Keith Smith

Chairman from 23 July 2009, B.Com, FCA.

Keith Smith was appointed as a Director and Chairman of Wrightson Ltd in June 2004.

Keith is a chartered accountant, and until December 2005 was a partner in the national accounting practice BDO Spicers, specialising in Directorships. He is Chairman of Tourism Holdings Ltd, NZ Farming Systems Uruguay Ltd and The Warehouse Group Ltd. He is also a Director of Goodman (NZ) Ltd, Mighty River Power Ltd and a number of private companies. He is a Past President of The New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants. He is Chairman of the PGG Wrightson Board’s Audit Committee.

Baird McConnon

Baird McConnon is Chairman of Rural Portfolio Investments Ltd, and of Aorangi Laboratories Ltd. He is also a Director of a number of private companies related to the McConnon family interests.

Baird has been involved in agriculture-related businesses in New Zealand for more than 30 years, most recently as Chief Executive of the team responsible for the development of the Mainland Consumer Products Group and the Australasian Food Holdings Group.

Bill Thomas

Bill Thomas farms Longbeach, the historic coastal flat land property 24km southeast of Ashburton. He is involved in Irrigation development, Arable, Sheep and Beef farming as well as a Dairy conversion. Bill became a Director of Pyne Gould Guinness Ltd in 1995.

Bruce Irvine

Bruce was appointed to the PGG Wrightson Board in June 2009 and is also a Director of Pyne Gould Corporation Ltd and its subsidiaries including MARAC Finance Ltd and Perpetual Trust Ltd.  Bruce was Managing Partner at Deloitte Christchurch from 1995 to 2007 before his retirement in May 2008.  He now acts as an independent director on various boards including: Christchurch City Holdings Ltd, House of Travel Holdings Ltd, Godfrey Hirst NZ Ltd, Market Gardeners Ltd, Rakon Ltd, Scenic Circle Hotels Ltd and Skope Industries Ltd.

Craig Norgate

Chairman to 23 July 2009, BBS, CA, FNZIM.

Craig Norgate is Managing Director of Rural Portfolio Investments Ltd and Rural Portfolio Investments Securities Limited. Craig has over 20 years experience as a leader in the New Zealand primary sector, including two years as the inaugural CEO of Fonterra and, prior to that, a number of years as CEO of Kiwi Co-operative Dairies.

Craig is a Director of Westgate Port Taranaki Ltd, NZ Farming Systems Uruguay Ltd, Aotearoa Fisheries Ltd and Sealord Group Ltd and the Institute of Chartered Accountants. He is Chairman of the PGG Wrightson Board’s Remuneration and Appointments Committee.

George Gould

George was appointed as a director on 5 January 2010.

George is a company director and investor. He is chairman and major shareholder of Christchurch based investment company Gould Holdings Limited which has a successful track record in private equity and New Zealand listed equities.

George was managing director of NZX listed Pyne Gould Guinness Limited, leading the management of the merger of that company with Reid Farmers Limited from 2001 to 2003. Prior to that, he was Managing Director 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.

A qualified lawyer, George is a graduate of Canterbury University and London School of Economics. He is a fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Management and a member of the Institute of Directors. George is presently an independent director of Orion New Zealand Limited and Christchurch International Airport Limited. He has interests in pastoral farming and commercial property.

Guanglin Lai (Alan)

Alan Lai was appointed as a director on 30 December 2009.

Alan has served as the chairman of Agria’s board of directors since June 2007. Alan also served as Agria’s co-chief executive officer from September 2007 to June 2008 and as chief executive officer from November 2008 to September 2009. Alan is a director of BCL, which is Agria’s largest shareholder. In 2002, Alan founded Ace Choice Management Limited, a company that specializes in promoting business and investment activities between the Peoples Republic of China and other countries. From 2000 to 2002, he was managing director of Shenzhen Keding Venture Capital Management Co. Ltd, a venture investment management company. Alan is the chairman of the board of directors and chairman and a member of the nomination committees of China Pipe Group Limited, a Hong Kong-listed company that manufactures construction and energy related pipes in Asia. Alan holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Monash University, Melbourne, Australia and is a certified public accountant in Australia.

Murray Flett

B.Com Ag.

Murray Flett is a Southland-based dairy farmer.

He is currently a Director of NZ Farming Systems Uruguay Ltd and several private companies in the food, printing and agricultural sectors.

Murray has spent more than 10 years as a director in the dairy industry, including a three-year terms as a director of Fonterra.

Sir Selwyn Cushing

KNZM, CMG.

Sir Selwyn was appointed to the Wrightson Board in March 2005 following the acquisition of Williams & Kettle Ltd, of which he had been a Director for more than 20 years.

Sir Selwyn has extensive experience in the rural sector and has been involved with public companies for 40 years. He is currently Chairman of Rural Equities Ltd and New Zealand Rural Properties Trust Management Ltd and Skellerup Holdings Ltd.  He has been a member of the New Zealand Exchange for 30 years and has been involved with many corporate investment projects.

Tim Miles

Tim Miles joined PGG Wrightson on 18 March 2008 as Managing Director.  Tim came to PGG Wrightson after returning to New Zealand, having spent two years in the United Kingdom with Vodafone UK and the Vodafone Group. He fulfilled a range of leadership roles in a six year career with Vodafone, including Chief Executive New Zealand, Chief Executive Officer UK, Chief Technology Officer Vodafone Group and member of the Group executive team. Prior to that, he worked in a range of executive and other leadership roles with Unisys, Data General Corporation and IBM. Since returning to New Zealand Tim has been a non executive Director of Goodman Property Trust and Chairman of Equity Partners Media and Communication.  His attributes are closely aligned to PGG Wrightson’s strategy and aspirations.

Xie Tao (XT)

XT was appointed as a director on 30 December 2009.

XT engaged in advisory practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) for 20 years where he led PwC China market corporate finance practice and served on the firm’s governing board. XT has extensive experience in China related cross-border investments and M & A and has helped structure many well-known China businesses. XT received his bachelor’s degree in physics from Beijing University in China and was a member of the United Kingdom Chartered Association of Certified Accountants.