About us

Business Central is a membership association providing a wide range of services for members and clients. Our members range from major corporations to sole traders, and we represent over 3,600 organisations from Tairāwhiti Gisborne to Nelson. Our Chief Executive is Simon Arcus.

We offer:

AdviceLine (0800 800 362), a member-exclusive service, where employers can get advice on employment issues free of charge during a 10-minute conversation with one of our expert consultants from 8am-8pm Mon-Thu and 8am-6pm Fri
Human resources, employment relations, and legal consulting services for all stages of the employment life cycle
Health and safety experts available to work with your organisation in any capacity
Training courses and conferences at locations from Gisborne to Nelson on topics as far ranging as personal development to business compliance
International trade and export support
Business development opportunities and networking events, sponsorships, and member-to-member marketing
Advocacy and representation working alongside Business New Zealand and the New Zealand Chambers of Commerce to bring your voice to government

Business Central is the home of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce. We are a proud member of the Business New Zealand Network as well the New Zealand Chambers of Commerce.

Simon Arcus

Chief Executive

Simon has extensive experience in business including financial services and leading membership organisations.
Prior to his current role he was a Senior Governance Consultant at Mercer Consulting in Melbourne working with superannuation funds. He also held a contract role at the Victorian Auditor-General’s office.
Simon has been Chief Executive of the New Zealand Institute of Directors (IoD) and while there authored the original version of the IoD’s ‘Four Pillars of Governance Best Practice’ and founded the IoD Governance Leadership Centre. He also developed the current Chartered Director pathway.
Simon has also led the Victoria Farmers Federation and worked at Marsh Insurance and the Master Builders Association of Victoria.
He is currently on the board of Business New Zealand, Taiwan Trade Development Ltd, and the Advanced Manufacturing Association and was previously a director of a risk and compliance company, and chair of the Cancer Society of New Zealand, Wellington Division 2012-2018.
Simon has an LL.B and B.A. from the University of Otago, and was admitted as a solicitor in 2001.
He has a PGDip in Business from Massey University, is a Chartered Company Secretary and is a Fellow of Governance New Zealand (2019).
Amanda Wood

Member Services Manager

Amanda Wood is head of Membership Services at Business Central, incorporating learning and development, events, international and a number of thought leadership initiatives.
Amanda has over a decade in executive leadership experience and 25 years in business planning, project management, and team development. She has managed complex projects and lead teams through change.
She has varied experience in leadership roles from organisations such as ANZ, Outward Bound and the Motor Trade Association. She believes that her greatest successes stem from collaborating with diverse groups, including organisations, government agencies, and communities, to achieve shared goals.
She is currently on the Industry Stakeholder group for Hanga-Aro-Rau and is part of the Women in Automotive Consortium.
Amanda has a Bachelor of Arts from Victoria University and has completed advanced training in negotiation and leadership and The Leadership Mindset Programme from the Auckland School of Business.
Conor Whitten

Corporate Affairs & Advocacy Manager

Conor Whitten is Business Central’s Corporate Affairs and Advocacy Manager, responsible for policy, government relations, media engagement and marketing.
His work also includes involvement with our Business Leaders Forum, diplomatic corps and Taiwan Business Council.
Conor has had a long career in communications, primarily as one of New Zealand’s leading broadcast journalists.
He is also a former foreign correspondent and political reporter in Parliament’s Press Gallery, with extensive experience covering major international events. Prior to joining Business Central, he was a member of award-winning current affairs show ‘Sunday.’
Conor has strong networks across politics and commerce. The stories and successes of our members are an inspiration for Conor and give him a passion for helping New Zealand businesses to succeed. He has a Bachelor of Communications from AUT.
Hayden Blucher

Membership Manager

As Head of Membership at Business Central, Hayden is responsible for meeting the diverse needs of our members and forging quality stakeholder relationships.
Hayden is a natural ‘connector’ who thrives on engagement and is driven by building strong relationships and great results.
His current role has a strong commercial focus, building on previous experience as Operations Manager and in our Learning & Development team. His career experience includes hospitality, tourism and events and his broad remit at Business Central has included managing compliance, human resources, and internal change processes.
Justin Joubert

Finance Manager

Justin Joubert is the Finance Manager of Business Central. He has over a decade of experience in various senior management roles in corporate finance.
Prior to his current role he was the Chief Financial Officer for Bidvest McCarthy VW Audi in South Africa. Justin’s knowledge of the corporate financial world is highly valued at Business Central. He has modernised systems and processes and has a keen eye for using technology to solve challenges.
He looks forward to continuing to build strong relations between Business Central and its members and making a meaningful impact across our region, from Wellington to Nelson and the Lower North Island.
Justin is a Chartered Accountant with a BCom (Hons) degree from the University of Pretoria he obtained in 2004.
Kacie Lewton

Executive Assistant

As Executive Assistant to Chief Executive Simon Arcus, Kacie plays a critical support role in the organisation. She also oversees the day-to-day running of the office.
Kacie’s professional approach and strong relationship building capability is a key to her effectiveness. She is a natural diplomat with a background in the legal sector, including a role with leading law firm Meredith Connell.
Kacie says that the challenges of an energetic young family outside of work help her stay ‘match fit’ to deal with anything.

Our Board

Jo Healey

Chair of Business Central

Jo is currently Country Leader for Kyndryl New Zealand, having an extensive experience in technology sales and customer success. She had held senior executive positions with several multi-national technology companies including Capgemini (formerly Intergen) and IBM. She is on the board of Scots College and was a recent board member of WellingtonNZ.

Karun Shenoy

President, Wellington Chamber of Commerce*

Karun's professional career has largely been in the Information Technology industry in New Zealand with strong digital, commercial, strategic & risk capabilities. His governance experience includes chair, independent director, trustee roles and Finance, Audit & Risk committee experience. He is Chair of English Language Partners, a director of Angel HQ and Chair and Independent Director of Copyright Licensing NZ among other roles

Adele Rose

Deputy Chair

Adele is Chief Executive of 3R Group, a company that combines imagination and science to repurpose waste and who embed the principals of the circular economy into our lives. She has a long involvement in sustainability and commercialising sustainability initiatives for real and long-lasting impact.

Adele represents Business Central on the Business New Zealand board along with our Chief Executive Simon Arcus. She is currently Deputy Chair of Business New Zealand. She has been a member of the Sustainable Business Council for nearly and decade and member and sponsor of WasteMINZ since 2012.

Siah Hwee Ang

Siah Hwee Ang is Professor of International Business and Strategy and Professorial Chair in Business in Asia at Victoria University of Wellington. He is also the Director of New Zealand’s Southeast Asia Centre of Asia-Pacific Excellence. He has been a strong supporter of our Export NZ initiatives.

Before joining Victoria University of Wellington, Siah was Professor and Associate Dean at the University of Auckland Business School and continues to be a Visiting Professor to a few Asian universities.

Jono Dean

Jono is an independent consultant with a career spanning tourism, hotel, and golf course management. He was Chief Executive at Ruapehu Alpine Lifts (in liquidiation) following a career with Accor Hotels spanning 12 years, where he was general manager for Accor's flagship brands in Christchurch.

Brad Olsen

Brad Olsen is the Chief Executive and Principal Economist at Infometrics, a leading economic consultancy. He completed his undergraduate studies at Victoria University of Wellington, finishing with a BCom and BA (majoring in Economics, Public Policy, International Relations and Political Science). Brad is one of New Zealand’s youngest Justices of the Peace.

Mark Oldershaw

Mark Chief Executive of Whitireia and WelTec Polytechnic in Wellington. Prior to this he was Chief Executive EIT for five years and has made an important contribution to EIT which is widely recognised and one of New Zealand’s high performing ITPs. Before joining EIT, Mark was the Chief Executive of the Industry Training Federation.

*The provenance of a 160 year operating history is sometimes reflected in our governance structures. A unique feature of Business Central is that the Wellington Chamber of Commerce has a special place with our constitution. This means that our governing Council reserves a permanent role for the President of the Chamber of Commerce