Gordon Cairns

Gordon has over 30 years’ experience as a CEO, senior executive, non-executive director, chairman and senior advisor across the UK, USA, NZ and Australia in major public and private companies and the not-for-profit sector.

Gordon is a Celt, born in Bridge of Allan, Scotland and was educated at the University of Edinburgh. He started his career with Nestle, followed by Cadbury, the Imperial Group, Yum and PepsiCo where he worked for 10 years on three continents in Sales, Marketing, Operations, Finance and General Management. He joined Lion (an ASX top 50 beer and wine business), initially as the Managing Director of Australia, followed by 7 years as CEO.  During his tenure, the company was consistently recognised and awarded as a best employer – amongst the 10 best companies to work for in Australia.

In 2004 Gordon moved from being a full-time executive to serve as an NED with Westpac, Macquarie Group, and South-East Asia not-for-profit microfinance provider Good Return. He has also been Chairman of Quick Service Restaurants, David Jones and Origin Energy. He currently chairs the Woolworths Group, presiding over 6 years of substantial shareholder value creation.

Additionally, Gordon has been a senior advisor to McKinsey & Company, CVC Australia and Archer Capital. He is currently also senior advisor to Luminis Partners investment bank.