Page 6 - OPE July 2019

CLIPPINGS
Local and International News
OUTDOOR POWER PEOPLE
Outdoor power movers & shakers
STUART DEAN ISKennards Hire’s
new Chief Operations Officer. Stuart (above) has worked in the hire industry for almost 20 years and came to Kennards as Group IT Program Manager in 2009, leading the company’s Baseplan front-counter implementation. In 2016 he was promoted to
GM of IT until 2017, when Stuart and his family moved to Queensland to take up the challenging Queensland GM role.
With this move, former Kennards Hire COO, Bill Whitehouse, moves into the
new role of General Manager, Operational Projects. Kennards says Bill has been “critical to the success of Kennards Hire over the last 30 years and will continue to play a key role in growing the business and seeking new operational opportunities.”
Kennards also recently announced
Martin McManus (right) as their new GM of IT. With 30+ years’ experience, he will be responsible for the planning, development and implementation of IT strategies
and services and will play a key role in Kennards Hire’s digital transformation.
Retail NZ has announced Interim Chief Executive and GM of Public Affairs, Greg Harford, as its new Chief Executive. “Greg will be known to many in the retail community, having been in the Retail
NZ business for nearly five years as GM Public Affairs,” says Retail NZ President, Des Flynn. “During that time, he’s shown himself to be a passionate and tireless advocate on behalf of the retail sector, and he has a deep knowledge of the Retail NZ business and our strategy moving forward.”
Anna Rawlings is to take over the Chair of the Commerce Commission from 10-year veteran Mark Berry. Commerce & Consumer Affairs Minister Kris Faafoi announced the appointment, saying the former Minter Ellison Rudd Watts partner
has played a key role in the regulator’s Commerce and Consumer Divisions as a Commissioner for the past five years. Also appointed as a new Commissioner is former Consumer New Zealand board member, Joseph Liava’a. Both appointments are for three-year terms.
Following an international search, Australian career retailer Chris Wilesmith has just been revealed as the new Chief Executive of Mitre 10 New Zealand. He replaces Neil Cowie, who left Mitre 10 in February after five years in the role and
is now Director at Cooperative Business New Zealand. A graduate of the Australian Graduate School of Management, Chris has spent the last 12 years at Super Retail Group, where he is Currently ANZ MD
of Supercheap Auto. His CV also includes GM at Toys R Us and senior management roles in merchandise and retail ops for Dick Smith and Big W.
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