Joan Withers tapped as Warehouse chair, won't seek re-appointment at TVNZ

Friday 1st July 2016

Professional director Joan Withers will take over as chair of Warehouse Group in September, having decided she won't seek reappointment to her role as chair of Television New Zealand when her term ends early next year.

Withers has a long association with Warehouse, having been a director from 1998 to 2005 and a trustee of the Tindall Foundation, which owns 21 percent of the company, since 2009. She will resign from her trustee role "in the near future', Auckland-based Warehouse said in a statement to the NZX.

Current chair Ted van Arkel told the retailer he intended to step down some weeks ago, and Withers will take over when it announces its annual profit on Sept. 23, the company said.

Withers took over the chair of state-owned broadcaster TVNZ in March 2015, and has told the government she won't seek reappointment, Warehouse said. She will also retire from the Treasury's advisory board in September, but will remain as chair of Mighty River Power and a director of Australia & New Zealand Banking Group.

Julia Raue will also join the Warehouse board on Sept. 23. Raue was chief information officer at Air New Zealand from 2007 to 2015, and has been a director of Z Energy, Jade Technology, Southern Cross Healthcare, TVNZ and a member of Treasury's risk committee since then.

"We are excited to have the services of Julia as the company continues to develop its digital capacity due to her vast experience in this field," Stephen Tindall, founder of The Warehouse, said.

Warehouse shares last traded at $2.77 and have increased 3.8 percent this year.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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