Our People
Kia ora, meet our dedicated team
At Leighs, we take pride in our strong governance and leadership.
With Gary Walker at the business's helm, an independent board of skilled leaders and thinkers, and passionate executive and senior leadership teams, we bring regional governance, experience, and sound direction to each project.
We are successful because of our people, so come and say hi.
Gary Walker
Chief Executive Officer
Executive Team
Gary is an accomplished and internationally experienced commercial construction leader who possesses a wide range of skills and experience developed through project and executive leadership roles in Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
Kristina Power
National HR Manager
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Executive Team
Krissy ensures that the strategy of “people as the centre of our business” is applied to all decision making, with a particular focus on the development and implementation of the people strategies.
David Jarman
Group Chief Financial Officer
Executive Team
David is Group Chief Financial Officer, with expertise in construction, finance, manufacturing, telecommunications and retail.
Dave Hunter
General Manager Construction
Executive Team
Dave Hunter is well known and respected in the construction industry for his technical innovation, methodology development, and problem solving on complex projects.
Mike Knowles
Regional Manager - South Island
Executive Team
Mike has worked in the construction industry in Christchurch for over 25 years and with Leighs for over 10. He is a wealth of knowledge and an asset to the team.
Kayla Porter
Executive Assistant to the CEO
Senior Leadership Team
John Redahan
North Island QS Manager
Senior Leadership Team
John is a very experienced quantity surveyor, with over 30 years in the commercial construction industry.
John has a reputation for working innovatively to achieve outstanding outcomes within a capped budget.
Daniel Tessier
Project Director
Senior Leadership Team
Danny is an empowering team leader, with communication skills, and passion that are an asset to any project he is involved with.
Jeff Macdonald
South Island Operations Manager
Senior Leadership Team
With more than thirty years experience in the construction industry, Jeff is a highly capable Operations Manager and Project Director.
Sue Henkel
Financial Controller
Senior Leadership Team
Over 10 years service to Leighs Construction, Sue is a valued member of our Senior Leadership Team.
Julie Jenner
Auckland Building Services Manager
Senior Leadership Team
With an extensive background in building services, Julie has a clear understanding of the complexities of delivering specialist facilities which house critical services.
Rebecca Mitchell
Group Finance Manager
Senior Leadership Team
Jennifer Kean
National Business Improvement & Assurance Manager
Senior Leadership Team
Jennifer is a skilled and experienced manager who has a broad set of capabilities that range from development, general contracting, client facing, and commercial fitout processes.
James Dennis
Project Director | Building Services
Senior Leadership Team
James has over 25 years of experience overseeing all phases of multi-million-dollar construction projects in the health, education, process, and leisure sectors.
Neil Hamilton
IT & Process Improvement Manager
Senior Leadership Team
Rob Abraas
National Health and Safety Team
Senior Leadership Team
Rob has a passion for continually striving to improve Leighs Construction’s safety performance and understanding of being a safe commercial construction company.
Cecelia Murray
Learning & Development Manager
Senior Leadership Team
Cecelia is a skilled learning and development manager, who has worked with some of the industry’s largest construction firms, building solid and lasting relationships.
Arie Moore
Legal and Commercial Manager
Senior Leadership Team
Dean Valenski
National QS Manager
Senior Leadership Team
Dean has proven experience managing the financial aspects of complex commercial projects, with specific experience in the health sector.
Iain Miller
Project Director
Senior Leadership Team
With more than 20 years of direct commercial, project and cost management experience, Iain is highly experienced in directing complex projects of scale within challenging environments. Iain is currently leading the charge on our Scott Base Redevelopment project.
Anthony Leighs
Executive Director
Board of Directors
Founder and previous Managing Director of Leighs Construction, Anthony has moved to an Executive Director governance and strategic role for the company.
From its inception in 1995, Anthony has led Leighs Construction to become the successful and well-respected commercial construction company it is today. His abilities have been recognised within the construction industry, and he was winner of the NZIOB Young Achiever in 2002 and joint winner of the NZIOB Supreme and Innovation Awards in 2005. In 2011, he was awarded commendation at the EY Entrepreneur of the Year awards.
Mark Darrow
Chairman
Board of Directors
Mark Darrow is an experienced businessman and professional director, specialising in corporate governance. Mark chairs Armstrong Motor Group, Signum Holdings, Primary ITO and The Lines Company and is a Director for Trustees & Executors and Balle Brothers Group.
Mark is a previous board member of the New Zealand Transport Agency, the Counties-Manukau District Health Board and chaired the Finance & Audit Committee for both organisations. He is a 25-year member of the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants and is a Justice of the Peace of New Zealand.
Brian Nightingale
Non-Executive Director
Board of Directors
Brian Nightingale is director of Building and Construction Services Limited and a past member of the Building Practitioners Board. Brian is involved with Registered Master Builders, the New Zealand Institute of Quantity Surveyors and the New Zealand Institute of Builders. Brian has more than 35 years of experience and has been involved in numerous high profile projects, including the redevelopment of Eden Park for the Rugby World Cup, the refurbishments of the Beehive and The Old Government Buildings, earthquake strengthening of the Rankin Browne and Hunter buildings at Victoria University and the Bond Store on Wellington’s Queens Wharf.
Paul Duffy
Non-Executive Director
Board of Directors
Paul has over 35 years’ experience in the property industry, including CEO/Managing Director of DNZ Property Fund for 13 years. During his career, Paul held positions as GM of Fletcher Property and was Joint Managing Director of the US Real Estate Subsidiaries for the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. In this role, he oversaw the formation of a large real estate investment portfolio in the US and Europe. Paul is currently a Director of a number of private companies.
Paul is Chairman of Augusta Capital and Augusta Funds Management.
