BA, B Ed, Grad Dip
Background and Experience
Graham is an experienced, successful and recently retired Managing Director who has 40 years of business experience across various FMCG industries, 23 years of which were leading Australia and New Zealand operations of global and locally owned businesses as a Managing Director and Vice President (Asia). He brings a unique, practical and experience based perspective and sounding board to client projects and assignments.
Graham spent his formative years in marketing, sales and general management with H J Heinz, Henry Jones (IXL) and Beatrice Australia before his Managing Director roles with Jacobs Suchard, Griffith Laboratories, Tetley Australia and McCormick Foods Australia.
Graham has extensive multi-discipline marketing, sales, finance and general management skills across diverse industries and in diverse business environments including business start-up, business re-structure and change management, business development and growth and private equity management buy-outs. He has also had extensive international business exposure as a member of global CEO leadership teams, in particular Asia as part of Asia Pacific management teams.
Graham has a breadth and depth of direct operational experience across business and marketing strategy development and execution, management leadership and talent development, change management, the innovation process and mergers and acquisitions.
Graham has an enquiring mind and is driven by the opportunity to “make a difference” both personally and through the management teams he has led… exploring new and different ways to improve organizational effectiveness and results through engaging and empowering people. He is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Career Highlights
- Successfully driving brand and business growth strategies at Jacobs Suchard, Tetley and McCormick through marketing and innovation driven strategies and programs.
- Devising, planning and successfully executing complex business re-structures and significant change management initiatives including the rationalization of facilities, the sale of businesses and integration into new ownership and the implementation of IT systems, the most recent being SAP at McCormick.
- Leading the Australian part of the global Management Buyout of Tetley Tea and subsequent exit through trade sale, together with planning and successfully executing the buy-out and merger of 13 privately owned businesses to form the Australian Convenience Foods Group.
- Implementing Management Leadership and Talent Development processes and programs at Tetley, Griffiths laboratories and McCormick Foods, including Employee Engagement Surveys and business Culture improvement programmes.
- Devising, leading and successfully implementing the “start-up” of Jacobs Suchard in Australia and New Zealand
Expertise
- Strategy planning and organizational execution
- Business re-structure and change management, especially the HR/people management impacts
- Driving brand and business development
- Leadership development and Talent management and development, including Succession planning
- Business organization culture development
- Driving innovation and the innovation process
Accreditation and Qualifications
- Lecturer in Marketing - Mt Eliza Management College
- World Class Manufacturing: the essence of staying ahead of the game in a competitive global market - Victorian Department of Industry
- The Universal Hierarchy of Motivation (UHM) Professional - Accredited Coach through MarkTwo Consulting
- The 4 UHM Typological Rooms - MarkTwoConsulting
- World Class Manufacturing: the essence of staying ahead of the game in a competitive global market -Victorian Department of Industry
- Strategic Growth for Profit - Melbourne University
- Developing Strategic Thought - Melbourne University
- Strategic Sourcing - University of NSW
- Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done - University of NSW
- Eating Big Fish: Challenger Brands Success - St James Consulting Group
- Unlocking Opportunities for Strategic Growth - Wharton Business School Executive Education
- Leaders as Teachers - Wharton Business School Executive Education
- Translating Strategy into Action & The Balanced Scorecard The Economist/ CEO Forum Global Thinkers Series - Robert Kaplan:
- Growth from Innovation & Making it Work - Professor Vijay Govindarajan, Tuck Business School
