Meet Simon Meyrick, Chief Information Officer of Pickles & General Manager of Pickles Ventures
In 2003, Simon joined Pickles as the NSW Manager, Computer & IT Sales. It wasn’t long before he moved into the role of National Manager, Computers. With Pickles rapidly expanding, Simon relocated to Western Australia to head up the branch at Welshpool. Over the next 10 years his role evolved and it was during this time where he cites some of his greatest work achievements.
What big projects have you worked on and how did they progress?
The big rocks across my career are:
2010 Perth Hail Disaster – the biggest disaster event in Pickles history and I oversaw it from start to finish across 5 months selling more than 16,000 vehicles across 6 different locations.
Trio – I spent nearly a year working side by side with IT writing the as-is and to-be business processes for the entire company.
Building Bibra (Perth) – the largest property investment by a long way for Pickles. It took us 5 years to find the right property that met all of our criteria, but that’s where the fun started. I was living in Sydney by then so flying back and forth each week for about 6 months. Starting with a blank canvas, we designed everything from floor plans to traffic flow. Simultaneously, we were winding down three Perth branches and relocating them into what is known as the Supersite.
Pickles Asia – our first step outside of Australia to set up shop. An 18-month journey of research and planning to get us to our first auction in November 2017 and then watching it outgrow our first facility inside of a year has been incredibly rewarding. We now also have a small technology team in Malaysia who support the Ventures and Asia businesses and all of it is going from strength to strength.
In 2014 Simon moved back to Sydney, two years later he took on the role of General Manager, Pickles Ventures and in 2018, Simon was announced as the CIO of Pickles where he is now operating in a dual capacity.
What is your current role and what does it entail?
On the CIO side:
I’m steering a large group of technology professionals through a digital transformation that aligns with the business wants and needs. I don’t come from a technology background, which for the most part is helpful because it drives me to focus on where I should be adding value – predominantly around connecting the right people in the business with the right people in IT, facilitating meaningful conversation and maintaining accountability to outcomes.
On the Ventures side:
Our current ventures are in varying stages of nurture and grow mode – it’s taken a couple of years to get them all to where they are now with the right people in the right positions to support and grow them but now we’ve got it right. Because of this, my role now is to mentor and guide the General Managers of each business in being strategic, focussed and finding the next customer, the next win and driving revenue.
What’s your day-to-day job like?
My days, weeks and months are pretty structured – I have days set aside purely for 1:1s with my IT and Ventures staff; for working on the overall company goals with the National Executive team; meeting with key suppliers; and, importantly, time set aside to think, strategise and get work done. That being said, my day starts and ends with my EA. Brooke is amazing at being able to keep me focussed on the stuff that’s important, knowing full well that she has my back on everything else.
Describe your role in ventures and how has it evolved?
The role was created 2.5 years ago with a broad intention of ‘we need someone dedicated to chasing opportunities’. Having a culture at Pickles of being bold enough to take a punt, and accepting if things don’t work out meant I was able to move freely in trying, failing, pivoting and investing.
Before you know it we were expanding into Asia, acquiring companies, investing in start-ups and even creating our own. It’s been a wonderful experience and we are just starting to see the fruits of our labour now.
What are you excited about in your dual role?
Diversity, change leadership and growth. This can be best summarised by a recent 24-hour period that captures it perfectly – having just spent the day involved in a salvage auction at our Pickles Asia site, I boarded a plane heading out of Kuala Lumpur at midnight and went straight back to Sydney and into the office to meet with my direct reports in IT – absolute polar opposite worlds and I’m very fortunate to be across such a diverse portfolio. I couldn’t do it without the great people I’ve got around me who are experts in their fields.
What’s next?
We’re starting to tackle the chunky parts of our digital transformation and we’ve got our eyes up, looking beyond Malaysia to what’s next for our South East Asian expansion.
29 Nov