Origin Energy chairman Scott Perkins will be the new chairman of the Woolworths board, taking over from Gordon Cairns.
Mr Perkins, who has been on the Woolworths Group board since 2014, is an experienced company director in Australia and overseas.
He will shortly take over from Gordon Cairns, who was appointed group chairman in September, 2015.
Mr Cairns indicated to the Woolworths annual general meeting in October last year that he would not be serving his entire three-year term.
He will retire as chair following the group’s annual general meeting on October 26, according to the group’s statement to the Australian Securities Exchange on Tuesday.
“I am proud of the work that the team and directors have achieved together in transforming Woolworths Group and delivering for our shareholders,” Mr Cairns said.
“Moreover, I am humbled to have been the chair of a purpose-led business dedicated to working towards a better tomorrow for our teams, customers and the community.
“We are fortunate to have someone of Scott’s ability and experience, respected by his colleagues and management, to provide the oversight required to allow the business to reach its full potential.”
Mr Perkins is an experienced corporate adviser on strategy, mergers and acquisitions and capital markets matters.
He held senior executive leadership positions at Deutsche Bank from 1999 to 2013. These included as managing director and head of corporate finance for Australia and New Zealand, membership of the Asia Pacific Corporate and Investment Bank Management Committee and CEO of Deutsche Bank New Zealand.
He has also been chairman of Origin Energy since October 2020 and a director of Brambles, since June 2015.
Mr Perkins is an active participant in the non-profit sector, and founded Sweet Louise in New Zealand in 2005, named after his wife, Louise Perkins, who died in 2004 after living for 10 years with incurable breast cancer.
He has been on the board providing guidance and support since then for the charity, which provides support for New Zealanders living with the same disease.
“Sweet Louise is my sense of purpose,” Mr Perkins said in a post on the charity’s Facebook page last month.
Originally published as Woolworths announces Scott Perkins will take as chairman from retiring Gordon Cairns
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