Fletcher Forests chief executive takes over at the top of the tree

By CHRIS DANIELS

Fletcher Forests' new chief executive is John Dell, formerly the company's chief financial officer, who is now running the operation along with his colleague, Ian Boyd.

The Fletcher board abandoned a search for a replacement for former chief executive Terry McFadgen this year, instead deciding to appoint Dell and Boyd as joint chief executives.

Dell oversaw corporate issues and the financial restructuring of Fletcher Forests, while Boyd ran operations.

Now Dell has won the top job and Boyd will be retiring from the company.

Boyd was formerly company chief operating officer and is a former general manager of Tasman Forestry and chief executive of Fletcher Challenge's Chilean forest and paper assets.

He told the Business Herald yesterday that he expected to do some consulting work in the industry and that he would be working on his own private business interests. He would also be able to spend more time on his olive and macadamia farm.

Fletcher chairman Sir Dryden Spring paid tribute to both Boyd and Dell.

"John and Ian were appointed as joint chief executives in March, to plan and initiate the company's new strategic direction, while maintaining its forest operational capability," said Spring. "They have successfully done that in difficult trading conditions. The company had to lift its performance and cope with the additional workload and complexity of the forest sales process. As a team they led that process successfully."

A former chief financial officer of Air New Zealand, Dell, 39, has a BCom in accounting and finance, and is a chartered accountant. Before joining Air NZ in 1994, he spent eight years with KPMG here and overseas.