New company to manage Waipa mill

By PAM GRAHAM

A new company is being set up to manage the Waipa sawmill in Rotorua, preserving 200 jobs while the business remains for sale.

The mill, one of Rotorua's largest employers, is an asset of the Central North Island Forest Partnership.

The CNIFP has been in receivership for over two years. This year the mill has been marketed separately from the CNIFP's large forest estate.

CNIFP receiver Michael Stiassny from Ferrier Hodgson set up Timber Management Company (TMC) to take over management of the forests from Fletcher Challenge Forests from July 1.

Yesterday it was announced that another new company, Red Stag Timber, will take over management of Waipa from Fletcher Forests on October 1.

"All of the existing 200 staff have been offered employment by the new company," Stiassny said.

Red Stag was a brand developed under state ownership that transferred with the forests on privatisation, and it has also been resurrected by Rotorua-based TMC.

The Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union's timber industry organiser, Red Middlemiss, said employment had been offered on the same terms but a few small issues had yet to be sorted out.

Word of a new manager was a relief to workers but their long-term future would not be secure until a new owner was found.

Stiassny and Brendan Gibson from Ferrier Hodgson are directors of Red Stag Timber. It will employ new sales staff and set up new management systems, Stiassny said.