Board of Directors

W David Findlay

David Findlay is fourth generation within the family ownership and is the Managing Director and Co-CEO with his wife Nickkie Findlay. David has been the key behind the food coatings arm of the company. Although he is a trade qualified baker he inherited the Findlay love of engineering. He learnt to weld age 12 and only a few years later he helped make conveyors and bread cooler trays. He helped Walter build the current bread factory. At high school David spent weekends and school holidays working bakery night shifts, doing bread deliveries and working on construction engineering. Interrupting his engineering studies, he joined the Walter Findlay Ltd management team in 1983 when his parents purchased the company.

By this time Walter Findlay Ltd had joined Quality Bakers, a co-operative that divided the country into regions and each bakery stayed in its region. Quality Bakers were early adopters of sound business systems like Total Quality Management (TQM) QB also developed excellent Manualised systems and were very professional in the way they developed their people. David benefitted from being exposed to this way of working and he developed a greater sense of, and commitment to, management systems and customer service.

In his personal pursuits David has raced power boats and been a water ski racer as well as competing nationally as a barefoot water skier for many years. The will to succeed has helped him embrace and drive business growth and over the years he has bought together a team of passionate and committed people who strive for excellence and customer service.

Nickkie Findlay

Nickkie Findlay has been involved with the Findlay Group of businesses for over 32 years. She has been involved in many facets of the business, starting off in bread sales locally in Gisborne and today is Co-CEO with husband David.

Nickkie has a wealth of experience in organisations, having run her own beauty therapy business as well as many years running Look Good Feel Better workshops and volunteering for the Cancer Society. She has also sat on a number of not for profit committees over the years including Chair of the local Gisborne Montessori in the early 90s. Nickkie’s  philanthropic spirit is embodied within the Findlay company’s value of ‘Community’ and giving back. Nickkie is a talented cook, her passion for food and bringing people together continues to inspire innovative food coating solution ideas and she has great business acumen as well as being a rare ‘super-taster’ which in partnership with David has helped to expand the business into Australia and America.