KEY POINTS:
For a while there, it seemed like women filled all the top roles in the country, from Prime Minister to Chief Justice, Governor-General to Maori Queen, as well as the CEOs of major companies such as sharemarket leader Telecom.
However, the thinning ranks of female business leaders got even leaner today when Diane Humphries resigned her position as managing director of retail clothing chain Glassons.
The Hallenstein Glassons executive cited family reasons, saying she wanted to focus more time on her young family.
At the start of this year there were only two female CEOs of public listed companies in New Zealand -- Theresa Gattung of Telecom and Vicki Salmon of Restaurant Brands -- and by March they had both resigned.
About the same time, two other high profile CEOs - Annette Presley, the face of internet company Slingshot, and Ann Sherry, CEO of Westpac NZ - stepped down.
Since then, Elizabeth Hopkins was appointed CEO of Wool Equities, to hold the candle for women bosses of publicly listed companies.
Ms Humphries will remain a director of Hallenstein Glasson and will continue to contribute to the group, the company said in a statement.
Hallenstein general manager James Whiting has been appointed to replace Ms Humphries and will be responsible for Glassons in New Zealand and Australia. He has previously worked as national retail manager for Glassons.
Roy Dillon, currently a non executive director, has agreed to assume a caretaker role as Hallenstein managing director.
Hallenstein shares fell 10 cent to $4.40 after today's announcement in a generally firm market.
- NZPA
