An Australian citizen, Garry has enjoyed a varied career that has taken him to more than 20 countries, residing in 6 & he currently lives between St.Petersburg, Russia & Sydney.

Following an apprenticeship in mechanical engineering, he enjoyed 2 years in the music business learning the fundamentals of selling & promoting whilst meeting, partying & touring with some of the industry's biggest stars.

In 1976, Garry began an illustrious 25 year career with the Coca-Cola Company in Sydney, joining as a development technician and was promoted through the organisation in a variety of positions, eventually relocating to South Korea in 1991 working in sales, market development & management.

Garry was deployed to Europe in 1994 based in Oslo, Norway where he oversaw operational marketing for all of Eurasia highlighted by his largest project at that time, restructuring & implementing the 3 Baltic countries of Lithuania, Latvia & Estonia during the turbulent years that followed the breakup of the Soviet Union.

It was here that Garry's reputation as an implementer & turnaround specialist came to the fore when he was tasked to build the 3 independent countries into a single business unit & hiring its first Managing Director.

The Baltic success gave Garry the opportunity to test his skills to the fore when subsequently asked to lead the team that realised the 1st business & production unit in North West Russia when as General Manager of Coca-Cola St.Petersburg, he oversaw the 1st foreign investment into the region.

Within 15 months, brands of the Coca-Cola Company in North Western Russia rose from # 3 to # 1 in share when the market experienced at that time, arguably one of the most aggressive consumer companies in Russia.

Ukraine was severely impacted by the 1998 Russian economic crisis as the company had over-invested magnifying the collapse and Garry again found himself packing my bags, this time to Kyiv, where as CEO, he led a team in dramatic restructuring resulting in the sale of plants, equipment & downsizing, illuminating the enterprise to such a level that required him to interface & brief then President Leonid Kuchma on its progression.

He subsequently also assumed responsibility for the Belarusian franchise which had also suffered as a result of the collapse.

The Ukraine operation emerged into profitability for the 1st time just 2 years later.

In 2001, after a quarter century with one of the world's great consumer companies & management universities, Garry decided to travel a new path and utilise the skills & knowledge learned by launching 'Wilson & Associates'.

One of the 1st engagements he encountered was when asked to take a seat on the Board of the Sladco Confectionery Group, a Urals based enterprise.

Sladco (Russian for 'sweet') was a post soviet collection of 3 independent confectionery plants that were still managed & operated as in soviet times with little focus on management deployment or strategic planning which culminated in significant losses.

Since establishment in 2001, the Sladco Group was predominately funded by Baring Vostok Capital Partners (one of Russia's leading private equity firms) along with a number of minor UK investors.

Following an initial Board Meeting, Garry again found himself back at the helm when asked to assume the CEO role with a clear brief to turn around the enterprise within a time frame, regain stability & ready it for sale.

In order to rapidly identify the main issues effecting success, he brought several key managers with him that he had previously either worked with or knew & together as a team, undertook a complete rationalisation program, restructuring the management teams, identifying workforce requirements across some 4,000 employees and analysing plant production across 3 sites spread over a 1000 kim radius with branches across Russia, Kazakhstan & Ukraine.

The team deployed a detailed & concentrated business plan that was presented to & accepted by the Board of Directors that reflected a new operational strategy, radical reduction in cost efficiencies & a new vision driven by a solid corporate culture across the enterprise.

By giving the brand national & international identity, the business became a much stronger & viable option for possible mergers and acquisitions by a new strategic investor, and increasing share values.

After transitioning the business to a positive EBITDA with strong cash flow, the enterprise rapidly moved forward & soon rose to become one of the largest confectionery producers in Russia.

Following the successful planning & sale to the Orkla Group from Norway (their 1st venture into Russia), Garry decided it was again time to move on & resume various investment & business opportunities.

Today, he collaborates, advises & counsels with select enterprises that are accelerating their growth plans or are in need of significant structural change.