Alliance Group has named David Surveyor as its new chief executive, taking over from Grant Cuff.
Mr Surveyor, who lives in Melbourne, is executive general manager of Laminex, a subsidiary of Fletcher Building. He previously held roles with BHP in Australia and Bluescope Steel in Malaysia.
Mr Cuff announced in July he would be stepping down following the company's annual meeting in Gore next Friday, after nine years in the position and a 24-year tenure with Alliance Group.
It is a changing of the guard within the two major co-operatives, as Dean Hamilton has taken over from Keith Cooper as chief executive of Silver Fern Farms.
Mr Surveyor will move to Christchurch with his wife Mirjam and three children in January and work from Alliance Group's head office in Invercargill.
Born in Wales and raised in Western Australia, he has a bachelor of economics degree from the University of Western Australia.
In a statement, Mr Surveyor said he was excited about joining the company at a time when it had a strong balance sheet and was ''making inroads'' into emerging markets.
''Alliance Group has blazed a trail for New Zealand exporters for many years, not just in traditional markets, but also China and more recently Brazil and India. It is a privilege to be leading the business into its next phase,'' he said.
He aimed to build on what had already been achieved to further improve the company's performance and returns to its shareholder suppliers.
Chairman Murray Taggart said Mr Surveyor had ''outstanding credentials''.
''His strategic approach and proven ability to grow businesses in tough and changing environments will prove invaluable to the company and strengthen our position within New Zealand and globally,'' he said.
