Rob Hewett, John Rodwell and Mike Smith have joined the board of WoolWorks, the largest wool scourer by volume in the world.
WoolWorks operates three wool-scouring plants, in Napier, Clive and at Washdyke near Timaru, handling 80% of all New Zealand wool.
Hewett will chair the company. He is co-chair of Silver Fern Farms Limited and chair of the Silver Fern Farms Co-operative. He farms 9250 stock units, a 960ha sheep- and beef-breeding property and has a finishing unit in Manuka Gorge, South Otago.
Hewett is also chair of Farmlands Co-operative, a chartered member of the Institute of Directors and has a M Com in marketing and a B Com (Ag) in Economics from Lincoln University. He was chair of the Strong Wool Action Group (SWAG).
Rodwell is an experienced director with a background in corporate finance, investment banking and investing in agri-businesses.
He is past chair of the Strong Wool Project Action Group (a pre-cursor to SWAG) and a director of Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research, and the Lincoln-based centre of research excellence, Bioprotection Aotearoa.
As a farmer, he is also the founder, chair and part-owner of Kintore Dairy Farm, a 1500-cow dairy farm in mid Canterbury, and its 330ha support farm, Broadfields Farm, Ashburton.
Smith is a director of Maui Capital. He is a past chair or director of various companies including Argosy Property Trust, the Lion Foundation, OnePath Holdings (NZ), Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, Lion Nathan, Fonterra, Auckland International Airport and United Networks. He has a M Com and is a graduate of Harvard Business School.
“Mike and John will bring significant expertise and experience to the WoolWorks Board and we are looking forward to them making valuable contributions,” Hewett said.
“WoolWorks is a world-leader in wool scouring and a leading producer of wool-based solutions and ingredients such as lanolin. We have all joined the board because we firmly believe WoolWorks has an exciting future in itself, but also for New Zealand.”
