Annual Report Example - Chairman’s Message

 

 

Client:           Alimentation Couche-Tard       

 

The company is based in Quebec, Canada and is the second largest convenience store chain operator in North America.   It operates under the Circle K brand in the U.S. and the Mac’s brand in western Canada

 

Comment:      The company is succeeding with a distinctive empowerment strategy.  To communicate this and relate it to positive results, people were made the focal point of the 2007 Annual Report.  For the Chairman’s Message, we borrowed from Berkshire Hathaway to create a highly personal tone for CEO Alain Bouchard.

 

 

 

It’s always about people

(excerpt)

 

Real and I spent the year as always – on the road.  At least half of our time is spent touring the regions and the stores, together or individually.  We both really enjoy getting out and meeting the people who are pulling the wagon.

 

 

I have never doubted that the single most important ingredient in our success is people.  Especially the store managers, dealers and customer service reps but also the market and regional directors, the talented and motivated support teams, and the industry’s most accomplished group of leaders.

 

 

I have been reminded of the power of people – our people -- many times this past 12 months. It has been four years since our biggest acquisition – the 1,600 stores of Circle K – and the scorecard is pretty impressive.  We are now witnessing the impact made by the exceptional group of people that came with it.  Let me give you just one example.

 

 

Back in 2003, we nearly gave up on the stores we had acquired in El Paso which were in very poor shape. But the managers persuaded me to give it a trial.  Last year, those managers returned net earnings of over US$6 million and doubled projections.  This not only showed the mettle of the team in El Paso, it also validated for me our whole philosophy of empowerment.  Circle K had been very centrally run and it was a big test of our values when we took it over. 

 

 

All three brands – Couche-Tard, Mac’s and Circle K -- performed with distinction in fiscal 2007 and we are focussing this annual report on our people in every region.  I encourage you to read about some extraordinary accomplishments, including El Paso, and meet some very dedicated people.

 

 (To review the full Annual Report,click here) l