At the FY22 results announcement in November, Eclipx announced that Damien Berrell will become Chief Executive Officer in February 2023, succeeding Julian Russell.
Mr Berrell is currently the Group Chief Financial Officer, responsible for all aspects of Finance as well as Strategy, M&A, Legal, Investor Relations and Company Secretarial. Mr Berrell has over twenty years’ experience in the domestic and international non-bank financial institutional space, with the majority of this time in senior leadership roles at successful fleet leasing businesses. He was appointed as Chief Financial Officer in early 2020.
Mr Russell will step down as Chief Executive Officer on 1 February 2023, following the AGM and has been retained to provide ongoing support to the Board of Directors and Mr Berrell until September 2023.
ECX Chair Gail Pemberton said: “Julian has led a highly successful transformation of the Group, simplifying our business model and implementing the strategic foundations to drive long-term value for our shareholders and other stakeholders.
“When Julian joined the Group, it faced significant financial and strategic uncertainty. Despite these challenges, and the subsequent emergence of COVID-19, Julian led the execution of the Simplification Plan resulting in a de-risked capital structure, higher quality of earnings, lower costs and a focus on disciplined capital allocation.
“This paved the way for Strategic Pathways, a strategy designed by both Julian and Damien to drive commercial intensity, including demonstrated profitable market share gains in target markets and increased customer and employee engagement scores. With these strong strategic foundations now in place, and the commencement of the three-year Accelerate program, now is a logical time for leadership succession.
“The Board has maintained a strong focus on succession to ensure we have the right balance of skills and capabilities in place across our executive team. This will enable a seamless succession transition from Julian to Damien.
“We are delighted to have an internal candidate of Damien’s calibre be appointed as our next Chief Executive. He is an outstanding candidate for the role, given his substantial fleet industry experience, his aligned strategic vision for the Group and the strength of his leadership.
“Damien and Julian have worked closely together since 2020. Damien has been a driving force in the Group’s transformation, particularly in relation to our recent commercial and operational successes, which are evident in today’s FY22 results. As we move into the Accelerate program, Damien’s deep experience and skillset are critical to the successful implementation, along with the strong team we have in place.”
Mr Berrell said he was honoured to lead Eclipx Group. “Our Group plays a critical role in supporting our customers with their fleet financing and management, enabling their business outcomes. We have strong foundations in place under Strategic Pathways, and the best team in the sector to drive our growth ambitions, as well as execute on the Accelerate program. Combined with the progress we have made to date, we continue to see significant opportunities in our business.”
Mr Russell said he was proud of what the team at Eclipx Group has delivered since the commencement of Simplification through to this set of results. “As you can see from today’s results, the Group has once again outperformed the sector, which is a strong reflection on our team and disciplined strategic implementation. The Group has never been in such a strong position, and there is a significant amount of opportunity in front of us. Damien is unequivocally the best operator in our industry and, under his stewardship, will lead the team to take advantage of these opportunities.”
Ms Pemberton said: “The Board looks forward to working with Julian and Damien on the leadership transition to deliver the best outcome for all our stakeholders.”
As part of Mr Berrell’s transition to CEO, James Owens has been appointed Chief Financial Officer. Mr Owens joined the Group from KPMG earlier in 2022, where he was a partner in Transaction Services and led a significant number of Corporate and M&A transactions across Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Mr Owens, a Chartered Accountant in the United Kingdom, will commence in the role of Chief Financial Officer on 1 February 2023, following the AGM.
Damien has over twenty years’ experience in the domestic and international non-bank financial institutional space, with the majority of this time in senior leadership roles at successful fleet leasing businesses. He was appointed as CFO in early 2020.
Prior to joining ECX, Damien was CFO of Custom Fleet, where he played a leading role in the sale of Custom Fleet by General Electric to Element Financial, where he remained as CFO. His role at Custom Fleet encompassed repositioning the business in Australia and New Zealand, which included the establishment of a securitisation funding program, the implementation of fleet and finance ERPs and the re-engineering of their finance and operational processes.
Damien led the introduction of the go-to-market pricing strategy, product penetration, and numerous automation projects within operations, including in-life and end-of-lease management, resulting in increased revenue, margins and lower operating costs.
Prior to Custom Fleet, Damien led the successful restructuring of GE Fleet, Japan, and held senior finance positions at General Electric including GE Capital in Australia & New Zealand, Japan and in the US.
