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I don’t think my daughters have ever come home from school and said they’ve had a bad day. So, that was one of the attractions, to understand how the school manages to educate the children so well and also get them home so happy. Can you tell us a bit about yourself? I am married to Michelle, we married on Waiheke in 2013, and we have two daughters Hannah in Year 10 and Sienna in Year 8. They have been at the school for ten and eight years respectively and have loved it. I spend my working life advising companies on strategy and transactional change, so I’m hopeful this and my financial experience will also be helpful for the school.
What inspired you to be on the St Cuthbert’s Board? One of the things I reflected on when I was contemplating the role was, I don’t think my daughters have ever come home and said they’ve had a bad day, which is quite amazing considering how many days I come home from work and have had bad days! So that was one of the attractions, to understand how the school manages to educate the children so well and also get them home so happy. I think very highly of St Cuthbert’s, not only as a place of education, which speaks for itself, but as a place to mature our children and prepare them for life, whether it’s through sport, friendship groups or Kahunui. Our daughters arrive as five-year olds, who can barely hold a pen and leave as wonderfully mature well-rounded young women.
What challenges do you think you will face on the Board? It is still very early days for me but a big challenge for everyone is improving a school that is already in a particularly strong spot. Keeping at the forefront is important and making sure that we are progressing and evolving as fast, or faster than others in the sector, all while providing a broad range of opportunities and skills for the girls to take with them for life.
What are your key focus areas? Part of my interest and enthusiasm for the role are two things that I feel quite strongly about, and St Cuthbert’s is ahead of the game in both. Financial literacy in a lot of schools is non-existent and I’m keen to see
this improve across schooling more broadly. Following on from that, the finance industry has a disappointingly small proportion of women in it and I’d like to see more entering the industry. The legal and accounting professions have done a much better job of encouraging young women to take these career paths, whereas the finance industry has struggled to get a good mix of boys and girls applying for graduate programmes.
Why do you think that is? That is a really good question. I’ve been told it’s because finance is seen as being a risky industry. Girls are said to be generally more conservative, and they find the legal and accounting professions a lower risk career path than finance. I understand that, but it’s good to take calculated risks in our lives and with risks generally come rewards. So, it would be nice to see a few more young women progressing to be leaders in our finance industry.
Given girls are generally risk adverse, what would your advice be for our girls? People don’t like to fail, and be seen to fail, but there is a lot to learn from giving something a go. What’s the saying… “Better to try and fail than never to try at all”. I think in business there is a lot of conservatism and that’s the same in education. Being prepared to accept failure and learn from it and move onto the next challenge is a skill we all need to work on.
Finally, and this is an important one! What do you love about being a parent? I love spending time with my daughters. We have a place on Waiheke that we spend most summers and that’s a good chance for me to totally de-camp from work and spend quality time with them. I’ve got them into fishing, and we have a dog, Braxton, that they love taking for walks. I thoroughly enjoy spending time with my children and seeing them develop into well rounded young women is a complement to my wife, and the school as well.
ABOUT Guy Williams Guy Williams has been with Forsyth Barr as Head of Investment Banking since 2010 where he specialises in advising clients (including in the education sector) on strategy, mergers, acquisitions, divestments, equity and debt raisings and IPOs. Prior to this he was Head of Investment Banking at Craigs Investment Partners and a Managing Director at ABN AMRO New Zealand. Guy was educated in the United Kingdom and he started his career in London with Coopers & Lybrand where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant. Post qualification he moved into Investment Banking first with Barings and then ABN AMRO. Guy has an Economics and Accounting degree from Bristol University, is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and is a fellow of the Institute of Finance Professionals New Zealand.
Welcome to the Trust Board Guy!
OUR LEADERSHIP
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