Gail Kelly, Patrick Allaway quit board of David Jones parent Woolworths Holdings
Former Westpac chief Gail Kelly has suddenly quit the board of the South African company that owns David Jones.
Former Westpac chief executive Gail Kelly and local finance executive Patrick Allaway have announced their shock resignations from the board of the South African company that owns local up-market department store David Jones. The surprise departures come just one week after the mysterious exit of David Jones boss David Thomas.
The resignation of the highly respected Mrs Kelly comes at a bad time for David Jones which has churned through its fourth chief executive in five years and is suffering from the disruption of his exit, which includes allegations of discriminatory behaviour and prolonged disruption at the highest levels.
Last week, David Jones’ owner, the South African based Woolworths Holdings, shocked the market when it announced its CEO Mr Thomas would step down for “personal reasons” with it later revealed he was the subject of allegations of discrimination from an unnamed staff member. David Jones asked an independent law firm in November to investigate the allegations and, although it found no substance to the allegation, Mr Thomas left shortly after.
David Jones later said in a statement that no evidence was found of improper behaviour but that Mr Thomas would be leaving.
It was only last year that Mrs Kelly and Mr Allaway were re-elected as directors to Woolworths Holdings, a South African group that owns a number of African and Australian retail brands, including David Jones which it bought for $2.2 billion four years ago.
Woolworths Holdings released a statement to the Johannesbourg Stock Exchange this afternoon announcing the sudden departure of the pair from its board.
“Shareholders are hereby notified that Mrs Gail Kelly and Mr Patrick Allaway have resigned as independent non-executive directors of the Company with immediate effect,’’ the statement said.
“Both Gail and Patrick have made significant contributions to the Group and the Board thanks them for their service and wishes them both well in their future endeavours. Gail served as a member of the Nomination, Remuneration, Sustainability and Risk and Compliance committees and Patrick served as a member of the Audit, Treasury, Remuneration, and Risk and Compliance committees during their respective tenure on the Board.
“The Board has been continuing to seek to supplement its composition by the appointment of additional independent non-executive directors and will be making further announcements in this regard.”
The highly respected Mrs Kelly was first appointed to the Woolworths Holdings board in 2015 as it asked the former Westpac boss to help tilt its focus to Australia in the wake of its purchase of the David Jones business.
Mrs Kelly was chief executive and managing director of St George Bank from 2002 to 2007 and chief executive of Westpac from 2008 to 2015.
“Growing up in South Africa, I have always had a love for the Woolworths brand, and while in Australia, I have closely observed its growth path, including the acquisitions of Country Road and David Jones,” Mrs Kelly said at the time of her appointment to the Woolworths holdings board in 2015.
“I am looking forward to working with my fellow directors and the Woolworths team, both in South Africa and in Australia, to assist them on their ambition of becoming a leading southern hemisphere retailer.”
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