Nigel Anthony Payne is the new managing director for Forestal Mimosa Limited in the UK. Prior to this appointment he was managing director of the Wattle Company in Zimbabwe, producers of the Rhomosa brand mimosa wattle extract among other things. He has had twenty years of service with the Wattle Company and continues to sit on the board.
Payne was born in Rusape, Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, and educated in Zambia, South Africa and Zimbabwe. He obtained a BSc in Forestry from the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa and has also worked in the timber industry in Swaziland and done some consulting work in Kenya.
He was previously chairman of Forestal Mimosa and was appointed managing director on April 1, 2003, on the retirement of John Shevill. He says his experience in the tanning business is primarily in the production of wattle extracts but he has travelled fairly extensively to the main markets covered by Forestal so is no stranger to tanneries. ‘Having said this there is a lot I still have to learn about tanning and leather, and this is a new challenge which I look forward to.’
