As we farewell our general manager Anton Naus, we have the good fortune to simultaneously welcome Rob Facer on board as the new CEO of wider GC Group Management team, the company that owns Osflo.
At the start of Rob’s career, the agricultural industry was where he garnered his early work experience. Starting off in the UK and then onto Western Australia he had a number of varied, hands-on primary production roles – milking cows, driving tractors and trucks and growing roses. From there, he broadened his experience working in a number of senior management roles in the corporate world across Australia and eventually New Zealand. In more recent years, Rob worked in the education sector. In these key roles, he was the driving force behind building organisational structure and spearheading business growth.
It wasn’t until September 2017 that Rob first arrived at Osflo. And believe or not, when he came, Rob completed his career cycle as he jumped back into a spreader truck as part of his desire to take a break from the corporate world to focus on his family and his health. As Dave Geraghty recalls it, “the first day he was here, we moved a water tank and Geoff got stuck, it was pouring with rain and it was absolute chaos, he must have wondered what he’d let himself in for”.
Rob spread and drove for Osflo before becoming the CEO of GC Group Management Limited, the holding company behind the Osflo Fertiliser, FBT and Windy Point Quarry brands. Established over 50 years ago, the Taranaki based privately held group has a proud history of providing New Zealand farmers with high quality sustainable fertiliser products and services, responsibly producing shell-rock for agricultural and roading uses and for delivering complex logistics solutions for the forestry and wider primary production sectors.
The Group has recently undergone a succession process, with the founding fathers taking the opportunity to step back from day-to-day operations. Consequently, the group CEO position has been created to help navigate the organisation through the next phase of its development and growth. Here is where Rob has jumped in, from spreader driver to CEO… although he is always ready to hop back in the truck when the need arises.
Outside of work, Rob enjoys his family time mostly spent pottering around on their lifestyle block in Oakura, with his miniature zoo of chickens, turkeys, goats, rabbit, dogs and a donkey to keep him company. You may occasionally find him touring around the mountain roads on his Suzuki DR650 or enjoying time in Auckland with his oldest son. He is also very active in the local not-for-profit sector, sitting on a number of charitable organisation boards, doing volunteer business mentoring, and helping with governance training and advice.
So, welcome Rob. We are excited to continue working with you and are privileged to have a new team member on board with as much experience as you!
