In the early nineties, there was one huge opportunity available to Coles Myer – big box hardware. CML had a team working on the project (largely the same team that worked up the Officeworks concept). Plans were very well advanced. The first site was to be where Megamart, Kmart and Officeworks now sit in suburban Chadstone. But CML got cold feet amid the troubled W4K and some other mischief known as Yannon. What a lost opportunity.

Bunnings now occupies that space so well that it would be difficult for any new entrant. Last week Bunnings reported an EBIT of around $400 million on sales of $4 billion. CML will shortly announce an EBIT of $700 million on sales of $33 billion. The maths should be simple. This has to go down as one of the greatest missed opportunities.

The current CML board can rightly claim that it was not them. What the market must ask is whether the corporate culture of CML entrenches similar decision making. In my role interviewing senior CML people, I get the impression that some serious cultural and attitudinal shifts are still needed. There is little evidence of change.

Rob Lake’s wife owns 762 Coles Myer shares and Bunnings is a major client of his company, Orex.