Country Road Group boss raises eyebrows for the bizarre way he kicked off a staff meeting to warn of looming job cuts Country Road boss says label is struggling Warns a restructure will likely shed jobs READ MORE: Why fashion houses are going under By David Southwell For Daily Mail Australia Published: 10:45, 2 October 2024 | Updated: 10:47, 2 October 2024 e-mail View comments Country Road Group had its worst financial year on record and job cuts are looming, chief executive Raju Vuppalapati his workers on Wednesday. He told staff at their Melbourne headquarters that the company - whose labels also include Trenery, Mimco, Witchery and Politix - is facing a 'perfect storm' of challenges and that profits are plummeting. But it was the way the CEO kicked off the meeting that raised eyebrows with staff.
Mr Vuppalapati began the meeting with a lengthy 'Acknowledgment of Country' speech before outlining how many of them could soon be out of a job. Country Road Group sales fell by 13 per cent last financial year leading to a 66 per cent slump in adjusted operating profit of $51.3million, the company reported recently.
To reverse this trend South Africa 's Woolworths Holdings, which owns Country Road has been forced into a drastic restructure and cost-cutting measures. Employees were warned that the company wasn't 'the best version of ourselves'. 'This is not who we are and not our potential .
.. and clearly 2024 has told us it is time to reset our operating model,' Mr Vuppalapati tol.