OUR PEOPLE

Management Team

Norah Barlow - Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer

Norah has been the Chief Executive Officer leading Summerset since 2001, having joined Summerset in 1999.  During this time the business has evolved from a relatively small operator primarily on the Kapiti Coast to now being a national provider, the third largest operator and second largest developer in the industry.

Norah is an accountant by profession and has an extensive background in business leadership and management, strategy, corporate finance, governance, tax and all aspects of the accounting function.

Norah's experience and intimate knowledge of the sector is reflected in her position as President of the Retirement Villages Association, a position she has held for the past five years.  She was involved with the formation of the Retirement Villages Act 2003 and was instrumental in leading the sector's approach to the formation of the Retirement Villages Code of Practice from 2004 to completion in 2008.

Norah has an exceptional reputation in the industry across Australasia.

Julian Cook - Chief Financial Officer

Julian joined Summerset in 2010 from Macquarie Bank where he worked for 11 years in investment banking, gaining a broad range of financial and commercial experience.

Julian has a sound understanding of the retirement village and aged care industry, having been involved in advising a number of clients on transactions in the retirement village sector whilst at Macquarie.  He holds a Masters of Applied Finance as well as a number of other degrees from Victoria and Waikato Universities.

Paul Morris - General Manager, Development

Paul joined Summerset in 2000 with over 20 years experience in the banking sector.  This included 15 years experience in retirement village and aged care business banking.

Paul has now been with Summerset for over 11 years and has held various senior roles including finance and funding, sales and marketing.  Paul has overseen the development function for the last seven years.  Paul's primary focus has been to ensure Summerset's structure supports the current and expanding development property portfolio, while also developing and expanding the land opportunity acquisition network to ensure that the strategic objectives are achieved.

Tristan Saunders - General Manager, Sales & Marketing

Tristan commenced with Summerset in 2007 having spent the previous 15 years in marketing, sales and business management roles across a wide range of industries.  Tristan has held senior international and national positions with leading companies including Heinz-Watties and Ngai Tahu Seafoods.

Tristan is responsible for all areas of Summerset's marketing and sales including brand management, advertising, media and PR, new village launches, pricing strategy, marketing collateral and leadership of the national sales team.

Richard Catto - General Manager, Operations

Richard has over 20 years experience in the public and private health sector providing a strong operational skill set to Summerset.

Richard came to Summerset from Wakefield Health where he was General Manager of Wakefield Hospital.  He has a broad range of local and international experience in the health sector, having previously been Manager of Clinical Services for Southland DHB, and holding strategy and contracting roles within the public health sector advising agencies such as DHBs, the Ministry of Health, Australian hospitals and the World Health Organisation.  He has also held the position of Chairman of Patient Safety New Zealand.

Richard is also responsible for the ongoing delivery to our residents of the Summerset brand offering.  This encompasses overseeing the staffing and operation of our villages, leadership of the Operations, Property and Clinical Teams and provision of care to our residents.

Catherine Fyfe - General Manager, Human Resources

Catherine joined Summerset in 2010 following a number of years working for an international management consultancy firm.  Prior to that Catherine had an extensive background in senior management roles in human resources with a number of New Zealand's largest financial services organisations.

Catherine's focus at Summerset is to ensure that Summerset recruits, develops and manages its people to ensure that it is able to deliver the best possible outcome for residents.

Leadership Team

Shelley Hunter - Executive Assistant

Shelley has over 20 years experience working in administrative positions. Shelley held positions at the New Zealand Rugby Football Union, Wrightson and Sealed Air before joining Summerset in 2006 as Executive Assistant/Office Manager. Her primary focus is to support Norah, the Executive Team and the Board to achieve Summerset’s strategic objectives and is a part of the company’s Leadership Team.

Brigid London - Operations Manager

Brigid has held operational management positions within the health sector for over 10 years and has been with the Summerset Group from March 2004 - as a Village Manager for four years, and then as an Area Manager from May 2008.   Brigid is responsible for ensuring efficient and consistent operational systems and supports are in place across our villages, which in turn promote high standards of practice and the delivery of quality service to our residents.

Kym Noske - Operations Manager

Kym has a wealth of private and public health sector experience, including both clinical and, in the last 10 years, senior management positions. Kym joined Summerset in May 2008 and is responsible for ensuring efficient and consistent operational systems and supports are in place across our villages, which in turn promote high standards of practice and the delivery of quality service to our residents.

Tony Allardyce - National Sales Manager

Tony joined us at Summerset in March 2010 as National Sales Manager and has an extensive sales and sales management background across the consumer, business and corporate sectors. Tony has recently relocated to Wellington and came to Summerset from Telecom New Zealand. He has previously demonstrated a successful record of sales achievement at a personal level and has achieved at a high level in previous National Sales Management roles. Tony has also successfully built and managed teams of high-performing sales professionals in competitive industries. Tony is responsible for sales and the sales process, including leadership of our team of Sales Managers.

Tonchi Begovich - Development Manager

Summerset’s Development Manager, Tonchi Begovich, leads the design, planning and construction management teams for all our projects nationally, from early resource consent processes through to project completion. As a qualified Quantity Surveyor, Tonchi's strengths are in strategic and design value management and cost management. Tonchi has extensive experience within the construction and building services private sectors and is a Member of the New Zealand Institute of Quantity Surveyors Inc and New Zealand Institute of Building and is a Registered Quantity Surveyor.

Joe Byrne - ICT Manager

Joe has been managing Summerset’s ICT for over 10 years. In this time Joe has overseen the huge growth of the Summerset’s corporate network from five PCs when he started to today where we currently have around 150 computers as well as many different servers. Joe has responsibility for ensuring uptime of our network as well as security.

Craig Bailey - National Property Manager

Summerset’s Property Manager, Craig Bailey, started with company in February 2009. He has over 15 years experience in public sector and local authority property management and has managed significant portfolios of residential and commercial property. He is responsible for Maintenance Management across all Summerset villages and manages the on site property teams at our villages.

Leanne Walker - Finance Manager

Leanne joined Summerset in June 2011, bringing with her over seven years experience in the accounting profession.  After commencing her career with Deloitte, Leanne worked for over four years with the New Zealand Stock Exchange.  During this time Leanne was responsible for audit and financial accounting processes, as well as involvement in due diligence on acquisitions, taxation and she also held directorship of a subsidiary.  She is a qualified CA and mentor.   Leanne looks after several aspects of the finance function, which include financial accounting, insurance, monitoring of bank covenants, statutory reporting and taxation.

Claire Lewis - Management Accountant

Claire Lewis came to Summerset in January 2011, bringing with her 20 years of experience in finance. Claire trained as a management accountant at a National Health Service hospital in the UK while studying towards her Bachelor of Arts in Business and Finance. She went on to work in both the health and transport sectors. She moved to New Zealand with her family in 2007. Claire acts as a Management Accountant at Summerset and works closely with each village and the operations team. Her background in health means she is able to understand the particular funding models and finance models that are exclusive to the sector. She manages the Management Accounts, Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable teams.

Anne Hook - Clinical Operations Manager

As Summerset’s Clinical Operations Manager, Anne provides professional nursing leadership and expertise to the Summerset Group, including policy and procedural development. She came to Summerset in July 2011 having worked extensively in the aged care sector for both profit and not-for-profit organisations. Anne is a Registered Nurse with a degree in psychology and is a trained counsellor. Her focus is on the promotion of a wellness model throughout all Summerset Villages, with an emphasis on illness prevention, restoration of health and the alleviation of suffering. Anne is a qualified and experienced lead auditor, monitoring client compliance against the current Health & Disability Sector Standards and the District Health Board contract requirements.  She is also trained in ISO 9001 Quality Management Systems.

Louis Ferreira - Head Quantity Surveyor

Rick Willoughby - Lead Designer

Rick joined Summerset in 2011 with over 30 years experience in the construction industry including 10 years as design manager for a property development company and 20 years working in architectural practices in New Zealand, Australia and the UK.

Rick's primary focus with Summerset is the documentation and standardisation of our village designs. He holds a Building Science degree from Victoria University School of Architecture.

Ellie Lockhart - Senior HR Advisor

Ellie commenced in HR in 1999 after attaining a BSc Honours in Psychology.  She describes her first HR role working with Catherine Fyfe, as having provided her with the ‘apprenticeship’ in HR foundations. Ellie joined us in March 2011 after a number of years working within the Financial Services sector and consulting under her own brand, mainly to small to medium sized organisations regarding HR strategy and operational advice and delivery.

Ellie is thoroughly enjoying the organisation and the people that make it such a dynamic environment. Ellie primarily provides HR operational advice and support to our management teams but also works with ongoing projects that support our organisational cultural and development strategies.