Woolworth’s Chairman James Strong has announced his intention to retire at the conclusion of the company’s Annual General Meeting in November, after twelve years as Director and eleven as Chairman.

  

Mr Strong will be succeeded as Woolworths’ Chairman by current Non-Executive Director Ralph Waters, who has served on the Board of Woolworths since January 2011. Mr Waters will assume the role at the formal conclusion of the upcoming AGM to be held in Adelaide.

 

“Ralph is an eminently qualified successor and brings a wide range of leadership experience to the role. It has been a privilege to have chaired this proudly Australian company for the past eleven and a half years and I am delighted to be passing the role to someone of the calibre of Ralph,” Mr Strong said.

 

“Ralph has been a significant asset to the Woolworths Board since he joined in 2011. He has a served as CEO of Email and Fletcher Building Limited, and is now Chairman of Fletcher. He is Deputy Chairman of the Organising Committee for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, and a Director of Fonterra Co-operative Limited and Asciano Limited. He has previously been a Director of Westpac New Zealand Limited and Chairman and Director of Fisher and Paykel Appliances Holdings Limited.


“On behalf of the Woolworths Board I congratulate Ralph on his upcoming appointment as Chairman," Mr Strong said.