By Patrick Avenell
Former Retravision national chairman Ian Ray, who has returned to the board of Retravision Southern, has praised outgoing CEO Tim Cockayne for his work over the last 3.5 years. Ray specifically lauded Cockayne for modernising the brand, with Retravision Southern rolling out a new website and uniform store livery.
With Cockayne departing on 23 December 2011, Ray said CFO Rodney George would step up to become the interim CEO while the recruitment process for a permanent replacement is conducted.
“If you ask any of the Retravision Southern members, they’d be disappointed to see Tim go because he’s done a great job for us in the time he’s been with us.
“He isn’t going into an opposition industry — he’s going into a completely different industry altogether.
Although Ray was confident in Retravision Southern’s ability to find a suitable new CEO, he did say there was “concern” amongst some members, as Cockayne had been “really good” for the business.
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Speaking broadly, Ray, who also owns and runs his own Retravision store in Swan Hill, said 2011 had been a year of challenges for the whole industry.
“Retravision Southern is probably under the same pressure as all retailers are at the moment, but we’re going along okay.
“We need to continue to work hard to make sure that all our members are surviving. I don’t know that any group at the moment is doing anything outstanding, but certainly the retail market is pretty tough, but I believe Retravsion Southern is going along quite nicely.”
Despite this pressure, Ray said Cockayne’s work to modernise the Retravision brand has been a success, with the Ray’s Swan Hill store already converted into the new style and format.
“I’ve already done my store and I think it looks fantastic,” he said. “The comments we’re getting from our customers are excellent.
“The stores are all going to be painted blue on the outside — those that are not already blue — and the new logo looks very, very modern, and it looks great inside the store too.”