Session
Family Insights Keynote Panel – Roger, Lesley and Elise Gillespie, Bakers Delight
Roger is Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Bakers Delight, the largest national chain of bakeries in Australia with nearly 700 bakeries operating throughout Australia, New Zealand, Canada and most recently the USA.
In May 1980, Roger, together with his wife Lesley and another partner started Bakery Delight in Hawthorn, Victoria. Roger & Lesley then went on to create Bakers Delight, which is still very much a family business with Roger and Lesley as co-Founders and their two children in leadership positions. Aaron who is based in Canada is the President of COBS Bread (North American trading name for Bakers Delight), overseeing the Canadian and USA businesses. Elise, along with her husband David Christie, are based in Melbourne and are the joint-CEOs overseeing the Australian and NZ businesses.
Bakers Delight is about creating an organisational culture that puts something back into the community, whether that’s through charitable donations or giving individuals the chance to pursue the dream of owning their own business. Bakers Delight is recognised as a leading corporate citizen in the country and has been a major corporate partner of the Breast Cancer Network Australia since 2000, raising more than $25 million over the past 24 years to support their work.
Roger has been inducted into the Hall of Fame for both the Swinburne University of Technology’s Australian Graduate School of Entrepreneurship (AGSE) and the Franchising Council of Australia. Roger has been named ‘Citizen of the Year’ for the City of Boroondara and was granted an Order of Australia for his tireless work within the community. Roger is an Honorary Fellow at Monash University and is an honorary Doctor of Laws at Monash University.
Lesley along with her husband Roger are founders of Bakers Delight, a 700 plus bakery franchise network across four countries; Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States. In Canada and the United States, it is branded as COBS Bread. Bakers Delight started from one bakery in Hawthorn, Melbourne May 1980.
Lesley and Roger are no longer in executive roles; the leadership is now shared by their children; their son Aaron, their daughter Elise and her husband David Christie.
Even though Bakers Delight / COBS Bread could now no longer be classed as a small business, the many franchisees across the network are small business operators. Lesley understands small business and she is committed to the success of Bakers Delight / COBS Bread franchisees. They are part of the backbone of the communities they serve.
Community involvement has been important and over the years Lesley has been involved in many community activities ranging from serving on school boards to chairing advisory committees at Swinburne and Monash universities. Bakers Delight /COBS Bread has always been there to support at the community grass roots level, whether it be local sporting teams or Bunnings sausage sizzles. For the last 25 years Bakers Delight has partnered with the Breast Cancer Network of Australia helping to raise millions of dollars to support families affected by this disease.
Lesley was a founding director of the Australian Business Growth Fund, a fund focused on helping small business thrive. This initiative, starting in 2019, is a federal government partnership with the major banks and is committed to helping small and medium sized businesses prosper.
Along the journey she has been fortunate to be recognised. Highlights have been:
2006 OAM Order of Australia Medal
2013 Fellowship from Monash University where she gained an Honours Degree in Science and a Diploma of Education
2014 Champion of Entrepreneurship at the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ Southern Region awards
Honorary Doctorates from both Swinburne University of Technology (2018) and Monash University (2021).
Lesley’s greatest joy in life are her four grandchildren.
Elise is a successful retail executive with extensive experience in operating businesses throughout Australia and North America.
As the daughter of Bakers Delight founders, Roger and Lesley Gillespie, Elise was ‘born to bake’ and quickly adopted her parents’ passion for delighting each and every customer with great quality bread.
Elise spent the first nine years of her career in North America working in a series of operational roles for COBS Bread, a subsidiary of Bakers Delight. She played a key role in the rapid growth of the COBS Bread business in North America and quickly rose through the ranks to become Vice President – a role she held from 2009 to 2012.
In 2012, Elise returned home to Australia to form part of the Bakers Delight Executive Team and worked across multiple areas of the business to develop and implement a range of successful growth strategies.
In January 2017, Elise and her husband, David Christie were appointed Joint CEOs of Bakers Delight in Australia and New Zealand when founders, Roger and Lesley Gillespie chose to step down after 37 years at the helm. The focus for Bakers Delight, since 2017 has been driving brand relevance for today and tomorrow’s consumers, through innovation and product development, whilst supporting greater customer convenience. Core to Bakers Delight’s success for decades is its commitment to enabling its franchisees to thrive. This combined focus on customer relevance and franchisee success has delivered sustained year on year sales and profit growth for both the franchisees and Bakers Delight Holdings.
