Pyne Gould Guinness supremo pulls on boots

By LIAM DANN AND NZPA

Hugh Martyn is starting to get comfortable in his gumboots.

The new chief executive of Pyne Gould Guinness will spend the next few weeks visiting A&P shows, stock saleyards and farms as he hones his knowledge of the rural sector and meets clients and staff.

Living in Christchurch and working 10 years for Skellerup Industries, where he headed the rural and dairy division, gave him an insight into the culture and would assist in the transition, he said.

"I have a reasonable understanding of the agricultural sector," he said. "But you have to understand the way PGG works and how it does business."

In order to learn the inner workings of the company, Martyn, 45, hit the road this month and he expects to be doing plenty of travelling for at least another month before settling back into the corporate environment in the new year.

"The last two days I've been in Southland visiting saleyards, last Friday was the Ashburton A&P show, so there has been a lot of getting out there and meeting people," he said.

The aim was to meet as many clients and staff as he could, as well as those outside the South Island-wide stock and station company, to find how PGG could do its job better, he said.

In a 17-year corporate career Martyn has headed large, diverse organisations similar to PGG.

He studied law at Canterbury and practised in Christchurch from 1981 before joining Skellerup in 1986 as a corporate lawyer.

Martyn then moved into management at Skellerup, completing a masters in business administration (MBA) degree and eventually running the rural and dairy divisions.

In 1996 he left and spent two years working on one-year contracts before being appointed chief executive of Dynamic Controls, a US-owned electronics manufacturer based in Christchurch.

The company is the world's largest supplier of electronic controls for wheelchairs and disability scooters.

When he was appointed, the company employed 300 people but it had grown to a workforce of 500 when three years later he was promoted to managing director of Invacare Australasia, the parent of Dynamic Controls.

He was responsible for processing plants in Auckland, Napier, Christchurch, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.

Martyn left that role to join PGG. He described PGG as well run, a good performer, and said it was his goal to continue that growth.

With the dollar at record highs and farm incomes under pressure it is a tough time to be taking on a rural services company.

But Martyn remains positive about the economic conditions.

"I think it depends what sector you're talking to," he said.

"Different parts of the industry have different challenges. Sheep appears to be performing very well. Dairy has come off its highs. There is some realism about the fact they were highs, but there is nervousness about where it will go from here."

One notable indicator was the prices farms were selling for. "They are still very strong," he said

Martyn is aware of the risks associated with the cyclical nature of agriculture.

PGG has dealt with that in two ways, by expanding its market share and diversifying its business, he said.

"Our involvement in the industry spans from viticulture through to dairy and beef farming. It's broad based."

He is optimistic about the potential to expand the business. The rural sector was a continually changing environment and that presented plenty of opportunities for the company, he said.

"People sometimes think of the rural sector as fairly staid but if you look at events over the last two or three years, let alone the last 10 or 15 years, there has been considerable change."

Martyn will continue to live in Christchurch, even though the company's corporate office is in Dunedin.

He said the company's regionalised management infrastructure was not foreign to him. "I'm used to having people reporting to me who are not in the same location."

He replaces George Gould, who has left to pursue private business interests.

Gould, who controls the biggest block of shares in Vertex Group, was made chairman of that company in March.

Pyne Gould Guinness is 55.5 per cent owned by unlisted Pyne Gould Corporation, in which George Gould owns a minority stake.