Corporate Express replaces GM with global exec

IT and office supplies retailer Corporate Express has appointed Garry Habel as its new NSW general manager following the departure of Steve Green.

Grant Harrod, CEO of Corporate Express, said Green had resigned from the Rosebery-based company 6 February.

Habel, the Sydney firm's new general manager, comes most recently from a managing directorship at foods manufacturing company Goodman Fielder International, a $300 million Australasian company with 2,000 staff.

Previously, he was general manager of Asia-Pacific and Africa at Goodman Fielder Ingredients.

Goodman Fielder makes breads, cakes, buns, cereals, edible oils, desserts, cake mixes, pasta, sauces, dressings and cooking ingredients.

Habel has worked in sales and marketing and senior management in various consumer goods and industrial products sectors.

Before Goodman Fielder, Habel was regional Asia-Pacific director for US packaged foods company General Mills. Before that, he was South-East Asia director at biotechnology and agricultural chemicals giant Monsanto.

He has an honours degree in agricultural science from Melbourne's La Trobe University and a masters degree in business administration from private, St. Louis-based Washington University in the US.

ASX-listed Corporate Express has hit headlines in recent months for its rapid regional expansion program, including buyouts of rival NSW office equipment resellers Pencraft and Parrys.

Internet-based sales reportedly account for 56 percent of the reseller's business, but the company believes a physical presence is crucial in regional areas.