By Shane T Williams, at the ILG Conference on the Gold Coast
Independent Liquor Group CEO Paul Esposito has presided over his first AGM this week as over 500 ILG members gather in the Gold Coast for their annual AGM, expo and conference.
“I’m happy to see some new faces on the board, there’s a good mix, there’s a bit of youth as well as experience which brings difference perspectives to the table”, said Esposito. “We welcome Kylie Dennis from Ocean Beach Hotel who is the first woman to be on the board for a while, as well as Serge Colosimo from The Australian Brewery Hotel and Mal Russell from the Royal Hotel in Richmond.”
Directors whose terms had concluded but were re-elected, included Neville Blair from the Gladstone Park Hotel, Chris Grigoriou from Fairfield West Cellars and Damien Bottero from Pittwater Cellars.
Rounding out the 10 board of directors are Kent Walker from Hotel Pennant Hills, Michael Thomas from Terralba Bottleshop, David Mellor from D’Vine Cellars and Peter Cox from Maclean Cellars
Having been in the top job for just seven months, Esposito said that the AGM ran smoothly. “It’s all about being open and transparent,” he told TheShout. “So I put it all on the table and gave members the option to question me.”
Esposito has ambitious plans for ILG over the coming 12 months as he plans to implement new software systems to access data across the group, as well as expanding into Victoria with a warehouse and retail liquor outlets.
Esposito said that ILG will be upgrading their systems to allow access to collect data across the membership. “Currently we have two companies tendering for it and they tell me we can integrate the new system with our existing POS systems to gain insights across the group,” he said.
The other key priority for ILG over the next 12 months is Victoria, said Esposito: “There’s a real desire to get down to Victoria, and there’s banner groups that want us down there. He added that he hass got the board across the line and is now costing it up and working through the strategy.
Esposito also told TheShout that ILG needs to get back to grass roots and its family-orientated co-op core: “ILG is a collective of small, like-minded businesses and the feedback I have received over the past few days has been positive and it gives me great confidence we can push through these changes.”