Satara Chairman Calls Time After 17 years

Satara Chairman Calls Time After 17 years

The end of the financial year seemed like a logical time for Satara Chairman Andrew Fenton to retire as Chairman of Directors.

He has been a director for 24 years, 17 of them as chairman.

Mr Fenton will officially hand over the reins in January to a new chair to be elected by the Board. He will continue as a director until the cooperative's AGM in April.

He says the timing will allow a new chairman to lead the company from the start of the new financial year and have that person in place for the budget and planning process for the 2009 crop.

"It will allow a seamless transfer of the chairman's role that is essential during a period of significant change for Satara," says Mr Fenton.

Satara Group General Manager, Wes Anderson-Smith, says the Board of Satara acknowledges that during Mr Fenton's tenure as chairman, the company has gone through considerable change and has grown dramatically.

"The company structure has changed from a pure cooperative to a hybrid cooperative with the issuing of investor shares, and more recently the investor shares have been listed on the NZAX," says Mr Anderson-Smith.

According to Mr Anderson-Smith, under Mr Fenton's chairmanship the company has more than doubled in size.

"This growth has occurred through gaining new shareholders and through the acquisition or merger of other Post Harvest Companies. In 1997 Bay of Plenty Fruitpackers purchased Manukau Horticulture Ltd, and more recently merged with Katikati Fruitpackers Ltd to form Satara.

"Over the period of his chairmanship, Mr Fenton has delivered an invaluable service to the Board. He will be greatly missed by the company and all its shareholders following his resignation," he says.

ENDS

© Scoop Media