2degrees Appoints New Board

New Zealand’s fastest growing, full-service telco and well-loved challenger brand 2degrees today announced appointments to its newly established Board.

Liz Coutts has joined the Board as Chair and is joined by Russell Stanners and Kathy Meads as directors.

The Board appointments follow the successful merger of Vocus New Zealand and 2degrees, and will further strengthen the company’s governance, commercial, financial and business transformation leadership. The Board members bring significant industry and business expertise to 2degrees, as it continues to grow, disrupt the market, and challenge the sector.

“This is an exciting time to join the 2degrees Board as it pursues its growth strategy. I look forward to working with the 2degrees team to realise its innovation ambitions that will deliver for staff, customers, partners and communities,” says Liz Coutts, incoming 2degrees Chair.

2degrees CEO Mark Callander says: “The newly formed Board brings a diverse blend of capability and experience across a number of private and public companies, crown entities, and community organisations, to help direct the next stage of sustainable growth for 2degrees as a fully integrated mobile and fixed business.

“The Board supports the company’s purpose –to continue Fighting for Fair to make Aotearoa a better place to live. We will do this through being a great employer, a great company to do business with, and a fierce challenger that innovates, and brings real benefits to Kiwis.”

Liz Coutts brings a wealth of governance experience as Chair. She currently Chairs a range of Boards including Oceania Healthcare, Skellerup Holdings and EBOS Group. She has previously held governance roles at Yellow Pages, Sanford, Life Pharmacy, Air New Zealand and Trust Bank.

Russell Stanners brings with him significant experience in the telecommunications and IT sectors, most recently as Chief Executive and Director at Vodafone New Zealand where he had first-hand experience in integrating people and business cultures. Other director roles include ihug, Unisys and IBM.

Christchurch-based Kathy Meads has extensive governance experience with current director roles at Port Taranaki, Magic Memories and NZPM, along with an international directorship in The Shipowners’ Mutual Protection and Indemnity Association (Luxembourg). Her previous directorships include Transpower and Enable Networks. Kathy is an experienced CFO, having held operational roles across a broad range of business sectors including the telecommunications, ports, electricity, and insurance industries.

“This is an exciting milestone as the next generation of 2degrees develops. We have a wealth of diverse and complementary talent within our Board, and this, coupled with our collective ambitions to innovate, challenge and disrupt, makes for exciting times ahead,” Callander says.

The Board also includes non-executive directors Brett Jolly and Vic McClelland of Macquarie Asset Management.

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