eKourier July 2010

9 Questions... With Warren Eriksson

much like what our kids are now experiencing growing up in Australia. What courses have you completed? I completed my Bachelor of Accounting in 1997 at the University of the Witwatersrand and went on to write the Qualifying Exams in 1998. These exams are the first step in qualification as a Chartered Accountant with the final step being completion of three years of Articles (on-the-job training) with a professional services firm. I completed my articles with KPMG in Johannesburg and on arrival in Australia, completed a six month conversion course in order to be registered as a Chartered Accountant in Australia. Tell us about getting your Australian Citizenship? Quite a long story however after two successive business sponsored visas, we applied for Permanent Residency. The crazy thing was my wife’s father is an Australian however living and growing up in South Africa, separated from her father, her mother never did organise her Australian passport. We had also made the assumption that the cut off for parental citizenship was 18 years of age however by the time we arrived in Australia and established that it was in fact 25, Bernice had just passed that milestone. This meant that we had to go through the process and could not leverage off her dad’s status as an Australian citizen. We had no later lodged our application for PR and the laws were changed and immediately Bernice was entitled to citizenship through her father. This meant that Bernice and our yet to be born daughter would be citizens whilst the remainder of the family still had to apply for PR. The PR process took its course and within 6 months we were granted our new status. As we had been in the country prior to our PR, 3 of the 4 years required for citizenship were counted and we only had a year to go for citizenship. By the time we had served the year, it was October 2008. If you had to sum up kennards in one word, what would it be? Empowering.

school sweethearts and had known each other for over 9 years when we married in 2001. Bernice is an amazing Physiotherapist and a great mother to our kids. I am the middle of three children, one of which lives in Melbourne and the other on the Isle of Wight in the UK. My parents currently live in Johannesburg and are in the process of applying for PR in Australia.

Tell us about your role at Kennards? As the Financial Controller my role is all about control - not really! My role is rather diverse and offers many different challenges on a daily basis. Looking after the finance team is a rewarding experience and I have grown a great deal as a result. Strategically I have always enjoyed exploring better ways of doing things and using technology to make our lives easier and more efficient. Technically, I have had the privilege from learning and growing with the business from the bottom up and as a result have had the opportunity to work on some really interesting projects. Since the acquisition of the Millers portfolio, I have been the main point of contact for Valad (our ex joint venture partner) within KSS and have worked with them largely from a compliance point of view. I attend the KSS & KVSI Board meetings as an external adviser as a great deal of the material covered by the Board in these meetings is finance related. The autonomy within my role has most definitely been an incentive and provided the flexibility and freedom to position the finance function and team within the organisation. What was your work history before Kennards? I have only had one previous employer, namely KPMG. I did my in house training with KPMG in Johannesburg and after four years with them, I was offered a two year assignment with KPMG Sydney. My wife and I arrived in Sydney on the 28th December 2001. What is your everyday environment like at Kennards THQ?. Bit like the temperature of a converted warehouse - it fluctuates a great deal! Tell us about your family? Bernice and I have four children - Corban Joshua (6), Kaylen Grace (4), Tori Lee (2) and Seth Malachi (1). Our life is full with the blessings and challenges that a young family of four presents. Bernice and I were

What are your favourite pass times? We are an active family and like to get out together, whether that is to the park, for a run, down to the beach or for an early dinner at our local fish & chips shop. We really appreciate the simple things in life like playing in the backyard, a beautiful sunset or playing in the waves at the beach. Bernice and I are leaders in a local church in Mosman and currently co-ordinate the Kids program every Sunday morning. We appreciate the kids and teaching them life is extremely rewarding. Where did you grow up? I grew up in a suburb called Northcliff which is part of greater Johannesburg in South Africa. I was born in 1976 and grew up within the Apartheid area. I do recall that we all had servants assisting us and they were very much part of the family. Our helpers either lived on the premises or carried permits to allow them access to the ‘white only’ suburbs and if found in these areas without, they were promptly relocated. During my childhood South Africa was a very segregated nation however it was relatively safe. In terms of lifestyle and freedom, my childhood was very

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Kennards Kourier July 2010