Dan Murphy's owner needs a rescue but can its new boss deliver?
Having accepted a new challenge to revive the fortunes of Endeavour, the company that owns the big box booze barns – Dan Murphy's, BWS – and a portfolio of 350 pubs, her focus now turns from getting customers onto Virgin's planes to having them fill bars and/or their trolleys with beer, bourbon and Bordeaux.
Hrdlicka was privy to a masterclass in the art of corporate ruthlessness by her former boss at Qantas, Alan Joyce. Credited as being part-architect of the airline's 2011 decision to ground the airline as part of the nuclear-level move against the company's unions, Hrdlicka has seemingly learnt her lessons well and certainly proved her chops by resuscitating Virgin Australia.
Hrdlicka's announcement to move to Virgin's departure lounge certainly caught most by surprise.
The airline's Lazarus-like revival from administration appeared to be a textbook restructuring, and its current earnings profile is more positive than it has been for a decade or more.
Despite years of industrial relations education at the feet of Joyce, Hrdlicka also managed to establish a workable relationship with Virgin's unions. Her tenure handed a magnificent return to Virgin's owner, Bain, and assuming we escape a Trump-induced global recession, the airline's prospects look rosy in the short to medium term.
Hrdlicka is considered tough, ruthless and polarising to her critics and fans alike, so there is little doubt that the under-performing Endeavour is in for radical change.
Having worked in the cutthroat world of private equity, reigned over infant formula group A2, run the discount airline Jetstar, and then its mid-tier competitor Virgin while holding court as head of Tennis Australia, Hrdlicka appears as energetic as she is industry-agnostic.
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It throws curveballs at you at all times, so I'm sure he's adept at dealing with those, and we're really looking forward to his leadership." Pavlich will relocate to Sydney from Perth with his wife and their three children, and hopes to steer his new club back up the ladder. The Swans have missed the finals this season on the back of a grand final appearance last year. "The culture's strong, there's great stability and strength off the field, and we're hoping to quickly get back that on-field success as well," Pavlich said. The former Fremantle captain will work closely with Sydney coach Dean Cox, who was on the opposite side of Perth's cross-town rivalry throughout his own 290-game playing career with West Coast. Cox took the coaching reins from 2012 premiership mentor John Longmire this season and has a 10-10 record at the helm.
