CBH Group announces major lead team shake-up, with Brianna Peake seconded to lead Geraldton Port Zone

CBH Group has announced a major shake-up to its senior lead team, with long-standing chief external relations officer Brianna Peake set to swap corporate life in Perth for a secondment as the Geraldton Port Zone manager. Ms Peake made the announcement in an email to CBH grower members late last week, revealing there had been five staff changes made to bolster professional development across the cooperative. “As of May 2, I will be heading to Geraldton to take on a secondment as the general manager of the Geraldton Port Zone until the end of the 2022-23 harvest (or February 2023),” she said. “This is a great development opportunity for me to get some operational experience. “At the end of the harvest, I will go and study at Harvard University for a couple of months and then return to the chief external relations officer role at the end of May 2023.” While in the US, Ms Peake will attend a residential advanced management program at Harvard Business School before returning to the lead team. According to the university’s website, the program empowers executives with the “management expertise and cross-functional perspective to drive performance”, and giving graduates the “leadership mindset and winning strategies to secure a competitive edge in any economy”. Duncan Gray — who has served as the Geraldton Port Zone manager for more than 30 years — will pack up and relocate to Perth for a secondment in a newly-created role as the head of operations at CBH. A CBH spokeswoman said the Perth-based head of operations role had been created to “assist centrally with coordinating day-to-date operational matters” to allow chief operating officer Mick Daw to focus “more of his time and effort strategically”. Mr Gray’s appointment into the role will only be temporary, with former Kwinana South Zone manager Carly Heales set to take the reins when she returns from maternity leave later this year, and Mr Gray to resume his old post in the Geraldton Port Zone. Ms Heales had had a quick progression with CBH, holding health, safety and environment roles from May 2018 to January 2020, when she was appointed Kwinana South Zone manager. Ms Peake’s shoes as the chief external relations officer will be filled by former government and industry relations head David Paton, a former lawyer who joined CBH in December 2017 after nearly 18 months of working as a senior policy advisor for the State Government. Mr Paton’s role has been filled by Rob Dickie — a well-known government and industry relations manager — while Mr Dickie’s role has been “opened up” to be filled internally. Ms Peake she was pleased to have the “depth and breadth” of experience within her division to appoint the internal roles and allow both Mr Paton and Mr Dickie to take on more responsibility. “I know many of you know them both well and will support them in their new roles,” she said. The shakeup comes just nine months after former chief operating officer Ben Macnamara was appointed chief executive, following a competitive process rumoured to have also seen applications for the top job from both Ms Peake and CBH chief marketing and trading officer Jason Craig.