Ahead of next month’s Deloitte Top 200 Awards, the Herald looks back at past winners of the Young Executive Award and finds many have gone on to bigger things.
It was a pivotal moment in Caroline Rawlinson’s career when she was crowned Young Executive of the Year at the 2018 Deloitte Top 200 Awards.
Rawlinson is among 24 past winners, many of whom have advanced their careers and gone on to bigger roles in business.
She was working at Trade Me at the time as chief financial officer and two years later moved to MYOB, firstly as chief financial officer and then as chief operating officer. She is about to take up an exciting new challenge and says the Young Executive Award has helped open a few doors in her business career.
“I was super flattered and really proud to win the award and it remains something that I’ve been able to promote and become a point of conversation in recruitment processes,” she told the Herald ahead of next month’s Top 200 event.
“Ultimately, I want to be a CEO – whether that’s five years away or 10 years away, I just think there’s still a depressing paucity of supply of female leaders and CEO roles across Australia and New Zealand and more globally and so, I’d love to at some point have a CEO role.
“That said, I’m not chasing it for the title, it just feels like the next logical move for career progression.”
Grant Watson, who won the award in 2005, is one who has made the leap to chief executive, recently finding himself in the hot seat at a financially challenged Synlait Milk.
Watson was chief operating officer at McDonalds NZ when he won the Young Executive Award. He then took on various roles in the dairy industry - including at Fonterra, where he was responsible for the global foodservice business, now recognised as one of the co-operative’s key growth areas.
In January 2022 he was shoulder-tapped for the Synlait role, moving from Taupō-based dairy company Miraka. Watson faced a tough challenge to lead Synlait through a major capital raise and balance sheet reset.
He said receiving the Young Executive Award in 2005 was great recognition but that it also spoke to the people he was working with at the time.
“Certainly, looking at other job opportunities down the track, it’s not unhelpful to have something like that on your CV, there’s no question about it.”
Watson said working at McDonald’s, which he described as one of the most disciplined companies in the world, helped prepare him for what he had to do at Synlait.
“I think my experience both at McDonald’s and at Fonterra really helped me to lead and to build a mature culture and a mature foundation.”
Deloitte has been recognising the best up-and-coming talent in the business world since 2000.
The finalists and winners are selected by an independent judging panel and specialist judging advisers.
Deloitte chief executive Mike Horne said it was important to recognise success in business and the people who drive the economic prosperity of the country.
“The young executives bring a fresh perspective, innovative ideas and the energy needed to drive change in what is a rapidly changing business landscape.
“It’s also about recognising the potential and helping ensure a strong pipeline of future leaders. It’s often a pivotal moment in their careers that validates their leadership skills, increases visibility within their industries and really opens up opportunities for next career steps.”
Deloitte awards judge and Herald Business Editor at Large, Liam Dann, said he’s always impressed by the calibre of the award entrants.
“Over many years the Young Executive category has attracted some incredible candidates, not just the winners and finalists.
“Every year it is a struggle for the judges to carve out a shortlist and it is always heartening to see that the New Zealand business is so well served with young talent.
“This year the standard was so high we felt we had no choice but to include four finalists rather than the usual three. It’s great to see such interest and enthusiasm for the award coming from the corporate world. It isn’t making our job as judges any easier but it is heartening to see.”
This year’s finalists for the Young Executive of the Year Award are Gemma Gloyne (Fletcher Building), Glenda Taituha-Toka (Waikato Tainui), Kathryn Luxton (NZME) and Richard Allen (Fonterra).
All the 2024 Deloitte Top 200 winners will be revealed at a gala event on Thursday, December 5. The event will be livestreamed from 7pm on the Herald website.
2000 Joseph Thomas (Chatham Islands Enterprise Trust to CEO of Ngāi Tahu Seafoods)
Joseph Thomas (Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri, Te Ati Awa) was chief executive of the Chatham Islands Enterprise Trust when he received the inaugural Young Executive of the Year award in 2000. Born and bred on the Chathams, Thomas began his working life on a lobster fishing boat before getting into management. In 2016 he was appointed CEO of Ngāi Tahu Seafoods, where he is responsible for an integrated fishing, processing and distribution chain with facilities in Bluff, Christchurch, Kaikōura and Picton. Thomas also holds a number of directorships, including the chair of Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri Asset Holding Company Ltd.
2005 Grant Watson (McDonald’s to Fonterra to Synlait CEO)
Watson was chief operating officer at McDonalds New Zealand when crowned Young Executive of the Year. He then spent 10 years at Fonterra, where he held several senior roles including director of global foodservice, managing director of Tip Top, and director of route and foodservice Fonterra Brands New Zealand. In 2021 he secured his first chief executive role at dairy company Miraka, and a year later was snapped up by Synlait Milk, where he was charged with transforming the business through a tumultuous time. Watson resigned from Synlait in October soon after a comprehensive restructuring and a strategic reset for the dairy processor and infant formula maker.
2006 Brett Gamble (Solid Energy to CEO of Gough Investments)
Brett Gamble was strategy director at Solid Energy when he received his award and was credited as having a key role in the growth of the company’s renewable fuels business at that time.
Since then, Gamble has taken on a number of directorships and has spent the last eight years as chief executive of Gough Investments, part of the Gough family office based in Christchurch. Gamble’s directorships include Mike Greer Homes and Mojo Coffee and cannabis firm Rua Bioscience. He is co-owner of Alvarium, a boutique investment firm that operates in partnership with Gough Investments, and chairs a South Island-based cancer charity, Chalky Carr Trust. In 2000 he was the Southern Regional and National NZIM/IBM New Zealand Young Executive of the Year and in 2002, the ICANZ Young Chartered Accountant for the upper South Island region.
2007 Mason Platt (Provoke Solutions to Ronin Group)
Technology entrepreneur Mason Pratt emerged from the dotcom era to co-found Provoke Solutions, a Wellington-based software design and development provider, which would later be acquired by US investment firm Bridgewest Group. Pratt was named Young Executive of the Year in 2007 when he was chief executive of Provoke and leading the company’s expansion into the US and the Philippines. After the private equity exit, he became a consultant working for public sector organisations such as MetService and Maritime New Zealand. He is currently the principal consultant at Ronin Group, which serves government departments and agencies such as New Zealand Police, MPI and MBIE.
2010 Claire Szabo (English Language Partners to Labour Party president to SOUNZ)
Having founded and run her own education company in Hungary from 1999 to 2004, Claire Szabo returned to New Zealand and was appointed chief executive of English Language Partners New Zealand in 2006, aged 27. In 2010 she was named Deloitte Young Executive of the Year and also won the New Zealand Institute of Management award. She went on to be CEO of Habitat for Humanity NZ. In November 2019 Szabo was elected president of the Labour Party, following the resignation of Nigel Haworth, receiving the support of Jacinda Ardern and a large portion of the caucus. In 2021 she was appointed to the board of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and this year was appointed interim chief executive of SOUNZ Centre for New Zealand Music. The 2010 Deloitte judges noted her as a dynamic leader who professionally led her organisation through a period of significant change.
2018 Caroline Rawlinson (TradeMe to CFO/COO at MYOB)
Starting her career as a senior analyst at PwC, Caroline Rawlinson took up positions at Sealord and Fletcher Building before moving to Trade Me in 2016, where she was appointed chief financial officer. In 2018 she was named Deloitte and Eagle Technology Young Executive of the Year. Judge Liam Dann said Rawlinson showed an impressive ability to adapt her leadership style between two very different listed companies. “She displayed a strong sense of balance between self-confidence and self-awareness.” Rawlinson joined MYOB in June 2020 as chief financial officer and then became chief operating officer, with a broad remit including finance, treasury, tax accounting, legal, risk, strategy, programme management and M&A. Rawlinson recently resigned from MYOB and is about to take on a new role and new challenge.
Duncan Bridgeman is the managing editor of NZME Business News, which includes the Business Herald and BusinessDesk.
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