KEY POINTS:
Former Telecom chief Theresa Gattung has made her return to the corporate world. This time it won't be telephone technology she is talking up, but New Zealand's wool industry.
Gattung was yesterday named chairwoman of The Wool Company, which is undergoing a complete remake under the guidance of high-profile businessman and PGG Wrightson chairman Craig Norgate. The other Wool Company directors will be Norgate, Alan McConnon, John Perriam and Keith Sutton.
It's a year since Gattung resigned from Telecom, leaving with a $5 million payout after nearly 13 years with the company. She spent eight of those as chief executive.
She left without any specific plans of where to go to next but many expected her to pursue a career overseas - after all where could she go after leading New Zealand's biggest listed company?
But yesterday Gattung said she had decided to get on board the new venture because she believed it was important and wanted to lend her skills to helping turn around New Zealand's poorly performing wool industry.
"I don't want to see this industry die. This is a moment in time where I can help. I don't need to do this. I'm doing this because I want to, because I think it matters."
Reluctant to talk about exactly what she has been up to over the past year Gattung turned to humour to fend off questions.
"I have had a wonderful year off. I went horse riding in Argentina but didn't come back with an Argentinian man - more is the pity," she joked.
Sources around Wellington, where she lives, tell that she has been throwing herself into charity work, including helping to raise $1 million for the re-homing of Wellington's SPCA animal shelter.
But at yesterday's launch, Gattung made it clear she was not back to talk about her private life or what has happened at Telecom since her departure but about her new focus on the wool industry.
Appearing in a 100 per cent wool suit, Gattung said wool was a product she supported.
She said despite New Zealand being the world's biggest single producer of strong wool (the wool used to make carpets and rugs), returns at the farm gate were lousy. Demand for cheaper synthetic carpets had seen the market go from being 95 per cent wool products and 5 per cent synthetic to the reverse over the past 30 years. But, she said, the growing price of oil meant the cost of manufacturing synthetic carpets was being driven up and the price difference between it and wool was narrowing.
"Farmers used have a 50-50 split on earnings from meat and wool. Today farmers are getting around 10 per cent of their income from wool. Wool is almost being treated as a byproduct. If this continues we are going to see the wool industry run into the ground. We need to do something. What we need to do is get into the driving seat."
Gattung said The Wool Company would focus on creating a brand for New Zealand wool while bringing producers together to enable New Zealand to negotiate on a collective basis.
"We want to ensure the long-term sustainability for wool and the wool industry in New Zealand.
"That involves the producers forming into a co-operative."
Gattung said the new brand would focus on presenting wool as a luxury, eco-friendly proposition and the business would initially focus on targeting the US market.
And it seems Gattung's appointment has been welcomed by the industry.
Meat and Wool New Zealand chairman Mike Petersen said: "We are thrilled to have her on board. She is a proud New Zealander who brings commercial corporate experience to the role."
Theresa Gattung
* Born: 1962
* From: Rotorua; her parents arrived from England in 1961.
* Job history: Chief executive of Telecom, appointed on October 1, 1999 to June 30 2007. Group general manager services at Telecom from April 1996 and prior to that general manager of marketing. Chief manager marketing for the Bank of New Zealand following a period in a similar position with National Mutual.
* When she stepped down from Telecom it was reported she received a leaving payment of $3.9 million on top of her $1.25 million salary. It included a performance incentive scheme of $1,525,000, a long-term incentive of $550,000 and special payments of $1,800,000.
* Qualifications: Bachelor of Management Studies with Honours from the University of Waikato, majoring in economics and marketing. A law degree from Victoria University of Wellington.
