By Adam Coleman

SYDNEY: HWI Electrical general manager – sales, Mike Delauney, resigned from the company yesterday, to take up the position of chief executive officer at Blackwell IXL, effective this Friday 19 May.

“I have been offered the role of chief executive officer at IXL. I resigned from my position here at HWI yesterday and I’m working through a few days of handover period and will officially start with IXL this coming Friday,” Delauney told current.com.au.

“It has been an agonising decision. It is not something that has happened spur of the moment, discussions have been going on for several months.”

The mandate for Delauney from the board of IXL is to take the business to greater heights and grow their business over the next four to five years.

“We have a plan and a strategic plan to work on, where we see the business going and that will happen fairly quickly. That will be a priority when I get on board,” he said.

Delauney said the reason for his departure was purely the opportunity the IXL position presented.

“It is no reflection on the business here. HWI is a wonderful company and has fantastic growth opportunities for the future. My reason for leaving is purely a better opportunity, a much greater challenge for the future in terms of the opportunity the IXL brand presents in growing that business,” he said.

IXL expressed their enthusiasm at Delauney’s appointment.

“The board of Backwell IXL is delighted to announce the appointment of Mike Delauney, as chief executive officer of IXL appliances. Mike has a long and successful career in the electrical appliance industry in Australia,” IXL said in a statement.

“We are all very excited here and really looking forward to him joining,” Blackwell IXL general manager – sales, Malcolm Owens told current.com.au.

“His experience is fantastic and it’s really going to help IXL take the next step forward. It is a real positive because he is such a specialist in the industry and we are all pretty excited about it.”  

Delauney’s years of experience as the national sales manager for Kambrook, also a supplier of heating appliances will put him in good stead at IXL.

“After sixteen years associated with some of our brands within HWI it is a big decision to take. But it’s something that I made the commitment to and I am very much looking forward to the challenge of IXL,” Delauney said.