Acumen, strategy helped firm grow

In addition to supportive owners, there was both an excellent board and excellent management, and when all three factors were ‘‘in sync’’ — ‘‘you’re halfway to succeeding, in my experience’’, Mr Heal said.

Mr Jonker was an ‘‘amazing’’ chief executive and he had had a good relationship with him, talking regularly and there were ‘‘no surprises’’. Mr Heal said he was not an interfering chairman.

When it came to the move from management to governance, it was useful for him coming from a farmerdominated board at CRT. Having been chief executive for two decades, he had a fair idea of what questions to ask without getting involved in management.

While Pioneer Energy was under the radar screens of the ‘‘big guys’’, it was big enough to get some economies of scale. A highlight was the

$10 million dividend paid last year, the first time the company had hit that figure.

While it was the trust — not the company — that dispersed that money, it made a difference to organisations.

‘‘You give a youth trust $5000 towards a van and they can do it,’’ he said.

Another highlight of his tenure had been the ability to attract the people that it had to come to live in Central Otago. He loved watching them grow, and there was a ‘‘beaut team’’ with the company.

Mr Hewett has paid tribute to his predecessor, thanking him for his years of ‘‘outstanding service’’ and also his strategic leadership, particularly as chairman.

During his time at CRT, Mr Heal had made quite a small business into a South Island ‘‘juggernaut’’ and he played a large part in the success of Farmlands — which is now chaired by Mr Hewett — by setting up ‘‘good bones’’.

Pioneer Energy was a great business model and a large chunk of its success was due to Mr Heal’s leadership, alongside Mr Jonker, Mr Hewett said.

When it came to the company’s future, Mr Heal believed it had a ‘‘pretty good chance’’ of being a national leader in the waste energy space.

He was particularly excited about the Reporoa joint venture which, as a result, other cities were now making inquiries.

He believed it would continue to lead the way in the renewable carbon sector and, with diversification, it had the ability to leverage that up and down the country.

One of the scariest things was the future of Tiwai aluminium smelter. The announcement by Rio Tinto in early July that it was planning to shut the smelter in August 2021 was one that had ‘‘kept us awake’’, given a lot of its generation assets were in the southern part of the South Island, he said.

Pioneer Energy had been both a lot of work and a lot of fun, and while he would certainly miss it, he would also ‘‘switch off’’.

Mr Heal, who continues as chairman of Aucklandbased Pulse Energy which is 49% owned by Pioneer Energy, is also chairman of Breen Construction and Road Transport Logistics.

Earlier this year, he was appointed chairman of Alliance South, which coordinates the activities of the Southern District Health Board and WellSouth.

Passionate and proud about Otago and Southland, he hoped he had made some contribution to his community.

When it came to his own career, he acknowledged he had been ‘‘really lucky’’.

‘‘Hopefully, I’ve kept my feet on the ground,’’ he said.