DR SIMON WILDE IS MARKETING LECTURER AT SOUTHERN CROSS UNIVERSITY
Ex-McGrath COO returns to fold
EMBATTLED property group McGrath has announced former chief operating officer Geoff Lucas will return as chief executive.
Mr Lucas was chief operating officer of McGrath for eight years from 2008 to 2016, and left the company shortly after the company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange in 2016.
The appointment, announced yesterday, follows the formation of a new board earlier this week. McGrath announced Peter Lewis — the former chief financial officer of Kerry Stokes’ media group — and lawyer Andrew Robinson had joined founder John McGrath on the board.
Mr Lewis took up the chairman’s role from Mr McGrath, who had held the role briefly and remains an executive director.
McGrath is coming out of a tumultuous period marked by profit warnings, boardroom and staff exits and, most recently, media reports alleging Mr McGrath had accumulated a $16 million gambling debt.
Mr McGrath rejected the allegations saying his gambling account was within his means. Mr Lucas last served as the chief operating officer of Sonoma Bakery Group, and Mr McGrath said he was returning to a business of which he had a close understanding.
“Geoff has an intimate knowledge of property and the McGrath business, as well as a strong rapport with our agents, franchise partners and many industry participants,” he said.
McGrath subsidiary Total Real Estate Training runs the annual Australasian Real Estate Conference on the Gold Coast each year.