Ann: Company appointment of new Chairman, page-35

I like the announcement, very well written. I don't mind that Nicholas has worked in Russia for most of his career.

The one concern I have is that it seems like they are only going to appoint one additional Australian board member. That's not good enough. The current CEO and board members need more oversight than one hand picked person. The business needs to be taken out of the control of Sonia and Brandon (and Richard) as they were the ones that put BIG in the current position. I get Richard is the CEO but his close relationship with two board members essentially gives him more power than a regular CEO. If this was a business not controlled by the founders the failures of the current the CEO would mean the loss of their positions. I don't see why this listed company should be any different.

No offense to Mr. Knowles but he doesn't have a strong background as a director and therefore he seems more like a "yes man" than a leader. For BIG to become a global powerhouse it needs strong leaders that think about the business ahead of themselves and I'm just not seeing an honest attempt to make than happen.