Andrew Charlton Helps Wesfarmers Succeed

Sydney, NSW, February 25, 2015 (Newswire.com) - Andrew Charlton is an Australian economist, political adviser, businessman and writer who had worked as the Senior Economic Adviser to former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. At age 28, Charlton was representing his home country in global events such as the G20 Leaders Forum and the United Nations Copenhagen Climate Conference. In 2001, he was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. He is also the author of two books, Ozonomics and Fair Trade for All; and he has also published a handful of quarterly essays regarding his views on trade policies and economic development.

After Kevin Rudd’s party was shifted out of power in Parliament, Andrew Charlton decided to enter private business and take a firsthand approach in aiding the growth of one of Australia’s most-recognized corporate brands. Wesfarmers Ltd is the umbrella business of Cole’s department stores; and within recent years Charlton has been working in their corporate offices.

“I’m not too worried about the drag on sales growth, because some of the sales we’ve been having in liquor haven’t been particularly profitable sales,” Richard Goyder, Managing Director at Wesfarmers Limited, said.

“I’m not as concerned with that as I am improving fundamentally the profit of the liquor business.”

For Cole’s, overall sales in the third quarter were at $6.7 billion, which is up 3.9 percent from the previous year. Revenue by their food and liquor departments alone were up to $21.7 billion, a 4.7 % increase.

“[The Liquor business is] about 10 % of Coles’ sales and half of that in terms of profit,” Goyder said.

“Ultimately we’d want it to be carrying its weight so the profitability’s got to be improved, that’s through stronger stores, improved mix, better pricing.”

“It’s getting more attention at the moment... and we’re making some steady progress, I think Andrew Charlton and the team are doing some very good work on it.”