XERO LIMITED Media Release
MELBOURNE, 6 January 2016 Xero (@Xero) today announced the appointment of Trent
Innes as Managing Director of Xero Australia. Innes will replace current Managing Director Chris Ridd, who has resigned after five years leading the Australian business. Ridd will continue as an advisor to Xero through 2016.
Innes, who has spent nearly three years at Xero Australia as National Sales Director, was appointed Managing Director after a thorough executive search involving internal and external candidates.
Ridd will step down as Managing Director at the end of Xero's financial year on March 31, but will continue as an advisor to the Xero executive team. "Chris has led Xero's extraordinary growth and success in the Australian market, and has helped established Xero as the largest cloud accounting software in this market," said Andy Lark, Chief Marketing and Business Officer. "We sincerely thank him for his significant contribution and are thrilled to have his continued involvement in the business."
"During his time at Xero, Chris built a strong and deep leadership team in Australia, and as proof of Xero Australia's strong bench, we are delighted to announce Trent Innes as Managing Director following an extensive global search."
Innes has significant management experience, having worked alongside Ridd for the past three years as National Sales Director for Xero Australia. Before joining Xero, Trent was the National Sales Manager of the Microsoft Business Group in Australia, managing the ERP and CRM business. He is a qualified Certified Practicing Accountant (CPA).
Between now and the end of the financial year, there will be a comprehensive transition to have strong continuity of leadership.
"It's been an awesome ride, seeing Xero go from a plucky upstart from Wellington to a global force taking on the world's largest accounting software platforms," Ridd said. "It's rare for a
small business software company to reach the heights that Xero has, which speaks to the determination and experience of the entire Xero team to change the way that small businesses manage their finances."
"Having been in the driver's seat in Australia for the past several years, I know I'm handing the wheel to someone with the right experience and gusto to accelerate Xero's growth further in the future. Trent's been instrumental to Australia's growth in the past three years, and will continue to be so in future."
Xero anticipates expanding the executive team in Australia over the coming 12 months as the company drives towards its goal of millions of small businesses thriving on Xero.
Xero is beautiful, easytouse online accounting software for small businesses and their advisors. The company has 600,000 subscribers in more than 180 countries. Xero seamlessly integrates with over 400 thirdparty tools, and was ranked No. 1 by Forbes as the World's Most Innovative Growth Company in 2014 and 2015.
Marina Holmes
PR Director, Xero Australia marina.holmes@xero.com 0416 663 396
Xero Limited issued this content on 2016-01-06 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 2016-01-06 01:44:11 UTC
Original Document: https://www.xero.com/media/9129083/trent_innes_appointment.pdf
