Spark New Zealand announces changes to the Spark Board

The Spark New Zealand Board today announced it has appointed Gordon MacLeod and Sheridan Broadbent as independent, non-executive directors, effective 1 August 2022. Gordon will be a member of the Audit and Risk Management Committee (ARMC) and Sheridan will be a member of the Human Resources and Compensation Committee (HRCC).

Spark New Zealand Chair, Justine Smyth, says, "As we continue to transition to a digital services future, we are looking to broaden the skills and capabilities of the Board with these two appointments. Sheridan brings a deep understanding of our sector, the speed of change, and the business transformation required to succeed, while Gordon’s business leadership experience and operational and commercial expertise will be a valuable complement to the existing skills-mix of the Board.”

Gordon is a highly credentialed business leader, who held a range of senior executive roles over a 15-year period at Ryman Healthcare Group, where he most recently served as CEO. Prior to this, Gordon was a Corporate Finance and Advisory Partner with PWC and was also the Finance Director of a London listed Hi Tech company, Xaar, based in Cambridge, England. Gordon was recently appointed to the Board of Delegat Group and holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Canterbury, is a Chartered Accountant Fellow, and a Member of the Institute of Directors.

Gordon says, “As I move into this next phase of my career, I am thrilled to be joining the Board of Spark and look forward to bringing my experience of leading large and complex businesses to bear in supporting Spark’s strategy and capitalising on the growth potential of the technology sector in Aotearoa.”

Sheridan’s executive and governance career has spanned telecommunications, ICT, infrastructure, and energy. Her governance experience includes her role as Independent Director for Manawa Energy, Chair-elect of Pipeline and Civil Group, member of the government’s Cyber Security Advisory Committee and Chair of Kordia (which will come to an end prior to taking up her directorship at Spark) and her previous role as Director of Transpower. Sheridan holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Auckland, is a Chartered Member of the Institute of Directors and is a graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Sheridan says, “I have worked in technology businesses in both executive and governance roles across my career and am passionate about the transformative potential of the sector in Aotearoa. Spark is at an exciting inflection point, as it continues to evolve from its traditional telecommunications legacy into a digital services company, and I’m looking forward to contributing to that momentum.”

In accordance with Spark’s constitution, Gordon and Sheridan will retire and offer themselves for re-election at the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders in November 2022.

The Board also announced that Paul Berriman will retire at the next Annual General Meeting and thanks him for his valuable contribution over the past eleven years.

Justine continued, “Spark has benefited significantly from Paul’s extensive experience and expertise in telecommunications and ICT, as we have transformed Spark from its earlier Telecom days and grown into new digital services markets. Paul has been a passionate supporter of Spark and the role technology can play in Aotearoa, connecting Spark to his global networks to support its growth. We thank him for his considerable contribution.“

The Board is well positioned with diverse and complementary skills to help guide Spark to deliver on its strategic ambitions and its purpose of helping all of New Zealand to win big in a digital world.”