1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,080 Speaker 1: Now the warehouse has finally found a new CEO after 2 00:00:03,080 --> 00:00:06,200 Speaker 1: a year of searching. The CFO, Mark Sterton has been 3 00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:08,560 Speaker 1: announced as the replacement. He's going to take over in August, 4 00:00:08,880 --> 00:00:11,160 Speaker 1: and the chair, Dame Joan Withers, is with me. Now, 5 00:00:11,160 --> 00:00:13,360 Speaker 1: how Joan, how are you? 6 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:13,640 Speaker 2: Heather? 7 00:00:13,760 --> 00:00:16,239 Speaker 1: I'm very well. Thank you. Know, you searched for a year, 8 00:00:16,280 --> 00:00:17,799 Speaker 1: you went around the world, you ended up back in 9 00:00:17,840 --> 00:00:18,480 Speaker 1: your own place. 10 00:00:18,680 --> 00:00:23,120 Speaker 2: What happened, Well, we didn't search for a year. When 11 00:00:23,160 --> 00:00:27,319 Speaker 2: we appointed JJ into the old John Jana early last year. 12 00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:29,440 Speaker 2: He came on board in May, it was clear that 13 00:00:29,480 --> 00:00:32,360 Speaker 2: there was a lot that needed to be done, so 14 00:00:32,479 --> 00:00:36,040 Speaker 2: Joj really worked on the heavy lifting. We were moving 15 00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:39,720 Speaker 2: away from an agile organizational structure to a different way 16 00:00:39,760 --> 00:00:40,320 Speaker 2: of working. 17 00:00:40,760 --> 00:00:41,600 Speaker 1: That took time. 18 00:00:42,080 --> 00:00:45,479 Speaker 2: We obviously had to refocus business priorities, and when the 19 00:00:45,479 --> 00:00:49,159 Speaker 2: board put him in as interim group chief executive, we 20 00:00:49,159 --> 00:00:51,720 Speaker 2: said you're not babysitting, You've got some heavy lifting to 21 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:54,840 Speaker 2: do here, and he did that. So we didn't actually 22 00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:58,800 Speaker 2: start looking for a new CEO until late last calendar year. 23 00:01:00,280 --> 00:01:03,600 Speaker 2: So yes, we did do a comprehensive and thorough multi 24 00:01:03,640 --> 00:01:08,840 Speaker 2: market search. And I'm delighted because we've come back to 25 00:01:08,880 --> 00:01:12,480 Speaker 2: a scenario where Mark Sterton, who was appointed in April 26 00:01:12,560 --> 00:01:15,880 Speaker 2: last year as the group CFO, has basically been doing 27 00:01:15,920 --> 00:01:20,440 Speaker 2: a one year job interview and has continued to impress 28 00:01:20,480 --> 00:01:24,600 Speaker 2: the board. But rather than just annoyed someone internally, we 29 00:01:24,680 --> 00:01:27,600 Speaker 2: went through that thorough process so that we could be 30 00:01:27,760 --> 00:01:31,600 Speaker 2: absolutely confident we've got the best possible person for the job, 31 00:01:32,920 --> 00:01:33,720 Speaker 2: and that's Mark. 32 00:01:34,520 --> 00:01:36,479 Speaker 1: Do you think your company has turned a corner. 33 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:42,679 Speaker 2: I certainly think so. And you know, the economy is 34 00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:46,319 Speaker 2: still bouncing along the bottom. It's very very tough out there. 35 00:01:46,480 --> 00:01:49,559 Speaker 2: I think the Warehouse was really at the bleeding edge 36 00:01:49,560 --> 00:01:52,640 Speaker 2: of what happened in terms of the economy. I think 37 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:56,440 Speaker 2: other companies are starting to see that. But internally, the 38 00:01:56,520 --> 00:01:59,840 Speaker 2: fundamentally important work that JJ has done has meant that 39 00:01:59,840 --> 00:02:04,960 Speaker 2: we are much better focused. And obviously we are totally 40 00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:08,040 Speaker 2: reliant on serving our one and a half million customers 41 00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:10,600 Speaker 2: every week with the best possible products at the best 42 00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:14,600 Speaker 2: possible prices. And that's been his focus and we're certainly 43 00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:18,360 Speaker 2: going down that track. And we're starting to see some 44 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:19,160 Speaker 2: green shoots. 45 00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:21,679 Speaker 1: Yeah, good stuff. And are you seeing green shoots in 46 00:02:21,720 --> 00:02:23,920 Speaker 1: the economy. 47 00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:27,320 Speaker 2: It's a little bit early to say, you know, at 48 00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:30,839 Speaker 2: the moment. The other complexity is the weather. So it's 49 00:02:30,919 --> 00:02:36,200 Speaker 2: been warm. We had a few cold days the week 50 00:02:36,240 --> 00:02:39,840 Speaker 2: before last, and immediately we saw a massive uptick. So 51 00:02:39,960 --> 00:02:43,359 Speaker 2: it's just hard to say. I hope today's OCR announcement 52 00:02:43,480 --> 00:02:47,359 Speaker 2: gives a bit of further impetus to people's getting out 53 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:52,400 Speaker 2: there and using some of that discretionary spend, but it's 54 00:02:52,400 --> 00:02:53,760 Speaker 2: still going to be a grind I think for the 55 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:54,560 Speaker 2: next six months. 56 00:02:54,840 --> 00:02:56,520 Speaker 1: When you talk about the weather, you're talking about the 57 00:02:56,520 --> 00:02:59,480 Speaker 1: fact that it's basically nobody's been incentivized to go and 58 00:02:59,520 --> 00:03:01,279 Speaker 1: buy winding. Yeah that's the problem. 59 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:04,120 Speaker 2: Right exactly. Yeah, you know, when you get a cold snap, 60 00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:08,000 Speaker 2: it really makes a difference. So we're just hoping it'll 61 00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:09,200 Speaker 2: come in the next few weeks. 62 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:11,520 Speaker 1: Hey, I'm just interested. You talked about moving from an 63 00:03:11,560 --> 00:03:13,520 Speaker 1: agile business. What did you move to. 64 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:18,519 Speaker 2: We're back to a more I guess you'd say traditional 65 00:03:18,680 --> 00:03:23,680 Speaker 2: organizational structure, but very much brand focused. So, as you're 66 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:26,880 Speaker 2: probably aware, we went down the whole omnichannel route with 67 00:03:26,919 --> 00:03:30,200 Speaker 2: what happened over COVID and what we thought would be 68 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:33,040 Speaker 2: the move to online obviously didn't play out in the 69 00:03:33,080 --> 00:03:37,320 Speaker 2: way that we and many other retailers anticipated. So we're 70 00:03:37,440 --> 00:03:40,400 Speaker 2: very focused now on our three core brands. You will 71 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:42,680 Speaker 2: know that, you know, sort of eighteen months ago now 72 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:47,320 Speaker 2: we let Torpedo seven go, we closed down thems dot com. 73 00:03:47,720 --> 00:03:50,880 Speaker 2: So we're really focused on making sure that those brands 74 00:03:50,920 --> 00:03:54,600 Speaker 2: have the resources and the leadership they need to super 75 00:03:54,640 --> 00:03:56,520 Speaker 2: serve their target markets. 76 00:03:56,640 --> 00:03:58,040 Speaker 1: Joan, what's your take on agile? 77 00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:03,040 Speaker 2: Look, we were at the bleeding edge as well on that. 78 00:04:03,400 --> 00:04:06,200 Speaker 2: There weren't really any retailers in the world. Walmart had 79 00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:08,600 Speaker 2: flirted with it. We did go around the world and 80 00:04:08,640 --> 00:04:11,720 Speaker 2: have a look at where it was working. It was interesting. 81 00:04:11,800 --> 00:04:14,600 Speaker 2: I was in the US a year ago and got 82 00:04:14,640 --> 00:04:17,920 Speaker 2: some time at Microsoft. Was sat in Adella and I 83 00:04:17,960 --> 00:04:20,279 Speaker 2: asked him about Agile and what was happening in the 84 00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:22,600 Speaker 2: States with it, and he says, well, we've still got Agile, 85 00:04:22,680 --> 00:04:27,640 Speaker 2: but we call it Franken Frankenstein agile now. So everybody's 86 00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:31,720 Speaker 2: doing their own thing, and at Microsoft they're using AI 87 00:04:31,960 --> 00:04:36,440 Speaker 2: agents as part of the Agile squads, so everybody's doing 88 00:04:36,440 --> 00:04:38,800 Speaker 2: it a bit differently. It just didn't work for us, 89 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:41,760 Speaker 2: and you know, when that happens, you've got to act quickly. 90 00:04:41,920 --> 00:04:44,360 Speaker 2: So again, back to John Jenay and the work he did. 91 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:48,440 Speaker 2: Changing an organizational structure is not easy and we needed 92 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:50,400 Speaker 2: to get all of that done before we put a 93 00:04:50,440 --> 00:04:51,120 Speaker 2: new CEO. 94 00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:54,040 Speaker 1: Joan, it's wonderful to talk to you. Thank you for 95 00:04:54,080 --> 00:04:56,400 Speaker 1: your time. That's Dame Joan with his chair of the 96 00:04:56,400 --> 00:05:00,560 Speaker 1: Warehouse Group. For more from Heather duplessy Ellen Drove. Listen 97 00:05:00,640 --> 00:05:03,640 Speaker 1: live to news Talks. It'd be from four pm weekdays, 98 00:05:03,760 --> 00:05:05,960 Speaker 1: or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.