Former Sainsbury’s and Asda director Stuart Machin has been appointed managing director of Australian department store group Target.

Machin, who has been stores development and operations director at Australian grocer Coles since 2008, will replace Dene Rogers who has stepped down for personal reasons.

Machin, who spoke at Retail Week Live last month, played a key part in the turnaround of Coles and was instrumental in the development and roll out of new stores and formats. He also led strategic initiatives such as the Coles Sustainability Plan.

Richard Goyder, managing director of Coles and Target owner Wesfarmers, said: “Stuart has been an important player in the turnaround story which has unfolded at Coles over the last five years. He has impressed everyone with his capacity to develop a successful, enthusiastic team with a strong focus on outstanding execution in stores.

“He has already shown great leadership skills which we believe will equip him well for the new challenge at Target.”

Machin said: “I am delighted to be appointed to lead Target. It is a privilege to lead such an iconic Australian brand and I look forward to getting started.”

Machin, who takes up his role this week, started out as a management trainee at Sainsbury’s. He also held the position of operations director at Tesco, then Asda, before being recruited by Wesfarmers to Coles.

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