Forty-Nine No Shrinking Violet 2005

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

No Shrinking Violet

Incredibly, 116 years passed before the first appointment of a chairman from outside Taranaki to guide this business on its continuing journey. Appointed to the board in March 2004, progressive, battle-hardened and originating from the deep south, John J. Loughlin had spent his boyhood in Dunedin and Nelson, later moving north with his family to Napier where he completed his schooling at Napier Boys High School. Following an early foray into university life and a few months working for Carter Holt cutting scrub and fruit and pine trees, he joined the AMP Napier office as an office junior. He was soon recognised as a young man of considerable talent. Following a transfer to Wellington to work in management accounting he took a year off to study at Victoria University. Armed with a Bachelor’s degree he returned to the property division of AMP and managed their southern portfolio covering a territory extending from Hawke’s Bay across to Taranaki and south to Invercargill. He also managed AMP’s share portfolio for two years through the difficult 1987 sharemarket crash. With more study and a Master’s degree in marketing and business strategy, he then joined Westpac and ran their investment management business. A move back to Hawke’s Bay in 1993 saw him appointed finance manager at Richmond Ltd and, after four years, elevation to the position of chief executive officer, a position he held for five and a half years. His first two directorships were Tranz Rail and Zespri. He now resides in Havelock North in Hawke’s Bay and is the owner of Askerne Winery, holding directorships with Zespri Group Ltd, Metlifecare Ltd, Centralines Ltd, Prism Group Holdings Ltd, Lean Meats Ltd, Kermedec Property Fund Ltd and Taupo Motorsport Park Ltd. He is also an issuer appointee of NZX Discipline and a ministerial appointee to the Representatives Committee of the Animal Health Board. John Loughlin arrived with the following qualifications: MBA, BCA, CA, FCSAP, ACIS, FAII, FNZIM – a highly motivated and versatile administrator.

John Loughlin’s appointment as chairman of Allied Farmers clearly enunciated the board’s intention to compete vigorously within what was a growing an industry with a diminishing number of few main players, and, as a press correspondent suggested, the ‘change of leadership suggests Allied Farmers Ltd will be no shrinking violet’. One of the first statements of intent from the new chairman was:

It is not easy to grow margins in this business, so more profitability will come through expansion.

John J. Loughlin MBA, BCA, CA, FCSAP, ACIS, FAII, FNZIM, chairman of directors 2005 – Incumbent Allied Farmers Limited.

His appointment signalled the desire of the board for progressive regional growth. Beyond the Taranaki heartland, strong performances were being recorded in the Waikato, King Country and Manawatu, creating enthusiasm to strengthen the company and its overall geographical presence, particularly in the livestock division. The chairman steadfastly reaffirmed that regional expansion would be secondary to ensuring that existing established operations would be taking every opportunity within present boundaries. He spoke of Allied Farmers as being ‘a good company operating in a competitive and changing environment’ and that he would seek to build on its strengths. Acknowledging there were advantages in being a larger player he recognised that Allied Farmers could also enjoy the same ‘by operating in a smart way’. He was determined, relatively young, energetic and highly motivated and John Loughlin placed the company into top gear, promising that ‘the soul of the company would remain where it had always been – Taranaki’. Terry Tacon, journalist for Farmers Weekly and Taranaki Daily News, described John Loughlin as first and foremost a money man, and he was described by former Richmond chairman Sam Robinson, when asked to sum up John Loughlin’s qualities in a few words, saying: He is extremely intelligent and highly strategic. He understands the value chain from the farmer’s point of view, which is a particular benefit. The chairman’s first performance report stated that the group’s operating revenue for the half year ending 31 December 2005 was down 8.3 per cent but the regional operations in the Waikato, Taranaki, King Country and Manawatu Farmers remained strong and in some areas had increased market share. Tighter economic conditions and a drop in farmer confidence across all farming sectors had discouraged spending, although the company’s finance operation, Allied Farmers Finance Ltd recorded a strong half-year result, posting a 103 per cent rise in earnings before interest and tax. The fundamentals of the company were, according to John Loughlin, still in very good shape and results were expected to improve in the second half of the year, traditionally the busier time for rural services companies. The somewhat beleaguered Allied Pine subsidiary continued to struggle, however, although results were ahead of those for the second half of the last financial year.

Two months later, in January 2006, the company was breaking new ground when it announced the purchase of Hawera’s Mitre 10 Home and Trade Store operation, at Glover Road. The site had previously been occupied by Allied Farmers Hawera saleyards and was immediately adjacent to its

Taranaki Farmers Mitre 10 Home and Trade Store. Situated on the same site previously occupied by the Farmers’ Co-op Saleyard, Glover Road, Hawera. Purchased January 2006.

own Hawera trading store, which was eventually sold. The entire Hawera retail trading operation would now be combined into one megastore trading under the name Taranaki Farmers Mitre 10, and would be one of the largest stores of its kind in New Zealand – a ‘one stop shop’ for farmers, lifestyle-block owners, homemakers and builders, with a huge range of building supplies and general merchandise. The integration of the two operations was completed without redundancies and additions to the store included a drive-through service area and large storage yard.

With a view to casting a wider net to catch that elusive ‘critical mass’, the chairman did not discount acquisitions in other divisions, acknowledging that Allied Farmers lacked size and ‘growing scale will be essential to ensure that they maintain and strengthen their competitive positions’. The company was well placed to take advantage of appropriate growth opportunities in the finance market. It had an excellent record of high-quality lending, an extremely low default rate and was focused particularly on rural lending for plant and equipment. Consequently it was not surprising when it was announced in April 2006 that Allied Farmers had acquired 100 per cent of the shares of Prime Finance Ltd. The merger was completed in accordance with the requirements of the Stock Exchange Takeovers Panel, followed by thorough due-diligence procedures undertaken by external experts and key internal personnel. A team including Dennis Pickup, an experienced chief executive officer, and William Giesbers, a highly qualified financial officer, was engaged to merge the two companies to form Allied Prime Finance Ltd. This was a bold move in a rapidly changing world, where finance companies had become a significant part of the New Zealand investment market. Allied Farmers long and successful track record in the finance sector provided a ready-made source of investors and borrowers and made this acquisition an exciting addition to the finance division.

Despite a forecast for 2006 of ‘a flat full year profit in the year to June’, the company predicted there would be significant differences in the timing and composition of earnings for the year, with income in the rural division expected to be lower due to falling lamb and beef exports in the livestock operation. But offsetting this, a better performance from the finance arm was expected, and a reduced loss from its subsidiary, Allied Pine. As the year played out, however, ‘profit tumbled’ and the hopes of a second half of the year recovery did not eventuate. The operations review for the year reported ‘a disappointing result’. Although the livestock division had a very good year, merchandise remained strong despite what was described as ‘a challenging year’, and Allied Farmers Wool achieved increased bale numbers and returned a record result, the real estate division was unable to repeat the 2004/5 record year and recorded a loss. On a brighter note, Allied Farmers Finance had ‘an excellent year’ with the acquisition of Prime Finance providing sound diversification to its lending book. Allied Pine continued to produce disappointing results. Every avenue was explored and considerable effort employed to turn the mill into a profitable operation but reduced manning and downsizing failed to achieve any significant improvement in profitability, necessitating the implementation of further plans to develop the potential of the mill.

As the company pushed on into the 21st century there were more departures from the company; ‘gone but not forgotten’ continued to echo in the annals of the stock and station industry of Taranaki, with many local celebrities leaving their indelible mark on the districts and people they so diligently served. Yet most will not receive the recognition they deserve as time and memory plays out its inevitable role of distancing us from the past. As we near the end of this chronicle, we

take the opportunity to acknowledge some of the more recent staff who have made significant contributions to the company through service, sacrifice and enduring commitment. Acknowledged as ‘the leading figure in the stock and station industry in Taranaki for many years’, Colin Morrison retired in 2006 following a 45-year passion for Allied Farmers Ltd and all it stood for. During this time he rose to manager of merchandise at Stratford, produce agent at Eltham, stock agent, district manager at Stratford and Hawera merchandise divisional manager, livestock divisional manager, head auctioneer, and principal officer of Allied Farmers Real Estate. Colin distinguished himself with many other achievements during his long term of service. He was instrumental in organising the installation of New Zealand’s first live-weight selling centre, and he set up the Waikato livestock operation and oversaw the purchase of Manawatu livestock. He was also chairman of the New Zealand Stock and Station Agents Association for ten years. His proudest moment, however, was his pivotal action enabling the Farmers Co-op to continue to trade when on the verge of being sold in 1987. Following his role as acting general manager for the company he became livestock divisional manager, a position he held until handing over to John Kelly on 1 July 2005. Colin’s Colin W. Morrison, acting general manager, deputy general manager, stock agent, district manager, livestock divisional manager, head contribution to the stock and station industry and Allied Farmers Ltd will be remembered by all who had the opportunity to know and auctioneer. work with this dedicated company man, who can be credited with a significant slice of acclamation in connection with the company’s survival. Bob W. Green, accountant, also one of Farmers’ Co-op’s loyal stalwarts, spent most of his working life at Farmers’ Co-op. He left school and worked for the New Zealand Railways for five years, but with the prospect of being transferred from his home town of Stratford, in 1961 he left the Railways to join Farmers’ Co-op as a clerk. He eventually served as district accountant from 1974 until 1985. Promotion and a transfer to Hawera saw him take over the district office from Mike Barry, when all the trading accounting was handled by New Plymouth and Hawera offices. Bob witnessed all the significant changes through the days of operating mechanical ledgers to computers. He recalled the difficult days up to the late 1970s, when manual balances were undertaken shop by shop in pen and ink: ‘We didn’t really know where we were until three months after the event’. The early 1980s, when liquidity problems started to have a direct effect on the company, were firmly fixed in his mind. He reflected on the upheaval of 1987 and all the changes: ‘We were getting our house in order, when other people were getting a kick in the ribs’. The Farmers’ Co-op’s retrenching had already been completed! Bob too spent 45 years working with the company.

In mid 2006, with a clear horizon and a strategy of conservative growth, the time had arrived for the board to earnestly consider the appointment of a group chief executive officer. The position, previously filled by chairman Brian Train until his resignation in 2005, had remained vacant since 2003. Brian had maintained control of the divisions through the general managers and management teams reporting directly to him and the board, but the directors, however, were now determined to establish more governance within the organisation. It was considered vital that a significantly enhanced top-level corporate administration be established to manage the existing operation and any future initiatives and to provide an overview of all operations and assist with the growth and consolidation of the key divisions. Historically the location of the Allied Farmers Head office at

Hawera had limited appeal to executives used to a city environment, and consequently some compromise might be required in respect of the location of a corporate office. With the New Zealand stock and station industry now dominated by only a few players, namely PGG Wrightson, Allied Farmers Ltd, Farmlands, Elders and Fonterra’s wholly owned retail supplier RD1, attracting experienced administrators to a small rural town would be difficult. The search commenced for the person to fit this demanding role, and on Wednesday 5 November 2006, Allied Farmers announced the appointment of David W. Bale as group chief executive officer, with duties to commence on 15 November 2006. Mr Bale would operate from a corporate office to be established in what was previously the office of Prime Finance Ltd on Lambton Quay, Wellington.

Described by his contemporaries as ‘an entrepreneurial man’, a summary of group chief executive officer David Bale’s employment showed a leader, lateral thinker, innovator and a man with initiative who had worked in a variety of different industries. Immediately prior to the Allied Farmers appointment he was a self-employed consultant and professional director, undertaking strategic assignments for a number of major New Zealand and overseas companies. In 1999 he resigned from his position as chief executive of the New Zealand Lotteries Commission, a position he had held for 12 years. Other senior roles included managing director of Inprint Ltd, chairman of other subsidiary companies within Independent Newspapers Ltd/News Ltd group companies, a board member of Mitsubishi Motors (NZ) Ltd and a Trustee of Westpac Stadium Trust. He holds an MBA and attended the New Zealand Staff College and Stanford University’s Executive Management Program and has completed the Advanced Management Program (AMP) at Templeton College, Oxford, England. Born in Canterbury and educated at St Bede’s College, Christchurch, he studied accountancy and attended both Victoria and Massey universities. Although without a rural-sector background, he had strong views on the way forward and considerable experience from high-profile positions he had held in the past. He was profit motivated and not afraid of making hard decisions. Specifically appointed for his excellent general business skills in finance, strategy and business analysis, his financial expertise would provide the company with clarity and direction at a time when others were battening down the hatches and waiting for the storm to pass.

On Monday 4 December 2006 it was announced that William Giesbers had been appointed chief financial officer of the company, effective immediately. William had previously been contracted to assist with the amalgamation of Allied Farmers and Prime Finance. He brought a solid background of corporate and public-company financial management, as well as wide experience in business integration, technology development and implementation, and internal control and risk analysis. He had started his career with the ANZ Banking Group NZ Ltd. In more recent years he has been chief manager finance, Technology and Operations, Institutional Banking (and Treasury) with Westpac; finance director and chief information officer with Contact Energy; and group chief financial officer of Tower Ltd.

The appointment of a chief executive for the subsidiary Allied Prime

David W. Bale MBA, chief executive officer, Allied Farmers Ltd, 2006–08. William L Giesbers CA, FCIS, AFNZIM, CTP, Group chief financial officer Allied Farmers Ltd, 2006–08.

Finance was first on the agenda for David Bale. It had been trading for six months with consultants acting in the CEO and CFO roles. The board selected and appointed John Mallon, an experienced finance company executive, to take this key position in January 2007. He came from St Laurence Ltd where he had been chief executive officer of the NZDX-listed St Laurence Property & Finance Ltd and general manager funds and asset management. Coming from a successful career in the finance industry, he had previous management roles with Perpetual Trust Ltd and BNZ Finance Ltd. Mr Mallon, a Chartered Accountant, brought extensive finance-sector experience to the group at a time when it was bucking the trend and expanding the finance division.

Adistinct change in the company’s dynamics and operation became evident with the establishment and staffing of Allied Farmers Wellington Corporate Office. In addition to the Group chief executive officer, chief financial officer and chief executive officer of Allied Prime Finance, Andrew Quayle was appointed to the position of Group marketing manager. He had held senior roles within New Zealand Post and the New Zealand Lotteries Commission. In June 2007 he was joined by group chief information officer Tony Hood, who came with significant experience in the finance and technology sectors. Group company secretary Trevor Harrop and general manager rural services Philip Anstey continued to operate from the company’s Hawera office. David Bale engaged immediately with the senior executive team to create a detailed five-year strategic plan for the entire group. The three areas of competitive advantage identified were rural supplies, livestock and finance. A comprehensive plan to grow all three areas was agreed to by the board. This also involved a capital note and a share placement to give the group funds to execute the strategy. He also had to confront the mounting difficulties associated with Allied Pine Ltd, Wanganui. The sawmill operation had failed to live up to expectations despite making significant ongoing operational improvements. The previous owner had lost a substantial amount of money and it had continued to be unprofitable throughout the five years of Allied ownership. Coupled with the appreciation of the New Zealand dollar, a rise in shipping costs and changes in the international commodity market for lumber, an early decision on the fate of the ailing subsidiary was now paramount to avoid continuing significant losses. On the face of it, sawmilling had appeared a compatible adjunct to a rural trading organisation such as Allied Farmers, with farmers high users of timber products. However, lack of knowledge of the industry and the prospect of spending millions of dollars to correct deficiencies in the operation prompted the board to request group chief executive officer David Bale to immediately undertake an evaluation of the situation and submit a recommendation on his findings. His visit to the mill at Wanganui included a tour through the plant and casual discussions with employees and an in-depth study of the day-to-day operation, all of which confirmed to him that the failing sawmill operation could not be turned round. He said:

John D. Mallon, Chartered Accountant, chief executive officer, Allied Nationwide Finance Limited.

I walked through the mill and at the end of it said – ‘We will never make any money on this – close it!’ There was a degree of reluctance by some board members to close the operation but by now the losses were beginning to affect the group’s bottom-line profit. David Bale had come to the decision by building a computer model of all inputs associated with the mill. The outcome clearly showed that the possibility of turning the business into a profitable concern was remote, if not impossible. Somewhat regrettably a decision was made to close the mill. The group chief executive officer met with employees on the site and explained the situation and the board’s decision, which was not unexpected. He then broke the news to shareholders, stating that:

The decision to close the sawmill was painful. The board, after a lot of work and discussion, came to the conclusion that our company was not a natural owner of a sawmill. Given this, plus the decline in lumber prices, the unfavourable exchange rates, and continuing losses, the decision to close was inevitable.

The chairman also announced the sale of Allied Farmers Wools Ltd in July 2008. The company had been selling wool on behalf of clients since opening its doors and had established the Wanganui Woolstore in 1918. The chairman said: The sale was an early move towards wool industry consolidation and a show of support for the strategic initiatives of the Wool Industry Network. He hoped that the move would help generate higher returns for wool growers and improve the profile for New Zealand wool in world markets.

The company’s livestock divisional manager, John Kelly, credited by rural services manager Philip Anstey as playing ‘a big role in building Allied’s livestock team into one achieving record results’, resigned in July 2007 ‘to pursue personal interests’, with long-serving Joanne Richards taking over the role of livestock administration manager.

John Loughlin was now in the driver’s seat and poised to take advantage of the huge amount of consolidation in the stock and station industry and looking to expand operations in other carefully selected locations. Technology was now taking centre stage in almost every aspect of New Zealand’s commerce and with the recent appointment of David Bale, the opportunity was at hand to take advantage of his considerable IT knowledge and experience. In the quest to acquire a nationwide share of the dairy livestock market throughout New Zealand John Loughlin’s first initiative would focus on enabling the livestock division to open every farm gate in the country through an internet website. Breaking the traditional mould of livestock trading would be a challenge in itself. Despite livestock and technology being unlikely partners, but with the knowledge that 85 per cent of dairy farmers now had access to the internet, there was a realistic opportunity to use powerful corporate technology initiatives to significantly broaden the company’s livestock portfolio. In June 2007 David Bale unveiled the concept of tendering dairy livestock through a dedicated livestock-trading website. Marketing manager Andrew Quayle and recently appointed chief information officer Barry White were set the task of developing, designing and marketing a customised website for buying and selling livestock online, complemented by finance options through Allied Nationwide Finance Ltd. This would be supported by the company’s network of highly experienced livestock agents.

Drawing on surveys of customer needs, agent feedback and historic sales activity MyLiveStock. co.nz was developed over the ensuing months by Messrs Quayle and White in collaboration with David Bale and the package was successfully launched on 20 November 2007. It provided the farmer with a state-of-the-art, fully integrated online livestock trading resource. Success was immediate and in the first 12 months, over a quarter of the dairy farms in New Zealand became registered members, with 85 per cent having never dealt with Allied Farmers previously. The benefits were soon realised far and wide and a blossoming online community developed, seeking access to dairy stock

nationwide, detailed stock information and the ability to tender for dairy herds using a real-time bidding system. Subsequently the website was expanded to manage the company’s bobby-calf operation and with plans to expand the service in 2009 to cover beef, this highly innovative move was the forerunner of various technology-based opportunities for Allied Farmers’ growing internet client base.

For farming clientele a fundamental and indispensable requirement when trading in the stock and station industry is access to finance. This has been one of the foundation stones of the company. The Farmers’ Co-op had been closely associated with the original Hawera-based West Coast Mortgage and Deposit Co. Ltd from the early 1900s when two FCOS directors sat on the board of this small local company. In 1939 FCOS purchased the company and continued to trade under the name of West Coast Mortgage and Deposit Co. Ltd and in February 1946 also purchased the Manaia Building and Investment Society. Throughout the 20th century it continued to use the company for most of its financial requirements, until in 1983 FCOS Finance Ltd was established to ‘improve the liquidity of the parent company, relieving it of the responsibility of financing term advances’ and provide more flexible finance to handle hire purchase and longer-term loans.

In the year 2000 a decision was made to rename the company Allied Farmers Finance Ltd, following the parent company’s name change to Allied Farmers Ltd. West Coast Mortgage and Deposit Co. Ltd continues as a safe haven and holding company for a number of non-trading and shell companies.

The board made the decision in 2006 to expand its finance business with the acquisition of Prime Finance Ltd, a Wellington-based finance company specialising in business and consumer finance. The directors recognised that the existing finance business did not have the necessary size and scale to compete in the market and deal with the changing regulatory environment. The acquisition was completed in June 2006 and the two companies, Allied Farmers Finance and Prime Finance, were formally amalgamated in October 2006, creating Allied Prime Finance Ltd.

There was further expansion in May 2007 when Nationwide Finance was acquired from Hanover Group. The business could now be taken into New Zealand’s top finance ranks, with the Nationwide Finance acquisition increasing assets to $300 million. Allied Nationwide Finance Ltd was created in June 2007 through the amalgamation of Allied Prime Finance and Nationwide Finance.

The finance sector in New Zealand changed dramatically in late 2007, beginning with the collapse of a number of New Zealand finance companies and the United States sub-prime mortgage crisis which sent shock waves around the world, and also affected New Zealand’s economy. During this period Allied Nationwide Finance Ltd continued to operate its business and successfully integrated the Nationwide and Allied Prime Finance businesses. It was already positioned with strong liquidity and a diversified loan book so was able to deal with the extremely difficult market conditions that existed through 2008.

Despite the continuing turmoil in the finance industry, with the world suffering its worst financial crisis in 100 years, Allied Nationwide Finance Ltd remained in relatively good heart. The loss of investor confidence in the market was, however, having an impact. In the words of chairman John Loughlin, when reflecting on the finance operation for the year ending 2008: Allied Nationwide had to pay out over $100 million in maturing deposits, but the ability to match debenture maturities with loan repayments, and a programme of remaining liquid saw Allied Nationwide finish the year in good shape. The expansion story did not stop there. The acquisition of Speirs Finance during the early part of the 2008/2009 financial year was a strategy for Allied Nationwide to increase its size, scale and diversification of funding and lending. The acquisition resulted in Allied Nationwide having in excess of $400 million of group assets and access to a $250 million securitisation programme, backed by BNZ with a funding commitment of $150 million. The environment for Allied Nationwide

Finance changed again in November 2008 when the company was approved under the new deposit guarantee scheme introduced by the Government. This had an immediate effect on the company’s funding position, with over $50 million of additional funds raised from investors over a two-month period, bucking an 18-month trend of fund outflows.

Considering the immediate future in light of the worsening global financial crisis, Mr Loughlin said that the 2009/10 year would be extremely difficult for both the global and New Zealand economies. Increased unemployment and the reduction in personal income would impact on business and consumer demand but, There will be a place for finance companies in tomorrow’s economy. Through both the recession and the recovery phases people will need food sourced from agriculture. Thus there will be a place for rural services operations such as our own. John Loughlin acknowledged that the company’s book of business had weathered many downturns during its extraordinary history, but it had survived with the help of customers and staff and the chairman reaffirmed that ‘we will again come out of this one in good shape’. As the world recession accelerated during 2007 the impact began to affect the home market as well as abroad and the year played out with the rural services showing mixed results. Although profit was steady, the revenue grew in the rural merchandising sector and margins decreased because of competitive pressure. Climatic conditions in the spring also affected farmers buying patterns, which further impacted negatively on revenue and profit. Livestock and veal meat processing, however, had a very good year.

Mid Canterbury now came under the spotlight with dairy conversions providing an excellent opportunity to open a new livestock branch in the South Island at Ashburton as part of Allied Farmers’ growth strategy. This well established and rapidly expanding rural district, one hour from the airport and only 45 minutes from Temuka saleyards, saw the opening of the new branch in March 2008, with Kerry-Lee Booth manning the office and three highly experienced agents, Harry Stanway and Peter Jackson, top agents from the PGG Wrightson’s stable, and Ben Southen who came from Rural Livestock Ltd. Less than a year later the chairman was pleased to report that Allied’s first fledgling ‘mainland’ operation was already the third largest trader of livestock through the Temuka saleyards. On 2 March 2009 the team would be selling stock in the South Island under the Allied Farmers logo for the very first time.

Information technology strategy was now the responsibility of recently appointed Barry White who joined the company in May 2008 having held a number of positions in technology-related companies in the United Kingdom and New Zealand. He had consulted to corporate organisations and the Government, including the Ministry of Education. His work was now focused on establishing a company philosophy to support all divisions and to consolidate the group’s overall infrastructure and achieve better returns on investment by centralising key business processes across the group and streamlining management and methods of delivery.

Marketing strategies were now being developed using technology to extend the capability of core business units to cost effectively deliver and expand customer services across the country and this was seen as one of the most important strategies for growing the business. Consolidation of the network infrastructure to improve the availability of core data to internal and external key stakeholders across the organisation was also now a priority. One of the challenges of interfacing technology with industries traditionally based on personal service and relationships, where the computer world and technology is often in a distant galaxy, is bringing new and often opposing cultures together and this alone can be a major hurdle in launching web-based tools and online services. With computers here to stay and their use in all areas of commerce, Allied Farmers was now committed to providing a balanced approach for the integration of computer technology into its own personnel and its client base. With MyLiveStock now well established and continually

enhanced, a new Allied Farmers website was introduced in November 2008. Refinements and additions to the facility would continue with a quotation system, as an extension of MyLiveStock was introduced February 2009 to provide an automated stocklisting distribution service to all Allied Farmers agents, with real-time sales data from stockyards to web planned for March 2009.

Described as an enigmatic man and venerable champion of the Allied Farmers cause in the modern era, often referred to as ‘Mr Allied Farmers’ and fondly viewed by some staff as an Alex Hunter lookalike, Trevor Harrop ended his outstanding 25-year term of employment with the company in April 2008. He began this journey in December 1982 as financial controller of Farmers’ Co-op, and later, upon the establishment of FCOS Finance, was appointed first manager, holding both positions concurrently for many years. Eventually elevated to the position of company secretary, Trevor was never far from the action during one of the most uncertain and difficult periods in the company’s history. His undivided loyalty, support and guidance to the executive management, board and fellow staff members throughout his employment, and in particular during the difficult period immediately before and after the 1987 debacle, was exemplary, and as one commentator observed, ‘the five-day, forty-hour week was something read about but certainly not practised by Trevor’. His untiring commitment during that darkest hour was an inspiration to those around him. His passion and unerring commitment to the company was of vital assistance in restoring it to its rightful place in the stock and station industry of New Zealand. Respected by all who had the pleasure of meeting him, Trevor Harrop served the company with outstanding distinction.

Chairman John Loughlin announced that group chief executive David Bale had decided to step down at Christmas 2008. He had joined Allied Farmers two years earlier, in November 2006. It was envisaged his position would be a two to three-year appointment. He had brought excellent general business disciplines to the company in finance, strategy and business analysis, and his contribution in tight times, particularly in connection with the finance industry, cannot be understated. During his tenure the company purchased Nationwide and Speirs Finance and the chairman reinforced his valuable contribution by stating that, ‘the fact that Allied Farmers Nationwide Finance had survived and prospered when 26 competitors had failed was a real credit to him’. It had been David Bale’s decision to close the Allied Pine sawmill and to sell Allied Farmers Wool at Wanganui, where adverse industry trends of falling sheep numbers, increased interest in breeds without wool, reduced shearing/increased slipe wool and the low prices Allied Farmers received made retention of the wool division untenable. He initiated the MyLiveStock website concept and the expansion into the South Island at Ashburton. Paying tribute to David Bale’s short but significant contribution, group chairman John Loughlin stated: David has steered the group through a period of financial turbulence that has been unprecedented in most of our lifetimes.

Speaking at the October 2008 annual general meeting chairman John Loughlin said it had not been a tradition to compliment regulators and government officials, but the radical actions that had been taken so swiftly by regulators around the world were worthy of praise: The co-ordination that has been achieved has been impressive and necessary. The actions cannot prevent a significant global slowdown, but they seem to have significantly mitigated against the most extreme negative scenarios. Philip Anstey, general manager of Allied Farmers Rural Services for the past four years, resigned from the group in November 2008.