Our team are more of the “keep your head low and get on with the work” types so we were rapt to see this profile of Danny from our Gisborne team make the front page of the Eastland Wood Council newsletter. You can read it in its original form HERE or in full below…
Danny Boyle is of Ngāti Porou descent. He spent his formative years in Tikitiki before attending Gisborne Boys’ High and boarding at the Rectory.
Danny was introduced to the forest industry by a mate who was high-lift pruning radiata for a crew contracted to Hikurangi Forest Farms in the mid-to-late-1980s. It was hard work but the challenge and money were attractive. Shortly after, another mate talked him into joining a cable hauling crew working for JNL in Patunamu Forest. Danny spent the next 20 years cable harvesting in various locations around the North Island in a variety of roles, including crew foreman, contractor, trainer and supervisor.
In 2004, Danny started his tenure with Hikurangi Forest Farms as a harvesting co-ordinator. He spent nine years with this company and ended as the woodflow manager. After a stint working for himself, Danny took on an opportunity with Summit Forests NZ Ltd in 2016.
As regional manager for Eastland and Whanganui, he oversees the third-party managers who run the operations within Summit’s forests. Recent investment by Summit has seen it increase its forest resource in Te Tairāwhiti to around 12,000 hectares plus 1000 hectares of forest and land in Whanganui. This substantial investment means significant expansion for Summit in the area and a strong recruitment drive for new employees, including building its own management team and expanding the office in Gisborne.
Summit started its New Zealand operations in 2013. It is now the seventh-largest forestry business in the country, with over 52,000ha of forestry. Its estate is spread throughout iconic landscapes in Northland, the Coromandel, Whanganui, Gisborne and East Coast. Summit’s main areas of business include harvesting, exporting logs and private woodlots, and investing in New Zealand forestry assets for the future.
It proudly employs over 200 staff and contractors around New Zealand and is looking to grow this in the region.