General > General Technical Chat
RIP Gary Johnston - Jaycar Founder
Ed.Kloonk:
edit: formatted bad. Sorry.
--- Quote ---1st October 2022
The Board of The Jaycar Group is pleased to announce it has appointed Retail
Executive Chris Wilesmith as its new Group CEO & Managing Director after the Board
completed a formal CEO succession program supported by Ashurst Board Advisory.
Mr. Wilesmith formally started with the Group in September 2022 while taking the
reins officially from 1st of October when Mr. Michael Newsom, the outgoing CEO
retired.
Mr. Newsom led the Jaycar Group through a significant period of change over the last
3 years including the loss of its founder, Gary Johnston, along with the impacts of
Covid. Together with the team, Michael has delivered a stronger business ready for
future growth. We thank Michael for his leadership of the group.
Chris has come back to be based in Australia after spending several successful years
in NZ where he was the CEO of Mitre10 NZ a multi-Billion dollar market leading wholly
NZ owned hardware retail, trade cooperative. This move enables Chris to be part of
our wonderful success story of Jaycar Group and for him to spend more time with his
family who are Australian based. We are very pleased to welcome Chris to the Group.
For the prior 14 years Mr. Wilesmith was part of the ASX listed Super Retail Group
Executive Leadership team, where he held the position of Managing Director,
Supercheap Auto.
Chris is a keen cyclist, car tinkerer, music lover & mountaineer who enjoys spending
time with family and helping people both professionally and personally. As Chris says
“it is not who you are today but who you need to be tomorrow that matters most.”
The Jaycar Group Chair, Kerry Johnston said “We are thrilled with the appointment of
Mr Wilesmith who will build on the tremendous foundations Gary Johnston, the
founder of the Jaycar Group, & the teams at Jaycar have built over the last 41 years,
leading the company through its next exciting phase of growth.”
"Chris is a highly accomplished Managing Director, CEO and Business Retail Leader,
having spent more than 30 years in mass FMCG, specialty, big-box and omni-channel
retail wholesale trade businesses with a broad experience obtained through many
operational and support office roles or, as Chris would put it, from trolley collector to
CEO and many roles in between, while he also holds a number of NED roles with
independent ANZ businesses.”
“This is an exciting time for our business, with every Retailer and Wholesaler
challenged to adapt to a world that is rapidly changing around us," Johnston said.
"Innovation, leadership and courage are required, and we see Chris as expertly
placed to lead us through the exciting times ahead for the Group."
--- End quote ---
SmallCog:
What a pity, I grew up as a kid visiting Jaycar with my dad it's what got me (and my brother) into electronics.
The stores he built surely inspired many people to make/fix things
I hope Jaycar survives Chris Wilesmith (I'm not a fan of his)
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