Mystery shopper stalks aisles at Myer, looks like Solomon Lew

Premier Investments chairman Solomon Lew.

Omicron be damned, Premier Investments billionaire Solly Lew ventured into Melbourne’s still depleted CBD for a spot of retail research at the weekend – popping into Myer’s Bourke St store for what the businessman calls “mystery shopping”.

As the now 20 per cent Myer shareholder awaits news of the retailer’s first-half results and contemplates his next move, ­potentially to call an extraordinary general meeting of his fellow long-suffering department chain shareholders, Margin Call’s spies tell us the billionaire spent several hours making his way around what is Myer’s flagship store.

Picture the 76-year-old engaging in lots of friendly chatting with floor staff on their views of how things were travelling and Myer’s leadership, quietly observing service levels, and assessing the likes of in-store merchandising and promotions.

Shame, then, that Myer chief executive John King was back offshore – in Fort Lauderdale in the US, to be more precise – tens of thousands of kilometres away from the shop floor and the chance maybe to do the walk-through with Lew himself.

Readers will be aware that King spent much of the second half of the 2021 calendar year in Florida on America’s east coast attending to matters relating to his family.

King, we are told, came back to Australia for the busy peak trading season but then returned to the US, where he has been for several weeks.

“Like a lot of Australians over summer, John has taken some annual leave following peak trade, but has continued to work remotely and has stayed connected to the board, executives, stores and key stakeholders during this time,” a Myer spokesman told us last night.

We hear that Myer chief numbers man Nigel Chadwick has had delegated authority for the time that King was officially on annual leave.

But when King, answerable to Myer chair JoAnne Stephenson, has been back on duty he’s had to juggle several time zones to stay in touch with local operations.

King is to return to Oz on Sunday, with the interim results expected to drop early next month.

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Charging up

Could mining and energy entrepreneur and investor Trevor St Baker be on the fast track to becoming a billionaire thanks to the giddy ride of Nasdaq-listed manufacturer Tritium?

The Brisbane-based manufacturer of electric vehicle rapid chargers is enjoying a giddy start to 2022, having listed on the US exchange in January and this week signed a deal to open a giant factory in Tennessee, as announced by US President Joe Biden.

Illustration: Rod Clement

St Baker, maybe best known for his stellar returns from the carbon-intensive Vales Point coal power station in NSW, has been plugged into the potential of Tritium since he made his $40m investment in 2013 for his circa 25 per cent holding in the company.

That was nine or so years before the group merged last year with Decarbonisation
Plus Acquisition Corporation and went public on Nasdaq with a combined value of about $2.2bn.

The factory in Tennessee, which is planned to open in August, will see Tritium, under the leadership of Aussie CEO Jane Hunter, make 30,000 EV chargers a year.

St Baker, who is on the company’s board, has 31.5 million shares for which he is believed to have invested about $40m.

Off the back of Biden’s announcement, Tritium shares rose almost 40 per cent to close at $US9.54.

That values St Baker’s stake at a cool $US300.5m ($420m).

This newspaper’s The List estimated the businessman’s worth at $675m, with 2022 and Tritium’s rise offering the potential for him to join Australia’s exclusive club of billionaires.

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ScoMo scorned

If Scott Morrision had turned up to the National Press Club yesterday to hear the white hot anger of former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins and former Australian of the Year Grace Tame, he would have heard Tame’s free election advice.

“All that Anthony would have to do is none of the things that Scott’s done,” the passionate child abuse advocate, sporting a sling and some visible scrapes after a recent bike crash, told a sellout audience.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese was there to receive Tame’s tip in person, along with a who’s who of Australian politics – and even a sprinkling of corporate identities.

“My patience has now run out,” said Higgins, in suffragette white, as Toll Global Express boss and former Australian Post chief Christine Holgate and former Liberal MP Julia Banks sitting side-by-side up the back listened on.

Lucy Turnbull was also there, as was Finance Minister Simon Birmingham.

Birmingham was seated next to Tame’s fiance Max Heerey, who is also an executive director of the newly-established Grace Tame Foundation, while Higgins’ partner David Sharaz – a former Morrison staffer – also watched on.

Grace Tame dishes it out at the Press Club. Picture: NCA Newswire/Gary Ramage

Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne was in the room, as were Superannuation Minister Jane Hume and Women’s Security Minister Anne Ruston, both prominent in the front row.

Also in from the government aisle were Liberal MPs Fiona Martin and Bridget Archer – an enduring thorn in Morrison’s side.

From the left, Margin Call spied Labor senator Jenny McAllister as well as Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary Sally McManus and her president Michele O’Neil.

None of Tame and Higgins’ passion would have been lost on the Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins, who completed the Independent Review into the Workplaces of Parliamentarians and their staff, nor on Alan Tudge’s former senior staffer Rachelle Miller, who Higgins called out as a key motivator in her decision to come forward with the story of her alleged rape in Parliament House.

Ten presenter Lisa Wilkinson, who has become a key supporter to Higgins, was there, although declined to ask a question when her turn was called by Press Club president (and ABC political correspondent) Laura Tingle.

For once there seemed there was nothing left for The Project anchor to say.

Solomon Lew

Trevor St Baker

Grace Tame