Queenstown's Skyline Enterprises appoints new Chief Executive

Queenstown-based tourism and property company Skyline Enterprises has appointed experienced international business leader Geoff McDonald as its new Chief Executive.

Rotorua-born and raised McDonald is most recently the former Vice President and General Manager of global healthcare company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Australia and has a track record for transforming businesses and delivering results.

He has spent the past 20 years working in commercial roles across Australia, China, Singapore, South East Asia and the wider Asia-Pacific region.

Currently based in Melbourne, McDonald will shortly move to Queenstown to begin his position with Skyline on 1st June.

 While new to the tourism industry, McDonald plans to apply his business acumen, strategic outlook and strong company culture focus to lead the varied Skyline business portfolio through current and future growth phases.

Commenting on his new role, McDonald explains “the Skyline business is an incredible success story, a tribute to the vision and passion of its founders but equally to the energy and talent of the staff who have built this amazing organisation.

“I’m not coming in to replace any of the huge amounts of expertise within Skyline. My job is to provide leadership and direction over strategy, infrastructure, people development and systems and processes to enable the company to grow successfully into the future.

“I am humbled and honoured to be given the opportunity to join Skyline, and I look forward to meeting the Skyline team and working collectively to take this enterprise to even bigger heights.”

As the former leader of GSK Australia - which employs about 400 people - McDonald led a turnaround in GSK’s $650 million Australian business, delivering sustainable profit growth above target of between 7-11% over four consecutive years. Prior to that, he was the General Manager of GSK New Zealand, from 2009 to 2012.

Other career highlights include leading a successful portfolio divestment ($150 million) and consequent restructure of operations and culture, successfully launching new healthcare products with one asset reaching $250 million in turnover, and leading an industry-first transformation of the Pharma commercial model to create digital multi-channel customer engagement platforms.

McDonald is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, holds a Masters in Business Marketing from Monash University in Melbourne, as well as a Bachelor of Education and Psychology from Waikato University.

He and his wife Rose are excited about the move to Queenstown. They and their two children, Emily, 22, and Callum, 20, are avid skiers, trail runners, hikers and McDonald regularly competes in long-distance triathlons and multi-sport events.

He adds “Queenstown’s going to be a mecca for all of us. We are really looking forward to settling down there and becoming a part of the community.”

Skyline Enterprises Executive Chairman Mark Quickfall says with the scale and growth of Skyline it was imperative the Board appoint a seasoned Chief Executive with the right skillset and management style.

Quickfall adds “we are very pleased to welcome Geoff on board. Geoff has an impressive track record in business and brings with him a good mix of maturity and commercial acumen.

“This really appealed to Skyline, as we strive to continually expand and develop our diverse range of businesses. We look forward to Geoff joining the Skyline team.”

Images: Skyline Enterprises’ new Chief Executive Geoff McDonald (top) and Skyline Queenstown's popular Luge attraction (below).

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