Leah Weckert
Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director

Leah Weckert became CEO and Managing Director of Coles Group on 1 May 2023.

Leah joined Coles in 2011 and has held several senior roles across the Coles Group. Most recently, Leah was Chief Executive, Commercial and Express leading the supermarkets business units and the Coles Express business. Before this, Leah was Chief Financial Officer and played a leadership role in the demerger from Wesfarmers in 2018. Leah has also held roles as Director Strategy, Director People & Culture, State General Manager Victoria Operations, and General Manager Merchandise, Strategy and Innovation.

Prior to joining Coles, Leah worked at McKinsey & Company, advising large private and public sector clients, and Fosters Group in Strategy and Business Development.

Leah's qualifications include a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School, a Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) from Adelaide University and a Bachelor of Science from Adelaide University. She is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a member of Chief Executive Women.

Outside of work, Leah enjoys spending time with her husband and two children
 

Charlie (Sharbel Raymond) Elias
Chief Financial Officer

Charlie is a global finance leader with extensive finance and executive experience over 30 years. Charlie has a demonstrated track record of success as a global CFO and Executive in large scale and complex organisations.

Charlie is responsible for finance, treasury, strategy, business development, investor relations, insurance and property.

Prior to joining Coles, Charlie was the CEO of BlueScope Building Products Asia and North America. Previous roles have included CFO of BlueScope Limited, CFO and Executive Director of Linfox Group and CFO, Director and General Manager Strategy & Business Development for TXU Australia.

Charlie began his career with Deloitte, holds a Bachelor of Arts in Accountancy (with distinction) and is a member of both the Institute of Chartered Accountants and the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
 

Anna Croft
Chief Commercial Officer and Sustainability Officer

Anna has over 20 years’ experience in global retail, specialising in strategic leadership and cultural and business transformation across the United Kingdom and Australia, with leading retailers WHSmith, Tesco, Coles, and MECCA Brands.

As Chief Commercial Officer, Anna is responsible for leading strong strategic relationships with suppliers and evolving merchandise strategy to help Coles become famous for delighting customers with and exceptional customer offer.

Prior to joining Coles in January 2024, Anna was MECCA’s Chief Operating Officer, where she was responsible for the end-to-end experience of finding and partnering with the world’s best beauty brands, then delivering the MECCA offer and their products to customers.

Anna previously spent 10 years at Coles in several roles, growing her career from Buyer to General Manager of Coles Express and General Manager of Grocery.

She holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management from Kingston University and a Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Business Information Systems from Leeds Metropolitan University.
 

Ben Hassing
Chief Digital Officer

Ben has nearly 20 years of retail management experience. He joined Coles in May of 2020 moving to Australia from the San Francisco Bay Area.

Prior to joining Coles, Ben was Senior Vice President at Walmart with leadership roles in Ecommerce, Technology, Store Operations, Strategy, Merchandising, and Finance. He worked in Walmart’s US, China, and International business units.

Ben holds an MBA for the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business and a BA from Temple University.
 

Amanda McVay
Chief Customer Officer

Amanda is a global retail leader with more than 20 years' experience in retail merchandising and marketing across a wide range of product categories and disciplines.

As Chief Customer Officer, Amanda leads the development and execution of Coles’ marketing, brand and customer communication strategies.

Amanda has extensive marketing and customer strategy experience, and joins Coles Group from Meijer in the United States where she was most recently Group Vice President, leading Digital, Customer Strategy & Own Brand. Prior to joining Meijer in 2012, Amanda held several roles at Target US Headquarters in a range of commercial and merchandising portfolios.

She holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from Indiana University's Kelley School of Business, and has completed the Leadership for Senior Executive Programme at Harvard Business School.
 

Matt Swindells
Chief Operations and Supply Chain Officer

With over 20 years’ experience, Matt has an extensive knowledge of the retail sector and has held various senior management positions across supply chain and merchandise, including General Manager Supply Chain and General Manager Meat, Deli and Seafood.

Matt then served as the CEO of Tasman Meats, a large format private equity owned meat retailer, before returning to Coles in July 2017. In June 2021, Matt graduated from the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School, covering complex challenges of strategy, digital transformation, global economics and leadership.

Matt’s accountabilities encompass the end-to-end management of Store Operations, Manufacturing, Supply Chain and Sustainability, as well as leading the business on the automation strategy with Witron and Ocado.
 

Michael Courtney
Chief Executive, Liquor

Michael was appointed to his role as Chief Executive, Liquor in June 2023, leading over 6,000 team members to serve our customers every day across Liquorland, First Choice Liquor Market and Vintage Cellars.

Since joining Coles in 2015, Michael has held senior roles in Corporate Strategy, Business Development, Finance and Cole Express and Digital. Michael’s most recent appointment was Executive General Manager Omnichannel Operations & Innovation. Within this role Michael was accountable for driving integrated omnichannel trade planning for the enterprise and ensuring network growth and operational excellence for online offerings. For the three & a half years prior to this, Michael led the Coles Express Business, a national network of over 700 convenience stores and almost 6,000 team members.

Prior to joining Coles, Michael worked at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Equity Research where he covered the retail, food & beverage and paper & packaging sectors.

Michael holds a Bachelor of Finance from La Trobe University and is a graduate of the Wharton Advanced Management Program.