By Patrick Avenell

Breville Group CEO Stephen Audsley has today announced his resignation, citing family reasons. Audsley will stay on with the publicly listed company and assist in recruiting his replacement.

“It has been over three years since relocating to Sydney to take up the exciting and challenging role of CEO at Breville,” said the Melbournian. “I have thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity and am proud of the accomplishments that my team and I have delivered.”

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Audsley was thanked for his work by chairman John Scholl.

“My board colleagues and I thank Steve for the important contribution he has made to the refinement and execution of the company’s strategy of leveraging an integrated branded product development and distribution capability across an international platform,” he said.

Breville Group distributes the Breville, Kambrook and Philips brands in the appliance sector. It also exports the Breville brand to overseas markets. Major shareholders of Breville Group include Solomon Lew’s Premier Investments and GUD Holdings, owner of main small appliance rival Sunbeam.

Audsley became CEO of Breville Group when it was then called Housewares International (HWI) in September 2008, following the resignation of Paul Hill. Audsley was previously the CFO of Pacific Brands.