Outstanding leader

Chief Executive of The New Zealand Merino Company (NZM) since its inception in 1994, John Brakenridge started with a very clear vision of what the industry needed to do to move New Zealand merino out of the commodity basket and up the value chain.

He has been resolute in his pursuit of that vision. Overcoming reluctance from some in the industry to challenge the status quo and do things differently, John has been a catalyst for change.

John and his team have driven the company from a $5 million per year turnover levy funded organisation to a $115m per year turnover fully commercial company, generating between $10m to $15m annually in additional value for New Zealand merino growers.

“Working directly with growers, retail brands and the industry as a whole to transform the business from one reliant on an auction model to one focused on stable direct contracts between growers and retailers has been immensely satisfying. Through this work, grower levies have been removed completely from the industry.”

John works with players at all levels of the merino value chain, from growers to luxury Italian brands, successfully identifying and acting on trends and opportunities to add value to their businesses.

His ability to stay one step ahead of the game saw him introduce the Zque™ brand to the industry.

“Zque™ is NZM’s substance brand that represents naturally “Real” New Zealand Merino products of quality, performance and integrity. Seeing the international market would eventually demand such a brand, I was keen that when they did we were able to move immediately and capitalise on the trend.”

John’s skills were recently recognised by the government, through his appointment to both the Wool Task Force and the Investment Advisory Panel of the Primary Growth Partnership.

“I’m excited that the New Zealand Merino industry has been transformed and substantial additional value accrued for growers. I now have a vision of a similar approach being taken by other primary producers so that New Zealand as a country is able to leverage our unique advantages.”

www.nzmerino.co.nz

Rod Drury is a serial entrepreneur with a long and successful history of developing New Zealand-based international businesses.

“I passionately believe that technology now makes it possible to build significant global businesses from New Zealand.  That has exciting implications for our country. We already know we are the best place to live and we can have that while developing world class businesses.”

Rod’s current venture, the publicly listed online accounting software company Xero, is testament to this strategy. Established in 2006, this fast growing company now has offices in New Zealand, Australia and London and has quickly established itself as a global leader a highly competitive international market with customers in dozens of countries.

Rod networks globally, demonstrated by Xero executing key marketing partnerships with British Telecom in the United Kingdom; and Telstra and the ANZ in Australia. Prior to setting up Xero, he sold his award-winning email archiving software company Aftermail to a United States publicly listed company.

In 2010 Rod was one of the co-founders of Pacific Fibre, a venture aimed at developing new fibre-optic broadband connectivity linking Australia and New Zealand to the United States. Last year he joined the board of the New Zealand Stock Exchange, where he has been helping the board develop strategies for enhancing capital raising opportunities for New Zealand businesses.

Under Rod’s leadership Xero has a strong sense of customer centricity.

“We’ve learnt that looking after customers and thinking hard about how we make things better for them allows us to transform them into our sales people. We’re excited how social media is allowing us to scale that worldwide.”

This approach extends to his staff.

“We work really hard but there is always a sense of fun and pride in working for Xero. I’m so proud seeing our talented people deliver an outstanding product that our customers and partners all over the world rave about.”

Recipient of numerous awards and with immense international business success, Rod says he’s only in ‘mid-career’, with plenty more to come.

www.xero.com