High Aspirations for Eastland Group

23 January 2012

Eastland Group’s new general manager of business support makes no secret of his desire to see the company grow to great new heights.

“ I want to see Eastland Group become one of New Zealand’s great companies,” says Christopher Breen.

He has a track record in working in management, consultancy and entrepreneurial companies. At a time when the provinces are taking a lead in the economic development of the country, he saw an opportunity join a company that was having a real impact in its local community.

Part of his drive to take the new position was to be involved in an initiative that could make a real difference for New Zealand.

Eastland Group, which owns the port, the electricity network and runs the airport, has expanded into geothermal generation.

“Some have been critical about the group having interests outside the district, but here is an opportunity to bring the benefits those initiatives provide back into the local community,” says Mr Breen.

“Running a successful operation means finding opportunity that is consistent with the company’s strategy wherever it may be, and it happens that the geothermal offerings are in the Bay of Plenty region at the moment.”

The group is keen to be part of the Government’s push to see 90% of electricity generation from renewable sources by 2025.

But to keep in step with the growth, development and investment needed, Eastland Group needs more funding.

“It’s not an unattractive investment proposition either,” says Mr Breen. “Relative to a recent ‘New Zealand Management Magazine, the group would be placed 98^th in the top 200 companies in New Zealand for asset size, and 99^th for equity.”

But the big question is how to go about attracting that investment.

“As a group, we also want to continue to attract a skill set that has relationships and knowledge to achieve our goals,” says Mr Breen. “We want the best human capital – wherever they may come from.”

And those sorts of people are unlikely to hang around if the company doesn’t continue to grow as it has done in recent years.

Much of that will come back to Mr Breen’s portfolio, which encompasses human resources, information technology, health and safety, marketing, procurement and strategy development.

“It’s exciting to be part of something that can really make a big difference to this community,” he says, “but for that to happen, there needs to be change.”

Since the group was formed in 2003 it has grown in leaps and bounds – quadrupling the asset base from $88 million to $349.4 million, and profit mushrooming from $2.9 million to $8 million in the same time.

“Those sorts of figures will not continue to be possible if we don’t expand our horizons,” says Mr Breen.