Northlander Murray Holdaway, the co-founder and chief executive of Vista Group, an Auckland-based company whose technology is used to manage cinema operations in 80 countries, is handing over the role of group chief executive to Kimbal Riley in a succession planning process.
Mr Holdaway, who was born in Kaikohe and grew up in Whangarei, will become chief product officer (CPO) for Vista Group, and continue in his role as an executive director on the Vista Group board.
Mr Holdaway attended Onerahi Primary School and Whangarei Boys' High School and lived here till he was 18 and went to university in Auckland.
Vista Group chairman Kirk Senior has praised Mr Holdaway for his exceptional leadership of the company, which he co-founded in 1996.
Vista has grown to become a dominant provider of cinema management, film distribution and customer analytics software in the global film industry. Its subsidiary companies provide products and services to multiple film industry segments.