Serious questions are being raised about the state of Winning Group’s executive ranks and the credibility of a mooted $1 billion ASX float, with insiders describing parts of the business as a “revolving door” and revealing that complaints of bullying and inappropriate management behaviour have been lodged with the Company’s human resources department by multiple people.

Richard Babekuhl taking on what appears to be a poisioned role at Winnings.

The claims come as the premium appliance retailer moves to appoint Richard Babekuhl to its leadership team, an executive who has clocked up multiple stints at Breville, Shark Ninja, Fisher & Paykel, Groupe SEB and now Winning, and who insiders say is walking into what has been described as “one of the most unstable” management environments in the Australian appliance business.

“A Revolving Door”

According to multiple sources who have contacted ChannelNews, the instability was most acute during the period that former director John Winning was running the business, with a string of executives and staff quitting over the past three years.

One senior insider said Winning management has consistently painted the Partner Relationship Management team as a “high-performing, collaborative team”.

The reality inside the business, they claim, “is very different”.

The Partner Relationships team, led by Todd Gibbons, “has developed a reputation internally for being one of the most unstable teams within the business”, the insider said.

“It’s commonly referred to as a revolving door.

In a team that typically consists of only six to eight people, more than eight employees have left in just over two years.”

Departures identified to ChannelNews include:

Emma O’Halloran, Head of Partner Marketing (April 2025 to July 2026)
Nicholas Dormer, Partner Relationship Coordinator (January 2026 to June 2026)
Danny Draper, Partner Relationship Manager (June 2022 to July 2025)
Dylan Barbosa, Partner Relationship Coordinator (June 2024 to July 2025)
Kylie Sargeant, Head of Partner Marketing (September 2024 to January 2025)
Steve Mellin, Head of Partner Marketing (July 2022 to December 2025)
Ben Corrigan, Partner Relationship Coordinator (April 2023 to June 2024)
Darren Chan, Partner Relationship Manager (July 2022 to June 2024)
Nicholas Sobdinov, Partner Relationship Manager (January 2020 to March 2024)

“This level of turnover is not viewed internally as unusual anymore, it has become expected,” the insider said.

ChannelNews has also been made aware of complaints raised with Human Resources regarding bullying and inappropriate management behaviour involving senior members of the team in the past.

“The culture is characterised by constantly shifting priorities, unclear expectations, pressure without adequate support, and management practices that many employees have found difficult to work under,” one senior employee wrote.

Suppliers Feel The Chill

What has stunned observers is that the turmoil sits inside the very department responsible for building supplier relationships.

“Perhaps the most surprising aspect is that this is the department responsible for building supplier relationships,” one source said, claiming several suppliers have privately commented that dealings with the Winning relationship team feel “highly transactional rather than relationship-driven”.

Smaller brands in particular have expressed feeling overlooked or undervalued, with some said to be viewed internally as “not worth the time” because they don’t generate enough revenue, a mindset fundamentally at odds with what a partner relationships function is supposed to deliver.

“The pattern has continued for years, people continue to leave, and nothing appears to change,” one manager said. “When a small team loses this many people in such a short period, it should raise legitimate questions about leadership, culture and accountability.”

“I felt it was important that someone outside the organisation was aware that there is a significant difference between the public image being presented and the experience many employees and suppliers have had behind the scenes.”

The $1bn Question

The revelations land at the worst possible time for Winning Group, which recently confirmed a $100 million investment from Ellerston Capital, representing roughly 10 to 15% of the business, ahead of an ASX listing that some claim could value the Company at around $1 billion.

A key element of the Ellerston deal was the exit of John Winning from the day to day running of the business, a move that senior executives still working at the Company have privately welcomed.

The board has since appointed Morgans, Bell Potter and Barrenjoey Capital as float advisers ahead of an IPO later this year.

But the $1 billion valuation talk has left industry executives gobsmacked.

“They must be dreaming, their financials don’t justify a value anywhere near a billion dollars,” one major supplier to the Company told ChannelNews.

The latest financials appear to be the core problem.

After-tax profit fell to $1.9 million for FY25, down from $4.75 million, an approximate 60 per cent slump, accompanied by rising liabilities, negative working capital and mounting competitive pressure.

EBITDA slipped from $30 million to $25 million on flat revenue of about $886 million.

John Winning above accused of spending more time on sailing, skydiving and other activities than running the family business.

For an $886 million revenue business, those margins are wafer-thin against a $1 billion valuation claim, observers say, with analysts warning that shrinking margins and rising costs could weigh on investor appetite.Legal Overhang And A Baggage-Laden CEO Pick

As part of the deal, John Winning is stepping down as group CEO, after the new investors moved quickly to resolve Fair Work Commission claims relating to him, with fallout from internal emails showing him declaring himself acting head of HR.

Anthony Heraghty, the former Super Retail Group boss, is tipped as the incoming CEO, the first outsider to run the business in more than a century, despite his own messy exit from Super Retail over an undisclosed relationship with that company’s HR chief.

The executive exodus at Winning extends well beyond the partner team, including James Moore (sales), Trent Allan (COO), Fraser Gardner (marketing), Troy Tindill (NZ GM), Kate McGlone (design), Carey Tisdell and chief science officer Felipe Ramirez Lastrico.

Three Fair Work claims allege unlawful dismissal, with a fourth expected. Lastrico, the architect of the Appliances Online pricing algorithm, has launched NSW Supreme Court action over a share buyback. Those proceedings continue while the Company internally reviews logistics, delivery networks and customer service as part of a broader restructuring.

A Perfect Storm

Winning is attempting to restore profitability at the very moment JB Hi-Fi is aggressively expanding e&s nationally, sacrificing short-term earnings to do it, while Harvey Norman Commercial uses its balance sheet to defend share with major developers.

Several global premium manufacturers are also reassessing whether they need traditional retailers at all, with many moving to open their own stores in key cities.

Winning has meanwhile secured a Gold Coast site as part of an expansion program to be unveiled ahead of the IPO, putting it on a collision course with both rivals.

Insiders describe a business facing “a perfect storm” ahead of an IPO: imploding management, a string of legal actions, a cultural crisis, softening builder and developer demand, and a listing process that will demand far more transparency than the Company has been comfortable with, at a business where John Winning has used tame media outlets with commercial contracts with the Company to spruik a positive image, even as current management paint a very different picture.

The open questions now are whether Heraghty’s confirmation steadies the ship or simply add