Executive
leadership team

Leah Weckert

Leah Weckert became CEO and Managing Director of Coles Group on 1 May 2023.

Leah joined Coles in 2011 and has held several senior roles across the Coles Group. Most recently, Leah was Chief Executive, Commercial and Express leading the supermarkets business units and the Coles Express business. Before this, Leah was Chief Financial Officer and played a leadership role in the demerger from Wesfarmers in 2018. Leah has also held roles as Director Strategy, Director People & Culture, State General Manager Victoria Operations, and General Manager Merchandise, Strategy and Innovation.

Prior to joining Coles, Leah worked at McKinsey & Company, advising large private and public sector clients, and Fosters Group in Strategy and Business Development.

Leah's qualifications include a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School, a Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) from Adelaide University and a Bachelor of Science from Adelaide University. She is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a member of Chief Executive Women.

Outside of work, Leah enjoys spending time with her husband and two children.

Charlie (Sharbel Raymond) Elias

Charlie is a global finance leader with extensive finance and executive experience over 30 years. Charlie has a demonstrated track record of success as a global CFO and Executive in large scale and complex organisations.

Charlie is responsible for finance, treasury, strategy, business development, investor relations, insurance and property.

Prior to joining Coles, Charlie was the CEO of BlueScope Building Products Asia and North America. Previous roles have included CFO of BlueScope Limited, CFO and Executive Director of Linfox Group and CFO, Director and General Manager Strategy & Business Development for TXU Australia.

Charlie began his career with Deloitte, holds a Bachelor of Arts in Accountancy (with distinction) and is a member of both the Institute of Chartered Accountants and the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Matt Swindells

With over 20 years’ experience, Matt has an extensive knowledge of the retail sector and has held various senior management positions across supply chain and merchandise, including General Manager Supply Chain and General Manager Meat, Deli and Seafood.

Matt then served as the CEO of Tasman Meats, a large format private equity owned meat retailer, before returning to Coles in July 2017. In June 2021, Matt graduated from the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School, covering complex challenges of strategy, digital transformation, global economics and leadership.

Matt’s accountabilities encompass the end-to-end management of Store Operations, Manufacturing and Supply Chain, as well as leading the business on the automation strategy.

Anna Croft

Anna has over 20 years’ experience in global retail, specialising in strategic leadership and cultural and business transformation across the United Kingdom and Australia, with leading retailers WHSmith, Tesco, Coles, and MECCA Brands.

As Chief Commercial Officer, Anna is responsible for leading strong strategic relationships with suppliers and evolving merchandise strategy to help Coles become famous for delighting customers with an exceptional customer offer.

Prior to joining Coles in January 2024, Anna was MECCA’s Chief Operating Officer, where she was responsible for the end-to-end experience of finding and partnering with the world’s best beauty brands, then delivering the MECCA offer and their products to customers.

Anna previously spent 10 years at Coles in several roles, growing her career from Buyer to General Manager of Coles Express and General Manager of Grocery. She holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management from Kingston University and a Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Business Information Systems from Leeds Metropolitan University.

Michael Courtney

Michael was appointed to his role as Chief Executive, Liquor in June 2023, leading over 6,000 team members to serve our customers every day across Liquorland, First Choice Liquor Market and Vintage Cellars.
 
Since joining Coles in 2015, Michael has held senior roles in Corporate Strategy, Business Development, Finance and Cole Express and Digital. Michael’s most recent appointment was Executive General Manager Omnichannel Operations & Innovation. Within this role Michael was accountable for driving integrated omnichannel trade planning for the enterprise and ensuring network growth and operational excellence for online offerings. For the three & a half years prior to this, Michael led the Coles Express Business, a national network of over 700 convenience stores and almost 6,000 team members.
 
Prior to joining Coles, Michael worked at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Equity Research where he covered the retail, food & beverage and paper & packaging sectors.
 
Michael holds a Bachelor of Finance from La Trobe University and is a graduate of the Wharton Advanced Management Program.

David Brewster

David's extensive legal career includes a long-standing role as partner at Allens Linklaters, where he gained extensive knowledge across competition and regulatory law with a focus on merger clearances, regulatory investigations and major litigation. During this time, David worked closely with the Coles team in relation to regulatory inquiries into supplier negotiations and Own Brand products.

David joined Coles in early 2016 and leads the legal, risk, regulatory compliance, employee relations and safety teams. He helped establish and is a member of the Coles Risk, Audit and Compliance Management Committee, as well as an executive member of the Coles Better Together diversity committee responsible for LGBTI matters.

David's qualifications include a Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Laws (Hons 1) from the Australian National University and a Master of Laws from Queensland University of Technology.

Mike Sackman

Mike joined Coles in March 2025 with more than 30 years’ experience in a career that spans across Grocery and General Merchandise Retail, Hospitality and the Sports sector. Holding leadership positions within several UK consumer orientated businesses, including Waitrose, John Lewis, Argos, B&Q and Mitchells & Butlers, Mike has specialised in the delivery of long term business value through the execution of technology enabled transformations.

Within the Coles Executive Leadership Team Mike has the responsibility to embed strategic technological knowledge into the business strategy process, ensure investment portfolio delivery and to drive value from of the installed technology base. He also has the responsibility to orchestrate the Coles community in maximising value from its data assets and to meet the cyber security standard required of an Australian critical infrastructure asset.

Mike holds a Bachelor of Science (Hons) Degree from Brunel University London in Mathematics and Computer Science.

Deb Yates

Deb Yates has over 28 years of experience leading people, culture, change and transformation across a range of organisations both in Australia and overseas.

Prior to joining Coles in June 2025 Deb was the Global Chief People Office at Lendlease and has held a number of senior leadership positions including National Managing Partner for People and Corporate Affairs, KPMG Australia; Chief HR Officer at Reckitt Benckiser (RB) where she worked in Australia, the Netherlands, United States and United Kingdom. She has also held senior HR roles in News Limited, National Meat Association and Qantas. 

Deb has a Bachelor of Arts, Psychology from Macquarie University and Master of Commerce, Employment Relations from University of Western Sydney.

Claire Lauber

Claire has more than 25 years retail leadership experience, most recently as Chief Executive, Liquor following her appointment in June 2025.

Prior to that, Claire was Executive General Manager, Supermarket Operations, responsible for Coles’ national store and central operations, leading ~110,000 team members, across more than 840 supermarkets throughout Australia. 

Claire promotes a culture where everyone feels they belong, through her passionate championing of gender equity, Indigenous engagement, and LGBTQIA+ inclusion, to make sure Coles Group remains a great place to work.

Prior to Coles, Claire spent several years as Managing Director of Boost Juice, responsible for driving the strategy, vision, and culture of the Boost business globally. Claire was also General Manager, VIC/TAS for Woolworths and has held several senior roles across Jo Mercer, Treasury Wine Estate, Coles Liquor Group, and Coles Express.

Sally Fielke

Sally has more than 20 years’ experience in CEO and senior management roles.

Prior to commencing at Coles, Sally was General Manager Corporate Affairs for Sydney Airport for almost eight years. 

Sally was previously the CEO of Australian Hotels Association, New South Wales branch, the Australian Hotels Association, Northern Territory branch and is a former lawyer. 

Sally holds a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts. She is a member of Chief Executive Women and a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Daniella Pereira

Daniella has an extensive career in legal, governance and company secretariat, including a 14-year career with ASX-listed industrial chemicals company, Incitec Pivot. This included five years as Company Secretary and, prior to that, as General Manager of Corporate Governance and Compliance. Daniella began her career as a lawyer with Ashurst (formerly Blake Dawson) advising on major corporate transactions.

As Group Company Secretary, Daniella is responsible for setting the program and agenda for the Coles Group Board and committees, including the Coles Annual General Meeting, overseeing Coles' communications with shareholders and ensuring that Coles operates in accordance with the Corporations Act and the ASX Listing Rules.

Daniella holds a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) and Bachelor of Arts from Murdoch University.