Executive Appointments

Dynasty Hotel Group (DHG), which operates Heritage Hotel Management in New Zealand, has appointed chief financial officer Graham Yan chief executive. Heritage Hotel Management manages CBD CityLife Hotels in Auckland and Wellington and Heritage Hotels in Auckland, Nelson, Hanmer Springs, Christchurch and Queenstown.

Westpac New Zealand has appointed professional company director Malcolm Bailey to its board. Mr Bailey is a former national president of Federated Farmers and has been a director of Fonterra since 2004.  He is also chairman of the Dairy Companies Association of NZ, a member of the NZ International Business Forum and a board member of the NZ US Business Council. Previously, he was an economist with the Reserve Bank and is a former Reserve Bank external monetary policy adviser.

Bank of New Zealand, the local unit of National Australia Bank, has appointed Adrienne Duarte chief financial officer as Ken Christie moves up to a role with the parent bank. Ms Duarte will be the bank’s first female chief financial officer. Her 12-year stint at NAB has included manager of performance & planning.

New Zealand IT service and solutions provider Datacom Group has appointed Erica Lloyd communications director. Ms Lloyd is an Auckland communications professional with a background in the film and television industry, broadcast media and banking.

Billing solutions provider Debitsuccess has appointed Craig Marshall chief executive. Dr Marshall has been a director of Debitsuccess since 2007. Currently he is chief executive of Labtests. He was originally a physical education teacher and since graduating from Otago University with a medical degree has for the past 27 years been involved in running various New Zealand businesses especially in the health sector. Previously he was one of the founding directors and the chief executive of the White Cross Group. He is currently chairman of Corporate Cabs. 

Jessica Mathias has been appointed senior account manager on the lifestyle team at Pead PR. Ms Mathias has worked in both corporate and consultancy roles in Auckland and Christchurch. She was most recently an account manager at Auckland-based consultancy Goode PR.

The Building Intelligence Group has appointed Tess Browne senior project manager in its Christchurch office. Ms Browne has an extensive background in law and property and substantial sector experience in end-to-end project management for education, health, stadiums and commercial projects. Sharlene Vidak has been appointed as an assistant project manager in the Wellington office. Mrs Vidak has a strong interior design and fitout background and has worked on government sector projects.

Workforce solutions firm Kelly has appointed Michelle Adams branch manager of its Christchurch operations. Ms Adams was previously general manager for operations for Tumblar Products and has worked as global operations practice manager for Tait Electronics.

Technology-based solutions provider Siemens New Zealand has appointed Steve Wooderson executive manager of the company’s infrastructure and cities division. Mr Wooderson is an experienced senior sales executive with an extensive international business background having worked in the US, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Germany and Australia. His previous role was with New Zealand Trade and Enterprise as a service designer. Before that he spent six years with German electronic components company EPCOS, a Siemens offshoot in Germany and latterly the US where he was vice president – sales. Mr Wooderson is an active business mentor with Business Mentors NZ. He replaces Grant Donaldson, who will continue to work with Siemens on a number of special projects.

Diana Thomas has joined Buddle Findlay’s Wellington office as a solicitor in the public law team.  Ms Thomas specialises in public and administrative law, and takeover regulation. Previously she worked at the Takeovers Panel and in the public and corporate law team at another top tier firm. She recently returned to New Zealand after a period of travelling and volunteering in Africa.

Jeremy Steel has joined Auckland-based specialist law firm, Dawson Harford & Partners as a partner in the corporate, commercial team.  Mr Steel practises in the corporate, financing and securities areas and has acted for banks, finance companies, major corporates and local authorities in various significant domestic and cross-border transactions. 

The YWCA Auckland has appointed Monica Briggs chief executive. Ms Briggs is national education setting manager at the National Heart Foundation, where she has been responsible for numerous public health initiatives including the Jump Rope for Heart programme. Previously, she was general manager of the Auckland Regional Public Health Service (APRHS), from 2001 to 2008. She has been deputy chairwoman for the New Zealand AIDS Foundation for five years and was elected president of the Public Health Association in October 2011. She replaces Hilary Sumpter.

Leslie Thng has been appointed chief executive of SilkAir, succeeding Marvin Tan, who will return to parent company Singapore Airlines as acting senior vice president cabin crew. Mr Thng joined SilkAir as a director earlier this year and is currently SIA’s vice president network planning. He has been with SIA for more than 13 years, during which time he has held positions in head office as well as overseas. Previously Mr Thng was based in Frankfurt as general manager Germany since June 2009. Earlier he was based in Italy and in China.

Nga Pae o te Maramatanga (NPM) has appointed Traci Houpapa and Pare Keiha to its board. NPM is one of New Zealand’s seven centres of research excellence. Ms Houpapa (Waikato Maniapoto, Taranaki, Tuwharetoa) is the chairwoman of the Federation of Maori Authorities (FoMA), and a Tainui executive committee member. She is a partner with THS & Associates Ltd, a Hamilton-based consulting firm providing advice in strategic and business planning and organisational development. She holds many director and ministerial appointments, including Landcorp Farming, Strada Corporation, Pemberton Construction, the National Advisory Council of Employment for Women, the Rural Broadband Initiative Advisory Committee, the Global Strategic Initiatives Expert Advisory Committee, and Te Uranga B2 Incorporation. Associate Professor Keiha is the pro vice chancellor for Maori advancement, learning and teaching and dean of Te Ara Poutama, the faculty of Maori development at AUT University. He was a member of the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology’s Board from 2002 to 2010.  He is chairman of the Mika Haka Foundation. He is a trustee of the Te Whanau-a-Taupara Trust Board and his tribal affiliations lie with the principal tribes of Turanga (Gisborne), specifically the whanau-a-Taupara hapu of T’Aitanga-a-Mahaki, and Rongowhakaata.

Shaun Rendell has been appointed chief financial officer for Kordia Group. Mr Rendell was chief financial officer at Renaissance Corporation for two years and acting chief executive for the past year.  Previously, Mr Rendell held senior roles in the telco industry in both New Zealand and UK telcos. He started his career in the communications industry with British Telecom and O2.

North Port Events has appointed Steve Duck general manager. He has more than two decades of event management experience. He has been Reed Exhibitions’ international marketing manager and headed the global marketing team for ProQuest Information & Learning. He has been part of a specialist strategy group for NZ Post and an international  marketing consultant.