Swiss-Belhotel Chief Gavin Faull Ever the Traveller
New Zealander Gavin Faull, 63, has been living out of a suitcase ever since he decided to join a consulting firm in Hong Kong back in 1973. Now, as chairman and president of Swiss-Belhotel…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Kiwi Turbo-Charges Walmart’s Reinvention
Walmart’s program to remain the world’s leading retailer has New Zealander Greg Foran in a driving role. In a Fortune profile of Walmart’s new CEO Doug McMillon, writer Brian O’Keefe reserves special…
NZ-Designed Waterslide Relocating to US Ski Trail
The World’s Longest Waterslide, designed by New Zealander Jimi Hunt, is to be rebuilt in the United States on the slopes of Mountain Creek in Vernon, New Jersey. After learning from Travel Channel producers about…
Benjamin Hadfield the Man Behind Hong Kong’s Junk Parties
New Zealander Benjamin Hadfield is co-founder of a Hong Kong-based start-up company, which serves as an online marketplace where anyone can easily book a junk for the day. Junks.hk aims to bring the city’s…
Teenager Ayla Hutchinson Lands US Deal with Kindling Cracker
Taranaki teenager Ayla Hutchinson’s science project has earned her a lucrative international business deal. Hutchinson, who invented the Kindling Cracker, recently entered into an agreement with America’s lead supplier of professional-quality tools, Northern Tool…
Day in the Life of Dubai-based Yoga Teacher Vanessa Dolan
After a successful career in advertising in cities such as Melbourne and Amsterdam, New Zealand-born Vanessa Dolan, 44, decided to quit corporate life last year to start a yoga business in Dubai.
Dealmaker Audette Exel Harnessing Banking Power
After decades brokering deals on opposite sides of the table, Australian bankers, including Sydney-based New Zealander Audette Exel, are coming together to help the world’s neediest – and tearing up their bills. Members of a…
Kiwi Company Promapp Opens US Office
New Zealand-owned and operated business process management software company Promapp has taken the first step towards international expansion and opened its first office in the United States at the Kiwi…
Trade Me – the Kiwi Auction Site’s Funky, Cool Office
New Zealand auction house Trade Me’s office space has been featured in the Business Insider Australia as a “funky, cool office… full of surprises”. The company’s new headquarters are located right…
Joan Murphy of Frame Fitness collaborates with Whistles
New Zealander Joan Murphy and her Frame fitness studio co-founder Pip Black know what women are looking for in sportswear, and are now collaborating with smart high street brand Whistles. “The whole collection is…
Dean Brettschneider Takes New World Baking to Singapore
New Zealander Dean Brettschneider, 46, chief executive and head baker at Baker & Cook, has opened five outlets in Singapore since the artisan bakery was founded in 2012. Brettschneider draws a comparison between his homeland…
Esquires Coffee Franchises Popping up All over China
Ellen Zhang, managing director of New Zealand coffee shop franchise Esquires in Beijing, has signed a new agreement with the Chinese retail conglomerate Bu Bu Gao – known as “Better Life” – which operates…
Forbes Rich List Includes Billionaires Richard Chandler, Graeme Hart
In the Forbes Rich List of 2015, New Zealand’s representation includes two billionaires – Graeme Hart and Singapore-based investor Richard Chandler. The 55-year-old Waikato-raised philanthropist was ranked at No 603 in Forbes’ latest list…
John Henwood’s NY Fitness Studio Not Run of the Mill
New Zealander John Henwood, a former Olympic runner and prominent name in the New York running community, has created the SoulCycle of running with TheRUN, a boutique treadmill studio in the Big Apple’s Flatiron…
Touchpoint Group Aiming to Develop World’s Angriest Artificial Intelligence Machine
New Zealand Touchpoint Group is developing an artificial intelligence machine, which will simulate angry customer interactions in order to help companies to understand how their customers’ angry outbursts are triggered. “The end goal…
Michaela Anchan’s Woolf Works for Women
When New Zealander Michaela Anchan, 34, decided to launch a career as a freelance writer in Singapore, she discovered few offices in the city-state that were suitable and that fitted her budget. So last…
New Zealand Property Boom Attracts Overseas Buyers
Auckland’s beaches, clean air and environmentally friendly image are clear selling points for foreign property investors. There is no stamp duty or capital gains tax in New Zealand, which makes the country’s property market a…
Paul Ding Signs Mega Deal with S Korean Online Shopping Giant
New Zealand home shopping channel, Auckland-based Yes Shop, has signed a groundbreaking supply agreement with online shopping giant HMall of South Korea, which will see more goods being traded directly between the two countries. HMall…
Vicky Robertson Appointed New Environmental Chief in New Zealand
Former New Zealand hockey player Vicky Robertson has been appointed the new chief executive of the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) by state services commissioner Iain Rennie. As the Treasury’s deputy chief executive, Robertson is…
NZ attracts Aussie start-ups with funding opportunities
New Zealand is “recruiting actively in Australia” and tries to attract Australian start-ups with their wide funding opportunities. Banks in New Zealand pay $NZ33 billion to small and medium-sized businesses every year while angel investors…
Young NZer of the Year Guy Ryan an Inspiring Story
Wellingtonian Guy Ryan, 29, who was recently named the 2015 Young New Zealander of the Year for his work helping young people realise their entrepreneurial goals and navigate numerous obstacles, is providing inspiration for…
New Zealand Wine Maker Invivo Breaks Crowdfunding Record
Invivo Wines has become New Zealand’s first business to attract NZ$2 million in a crowdfunding campaign in less than two weeks after launching on the Snowball Effect crowdfunding platform. Tim Lightbourne and Rob Cameron, the…
NAB Director Geraldine McBride Defines New Banking Technology Future
NAB director and digital guru Geraldine McBride is leading National Australia Bank (NAB) into “a new personalised experienced-based economy” as she describes it. “Digital disruption is the biggest fear of company boards,” McBride says in…
Kevin Roberts appointed Chairman of fast-growing My Food Bag
Global business leader Kevin Roberts become chairman of My Food Bag, a 2013 New Zealand start-up that delivers gourmet recipes and fresh pre-measured ingredients to the homes of 15000 customers in New Zealand, Sydney…
Glenn Martin’s Jetpack Dream Achieves IPO Liftoff
In 1981, a young aviation-obsessed university student, New Zealander Glenn Martin, began working on his dream to invent the world’s first commercial jetpack, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. In late February the company he…
New-Zealand based start-up Xero raises $110M Round
New Zealand based cloud accounting software vendor Xero has announced a $110 million funding round from Silicon Valley venture capital firm Accel Partners and Matrix Capital Management. Xero has long stated that the US market…
Running Gets Epic in Asics’ Biggest Global Campaign
Asics has just launched its biggest ever global campaign with an epic new advertisement which was shot on location in New Zealand, and features crowds of runners summoned by a hunting horn…
Ross McEwan Gets down to Business at Royal Bank of Scotland
Very few chief executives of big banks know how to brand a cow, what to do when calving season starts, or how to tell Angus from Shorthorn cattle. Except, that is, Ross McEwan, Financial…
Australian Tech Millionaires Hold Queenstown Secret Summit
Some of Australia’s best-known tech millionaires were in Queenstown recently at a mysterious meet-up where the requirement for entry was having a company valued at over $100 million. Among the invitees were Seek co-founder Paul…
RBNZ Wins Central Bank Of The Year Award
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand, which led industrialised nations in first starting to raise rates after the financial crisis, has won the Central Bank of the Year award. The kiwi is now approaching…
Tesla Co-Founder Ian Wright Has More Electric Ideas
A decade ago, New Zealander Ian Wright and a few tech-minded buddies got together bent on creating a fast and cool electric car. They called the company Tesla Motors. Now, Wright is…
Julian Robertson’s Legacy from Hedge Funds to NZ
Billionaire Julian Robertson is renowned on Wall Street for being a pioneer in the hedge-fund industry in the 1980s and, more recently, for being a philanthropist who is giving much of his fortune away…
Soundtrack Tool Booktrack Now Has 1 Million Members
Booktrack, a tool designed for self-published writers and publishers to add soundtracks to their eBooks, now has more than a million users. The company, which launched 11 months ago, expects to reach 2 million…
Sarah Robb O’Hagan Influencing and Innovating in NY
New Zealander Sarah Robb O’Hagan, 42, was recently named as one of the New York Business Journal’s “Women of Influence” at an inaugural award ceremony honouring business leaders in New York City who innovate,…
Carbon Converter LanzaTech Has Significant Global Potential
Illinois-based LanzaTech, which got its start in a New Zealand basement in 2005, plans to revolutionise ethanol production with a gas-eating microbe, which converts waste gases into useful chemicals and fuels, including ethanol. LanzaTech has…
GM President Dan Ammann Instilling Culture of Accountability
General Motors executive Dan Ammann talks to Fortune about manufacturing in Mexico, and because of a number of recalls over the past decade, how he aims to instill a culture of accountability among the…
Serko’s Darrin Grafton One of World’s 25 Most Influential Travel Execs
New Zealander Darrin Grafton, co-founder and CEO of Serko, an online travel and expense management software company, has been named one of Business Travel News’ 25 most influential industry executives of 2014. Grafton’s win marks…
Rodd & Gunn Opens Flagship Store in NY Showroom
New Zealand-owned menswear retailer Rodd & Gunn, which was established in 1946, is stepping up its global expansion plans with a flagship showroom on Madison Avenue in New York. Managing director Mike Beagley, who joined…
General Motors Dan Ammann Drives for Change
General Motors President Dan Ammann is leading the push to change how the century-old Detroit automaker sells and produces cars around the world. Born in New Zealand, raised on a dairy farm at Eureka in…
Mark D’Arcy, Facebook Creative Shop CCO, Speaks About Creativity
Mark D’Arcy, New Zealand born VP and chief creative officer of Facebook Creative Shop, was interviewed by Campaign about the ways new technology has aligned creativity and business. “We grew up with linear forms of…
Jetpack Maker Charts Flight to Australian IPO
New Zealand jetpack manufacturer Martin Aircraft Co. Ltd. is looking to raise up to A$25 million through a December listing on Australia’s securities exchange. The money will be used to fund further development of…
New Zealand Ranked One of the Best Places to Run a Business
New Zealand is among the highest-ranked economies in the World Bank’s latest “Doing Business” report, which scores 189 nations based on how hard it is to run a company there. New Zealand was ranked second…
New Zealand Sheep Farms Adapt to Changing Demands
The changing face of sheep farming in New Zealand, with a focus on sheep meat exports over the traditional wool harvest, is mapped in an extensive New York Times feature by journalist Mike Ives. “About…
Ronnie Peters Connecting New Zealanders in NYC
Happy Bones is a hip coffee store and art space created by a troika of New Zealanders, and the scene for the monthly “Flat White Meetup”, where entrepreneurs gather to talk about…
Air NZ has “Coolest Airline Paint Job in the World”
Air New Zealand has been judged by Business Insider as having the “coolest airline paint job in the world”, ranked first out of 15 international airlines with striking exterior designs. “As airlines and…
New Zealand “Best-Designed Government in the World”
New Zealand has the best designed government in the world, American political commentator Dylan Matthews writes for Vox. “The shire has a mighty fine political system,” he jokes. “Recently New Zealand held its 51st general election,…
New Zealand Businesses Opening HQs in Texas
New Zealand software maker Project Manager Online Ltd., founded by Jason Westland (pictured), has opened a headquarters in the United States in Austin, Texas with plans to employ at least 80 workers within two…
Kiwi Startup Coco’s Coconut Co Picked up by Givenchy
Coco’s Coconut Co, a small Kiwi startup that produces a premium brand of coconut water called CoAqua, has landed a deal with French fashion brand Givenchy to be their in-store drink. CoAqua will soon be…
Chandler Betting Big on Energy in Africa and Asia
New Zealand-born billionaire Richard Chandler, 55, is counting on gas and oil in far-flung locales from Papua New Guinea to Kenya and Ethiopia, banking on demand from Asia’s growing middle class. Chandler is amassing a…
Maggie Bolger’s Hip London Kids Club a Soho House for Parents
Maggie Bolger and Rose van Cutsem are, on the face of it, unlikely friends and business partners. Bolger is a matter-of-fact New Zealander who lives in London, while van Cutsem — née Astor —…
Young Kiwi Entrepreneurs Win FedEx Competition
Two teams from New Zealand won both first and second place at the FedEx Express/Junior Achievement International Trade Challenge Asia Pacific, in which students in the region competed with business plans for a beauty…
Vista – New Zealand’s International Software Firm – Rising
New Zealand’s next big software company Vista Group climbed as much as 3 per cent on its first day of trading, after raising $92.6 million in its IPO last month. The New Zealand-based…
Gym President Sarah Robb O’Hagan Recommends Mindfulness
Sarah Robb O’Hagan, president of America’s Equinox fitness chain, believes in the links between exercise and confidence, and beauty and strength. Not surprisingly, the New Zealander is also a tri-athlete. But O’Hagan wasn’t always…
Allpress Espresso Takes Its Beans to Tokyo
New Zealand coffee roasting company Allpress Espresso is expanding their international chain opening an operation in the Tokyo suburb of Kiba. Allpress has also secured 17 wholesale supply accounts in Japan. Japan is…
Kiwi Students Win Big at Microsoft’s Imagine Cup
A group of aspiring technologists from the University of Auckland have taken out one of three grand prizes and won $50,000 at Microsoft’s Imagine Cup in Seattle. Kiwi team Estimeet won the Innovation category at…
Greg Foran Named New Wal-Mart USA CEO
Wal-Mart, the world’s biggest retailer, has announced New Zealander Greg Foran as CEO of its US business, responsible for 4,700 stores and accounting for 60 percent of the company’s total global revenue of US$476b. Foran,…
