Fall guy fronts up: Fletcher’s failings not the fault of its outgoing chief exec

Ross Taylor’s resignation represents one of the few things right with Fletcher Building.

It’s clear he was nudged by the board, perhaps even pushed, but the fact he has put his body on the line for the future of the company he’s spent seven years trying to fix says everything you need to know about the guy.

Yes, he will likely receive a handsome payout on top of the millions he’s already taken home to Australia, but at his level, it’s less about the money and more about reputation.

Fletcher’s litany of failures may taint his, but it shouldn’t.

“As part of getting Fletcher’s to where it is today, it’s been about getting ownership and accountability in the business,” he told me just hours after his resignation was announced alongside a $120 million sixmonthly loss on Wednesday.

“I see what I’m doing here as a really important cultural statement.

“I actually think this sets the tone and reinforces the sort of culture we want going forward.”

I called him the fall guy. He replied, “I really don’t see it that way.”

“There’s a whole lot of issues and things I could say, you know, how much of the Convention Centre is my fault? But, I’m the leader, and I’m accountable.”

For an executive who just resigned under a cloud of cost issues, Taylor was relaxed and as onto it as ever, reciting figures about the downturn in the construction sector that has hurt the group’s earnings so heavily. “You can’t defy gravity,” he said. He made a joke the second he entered the room, remembering our last interview in August where I accidentally wore a bright green Fletcher logo-coloured top.

I wore red for Valentine’s Day this time, coincidentally matching Fletcher’s financials.

I’m sure anyone who watches our full 11-minute interview on nzherald.co.nz will come to the same conclusion I have: they just got rid of the wrong guy.

But he had to go, and he knew it. Hell, he may have even been happy too.

He told me his decision to leave, alongside chairman Bruce Hassall, was made with the board, not himself or his family.

It wasn’t personal.

What is personal is how much he clearly cares for a complex construction web that’s become entangled with legacy issues — none of which, by the way, were his fault.

“It’ll be great to cheer from the sidelines.”

I’m sure he will.

For an executive who just resigned under a cloud of cost issues, Taylor (above) was relaxed and as onto it as ever.