Sir Michael Hill steps back from board of jewellery firm to undergo cancer treatment

Sir Michael Hill has stepped down from his company to undergo cancer treatment.

• Sir Michael Hill has announced he will be stepping back from the board to undergo treatment for cancer.
• Andrea Slingsby will be appointed as alternative director of the company, Michael Hill Jeweller.
• The 86-year-old opened his first store in Whangārei in 1979 and now has 291 worldwide.

The founder of Michael Hill Jeweller is stepping down to undergo cancer treatment.

In a shareholder announcement today, Sir Michael Hill said he was taking a leave of absence from the company and Andrea Slingsby would be appointed as alternative director.

The company did not give a time frame for how long Hill would be away from the role but noted Slingsby’s position on the board could be terminated by either party giving seven days notice or in line with its constitution.

Anthea Noble, Michael Hill International’s general manager of treasury and investor relations, said she was unable to provide any additional information at this time, as it pertained to a personal matter.

The 86-year-old Hill opened his first store in Whangārei in 1979 at 40, after spending nearly two decades working in his uncle’s jewellery store.

The chain now has 291 stores in New Zealand, Australia and Canada.

Lady Christine and Sir Michael Hill first met at his uncle's Whangārei store. Photo / Norrie Montgomery

In 2019, Sir Michael told news.com.au he had big dreams of becoming a classical concert violinist, but as he explains, it “didn’t really work out”.

“My parents and uncle demanded I give up this folly and get a real job.”

He began working as a watchmaker before turning to sales.

Hill even met his future wife Christine Roe in the store.

In 2023, Hill told the Herald the inspiration started after a fire in which he and his wife lost everything.

“And as it burned down, I grabbed a card out of my pocket and wrote down, ‘I’m gonna own my uncle’s business, or I’m going to leave him and start alone’”, he told Paula Bennett’s NZ Herald podcast Ask Me Anything.

“That happened on that night. I had no money. I had nothing but what I stood in. And here’s me suddenly making a plan.”

In 2016, the company listed shares on the ASX, in addition to the listing on the NZX.

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