Fonterra ex-chief Andrew Ferrier new NZTE chairman
"It looks as though NZTE will have a good future."
Featured commentBUSINESSDESK: Former Fonterra chief executive Andrew Ferrier twill chair the board of New Zealand Trade and Enterprise.
The Canadian executive first came here in 2002 from a career in the global sugar industry and led Fonterra through a formative decade before stepping down for newly appointed Dutch chief executive Theo Spierings.
Mr Ferrier became a New Zealand citizen in 2008. He will take up the three-year term at NZTE, starting in November, replacing incumbent Jon Mayson.
“Mr Ferrier has a wealth of experience in international business, and brings strong governance and strategic capability to the NZTE board. He is well placed to take up the role of chair for the board,” Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce says.
Reality television producer Julie Christie, Wellington lobbyist and former trade diplomacy expert Charles Finnyand Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce chief executive Peter Townsend have been reappointed to the board for second terms.
Mr Ferrier is also a director of Orion Health and CANZ Capital. He was appointed to the University of Auckland Council in March 2012.
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Comments and questions14
I hope he can shake the place up more than the previous Chairman. For the amount of cash NZTE takes from the governments the returns are just not seen in businesses. Do we really need such a large NZTE contingent in Los Angeles, London, and countless European divisions? Is it necessary to have ~300 employees in New Zealand?
Agreed. Try wandering through their auckland or wellington offices. it's amazing how many people it takes for them to achieve not very much at all.
as someone working in the welington office I can say this is not true there are a lot people working hard for nz businesses each and everyday. i have disliked your comment.
The issue is not how hard people are working but what the results are? Looking at some of the data presented by NZTE in its annual report etc the results from my perspective are not great.
have you heard the one about how all client staff at NZTE getting ipads to match their iphones? perhaps the govt. could spend the annual nzte budget on buying every nz business one instead.
Andrew Ferrier will do great things for NZTE. This is wonderful news and I am pleased someone of Ferriers caliber has been appointed Chair.
From my extensive work with the NZTE team at a Beachheads level I hope we can avoid the old hires from Tim Gibson's day reappearing in the organization. Working at director and trade commissioner level in the US is currently appalling. It looks as though NZTE will have a good future.
I am an active board member of an industry association in New Zealand. One of the mottos that constantly get mentioned at our events is that if you want help and advice in the UK don't bother with the NZTE team there. For some reason most are young hires transferred from New Zealand who don't appear to have any credible experience. UKTI has business professionals who know the market and I can wholeheartedly recommend them. This has been the feedback from our industry to the Minsters and it sounds as though a new Chairman is exactly what the government ordered.
Will Ferrier change things - I would not hold my breath, the new CEO has shaken things up but nothing really seems to have changed.
NZTE as a whole is too risk adverse, too slow and really lack basic business knowledge. There are some great people working for them - but finding them is like trying to find a neddle in a haystack. The sad thing is that overtime anyone who is any good leaves the organisation.
You've hit the nail on the head. My advice to anyone dealing with NZTE is find the good people. But be prepared that they'll leave. I usually start my interaction with people at NZTE by asking how long they have worked for the organisation. Be wary if they say anything over ten years.
I would suggest warning bells at 3 - 5 years to be honest.
This is a good benchmark. Even then you have to wonder what they're doing there in the first place. I don't like to jump on the negative bandwagon, but there is so much to be improved upon there that I just hope it can be salvaged.
NZTE has been irrelevant to 80% of exporters for far too long. As Mr Ferrier will find the board has no teeth as its polices are set by MOBIE and MFAT, two Ministries without any actual business experience. The board is little more than a tame pup, each member getting $3K per meeting. The State Services Commission report of last year is a sad commentary of how bad a Government agency can get and yet still exist. The sooner the plug is pulled the better as it is beyond repair. The $180 million saved could be much better spent elsewhere.
They are prepared to roll out the red carpet if you're a big business that doesn't actually require assistance to be successful. Presumably because big business will always be successful and make NZTE look good by de facto.
Agree - NZTE reminds me of the old saying "no one got fired for buying IBM". the funny thing is that they are actually struggling to find customers as many larger businesses cannot see any value in NZTE.
Have a look at their large grant programme (up to $1m), I think in the first 18 months or so they had only "allocated" $9m. That shows you the cost of dealing with them when it is near impossible to give people $1m.