Leadership Team

• George Gould
  Managing Director

  George Gould Managing Director George was MD of NZX listed Pyne Gould Guinness Limited from 2001 to 2003, leading the management of the merger of that company with Reid Farmers Limited. Prior to that he was MD of NZX listed South Eastern Utilities Limited whose main achievement was the acquisition of Wairarapa Electricity Limited in 1996 and its subsequent sale in 1999.

• Rob Woodgate
  Chief Financial Officer

  Rob Woodgate Chief Financial Officer Formerly Group Financial Controller, Rob was appointed CFO in August 2010. He has been intimately involved in a number of high profile transactions, having worked on the capital raise, takeover and sale of assets. He is responsible for the management of the Group’s share services including: accounting, treasury, audit, HR, IT, property, procurement and corporate communications. Rob has held a number of senior finance roles in New Zealand and the UK.

• John McKenzie
  Group General Manager AgriTech

  John McKenzie Group General Manager, AgriTech John is the founder of specialist proprietary forage seed company Agricom Limited which was purchased by Pyne Gould Guinness in July 2005. He has reporting to him the businesses in New Zealand, Australia, South America and the international Seeds group, together with R&D, production, Turf and Grain.

• Julian Daly
  General Counsel & Company Secretary

  Julian Daly General Counsel & Company Secretary / Acting General Manager of Real Estate Julian is a former General Counsel for DB Breweries and has worked in law firms in the Middle East and New Zealand. He is responsible for the legal and corporate secretariat affairs for PGG Wrightson Group and is involved in a broad range of transactions including the 2009 capital raising, takeover offers and the divestment of PGG Wrightson Finance to Heartland New Zealand. Julian works closely with a number of the Group business units in commercial advisory matters and is Acting General Manager of PGG Wrightson Real Estate.

• Cedric Bayly
  General Manager PGG Wrightson Wool

  Cedric Bayly General Manager PGG Wrightson Wool A doyen of the Wool industry, Cedric was appointed as GM:PGG Wrightson Wool in early August 2011. Most recently he was the national manager of Elders Primary Wool and for nine years was GM: Wool at Williams & Kettle, one the main components of the PGG and Wrightson merger in 2005.

• Stephen Guerin
  General Manager Rural Supplies and Fruitfed

  Stephen Guerin General Manager Rural Supplies and Fruitfed Stephen is the former GM: Fruitfed Supplies where he spent 23 years in various roles. He was appointed as GM: Rural Supplies and Fruitfed Supplies in May 2011 where he is responsible for all aspects of the Rural Supplies and Fruitfed Supplies retail businesses.

• Carlos Miguel de León
  Group General Manager PGG Wrightson Uruguay

  Carlos Miguel de León Group General Manager PGG Wrightson Uruguay Carlos joined PGG Wrightson in April 1999 as business development manager for Wrightson Pas in Uruguay. In 2001 he was appointed as GM for this business and was responsible for the growth of the seeds operation. In 2005 he was appointed as GM: South America and as Group GM: South America in 2009. He is responsible for running the AgriServices part of the business in South America.

• John Parker
  General Manager Irrigation and Pumping

  John Parker General Manager Irrigation and Pumping John was appointed as GM: Irrigation and Pumping in July 2007 after joining PGG Wrightson in December 2005 as Commercial Manager – Financial Services. John, a chartered accountant, has held various commercial management roles prior to joining PGG Wrightson over a number of different industries. John is responsible for all aspects of the Irrigation and Pumping business.

• Colin Spence
  General Manager Agriculture NZ

  Colin Spence General Manager Agriculture NZ Colin was appointed GM: Agriculture New Zealand Ltd in 2006 after six years as Group Manager of AgNZ – Training. Prior to this role Colin was a Horticultural Consultant working with a national and international client base specialising in advise on Agrichemicals in the urban environment. This advisory role followed 15 years of contribution to research on agrichemicals used in the Horticultural Industry, based at the MAF Horticultural Research Centre in Levin.

• Nigel Thorpe
  General Manager Livestock

  Nigel Thorpe General Manager Livestock Nigel was appointed as GM: Livestock in May 2011. He is a 30-year veteran in stock and station businesses and has held various livestock management roles with PGG Wrightson both in New Zealand and Australia where he was GM: Livestock and Real Estate. He held the position of beef supply chain manager, South Island, from 2009.