BNZ New Executive Team Appointed South Island

New Executive Team Appointed, South Island & Canterbury

Bank of New Zealand has made four senior appointments to run its South Island personal financial services operations, and three senior appointments in Canterbury.

The appointments are aimed at maintaining and growing Bank of New Zealand’s market position in personal financial services in the South Island. The bank is introducing other major changes at the moment – including a nationwide multi-million dollar technology refit in its branches - which are intended to further improve customer satisfaction.

The appointments also reflect Bank of New Zealand’s commitment to a management team that is dedicated to the South Island.

The four South Island-wide appointments are:

- Bob Melrose, South Island regional manager, personal financial services. Mr Melrose has overall responsibility for Bank of New Zealand’s personal banking in the South Island. Mr Melrose, who was born and raised in Christchurch and joined the bank in 1974 in Kaiapoi. He has held several senior roles during his career with the bank.

- Dave Findlay, operations manager, South Island. Mr Findlay manages the bank’s interests in its South Island operations, including finance, risk management, and sales and service results. Mr Findlay joined Bank of New Zealand in 1968 and he has served in roles with the Bank in the South Island and in Wellington.

- Tracy McPhedran, sales manager, home loan acquisition, South Island. Mrs McPhedran manages the 21-member home loans team in the South Island. Mrs McPhedran joined the bank in 1981 and has worked in Wellington and Auckland as well as the South Island. She was in a sales management role in Auckland before moving back to Christchurch. Mrs McPhedran has a diploma in financial planning from Waikato Management School.

- Harry McLernon, head of private banking, South Island. Mr McLernon heads the team of managers and analysts who are dedicated to providing service to high net worth personal banking clients in the South Island. Mr McLernon joined the bank in 1973. He is studying towards a diploma in financial planning from Waikato Management School.

The three Canterbury appointments are:

- Linda Hunter, area manager for rural Canterbury personal financial services. Ms Hunter has overall responsibility for the 10 Bank of New Zealand branches between Kaikoura and Waimate. Ms Hunter joined Bank of New Zealand in 1978. She has previously run one of the bank’s biggest single branches, Hereford St in Christchurch, successfully. She was also the leader of a pilot for an initiative under which Bank of New Zealand is re-introducing branch managers to its branches across the country.

- Chris Gourley, area manager, personal financial services, Christchurch central. Mr Gourley is responsible for five branches in central Christchurch. Mr Gourley joined the bank in 1999 and was one of the youngest customer services managers in New Zealand when he was appointed to that role at 23. He has a Bachelor of Commerce and Management from Lincoln University.

- Craig Perriman, area manager, personal financial services, Christchurch district. Mr Perriman is responsible for six branches in inner Christchurch. Mr Perriman joined the bank in Dunedin in 1986. He has a diploma in human resources management and he is currently completing a diploma in business management.

Mr Melrose said the newly-appointed managers combined experience and enthusiasm. “The three critical things in appointing people are finding the right attitude, inspirational leadership capability, and complete commitment to the customer. Those three things are evident in this group of managers. They are all competitive, successful, and genuinely good people.”

Mr Melrose said Bank of New Zealand South Island customers would see increasingly better standards of service over the immediate future. Notably:

- Bank of New Zealand is reintroducing branch managers to its retail network, beginning with the 43 South Island branches, in order to further improve service. Bank of New Zealand customer satisfaction has already shown a steep improvement in the annual Auckland University survey of customer satisfaction.

- Bank of New Zealand is implementing state-of-the art technology for its tellers bringing much faster transaction times for customers. The new technology – which is recognised as some of the most advanced banking technology in the world - will begin arriving in branches in the South Island next month. A pilot of the technology will begin at the Hornby branch in Christchurch this week.

“Over the next year, our aim is to make sure Bank of New Zealand continues to both show leadership in creating real value for its clients, and be a fulfilling and enjoyable place to work for our people,” Mr Melrose said.

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