Business NZ boss Phil O'Reilly to leave at the end of year

Business NZ boss Phil O'Reilly to leave at the end of the year

By Paul McBeth

May 19 (BusinessDesk) - Phil O'Reilly, the long-serving chief executive of Business New Zealand, will leave the lobby group at the end of the year, ending a decade providing one of the most vocal voices for the country's private sector.

The Wellington-based lobby group will immediately begin its search for a replacement, and O'Reilly said he will help the Business NZ council find a suitable replacement. O'Reilly will stay as chair of the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD and member of the Governing Body of the International Labour Organisation until the end of his terms in mid-2017.

"Over the next few months I will look forward to discussing future business and career options with a variety of people," O'Reilly said in a statement. "I have no concrete plans for what might happen next, although I will investigate taking on a small number of directorships and engaging in consulting work in New Zealand and internationally."

Business New Zealand is the umbrella organisation for the Employers' and Manufacturers' Association, Business Central, Canterbury Employers' Chamber of Commerce and Otago-Southland Employers' Association, and gained traction in lobbying government after the Business Roundtable fell out of the favour with the previous Labour-led administration.

O'Reilly said he will talk to the boards and advisory groups he currently sits on to figure out his future with them.

The lobby group was incorporated in November 2000 to represent the interests of New Zealand's business and employing sectors to the government and wider community. It generated about $2.1 million from major company group levies and $2.1 million from regional levies in the year ended June 30, 2013, according to its more recent financial statements lodged with the Companies Office.

(BusinessDesk)

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