Fletcher Building finally stumps up with new chairman - from inside the tent
Monday, 3 February 2025
Fletcher Building finally has a new chairman - almost a year after previous chairman Bruce Hassall resigned.
Peter Crowley, who has been a director of the company since 2019, ascends from the board to the chairman’s position, with acting chair Barbara Chapman saying he was the “best qualified for the job”.
Hassall and chief executive Ross Taylor resigned following the $120 million half-year loss announced in February last year, after several years of problems overseen by the company. These included being ill-prepared for an industry-disrupting lack of plasterboard and being on the hook for millions after the revelation of leaky pipes in Western Australian homes made by a Fletcher subsidiary.
The process of recruiting a chair for one of the country’s largest and most influential companies has received widespread criticism for taking too long, as well as happening after a new chief executive, Andrew Reding, was appointed. Generally, a chairman leads the process of finding a new CEO.
Nevertheless, new chairman Crowley’s appointment takes effect immediately, and alongside him building industry veteran Jacqui Coombes has been appointed an independent, non-executive director beginning in April.
Crowley has a 40-year career in construction and building materials, including as managing director and chief executive of GWA Group Limited, a large Australian supplier of building fixtures and fittings to households and commercial premises. Prior to that, he spent 18 years in the cement and construction materials industry, including with concrete concern Holcim in Australia and Southeast Asia.
Chapman, who will step down as acting chairperson now a new chairman is in place, defended the recruitment process as “ thorough and extensive … given the critical importance of the role, we could not compromise on finding the right leader, so for an external candidate to be preferred, they had to be better qualified than Peter for the role.
“No external candidate met that test. Peter’s unique skills and experience, coupled with his deep understanding of, and passion for, Fletcher Building, made him the best person for the role. Peter has the full support of the Board, including the incoming directors, and we are confident that his leadership will be instrumental in supporting Fletcher Building’s growth and success in the coming years.”
She said with new CEO and managing director Andrew Reding in place, the appointments of Tony Dragicevich and James Miller, alongside the appointments of Crowley and Coombes, “positions us with a strong and diverse refreshed Board, focused on Fletcher Building reaching its full potential.”
Fletcher Building and Chapman in particular came in for criticism in the middle of last year when they appeared to reject Mark Cairns - former head of the Port of Tauranga and chairperson of Freightways - for the role of chairperson. Cairns had been endorsed by the likes of the New Zealand Shareholders’ Association and Simplicity.
Cairns told RNZ he had not been contacted for three months after applying, and described the process as “farcical”.
Sam Stubbs, who is a columnist for The Post, redoubled his criticisms last year, saying the company should have hired Cairns as chair and moreover, Fletcher should not have hired a new chief executive before a new chair.
“A new chairperson should be appointed - now,” he wrote.
“And, as requested by the Shareholders Association and Simplicity two years ago, the remaining directors should either resign or put themselves up for re-election at the next annual meeting.
“If they do, then new directors with skills more suited to the huge task at hand can be appointed, and get on with it.”