11
City Care is a wholly owned
subsidiary of Christchurch City
Holdings Limited (CCHL), which is
itself owned by Christchurch City
Council. CCHL is a substantial
company in New Zealand terms.
It holds majority share-holdings in
lines company Orion, Christchurch
International Airport and the Port
of Lyttelton, and has a Standard
and Poors credit rating of AA+. City
Care benefits from this ownership
by having ready access to additional
equity if required to support our
business plans, and through group
procurement initiatives that lower our
cost of supplies of some products
and services, including bank
borrowing. City Care's clients benefit
from the knowledge that City Care
forms one part of a strong financial
group.
An independent board of directors,
who are appointed by CCHL after
a rigorous needs assessment and
selection process, governs City Care.
Due to its local government
ownership, City Care is bound not
just to normal company legislation,
but also the additional requirements
for accountability as defined in the
Local Government Act (2001). Part
of this accountability is to publish this
public annual report.
A second requirement is the annual
agreement of a Statement of Intent
between City Care and CCHL, which
covers such issues as the scope of
operations and objectives for the
company, the performance measures
and targets, and a number of key
governance and policy positions. The
following Objectives and Governance
statements have been extracted from
the current Statement of Intent.
Objectives
The principal objective of the
company shall be to operate a
profitable, sustainable and innovative
business so as to maintain a strong
market presence in all areas of
OCT-03: Lawrie Beardsmore
awarded a level 4 national
certificate in Amenity Horticulture.
OCT-03: WINZ agrees to
ongoing support of City Care's
pre-apprentice programme.
OWNERSHIP
Doug Marsh - Director
(left)
Doug Marsh is a Christchurch-based professional director, company chairman,
adviser to business and Honorary Consul for the Republic of Korea.
From a background as a CEO for 25 years, Doug's governance activities
encompass electricity distribution, manufacturing, IT, forestry, agriculture,
horticulture and heavy engineering fabrication.
Doug first became involved with City Care's predecessor Works Operations in
1997 when he was an adviser to Christchurch City Council and member of a
taskforce established to review the strategic direction of Works Operations.
He became a member of the establishment board and was then appointed as a
Director of City Care Ltd in 1999.
Doug describes his time with City Care as immensely rewarding.
"The past five years has been a period of transformational change. City Care has
an average growth rate of 20% per year, and has expanded from 400 staff to 600.
It has built a remarkable team with strategic leadership that has breathed a sense
of dynamism into a reinvented people- and customer-focused, environmentally
aware, and innovative entity," he says.
