Mitre 10, the chain of independently owned hardware stores, has appointed a new CEO, Mark Laidlaw.

In 2001 Laidlaw joined Metcash, now the majority shareholder in the Mitre 10 group, and for the past six years has been the general manager of Metcash’s Victorian IGA distribution business.

Before that Laidlaw had a role as general manager commercial, and held senior, commercial and operational roles with Mobil in Australia and overseas.

Laidlaw takes the reins from Mark Burrowes, appointed interim CEO in February 2009 to see the company through its transition phase which included the Metcash investment.

Mitre 10 chairman, Lance Collins said Mark Burrowes brought a much needed period of stability to Mitre 10, improving our inventory management, organisation structure, bank negotiations, debtor management and operational improvements.