EMAIL : ****@*****.*** CELL :(***)-***-**** RESUMÉ ROB WHITE My core strengths include strong results orientated leadership skills, turnaround strategies, operational and service excellence. I have extensive experience and expertise, serving as CEO, COO and CSMO on various boards within Bidvest SA, over the past 25 years, which given me the opportunity to cover a large variety ofdisciplines and services including Catering, Cleaning, Hygiene Services, Deep Cleaning, Pest Control,Landscaping, Toilet Hire, Waste and Facilities Management. HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING: BIDVEST PRESTIGE I was seconded to Eastern Cape as General Manager as the branch was on the verge of being closed. Competing with 137 other cleaning companies, we managed to turn the region around and were recognised by being the Branch/Region of the year in 1999 whereafter I was promoted to Divisional Managing Director KZN. At this stage Prestige (now Bidvest Prestige was running in KZN under the name Regent Pro-Serve. The reason being that Bidvest had acquired the business in 1996 and as a result there was lot of resistance to change the name, particularly from old clients and the previous staff regime. Having said so, thanks to the support of my team, not only did we successfully change the name to Prestige, we also turned the business into one of the most profitable Divisions in the country. In 2006 I was appointed to the Board as Chief Sales and Marketing Officer. We excelled in sales growth with 7 Regional General Sales Managers and 54 sales executives. Four years later I was appointed as Chief Operations Officer. In this capacity, it was my role and responsibility to oversee all operations nationally which included 7 Divisional Executives and approximately 35000 cleaning staff. In 2013 Royal Cleaning, (a division within Mvelaserve which Bidvest had acquired), was brought into Bidvest Prestige which we had to integrate and bed down. This included a total cleaning staff compliment of approx. 10 000 employees, total staff compliment thereafter for Bidvest Prestige, was approximately 43000 World Cup Soccer 2010 - Another highlight of my career was that I championed the 2010 World Cup as well as the 2009 Confederations Cup. In order to gain some perspective and insight into the tournament, I travelled to Europe including, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Belgium in 2008, to spend time at the 2008 Euro Cup. This assisted in understanding the planning and logistics required for all the services we at Bidvest were required to provide. Services within my area of responsibility included cleaning and toilet hire. The event was a tremendous success despite the anticipated numbers being less than expected due to the economic crisis in Europe. The return on our investment was exceptional Subsequent to my role as COO, I was appointed as Group CEO to the catering business, Bidvest Catering (formally Royal Mnandi). Royal Mnandi was operating as a medium sized catering business (3rd largest in SA at the time) and had been acquired, also through the Mvelaserve acquisition. It was assumed that the business was running relatively well however, sadly this was not the case. Gross mismanagement, poor controls, lack of ownership as well as identity and branding issues were just some of the matters that had to be dealt with. Royal Mnandi was regarded in the marketplace, as a blue-collar catering business and had 2 elements: 1. Royal Mnandi which catered for mines, prisons and government hospitals with some corporate and 2. Royal Duduza which was a Joint Venture catering for Eskom. The first issues that had to be dealt with were the operational issues and structure of the business. This coupled with the company strategic intent, branding, identity and growth, remained my priorities. Re-structuring the business came with its own challenges, (people, politics, culture, etc) however within a matter of 12-18 months we had improved the profitability by in excess of 420%. This was not only achieved by re-structuring, but also through improved controls, better negotiations with suppliers, portion and waste controls, to mention but a few. The branding was an issue for the following reasons: • Royal Mnandi was not recognised as a Bidvest Brand. Most people weren’t even aware it was part of Bidvest • Royal Mnandi was regarded as a blue-collar catering service provider, hence corporate companies and events business opportunities were being missed In order to address this, we did the following: • We changed the culture of the business and subsequently our name from Royal Mnandi to Bidvest Catering Services. The rollout was quick to avoid confusion in the marketplace and communicated accordingly. • Under the Group Brand - Bidvest Catering Services, we created 3 sub brands, each with a specific target market. • Bidvest Royal Mnandi (which incorporated the old Royal Mnandi brand however capitalised on the Bidvest relationship), was the brand used for the existing industrial type canteen (traditional blue-collar business). • Bidvest Gourmet was created as a vehicle to target the higher end markets which had staff restaurants as well as to gain inroads into the lucrative special events markets. The brand could also be used for retirement villages, private schools etc, as it would have the support of qualified chefs and nutritionists as opposed to a lesser qualified cook. The Bidvest Gourmet brand was taken one step further in creating a take-away option under the D’Lish brand, encouraging companies to hold a range of take-aways meals or microwaveable ready to eat meals on site • Royal Duduza, the joint venture remained in place for parastatal type business opportunities All companies, under Bidvest Catering were Level 1 BEE companies at the time. In closing 2 further highlights in my career were the award nominations of the Prestigious Bidvest Award from Brian Joffe in 2005 and 2010 as well as the Bidvest Prestige Group CEO award in 2009 and 2010. I was also fortunate enough to attend GIBS, in Johannesburg to attend the Executive Development Program, the first of which was sponsored by Bidvest.