Our people
Chorus is helping to define a new kind of telecommunications industry for New Zealand. An industry where people and organisations that were once fierce competitors now work together to bring better services for New Zealanders.
As you can imagine, we needed some very special people to take up this challenge.
Brian Hall - CEO Chorus (Acting)
Brian is leading Chorus in an acting CEO capacity while Mark Ratcliffe is leading Telecom's UFB team. Brian came to Chorus in September 2008 as Finance Director after many years in Telecom's finance teams and was part of Telecom's IPO and the acquisition of Gen-i. In his somewhat decreasing spare time, Brian can be found in front of Trackside cheering on his race hourse, or watching Hutt Old Boys Marist play rugby.
Mark Ratcliffe - Executive Lead UFB Programme
Marathon runner (London, 2006, 5:20), Mark Ratcliffe leads the Chorus team into the new era of operational separation from Telecom. Mark is passionate about building more collaborative working relationships with the industry that has been his focus for more than 19 years. Previously responsible for the entire Network and Wholesale business at Telecom, Mark has a background in IT and Accounting.
Irene Lovejoy - Executive Assistant to Brian Hall
Irene oversees all administration functions in Chorus and manages the team of coordinators and assistants in Auckland and Wellington. Irene recently celebrated a decade of working with Mark Ratcliffe, but had previously been at Telecom for a number of years in the Marketing team. Irene's sport is golf - running debates with Mark about the merits of golf as a 'real sport' notwithstanding - an has a handicap in the high teens depending on the season or the weather.
Nick Woodward - Head of Customer Services
Nick Woodward has spent the last twenty years working in a variety of Sales, Customer Services, Strategy and IT Management roles for banks and telecommunications providers in Europe and the US. In 2006 Nick arrived at Telecom where he headed up the Channel Planning and Operations group. Nick is also a keen soccer player and skier (probably not at the same time though). As Head of Customer Services for Chorus he is committed to delivering high levels of service to all of Chorus's customers including his most recent employer Telecom.
Chris Dyhrberg - GM Product Management
Chris is responsible for the development of Chorus' products, including the delivery of the Unbundled Copper Local Loop. He also manages Chorus' Network Build and Development programme. Chris comes to Chorus from Telecom Wholesale where he played a crucial role in improving industry relations and led regulatory discussions with the Commerce Commission on Local Loop Unbundling. His experience at the Paraparaumu Junior Rugby Club probably came in handy there.
Ewen Powell - Head of Technology
He runs, he swims, he rides a bike. Easy? Not if you do it as part of a half-ironman event. Ewen clearly has endurance at work too. Seventeen years working with Telecommunications Technology for Telecom and Swedish network equipment manufacturer Ericsson. So he's well placed to be in charge of all Chorus' Technology Platforms and managing the transformation of systems and processes into our new business.
Lucy Riddiford - General Counsel
Climb every mountain, ford every stream. Lucy may not be a huge Julie Andrews fan, but she was formerly a media and entertainment lawyer in the UK and definitely has a penchant for mountaineering, with the Alps, Annapurna and Mt Kenya under her belt. At Chorus she's building on her experience at Telecom where she has been responsible for resolving some difficult regulatory and commercial issues.
Sara Broadhurst – Head of Human Resources
With a fascination for human behaviour, particularly the motivations for decision-making, Sara will be taking a very close interest in everyone at Chorus. You may even suspect that she's conducting a huge and sophisticated experiment as part of her Masters in organisational psychology (we certainly wonder). But whatever her motivation, Sara will be central in defining the culture and values of Chorus and in making it the kind of organisation that will attract the best people.
Craig Young – Head of Business Development
There's a hint of poacher-turned-gamekeeper to Craig. Previously at Clear Communications and TelstraClear, he was one of the leading figures in the Telecommunication Carriers' Forum pushing for local loop unbundling and the liberalisation of New Zealand's telecommunications market. At Chorus he'll be working to strengthen relationships with all customers and find new opportunities to work together. He's a qualified Soccer referee too, which may well come in handy.
Bruce Buddicom - Head of Field Services
Bruce Buddicom is synonymous with the term "customer champion". Since February 2007, he's headed up the Field Services team which includes the 2,500 staff and service company personnel around New Zealand who build, provision and restore our network. And, just in case that doesn't fill his day, Bruce also has a couple of new projects on the boil - the nationwide roll-out of 3,600 roadside cabinets for enhanced broadband services and the deployment of Telecom's new WCDMA mobile network. He's particularly proud of what the Field Services team does for customers, especially when Mother Nature throws floods, tornadoes and earthquakes the network's way and our people pull out the stops to get customers back in service. Apparently Bruce doesn't stop outside the office either - his focus on going the extra mile extends to road cycling, kayaking and off-road running.
Tonia Haskell - Head of Property & Network Assets
Tonia was raised in Australia, Canada, New Plymouth, and the Kapiti Coast and is now a Wellingtonian by choice. Before becoming Chorus’ ‘Key Holder’ and Head of Property, Tonia worked in commercial property law at Prudential Property Management Company in London, Simpson Grierson, and more recently EDS and Telecom Wholesale. Well-travelled Tonia has visited over forty countries but now has her feet firmly on Wellington soil, and since April 2009 she has been focussed on fibre country with Chorus exchanges, mobile and radio properties under her charge.
Melanie Marshall - Head of Communications
With experience in London and the Philippines, Melanie has helped international technology brands including Cisco, LG Electronics and Logica. In 2002 she moved to New Zealand and Telecom Wholesale where she developed the External Communications and PR Strategy.
And what's in the future? In Melanie's case, it's her novel about Filipino political dynasties.
