KEY POINTS:
Simon Challies, chief executive of the $750 million Ryman Healthcare, is based in Christchurch where he runs a national retirement village network.
Next year Ryman enters the NZX top-10, bumping out another highly favoured stock, Fisher & Paykel appliances.
Challies is in Nelson for the holidays but before he left, he gave his opinion about the markets and their history, even though he was a schoolboy during the last downturn.
How has the credit crunch changed your world?
It's made us a little more cautious in our outlook but it has not changed the underlying demand characteristics for us. So we're boxing on.
We've opened in Nelson, we've started building in Orewa and Whangarei and in March we open at New Plymouth.
How serious is the current downturn in a historical context?
I'm too young to answer that question. I wasn't in business in 1987. I started work in 1993 and I'm 38 years old.
What helps you put it in perspective and stay positive?
I think the fact that what we're doing is meeting an essential need in the community, looking after older people. We get such positive feedback from our residents.
That's what drives us. It doesn't matter what happens in the economy, we're meeting people's needs.
