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Woolworths shuffles management in Australia

Cape Town - Woolworths [JSE:WHL] announced on Tuesday that Paul Zahra has resigned with immediate effect as CEO and managing director of David Jones and Iain Nairn will take his place immediately.

This is part of a number of senior management changes in Australia that follow the completion of Woolworths' acquisition of David Jones and its buy out of the minority interests in Country Road.

Zahra has indicated that this would be the best time for a change of leadership in the company and, having established a sound base for future growth, would like to move on to new challenges.

He has agreed to stay on for a period of three months to work with Woolworths' management and board in an advisory capacity to ensure a seamless handover of the business.

Nairn was previously CEO of Country Road, has 30 years’ experience in specialty fashion and department stores in Australia and internationally and was the CEO of the Witchery Group before its acquisition by Country Road in 2012.

The new role of chief operating officer (COO) has been added to the David Jones management structure and David Thomas has been appointed to this role with immediate effect.

Thomas also moves across from the Country Road Group where as COO he has played a significant role in the integration of the Witchery Group, before which he served as chief financial officer of Country Road Limited.

Matt Keogh, previously the managing director of Witchery, has been appointed the CEO of the Country Road Group with immediate effect.

He has 25 years’ experience in specialty retail and hospitality management, and for the past 10 years’ has worked in senior executive roles within Woolworths in South Africa and Country Road in Australia.

- Fin24

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