CEO proud that company has half of executive team is female

Since taking over as CEO of Team Global Express (Australia) in September 2021, Ms. Christine Holgate (now 60 years old) has helped this shipping group increase revenue by 16%.

Aiming to be Australia's most sustainable logistics company

Christine Holgate has three postgraduate degrees in management, marketing, purchasing and supply chain. She obtained her management degree in 1986 and completed her MBA in 1991. During her 12 years at telecommunications company Cable & Wireless, Ms. Holgate directed the company’s marketing department and delivered projects across the Caribbean, Europe and Hong Kong, China. In 2000, she joined JP Morgan as Managing Director of Marketing for its European subsidiary. She was the only woman on the JP Morgan European executive team during her tenure. After 18 months, she joined telecommunications company Energis as Director of Strategy and Marketing for Europe. In November 2002, she became Chief Marketing Officer of Telstra Mobiles.

In 2008, Ms Holgate left Telstra to join nutritional supplement company Blackmores as CEO. During her nine years at Blackmores, she drove the company's share price from $18 to $90, peaking at $220 in 2016. Ms Holgate transformed Blackmores into a major exporter of nutritional supplements in Asia. She is also the chair of the Australia-ASEAN Council. In 2015, Ms Holgate was named one of the "100 Women of Influence" by the Australian Financial Review.

Christine Holgate on the cover of Forbes Australia magazine

Ms Holgate resigned from Blackmores in 2017 to become CEO of the delivery company Australia Post, overseeing the modernisation of Australia Post’s logistics system and the agency’s 33,000 employees.

"I learned that in any conversation, you have to treat everyone with respect. People can solve problems if they are listened to and their opinions are taken into account. Only with unity and consensus can success be achieved."

Christine Holgate

In September 2021, Holgate became CEO of Team Global Express (TGE), Australia’s leading multimodal logistics provider. She conducted 150 listening sessions and surveyed more than 22,000 people involved in the business: employees, customers and suppliers. She then identified key issues and worked to eliminate “a lot of stupid rules.” In her first 12 months as CEO of TGE, she returned the business to growth in the first seven months, ending the year with a revenue increase of about 16%.

In early 2023, Ms Holgate announced a deal with rail freight operator Aurizon worth $1.8 billion over 11 years. It will allow TGE to offer customers “greener” options in container rail freight. Noting that Australia’s heavy-duty transport currently accounts for 17% of greenhouse gas emissions, TGE said it is trialling 60 heavy-duty electric trucks. It will invest $24 million and receive $20 million in federal funding for the trial.

Supporting gender equality in the workplace

Under Holgate's leadership, TGE has offered paid leave to employees in cases of domestic violence or caring for a sick parent. "What we've seen is a lot of people coming in and saying, 'Can I take three months off to care for a sick parent?' And then when they take leave, they don't get paid. So we want to make sure they're not disadvantaged when it comes to caring for their family. And we've put in place very clear support policies. When the Lismore floods happened in March 2022, we were the first to give $2,000 in cash to any employee whose home was damaged. The second thing we've said is that if someone loses power because of a natural disaster, we'll give them a $500 voucher. We don't want them to be disadvantaged at a difficult time," Holgate said.

Ms Holgate at Team Global Express' warehouse in western Sydney, Australia

In the Australian shipping industry, only 20% of employees are women, most of whom work in back-office administrative roles. "In Australia, only 2% of CEOs are women, but Australia has 65% of excellent graduates, ranked among the top in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development for academic achievement. This proves that women can do anything. Women must believe in themselves and not let anyone hold them back. I am proud to say that we now have half of the executive team at TGE being female," she said.

Source: Forbes

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