Page 6 - HW April 2021

hard news
Where to with a change at the top for Mitre 10 NZ?
IN A SURPRISE announcement towards the end of March, following the resignation of Chris Wilesmith, Mitre 10 New Zealand revealed Andrea Scown as Chief Executive Officer, with immediate effect.
The announcement was doubly significant: Andrea’s is not only the first internal appointment as CEO of Mitre 10 NZ, but it is also the first time the co-op will be led by a woman Chief Executive.
Mitre 10 NZ Chairman, Martin Dippie, says the former COO is “a strong and authentic leader” who not only has “an intimate knowledge of all parts of the business” but also “a real passion for the co-operative model”.
Indeed, during her almost four years at Mitre 10 NZ, Andrea has progressed from GM Retail Ops to Chief Customer Experience Office and then to the COO role in November last year.
Prior to joining Mitre 10 NZ, Andrea’s CV includes GM at Speciality Fashion Group, Acting CEO at EziBuy and COO at Bendon.
Quick to voice her appreciation for Chris Wilesmith and the Board being able to find a way to work through a useful handover period, for his part, despite
the loosening of travel restrictions, his trans-Tasman commute – involving we understand 70+ days’ in MIQ in the last year – was clearly not sustainable.
Andrea Scown says of her predecessor: “I’m grateful for everything Chris has done for us. I know it doesn’t feel like
a long stint, but he’s left us in a better place. He certainly helped mobilise us around our strategy [and] everyone here is grateful that he did stay on and help us in the way he did.”
“A standout CEO, Chris has had a very positive impact on the co-operative and led the business with distinction,” adds Martin Dippie.
“He has fine-tuned Mitre 10’s long- term strategy, built bench strength within the executive leadership team, driven efficiency and productivity across the co-operative and engendered a relentless focus on the safety and wellbeing of team members and customers.”
So, where to for the new CEO? “What
do I represent for the team here?” asks Andrea Scown.
“Some real stability
– that would be my key message out to the team,” she says when we meet up in the last week of March.
“I think some stability from a New Zealand-based CEO is going to go a long way,” says the new CEO.
“There will be no massive changes to our strategy. My approach will be more building on than changing. We have some great stuff underway, so when I talk about stability, it’s important that no one sees me as coming in with a need to disrupt.
“If anything, it’s about how will we bite this off and get good outcomes for everything that we want to do. So that’s the approach I’m bringing in.”
Another immediate short-term focus is around “rebalancing”, with Mitre
10 NZ “flat out”, as with most other retailers, trying to stay ahead of ongoing higher than normal demand, as well
as being well into year two of a five- year transformation programme that is now addressing detailed design and deployment.
So Andrea Scown is keen to take time to celebrate what Mitre 10 NZ has achieved as a business in the last year.
“Everyone has just worked so hard, in this building and out in stores. The whole country has worked hard. Sometimes
we just don’t take the time to actually celebrate that.”
Having spent many years in private equity, Andrea says she understands and appreciates the cooperative model: “There’s something really powerful about the person whose money you’re spending standing right there at your shoulder with the decisions you’re making, not just for their business, but with their money and often with their family’s money.
“So that’s a real honour and a real responsibility [and] something that at a
personal level really lands well with me. “I love the co-operative model,” she
says, before adding with purpose: “I think we can do a lot more to leverage the strength of the co-operative. I see it as a real differentiator and a real competitive advantage.”
Among these advantages Andrea recognises the co-op’s members’ skin in the game and, as demonstrated in the last year, their ability to be agile in business, seize opportunities and make the right decisions at a local level for the stores and their communities.
They are “sharp, capable people that really care”, she says, “executing on the ground what is right for the communities and their stores. I trust the stores to
do that stuff right and get that right for customers,” she says.
“While we are a support centre, we’re actually working in partnership. It’s very important for me that we don’t lose that sense of partnership.
“I don’t see myself running this business just as an individual. We’ve got a 64-strong membership base, a good, strong board and a good executive team and we’ve got a number of challenges and opportunities ahead of us – but will be we’ll be working through all that together.”
www.mitre10.co.nz
4 NZHJ | APRIL 2021
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