Three new Trustees have been successfully appointed to the Te Puna Umanga Venture Taranaki Board of Trustees. The new Trustees were approved by New Plymouth District Council councillors in a council meeting on 17 September 2024 and were officially adopted at the agency’s AGM yesterday.

The incoming Trustees include a line-up of high-calibre executives and directors, including James Annabell, Egmont Honey CEO and Director of Hive Developments, Kennie Tsui, who holds a number of board roles, including Board Member Wellington Cable Car, Deputy President Engineering NZ, and Global Board Member USA Geothermal Resources Council, and Warwick Tauwhare-George (Ngai Tahu, Ngati Hikairo), previous CEO of Parininihi ki Waitotara (PKW), Director Centreport and Deputy Chair Riverlock Group.  

At the agency’s AGM, current board member Grant McQuoid, Director of Velocite, was also appointed as the new Chair, and Joshua Hitchcock, Pou Amotake/General Manager Operations at Te Kotahitanga o Te Atiawa, was appointed Deputy Chair.

“On behalf of the Te Puna Umanga Venture Taranaki Board and the Venture Taranaki team, I would like to congratulate James, Kennie and Warwick on their successful appointments,” said Grant McQuoid, Te Puna Umanga Venture Taranaki Chair. 

The cohort of talented trustees is set to officially join the governance team, replacing three outgoing trustees, including previous Board Chair Joanna Breare, Deputy Chair David Downs, and Gillian Cagney.  

“I would like to thank and acknowledge the contributions of all our outgoing Trustees. Their diverse strengths across governance, energy, operational performance, finance, technology, and start-ups have helped sharpen our strategic direction and have positively impacted Venture Taranaki and the wider Taranaki region,” said McQuoid.

“As the newly appointed Chair, I am pleased to welcome our new Trustees as we build on the significant and impactful work achieved in recent years. Together, we will focus on what lies ahead to best serve our community and shareholder, continuing our efforts to make Taranaki a great place to live, work, and play for all,” he added.

New Plymouth District Mayor Neil Holdom also thanks the departing board members for their contributions and welcomes the new appointments.

“Venture Taranaki has a strong legacy of forward-thinking innovation as our region's economic and tourism development agency, backing local businesses, attracting investment, and showcasing our unique destination to visitors. As a region, we’re facing some big challenges ahead as we work towards a low-emissions future. However, we can turn challenges into opportunities with a collective long-term vision and having directors of this calibre gives us confidence that we’ll continue to move in the right direction,” said Mayor Neil Holdom.

The new Trustees are looking forward to getting underway with the region’s Economic Development Agency, and are excited about the future of the organisation, and the region.

“Having previously engaged with Te Puna Umanga Venture Taranaki as a client, I was fortunate to experience firsthand the excellent mahi of the VT team in supporting enterprise development across Taranaki and driving regional GDP growth. It is for these reasons that I wanted to join the Board of Trustees, and I feel honoured to have the opportunity to contribute to this important mahi.

I’m excited to have the opportunity to work alongside an experienced and highly capable Board of Trustees, who are committed to advancing food and fibre diversification, driving the decarbonisation of our regional economy and the transition towards a low-emissions future. Alongside, a focus on supporting the growth of the Māori economy and attracting the visitors of tomorrow,” said Warwick Tauwhare-George.

The incoming board members were officially adopted into the organisation at the Venture Taranaki AGM on Thursday, 26 September and welcomed with a Mihi Whakatau, followed by their first official board meeting.

NEW TRUSTEES BIOS

James Annabell
James Annabell is an accomplished entrepreneur who founded Egmont Honey with his father, starting from a single beehive gifted for Christmas. This small beginning rapidly expanded to over 4,000 hives, processing more than 1,000 tons of New Zealand honey each year and exporting to over 25 countries, making it one of the largest Manuka honey companies globally.

In 2018, Egmont Honey merged with Go Healthy to form "The Better Health Company" (TBHC), backed by CDH Investments from Singapore. Annabell remained CEO and a shareholder in TBHC. The following year, TBHC and Egmont Honey were acquired by Nestlé Health Science, providing new global opportunities. Annabell continues as CEO under a multi-year agreement with Nestlé.

James Annabell was a top 20 finalist in the 2018 EY Entrepreneur of the Year Awards for New Zealand. He is also a Director of Hive Developments Ltd, a construction firm in Taranaki. He is currently involved in several new food projects.

Kennie Tsui
Kennie Tsui holds a number of directorships including Deputy President of Engineering New Zealand, formerly known as the Institute of Professional Engineers (IPENZ), Wellington Cable Car (council controlled organisation), Amplify, and US Geothermal Rising (Geothermal Association).

She joined the New Zealand Geothermal Association as Chief Executive in July 2021.  Prior to this, she was the Principal Analyst at the Climate Change Commission, and was heavily involved with developing the first report “Ināia tonu nei: a low emissions future for Aotearoa”. Tabled in Parliament in June 2021, She has also held previous positions at the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment and 15 years in the private sector as a professional engineer. 

A chemical and process engineer by training, and also holding an MBA qualification.  She is based in Wellington, New Zealand.

Warwick Tauwhare-George (Ngai Tahu, Ngati Hikairo)
Warwick is a Chartered Member of the Institute of Directors and has extensive governance experience in the Food & Fibre, Property & Infrastructure, Renewable Energy, New Technologies, Tourism and Hospitality sectors.

He presently sits on the boards of Centreport Ltd, Riverlock Group Holdings and Tainui Group Hldgs.  His previous board roles included being the Chair of Ngamotu Hotels Ltd, and Independent Director of Muka Tangata Workforce Development Council, Ngai Tahu Farming, Ngai Tahu Seafood, Port Nicholson Fisheries, Hamilton Riverview Hotels Ltd and he was a member of the Fonterra’s Co-Operative Relations Committee.

Warwick is a qualified quantity surveyor, has an MBA from the University of Wollongong (Finance & Marketing), BCA (Accounting & Commercial Law) from Victoria University and is presently completing a Post Graduate Diploma in Agribusiness at Massey University,  plus spent 10 x years living and working in the in Middle East.