Christine Holgate
Chief Executive Officer
Christine has over 25 years of international sales and marketing experience working in highly regulated industries, including telecommunications, finance, media and healthcare. Christine was appointed to her current role as Chief Executive Officer by the Board in November 2008. She has held numerous board and senior management positions working in Europe, Asia, the Americas and Australia. Christine’s prime responsibilities have been leading teams through significant change, growth and start up.
Christine has three post-graduate diplomas, in Management, Marketing, and Purchasing and Supply; and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration (MBA). Christine is also currently a board member of Ten Network Holdings Limited.
Chris Last
Chief Financial Officer
Chris has over 20 years of experience in finance roles across consumer and manufacturing industries. He was Unilever Australasia’s Director of Finance for Brand and Customer Development. Chris has also held senior positions with the Richemont Group of global brands including Cartier, Dunhill and Montblanc.
Chris holds an honours degree in Management, is a qualified accountant and is a member of the Association of Corporate Treasurers in the UK. He has a wealth of experience in the financial management of consumer products and global brand management.
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Peter Osborne
Director Asia
Peter brings more than 20 years of experience in Asia, having lived and worked in Taiwan, Hong Kong,
Shanghai and Beijing and running the Australian Trade Commission’s operations in markets in North Asia. He has extensive experience and understanding of Asian business practice, operating in culturally complex business environments and leading teams across multiple markets.
A Mandarin Chinese speaker, Peter has led Blackmores Asian growth strategy since 2009.
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Jim van Bruinessen
Director of Sales & Marketing, Australia
Jim brings over 20 years of experience to his role as Director of Sales & Marketing, Australia. His previous senior roles with Fonterra Australia, Goodman Fielder, Arnotts and Coca-Cola have given him extensive experience in developing strategy for businesses with diverse sales channels, ranging from smaller independent retailers to large chain stores.
Complementing his extensive sales experience, Jim has had responsibility for marketing services at Coca-Cola South Pacific and, as Chief Executive Officer of Lloyd Brooks Pty Ltd, a small FMCG business, developed a suite of new products, media campaigns, brand and communications strategies.
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Richard Henfrey
Director Strategic Sourcing
Richard has over 16 years of experience in strategic and business development roles in highly regulated industries in Australia, Europe and North America. He joined Blackmores in 2009 as Director of People & Strategy and has implemented numerous business improvement initiatives. In July 2011, Richard was appointed as president of the Complementary Healthcare Council of Australia, the peak industry association for natural healthcare products.
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Lee Richards
Chief of Operations
Lee has more than 30 years of experience in IT, spanning a variety of industries from distribution and manufacturing through to corporate banking. He has been with Blackmores since 2000 and, as part of the team assembled to manage the design and rollout of Blackmores’ new business system, Lee brought a significant level of technical, management and business expertise with him. He was appointed Chief of Operations in 2010, incorporating IT, Production, Distribution and Facilities.
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Kerry Cunningham
Director People & Communications
Kerry’s career at Blackmores has spanned over 20 years. She has moved through the business in Sales and Marketing roles, with her most recent appointment as Director People & Communication in April 2011. Her passions in the business include customer focus, staff engagement, development and
achieving results.
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Neal Mercado
Director Product Development
Neal has over 15 years of experience in the global vitamin and dietary supplements industry, with an emphasis on strategic marketing and new product development. He has a proven track record of delivering innovation and has held a number of roles focused on portfolio management and global product development for multinational corporations including Amway and IdeaSphere.
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Gabriel Perera
Director Business Development
Gabriel has over 12 years of senior management and business building experience. He has expertise in growth strategy, M&A, business development and general management in the natural products industry. He has experience as a lawyer at DLA Phillips Fox, in private hospital management, as a senior strategy consultant with Accenture and in senior roles at Blackmores.
Gabriel holds an LL.B, a B.Com and a Masters of Business and has advanced his education through clinical training.
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