Sewell, Cranko join Challenge Steel board
Media release
Challenge Steel
Tuesday, 30 August
2016
Sewell, Cranko join Challenge Steel
board
One of New Zealand’s most respected
boardroom leaders and chief executives, Tony Sewell, has
joined Challenge Steel as one of its two new independent
directors.
Mr Sewell is the current chairman of
Business New Zealand, president of the Canterbury
Employers’ Chamber of Commerce, and is the former chairman
of the Property Council of New Zealand.
However, the
Christchurch resident is probably best known as the former
chief executive of Ngai Tahu Property Limited – a role he
held for 21 years before stepping down last year. He is
widely attributed with driving the growth of the South
Island Iwi’s property entity to become a $700m business
today with extensive property development, property
investment and farming.
Prior to that he held senior
positions at Landcorp Property Limited, Downer & Company
Limiter, and Fletcher Development & Construction Limited.
Over the years the quantity surveyor has chaired
Not-For-Profit boards, sat on a local authority operating
business and a Crown entity, and has extensive company
governance experience.
“To have someone of Tony
Sewell’s calibre is a great addition to the board of
Challenge Steel. He is not only well known and highly
respected in business and political circles, but he
inherently understands the needs and challenges of New
Zealand’s property and construction sectors,” says Bert
Govan, chairman of Challenge Steel.
Challenge Steel
has fast become a leading importer of quality and cost
effective fabricated structural steel. It has set a new
benchmark when it comes to quality assurance and
comprehensive product testing – a robust regime it
believes is now helping to lift the market’s confidence in
imported fabricated steel.
“Our business is
experiencing strong growth as the likes of public entities
and private developments demand even more certainty around
quality assurance. For Challenge Steel to keep harnessing
the momentum we needed to match that with more muscle around
the board table. Tony Sewell brings just that,” says Mr
Govan.
Geoff Cranko also joins the board of Challenge
Steel as an independent director.
Mr Cranko is the Group Managing Partner of Strategy Design & Advertising – taking the business from one Christchurch studio in 2002 to now having three offices nationally and two internationally. Prior to that Mr Cranko held senior leadership positions, including several years abroad with SGS – a world leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company.
“Geoff is leading our strategic marketing and brand positioning. He brings to the table considerable global experience and proven success in business development and growth. He also knows first-hand the critical importance of delivering quality assurance with integrity given his many years as a leader within international company SGS. Geoff has the perfect combination of skills and experiences to add significant value to Challenge Steel,” says Mr Govan.
Independent directors Geoff Cranko and Tony Sewell join existing Challenge Steel board members Bert Govan (director/chairman), Annie Govan (director/international relations), and Suresh Nagaiya (director/CEO).
For
further information on Challenge Steel please visit its
recently-launched website www.challengesteel.co.nz
Ends