John Allen Appointed To Foreign Affairs

Appointment of Chief Executive and Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade
12 May 2009

John Allen Appointed To Foreign Affairs

The State Services Commissioner, Iain Rennie, today announced the appointment of John Allen to the position of Chief Executive and Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Mr Allen is the Chief Executive Officer of the New Zealand Post Group, a position he has held since 2003.  New Zealand Post is New Zealand’s 24th largest business by revenue, 17th by profit and has $8 billion in assets. 

“Mr Allen is a very strong leader with extensive experience in developing and implementing strategy and in managing change successfully.

“As Chief Executive Officer, Mr Allen has developed a long term strategy relating to diversification and growth and has built a very strong and effective team.  Under his leadership New Zealand Post has delivered sustained growth in profit, despite increased competitive pressures in all markets,” Iain Rennie said.

Mr Allen joined New Zealand Post in 1994 as the General Manager, Business Planning on secondment from Rudd, Watts and Stone. He joined the senior management team in 1995 when he was appointed General Manager, Planning and Communications. Between 1995 and 2003 he has held a number of senior management positions across the business. 

He has been actively involved in many of the strategic initiatives undertaken by the Group, including the establishment of Kiwi Bank and the creation of the joint ventures with DHL in New Zealand and Australia.

In addition to his roles as Chair and Director of some of the New Zealand Post Group’s businesses, Mr Allen is the Co-Chair of the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum, and the Chair or a Director of the Territorial Forces Employer Support Council, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, the Audit Committee at Te Papa and Save the Children New Zealand and the Datacom Group.

Mr Allen has a Bachelor of Laws, from Victoria University (1983) and was admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand in 1984.

Mr Allen takes up his appointment on 20 July 2009.

ENDS

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