Dec 14, 2025 – 8.00pm

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San Antonio, 2019. That’s when Amanda Bardwell really came to the attention of the Woolworths board. Running the supermarket giant’s e-commerce business at the time, Bardwell was among a contingent of executives and directors to tour some of America’s leading retailers.

In south central Texas, they checked out H-E-B Supermarkets, owned by the billionaire Butt family. There was a pit stop in Houston. In Silicon Valley, they dropped in on Google and other big tech firms. As the tour trundled across the United States, the board took in the best of the business and came to the conclusion that Bardwell was already well ahead of the curve.

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