Established in 1859, John Danks & Son (Danks) is a leading national hardware and garden distributor and retailer represented by its three brands: Home Timber & Hardware, Thrifty-Link Hardware, and Plants Plus Garden Centres. Danks was acquired in a joint venture by Woolworths Limited and US hardware giant Lowes in 2009. The joint venture is committed to building an integrated, multiformat offer in the hardware and home improvement space incorporating Masters big-box stores and Danks hybrid model of independent and company-owned stores.
General Manager of Home Timber & Hardware Group Mark Burrowes has been involved in some big-name company transformations. Cutting his teeth with Shell in Australia and Canada, he quickly learnt the importance of balancing strategic planning and execution. Following his tenure there, he moved to Colonial where he was part of a team leading the companys reinvention and eventual sale to Commonwealth Bank. Afterwards, he was recruited as managing director for Medibank Private when lifetime health cover was being introduced nationally, and helped take the organisation to its two-millionth customer. Following that, Mark worked with Caltex as the company transfigured itself to market leader in the sector.
Marks last post before leading Danks into a new era of growth was with Mitre 10, where he helped the company reshape its capital structure and eventual acquisition by Metcash.