CEO / Managing Director For Industrial And Distribution Businesses

The CEO and Managing Director role in industrial and distribution businesses requires full P&L accountability — across pricing, working capital, execution and management depth. Growth does not create value on its own. It must convert — through margin, cash flow and capital efficiency.

A CEO mandate is not about stabilising a business.

It is about building performance over time — across revenue, margin, cash flow and capital allocation.

Growth does not create value on its own. It must convert — through margin expansion, cash generation and capital efficiency.

CEO and Managing Director mandate for industrial, manufacturing and distribution businesses. Full P&L accountability for pricing, margin, cash, capital allocation, management cadence and enterprise value delivery across Australia and APAC.

Where this fits

Demand → Pricing → Cash → EBITDA → Network → Visibility → Value

$110M+ Revenue Managed

25 Yrs Operating Experience

17× EBIT Exit (Dotmar)

12 Countries Operated

Detailed mandate profile available for boards, private equity firms and advisors.

View Mandate Brief

Positioning

Ownership, Not Intervention

An Interim CEO is deployed to reset performance.

A full-time CEO owns it.

The mandate is long-term — to scale the business, improve margins, release cash and allocate capital in a way that increases enterprise value over time.

Mandate Types

Chief Executive Officer — full-time ownership of performance, culture and capital allocation
Managing Director — ANZ or APAC leadership with board and shareholder accountability
Transformation CEO — reset of pricing, cash, working capital and operating rhythm
Pre-Exit or Scale CEO — value creation ahead of exit, recapitalisation or next growth phase

Investor Alignment

Growth alone does not create value. It must convert into margin, cash flow and capital efficiency.
Pricing, mix, working capital and operating rhythm must move together — not in silos.
Capital allocation matters as much as commercial growth.
Boards see strategy. Owners expect value. The CEO closes the gap.
The mandate is sustained value creation — not short-term intervention.

In Practice

What This Looks Like
in Practice

Pricing discipline and margin expansion
Product mix optimisation and operating use
Working capital control and cash flow improvement
Capital allocation aligned to return on invested capital
Execution cadence across multi-site operations

Track Record

Proven Performance
Across Industrial Businesses

Consistent track record of converting operational performance into EBITDA growth and enterprise value.

Polyflor APAC — Managing Director

Australian EBITDA increased from $1.3m to $5.2m. Revenue grew from $35m to $50m while margin expanded from 3.7% to 10.4% through pricing discipline, product mix and operating use.

Dotmar Engineering Plastics — Group General Manager

Revenue grew from $38m to $93m with 500bps gross margin improvement. Supported acquisition integration and participated in a 17× EBIT exit under Crescent Capital.

Plascorp — Executive General Manager

EBIT expanded by 85% in 18 months through productivity gains, pricing discipline and commercial focus across an industrial manufacturing and distribution business.

Surface Squared — Founder & Managing Director

Built, scaled and sold the business to private equity. Grew revenue 47%, expanded EBITDA 240%, improved inventory turns from 2.3x to 6.0x while scaling market share across multiple states to a successful PE exit.

Sector Focus

Industrial, Manufacturing & Distribution

Industrial manufacturing and distribution platforms
Engineering plastics, industrial materials and building products
B2B wholesale, branch networks and supply chain-led businesses
PE-backed, founder-led and listed company environments
ANZ and APAC mandates requiring commercial and operational depth

Full-Time CEO Accountability

Full P&L ownership from day one — operator, not advisor
Commercial discipline across pricing, margin, mix and sales execution
Working capital control, cash generation and capital allocation discipline
Acquisition integration, operating cadence and management accountability
Long-term value creation aligned to shareholders, boards and investors

Why Boards Engage

Not a Caretaker CEO

This is not a fit for early-stage experimentation or advisory-only mandates. It is a fit for established businesses that should be performing better than they are — and need a CEO who delivers sustained EBITDA growth, stronger cash conversion and disciplined capital allocation.

Interim roles stabilise. Advisory roles guide. A full-time CEO owns the outcome: sustained EBITDA growth, stronger cash conversion, disciplined capital allocation and long-term enterprise value creation.

CEO Australia Managing Director APAC Industrial CEO Manufacturing CEO Distribution CEO PE-Backed CEO Value Creation CEO Building Products CEO

Commercial Tools

Performance Through Operating Discipline

The same lens applied in mandate roles sits behind the tools on this site — pricing leakage, working capital release and commercial engine performance. They exist for one reason: to make value visible.

The commercial engine that builds EBITDA Pricing Leakage Working Capital Calculator

Ready to discuss a full-time mandate?
Let’s talk.

CEO and Managing Director mandates across Australia and APAC for boards, owners and investors who need performance translated into value.

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Operating Method

CEO Operating Discipline

Performance improves when the business has rhythm, visibility and ownership. That means clear KPIs, weekly operating cadence, branch-level accountability, pricing discipline, working capital control and a management team that knows what matters before the board pack arrives.

Weekly operating cadence
KPI ownership
ERP and analytics alignment
Pricing and margin visibility
Working capital discipline
Branch and network performance
Board-level reporting discipline

Performance Visibility Track Record Discuss a Mandate

When To Consider This Mandate

The business has scale but execution is inconsistent
Revenue is growing but EBITDA is not translating
Margin, pricing and working capital need tighter discipline
The board needs an operator who can lead inside the business
The company requires APAC, multi-site or industrial experience
The ownership group needs performance improvement before exit or next phase growth

View Full Track Record →

Relevant Result

Revenue $38m to $93m, 500bps Margin Expansion — PE Exit

Situation

PE-backed industrial distribution business with stalling revenue growth and margin erosion across the network.

Lever Used

Repriced the product range, rationalised the customer mix, embedded operating cadence and rebuilt leadership below CEO level.

Outcome

Revenue grew from $38m to $93m, gross margin expanded ~500bps and the business reached a double-digit EBIT exit profile.

View Full Track Record →

Discuss A Mandate

Many businesses are no longer carrying operating leverage. They are carrying operational drag — overhead, complexity and reporting burden that has grown faster than the commercial capacity it was designed to support.

Go to next step: Track Record View full sequence

CEO and managing director mandates for industrial businesses

APAC Operating Footprint

Scott’s APAC operating exposure extended across Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Shanghai/China, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan — combining office, subsidiary and in-market leadership exposure with direct work alongside local teams, distributors, customers, suppliers, warehousing partners and operating leaders.

Run the Client Value Leakage Diagnostic to identify where EBITDA, cash conversion, founder dependency, reporting gaps or operational complexity may be reducing business value.

Run the value leakage diagnostic

In PE-backed businesses, the CEO mandate is a private equity value creation mandate — every commercial and operational decision is made against the exit multiple.

For founders approaching a leadership transition, founder exit readiness covers the operating disciplines that determine whether the business can perform without the current owner.

CEO mandates in businesses approaching exit include sell-side readiness — ensuring EBITDA quality, working capital discipline and management depth are established before any formal process begins.

CEO mandates in businesses approaching PE or trade sale include operational due diligence readiness — ensuring management depth, reporting cadence and commercial defensibility can withstand professional buyer scrutiny.

Before committing to a full CEO mandate, operator advisory provides the independent commercial read — what is actually driving performance, where the gaps are and what a mandate should target.

CEO mandates in PE-backed businesses are assessed against what private equity looks for in a business — whether the CEO can deliver management independence, EBITDA improvement and a commercial engine that operates without owner involvement.

CEO mandates are the operating answer to what buyers look for in management teams — building P&L leadership, management depth and operating accountability that allow a business to perform under new ownership.

CEO mandates begin with the first 90 days — the period in which operating reality is established, performance gaps are quantified and the commercial agenda for the mandate is set against a clear improvement baseline.

CEO mandates in recently acquired businesses are post-acquisition leadership mandates — the operating accountability that ensures the management team can execute the value creation plan from the first day of the hold period.

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