Andrea Scown on female leadership, international inspiration and war

Andrea Scown, CEO of the New Zealand cooperative Mitre 10, was guest in Edra general secretary John Herbert's interview series "Meet the CEO" on the Global DIY-Network. She is one of the few women in the top management of DIY companies, as John Herbert noted right at the beginning of the interview. "We have a very strong female representation in leadership roles," Scown confirmed; at the head office, called the Support Centre, 40 per cent of the team are women. Mitre 10 also has a "slightly higher female customer base in our retail business," Scown said: "It's probably not so surprising at all that female senior leaders would be attracted to the industry".

Scown emphasised several times in the interview that the strength of the cooperative is that all locations are locally owned by independent members. This is why, for example, the distribution of sales between end consumers and professionals varies; in relation to the entire group, about 60 per cent is accounted for by the retail business with private customers.

Especially in view of membership in the international association Edra/Ghin, Scown emphasised how important the exchange with colleagues abroad and suggestions from companies worldwide are; they have received a lot of inspiration from the Kingfisher Group, for example. "We don't want to be slow followers, we want to be fast followers," Scown described her attitude.

Currently, Scown reports continued good sales, but also difficulties with the supply chains. For this reason, Mitre 10 has ramped up purchasing; inventories are currently 26 per cent above the level of a year ago.

Scown and Herbert began their discussion with a statement on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. John Herbert reported that two stores of the Ukrainian market leader Epicentre had been destroyed by Russian missiles and another store badly damaged. He called on members to help Epicentre staff and thanked them for the support already received in hosting three families in Germany. Andrea Scown gave assurance that also in New Zealand, far away from the war, the situation was being followed with concern. "Our thoughts are with Ukraine and its European neighbours," she said.