Solid Energy chairman John Palmer said the company would benefit from McDonald’s extensive senior management career with the former Fletcher Challenge group of companies and his wide board experience including with the board of Air New Zealand.

“We are very pleased to welcome John to the board. He has a strong background in effectively representing senior management at board meetings and in recent years has become a board member of several public companies. He therefore brings to the table a very strong appreciation of the respective roles of governance and management,” Palmer said.

Christchurch-based company director and mining engineer Michael Hawarden, who has served on the Solid Energy board for eight years, will retire at the end of April.

“On behalf of the board, I also want to take this opportunity to acknowledge the contribution of Michael Hawarden to the company,” Palmer said.

“During his time on the board Solid Energy has developed into a sustainable and profitable business which has diversified into biomass, is piloting new, cleaner uses of coal and is at the forefront of work to investigate the applicability of clean coal technology in New Zealand.”

Solid Energy extracts, processes, markets and distributes more than 4 million tonnes of coal a year from its underground and opencut operations.