A capacity crowd turned out to celebrate the contribution of the region's leading business people at the annual North Harbour Business Hall of Fame dinner. The 2019 dinner was held at The Wharf, Northcote Point, on Thursday May 2nd. The event recognised four business people from the region who were inducted as new laureates to the North Harbour Business Hall of Fame. The 2019 inductees were Carmel Fisher, Greg Smale, and Sue and Guy Haddleton.
Since 2015, the North Harbour Business Hall of Fame has been managed by the North Harbour Club & Charitable Trust – part of the Club's ongoing programme of rewarding excellence.
Established in 2004 by North Shore City’s business development entity Enterprise North Shore, the Hall of Fame celebrates those who have made significant contributions to the region in business and in the community. With the amalgamation of Auckland city in 2010 the Hall of Fame stalled for a few years before being re-established by the North Harbour Club in 2015. The name was changed from North Shore to North Harbour Business Hall of Fame and in 2016 the first laureates were inducted by the North Harbour Club, with the intention to do this annually.
To be considered for induction, a nominee must be a current successful business leader, who has applied their skills and success to also benefit the community.
The 2019 North Harbour Business Hall of Fame dinner was MC’d by broadcaster Peter Williams and featured performances by local North Shore entertainer and North Harbour Club AIMES Music Award recipient Will Martin. Addresses were also provided by North Harbour Club President Phil Brosnan and North Harbour Business Hall of Fame judging panel chair Gary Monk. Philip Morgan-Rees, Head of Private Wealth, spoke on behalf of sponsor Milford Asset Management.
Existing Business Hall of Fame laureates Jan Dawson, Paul Blackwell and Ken Noble were on hand to assist with inducting the four new 2019 laureates.
Carmel Fisher
Carmel Fisher was born and educated in Wellington. On the completion of an accounting degree at Victoria University, she embarked on an investment career focused largely on the New Zealand share market, starting as an investment analyst in a sharebroking firm and then moving into fund management roles.
Carmel and her husband of 33 years, Hugh, moved to Auckland in 1994, where Carmel headed the investment team at Sovereign Assurance. They founded Fisher Funds Management in 1998, initially operating from their Devonport home. Their first client was Sovereign, which invested $17 million in the company’s first share fund. That $17 million fund grew to $50 million after 12 months, then $100 million, and by the tenth year Fisher Funds had more than $500 million under management, 40,000 clients, and a team of 20 working from an office overlooking Takapuna beach.
Under Carmel’s leadership as Managing Director, the company has become one of New Zealand’s largest investment management and KiwiSaver providers, and her involvement in the New Zealand investment market has spanned more than 30 years. Fisher Funds has grown through innovation, acquisition and providing personalised client service. Fisher Funds is now the fifth-largest fund manager in the country with 250,000 clients.
Fisher Funds has received many awards and accolades for both performance and client service, and was purchased in late 2017 by a consortium of TSB Group Investments and Boston based TA Associates.
Carmel is a business advocate and mentor; she has championed women’s financial independence and financial literacy and supported a number of charities both through her company and personally.
Carmel was the winner of the Services Category at the 2016 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards; was inducted into the Co.OfWomen Hall of Fame in 2017; and was awarded an Institute of Finance Professionals New Zealand (INFINZ) Fellowship in 2018. In this year’s New Year Honours, Carmel was awarded the Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to business.
Carmel is currently a director of listed investment companies Kingfish Limited, Barramundi Limited and Marlin Global Limited, and of New Zealand Trade and Enterprise.
Often recognised and acknowledged as an industry leader and trailblazer, Carmel has also supported a range of charities and interest groups over a number of years, both privately and via Fisher Funds.
Greg Smale
Greg Smale grew up on the North Shore attending Westlake Boys High School. A young entrepreneur, Greg started his first business at age 11, manufacturing wire circles for flower posies. This business grew to national distribution and within a year Greg had captured a large market share in New Zealand before selling the business at the age of 18.
On leaving school Greg joined the Auckland City Council drafting office while also attending the University of Auckland undertaking a property valuation diploma.
After university, Greg established a property development company along with a builder and, and after five years went out on his own, establishing Newline Construction, which built properties around Auckland for more than 20 years.
At the age of 25, one of Greg’s property development projects was the Takapuna Motor Lodge in Taharoto Road. On completion, Greg and his wife Felicity (whom he married in 1977) moved in and ran the motel, later selling this business to Greg’s bother Bill at 95% occupancy.
In 1980, Greg and Felicity established Newline Bathroomware manufacturing Rollaway Showerscreens. They sold the business in 2014 with manufacturing still continuing today under licence in the US.
Fast forward to 1997 and Clear Communications approached the Smale family to build its head office at its Smales Farm site. Greg led negotiations of the lease and design, and 14 months later construction of this now iconic building began.
Over the years more buildings have been added to Smales Farm, the latest being the innovative B:Hive which Greg has always been very passionate about. Specifically catering for SME tenants, it is a unique, shared space and the first purpose-built facility of its type in the world. Greg continues to guide the future vision and direction of Smales Farm as a director.
Greg has spent three years on the Massey University College of Business Advisory Board, and is also involved in the New Zealand Robotics Trust encouraging and inspiring students in the STEM disciplines with 1200 students involved from more than 60 schools.
Greg and Felicity have three children, all of whom have become involved in property development here and abroad.
Greg and Felicity are strong supporters of the North Shore Hospice with Greg currently involved in the Shea Terrace Development. A true philanthropist, Greg has quietly and readily supported many other charities and projects.
Greg follows his late father Jim as a Business Hall of Fame Laureate.
Guy and Susan Haddleton
Takapuna-based couple Guy and Susan Haddleton have been described as ‘serial entrepreneurs’, selling their first start-up business in their mid-40s for US$160 million.
A Kings College old boy, Guy spent his early career in the New Zealand military as Troop Commander of a Special Forces team. He holds an MBA from the University of Otago, while Susan is a graduate of the University of Auckland and forged a career as a regional manager for Drake International in both Canada and the eastern seaboard of the USA before receiving a call from Guy telling her of his great business idea!
In 1990, the Haddletons established Adaytum, an enterprise planning software company, along with co-founder Michael Gould. Adaytum began in the UK, with an initial investment of 49 pounds (the cost of an advertisement in the Financial Times) before later conquering the US market and moving to Minneapolis. They led Adaytum for 13 years until its acquisition by Cognos in 2003 for US$160 million.
Later Guy, Sue and Michael saw an opportunity within cloud-based planning software and co-founded Anaplan, an adapted version of Adaytum built this time for the age of the internet. At one point Anaplan was one of the fastest growing enterprise software companies in the US. In October 2018, Anaplan listed on the New York Stock Exchange in a $3 billion-dollar IPO.
The Haddletons are keen investors and supporters of entrepreneurial start-ups. They were early investors in Xero with Rod Drury, where Guy also served on the board for four years, and have recently invested in medical cannabis start-up, Helius Therapeutics, and supercomputing start-up Nyriad here in New Zealand.
In addition to their outstanding business history, Guy and Susan are passionate about youth and the arts and are generous supporters of organisations like the New Zealand National Youth Theatre, where they are sponsors and help some of their stars go offshore. They also support the New Zealand Opera School and the New Zealand Outward Bound Trust, amongst numerous other organisations and individuals.
Laureates of the North Harbour Business Hall of Fame – 2004: Geoff Smale (deceased), Jim Smale (deceased), Ralph Roberts, Sir Stephen Tindall; 2005: Sir David Levene; Sir Graeme Avery; Sir Peter Maire; 2006: Diane Foreman, Peter Menzies; 2007: Ian Calderwood; 2008: David Charlesworth (deceased); 2009: Colin Harvey; 2010: Jan Dawson, Gary Monk; 2016: Paul and Liz Blackwell; John Spooner; Annette Presley; 2017: Bill Speedy; Eric Faesenkloet; Paul Byrnes; 2018: Ken Noble; David McAlpine; Steve Newman; 2019: Greg Smale, Carmel Fisher, Guy & Sue Haddleton.
