Prominent Otago businessman Martin Dippie’s stepping down after three years at the helm — the company owns Queenstown’s iconic steamship TSS Earnslaw, Walter Peak Farm, Cardrona and Treble Cone skifields and Milford and Doubtful Sound coaches and cruises, among other attractions.
"Three years is a good period for me," he says, having last year also stood down as chair of the Mitre 10 retail cooperative and from the Otago University Council.
"I really enjoyed being part of the team, but I’m a busy guy — [it’s] amazing how three years went past in a jiffy."
Dippie says he’s looking forward to having more time for himself — "and we’re doing a lot of endurance rallying and our kids are overseas".
In 2022, Dippie along with main investor Milford Asset Management, Queenstown’s Rod Drury, Jonty Edgar and Brendan Lindsay poured tens of millions of dollars into RealNZ to shore up its balance sheet and allow investment in technology, innovation and sustainability.
However the Hutchins family, who founded the company 71 years ago, remained the majority shareholder.
Dippie pays special credit to the Hutchins family — "there’s not many businesses, particularly family businesses, that can get to that age".
He says "the business is in great heart".
"I can’t speak highly enough about the business and the people — it’s a business with a real warm heart."
Milford Asset Management’s John Johnston’s acting chair while the company searches for a new chair, Dippie says.
"I think there’ll be a queue of very, very capable people."
— Philip Chandler
