TDHL appoints GM to fulltime position
Timaru District Holdings Limited has appointed its first general manager.
The fulltime role, which has already been filled, was not publicly advertised.
TDHL chairman Ian Fitzgerald said the new position had been created to help manage the council controlled organisation’s $47.7 million property portfolio.
‘‘The general manager will report directly to the board and be fully responsible for all property and commercial management, financial management and reporting, subsidiary engagement and collaboration, statutory reporting functions, and any other tasks required by the board from time to time,’’ Fitzgerald said.
TDHL was founded in 1997 and is 100 per cent owned by the Timaru District Council.
‘‘The TDHL property portfolio has grown in size and complexity and currently comprises 38 properties valued at $47.7m,’’ Fitzgerald said.
Along with its property portfolio, TDHL also owns shares in PrimePort Timaru (50 per cent) and lines company Alpine Energy (47.5 per cent).
Fitzgerald said the general manager role had been created following an independent review on TDHL by consultants MartinJenkins which recommended a host of changes to its structure.
‘‘The value of appointing a fulltime general manager was reinforced to TDHL by the MartinJenkins review in late 2019.’’
He said the review recommended the company ‘‘continue to strengthen its policies, procedures, its mechanisms for engagement, and that a better public understanding of the nature and role of TDHL be developed through a clearer separate identity’’.
The appointment of a general manager who ‘‘actively manages the company and is solely responsible to the board’’ helps achieve that, he said.
Fitzgerald confirmed the new position had not been advertised and had been filled in-house.
‘‘There was no requirement to advertise the role.’’
He said that was because the new role amounted to a ‘‘reorganisation of existing roles’’.
‘‘This is a consolidation of a number of part-time roles which were previously undertaken by council staff, but paid for by TDHL,’’ Fitzgerald said.
The new general manager had been appointed in August and would officially start in the role on September 29, he said.
The Timaru Herald understands Timaru District Council development manager Frazer Munro has been appointed to the role.
A council spokesperson said ‘‘we can’t comment on staffing issues for privacy reasons’’ when asked about the matter.
Munro declined to discuss the matter when contacted but did say he would talk to the Herald later this month.
The holdings company is also on the search for two new independent directors, and one councillor-appointed director.
The process is being managed by the Institute of Directors, with expressions of interest for independent directors to close at the end of this month, with interviews to take place in October.
The process of recruiting an elected member will be run at the same time.
‘‘The TDHL property portfolio has grown in size and complexity and currently comprises 38 properties valued at $47.7m.’’ Ian
Fitzgerald Timaru District Holdings Ltd chairman