Brisbane based property developer Devine Limited yesterday announced the appointment of Darryl Somerville as its new chairman.
Somerville succeeds Doug Ridley who has stood down but continues as a director.
Devine’s managing director David Devine said Ridley had been completely committed to the company since March 2005. At the time, Ridley had agreed to take on the role of chairman of Devine in an interim capacity.
Devine said that Somerville, who joined the Devine Board just over a year ago, had become better acquainted with the company over the last 12 months and was now ready to assume the role of Chairman.
“Doug has helped Devine pursue its diversification strategy into commercial development, the establishment of a funds management capability and was closely involved in the company’s decision to form its own construction division which is already delivering strong benefits,” Devine said.
“I am extremely confident that Darryl Somerville will expertly guide Devine through our next stage of growth as we continue to build our national land bank and expand into the funds management area.”
Somerville has an extensive business career including 23 years at PricewaterhouseCoopers, including over 19 years as a Partner and 8½ years as the Managing Partner of the Brisbane office.
Somerville was National Director of the Institute of Chartered Accountants from 2000 to 2003. He is currently Chairman of the Brisbane Broncos Ltd and Chairman of the State Government Energy Competition Committee, responsible for overseeing the introduction of Full Retail Contestability for energy in Queensland.
He was previously Chairman of the Queensland Government Review of Electricity Distribution and Service Delivery which reported to Cabinet in July 2004.
By Adam Parsons
