Synergy chairman and former West Coast Eagles chair Michael Smith will take over from Peter Harley as chair of Perth-based internet services provider iiNet Ltd, the company announced today.
Synergy chairman and former West Coast Eagles chair Michael Smith will take over from Peter Harley as chair of Perth-based internet services provider iiNet Ltd, the company announced today.
Mr Smith, who was appointed to the company board today as a non-executive director, will take the position at iiNet's annual general meeting on November 19.
The full text of an iiNet announcement is pasted below
The Board of iiNet Limited today announced the appointment of Mr Michael Smith as a Non-Executive Director, effective immediately. Mr Smith will become Chairman of iiNet following the Annual General Meeting of the Company on 19 November.
Mr Smith has been Managing Director of the Marketing Centre since 1979. He is Chairman of Synergy, Western Australia's largest energy retailer. He also serves on the board of Home Building Society (ASX: HME) and is a Director of 7-Eleven Stores Pty Ltd, a chain of 360 convenience stores on Australia's east coast iiNet Chairman Peter Harley welcomed Mr Smith to the Board.
"Michael has extensive expertise in retail marketing and product branding, skills ideally suited to the Company's organic growth strategy. He is also a very experienced public company director with a demonstrable record in building and managing growth businesses" said Mr Harley.
Mr Smith has had particular exposure to membership based organisations. Mr Smith's company, the Marketing Centre, provides strategic marketing advice to leading Australian and international companies. In addition to his current positions with Synergy, Home and 7-Eleven, he was formerly Chairman of A.F.L. football team, the West Coast Eagles; W.A. State President of the Australian Marketing Institute and a member of its federal board.
iiNet is the third largest Internet Service Provider in Australia, having focused on the retail market since 1993. The Company has built Australia's second largest high speed broadband network, now reaching more than 3.5 million metropolitan customers. The Company announced in August that Mr Harley intended to stand down from the board this year.
"I am delighted to be joining the board of iiNet," said Mr Smith. "iiNet is an iconic WA brand and a fantastic success story. The Company has shown that focussing on good value products and genuine customer service can still make a difference in a very crowded national industry. I am looking forward to working with the team.
