Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
I lead and scale consumer businesses across hospitality, leisure and retail, where brand, experiences and operating discipline need to combine to create meaningful customer connection. My work often sits between entrepreneurial energy and corporate discipline. Larger organisations have turned to me to bring pace, customer grounding and renewal; founder-led and investor-backed businesses have needed structure, confidence and capability to professionalise and scale. I’ve been fortunate to work with brilliant people across businesses at different life stages — from multinational transformation to start-up growth, private equity reset and multichannel expansion. This breadth of the emerging and the established has shaped a leadership style that balances strategic rigour with commercial practicality, connecting the big picture to day-to-day performance. I believe people make the difference, and I’m known for building empowered, accountable cultures that challenge convention, stay close to the customer and deliver stronger results. I’m at my happiest collaborating on courageous, practical strategies that unite people, purpose and performance — creating experiences that connect customers and brands in lasting ways.
CEO / MD. Caffeine&Machine is an internationally recognised automotive experiential leisure brand spanning destination venues, membership subscriptions and apparel label, Cult of Machine. The brand sits at the intersection of automotive culture, belonging and wellbeing — for people with a love of things that move. Appointed by private equity fund Dolphin Capital to lead a strategic reset of the group and convert brand potential into enterprise value. Together with a passionate community of customers, manufacturers and sponsors, our focus centred on broadening appeal, strengthening commercial outcomes and building a more disciplined multichannel platform for growth.
Lantana Group is an independent B-Corp food company. Home to London's original Australian Brunch, and now multiple brands, the group is active in three hospitality spaces: neighbourhood restaurants, catered events, and exclusive residencies within premium private settings. Reporting to the non-exec Chair, leadership of the business and executive team with accountability for growing the portfolio and ensuring however Lantana is encountered it feels the same; quality, ethical, an experience crafted by people who care.
GM of the 1.6bn cup beverages division; the worlds sixth largest coffee retailer. Together with a cross-functional team, accountability for commercial performance and the go-to-market portfolio of proprietary, partner and licensed / franchise concepts to drive competitive advantage, guest satisfaction and trading outcomes in this multi-sided marketplace.
Member of the founding Retail Leadership Team, directly responsible for transforming the multi-billion dollar food business-model from a heritage of B2B service provision to being a true multichannel needs driven B2C retailer at heart. Working transversely in partnership with all global segments, with particular focus on Live-Experiences, Workplace, and Universities activities, to achieve the vision of being the sectors most dynamic retailer.
Board Member. Ownership of the customer proposition (inc. brand, products, marketing) and execution of the operating model (inc. procurement, service, safety) in order to optimise this premium start-up coffee challenger brand, with venture capital backing from Tesco, to reach critical mass ready for sale. Sale completed August 2016. Total P&L accountability.
As part of Yum! direct ownership of the UK business, authorship and execution of a tailored marketplace business plan aligned to the shift to a casual dining operating model. P&L accountability.