The Warehouse Group Appoints CEO

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – NEW ZEALAND

The Warehouse Group Appoints CEO

Auckland, 18 May 2004 – The Warehouse Group has appointed Ian Morrice as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer. Mr Morrice is currently Managing Director, Commercial for United Kingdom-based B&Q Plc, the number one DIY retailer in Europe and number three DIY retailer worldwide. For the year 2003/04 B&Q had turnover of 3.9 billion pounds, pre-tax profit of 372 million pounds and 36,000 employees.

Mr Morrice will take over the reins as The Warehouse Group Managing Director and CEO from Founder Stephen Tindall early in the new financial year. Mr Tindall has been acting Managing Director since May 2003 and will remain on the Board of Directors.

The Warehouse Group Chairman Keith Smith said the company was delighted to have secured Mr Morrice, who has a strong retail career and has been a leading contributor to B&Q’s market share and earnings growth over the last three years. Mr Morrice has an outstanding track record of managing profitable growth and will bring significant experience in big box and general merchandise retailing to The Warehouse.

Mr Morrice has been at B&Q since 2001 where he has led the growth of the large format B&Q Warehouse chain, expansion into Ireland and the launch of financial services. Prior to B&Q he was Retail Director of Woolworths’ chain of 800 stores in the UK. His retailing career also has included a number of senior executive positions at Dixons, Europe’s number one electrical retailing group. Mr Morrice has an MBA from Cranfield University.

In addition, General Manager - Red Sheds David Wilson will resign at the end of the company’s financial year, 1st August 2004. He has decided to return home to Melbourne, Australia. Glen Inger, current Property Director and a board member, will pick up the running of the Red Sheds on David’s departure. Glen has been with The Warehouse since 1988 and has worked in most functions of the business including Store Operations, Merchandising and Property.

Background: The Warehouse Group Limited

The Warehouse Group had sales of $2.035 billion and profit of $75.4 million for the year ended 31 July 2003. The Warehouse Group has 80 “Red Sheds”, 39 Warehouse Stationery “Blue Sheds” and 130 “Yellow Sheds” in Australia. The Warehouse Group employs over 15,000 people across New Zealand and Australia.

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IAN MORRICE CURRICULUM VITAE

1. Career Overview

April 1996 to Present : Kingfisher Group plc

Dec 2003 to present
Managing Director, Commercial for B&Q plc
Primary accountability for sales and profit in the UK and Ireland through format and product development. For the year 2003/04 B&Q had turnover of £3.9 billion pounds, profit of £372 million pounds and 36,000 employees.

2001-2003
Managing Director, B&Q Warehouse for B&Q plc
Responsible for all aspects of performance and development of the large format B&Q Warehouse stores ( 13,500sqm). Grew the chain from 60 to over 100 stores including the successful re-branding of the Homebase Megastores. Grew the format’s sales and profit by over 50% over this period. Also led the launch of Financial Services across the B&Q business in the UK, this resulted in achieving credit penetration of 7.5% of sales in the 12 month launch period.

1996-2001 Woolworths (part of Kingfisher plc)

Retail Operations & Property Director for Woolworths plc
Responsible for designing and implementing a major change programme to improve the customer experience in store, increasing product availability. The change programme drove significant like for like sales across the chain. Established a pipeline of over 2M sq ft for the Big W general merchandise superstores.

Director of Trading for Woolworths plc
Designed and introduced Category Management across the commercial functions. Responsible for Category market share and profit growth delivery.

Head of Marketing Development for Woolworths plc
Responsible for format development .

1994-1996
Director, Retail for AA Insurance, the UK’s largest Insurance Broker, part of the AA.

1993-1994
Retail Operations Director for Clydesdale Electrical Stores Ltd.

1978 to 1993 Dixons Group plc

Dixons Stores Group
Joined as trainee manager aged 17, appointed store manager at 19. Went on to hold a number of senior positions in Marketing, Buying and Store Operations over a 15 year period at the group.

2. Professional Qualifications

1992-1993
Masters Degree in Business Administration ( MBA ) - Cranfield University School of Management

3. Personal Details

Born
8 January 1961 in Kirkwall, Orkney Islands, Scotland
Family
Married to Linda since 1984 with three children Hayley (15), Jordan (12), Joshua (10).

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Information – The Warehouse Limited

INTRODUCTION
The Warehouse Group comprises three brands: The Warehouse New Zealand (the big Red Sheds), Warehouse Stationery, and The Warehouse Australia. In New Zealand, The Warehouse is the largest general merchandise retailer.

There are 80 The Warehouse stores, 39 Warehouse Stationery Stores and 130 stores in Australia.

For year ended July 2003 the Group profit was $75.4 million. Group sales were $2.035 billion (NZ). The Warehouse NZ - $1,351 million, Warehouse Stationery $164.5 million, and The Warehouse Australia $519.4 million.

The Warehouse employs over 15,000 people – over 7500 in The Warehouse NZ, over 6500 in Australia, and about 1000 in Warehouse Stationery.

The Warehouse was founded as the place “Where everyone gets a bargain”. This value, together with Where People Come First and Where the Environment Matters, are the values upon which The Warehouse operates.

TIMELINE
 In the early 1980s, The Warehouse founder Stephen Tindall was frustrated with what he describes as ‘old school retailing’, and saw an opportunity to provide New Zealanders with quality products at discount prices.
 He sold his caravan and his superannuation plan, and downgraded his wife’s car to raise the capital necessary to start his company.
 In 1982 the first Warehouse store opened on Wairau Road in Takapuna.
 The Warehouse expanded quickly, and within four years the first The Warehouse store opened in the South Island.
 In 1990, the first mailer was distributed nationally.
 In 1991, sales exceeded $100 million, and the first Warehouse Stationery store was opened.
 In 1992, the first of the Warehouse’s large format stores opened in Manakau. It was described at the time as a gigantic 33,000 square foot shoppers’ paradise. That year, the Warehouse was employing 2000 people and stocking over 50, 000 different products.
 The mid 1990s saw The Warehouse expand in size and in products, when stores began selling books, apparel and music.
 The Warehouse share float was the most eagerly anticipated of 1994, and in 1995 The Warehouse was added to the New Zealand SE40 index.
 The North Island Distribution Centre opened in 1996.
 By 1997, The Warehouse was employing 4700 people, and stocking over 70,000 products.
 In the five years to 2000, the value of Kiwi Made goods purchased rose 600%.
 In 2000, The Warehouse was added to the NZSE10 index, and sales exceeded $1billion.
 The Warehouse Australia was acquired in 2000, and opened with 118 stores
 The Warehouse Financial Services was launched in 2001, and the first Triple Bottom Line Report was produced.
 2002 saw The Warehouse celebrate its 20th birthday.
 Sales exceeded $2 billion in 2003.

GROUP EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT

Stephen Tindall
Stephen founded The Warehouse in 1982. Previously he had worked for twelve years with retailer George Court and Sons in a variety of roles including merchandise manager. Stephen held the position of managing director from 1994 until January 2001, and resumed the role of acting managing director in August 2003 following the resignation of Greg Muir as CEO.

Glen Inger
Glen is Chief Executive – Red Sheds, responsible for The Warehouse New Zealand. Glen has 23 years of retail experience. Glen joined Stephen Tindall in 1988 playing a key part in the expansion of The Warehouse stores leading to an ownership in the Waikato and Central North Island franchise, prior to the amalgamation of the franchise companies into The Warehouse Group. Glen is a founding director and shareholder of The Warehouse and has been involved in many aspects of the company including national roles in buying, operations and property. Most recently he had responsibility for all property and store development in New Zealand and Australia.

Ian Tsicalas
Ian has had overall responsibility for The Warehouse Australia since he joined The Warehouse Group in late 2003. Ian is best known for the 20 years he spent with Howard Smith Limited, where his most recent positions were Managing Director and prior to that, Chief Executive of wholly owned subsidiary, BBC Hardware. Ian’s professional achievements include developing the Hardwarehouse concept with BBC Hardware, implementing new enterprise-wide systems, developing e-commerce platforms for consumers and suppliers, re-positioning merchandising and marketing functions and aggressively rolling-out Hardwarehouse stores in Australia and New Zealand.

Robert Smith
Robert has overall responsibility for Warehouse Stationery, overseeing both the retail and B2B businesses. He joined the company as national operations manager in 1996 before being appointed general manager in 1999. Before joining Warehouse Stationery Robert’s previous positions included national operations manager and then general manager of Countdown Foodmarkets.

Mark Powell
Mark joined The Warehouse in December 2002 from the United Kingdom where he held a variety of leadership positions within leading retail companies. Most recently he was the director of UK retail strategy supply chain practice with PwC Consulting.

Luke Bunt
Luke started with The Warehouse in May 2002. A chartered accountant by profession, Luke is responsible for group finance, treasury/risk management and business planning. He has more than twenty years experience in finance, treasury and commercial roles, his most recent position being with Telecom as the general manager of finance for the sales and service group.

Hamish McKenzie
As general manager, people department, Hamish is responsible for all group human resources functions including employee relations, learning and development, internal communications and change management, talent identification and succession planning, performance management, remuneration, and health and safety. Before joining The Warehouse in January 2001 Hamish held senior human resources positions in a number of companies including Westpac Banking Corporation, National Australia Bank, and Telecom New Zealand.

John Journee
John Journee rejoined the company in June 2003 as general manager, merchandise, for The Warehouse Group following two-and-a-half years working in Britain. He has more than twenty years of retail experience, including ten years with The Warehouse holding senior management positions in merchandising, marketing and operations.

Owen McCall
Owen McCall joined The Warehouse in 2003 as CIO. Owen has an extensive background in technology and information systems in New Zealand, Australia, Europe, Asia and the United States. Owen’s most recent role, outside of the company, was as a Partner for Deloitte.

ENDS

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