” with Hornby, both in terms of profitability and the level of professionalism shown by his team, and takes personal pride in both the store and his customers’ success. His employer sums it
up thus: “Blair is a customer- focused, engaging leader who delivers strong results through his people.”
Jeremy Prentice
MITRE 10 MEGA PETONE
As Store Manager for the last two years, Jeremy and his team have added serious double digit growth to the Petone store’s
top and bottom lines. Some
of this has been due to giving his Trade Account Managers exactly what they need to grow their customers’ spend, some to building and sustaining a great team culture and customer engagement. Part of the Nees group of stores, CEO Cliff Lockyer rates Jeremy as a “key contributor” to this serially high achieving store’s success as he balances strong financial growth with lasting cultural gains.
Des Smith
PLACEMAKERS EVANS BAY
From another regular source of top people, with the in-depth industry knowledge gained from a dozen+ productive years under his belt across a range of roles in various PlaceMakers stores, Des stepped up to become Evans Bay Branch Operator a little more than a year ago. Having turned the Evans Bay store around (in terms of both financials and in-house culture), the word is that Des stands apart from his peers with his entrepreneurial flair, ability to build lasting relationships inside and outside the business and really get under the skin of every aspect of how his branch works.
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