Richard Baker

Horseland is a privately owned, market leader with 50 stores across Australia, priding itself on building and marketing leading brands to our loyal customer base whilst remaining at the heart of the equestrian community. ($80 Mil turnover). Parent company Weatherbeeta is a wholesale product lead business with global warehouses.

• 8 Direct reports including Area Managers, Buying Manager & Marketing. 250 indirect reports across the retail business.
• As part of the Weartherbeeta group SLT I play a key role in developing growth strategies do deliver growth to the business both for Retail and the global wholesale business.
• Drive results focused culture to deliver sales, improved customer experience and KPI growth.
• Oversee store operations, including inventory management, budgeting, HR, shrinkage reduction, stocktake, reporting & rostering.
• Project lead on key business initiatives including new store rollouts to existing and new sites to improve our customer experience, annual conferences, system rollouts.
• Responsible to ensure Horseland deliver employee development, recruitment, performance management & overall experience.
• Lead all product range selection & performance management to ensure Horseland delivers a dynamic offering while supporting our own brands as a priority.
• Drive the success of Horseland Marketing & community engagement.

Professional Achievements

• 30% growth in topline sales achieved since commencement as National Reatail Manager, alongside EBIT growth
• Achieve $500K+ annual investment toward Marketing from key suppliers by improving relationships and communication.
• Rolled out 16 new stores in 2 years to deliver 30% revenue growth in the first 12 months from launch.
• Introduced new brands to the network delivering 3.5 Mil in additional revenue during 23-24 FY

• Achieved company goals and exceed targets consistently, fostering a positive work environment for the team.
• Management of inventory measures for company owned stores alongside management of retail buying for the network.
• Managed daily operations for optimal performance, ensuring timely completion of tasks and projects.
• Conducted regular performance evaluations to identify areas for improvement for profitable growth.
• Conducted training sessions to educate employees on best practices and procedures to increase profitability.
• Continuously improved operational procedures through ongoing evaluation of existing practices, incorporating feedback from team members and adopting industry best practices.

Professional achievements

• Rolled out new digital employee handbook, new induction process, rostering platform, frontline training platform and updated policy & procedures.
• Took responsibility of key departments within retail including direct reports of the Horseland inventory manager & Horseland buying manager and 2 area managers while preforming my role.

Horseland Gold Coast was a Franchised store at the time of my management which became the second largest turnover store in the country.

• Managed daily operations to ensure smooth functioning of the store, maintaining a clean, safe environment for customers and employees.
• Managed store operations including inventory, sales, cash control, safety, policy & procedures.
• Managed store employees successfully in fast-paced environment through proactive communication and positive feedback.

Professional Achievements

• Grew sales from $1Mil to $3 Mil during my time as store manager.
• Achieved national Store of the Year award twice.
• Obtained multiple Merchandising, community, group contribution and marketing awards during my time as store manager.
• Voted to become part of the Franchise advisory council to foster growth with product and improved promotional planning each year from 2010.