Woolworths Group CEO and managing director, Brad Banducci, has resigned and will step down in September. The MD of WooliesX, Amanda Bardwell, is the company’s new CEO.
Banducci has been CEO for 8.5 years and with the company for 13. Woolworths Group chair, Scott Perkins, said, “The test of any CEO is to leave the business in better shape than when they started. On that simple metric, history will judge Brad to have been one of Woolworths Group’s finest leaders.”
In a letter to staff he shared on LinkedIn, Banducci said it was a decision he had been contemplating “for a while” and after eight years and as the company turns 100, the timing felt right.
“[It’s] not because I am tired or burnt out (I am as energised by our business and our potential as I have ever been) or am worried about the various upcoming price inquiries (I am looking forward to effectively representing Woolworths at these important forums), but because I think a leader should go before they need to and, more importantly, because I believe passionately in the amazing talent in our Group and it is time to pass on the baton,” Banducci said.
Perkins said, “Brad has led a remarkable turnaround and transformation of the group. He has engendered a ‘Customer 1st Team 1st’ culture, worked to strengthen existing businesses and build digital, eCommerce, and analytical capabilities that are seen by our peers as world leading. Most importantly, he has built a team of amazing calibre.”
Banducci said he looked forward to working with Bardwell over the next six months but doesn’t “intend to go quietly into the night and look forward to working with all of you to help our customers spend less, for us to be rightly famous for the care we show our customers and each other and to continue to be better together”.
Amanda Bardwell has almost 30 years’ experience in retail, with 23 years at Woolworths. Her time at the retailer includes extensive experience in the Food business in business manager roles in R&D, Fresh Development, Advertising - Woolworths Supermarkets and Head of Marketing for Woolworths Supermarkets.
Within the group she has led multiple transformations and helped build two of Woolworths’ most successful businesses in eCommerce and Loyalty.
For the last 10 years, Bardwell has focused on digital and online aspects of the business, including director of Woolworths Food Digital and most recently, MD of WooliesX since May 2017.
Perkins said, “Amanda is a proven leader, business builder, and modern retailer. Most recently, under her leadership, WooliesX has gone from infancy in 2015 to a $7 billion market leading business.”
She comes into the role at a time when Woolworths and Coles are under intense scrutiny over pricing practices and supplier relations. Banducci performed badly on a recent ABC Four Corners program when he criticised former ACCC chair Rod Sims and left the interview when his request to strike the comments from the record were refused.
The ACCC is currently undertaking a 12 month review of the retailers at the behest of the Prime Minister, the ACTU recently completed its five-month review, while the voluntary Food & Grocery Code is being reviewed.
Banducci is due to appear before a Senate Select Committee on supermarket pricing in March.
Bardwell will start as CEO on 1 September, following the release of the company’s FY24 results.
