Associates: The Boardroom Practice Limited's associates are New Zealand's leading authorities on corporate governance.
The Boardroom Practice’s associates are New Zealand based, and are all recognised authorities in their specialist areas of governance. Our associates include:
Ms Anne Blackburn
Anne Blackburn has a background in banking, governance and strategic advice. In the mid 1990s she returned to New Zealand after fifteen years working in international investment banks in New York and London.
Concurrently with senior positions in Corporate & Institutional Banking in BNZ, including Head of Capital Markets and Business Risk Manager, she took up a number of commercial Board appointments. These include AgResearch (1999 - 2005) and presently Meridian Energy, TVNZ, New Zealand Venture Investment Fund, Wellington Regional Holdings, UNITEC and Forsyth Barr. On these Boards she holds a number of committee positions in Audit and Risk, and in Remuneration and Human Resources.
Anne is also an experienced Director/Trustee in the not for profit sector, being Chair of the Centre for Clinical Research and effective practice, Chair of The Royal New Zealand Ballet and on the Boards of Footnote Dance Company and the Chinese Language Foundation.
Through 2006 and 2007 she was a contract executive consulting to a significant Maori incorporation on the operational management of businesses within their investment portfolio and on the refinement of their investment policy and strategy.
Anne's experience is strong in the financial and innovation sectors and her governance interests focus on capital structure, parent/subsidiary relationships and remuneration practice.
Mr Danny Chan
Danny is a third generation New Zealand Chinese, brought up in Wellington. His early career involved investment management and during this time he was also a part time lecturer and tutor in Managerial Finance and Business Analysis at Victoria University.
In 1986 Danny was appointed by Fidelity Investments (the largest fund management company in the world) to head their Taiwan office and sit on the board of their Asia/Pacific operations.
Danny returned to New Zealand in 1994 to develop his own business interests, including investment management, financial and business consultancy, floriculture, education, trading, seafood processing and security systems.
Some of these business interests include being a founder of the Academic Colleges Group Limited - the largest private school group in New Zealand which also includes and international college.
Danny holds a number of directorships in New Zealand. He is Chairman of Flowezone International Limited, New Zealand's largest exporter of fresh cut flowers. He is also the deputy chairman of Academic Colleges Group Limited and a Director of AgResearch Limited, a Crown Research Institute. He has recently joined the Board of Abano Healthcare, a listed company on the NZX.
Danny is also a former Director of Airways Corporation, an SOE, and a former Director of Everbright Pacific Limited, a subsidiary of the Chinese government owned, China Everbright Limited.
Through his long involvement with the education, investment and export industries, Danny has developed an extensive network of contacts in Asia. He is fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese as well as being very familiar with the protocols of Asian and Western cultures. Danny acts as an adviser for several New Zealand companies for their Asian marketing and joint ventures.
Danny will provide the necessary understanding of the countries, peoples, cultures and languages of Asia and will add a perspective to the assignment and the overall review of the work programme, projects, funding and a general perspective.
Further, his long involvement with education, investment and export industries has ensured an extensive network of contacts in Asia. He was also a key note speaker for the launch of Asia 2000 and therefore brings an added perspective on the original mission and strategic objectives for the Foundation.
Mr Grant Diggle
Formerly Chief Executive Officer Chartered Secretaries Incorporated, Grant has a particular interest in the role of Company Secretary and Boards with the attendant governance and compliance issues facing companies.
Right Honourable Sir Douglas Graham
Sir Douglas practised law in Auckland between 1965 and 1984. He was then elected to Parliament and in 1990 became the Minister of Justice, Minister of Cultural Affairs and in 1991 Minister in Charge of Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations. He was the Minister responsible for the Companies Act, the Financial Reporting Act, the Takeovers Act and other legislation affecting commerce. He later held the portfolio of Attorney General.
Sir Douglas retired from politics in 1999 and was a Visiting Fellow at Cambridge University in the UK in 2000. Since then he has held a number of Board appointments and is presently Deputy Chairman of the Guardians of the NZ Superannuation Fund and the Chairman of Ontario Teachers Pension Fund OTPP (NZ) Forests Limited. He is also a consultant on indigenous issues. For the past 5 years he was the Special Envoy for the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth to the Kingdom of Tonga.
Mr Craig Ellison
Craig is a professional director, with a background in the fisheries sector, resource management, governance and trade policy advice, and developing business capability.
Craig was very closely involved with the introduction of the Quota Management System in New Zealand, and has experienced the difficulties within the system from the perspectives of both small and large quota owning concerns.
From 1992 to 2004 Craig was a Commissioner of Te Ohu Kai Moana (The Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission). Particular highpoints include the successful resolution of the allocation mechanism for Maori in regard to fisheries settlement assets, culminating in the enactment of the Maori Fisheries Act 2004, and also the creation of the Prepared Foods Joint Venture.
Representation of fishing industry groups and sectors has featured strongly in Craig's career. He has served a term as President of the Fishing Industry Association, as a member of the New Zealand Fishing Industry Board, and has also been involved with International Trade issues and Chaired the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council Fisheries Task Force for several years. Craig was also a member of the NZ delegation to both the Cancun and Hong Kong WTO Ministerials.
Craig was a member of the multi agency Workplace Productivity Challenge report, which recommended options for increasing productivity in New Zealand businesses in order to move to a sustainable high wage, high skill and high value economy.
Current interests focus on adoption of good corporate governance processes, particularly within Maori organisations. A recent development has been accepting the chair position of the Business Capability Partnership, a joint government / private sector partnership focusing on improving NZ business and management capabilities.
Current appointments include: Ministerial appointments - New Zealand Trade and Enterprise Board, Airways Corporation of New Zealand Limited (and subsidiary companies), National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research; Chair of New Zealand Seafood Standards Council and Business Capability Partnership; and current directorships of Raniera Fishing Proprietary Limited, Aviation English Services, Lesvos Abalone Limited, Absolute Foods Limited, Foodstuffs Fresh (Auckland) Limited and Carter and Spencer Group Pty Limited (advisory board).
Mr Peter Farley
Peter is a Registered Civil Engineer with particular expertise in the forestry and energy sectors and has held a number of Board appointments. Peter has also consulted extensively to District Councils, Central Government organisations - including Treasury and the Ministry of Economic Development, as well as to overseas organisations.
Peter is particularly knowledgeable in the governance and structures of central and local government. His commercial experience includes working with start-up companies.
Peter has previously been Chair and President of SPELD, Wellington, a Director of the Residual Health Management Unit and is currently a Trustee of Eastland Energy Community Trust.
Peter also has had a number of papers published on infrastructure over the last twenty years.
Principal of Tony Gray and Associates. Mr Tony Gray is a Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants. He is also a member of the Institute of Directors and INFINZ.
Tony has extensive financial experience having being a Chief Financial Officer of a number of large organizations for around 20 years. Most recently he was the Group Finance Manager/CFO of Mighty River Power Limited a role he held for 7 years and prior to that CFO/Director of Investments of Television New Zealand Limited for 12 years. At the time he was CFO of Mighty River Power the Company was awarded the Excellence in Treasury Management Award by INFINZ reflecting the an innovative bond issue and debt strategies implanted by the Company.He has been involved in the setting up of joint ventures in New Zealand, Australia and Singapore.
He has been on the Board of various companies including SKY Network Television Limited, CLEAR Communications Limited, Asia Business News (Pty) Limited, Rotokawa Generation Limited and Southdown Cogeneration Limited. He has also been a Concillor and Executive Board member of the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants and is a member of Institutes Sustainable Development Reporting Committee.
Tony's has been involved in all facets of financial management but has particular skills and experience in Treasury Management including debt capital markets, foreign exchange management and interest rate risk management, restructuring finance teams, reporting to boards, financial planning, governance in joint ventures and financial governance. His experience covers both the public and private sectors.
Ms Susan Huria
Susan Huria is a specialist in Maori issues with a background in governance, communications and general management. Susan was a member of the senior executive at Auckland International Airport Limited for ten years before starting her own management practice, Huria Anders. Susan specialises in work with Maori organisations including constitutional reviews, Board appointments, support and strategic advice for Boards and Chief Executives. She has recently completed a review of the Waitangi Tribunal for the Department for Courts.
Susan completed six years as a Director of Radio New Zealand Limited and Ngäi Tahu Development Corporation and has chaired the Audit Committee and the Remuneration Committee at Ngäi Tahu. She is former Director of Housing New Zealand Corporation, and is on the board of AgResearch Limited. Susan is also a member of the Advisory Board of Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design.
Susan is a fellow of the Public Relations Institute of New Zealand and is a member of the Institute of Directors.
Mr Kerry Marshall
Kerry was elected Mayor of Nelson City in October 2007. He is also Chair of I-Site New Zealand. Kerry has over 20 years experience in Local Government - initially as a councillor and then 12 years as the first Mayor of Tasman District Nelson. He was elected President of Local Government New Zealand ( 1996/1999 ) which is the representative body of all 86 Local Councils in New Zealand. More recently he has just completed a 4 year stint on the Local Government Commission.
Kerry is a former director of Roads and Parks Limited, a member of both the Towards 2000 Task Force and the NZ Tourism Strategy 2010 and was the Presiding Member of the NZ Lotteries Commission until 2003. He was previously chairman of the New Zealand Conservation Authority and a member for 12 years, the longest anyone has served on the Authority.
Kerry has his own company which undertakes a menu of activity from Conference facilitation to company culture analyses. He was born in Nelson NZ which makes him special and returned after a stint in Canada and Scotland. His local interests are an association with the World of Wearableart and the Tasman Environment Trust.
Mr John Storey
John Storey is an experienced Director and Chairman who has had a distinguished career in both the dairy industry and in commerce.
He has had experience in local and international marketing and manufacture, strategic planning, change management, and has a demonstrated track record in sound financial performance and organisational development. These skills have been acquired with leading businesses in the dairy industry, the financial sector, industrial and agricultural chemical industries, the energy sector (electricity and coal), and the fertiliser industry, in education and in the transport industry.
John is currently a director of the Bank of New Zealand, Chairman of Hamilton International Airport, Chairman of Pulse Utilities and an Advisory Board member of Pioneer Capital.
John is a past president of the NZ Institute of Directors and was awarded the Most Distinguished Fellow of IOD in 1999. John spent 6 years on the boards of the New Zealand Dairy Group and the New Zealand Dairy Board as both Director and Chairman. In 2002 he was made an Officer of New Zealand Order of Merit. John’s previous Directorships include Chairman of New Zealand Lumber Company, Glencoal, Aspak Industries, and Director of Waikato Electricity, BOP Fertiliser Limited and Nufarm.
Ms Anne Urlwin
Anne is a professional director, chartered accountant and business consultant with 20 years directorship experience in sectors ranging from energy, transport, health, information technology, research, banking, forestry and the primary sector as well as education, sports administration and the theatre. Anne also has senior management experience in the corporate sector including experience in public listing and New Zealand Stock Exchange requirements.
Anne is a director of Meridian Energy Ltd and Queenstown local government regulatory services provider Lakes Environmental Ltd, and she is a member of the board of New Zealand Cricket. She chairs the board of the New Zealand Blood Service and technology infrastructure company .nz Registry Services (New Zealand Domain Name Registry Ltd). She is also a director of equity and debt funder Invest South Ltd. She is Deputy Chairman of Landcare Research NZ Ltd, and is a former Deputy Chairman of Airways Corporation of NZ Ltd.
Her directorship experience – as director, chairman and deputy chairman – has been with a range of organisations at different stages of their life cycles, from start–through to fully mature, and with organisations having varied stakeholders, including commercially-focused owners in the private sector as well as the Crown and local government sector, and stakeholders of not-for-profit entities. Anne was formerly a Director and Chairman of Red Bus Ltd and of Brackenridge Estate Ltd, Deputy Chairman of Timberlands West Coast Ltd, a Director of Trust Bank Canterbury Ltd and an inaugural Board Member of the New Zealand Racing Board. She also served as a Council member of the Christchurch College of Education and the New Zealand Institute of Management Canterbury division, and she is a former Trustee of the Court Theatre Trust.
Anne is a Fellow of the Institute of Directors in New Zealand and of the New Zealand Institute of Management. She is a member of the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants and of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries New Zealand.
Mr John Walters
John is the founding partner of Walters Law. He specialises in property and general commercial, corporate and business law.
John is the former Chairman of Blue Chip New Zealand Limited, a Director of Solid Energy New Zealand Limited, an elected council member of the Auckland District Law Society, Chairman of the Aotearoa Credit Union, commercial treaty settlement negotiator for Te Aupouri Iwi and a member of the New Zealand Institute of Directors. He is also a former Director of the Auckland Hospital Board (CHE, HHS and Company) and the Waitangi hotel.
Mr Martin Wylie
Martin is an experienced Senior Executive, who specialises in change management, and is also a company director. Most recently he has been on the boards of ASX listed PeopleTelecom Limited and Callplus Limited. Currently, Martin is the CEO of the Callplus Limited group of companies including Slingshot Limited (which is the third largest New Zealand owned and operated Telco and ISP in New Zealand).
Martin's former executive positions include: CEO Ihug; CEO Simpson Grierson Law; Group Managing Director Aetna Health (NZ Limited); Group Company Secretary of Telecom Corporation of New Zealand, Steel and Tube Holdings Limited and EMCO Group Limited.