Port’s chairman to retire

David Pilkington is standing down as chairman of Port of Tauranga in July, some three years after originally announcing his intention to retire.

Pilkington, who has been on the company’s board for nearly 17 years, planned not to stand at his last re-election, but decided to after certain staffing matters arose.

At the time, Steve Gary, chief financial officer, unexpectedly retired and then chief executive Mark Cairns stepped down last year, although he was actually planning to go the year before.

“As a consequence of that, Mark postponed his departure until July last year,” says Pilkington, pictured above. “At the request of the board, I said I would stay on to manage a full-year cycle with new CEO Leonard Sampson.”

He adds the transition to Sampson has gone “brilliantly” and expects him to take the company on from what has been created by Cairns.

Pilkington acknowledges 17 years anywhere, with nine years as chairman, is probably more than long enough with shareholder groups normally preferring directors stay with companies for up to a decade. “We had signalled along the way that this was the direction of travel, so I don’t think it’s come as a surprise to many people,” he told NBR.

He will be succeeded as chairman by current board member Julia Hoare, pictured below. She joined the port’s board in 2015 and currently chairs its audit committee. 

A former PwC partner, Hoare is deputy chair of The a2 Milk Company, and a director of Auckland International Airport and Meridian Energy. She is also president of the Institute of Directors.