Ryman executives promise to listen more carefully to communities

Friday, 26 July 2019

The men in the men's shed at Ryman Healthcare's Evelyn Page retirement village in Birkenhead have made a present for the Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's daughter.

Ryman Healthcare is entering a record expansion phase but directors were quizzed at the annual meeting about lessons learned from a recent development at Devonport where people had objected to the intensive building style.

Devonport Peninsula Precinct Society chairman Iain Rae asked how Ryman was applying what it had learned at a new Karori site containing 1970s concrete ex-university buildings that some locals think should be re-used.

Iain Rea from the Devonport Peninsula Precinct Society asked Ryman Healthcare directors what they had learned from the resource consent process.

Ryman chief executive Gordon MacLeod said the company was listening more carefully to the community and had set up an early consultation group.

At Karori there were earthquake safety issues, and Ryman was talking with Heritage NZ, local politicians and community members, MacLeod said.

**READ MORE:

Famous female jockey, Linda Jones with Ryman Healthcare chief executive Gordon MacLeod at the recent opening of a Hamilton village named in her honour.

* Ambitious expansion plans revealed by Ryman in flat market

* Ryman Healthcare pays compensation for delay at Devonport retirement village

* Successful Ryman founder steps down after 34 years**

Ryman directors at the recent annual meeting with chairman Dr David Kerr in the foreground.

Ryman has obtained Overseas Investment Office (OIO) approval for a new village at Riccarton Park in Christchurch, and has a standing OIO consent to buy 500 hectares at 20 sites over the next three years in New Zealand.

Work was expected to be under way on 12 sites during the coming year.

MacLeod said the main era of retirement village development was just beginning as the number of over-80 year olds was predicted to accelerate in the next decade.

'The first baby boomers, based on our average age of entry won't really arrive at our villages until 2025. That growth continues for four decades. It's the most unprecedented change in human history,' MacLeod said.

Shareholder Bob Stevens asked about a rival company offering to return retirement village unit owners full capital gain when units were sold - Ryman sells units to occupy and deducts a refurbishment fee.

MacLeod said many rivals did not invest in such things as care facilities, secure dementia, rest home, and hospital facilities.

Shareholder Neil Anderson pointed out that gender equality wasn't reflected on the board of directors.

Ryman chairman Dr David Kerr said directors were acutely aware of the inequality on the board, and were addressing it.

In response to a health and safety query, MacLeod said one of the most frequent injuries for care staff was manual handling injuries, prompting a training regime called Ryman Moves, supported by physiotherapists at each village. The number of such injuries was declining.

'We've just increased pay again, and the Ryman adult entry age for our villages is now $20 an hour, which is $2.30 above the minimum wage.

'We've also had increases for our caregivers, as part of the government's equal pay settlement, and last year we increased nurses' base pay to align with the District Health Board settlement…we've now lifted our median hourly rate by 33 per cent for our registered nurses, and for our caregivers, over the past two years,' MacLeod said. The nurses' settlement added $5m to the wages bill.

Villages where work was under way included Nellie Melba in Melbourne, William Sanders and Murray Halberg Villages in Auckland, and Linda Jones Village in Hamilton.

Ryman had just received resource consent to build a new village at Scott Rd in Hobsonville, and work will begin soon.

It was Ryman's 20th anniversary as a company listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange MacLeod told shareholders who gathered for the annual meeting at Evelyn Page Retirement Village in Orewa.

'We were told it [the Orewa village] wouldn't work. We had to win the community over, and now it's part of the fabric of Orewa.'

The Orewa village site was purchased in 2007 for $20m by Ryman, which then had faced resource consent hurdles, and the global financial crisis the same year.

MacLeod said investment bankers had advised Ryman to take on large debt, and warned the units wouldn't sell. But by 'recycling capital' (re-selling units, and development margins), the company was able to continue with modest gearing.

Kerr reminded shareholders that Ryman's first attempt at listing on the NZX failed, and when it listed two years later the shares were under subscribed.

When Ryman floated in 1999 it had eight villages worth $53m and about 1000 residents, and 530 staff. Now, it has 36 villages, 11,200 residents, and 5500 staff. Total assets are worth $6.7 billion, with net assets of $2.2b.