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Michael Luscombe (BEc 1974) was appointed CEO of Woolworths Limited in October 2006.
Mr Luscombe began his career with Woolworths in 1978 as a graduate trainee at the Southend store in Victoria. He became a store manager in 1980, later progressing to roles in training management and area management.
In 1994, Mr Luscombe moved into buying and marketing as a category manager before becoming merchandise manager – overseeing supermarket buying for Victoria under Woolworths’ former state-based buying structure. In 1995, he was appointed operations manager for Victoria.
In 1998, Mr Luscombe moved to Sydney to join Woolworths’ growing corporate support office as national manager banking. In this role, he was responsible for the development and launch of Ezy Banking and its financial services alliance with the Commonwealth Bank.
The following year saw Mr Luscombe take up the position of general manager supply chain. In this role, he was responsible for the strategy and planning of a major business strategy which involved a complete revolution of Woolworths’ logistics and IT infrastructure.
Mr Luscombe took on the job of director of supermarkets in August 2004, heading up the company’s largest trading division. During his tenure, he oversaw the complex integration of 150 New Zealand supermarkets and 22 Action stores, acquired as part of the Foodland demerger.
In 2006, the board of Woolworths Limited announced that Mr Luscombe was to become chief operating officer and CEO-elect.
Mr Luscombe is chairman of the board of the Australian Leisure and Hospitality Group, and of the Australian National Retailers Association. He is also a board member of the International Committee of Food Retail Chains (CIES), a global food business network. |
