Board of Directors

Prue Flacks - Chair

Prue Flacks was appointed as Chairperson of the Board of Directors in November 2017. Formerly a commercial lawyer and partner in the national law firm Russell McVeagh for 20 years, Prue is now a professional director and a Chartered Member of the Institute of Directors.

Her current directorships include Bank of New Zealand, where she chairs the Board Risk Committee, Mercury NZ Limited and Chorus Limited. She also chairs the Human Resources Committees at both Mercury and Chorus.
Prue’s association with Queenstown began when she bought a lifestyle property in Dalefield in the late 1990s. She moved to Queenstown permanently in 2009 and has a wide network in the community.

Grant Lilly

Grant was appointed to the Board of Directors in November 2011 and is the Chair of the Audit and Financial Risk Committee. He has had an extensive career in senior executive roles with large corporate organisations, specialising in aviation and tourism. These roles have included Qantas Airways Regional General Manager and Group General Manager Commercial Strategy and Air New Zealand Regional General Manager Sales and Marketing.

Based in Auckland, Grant now works as a professional Director. He has a varied portfolio of governance appointments including the Civil Aviation Authority, Aviation Security Service, New Zealand Experience Ltd, Rainbow’s End, and Hanmer Springs Thermal Pools and Spa.
He is the former Chairman of New Zealand Tourism Industry Association.

Norm Thompson

Norm was appointed to the Board of Directors in December 2014 and is the Chair of the Safety and Operational Risk Committee. He has a distinguished career in New Zealand aviation and tourism, most notably 46 years with Air New Zealand where he rose through the ranks and held the role of Deputy CEO prior to his retirement in 2013.

In 2017, Norm completed his terms as a Director of Tourism New Zealand, and Deputy Chair Auckland Tourism Events and Economic Development (ATEED). He is currently the Chair of the Young Enterprise Trust Board, Deputy Chair of Government’s Tourism Infrastructure Panel and a Director of Dot Kiwi Ltd, Preno Limited. He is also a Committee Member of the New Zealand Golf Open. Former chairmanships include the Tourism Industry Association, Air New Zealand Environment Trust and Altitude Engineering.

Norm’s strong connection with Queenstown developed in the early 1990s when Air New Zealand pioneered domestic jets into the resort, followed by international flights. He’s had residential property in Queenstown for more than 15 years and he and his family spend a substantial part of the year at their home at Millbrook.

Michael Stiassny

Michael was appointed to the Board of Directors in December 2014. He is a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, a Chartered Fellow of the Institute of Directors, Barrister/Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand. He has connections throughout the New Zealand business community, providing advice to both public and private companies on a range of financial and operational matters; including due diligence, investigating accounting work, mergers and acquisitions, organisational and financial restructuring and business valuation.

He has a distinguished governance record in both private and public companies and is a leading proponent for improving diversity on New Zealand boards. He is a director of many private and public companies and is currently Chairman of Vector Limited, Ngati Whatua Orakei Whai Rawa Ltd and TOWER Limited. He is also on the Board of Stride Limited and several private companies.
While Michael is based in Auckland his family has a holiday home in Wanaka.

Mark Thomson

Mark was appointed to the Board of Directors in June 2017 following a period as Auckland Airport’s shareholder representative. He has more than 25 years’ experience in the commercial property industry, including investment management, development and corporate transactions, and has a wealth of experience in the transport and logistics sectors.

As General Manager Property for Auckland Airport, he is a member of the Leadership Team and is responsible both for the overall management of the airport’s investment property, development and hotel businesses and transforming the airport into a vibrant destination for travel and trade. He has led several development projects across the retail, commercial office, hospitality, and logistics sectors and is currently a Director of Auckland Airport’s joint venture hotel development with Tainui Group Holdings.

Mark holds a Bachelor of Commerce and started his career in commercial brokerage. Before joining the airport he was the Director of Strategy Execution and Property (Asia) for Toll Global Logistics, responsible for a mixed-use real estate portfolio across 12 countries.
Mark’s passions include spending time with his family and snowboarding whenever he gets a chance. He also trained alongside Auckland Airport’s Rescue Fire team to complete the gruelling Sky Tower Challenge fundraiser in 2017.

Adrienne Young-Cooper

Adrienne was appointed to the Board of Directors in November 2017. She brings more than 30 years’ experience in resource management and planning to the role with particular specialty in spatial planning, metropolitan growth and management, including infrastructure planning and large projects.

Adrienne is now a full-time director and a Chartered Fellow of the Institute of Directors in New Zealand. Her transport governance experience is extensive – she is currently a director of the NZ Transport Agency and previously served on the boards of the Auckland Transport Authority and Maritime NZ. Adrienne is the Chair of Housing NZ and has also been a director of several property development companies charged with complex urban regeneration projects. She still serves on the board of HLC.

As a consulting planner, Adrienne and her company Hill Young Cooper provided planning services to Queenstown Lakes District Council and private developers in the region for many years. She led the first major community planning exercise “Tomorrow’s Queenstown” in the early 2000s and a similar project for Wanaka as well as being involved in planning for Queenstown Airport.
Adrienne spent several years living in the South Island and now resides in Wellington and Auckland.