The man credited with masterminding the turnaround of Coles is off to the US to head up retail giant Bi-Lo.
Ian McLeod has resigned from his senior executive role at Coles' parent company Wesfarmers, and will take up his new position in the US in March.
The Scottish born businessman is highly regarded in retail circles, having helped drive the turnaround of British chain Asda before being brought in by Wesfarmers soon after it took control of then-struggling Coles.
At the time of his arrival in 2008, Coles was being pummelled by Woolworths - with its sales and market share in decline.
Mr McLeod set in place a five year plan that included cutting costs in the supermarket group's supply chain - at times at the expense of suppliers - revamping stores and beefing up its product offering.
He also started a controversial price war with Woolworths by introducing $1 per litre milk.
The turnaround was nothing short of impressive - Coles' same store sales growth has outstripped Woolworths' for 20 consecutive quarters, and the retailer has more than doubled its pre-tax earnings.
Wesfarmers has rewarded the success handsomely: Mr McLeod has taken home more than $60 million dollars in his time with the company, making him one of Australia's highest paid executives, with a pay cheque often dwarfing that of even Wesfarmers managing director Richard Goyder.
Mr McLeod stepped aside from Coles in 2014 and moved into a senior role within Wesfarmers as commercial director.
"We are disappointed to be losing an executive of Ian's calibre and passion but understand the attraction of taking on a major new challenge in the world's biggest retail market," Mr Goyder said.
Share
