Don Braid, managing director of Mainfreight, is one of the New Zealand Herald Business Leader of the Year finalists. Photo / File
Don Braid, managing director of Mainfreight, is one of the New Zealand Herald Business Leader of the Year finalists. Photo / File
Don Braid - Mainfreight
In a world focused on short-term performance Mainfreight boss Don Braid is working on a 100-year vision, an approach that is central to all decisions at the international transport and logistics company.
Braid has more than 38 years' experience in the freight industry and has been with Mainfreight for more than two decades. He is a past winner of the NZ Herald Business Leader of the Year.
The company was formed in 1978 and in 1984 opened its first Mainfreight International branch.
Mainfreight has built a reputation for being a slick-run operation and under Braid's leadership has grown into a global player with branches across Australia, China, Europe, New Zealand and the United States.
Braid has drive, a dogged determination and is known for his positive attitude. This year he received the leadership award at the 2016 Institute of Finance Professionals awards. But he is not interested in stealing the limelight.
Success comes as a result of the efforts of a global team the company counted at 6440 in its last annual report, with businesses in 239 branches in 21 countries. The company says it is on a journey that one day will see it located in all the major trading nations of the world.
Tourism Holdings chief executive Grant Webster. Photo / Brett Phibbs.
Grant Webster - Tourism Holdings
Grant Webster had a baptism of fire when he took the helm at Tourism Holdings in 2008. The global financial crisis ripped through the world economy and visitor numbers and spending plunged.
Tourism Holdings began as three companies that merged to form The Helicopter Line in the 1980s and branched into other operations, including the Waitomo Caves, which it still operates today. It was a complex business and before the financial crisis struck it had begun to narrow its focus to developing its motorhome assets.
In 2010 with the world still firmly in the grip of the financial crisis the company took a punt and moved into the US market with the purchase of Road Bear RV Rentals and Sales.
The expansion paid off and the company has not finished pushing into the world's largest recreational vehicle market, this month announcing it will pay US$65.3 million for US campervan rental and sales business El Monte Rents.
The move will make the company the second-largest RV rental operator in North America.
Webster has childhood connections to the tourist industry, growing up in Napier where his father was a tour bus driver.
"It used to be a holiday for us to hop on a bus and go up to the Waitomo glowworm caves. It's funny how things come around," he told the Herald this year.
Spark CEO Simon Moutter at the Spark offices on Victoria Street, Auckland. Photo / Nick Reed
Simon Moutter - Spark
Simon Moutter's mission to transform Spark from a old-school telco to a digital services business appears to be paying off.
"First and foremost that shows up with the customers' view of us. That's seen us regain number one in market share in revenue in mobile, to gain leadership in market share in Cloud IT services and to retain and strengthen our leadership in data networking as well," he said last month.
Under Moutter's watch, Spark also committed to pay all permanent staff who aren't on a commission at least $19.20 an hour. The scheme means all eligible workers are entitled to life and income insurance and get contributions to their personal phone and internet bills.
He also put his head above the parapet when calling for Google, Facebook and Apple to pay their fair share of tax in New Zealand.
Moutter, who joined Spark in 2012, also pushed for to big business to invest in early-stage companies.
My Food Bag founder Cecilia Robinson. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Cecilia Robinson - My Food Bag
After many approaches, Cecilia Robinson and her fellow My Food Bag founders agreed to a part sale of the food delivery service to a private equity firm in October.
Robinson said in May that unsolicited approaches from potential investors had been coming to her from domestic and international parties.
The My Food Bag team enlisted PwC to manage approaches and Robinson said at the time: "We believe the company has further potential to expand its product range as well as extending to other markets. We're seeking investment to accelerate our strategic growth plans."
It wasn't revealed how much of My Food Bag was sold to Waterman Capital in October or for what price, but market sources suggested the company might have been valued at $120m.
Based on the fact that buyers Waterman Capital will take three seats on the company's board, with the founders retaining two, it is reasonable to assume that at least half has been sold.
Cecilia Robinson, the originator of the My Food Bag concept, and her husband, James, owned 38 per cent.
Mike Bennetts has pulled off one of the biggest mergers of the decade and is a petrol company boss who is a bit different to most in the sector.
He's concerned about climate change and is agnostic about the fuel he sells in the future.
Bennetts' commercial acumen, leadership style and thinking outside the square makes him a contender for the New Zealand Herald business leader of the year.
For the past six years he has headed the company which bought the downstream assets of Shell in 2010 and has taken a fresh approach to fuel retailing in New Zealand.
He's been described as an inclusive leader who set the vision for what has been a great success story in the market for Z.
The 55-year-old adroitly helped steer through the Commerce Commission which in April resulted in being permitted to buy Caltex for $758m, creating a $3 billion company.
The company is also about to turn the taps on at a biofuel plant it has built at Wiri and has taken a lead in pushing the sustainability message in business.
