KEY POINTS:
The new chief executive at Hellaby Holdings thinks of himself as an entrepreneur - and likes to make money.
John Williamson started his first business at the age of 13. He was part of a musical family and bought, fixed and sold violins in a venture that earned
more than just pocket money.
By seventh form his interests had moved from music to sport and he played representative hockey while developing his second business - buying New Zealand goat wool and marketing it in Europe with a company called Agrohort, where he stayed until 1990.
In 1991 he was appointed general manager of sales and marketing for Bendon. Five years later he moved "from bras to bricks" to become a senior executive at Fletcher Building. He then branched out on his own as an independent investment adviser with his company Three Oaks Capital.
Three years ago Williamson was appointed to the Hellaby Holdings Board and last month he took on his first role as chief executive of a publicly listed company.
Williamson insists that Hellaby will stick with its minimalist corporate culture. Apart from him there are just three other executives and a PA at the Auckland offices. But he has indicated he will be more hands-on than his predecessor, David Houldsworth.
Emerging from the remains of the old Renouf Corporation, Hellaby Holdings has developed a reputation as a solid firm with stakes in retail, industrial and distribution companies, and recently in packaging.
This month Hellaby acquired PPL Packaging and bought Christchurch-based Chequers out of receivership. It bought Elldex Packaging in 2005.
Packaging is still a small part of the portfolio but it is growing and will increase Hellaby's industrial base.
Ten years of steady-as-she-goes, solid performances have come to a crunch with a problematic balance sheet.
The firm's interim result to December 31 was down and the full year to June 30, 2007 is expected to show a 33 per cent drop in profits from $18 million to $12 million.
Last month, Houldsworth resigned abruptly, having announced a "strategic review" of Hellaby's retail assets - which include No 1 Shoe Warehouse and Hannahs.
Speculation is that Hellaby will walk away from shoes, which has come as a surprise in the retail sector, where No 1 Shoe Warehouse - gradually being rebranded No 1 Shoes - is viewed as something of a star performer with a bright future.
The clothing retail scene is tough at the moment, particularly in the face of competition from discount giants such as The Warehouse, but No 1 Shoes has been run well. And let's face it, people are always going to need shoes.
Hellaby chairman Bill Falconer has said that some Hellaby shareholders have been questioning the company's exposure to the retail market. They would rather spit than polish Hellaby's shoe assets, which are subject to climate and fashion changes and seen as more volatile than its industrial, distribution and packaging businesses.
Williamson - who was general manager of Bendon as it grew in the early 1990s - says he "loves retail" and insists it is far from certain Hellaby will abandon the sector.
"We are doing a strategic review not a sales process. The shoe business has been good for Hellaby and we understand retail. I don't believe the market does not want Hellaby to be in retail but that they want to see Hellaby perform better."
He points out that Hellaby has been in the retail sector since the company started in 1990, first with the Rodd & Gunn chain, which it sold, and latterly with Hannahs and No 1 Shoes.
The retail upheavals have combined with disruption to Hellaby's agriculture company TRS Tyre and Wheel. The double whammy, which Williamson says was "an aberration", led to bleak financial results. This year will see a return to form, he says.
Williamson knows a little about form. A representative hockey player for Auckland and North Harbour for 12 years he is used to knocking trouble from his circle of play.
He explains - with just a hint of a smirk - that he was a goalkeeper during his 12-year hockey career.
The relevance, say hockey insiders, is that in this aggressive and fast-paced sport, goalkeepers are renowned as a tough breed.
Businessman Jonathan Mayo played with Williamson in Auckland teams and remembers him as a good goalie - a job that requires bravery above all else.
Williamson, who is on the administrative board of New Zealand Hockey, says that the game has affected his life. "As a goalkeeper you dread the thud of the ball on the backboard.
"It involves a lot of courage and the ability to take the knocks and move on. It is about focusing."
Certainly Williamson has shown a high degree of focus in developing his career - starting with an LLM degree over several years while running his goat wool business.
Reflecting on his career, Williamson points to those teenage years with violins and then goat wool and says that he is, at heart, an entrepreneur.
Hellaby Holdings chairman Bill Falconer agrees, saying that Williamson's background and style was part of the appeal that saw him appointed first to the board, and then to replace Houldsworth last month.
Williamson is broadly built - which must be useful for a hockey goalkeeper - yet he seems slightly ill at ease in his new workplace at the Hellaby head office in Symonds St.
He looks as if he he would be more comfortable outside the office and in one of the group's industrial plants or distribution or packaging firms.
The Hellaby name harks back to Hellaby Meats, which was a part of Renouf, and Williamson aims to shed the image that Hellaby is "a meat company that has gone into shoes".
While reviewing its shoe business Hellaby is not looking at retail acquisitions, but it has an eye on buying other types of business.
"We will tend to acquire a platform business to develop an understanding of a sector and then bolt on acquisitions after that," he says.
"Our sweet spot for acquisitions is short-to-medium-term businesses with enterprises values of $5 million to $30 million."
That is the sort of valuation that tends to be below the radar of private equity, he says, which is the big competition for buying companies.
"The difference between Hellaby and private equity is that while private equity looks at three to five years, we would tend to own them for a longer, indefinite period if they are profitable and achieving growth.
"But from time to time we we will sell opportunistically."
Acquisitions are one thing but Williamson says his key issue is to improve Hellaby's balance sheet.
The full-year results are not planned for release until late August and Williamson won't be drawn into discussing them.
It is clear that they will not be pretty, but the hockey player Williamson plans to go on the offensive to improve the score.
John Williamson
Title: Chief executive of Hellaby Holdings
Age: 43
Educated: Auckland University, BA politics, LLB, LLM. Auckland Grammar School
Family: Married to Sharon, two daughters aged 10 and 11
Lives: Dairy Flat, north of Auckland
Hellaby Holdings
The companies:
* Brake and Transmission: Importer and distributor of automotive replacement parts
* HCB Technologies: Importer and distributor of automotive and industrial batteries
* Diesel Distributors: Importer and distributor of diesel engine products
* AB Equipment: Construction equipment supplier
* AB Rental: Forklift rental supplier
* Eurolift: Importer and distributor of industrial handling equipment
* TRS Tyre and Wheel: Leading supplier of agricultural tyres and wheels
* Elldex Packaging: Supplier of plastic packaging material for retail and industrial sectors
* PPL Packaging: Supplier of packaging material for food, timber and industrial sectors
* No 1 Shoe Warehouse
* Hannahs
* BBQ Factory: Outdoor living and home heating retail company
* Levana Textiles:
Manufacturer of high-quality branded textiles in New Zealand and Australia
