KiwiRail announces new Group CEO
The KiwiRail Board has today announced changes to its Board and senior management team, with former Chairman Greg Miller to take up the role of Group Chief Executive Officer as the company prepares for a major phase of growth.
Announcing the changes today, Acting Chairman Brian Corban says the appointment sends a strong signal of the positive change occurring at KiwiRail.
“Having a leader of the calibre of Mr Miller at the helm, with a strong, strategic relationship between Board and management, sets a pathway for success that will benefit our customers, our people and the New Zealand public.”
Mr Corban, a founding member of the KiwiRail Board in 2008 who returned to the organisation in 2018, says there were a number of strong contenders for the Chief Executive role but the Board did not find the specific combination of skills required across commercial, supply chain, rail, international experience, leadership and transformation.
“At the end of an international search by recruitment company Kerridge & Partners, the Board made the decision that Mr Miller, as Group Chief Executive, was the best way to lead the organisation forward.
“As we enter a period of unprecedented growth and positive change, the Board is delighted to have secured a leader of Greg’s ability. We are setting up a management team and Board which will take the organisation through this important next stage and we have found a leader with an unrivalled set of global experience in supply chain, a history with rail, domestic transport expertise, and who has led companies through significant growth and transformation.
“We will all work closely together as several major projects now come to fruition, including the replacement of KiwiRail’s Interislander ferry fleet, the need for a major rolling stock replacement programme and new initiatives such as the reopening of the Napier to Wairoa line, an $80 million investment in our tourism services and a new multi-modal hub in the Palmerston North region.
“The Board believes these changes will equip KiwiRail to meet the task ahead of us as we drive commercial outcomes during a period of growth,” Mr Corban says. “We are united in our strategy of customer-centricity, digital transformation and empowering our people with our union partners to deliver real outcomes for business and for New Zealand.”
Mr Miller says he is honoured to take on the heavy lifting of the Group Chief Executive role and has enormous faith in the strong management team around him.
“Todd Moyle has done an excellent job over the past six months as Acting Chief Executive and we have formed a fabulous working relationship built on mutual respect.
“We are now at a pivotal point in the organisation’s history with the support of the Government and the ability to make a once-in-a-generation difference to New Zealanders through easing congestion in our cities, taking trucks off vulnerable roads, reducing carbon emissions and driving investments in regional economies.
“KiwiRail has a bold vision for the future and will deliver intergenerational wellbeing through our investments in an integrated transport network, our rail, ferry and tourism businesses and the sustainable difference we can make in New Zealand’s carbon emission reduction programme.”
The changes take effect immediately.
