If there is a common thread to her career, it’s the desire to take on a challenge. The other recurring theme is that her career appointments and departures have often been accompanied by question marks, controversies, and a smattering of acrimony.
From baby formula to booze may seem a left-field career move, but Hrdlicka did sit on the board of Woolworths when it owned Dan Murphy’s, BWS and other hospitality assets.
What is surprising, however, is Hrdlicka’s willingness to jump into a potentially tricky assignment at Endeavour.
When Hrdlicka announced her retirement from Virgin, it was touted as her personal decision resulting from overwork, or a lack of commitment or energy to see the company through to its twice-postponed ASX listing.
“This is not a decision I have taken lightly, but the last four years have been heavy lifting across the organisation during the toughest of times,” she told this masthead last year.
Endeavour presents a new challenge for Hrdlicka – restoring the once great brand of Dan Murphy’s and the appeal of the pub portfolio. And she will have to do all of it while retaining the support of Endeavour’s largest and most vocal shareholder, billionaire Bruce Mathieson, and his son, Bruce junior.
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Team Mathieson, along with other like-minded shareholders, was instrumental in dethroning Endeavour’s former chairman, Peter Hearl, with the company’s chief executive, Steve Donohue, leaving the business soon after.
Mathieson’s influence and his desire to shape the future of Endeavour loom large over the business, but Hrdlicka isn’t the sort to sit on the sidelines. Self-doubt isn’t a word you associate with her.
After all, here is an executive who endured a chorus of booing while addressing crowds following Novak Djokovic’s win in the men’s singles final at Melbourne Park after mentioning COVID vaccines, without breaking a sweat and with her coiffed hair intact.
Dan Murphy’s owner needs a turnaround queen and a heavy hitter. Hrdlicka is the real deal on both counts.
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