Spark New Zealand has announced Simon Moutter has resigned from his positions as managing director and as a director of the company. Spark’s chair Justine Smyth says the Board of Directors has appointed Jolie Hodson, currently customer director, as Spark’s new chief executive. Hodson will take over the role on 1 July.
Smyth says when Moutter became managing director in August 2012, he had done so in the expectation of a likely five-to-seven-year tenure.
“The board is particularly pleased that we’ve been able to achieve a very smooth and professional succession arrangement, and in particular we are delighted that Jolie Hodson has been appointed as Simon’s successor,” Smyth says.
“Jolie is an accomplished leader with a strong record of delivering results and managing complex business units and to be able to appoint an executive of Jolie’s calibre and experience is a testament to the quality of the talent within the company. She has had experience across most major parts of Spark’s business since she joined the company in 2013.
As board directors, we have had the opportunity to work closely with Jolie over recent years on a range of important company matters and we have been consistently impressed with her business acumen, her strategic vision and her quality decision making. We are delighted to have confirmed a top-quality internal candidate, which speaks to Spark’s desire where appropriate to develop and promote talent from within.”
Smyth says Moutter played a pivotal role in the transformation of Spark over the past seven years.
“In almost every respect, Spark today is a vastly different company to the one that Simon re-joined in 2012… we have made exciting plays in entertainment and sports media, we have invested in a modern, world-class technology stack and we are generating interest in our adoption of an agile way of working from companies around the globe.”
“We are making important progress with diversity and inclusion in the workplace, and our financial performance ranks among the industry’s best in this part of the world. And, of course, Simon led the way in 2014 with the bold call to rebrand the company, hanging up on Telecom and logging onto Spark,” Smyth says.
Moutter says he become Spark’s managing director in 2012 with the expectation that he would drive a major turnaround of the company post the 2011 de-merger of Chorus and several years of declining performance.
“I’ve given my absolute best to putting Spark onto a positive track over the last seven years, so the company can fully deliver on its purpose to ‘help all of New Zealand win big in a digital world’. I feel it’s the right time to pass the leadership baton on and I am delighted the board has chosen an outstanding leader in Jolie to succeed me.”
Moutter hasn’t made a decision about his next steps but says he is committing the first couple of months to spending time with his family.
