IoD announces seven new Distinguished Fellows

I'm thrilled to announce the IoD has recently awarded seven new Distinguished Fellowships.

Distinguished Fellowships are the highest honour the IoD awards and recognises directors who have made a sustained and prominent contribution to governance, business and their communities.

The following Distinguished Fellows will be formally recognised at award ceremonies held over the coming months:

Alan Norman Bickers MNZM DistFInstD

Bay of Plenty Branch

Alan, who is in his last term on the board of BRANZ, has been involved in community groups and public organisations since the late 1970s. His directorships in prominent governing bodies include not-for-profits, Crown Entities, government boards, private companies and NZX-listed companies.

He was trustee and chair of Elms Foundation, chair of the Distributions Committee of Compass Charitable Trust, chair of the board of governors of Bethlehem Tertiary.

Alan, who serves as a Justice of the Peace, was also President of the Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand, chair of the Building Practitioners board, Chair of the Plumbers, Gasfitters and Drainlayers board, and chair of the Transit New Zealand board.

In 2015 he received the Insignia of a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the community.

Wynton (Gill) Cox ONZM DistFInstD

Canterbury Branch

Gill has contributed substantively to leadership governance roles for more than 20 years in the infrastructure, logistics/distribution, manufacturing, fishing and cold storage, professional services, health services and conservation sectors.

He has chaired several companies, including Vbase, MainPower NZ, Transwaste Canterbury and Independent Fisheries. He has served as a director of Healthlink South Ltd, and as Pro Chancellor of Lincoln University.

Gill has strong commercial and community connections and is committed to seeing the Canterbury region grow. He contributed to the efforts to rebuild Christchurch businesses following the 2011 earthquakes, serving on both the Community Forum of the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (representing business) and on the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Transition Advisory Board.

Gill was a partner of Deloitte for 25 years; is a life member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Australia and New Zealand; and was awarded the ONZM in 2010 for services to business.

Graham Kennedy MNZM DistFInstD

Canterbury Branch

Graham was a director and/or chairman of Ashburton chartered accountancy practice Brophy Knight Ltd from 1977 to 2011. Through BK Registries, an innovative share register working for prominent NZX-listed companies, he helped innovate and set New Zealand-wide standards.

As an independent professional director Graham was chair of private and large family companies across a range of sectors including property, tourism, agribusiness, transport, construction and professional services. He has held governance roles in the Building Society sector since 1985, including leading the consolidation of several enterprises and culminating in being a founding director of the NZX-listed Heartland Bank Ltd for more than seven years.

He is a trustee of the Ashburton Aquatic Park Charitable Trust and was a driving force behind the establishment of Lake Hood development and the adjacent Ashburton Aquatic Park.

Graham was appointed a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in 2010 in recognition of his contributions to accountancy. In 2017, he was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to business.

Peter Masfen CNZM DistFInstD

Auckland Branch

Businessman, philanthropist, and former national rowing representative Peter Masfen is best known for his former shareholding and role as chair of Montana Wines Limited, of which he was a director for thirty five years.

Peter started his career as a chartered accountant and is a Fellow of the Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand, and a Fellow of Governance New Zealand.

He has been involved with philanthropic and charitable groups including The Masfen Foundation, and Woolf Fisher Trust. Peter currently spends a large amount of time on the activities of The Masfen Foundation. He was a member of the Apec Business Advisory Council from 2001 to 2005 and has been a director of the Auckland Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He was a board trustee for King’s College and King’s School, the latter for 38 years. He has been a director of a number of public and private companies, including the then Melbourne based AXA Asia Pacific Holdings Limited (exNational Mutual Life Association of Australasia) for fourteen years and was Chairman of Property for Industry Limited for thirteen years.

Peter holds seven national rowing titles and represented New Zealand at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and The World Rowing Championships in 1966 at Lake Bled. He has previously helped in funding the men’s and women’s eight teams for the 2015 world championships and the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games.

He was inducted into the New Zealand Business Hall of Fame in 2002 as one of the wine industry’s leading and most successful investors. In 2016, he was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM) for services to business and philanthropy.

Barry Thomas CNZM DistFInstD

Otago Southland Branch

A former Queenstown Chartered Accountant, Barry has extensive governance experience across a range of companies with strength in the tourism sector.

He was appointed to the board of Skyline Enterprises in 1975 and became chair aged 32 – a position he held for 33 years. Under his leadership, Skyline grew to a market capitalisation of $780 million, employing more than 1000 full-time staff. He also oversaw the company’s portfolio diversification, resulting in businesses throughout New Zealand, Singapore, Canada and South Korea. Barry was instrumental in the development of the Skyline Luge, which first opened in Rotorua in 1985 and helped expand the concept overseas.

He has been a board member of Christchurch International Airport, Queenstown Airport Corporation and the New Zealand Rugby Union, and was instrumental in establishing casinos in Queenstown and Christchurch, as well as their charitable trusts supporting local communities. He has been involved in many ventures across tourism, media, gaming and sport.

He established the Mountain Scene newspaper in 1972 – initially as a fortnightly tourist publication designed to promote the Southern Lakes region.

He was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2018 for services to business and tourism.

Sir Stephen Tindall GNZM DistFInstD

Auckland Branch

Sir Stephen’s outstanding achievements and service across business, philanthropy (via the Tindall Foundation), substantiality issues and challenges vital to the health and prosperity of our country are well known. For this work he has been recognised in New Zealand honours (appointed as an officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 1997; made a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2007; and made a Knight Companion of the New Zealander Order of Merit in 2009).

Sir Stephen founded The Warehouse Group in 1982. In 1995, he and Lady Margaret Tindall founded The Tindall Foundation with an initial gift of approximately 21% of The Warehouse shares. This has provided an income stream to provide extensive levels of philanthropy to New Zealanders in need.

His private investment vehicles K1W1 group provides venture capital for New Zealand start-up ventures across a range of sectors, predominantly tech start-ups and environmental initiatives.

Sir Stephen was a board member of The Warehouse Group Limited from 1982-2020, and board member and chair of Team NZ from 2014-2020.

Eduard (Ted) van Arkel DistFInstD

Auckland Branch

Ted van Arkel became a professional director in 2004 after retiring as Managing Director of Progressive Enterprises. He is a highly experienced public company director and was chair of Restaurant Brands from 2006-2019. He is a former director of Abano Healthcare Group, Accordant (formerly AWF Madison Group), and chair of The Warehouse Group Ltd and Charlie’s Group Ltd. Ted’s experience extends into the private sector, where he has previously sat on the boards of companies including Paper Plus, Danske Mobler, Lockwood Group, Nestle and Philip Yates Family Holdings (Pioneer Seeds).

Among his other notable directorships Ted has been chair of Unitec NZ and Health Benefits Ltd, and a director of the Auckland Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

See all of our Distinguished Fellows