John Williamson was appointed Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Hellaby Holdings in July 2007. He was appointed to the Hellaby board as an Non-Executive Director in 2005.

John has over 20 years senior management experience in consumer marketing, industrial manufacturing, distribution and retail. He was formerly general manager of sales and marketing for Bendon and subsequently held senior positions in the Concrete & Infrastructure Group at Fletcher Building, including general manager of Humes Group.

John has also been engaged as an advisor on business turnarounds and performance improvement. He is a board member of Hockey New Zealand.

Paul Byrnes is a professional director with 25 years commercial experience across a number of sectors including finance, textiles, software and engineering.

Paul is an investor in a number of private companies involved in software, marketing, and distribution. He is chairman of Top Energy, an executive director of Dorchester Finance and director of a number of private companies, including Prism Group.

Paul was managing director of previously-listed Holeproof Industries, effecting a management buyout and subsequent divestment of the business. He is a qualified Chartered Accountant.

Gary Mollard is the chairman and former managing director of NDA Group, an international engineering and manufacturing group of companies which is headquartered in Hamilton. He is also chairman of Aber Holdings and is a director of Innovation Waikato and Central Capital.

Prior to becoming chief executive of NDA Engineering and subsequently leading a management buy-out of that company, Mr Mollard has held general management positions with Television New Zealand, Natural Gas Corporation and Golden Bay Cement.

James Sclater is a professional director and trustee acting for a number of private companies and investment trusts. Prior to 2009, James was chairman of Grant Thornton Auckland, where he was a business advisory services director for 18 years, specialising in SME accounting, taxation and management advice.

James was nominated as a Hellaby director by the Hugh Green Trust, which is the beneficial owner of a 30.45% shareholding in Hellaby Holdings. Hugh Green is James’ alternate on the Hellaby board.

James is a qualified Chartered Accountant and was appointed chairman of Hellaby’s Audit and Risk Committee in March 2009.

Steve Smith is managing director of Unison Capital Advisors, which provides strategic, investment management and financial advice. He is chairman of Spanbild Holdings and is a director of Fulton Hogan, OCG Consulting, Rimu S.A. (Chile) and Elevation Capital Management. Steve is a co-opted member of the Auckland City Zoo board. He is a qualified Chartered Accountant.

Steve was previously acting chief executive and director of Pacific Retail Group, and prior to that was a partner, Corporate Finance and Investment Banking, with PricewaterhouseCoopers until 2003. He is a former director of Life Pharmacy.