King’s Birthday and Coronation Honours 2023: Napier businessman Wayne Norrie receives ONZM

Wayne Norrie has been a champion of New Zealand exports. Photo / Paul Taylor

Napier’s Wayne Norrie is a successful businessman, tech guru, and champion of New Zealand exports.

He co-founded a tech business, Revera, which took him around the globe, before “giving back” through New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE), helping businesses improve their exports for the past two decades.

Norrie has now been made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) in the King’s Birthday Honours for services to business and governance.

“Having been exposed to a lot of companies that are exporting, I realised that they all make the same mistakes,” he said of his work with NZTE improving exports.

“I wrote quite a pivotal speech at one point [which I shared around the country] on why do New Zealand companies all make the same mistakes when they go overseas?

“We are too small a country - if there is one thing we are able to fix, it should be sharing knowledge and sharing lessons between each other so we collectively perform better overseas.

“And that became the backbone of the Fresh Thinking service and that became the backbone of a lot of things that I poured my heart and energy into, in terms of giving back.”

He said New Zealand Trade and Enterprise had “raised the bar a lot” over the past couple of decades for exports out of the country and he had been part of a big group of people passionate about that work.

His work has included implementing innovative strategies to boost international trade exports, and improving the Beachhead programme to become one of the most valued services offered to exporters.

He was chair of the New Zealand Hi-Tech Trust from 2006 to 2016 and also a long-time board member of NZTE.