Lyttelton Port boss Roger Gray sets sail for top role at Ports of Auckland

Wednesday, 8 December 2021

Lyttelton Port in Christchurch is nearing completion of the first stage of an $85 million expansion, which is being built on land that has been reclaimed over the past five years.

Lyttleton Port Company (LPC) chief executive Roger Gray has resigned and will take up the top role with Ports of Auckland.

Gray, who started in the Canterbury position in February 2020, will finish at LPC in March.

He will take over from Ports of Auckland acting chief executive Wayne Thompson. Former chief executive Tony Gibson resigned in May after the death of dock worker Pala’amo (Amo) Kalati, who was crushed under a container on August 30 last year.

Margaret Devlin, chairwoman of LPC – which is wholly owned by Christchurch City Council – said Gray had overseen the establishment of a workplace culture overhaul and the first stage of an $85 million expansion.

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LPC chief executive Roger Gray has been at the helm of the Lyttelton port since February last year, but soon departs for Auckland.

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Devlin said she was “amazingly proud” of the work done under Gray in response to the Maria Dew QC report, which uncovered bullying, sexism and racism, and workplace culture changes.

“Culture and the change journey that we’re on is complicated and challenging. But I’ve been amazingly proud of the way so many of us have joined in and said, ‘yes, we want to make this place better, and we can,” Devlin said.

A significant milestone in “the LPC culture journey” under Gray was the signing of a high performance high engagement charter in October, with three of the LPC unions representing 95 per cent of the collectivised workforce.

“This is a demonstration of LPC’s commitment to moving forward in a co-operative manner, where we work with our collective interests at heart, and we get stuff done for the benefit of everybody,” Devlin said. “The board remains committed to this work.

“We also remain committed to continuing the infrastructure improvements Roger has started.”

LPC’s board will meet over the next couple of weeks to consider its options around recruiting a replacement for Gray.