NORTH HARBOUR BUSINESS HALL OF FAME
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 the Smales Farm site. Greg led negotiations for 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,
Greg Smale, second from right, was presented with his award by Gary Monk, Laureate and Chair of the Hall of Fame Judging Committee; Ken Noble, Hall of Fame Laureate; and Mike Cruickshank of Milford Asset Management.
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 Sue 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 a 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!
Guy and Sue Haddleton were presented with their awards by Paul Blackwell, Hall of Fame Laureate; Gary Monk, Laureate and Chair of the Hall of Fame Judging Committee; and Mike Cruickshank of sponsor Milford Asset Management.
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 cloudbased 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.
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Issue 99 - June 2019 www.channelmag.co.nz