Brunswick makes changes to organisational structure

Brunswick Corporation has announced several changes to its organisational structure and senior leadership team.

Aine Denari has been appointed executive vice president and president of Navico Group and will also serve as Brunswick’s chief technology officer. Denari has been serving as president of Brunswick Boat Group since October 2020, leading the division through challenging market conditions.

In her new role, Denari (pictured left) will oversee the development of Navico Group and manage Brunswick’s technology strategy, including leadership of autonomy programmes and responsibility for the Boating Intelligence DesignLab at the University of Illinois.

Brenna Preisser has been named executive vice president and president of Brunswick Boat Group, succeeding Denari. Since January 2019, Preisser has served as executive vice president and president of business acceleration, the division housing Freedom Boat Club, Boateka, and Brunswick’s financial services and related businesses.

In this role, she oversaw the acquisition and expansion of Freedom Boat Club, which grew from 170 to 410 locations globally, and the creation of Boateka, Brunswick’s platform for pre-owned boat sales.

Preisser (pictured left) takes on new responsibilities including managing Brunswick’s portfolio of 18 boat brands, such as Boston Whaler, Sea Ray, Bayliner, Lund, Harris, Quicksilver, and Princecraft.

Will Sangster has been promoted to senior vice president and president of business acceleration, taking over from Preisser. Sangster was previously president of Mercury Marine in the EMEA region, a position he held since October 2021. He has spent 14 years with Brunswick in various international leadership roles, including as head of Mercury Marine’s ANZP region.

Brunswick says Sangster (pictured left) has operational and international experience that will support the ongoing expansion of Freedom Boat Club into new international markets and the optimisation of its operating model.

“Brunswick is fortunate to have an extraordinarily talented leadership team and a deep bench. Aine, Brenna, and Will have a proven track record of success in many previous positions and I’m proud and excited to see them all take on new and expanded responsibilities,” says Dave Foulkes, Brunswick Corporation CEO.

“These moves follow the recent expansion of the role of Ryan Gwillim, Brunswick’s chief financial officer, to include chief strategy officer. Our talent remains a major competitive advantage, and our talent development strategy includes broadening the scope and experience of our highest potential leaders at all levels of the company.”

Denari, Preisser, and Sangster assume their new roles immediately. Brett Dibkey, who previously served as president of Navico Group, will depart the company at the end of August after assisting with the transition.

In July, Brunswick posted its 2024 second-quarter results, showing the year isn’t quite working out how it predicted. Foulkes believes that significantly slower retail sales in the peak sales months, means the company now expects full-year retail unit sales to be down approximately 10 per cent versus the original forecast (of flat).

For the second quarter of 2024, Brunswick reported consolidated net sales of $1,443.9 million, down from $1,702.3 million in the second quarter of 2023. Its propulsion segment reported a 21 per cent decrease in sales.

Brunswick sales were down 22 per cent in the first quarter of 2024.