Laureates

Claudia Batten inducted 2009

This award recognizes the business acumen of Claudia Batten in developing computer software that downloads advertising into online video games.  She and her business parters formed the international company Massive Inc. which was sold to Microsoft in 2006.

Leaving school in 1992, Claudia completed a Law degree with honours and a Commerce degree in Marketing and Management. She worked as a corporate lawyer in the Auckland office of Russell McVeagh specialising in contracts and technology law.  She advised both the customers and the suppliers of companies on technology supply, licensing and outsourcing.

Moving to New York with her husband she continued legal work but combined it with business development fundraising and public relations.

In partnership with two Australians and a fellow kiwi she was involved in developing software which would download real-time advertising into the background features of video games while the user was online.

Finding this niche market was the key, but convincing large corporations that this was an innovative way to bring their product under the constant gaze of young Americans was more difficult.

Working on a very small budget, the team worked long hours to win companies such as Honda and Coca Cola as customers. As their company Massive Inc grew so did the Microsoft’s awareness of their success. In 2006 Massive was sold to Microsoft and Claudia is currently part of the Senior Management team as Vice President, Client Relations.

With her ethic of hard work and with a wide variety of skills Claudia was confident of the eventual success of Massive. She regards herself as a New Zealander and has joined the New Zealand Board of Trade and Enterprise’s Beachhead advisory group which connects New Zealand companies to an international network of advisors to provide valuable contacts, experience and expertise in specific markets. She has recently given feedback on the NZTE’s Digital Strategy 2.0

Valerie Cranfield (nee Handley) inducted 2009

Valerie Cranfield receives this award in recognition of her success as a business woman in the retail industry.

Brought up with a farming background, where her mother encouraged all her children to “go for it” if they had a good idea, Valerie started her career as an Economics teacher before family life intervened.

An enthusiastic shopper, but with an eye for quality, Valerie soon saw a niche market for handcrafted New Zealand made goods, which became a feature in her first shop “Mostly Floral” which became “the Kiwi shop” and led to the successful Cranfields stores.

Cranfields has grown from one in Wellington, to shops in Christchurch, Auckland and Melbourne.

In March 2009 Valerie accepted  the GIA Award (Global Innovation Award) for the top homeware store for New Zealand, presented to her in Chicago and was among 26 country winners considered for the top global award

The success of this enterprise can be attributed to Valerie’s philosophy that good business is as much about commonsense and affordability versus practicality, hard work, and sacrifice as it is about good management. Instinct on stock selection and knowing her clients mean that the stock is refreshed regularly from New  Zealand craftspeople and artisans from abroad. Good business practice through research, taking risks, adapting to change and responding to opportunities are all evident in the success of Cranfields.

Catherine Savage inducted 2008

2008 Laureate and Chairman of the Marsden Board of Management, Catherine Savage qualified as an accountant.

Her career has taken her from an accounting firm, to the National Gas Corporation and finally to AMP Capital Investors (New Zealand) Limited where, until recently, she was Managing Director with responsibility for setting the company’s strategic direction with its Board. 

Trust and social responsibility are cornerstones of Catherine’s business ethic. She trusts staff to be accountable for their own decisions, and this, she believes, goes hand in hand with a responsibility to grow the funds of the community.

Beyond investment, Catherine is a member of the New Zealand Institute’s Think Tank, the Supporters’ Council of Enterprise New Zealand, and the Economic Committee of the Wellington Regional Strategy Committee. She is married with three children and has a personal interest in organic food.

By her own admission, Catherine grew up being told “she could do anything”. This allowed her to plan her goals, making choices and decisions as she set out to achieve them. She believes that success, both in career and in personal life, is based more on mental attitude than mental capacity.

Juliet McKee (nee Broad) inducted 2008

Juliet McKee's career as an economist has taken her all over the world. Completing an economics degree at Victoria University, Juliet worked in the Reserve Bank and Cabinet Office for several years before moving overseas and beginning employ in international bodies such as the Commonwealth Secretariat and the United Nations.  Returning to New Zealand she formed her own company “Broad Horizons Limited” providing training and advice on governance to directors of corporate bodies, not-for-profit organisations and government bodies both in New Zealand and overseas – particularly in the Pacific. Business ethics and recognition of social responsibility and diversity are elements of corporate behaviour that Juliet espouses.
Juliet’s diverse experience has been harnessed by many Boards including NZ Windfarms Ltd., Coast Health Care, Wellington Airport, NZ-On-Air, St James Theatre Ltd and the Management Board of Marsden School.
Juliet won the Institute of Directors study award to London in 1994. She is an Accredited Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Directors, and is an Honorary Fellow of the Victoria University School of Government.
Juliet was awarded the Queens Service Order for Public Service in 1996 and a Commonwealth Medal for Community Service in 1990.
While Juliet believes women can do anything, she also believes that a good balance of skills is more valid for a job than gender. Successful in business and as a mother, Juliet is a role model for young women of today who wish to achieve in both professional and domestic lives.

Bronwen Holdsworth (nee Pearson) inducted 2007

Bronwen Holdsworth is an entrepreneurial businesswoman who is known for her generosity to the community in her home town of Gisborne.  She and her inventor engineer husband, Peter, left farming in 1983 to set up Pultron Composites Ltd, to become the biggest composite materials and technology pultrusion company in Australasia.  The family business, still based in Gisborne, makes industrial, lifestyle and leisure products from a material which looks like plastic but feels like steel.  Peter runs the technical and invention side of the business, while Mrs Holdsworth is the managing director, responsible for marketing, management and administration.  She is also company secretary of Paringahau Farm Co Ltd, an agro-forestry business. Pultron, which exports most of its products, has won numerous business, quality and export awards. 
A keen musician and accomplished pianist, Mrs Holdsworth has been involved with a large number of visual art, music, education and business organisations in Gisborne. Lately she has focussed on emerging artists, including sponsoring the Gisborne Music Competition prize for the best performance of a New Zealand composition.  She says her family is committed to helping young composers and musicians develop their skills and expand their horizons.
Chosen as the 1988 MORE Businesswoman of the Year, Mrs Holdsworth was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 1997 for services to business, the arts and the community.  The Holdsworths have four children, all engineers.
In 1988, Mrs Holdsworth paid tribute to Marsden in a newspaper interview.  “The women who taught me (at Marsden) inspired achievement,” she said.

Jenny Morel inducted 2007

Jenny Morel is one of Wellington’s most prominent businesswomen.  After a career in merchant banking and directorships which included New Zealand Rail Ltd and The Rural Bank, in 1998 she set up her own investment bank with another partner, a high risk capital venture fund which became Morel & Co.  A year later they formed No 8 Ventures Management Ltd, which invests in early stage New Zealand technology companies.
The fund has now invested in 14 young companies, from telco software to early stage human pharmaceuticals biotech.  Several have grown to be international companies with significant operations outside New Zealand.
For No 8 Ventures, Jenny is chairman of Open Cloud Ltd, a director of Argent Networks Ltd, VCU Technology Ltd, Proacta Inc, Surveylab Ltd and GNM Ltd.  Her past directorships include NZ Trade and Enterprise, Centreport Ltd, Trust Bank NZ Ltd, AgResearch Ltd, The Rural Bank and NZ Rail.  She has been a member of the Council of the Institute of Directors in New Zealand, the NZ Arts Council, the Government’s ICT Taskforce and a Trustee of the Hi Growth Project which resulted from that.  She is chairman of the Hi Tech Association which organises the Hi Tech Awards in New Zealand and a trustee of the Jayar Charitable Trust.
Recognised in 2006 as a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for Services to Business, Jenny is highly respected in the financial world for her determination, formidable intellect and passion for helping young, innovative businesses.  Her entrepreneurial flair is combined with sober banking insight and an ability to analyse quickly and clearly the causes and solutions to problems.  Jenny is married with two sons, studying in the United States at Stanford and Harvard.