This $3.5b company CEO says optimism is a requirement of the job

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Metcash CEO Doug Jones is unfazed by current economic conditions: “To run a business where 96.5 per cent of your customers have jobs is a blessing.”

One of the downsides of working in retail is that everyone is an expert. Wherever you go.

“I’ve always said, ‘if you’ve got a problem, bring it to me,’ and often they would. They would say: ‘I’m so sorry to bother you,’ and I would reply, ‘You are not bothering me. This is my job. My number one priority is looking after my customers.’ After moving back to South Africa, he made his way into wholesale retail and into a CEO role at Makro, a food, liquor and general merchandise wholesaler, and then at Massmart, Africa’s second-largest retail group.

“What it taught me is to look for the positives. You have to be optimistic to be successful in business, no matter where you are,” says Jones, who is married with three children – one at school and two at university., underpinning an 8.1 per cent increase in earnings before interest and tax to $501 million.

The former accountant insists the price gap between the major supermarkets and large IGAs is negligible. Even in the smaller stores, many products carry stickers showing that they are price-matched against local competition.

 

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