Brisbane-based Collins Foods, which operates 240 KFC outlets, has confirmed Drew O’Malley will step up as CEO starting July 1

One of Australia’s biggest fast food groups has confirmed its well-flagged passing of the torch will proceed as planned with the new CEO set to pocket $754,000 and quite a bit more if all goes well

ONE of Australia’s biggest fast food groups has confirmed that a well-flagged passing of the torch will proceed as planned.

Brisbane-based Collins Foods, which operates 240 KFC outlets as well as Sizzler and Taco Bell venues, announced that Drew O’Malley would take on the job of CEO starting July 1.

He replaces Graham Maxwell, who is calling it a day after nearly six years in the role and heading off into retirement.

The company revealed its succession planning a full year ago, anointing O’Malley, the company’s chief operating officer, as the chosen one and giving him plenty of time to gear up.

Graham Maxwell

With more than 20 years of industry experience under this belt, O’Malley joined Collins in late 2017 after a lengthy stint in Europe with restaurant giant AmRest.

During his time in the old country, he managed to grow annual turnover in KFC, Pizza Hut, Burger King and Starbucks to more than $US600 million across seven countries.

O’Malley said he was “both humbled and grateful’’ to take on the new challenge, which he acknowledged has been made all the more difficult by the king hit of coronavirus.

Collins reported a $23.9 million net profit in the last half-year but results are certain to suffer from the rapidly-easing lockdown.

For his troubles, O’Malley will be taking home a nice little compo package starting at $754,000 and quite a bit more than that if he clears a bunch of short and long-term incentive hurdles.

To give you an idea of how much those benchmarks could sweeten the deal, consider that Maxwell pocketed total remuneration of $1.52 million in the last financial year.

MIXED SIGNALS

IS it just us…or do the mixed signals about staying safe during the pandemic seem to be growing exponentially?

Exhibit A for double standards, of course, is the 30,000 protesters squeezed in to King George Square at the weekend while pubs, café and restaurants still operate under oppressive restrictions.

Now this. The latest television ad featuring Queensland’s Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young shows her relaxing at a table and sipping a coffee.

Queensland Chief Health Officer Dr Janette Young features in a new Tv ad.

But notice the background. A young woman approaches the counter to order a coffee and manages to stand only about a half-metre away from the barista.

That, as we all know, is well inside the 1.5m distance marked on the floor--and drilled into all of our heads. Whoops!

BREAKTHROUGH

SHARES in Brisbane energy outfit Novonix shot up an astonishing 76 per cent on Tuesday after the firm announced a breakthrough in efforts to create an ultra-long-life battery for use in electric vehicles.

The revelation follows several weeks of speculation that the company is poised to strike a deal with US electric car giant Tesla as the industry aims to develop a new breed of lithium–ion batteries able to last for a million miles.

That possibility, as we noted in this space on Tuesday, had already sent the Novonix stock price surging out of the doldrums. The latest announcement saw it close at $1.21, its highest point since October 2017.

Brisbane energy outfit Novonix’s shares shot up an astonishing 76 per cent on Tuesday

What got investors so excited was news about something called “single crystal cathode,’’ a new manufacturing process for battery cathode materials that uses the company’s (take a deep breath) “proprietary Dry Particle Microgranulation production technology”.

That complements Novonix’s long-life “PUREgraphite’’ anode material, which was recently released to the market. Production will ramp up next year in the US for sales to Samsung.

Helping propel much of this effort is a recent $58 million capital raising.

The collective developments are so significant for long-struggling Novonix that managing director Philip St Baker and battery testing services boss Dr Chris Burns will field questions from investors during a webinar on Friday morning.