Gordon Cairns has been forced to act more like a chief executive than chairman by taking decisive action to remove the biggest noose around the beleaguered Woolworths supermarket group's neck.

With Woolworths in a management vacuum as it waits for Grant O'Brien to step down, Cairns has spearheaded the decision to finally call it quits on the company's failed Masters home improvement joint venture. Some 7000 people work for Masters nationwide.