Tatts Group chief Robbie Cooke named new CEO of Tyro

Tyro’s six month search for a new chief executive is over, with the fintech company today announcing Robbie Cooke, currently managing director and CEO of Tatts Group, will take on the role at the end of March.

Having previously served as COO then managing director and CEO of Wotif, Cooke is currently winding up his role at Tatts Group, which he led to a merger with Tabcorp in December; upon the conclusion of the merger, Tabcorp chief David Attenborough will be chief of the new entity.

Taking over from Rob Ferguson, who was appointed acting managing director last June, Cooke said he is excited to join the Tyro team and is looking forward to continuing the company’s focus on serving the banking needs of Australia’s small and medium businesses.

“I am really looking forward to leading the Tyro team through the next exciting stage of its journey and building on its energetic and innovative spirit. As a business bank providing fair, transparent and smart banking solutions in a truly customer-centric way, we have a real opportunity to build on the successes Tyro has achieved to date,” he said.

Kerry Roxburgh, Tyro chairman, said, “After conducting an exhaustive local and international search, the Board is delighted to announce Robbie’s appointment. We believe he possesses all the skills and experience to lead Tyro into a new and groundbreaking chapter.”

Cooke’s appointment follows the resignation of Gerd Schenkel from the CEO post in June.

Schenkel had arrived at Tyro in October 2016 to take over as CEO from Jost Stollmann, who had shifted to the position of executive director – now non-executive director – saying he was excited about the opportunity to build Tyro into a fully-fledged bank.

Explaining his resignation, Schenkel said he wanted to focus on other business opportunities and spend more time with family.

As CEO, Cooke will be tasked with growing Tyro’s small business banking capabilities.

The company reported that it is currently servicing more than 20,000 small to medium enterprises, processing more than $10 billion in payment transactions in the last financial year, and generating $121 million in revenue.

With this the company has grown 26 percent, year on year; in the previous financial year it reported processing $8.6 billion in transactions and generating $95 million in revenue.

Image: Robbie Cooke. Source: Supplied.