When former McKinsey & Co partner Jenny Child met fund manager and owner of OrotonGroup Will Vicars for coffee in Sydney’s CBD in early 2021, taking the top job at the leather handbag and fashion apparel retailer was not front of mind.

The pair were introduced by former Facebook Australia boss Stephen Scheeler, who thought the co-founder of Caledonia Investments should meet Ms Child since she was running the firm’s consumer work in Australia and New Zealand and could provide insights into a sector dealing with rolling lockdowns and an online shopping surge.