Hon Steven Joyce
Minister of Finance
Hon Michael Woodhouse
Minister for ACC

4 July 2017

FairWay change positive for staff and customers

Finance Minister Steven Joyce and ACC Minister Michael Woodhouse have today announced the sale of FairWay Resolution from Crown ownership to employee ownership with effect from July this year.

“Employee-ownership is a successful business model that will give staff a greater role in the future direction of the company,” Mr Joyce says.

“The change in ownership will also reflect positively in the way staff work, which has a direct flow on for clients.”

Fairway started in 1999 as the Dispute Resolution Service within ACC before becoming an independent Crown entity in 2011, and is New Zealand’s largest specialist conflict management company with a team of over 200 people throughout New Zealand.

“An independent review of the ACC dispute resolution process in 2016 found that Crown ownership affected clients’ perceptions of FairWay’s independence and the report cited change of ownership as a possible solution,” Mr Woodhouse says.

“With today’s announcement, any doubts that clients may have had about the complete independence of FairWay can be laid to rest.”

Independent advice was relied upon to identify and assess appropriate options for the long-term ownership of the company with the employee ownership model best for the crown and company. The agreed purchase price was $6.5 million.

ends

© Scoop Media