THE DOMINION POST TRIBUTES TO WELLINGTON ICONS
One individual is selected to be honoured by the Gold Awards for their major contribution to Wellington business during their lifetime.
Presented by The Dominion Post.
ROLL OF HONOUR
THE WINNER ... 2010
JOHN TODD - heading a huge family corporation more...
THE WINNER ... 2009
NEVILLE JORDAN - technology entrepreneur more...
THE WINNER... 2008
SIR RON BRIERLY- global business phenomenom more ...
THE WINNER ... 2007
DR ROD DEANE - corporate leader more ...
THE WINNER ... 2006
SIR JOHN ANDERSON - business & community hero more ...
THE WINNER... 2005
ALAN MARTIN - retail legend more ...
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THE WINNER... 2010
There aren’t many businesses in New Zealand that have been around for over a century and a quarter and even fewer family businesses still in the family. There’s probably just one – called Todd.
Charles Todd came to Otago from Australia in the 1870s, set up a wool-souring business and left his 18 year son, also called Charles, to run it while he went back to the goldmines. The business took off, and so did the Todd family.
Charles junior brought the first motor car in to the district in 1908. After WWI, the Todds consolidated all their business in Otago, combining stock and station with the acquisition of a Ford car dealership. One franchise led to another, and another, and many others throughout New Zealand, culminating in the Todd Motors car dealerships and assembly plants, first in Petone and then in Porirua, at Todd Park,. Opened in 1975 on a single site of 29 hectares it was then the largest, most modern and efficient assembly plant in the country. Todd sold to Mitsubishi Motors in 1987 – a year later, tariff reductions on import motor vehicles sounded the death knell for local car assembly.
The Todds had other interests to do with motor vehicles – fuelling them. A supply problem in Christchurch in the early 1930’s forced the company to source its own petrol – from Russia, the brand called Europa to disguise its origins, Europa was the first to offer electric petrol pumps in New Zealand and had the first articulated road tankers, as well as initiating the sale of consumer products in service station forecourts.
The search for petroleum products led Todd to look closer to home – in the late 50s Todd Energy formed a Shell led consortium with BP, which discovered both the Kapuni and the Maui gas and oil fields. Ongoing diversification has extended Todd Energy’s interests beyond natural gas into electricity generation and supply, LPG delivery and the operation of commercial and retail energy brands.
Todd Energy is just half the story. The family business- the Todd Corporation – also owns Todd Capital.
Todd Capital is a long-term strategic investor that seeks significant corporate investments in New Zealand and Australia. Its investments include Woosh Wireless, Crown Castle in Australia and Landco. Todd was a key player in the development of Clear Communications, that today, as TelstraClear, is Telecom's main competitor – and it helped fund and develop satellite broadcaster Sky Network Television, remaining an important shareholder.
The Todd Corporation can be found at, naturally, Todd House on Customhouse Quay – it’s known as “the family office”. Under the founding document Todd relatives must make up at least a quarter of the board. Chairman John Todd, who took over as chairman of Todd Corporation after his uncle Sir Bryan Todd died in 1987, is a grandson of the founder Charles and is proud of the keeping-it-in-the-family ethos – which has undoubtedly worked: the Todd empire has had a huge impact and a strong influence on the New Zealand economy for decades.
And not just business. The Todd family has a strong history of philanthropy, with the first formal Todd charitable trust established in the 1950sTwenty years later, Sir Bryan Todd instigated the Todd Foundation in conjunction with Andrew and John Todd as the flagship for Todd family philanthropy. John Todd chairs the Foundation today. The Todd Corporation and Todd family members continue to provide ongoing support to the Todd Foundation through annual donations, with family members actively involved in governance and taking a keen interest in the foundation’s activities. In addition, some family members have their own philanthropic trusts, while the Todd Corporation and its subsidiaries are major sponsors of the arts, sports and youth initiatives.
John Todd was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in last year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to business and the community. He also helped found Philanthropy New Zealand, building on the philanthropic work of the Todd Foundation, which was formed in 1972 and still gives $2 million a year to science, education and charities.
John Todd – philanthropist, businessman and committed family man.
THE WINNER... 2009
Growing up in Petone in the 40s and 50s, life wasn't all beer and skittles, but for Neville Jordan it was a happy and nurturing environment. Stung by an early school report that said he lacked initiative, young Neville fought back and became Dux.
Neville graduated in engineering from Canterbury University and took off for study in America, before joining IBM. Feeling he could do better under his own steam, in 1975 Neville resigned - on a Friday, took the weekend off, and started his own company on the Monday, designing and producing electronics with military applications. MAS Technology grew, and grew, and grew. And soon, it was time to list on the stock exchange.
The New Zealand stock exchange wasn’t interested – MAS had limited appeal to New Zealand investors, they said. Not so NASDAQ, which welcomed MAS, and Neville, with open arms, making MAS the only privately owned New Zealand company to list there on the main board. The move – in 1997 - reaped immediate rewards. Not only did it raise a lot of cash, but MAS was propelled into a period on enormous growth and recognition.
With the company doing so well, eighteen months later Neville sold his shares to an international company, and retired - for about three weeks… before re-emerging as a venture capitalist. Endeavour Capital is a leading New Zealand private equity company, investing predominantly in the science and technology sectors. One of Neville’s priorities is to see that New Zealand derives the maximum benefit from its emerging technology companies.
Neville is passionate about his leisure time as well – and just as adventurous. He’s been involved in ocean-going yacht racing, scuba diving in the arctic and has motorcycled through many exotic locations. Through his Jordan Foundation he has generously supported education and the performing arts for over 20 years.
As for the secret to his own – or anyone else’s success? Utter confidence in your abilities, recognising your shortfalls and having the desire to achieve. And achieve is what the lad from Petone has consistently done.
THE WINNER... 2008
He's been called a lot of things over the years and many of them quite polite - like shrewd, astute, insightful and a genius. He's been called other names as well, but whatever they've been, the boy from Island Bay has shrugged them off, smiled to himself and got on with the business of business.
Sir Ron Brierley got his start in the business world at Wellington College in the early nineteen fifties, when he was just plain Ronald Arthur. The Kiwi Stamp Company operated at lunchtimes out of Ron's desk, working on the principle of buying cheaply in bulk in the hope of finding the odd treasure that could be sold for a large profit. Simple, effective and enduring…
Out of school, and university, Brierley's next step was to publish a sharemarket tipsheet, New Zealand Stocks and Shares. Its robust, no-holds-barred, some might say cheeky, style won him no friends but it got him noticed and more importantly gave him an insight into the share market.
He saw plenty of opportunities - undervalued shares, inefficient management, assets that could be redeployed elsewhere - and realised he could make his mark. In 1961, R A Brierley Investments Ltd was born.
Twenty years later BIL, as it was now known, had made the Top Twenty of New Zealand's largest companies, and by 1984 had become the largest in terms of market capitalisation.
At the heart of BIL's success lay Brierley's dogged commitment to the task at hand, his ability to work long hours and undertake thorough research… combined with his enthusiasm for business and his unparalleled ability to recognise opportunities and potential.
Knighted in 1987, Sir Ron stepped down from active control of BIL in 1990. He was appointed Chairman of his private investment vehicle, Guinness Peat Group, that same year. GPG's shares were listed on the NZSE in 1991, on the London Stock Exchange in 1992, and the Australian Stock Exchange in 1993.
Likened to the American stockbroking legend Warren Buffet, Sir Ron has his fans and his detractors. Few can doubt his business acumen - in a look back at the heady days of 1980's entrepreneurs, the Melbourne Age highlighted Sir Ron as the standout success, in fact the only success.
From the start Sir Ron challenged the prevailing attitudes to business in New Zealand, of both business people and the Government of the day. In fact, legislation was sometimes brought in to try to curb his enthusiasms but forty years on, his aggressive approach has become the norm, and the Brierley style - hard work and astute judgement, and a bit of nous - is now the textbook way to business success.
THE WINNER... 2007
DR ROD DEANE - Corporate Leader
The career of Dr. Roderick Deane is in many ways a peculiarly Wellington story - a provincial boy who came to the city and made good in both public and private business arenas. Yet behind that glib summary is an impressive story of achievement which is probably unique in the business annals of New Zealand.
Deane first came to Wellington in 1959 as an undergraduate to Victoria University, taking up residence in the Baptist Youth Hostel. Although he had showed some academic potential as a schoolboy, his discovery of economics as an academic discipline was akin to the convergence of Isaac Newton and the apple. A stellar academic career including the ultimate achievement of a Ph.D followed, along with an equally important event in his lifetime of success - meeting his future wife Gillian.
So, with the 'Naki boy having joined forces with the 'Gizzy Girl' and 'done good' in the world of academia - what was the next step? For a budding theoretical economist, the Reserve Bank emerged as an employer that could not only utilise this exceptional talent, but also serve as a platform to grow Roderick's own formidable grasp of econometrics. Stints with (among others) the Bank of England and especially the IMF broadened and deepened his expertise, and his appointment as Chief Economist and the Deputy Governor at the Reserve Bank placed him firmly in the midst of New Zealand's economic development. His Reserve Bank career was made challenging by his understanding of the limitations of and awareness of alternatives to the then current New Zealand economic orthodoxy. This culminated in his central role in the economic transition that was triggered by the change of Government in 1984.
Deane emerged as the man in the right place at the right time to assume the position of Chairman of the State Services Commission as the reforms of the 1980's became reality. The leap from 'policy wonk' to public sector leader is a large one at the best of times, and the mid 1980's were certainly not the easiest of times! Deane's ability to reform the SSC without total meltdown in the process marked him out as not just an outstanding theoretician, but a practical manager at the highest level.
Less appreciated but no less pivotal than his public career was the challenge that Roderick and Gillian faced bringing up their daughter Kristen who suffered from acute Rett Syndrome, a debilitating mental condition. This experience led them to a lifelong involvement with the IHC, and not the least of Roderick's contributions to his country has been his role in this organisation.
After a term at the SSC, Deane was shoulder-tapped to be chief executive of the newly created SOE ECNZ. Had the fox now entered the henhouse he had in part constructed? This belies the vast inherent complexity of taking a public sector organisation and transforming it into a business entity in operations and culture. Once again, Deane was very successful in this hugely difficult endeavour - done against a backdrop of public unease and difficult economic and political times.
One last frontier awaited Deane - the leadership of a major public company. After his five years at ECNZ, Telecom knocked on the door. As New Zealand's largest listed company, with a bevy of hardnosed international shareholders, this was the ultimate challenge - and one that once again Deane met with outstanding success by any measure be it public services delivered, tax paid to Government or shareholder value built.
From management, Deane segued naturally to governance, and has served on the boards of and chaired some of Australasia's most significant companies. He and Gillian have also long established themselves as active patrons of the Arts, supporting many individual and public endeavours, whilst the Deane Endowment Trust ensures that much unseen support is available across a wide range of human endeavour.
Roderick Deane has always been happy to let his results speak for themselves. The Gold Awards salute him and pay tribute to his enormous contribution to New Zealand's business world as a thinker, a 'do-er' and a leader.
THE WINNER... 2006
SIR JOHN ANDERSON - Business and Community Leader
Sir John Anderson is the very embodiment of that classic Kiwi description 'A good bloke'. As New Zealand's most decorated businessman, Sir John's career has been one of outstanding achievement in both corporate and civic life.
But Sir John would be the first to say that he owes his success to the excellent people that he has worked with over the years and to his family. What he would not say, but all those who have worked with him would say, is that his greatest strength was to get the best out of people, and inspire them to be leaders and managers of the highest calibre.
These attributes were recognized with the "New Zealand's Most Visionary Leader" award in 2003 and being the inaugural winner of the Blake Medal in 2005 for "Outstanding Leadership Contributions to New Zealand."
It's characteristic of Sir John that once he has his foot in the door, it won't be long before he is running the show. This is testimony not to pushiness or self promotion, but his fantastic blend of leadership, professional capability and sheer hard yakka.
So it proved at Southpac, at age 35 'the Big Guy' as he was known in the trade became Chief Executive of Southpac, ultimately overseeing the merger of Southpac with The National Bank - and we'll give you one guess as to who was the Chief Executive of this new organization!
A keen sportsman, Sir John was a rugby rep for Wellington, got a university blue for squash, and had a reputation of putting the willow to the leather in swashbuckling style on the cricket pitch. He would also be familiar with the expression 'a hospital pass' - and may have felt that he was given one when appointed to the board of NZ Steel and as Chair of Petrocorp in the 1980's to sort out their problems of the time. Sir John handled this sort of bowling in his stride and has also found time to chair the World Wide Fund for Nature, The New Zealand Sports Foundation, The NZ Festival of the Arts Foundation (an icon Wellington event who certainly benefited from some banking wisdom in the recollection of then Festival Director Chris Doig!) among other roles in business and community.
But perhaps his best known and most significant community achievement has been his contribution to New Zealand Cricket, including his long service as it's Chairman and his directorship on the ICC board. There are plenty of googlies, wrong-uns and short pitched deliveries in the world of cricket administration, and it says much about Sir John that he has been such a fine ambassador and leader for the sport globally, playing the cricket politics every bit as well as he had the game.
Shoulder-tapped (but never ankle tapped) by successive Governments on both sides to bring his reason, logic and unfailing commonsense to a variety of Government appointments in the likes of business and education, including Chairmanship of the multiparty New Zealand Employment Task Force. In 1995 he was NBR's New Zealander of the Year. If you want something done, give it to a busy man. Even with all these community and business involvements, Sir John took his National Bank to the forefront of banking practice in New Zealand.
In 2003, the ANZ purchased The National Bank, a $12 billion merger, the largest ever in New Zealand, forming the largest company in New Zealand. Sir John was paid the ultimate compliment to head up the new organization, but he had one condition in taking the appointment - that was that the Head Office stayed in Wellington. Retirement beckoned, and Sir John relinquished his banking responsibilities in 2005.
What's a good Kiwi bloke to do? Go Fishing? Not likely (although he has been known to tickle the odd trout). Take on the Chairmanship of TVNZ? Yeah Right! But that's exactly what this quiet but prodigious achiever has done - stepping once more into the corporate breach… Sir John has been accoladed by his peers and his country for his remarkable achievements for New Zealand's corporate and community life, and his contributions on the international stage.
It's the turn of his home city to recognise and honour him. Sir John - we thank you for being not only a good Kiwi bloke, but a great Wellington bloke as well.
THE WINNER... 2005
ALAN MARTIN - Retail Legend
There are certain iconic phrases fixed firmly in the subconscious of your average Kiwi. Some we use every day; others need just a memory nudge to spill out in full.
There's: Listen....listen...It's a goal! - Winston McCarthy calling the All Blacks.
There's: Good morning everybody, it's such a wonderful day, the sun is shining right up my back passage (Aunt Daisy). Let's not forget Our Rachel and her Pantene spiel: It won't happen overnight but it will happen. And Fred Dagg's we don't know how lucky we are, mate or Selwyn Toogood's... What'll it be Waipukurau, the money or the bag.
There's...You're not in Guatemala now, Dr Ropata.. or... Madge, you're soaking in it. And of course there's: Bugger!, Good onya, mate, and Yeah, right! One of the most enduring phrases came from the mouth of an avuncular, bespectacled chap, all earnest and honest, during the first quarter century of television in this country, making him a household name: It's the putting right that counts.
That gentleman, you all know is Alan Martin. Alan is the middle Martin in a dynasty that began with his father Leo in a Lambton Quay music shop in 1934. Alan worked in his Dad's shop, by then selling and servicing radios, but pestered and peppered his father with so many suggestions that Leo, basically, told him to go off and do his own thing.
He did. The rest is history. And in the process Alan created one of the most successful, memorable and enduring marketing slogans in New Zealand business history. Putting right sums up what L V Martin and Son was all about. In 43 years at the helm, Alan grew the business to three retail appliance stores, a bedding store and a mail-order operation.
At the height of L V Martin's success, Alan declared he knew nothing about marketing when he started and still didn't. "Marketing is what big companies do when they want to impress. People want security, honesty and personal advice. They ask themselves, 'do I trust this man?' "
Many, many thousands of satisfied customers did. And any that weren't satisfied had extraordinary access to Alan and later his son Neil when he took over the firm. Alan was on call 24 hours a day. He revealed once that the calls were a tremendous intrusion into his family's life.
"My kids were brought up in a home with all these calls coming in any time of the day or night. It must have been a pain in the neck for my wife Shirley and the children but that was the level of involvement with the business they got used to." Alan was renowned for his innovation. He was often ahead of what was happening in the market. Alan's commitment to his customers was mirrored by his staff. There would be no business today that shares so much information with its staff as Alan did with his. They repaid him with a loyalty few modern businesses could boast of.
We honour Alan Martin and his contribution to the business community, this city and its people. And we thank him for putting things right.
The Gold Awards have been proudly celebrating outstanding business performers in Wellington, Hutt, Upper Hutt, Porirua and Kapiti since 1999.