TW Group Announces Future Director

MEDIA RELEASE
6 October 2014

TW Group Announces Future Director

As part of its commitment to learning and development, The Warehouse Group’s Board announced today the appointment of Bindi Norwell as its 2015 participant in the Future Director programme.

Ms Norwell has over 15 years’ business experience, specialising in strategic management, having worked in a variety of senior strategy and commercial roles in the UK Telecoms sector and in the aviation industry in Australia.

The Warehouse founder and current director, Sir Stephen Tindall says The Warehouse Group Board is committed to supporting the next generation of governance talent and gender diversity in the boardroom.

“Ms Norwell is an exceptional candidate and by offering her the opportunity to observe and participate in boardroom discussions, we believe we can contribute to developing diversity and leadership among talented young New Zealanders.

“As New Zealand’s largest listed retailer, the wealth of experience we have at Board level means we can offer important learning opportunities and we believe this programme is vital to developing and fostering young executives to help them succeed at governance level.

“The year-long programme aims to give aspiring candidates the ability to get board room experience with public companies in New Zealand so that they can hopefully be appointed permanently to other boards on the NZX,” explains Sir Tindall.

The Future Directors programme was launched through the Institute Of Directors in April 2013 by Sir Stephen Tindall, Michael Stiassny (Vector/Korda Mentha/IOD) and Des Hunt (NZ Shareholders Association).

It is a broad-based joint initiative aimed at addressing the experience gap faced by skilled younger professionals seeking to become directors of public companies and gives them 12 months’ exposure and experience at Board level. While participants in the Future Directors programme participate in real discussions, they do not have a role in Board decision making.

Ms Norwell says: “I’m incredibly proud to have the opportunity to learn and be mentored with a company like The Warehouse Group, which is committed to developing young people and I believe this programme will prepare me very well for a future governance role.”

Ms Norwell, who is a Director at TNS New Zealand, commences her appointment on Thursday 16 October, the day of TW Group’s first post-annual results Board meeting for the 2015 financial year.

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Notes to editors

The Warehouse Group is committed to offering learning and development opportunities, as part of a broader programme to develop future leaders in retailing, examples include:

Massey University Degree – TW Group has taken on a leadership role within the New Zealand retail community by funding the Sir Stephen Tindall Retail Chair as part of the launch of the country’s first degree focused solely on retail at Massey University. To coincide with the launch of the Bachelor of Business and Retail Management degree, TW Group announcing a scholarship programme to support team members to further develop their careers in retail, commencing when the degree opens for enrolment in 2015.

Learning For a Better Life – a literacy and financial program for team members who need assistance developing these skills.

Future Leaders – a development program to up-skill team members and prepare them for a supervisor role in store.

SMDP (Store Manager Development Programme) – a graduate-style program open to team members as well as external graduates, with a focus on retail leadership skills.

Retail Learning Pathway – a programme to develop team member capability in their current roles as well as preparing them for career progression if this is in line with their goals.

Red Shirts In Schools – a programme that will be rolled out to all schools nationwide by the end of 2014, offering students work experience at The Warehouse to help them transition from school into the workplace. Over 1,600 students have registered for the RSIS programme so far this calendar year.

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