Woolworths chair Gordon Cairns to be replaced by director Scott Perkins after AGM

Chair Gordon Cairns, who oversaw the closure of Woolworths’ ill-fated Masters hardware chain and the demerger of its drinks and hotels arm, will hand over to Scott Perkins.

Woolworths chair Gordon Cairns, who oversaw the closure of the retailer’s ill-fated Masters hardware chain and the demerger of its drinks and hotels arm, will hand over to Scott Perkins in October.

Woolworths chairman Gordon Cairns will retire following the retail giant’s annual meeting in late October, ending his tenure over the board that saw him radically reshape the business including closing down the ill-fated hardware venture Masters and demerging the liquor and hotels arm.

When Mr Cairns joined as chair in 2015 he came into the role at a time when Woolworths had issued multiple profit warnings, its share price was plummeting and the retailer was losing hundreds of millions of dollars at its Masters hardware chain.

Later with the newly appointed chief executive Brad Banducci, which he helped appoint, the pair set about repairing the damage and restructuring the business.

The supermarket giant announced on Tuesday that Mr Cairns will step down after the annual general meeting, as foreshadowed at last year’s shareholder meeting, with him to be replaced by Woolworths director Mr Scott Perkins who has been on the board for eight years.

Mr Cairns said it had been a privilege to be the chair of Woolworths for the last seven years.

“I am proud of the work that the team and directors have achieved together in transforming Woolworths Group and delivering for our shareholders. Moreover, I am humbled to have been the chair of a purpose-led business dedicated to working towards a better tomorrow for our teams, customers and the community.”

Woolworths outgoing chairman Gordon Cairns. Picture: Bianca De Marchi/AAP Image

Mr Cairns was met with a rowdy and frustrated reception by many shareholders when he fronted his first Woolworths AGM as chairman in 2015. At his maiden AGM, he implored shareholders to forgive the missteps of the past year — marked by three profit downgrades, widening losses at its Masters hardware chain and a plummeting share price — and vowed to kickstart the business to return it to its glory days.

At Mr Cairns first AGM, he unveiled a string of initiatives to polish the retailer’s tarnished blue-chip credentials, including naming a new CEO well before the next AGM, a decision on Masters early in the new year and resuscitating earnings at Big W rather than conducting a fire sale to private equity.

Mr Cairns also revealed at the time he had interviewed three external candidates so far to replace then out­going Woolworths chief Grant O’Brien, with a round of interviews with internal candidates to follow. He later appointed Mr Banducci.

A flurry of work and reshaping of the business saw Mr Cairns oversee the closure of Masters, the demerger last year of its liquor and retail business Endeavour Group and a rejuvenation of its struggling Big W which helped it break a run of losses.

But there were also some missteps under Mr Cairns chairmanship. An unpaid and lost wages scandal forced Mr Cairns and Mr Banducci to apologise to its staff and shareholders with the missing wages bill now nearing $600m.

Last year, Mr Cairns and his CEO were also forced to apologise and review the decision making around proposing to build a Dan Murphy’s liquor store in Darwin which upset some local indigenous communities.

Mr Perkins held senior executive leadership positions at Deutsche Bank from 1999 to 2013. These included managing director and head of corporate finance for Australia and New Zealand, membership of the Asia Pacific Corporate and Investment Bank Management Committee and CEO of Deutsche Bank New Zealand. He has been chairman of Origin Energy since October 2020.

Originally published as Woolworths chair Gordon Cairns to be replaced by director Scott Perkins after AGM