Business Hall of Fame Laureates

A list of the laureates inducted into the 2009 Fairfax Media Business Hall of Fame.

Dr Roderick Deane

Sir Ron Carter

Ted Lees

John Plimmer

George Beca

Marianne Caughey Smith Preston

 

Dr Roderick Deane

 

New Zealand has a marked lack of world class companies says former Telecom chairman Roderick Deane.

 

Dr Deane said: "We have not created a commercial environment in New Zealand which is as conducive as it should be for companies to grow rapidly and to expand offshore.

 

"As a consequence we have few companies which are world beaters, some but few."

 

He blamed too much regulatory cost which meant most companies were cautious about offshore expansion. The country needed to return to building a more competitive base for business.

 

His recommended remedy was "vigorous reductions in the size of government and their interventions in the commercial world."

 

"I am not a handwringer; I consult and decide and get on with it. That is how change and improvement comes to pass. As a nation I worry that we have become too nervous and too cautious about taking on the big issues and going for real economic (and thus also socially acceptable) growth."

 

Dr Deane was a pivotal figure at the Reserve Bank during the Lange government, headed the State Services Commission overseeing one of the most intense periods of public-sector reform and ran the country's biggest company, Telecom.

 

This year that track record will be recognised when he is inducted into the Fairfax Media Business Hall of Fame for his work in corporate leadership. The Business Hall of Fame was launched in 1994 by the Young Enterprise Trust and now has 100 laureates. Six more members will join this year, three living businessmen, three honoured posthumously.

 

Educated at Victoria University of Wellington, Deane initially worked in administration and accounting before joining the Reserve Bank where he rose to be chief economist, head of the economic department and deputy governor.

 

He went on to the chairmanship of the State Services Commission, where he oversaw public-sector reform, five years as chief executive of the state-owned Electricity Corporation, seven years as chief executive and managing director of the privatised Telecom Corporation followed by a similar period as Telecom chairman.

He is credited as a driving force of one of the greatest paradigm shifts in the country's business history - moving the focus of economics away from Keynesian-style intervention and state planning toward a greater reliance on markets and stable monetary and fiscal policy.

 

Through out his career he was at times controversial in his defence of the private sector. He remains as forceful with his views today.

 

Despite the events of the current global financial crisis, and the almost universal swing by governments back to large, state backed stimulus packages, he blamed the global financial failure on heavy handed government action.

 

"I predicted years ago that regulation would create more problems than it solves. Much of the vast regulatory structures erected abroad have now been found sadly deficient," he said.

 

"Despite a huge array of financial regulation, we experienced a world credit crisis of a magnitude larger than any of us have seen in our lifetimes.

 

"Governments are in dream land if they feel that simply reworking failed regulations will do a better job in the future."

 

One of his former economics students at Victoria University, New Zealand Business Roundtable executive director Roger Kerr, described Deane as someone with a rare understanding of public policy and business management who had helped change New Zealand for the better.

 

 

Sir Ron Carter

 

A man at the heart of planning the country's future infrastructure spend is being honoured for his engineering skills and business leadership.

 

Sir Ron Carter is part of the eight member brains' trust assembled by Infrastructure Minister Bill English as an advisory board tasked with creating a 20-year National Infrastructure Plan.

 

To be completed by the end of the year, this strategic map will identify the country's long-term priorities.

 

Sir Ron is to be inducted into the Fairfax Media Business Hall of Fame this year.

 

The Hall of Fame was launched in 1994 by the Young Enterprise Trust and now has 100 laureates. Six more members will join this year, three are living businessmen, three are being honoured posthumously.

 

Sir Ron lead Beca Group engineering consultants, behind some of the country's most significant infrastructure projects including development of the Tasman Pulp & Paper mill, the Motonui gas to gasoline plant, the Comalco aluminium smelter, the Mangere sewerage treatment plant, and designing a simulator for the Anzac frigate project.

 

A critical part of Carter's success in these projects was creating strategic alliances and Joint Ventures, which allowed Beca Group to tap into world-class technical expertise.

 

Carter advocates that New Zealand should use the joint venture model more, saying blending the best of international skill with localised expertise is a sensible way for New Zealand to successfully build its infrastructural needs.

 

He began his career in when he joined tiny engineering consultancy of Gray Watts & Beca in 1959 and over the next 41 years he played a key role in developing what became today's Beca Group, one of Australasia's fastest growing and most successful consulting businesses.

 

When Carter stepped down as chairman of Beca in 2000 it had 1250 staff -- 1240 more than when he started in 1959 - and a track record of building projects in 63 countries.

 

He was a professional company director, including one of the longest serving on the board of Air New Zealand.

 

Carter also made his mark in public life through various trade groups, as president of the Institution of Professional Engineers and chairman of the think tank group Committee for Auckland.

 

In 1993 he was one of a three-person panel appointed by the prime minister to report on the nationwide electricity shortage and in 1999 chaired the governmental review team to report on the management of New Zealand's borders.

 

 

Ted Lees

 

 

If Ted Lees had followed his parents' advice he would have become an accountant but his love of motor vehicles and service in the army in World War II set him on an entirely different course.

 

Instead he was the man responsible for producing the machines which powered the primary industries in the hey day of the 1950s to 1970s and allowed the container freight revolution to take off in New Zealand, making the economic growth of those decades a practical reality.

 

Lees at 86 years old will be recognised as one of our great business leaders when he is inducted into the Fairfax Media Business Hall of Fame for his work in manufacturing heavy industrial equipment.

 

The Business Hall of Fame was launched in 1994 by the Young Enterprise Trust and now has 100 laureates. Six more members will join this year, three living businessmen, three honoured posthumously.

 

Leaving school at age 14, Lees joined the family motor business at Papakura, south of Auckland, where he gained first-hand knowledge of motor engineering.

 

He signed up in early 1939 and age 16 and qualified as a transport instructor. He volunteered for overseas service and was selected the special company service - the predecessor of today's SAS. But it was his mechanical skills the New Zealand Army most wanted.

 

Lees saw active service with the 9th Reinforcements in North Africa and Italy from 1942-45, including the Battle of Cassino and the standoff in Trieste between the new leader of Yugoslavia, Josip Broz Tito, and Allied forces. He escaped serious injury when his vehicle was blown up by a landmine.

 

The experience servicing and repairing tanks, bulldozers and trucks provided Warrant Officer Lees with an unequalled apprenticeship in heavy equipment.

 

He returned to the family business after the war, in the golden years of the iconic Number 8 wire mentality. Amongst his colleagues was Bruce Hamilton, inventor of the jet engine.

 

In 1960 he formed Lees Industries, which manufactured and developed an extensive range of products including agricultural and defence equipment, frontend loaders, forklifts, straddle trucks, container carriers and marine engines.

 

A major breakthrough was into forestry, which required more innovative adaptation of loader design. Then when the container revolution reached Australia and New Zealand in 1969, Lees Industries was the only company able to design and build forklifts and other heavy equipment to Lloyd's of London's specifications.

 

When Lees sold the group to NZ Forest Products in 1981, it was employing 700 people in New Zealand, Australia and Singapore, making it the largest wheel-equipment company in Australasia.

 

Lees was an Auckland Harbour Board member from 1983-91, during which time major port reform took place. He also served on the World Wildlife Fund and the Hauraki Maritime Park Board.

 

He was knighted by the King of Spain, Juan Carlos, in 1997 for his 25 years' service as honorary Spanish consul for the North Island.

 

 

 

JOHN PLIMMER

 

The pioneer business man known as the 'father of Wellington' is to be officially recognised this year as one of the country's greatest entrepreneurs.

 

John Plimmer (1812-1905) was a carpenter, a builder, brick manufacturer, land speculator, importer, merchant, landlord, and politician. He is credited with taking Wellington from a provincial backwater to an economic centre in its own right.

 

One hundred and four years after his death he is being posthumously inducted into the Fairfax Media Business Hall of Fame this year.

 

The Business Hall of Fame was launched in 1994 by the Young Enterprise Trust and now has 100 laureates. Six more members will join this year, three are living businessmen, three are being honoured posthumously.

 

Plimmer came to Wellington in 1841 to start a new life that would transform the face of Wellington.

 

Amongst his many achievements he was instrumental in the extensive land reclamation that created the waterfront and wharves. He measured the distance from Cuba St to Pipitea Point, calculated the financial results of the reclamation and convinced Governor Sir George Grey to approve the work.

But before work even began, he led the way by creating a makeshift wharf. He bought the wreck of an American ship Inconstant which had foundered off Pencarrow Head and beached in on the foreshore near Lambton Quay, turning it into a private wharf, business office and bonded warehouse.

Quickly nicknamed Plimmer's Ark, the wharf was in use for 20 years. In 1998 remaining pieces of the boat were discovered and excavated during building work on the site.

 

He also built or managed many notable Wellington hotels, including the Albert Hotel and the City Hotel and was a founding member of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce.

 

Perhaps his most important investment was in the Wellington & Manawatu Railway Company which built the rail line to Manawatu, greatly reducing the cost of freight. The company became New Zealand's most successful private railway venture.

 

He was also active in local politics - which he used as a platform to again push for better business and civic conditions. As a member of Wellington Provincial Council he used his influence to pass a bill vesting large amounts of reserve land in the town.

He then successfully organised a ratepayers' petition to the Government to create Wellington a city and was one of the first councillors to serve on the new city council, formed in 1870.

Plimmer is today described as the "father of Wellington".

His descendants continue to make significant contributions to Wellington. They include great, great grandchildren the McKinnon brothers -  Ian the deputy mayor of Wellington and pro-chancellor of Victoria University, Sir Donald former Foreign Minister and Commonwealth Secretary-General, John the secretary of Defence and Malcolm a prominent historian at Victoria University.

George Beca

 

A decorated war hero is now to be honoured for his business accomplishments also.

Putaruru draper's son George Beca was just 18 when he joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force in October 1939. It was the start of an audacious military career, overshadowed only by his subsequent career in engineering.

Beca died in 2001 and is being posthumously inducted into the Fairfax Media Business Hall of Fame this year.

The Business Hall of Fame was launched in 1994 by the Young Enterprise Trust and now has 100 laureates. Six more members will join this year, three are living businessmen, three are being honoured posthumously.

Beca flew during the war first in North Africa, then from Britain on bombing raids over Germany.

One of his finest exploits came in Burma where his superb airmanship allowed him to navigate through difficult terrain and in often bad weather dropping supplies to forces parachuted behind enemy lines earned him the DFC.

At one point he crashed and made his way out of the jungle with the help of locals and was then posted to Britain.

He later flew in the Pathfinder Squadron, which selected only the best flyers.

He returned to New Zealand a war hero and intending to become a test pilot. However when he enrolled in an engineering degree at Auckland University College, his professor recognised his managerial talent and recommended he become a civil engineer.

Beca joined a two-man Auckland engineering practice in 1952 and two years later was made a partner. As chairman and managing director he presided over the 1968 amalgamation with Wellington-based Hollings & Ferner to form Beca Carter Hollings & Ferner.

When he retired in 1986, Beca Group was employing more than 500 people in several countries and had established itself as one of Australasia's leading engineering consultancies.

Beca changed the face of the engineering profession, capturing work for New Zealanders that traditionally had been done by overseas firms and introducing a multidisciplinary approach that placed engineers at the centre of projects. Under his leadership New Zealand engineers took on the world.

At the same time he worked hard to lift the profession's standing through the foundation of the New Zealand Association of Consulting Engineers and by persuading successive governments to engage engineering consultants to foster design innovation.

Beca was a made a CBE in 1991 for services to engineering and the community and in 2000 he was awarded an honorary doctorate in engineering by the University of Auckland. He also received civil engineering fellowships in New Zealand, Australia and Britain.

Beca was a director of the Petroleum Corporation of New Zealand and Auckland International Airport and a member of the inquiry into the 1979 Abbotsford landslip. He also served on the University of Auckland council and for a period as university pro-chancellor.

A keen sportsman, he was a trustee of the Eden Park Trust Board. He also campaigned successfully to complete the renovation of the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Parnell, Auckland.

 

 

Marianne Caughey Smith Preston

 

Charities may be in for a boost in donations this year with the introduction of the Government's new tax regime.

 

From April donors could claim 33 percent of their donations back from the Inland Revenue Department.

 

Those contemplating increasing their philanthropy have an example to live up to from the country's early business history, in Marianne Caughey Smith Preston (1851-1938) one of the founders of Auckland high fashion store Smith and Caughey.

 

Unusually for her time, she was a self made businesswoman, who grew to immense wealth from her own hard work.

 

Yet she rates amongst the most generous of New Zealand benefactors.

 

Now she is receiving due recognition for her business skills and her philanthropic bequests, being posthumously inducted into the Fairfax Media Business Hall of Fame.

 

The Business Hall of Fame was launched in 1994 by the Young Enterprise Trust and now has 100 laureates. Six more members will join this year, three are living businessmen, three are being honoured posthumously.

Marianne Caughey was born in Ireland and emigrated to New Zealand with her husband William Smith in 1879.

She opened her own store in Queen Street and four years later was joined by her brother Andrew Caughey - and the store of Smith and Caughey was born.

 

Marianne was not initially a partner in the new firm of Smith & Caughey, which is more reflective of the social mores of the time than her role. She was appointed a director in 1916 after her husband's death.

 

But the growth of the business over the next 30 years owed much to the efforts of all three family members. They pushed the boundaries of established business policies to grow their firm, for instance they began direct purchasing from overseas markets, to the anger of local wholesalers.

 

 

Today, 128 years later, Smith & Caughey's is one of New Zealand's top department stores and still largely family owned.

Alongside business success, she gave generously to welfare and educational causes, including the Helping Hand Mission which became the Auckland Central Mission, parkland for the city and land to the Auckland Hospital Board, and property for an orphanage.

Her generous public spirit was recognised in 1935 when she was honoured with an MBE.

Under her will she bequeathed her shareholding in Smith & Caughey Ltd to The Marianne Caughey Smith-Preston Memorial Rest Homes Trust Board and created what is one of her most enduring legacies.

Established in 1950, the board provides quality rest home, dementia and hospital care for about 220 residents.

Esteemed Columbia University economics professor and special adviser to the UN and WTO, Jagdish Bhagwati, has said capitalism flourishes best when it is accompanied by philanthropy and corporate social responsibility

 

Smart businesses actively engage in a virtuous cycle of contributing to the greater good of society, understanding that a society growing stronger provides much more fertile opportunity for that business to also endure and flourish.

 

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