Rick Allert, incoming chairman at Australian retailer Coles Myer, has voiced his determination to have greater stability in the boardroom.


Replacing Stan Wallis, Allert was elected chairman yesterday [Thursday]. Allert will leave his current position of chairman of Australian wine giant Southcorp in order to devote more time to Coles and appease concerns in some quarters that there might be a conflict of interest.


In a memo to the company’s 160,000 staff members, Allert said he planned to give the company a “stable and unified” board. He also reinforced the intention of most board members to vote to oust director, Solomon Lew, who is up for board re-election, reported the Courier-Mail.