Canterbury council contractor keeps finances secret from public

By Jonathan Leask, Local Democracy Reporter

Selwyn District Council-owned contractor, Corde, has steered clear of publicly releasing financial details this week, citing "commercial sensitivities".

Corde is a civil-construction and infrastructure-maintenance company owned by the council that provides water services, parks, construction and roading services.

As part of the deep dives into council business to start the term, Corde provided the new council with an overview of the company operations, but finances were kept off the table and will instead be delivered behind closed doors.

Selwyn Mayor Lydia Gliddon said Corde is a council-controlled trading organisation (CCTO) of the council.

“They are owned by us and have been instructed to be a commercial business,” Gliddon told LDR reporting.

She said it was important for councillors to get an overview of the company and accepted there is sensitivity with the commercial details, but all the important financial information is open to the public in Corde’s annual report.

“They hold commercial contracts outside of Selwyn and there is commercial sensitivity in a competitive civil market.

“Previously, we've directed Corde to go out and diversify their operations and income, and to look outside of Selwyn,” Gliddon said.

Corde operates in Selwyn but also holds various contracts in other districts in Canterbury, including the roading contract in Waimakariri District Council (for 30 years) and Hurunui District Council (10 years), and parks and reserve maintenance in Timaru and Mackenzie districts.

At the briefing, chief executive Mathew Havill said that while Corde works across multiple districts, “our relationship with [Selwyn] is something we take seriously”.

“A genuine partnership with a clear focus on outcomes for the community”.

Corde board chairperson Murray Harrington said its commercial success “is probably unparalleled in New Zealand at the moment, we think, in terms of a horizontal infrastructure business”.

Harrington said Corde has grown its revenue from $50m to $150m in five years, with a profit of $220m, and staff have grown from 246 to 412, of which 40% live in Selwyn.

“It won’t always be that successful because we are in a commercial world.

“We have had to lift the company in all sorts of ways in terms of processes, governance structure, and strategy to get to that level.”

There’s a lot of governance work and structure needed to support a company that’s growing faster and expanding its services and geographic reach he said.

With the mention of revenue, Cr Aaron McGlinchy went straight to the point, asking what proportion of Corde’s revenue was received from the council.

Havill said that due to commercial sensitivities, the financial information would come back to councillors in a private session at a later date.

“We will not be mentioning financial information.

“We intend to share this at a publicly excluded meeting alongside a broader update on how Corde is innovating and embracing new technologies.”

Havill did provide figures that Corde spends around $7m annually on subcontractors, over $11m on suppliers, and $13m on staff wages and salaries to contribute to the local economy.

Councillors noted that Corde has come under some community criticism for its performance and operational efficiency, taking the opportunity to raise the “public perception issues”.

Cr Elizabeth Mundt said people were observing staff taking extended breaks, “sitting there for a few hours, they might do five minutes of work and then get in the vehicle and leave”.

Councillors John Verry and Denise Carrick both touched on the perception Corde vehicles were being utilised for personal use.

During the presentation, Corde’s head of people and culture, Richard Copeland said that “work vehicle use includes for some people home to work use, weekend use and full private use.”

Use of a company vehicle is considered part of the staff remuneration and is a necessary part of the package to help attract and retain staff Copeland said.

Gliddon said to get the best staff possible a vehicle can be the expectation, and that is something for Corde to manage, acknowledging their vehicles are monitored to “know exactly what those vehicles are doing, where they are going and how many kilometres they are travelling”.

It also showed the Corde branding was working, she said.

Copeland had said they had put a significant amount of work into developing and promoting the Corde brand.

“Now we need to lean into helping people to understand what we do and how we do it”.

The presentation to the council was part of that, he said.

• You can view the presentation HERE

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.