KiwiRail has announced three new appointments to its board.

Chairman Trevor Janes said the three new directors – John Dennehy, Bob Major and Sue McCormack – bring varied and considerable industry and governance strengths to the board as it tackles the challenges of rebuilding the South Island network post the Kaikoura earthquake.

Bob Major

John Dennehy

Sue McCormack

Janes said KiwiRail was coping well with events that considerably disrupted both the freight and the tourism businesses, and the board welcomed the extensive experience and energy of the new directors.

Major has spent many years working in the dairy industry, from the New Zealand Dairy Research Institute to the New Zealand Dairy Board and on the senior leadership team of Fonterra. He is a former director of Sealord Group and Barker Fruit Processors among others, a current director of Westland Milk Products and BioVittoria Ltd and is chair of Gibb Holdings (Nelson) Ltd.

Dennehy has served on a number of boards both in New Zealand and in the UK and is currently chair of the NZX listed Mercer Group Ltd. He has a background in financial services focusing on international transport and infrastructure, including rail, shipping, road and aviation in the private and state owned sectors.

McCormack is a senior partner at Mortlock McCormack Law, specialising in corporate and commercial law. She is the pro-chancellor of the University of Canterbury, and has previously been a director of the Lyttelton Port Company Limited, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and the Public Trust.