ChannelNews investigations into serious governance and cultural problems at Winning Appliances ,reported here long before the mainstream press took notice,  have now been validated by the Australian Financial Review, as the Sydney-based retailer faces mounting legal battles, a haemorrhaging of senior executives, and a dramatic collapse in profits ahead of a tipped planned sharemarket listing.

John Wiining also known as “Herman” after the Monsters series

The AFR’s coverage, which omits any credit to ChannelNews for first exposing the damning internal emails and management dysfunction, confirms what this masthead has been reporting for years: that Winning Appliances, despite its polished public relations offensive through compliant trade media, is a business in serious trouble.

The $100 Million Problem
Ellerston Capital’s decision to pump $100 million into Winning Appliances has not so much rescued the business as shone a spotlight on its deep-seated problems. Sources close to the deal indicate that Ellerston management went so far as to suggest that founder John Winning junior step aside — a stunning development for a company that bears his family’s name. Ellerston is now actively searching for a replacement CEO, while its executive chairman Ashok Jacob prepares to join the board once the transaction closes.

This comes as ChannelNews can reveal that a separate, influential retail group previously explored investing in or acquiring Winning outright , only to walk away after accessing confidential financial data under a non-disclosure agreement and meeting with management.

The Numbers Don’t Lie
Despite generating $885 million in revenue for the 12 months to June 30, Winning delivered a net profit of just $1.9 million,  a collapse from $4.8 million the prior year and a far cry from the more than $10 million profit recorded in 2022. Underlying EBITDA slid from over $30 million to approximately $25 million. For a business at this scale, those margins are razor-thin, and the trajectory is deeply concerning for any prospective IPO investor.

An Exodus of Executives
The revolving door at Winning’s Sydney headquarters has been spinning at a dizzying pace. Those who have departed include:

James Moore — Head of Sales
Trent Allan — Chief Operations Officer
Fraser Gardner — Head of Marketing
Troy Tindill — New Zealand General Manager
Kate McGlone — Head of Design
Carey Tisdell — Client Success and Services Manager
Felipe Ramirez Lastrico — Chief Science Officer
The company’s Communications Manager

The company is now facing three Fair Work Commission claims,  from Gardner, McGlone and Tisdell, all alleging unlawful dismissal, with a fourth expected imminently.

In the Supreme Court of NSW, Lastrico, who spent over a decade at the company and is credited as the key architect of the pricing algorithm underpinning the Appliances Online business, has launched action over a share buyback. Winning bought back his 1.3 per cent stake two weeks ago, but the legal proceedings remain active before the court.

Former advisory board chairman David Gordon, also the former chairman of Network Ten and Accent Group, sued Winning in 2021 over a share option dispute, which was later settled according to publicly available court orders.

The Emails ChannelNews Exposed First

It was ChannelNews that first revealed the extraordinary internal emails from John Winning junior, emails that the AFR is now reporting on without attribution. In one October missive, Winning wrote to staff: “We are a team, if there is no external person in the room, then we do not require a meeting. There are to be no internal meetings until further notice unless I set them up. This is a fireable offence.”

The email sent shockwaves through the organisation. The then-COO Trent Allan was forced to issue a clarifying note the following day. Winning then followed up with a further email demanding meetings be held in common areas — and declaring himself the acting head of human resources.
This masthead also revealed that Winning brought in-house DJs into the business — described by one senior manager as a “stupid idea to try and soothe out staff problems”  and established an internal radio station, gestures widely seen inside the business as tone-deaf responses to a culture in crisis.
New Competitive Pressure Looms
The troubles come at the worst possible time. ChannelNews understands that suppliers attending EuroCucina in Milan last week reported a significant downturn and cancellation of orders from builders and property developers — a critical revenue stream for a specialist appliance retailer.
Meanwhile, e&s, the JB Hi-Fi-owned specialist appliance chain, is preparing a national expansion that will put it in direct competition with Winning across the country, further squeezing a business already operating on wafer-thin margins in an increasingly brutal online whitegoods market.

The Bottom Line
Winning Appliances faces a perfect storm: imploding management, a string of legal actions, a cultural crisis its own founder appears unable or unwilling to address, softening demand from its key builder and developer clients, and a looming IPO that will demand far greater transparency than this company has previously been comfortable with.

ChannelNews will continue to report on this story — as we have been, long before it became mainstream news.