Maxine Horne
Website Maxine Horne

Maxine Horne

VITA Group

Maxine Horne is CEO and founder Vita Group, Australia’s largest independent technology business, with over 1,700 employees, a national footprint, and an annual revenue in excess of $645 million in FY16. 

Maxine has significant global experience in telecommunications and technology and has been at the forefront of the digital revolution for the past 20 years, creating strategic alliances with industry leaders such as Telstra. 

In 1995 Maxine established Fone Zone, one of Australia’s first mobile retailers, and rapidly grew the business from a single Gold Coast shop to a national publicly-listed company. After its 2005 ASX listing, Vita Group became one of the fastest-growing companies in Australia and was ranked in BRW’s Fast 100 over four consecutive years. 

Maxine’s focus is on achieving results through people and culture. Her philosophy is ‘people first’ – putting both customers and employees at the centre of Vita.  

In the last 20 years of building her business to what it is today – Maxine has seen the ups and downs of the retail sector and has weathered the storms of the telecommunications and computing industries. She’s learnt about business from the ground up and, and it’s this wealth of knowledge and experience that has made her a multi-award winning business leader. This business acumen has created one of Australia’s fastest growing companies, listed for four consecutive years in BRW’s Fast 100.

At the heart of Maxine’s philosophy is the power of human capital, and how to harness this ‘people power’ into results. She insists on putting her vision (people first) and values into action, and this has firmly placed the many Vita Group brands as some of Australia’s most successful businesses and a progressive employer of choice.

 

Maxine’s creation of award-winning team member and customer service programs has underpinned the success of Vita Group as a business leader. She provides intensive customer service training for staff, as well as incentives and a rewarding internal career path. Maxine drives her team to be the best they can be, personally and professionally – and she provides the culture and systems to achieve this. She knows from experience that creating the right culture in the business will drive an exceptional experience for customers.

In 2016, Maxine was the subject of a book written by journalist and author, Madonna King, titled Think Smart Run Hard. 

Maxine was named QBR Business Woman of the Year, Retail in 2006 and received the 2014 EY Entrepreneur of the Year award for the Industry category in the Northern region. Maxine is a proud supporter and Corporate Ambassador of Act for Kids, who work tirelessly in our community to prevent and treat child abuse and neglect.

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