Our Board

Kristy was appointed to the Board of WBS in July 2012. Kristy is an experienced Barrister and King’s Counsel with a wealth of legal, governance and regulatory experience and a strong interest in primary industries. Having represented both private clients and the Crown for nearly 40 years, she has extensive experience across many areas of legal practice but has a particular focus on corporate, administrative and public law. Kristy is Chair of Kiwifruit New Zealand, the statutory regulator for the kiwifruit industry. She is also Chair of the Racing Integrity Board. Kristy has previously held a number of governance positions, including as a Director of ACC, Deputy Chair of the Electoral Commission, Chair of the Ministry of Social Development Audit and Risk Committee and Chair of the Real Estate Agents Authority.

Tony moved to the Wairarapa over 30 years ago and was appointed to the WBS Board in January 2016. He was a Director of Lawson Avery Limited, a local accounting firm originally founded in 1909. Tony joined Lawson Avery in 1985 after working for Ernst & Young in Wellington and four years overseas working in London. Tony stepped back from full-time involvement with Lawson Avery during 2020. He has had a large client base servicing mainly Wairarapa based clients, delivering a broad spectrum of services, as well as highly tailored advisory services to larger clients and has several directorships on local businesses.

Adam joined the Board in 2016. Adam has been practising law since 1999 and is a partner/owner at Gawith Burridge in Masterton. Adam has a wide range of legal and business experience at several organisations including his legal practice, competition law at the Commerce Commission, Ministerial advice and drafting legislation (Ministry of Economic Development), intellectual property law at AJ Park, litigation and general practice. Adam also holds directorships in several trustee companies and has served on the Hadlow School Board and is Honorary Solicitor for several local charitable organisations.

Nick has been a resident of the Wairarapa region for over 16 years and joined the WBS Board in 2017. Nick previously worked for DB Breweries in various management, commercial and marketing roles for 17 years before deciding to run his own businesses, including management of the Tui Brewery Experience, the Monteith’s Brewery Experience and the White Swan Hotel in Greytown. Nick is also affiliated with Greytown Country Village Heaven, Rathkeale Foundation and the New Zealand National Aviation Centre. Nick has also served numerous terms on the boards of Castlepoint Station, Destination Wairarapa and Wings Over Wairarapa.

Blair has been a resident of the Wairarapa region for over 28 years and joined the WBS Board in January 2020. Blair is a registered valuer who spent 13 years as a senior rural banker servicing the Wairarapa and Tararua regions. Using his skills and experience from both these professions, Blair moved to rural real estate 15 years ago. He established his own highly successful real estate company in 2014, NZR Real Estate Limited. Blair has also been Co-Chairman and a Trustee of the Wairarapa Sports Education Trust and Chair of the Lakeview School Board of Trustees.

Sarah Dalziell-Clout is a born and bred Wairarapa local. She grew up rurally in Tinui, out of Masterton, before spending time in Christchurch, Wellington and London. Sarah is now back within the rural fold in Kahutara, Featherston.

Sarah is an experienced lawyer who has worked in a range of industries including banking, telecommunications, IT, sport and logistics, both nationally and globally.

Sarah is also experienced in management, leadership and strategy from her time as Chair of Eventing Wairarapa and as the High Performance Director for Equestrian Sports New Zealand. During her time in the latter role, Sarah led both the campaign and high performance equestrian programme into the 2016 Rio Olympics and the 2018 World Equestrian Games.

Sarah’s current legal role sees her supporting businesses remotely around the country. She sees her directorship role at WBS as an opportunity to reconnect with, and ensure that WBS stays accountable to, her local Wairarapa community.

Brett joined the Board in 2023. He has been a director and shareholder of local accountancy practice Lawson Avery Limited since 2016, where he supports his clients with a wide range of accounting, tax and advisory services. Brett’s client base is made up of a large number of agriculture and viticultural customers, as well as property investors and small to medium businesses. Before his time with Lawson Avery, Brett held roles in the telecommunications, energy and investment banking sectors and worked at top four accounting practices in both Wellington and London. Brett has a keen interest in business growth and using technology to improve systems and efficiencies within businesses. He has completed the Icehouse Owner Manager Programme, holds a number of trusteeships and is a director for Wings over Wairarapa.