Experience

Bapcor NZ Limited

• New Zealand
• Motor Vehicle Manufacturing
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Regional Sales and Operations Manager - Lower North Island

  • 2020 - Present



Self employed

• Canterbury & West Coast, New Zealand

• Self Employed

  • Nov 2019 - Aug 2020



Smiths City

• New Zealand
• Retail
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Northwood Manager and Director of Flooring – Retail

  • Mar 2019 - Oct 2019

  Smiths City is a leading Kiwi retailer which sells and finances furniture and appliances. A publicly-listed company, it has a network of 30 stores across New Zealand.As Northwood Manager, I was responsible for the operation of the Northwood retail complex including managing staff, sales, promotional execution, stock control and business administration. As Director of National Flooring – Retail, I was responsible for project-managing the reconstruction and reorganisation of our flooring sales and installation business to create a fit-for-purpose entity that could be replicated in other regions. Key Achievements – Northwood Manager:• Restructured the leadership group to improve sales outcomes and add key business expertise.• Completed appraisals of 32 staff, monitoring individual KPIs and lifting key business measures.• Introduced an embedding of Smiths City’s new way of working, increasing efficiency.• Coached the team in merchandising, leading to improved average sales prices and items per sale.• Developed and maintained positive client relationships to become the region's trusted retailer.• Drove an improvement in our customer service culture, achieving a 12% lift in net promoter scores.Key Achievement – Director of Flooring – Retail:• Created a more engaged workforce: The existing team had challenges around culture, leadership, integrity and identity, so using feedback from the team, we developed a new business model which was presented to the group along with a timeline. Through a restructure including new reporting lines, some redundancies and the addition of new personnel with key expertise and industry qualifications, we achieved the introduction of safer work methods, a 55% reduction in operational costs, and happier, more engaged staff who felt part of the business and who understood how they added value. Show less

• South Island Regional Manager (Retail Operations)

  • May 2018 - Mar 2019

  This role was responsible for 18 retail stores and 230 staff.Key Achievement:• Played a key role in driving a successful remuneration-review project: It was identified that we needed to restructure the way our staff were paid in order to provide surety over income and align them to the current living wage. I was part of a five-person working group to build a new scheme to submit to our board. By identifying all payment types and schemes across the organisation and consulting with various internal and external sources as to best practice, we settled on a scheme that brought all staff to a minimum base rate in line with the current living wage, (an increase in guaranteed earnings for most staff members) and then replaced all internal/external incentives with a margin-based incentive to drive profitable sales. As a result of this change, we saw a 4% lift in margin, better control over our wage spend and budgeting, and because our base was now significantly higher than the industry average, we were able to recruit well. Show less



Smiths City

• New Zealand
• Retail
• 1 - 100 Employee

• North Island Regional Manager

  • 2015 - 2018

  This role was responsible for 12 retail sites and140 staff.Key Achievements:• Implemented and managed an extended warranty programme which lifted sales conversions: My brief was to maximise the opportunity these programmes presented. I immediately introduced a new measuring system moving to a traffic light reporting benchmarking stores against each other and what was considered excellence in the industry, a conversion of 30% of customers. This drove natural competition among store teams. I collaborated with AIG to measure the programme against the market and introduce a new pricing structure and a staff training/coaching programme. A full point-of-sale review was completed to ensure compliance with the FTA and CGA. Outcomes included a 14% lift in conversions and our sales conversion of 44% was described as world-class (the top result for AIG customers throughout Australasia).• Launched Live Better stores: In 2016 Smiths City launched the first of four new format Live Better stores in Hastings, with subsequent additions in Whangarei and Auckland. This store represented a significant step change for the group as they sought to take a consolidated product range and brand point of difference to the market for greenfield sites competing against Harvey Norman. I was responsible for project managing the final stages of store fit out, stock procurement, delivery and merchandising, recruiting, training and inducting staff, sourcing and establishing a local network of support contractors, managing the opening promotions and consolidating the store teams into an independent unit. These stores were delivered on time and budget with Hastings delivering record opening sales. Show less

• Central Region - Regional Manager

  • 2011 - 2015

  This role was responsible for eight retail locations with an annual turnover of $41.5 million and 85 staff.Key Achievements:• Assisted with identifying and embedding company core values and brand identity projects.• Improved sales and margin contribution and stock health.• Led training and development of managers and future leaders to grow bench strength.• Aligned fractured business practices to group policy.• Integrated Hutt Valley retail stores and managed the relocation of the Porirua retail store.• Assisted with planning for the addition of the Kapiti retail store from build to launch.• Recruited and inducted new staff. Show less

• Retail Store Manager

  • 2001 - 2012

• Department Supervisor

  • 2000 - 2001

• Salesperson

  • 1999 - 2000



LV Martin Ltd

• Operations Manager, Retail and Distribution (concurrent with Smiths City)

  • 2015 - 2016

  This role looked after four retail locations and the Wellington logistics operation. 28 staff reported to the position. This role was performed concurrently with my North Island Regional Manager role at SCG and was an expansion/promotion for me given that my region’s performance had improved. Key Achievements: • Designed, built and embedded a national sales training programme: When I joined the operations team, we had an inconsistent level of customer service across the store network. I reviewed all internal and external training material, established a sales method and consolidated this into six key steps, with training modules and coaching support. Once sign-off was achieved, I presented it to the balance of the regional management team and assisted managers in my region with the initial in-store training sessions, monitoring progress during store visits. Over the following months we exposed over 500 staff to the training programme and it became a regular part of our way of working. We received a major independent customer service award in 2017. • Assisted in creating a single organisational identity and set of values: We encountered significant internal division between retail brands and support services (i.e. Logistics, Finance and Repair teams) due to a prior acquisition. With the aim of creating a single corporate identity, we met in regional groups to identify key descriptive strategies and values that we wanted to aspire to as a business. I then completed a series of roadshows with key personnel to present and embed the values and behavioural expectations with all 640 staff. This project resulted in having a single organisational identity that staff could align themselves with and a consistent approach to decision making. Behaviours improved, with staff supporting the change wholeheartedly and holding themselves and each other accountable with positive feedback coming through staff satisfaction surveys. Show less



Parker Air Conditioning

• London, United Kingdom

• Site Manager

  • 1998 - 1999



Parker Air Conditioning

• London, United Kingdom

• HVAC Engineer

  • 1996 - 1997