Wendy Lucas-Bull is one of the most instantly recognisable women in business in SA. Those who didn't recognise her from the corporate world will have seen her on SABC's The Apprentice last year, when she appeared as one of Tokyo Sexwale's assessors. She was Businesswoman of the Year in 1995 and Top Woman in Business in 2004/2005.
She's been around the corporate block many times and until late 2004 was CEO of FirstRand's retail banking cluster, FNB Retail, which included such well-known brands as First National Bank, FirstLink, WesBank, eBucks and OUTsurance. During 2005, she teamed up with SA National Parks chair Cheryl Carolus to form a new venture called Peotona.
Though Lucas-Bull has well respected business skills, one particular event in her career stands out as an example of how to get the job done right, first time. When she took control of FNB Retail in 2000, she saw that the division was fundamentally flawed, and was a possible takeover candidate if it didn't improve its performance.
She instituted a radical restructuring process, eliminating about 25% of the posts. The surgery was performed quickly, taking only 90 days from start to finish. The effect was shattering - by the time of publication of the first set of results under her leadership, FNB Retail's earnings had risen by 105%.
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