Richard Hopkins will take on a new CFO role with New Zealand energy company Mercury in April
Zespri has announced its CFO, Richard Hopkins, will move on from the company taking on the CFO role at New Zealand energy company, Mercury.
Hopkins, who has been with the kiwifruit marketer since 2019 will step down on 5 April.
“I want to thank Richard for his contribution to Zespri and to the kiwifruit industry since joining us in 2019,” Zespri CEO Jason Te Brake said in a statement.
“In his six years as CFO, he has been driven to create value for growers and shareholders and to support the business to deliver strong financial performance through a challenging period. That includes, not least, the disruptions of the Covid pandemic, the significant seasonal changes in supply volumes, and the delivery of Zespri’s largest ever transformation programmes in finance systems and processes.”
Zespri will now begin a recruitment process for a new CFO appointment with Hopkins continuing to lead the function right up to his departure in April.
“While I am excited about this next chapter, leaving Zespri and the kiwifruit industry will undoubtedly be bittersweet,” Hopkins said of the decision. “The move for me comes after much thought and reflection. I’m returning to the power sector, which is where my career was focused before I moved to New Zealand. It’s an opportunity to join a company that is undertaking exciting transformational changes leading the electrification of New Zealand.”
Hopkins added that his time with Zespri had been “incredibly rewarding”, and that the company and industry are “in great shape, with a bright future”.
