27 years of working in community

Judith Stanway wound up a distinguished 27-year career with BDO Rotorua this month. Photo / File

Judith Stanway is passionate about Rotorua, writes David Porter.

This month Judith Stanway wound up a distinguished 27-year career with BDO Rotorua, the past two decades as managing partner.

During her time with the firm she also served on BDO's national board for 15 years, including five years as chairwoman, during a period when the firm grew from seven to 12 offices across New Zealand.

But in the words of Leith Comer, a former chief executive of Te Puni Kokiri who has worked with her on a number of boards and trusts for some two decades, Ms Stanway was always more than just a financial adviser.

"She brings all of those characteristics people like - consistency, objectivity, a sense of fairness and natural justice," he said. "She's got a wonderful breadth of understanding of people, of issues and of different kaupapa. I think she's a remarkable woman and I rate her very highly."

Ms Stanway was a director of Lakeland Health and the Lakes DHB for nine years, including four years as chairwoman; a former chairwoman of the Rotorua Primary Health Organisation; a past director of the Charities Commission and had a long-time involvement with Te Puia (NZ Maori Arts & Crafts Institute), where she was a past deputy chairwoman.

In 2012 she was named the Rotorua Business Person of the Year and also won the Sir Peter Blake Leadership Award. She has been awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship for her work with Rotary, and was awarded a fellowship by the NZ Institute of Chartered Accountants in 2013.

She is currently a director and deputy chairwoman of Scion, and is also chairwoman of the new Lake Rotorua Incentives Board, which has a $40 million budget to encourage and incentivise land use and management changes to encourage landowners to reduce nitrogen going into the water.

"I'm very keen on improving the environment and I've worked with lots of farming clients and have had plenty of forestry involvement through Scion," she said.

Ms Stanway has had a long involvement in Rotorua, and is passionate about the city. Born in Waverley, South Taranaki, she was schooled in New Plymouth and completed a University of Waikato Master in Economics. She lectured in economics at Auckland University and the Auckland Institute of Technology while raising four daughters with her husband Ross Stanway, a well-known Bay businessman and the current chief executive of Realty Services.

When Ross decided he wanted to try farming, she realised there might not be much room for an economist in smaller New Zealand towns, so she added an accounting qualification, becoming a full member of the NZICA.

They moved on to a sheep and cattle farm in Rotorua in 1984, and after a brief stint at Waiariki Polytechnic, and then local accounting firm Davis, O'Connell, she joined BDO Rotorua where she has been for the past 27 years.

After a decade, they sold the farm and moved initially on to a lifestyle property. They now divide their business and family commitments between an apartment in Rotorua and a house in Mount Maunganui, where they have enough space for visits from their eight grandchildren.

"It is the end of an era to be leaving BDO - it has been a large part of my life, and my family's life."

BDO and the profession had gone through a journey over the past 27 years, she said.

"The focus has gone from processing to advisory work. Attitudes have changed from where family could not be seen to be getting in the way of work, to now where staff have the flexibility to organise their work around their family."

Ms Stanway said she would be maintaining her directorships and involvement in the Rotorua community.

"Rotorua people are fabulous to work with. There is something special about the place. Everyone is so supportive."