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Brendan Hargreaves: CFO, Officeworks
Episode description
Published 16th July, 2025.
Brendan Hargreaves is the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Officeworks, a $3B+ business with over 170 stores and 8,000+ team members. Previously, he held senior commercial and financial roles at Qantas ($17B+ revenue), Coles (800+ stores), Cleanaway (5,000+ employees), Village Roadshow, and The Warehouse Group (NZX: WHS, ~$3B market cap). Brendan is also a Director and mentor at the Financial Executives Institute (FEI), supporting the next generation of finance leaders through mentorship and professional development.
It’s time to explore your curiosity. Please enjoy.
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Hosted by Vidit Agarwal, Founder of Curiosity Center and The High Flyers Podcast.
It’s now time to explore your curiosity.
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In this episode, Brendan and our host Vidit unpack:
▪️ Growing up in a Wollongong garage and the grit it taught
▪️ The teacher who reignited his love of learning
▪️ Why he chose accounting over journalism or acting
▪️ Building a commercial mindset beyond debits and credits
▪️ Finance vs commercial: how great CFOs influence decisions
▪️ Stepping out of finance—and why it made him stronger
▪️ The moment he stopped reacting emotionally at work
▪️ How he mentors, remembers birthdays, and builds trust
▪️ Lessons from Qantas, Village, Coles, Cleanaway, and NZ
▪️ And why 60% of Officeworks’ sales are now from tech
and lots more!
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About us
The High Flyers Podcast is a "meticulously researched audio biography" that uncovers the untold stories of remarkable people and companies—redefining what it means to be a high flyer. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past two years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200 episodes released. A flagship product of the Curiosity Center, it has been featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW, offering raw, relatable insights from childhood to career, helping listeners become 1% better every day.
200+ guests have joined Vidit Agarwal on the show from 15+ countries, including The CEO's of multi-billion dollar companies like Bunnings, Australia Post, Woolworths; Board Members at Macquarie Bank, ANZ, Reserve Bank; Former Prime Minister of Australia; Globally renowned tech leaders from Google, Microsoft, Xero; Successful Venture Capital and Family Office Investors; CIO's at the world's biggest superannuation funds; Leading Entertainers; Olympic Gold Medal Winning Athletes and interesting minds you wouldn't have heard of that are changing the world.
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