Mainfreight

• Business / Trading Name: Mainfreight Limited (branded simply as “Mainfreight”; formerly Mainfreight Transport Limited until April 1996).

• Company number: 102720.

• NZBN: 9429040418087.

• Entity type: New Zealand Limited Company (publicly listed on NZX since June 1996).

• Business classification: Freight forwarding, transport, and logistics services (domestic distribution, international air & ocean freight, warehousing).

• Industry Category: Transport & Logistics – New Zealand’s largest logistics company, providing supply chain management, freight transport, and warehousing globally.

• Year founded: 1978 (incorporated 23 March 1978). Mainfreight commenced operations in March 1978 and grew in a deregulated transport market post-1982.

• Addresses:

  • Registered & Physical Headquarters: 2 Railway Lane, Ōtāhuhu, Auckland 1062, New Zealand.

  • Postal Address: PO Box 14038, Panmure, Auckland 1741, New Zealand.

  • Other office address (records/share register): Level 2, 159 Hurstmere Road, Takapuna, Auckland.

• Website URL:

https://www.mainfreight.com

• LinkedIn URL: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mainfreight (Mainfreight official LinkedIn page).

• Company Hub NZ URL: https://companyhub.nz/…/9429040418087 (NZ Company Register summary).

• NZ Companies Office URL: Companies Office registry entry for Mainfreight Ltd (ID 102720).

• Social Media URLs: Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/Mainfreight/ ; Twitter – (no active corporate Twitter); Instagram – https://instagram.com/mainfreight (corporate account).

• Ultimate Holding Company: None – Mainfreight Limited is itself the group’s ultimate holding company (parent of Mainfreight’s global subsidiaries).

• Key Shareholders: As a publicly traded firm, Mainfreight’s largest stakes are held by its founder/executives and institutional nominees. Founder Bruce Plested, Managing Director Don Braid, and long-time director Carl Howard-Smith together hold ~28.3% (via direct holdings and entities like Rorohara Farms). Major institutional holders include custodial/nominee entities such as The Trustees Executors & Agency Co. of NZ Ltd (~15.3%), Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) (~10.1%), Custodial Services Ltd (~9.3%), BNP Paribas Nominees (NZ) Ltd (~9.5%), HSBC Nominees (NZ) Ltd (~7.2%), Citibank Nominees (NZ) Ltd (~6.3%), FNZ Custodians Ltd (~5.1%), and the NZ Superannuation Fund Nominees (~3.9%). (These nominee holders represent various investors’ shares.)

• Leadership: Bruce George Plested – Founder and Executive Chairman (on board since 1978) ; Don Braid – Group Managing Director (CEO) since 2000 (with Mainfreight since 1994). Other board members include long-serving directors Bryan Mogridge (appointed 2003), Simon Cotter (appointed 2013), and Catherine (Kate) Parsons (appointed 2017). In March 2024, two new independent directors – Annie Steel and Hayley Buckley – joined the board. (Notably, former Cabinet Minister Hon. Richard Prebble served as a Mainfreight director from 1996 until retiring in July 2023, bringing political experience to the leadership.)

• Staff: Approximately 10,600 employees worldwide as of 2024. Mainfreight operates in 27 countries with over 330 branches, including a workforce of ~2,800 across New Zealand. The company emphasises a strong, long-term team culture (“Mainfreight family”) and often promotes from within.

• Staff with previous government roles: Hon. Richard Prebble – served on Mainfreight’s board (1996–2023) and is a former Member of Parliament and Cabinet Minister (Minister of Transport, among other portfolios, in the 1980s). Aside from Prebble’s high-profile political career, no other senior Mainfreight executives or board members have held public office. (No evidence of other Mainfreight staff in notable government roles has been disclosed.)

• Past Employees: Neil Graham (1943–2015) – Co-founder who joined Mainfreight in 1979 and served as joint Managing Director; he helped expand the business nationwide. Graham stepped down from the board in 2001 due to ill health and was a noted philanthropist. Other notable former directors/executives include Sir Don Rowlands (Board member 1999–2011, a prominent business leader and sports administrator) and early investors such as David Hastie (an original director/shareholder, retired 2012). (No known former Mainfreight staff have later held political office.)

• Clients: Mainfreight serves a broad range of corporate and government clients across industries – retail chains, consumer goods manufacturers, agricultural exporters, automotive and electronics importers, etc., in New Zealand and internationally. Specific customer names are not publicly disclosed due to commercial sensitivity, but its client base includes many large NZ companies and multinationals that require freight forwarding and warehousing (e.g. FMCG producers, industrial manufacturers, ecommerce retailers). The company also undertakes logistics contracts for community events (for example, freighting costumes for the World of WearableArt show at no charge). (No comprehensive public client list is available; Mainfreight’s services span most sectors needing supply chain logistics.)

• Industries/Sectors represented: The company’s business interests span road freight transport, rail freight, international shipping and air cargo, and warehousing/distribution. As such, Mainfreight is a de facto representative of the freight and logistics sector – advocating on issues affecting trucking, ports, shipping lines, air freight, and supply chain infrastructure. It is involved in industry forums related to transport, supply chain efficiency, international trade, and climate impact of freight (e.g. through Sustainable Business Council initiatives).

• Publicly Disclosed Engagements: Mainfreight and its executives have engaged with government through both formal and informal channels: Meetings with ministers – e.g. Managing Director Don Braid met with the Associate Transport Minister in July 2019 and hosted the Finance Minister for a site visit in March 2022. Policy submissions – e.g. Mainfreight made a formal submission in Nov 2021 to the External Reporting Board on proposed climate-related disclosure standards. Parliamentary consultations – The company’s views have been cited in government discussions on freight and infrastructure (calling for a national ports strategy in 2012). Mainfreight often publicly advocates on policy (through media): for instance, Don Braid has openly urged government action on port co-ordination and criticized inefficiencies, such as in a 2012 statement opposing an Auckland port move to Northland. (These engagements are typically disclosed via ministerial diary releases, regulatory websites, or company statements.)

• Affiliations: Mainfreight is a member of several industry and business networks. It belongs to the Sustainable Business Council (SBC) and the Climate Leaders Coalition, aligning with other major NZ companies on climate change responses. It is also associated with the BusinessNZ network (through SBC) and supports the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) events and initiatives. Historically, Mainfreight was part of the Road Transport Forum NZ via its ownership of trucking fleets (Owens, Daily Freight), though it tends to directly voice its industry views. The company maintains ties with trade and export groups and is informally influential in freight sector lobbying alongside peers (e.g., through the National Road Carriers Association and ad hoc coalitions on supply chain issues).

• Sponsorships / Collaborations: Mainfreight has a long-standing sponsorship of the Duffy Books in Homes literacy programme (since 1994), providing funding and logistics – currently sponsoring 50+ low-decile schools and hosting the program’s head office at its Auckland site. The company runs the annual “Mainfreight Award for Excellence in Attitude” for students at Duffy schools. It also collaborates with the World of WearableArt (WOW) competition, offering free freight for participants’ garments in NZ. Mainfreight supports numerous community events and charities by leveraging its global logistics network (e.g. shipping aid supplies, partnering with Outward Bound and local community initiatives). These sponsorships are part of Mainfreight’s public-facing community engagement, often highlighted in its sustainability reports.

• Events (organised by this organisation): Mainfreight hosts annual general meetings (ASM) for shareholders (often used by the Chairman to comment on public issues). Through the Duffy Books sponsorship, Mainfreight staff regularly participate in school role model assemblies each term, presenting books and awards to students. The company also organises internal conferences and training events (e.g. Mainfreight Development Programme gatherings for staff leadership) and invites government representatives or industry leaders to visit major branch openings and milestone events. In the Bay of Plenty, Mainfreight has held site tours for the logistics industry (in partnership with CILT NZ). (Mainfreight does not publicly host lobbying events, but its executives frequently speak at transport industry conferences and business forums on supply chain policy.)

• Political Donations: Mainfreight as a company does not donate to political parties, but its key figures have made substantial personal donations. Founder/Chair Bruce Plested has given large sums across the political spectrum: at the 2014 election he donated $100,000 to Te Pāti Māori and $45,000 to the National Party ; in 2017 he again gave $100,000 to Te Pāti Māori and deliberately withheld support from National. Plested also used a family holding company Rorohara Farms (co-owned with Don Braid and Carl Howard-Smith) to donate an additional $110,000 to the Māori Party in 2014. These donations – among the largest by any individual that cycle – coincided with Plested publicly criticizing government policy and seeking change. Aside from Plested, there is no public record of significant political donations by other Mainfreight executives in recent years. (The company’s multi-partisan donations via its principal shareholder raise questions about influence, discussed below.)

• Controversies: Despite a generally positive public image, Mainfreight has faced several integrity issues:

  • Employment Law Breach (2017): Mainfreight was one of 53 firms temporarily banned from hiring migrant workers after a Labour Inspectorate audit found three NZ employees lacked written employment agreements (a legal requirement). Chairman Bruce Plested called it an “administrative error” and decried the “high price” of bad publicity and bureaucracy, but employment lawyers noted Mainfreight “should have known better” since written contracts are fundamental rights.

  • Dangerous Goods Conviction (2018): In Australia, Mainfreight Distribution Pty was convicted and fined A$7,500 for breaching NSW dangerous goods regulations – specifically for failing to properly secure ~3.7 tonnes of aerosol cans and for lacking required safety equipment during transport. (An associated Mainfreight-owned company, Owens, was fined A$12,000 for related breaches.) These convictions, prosecuted by the NSW EPA, underscored safety lapses in Mainfreight’s handling of hazardous freight.

  • Internal Fraud (2013): A Mainfreight credit controller in Auckland was charged with embezzling approximately $4.4 million over two decades. The fraud, uncovered by an internal audit of the Daily Freight division, led to criminal proceedings (the employee, Sushila Mosese, faced multiple dishonesty charges). Mainfreight’s management emphasized the amount was not material to the company’s finances, but the case drew media attention to internal control weaknesses.

  • Political/PR Backlash: Plested’s unusually blunt 2017 Chairman’s Letter – which lambasted the government for housing unaffordability and environmental decline – stirred debate. While some applauded his candour, others saw it as a corporate leader overstepping into politics, especially given Mainfreight’s simultaneous donations to the then-government’s partners. The incident highlighted potential conflicts between Mainfreight’s public stance and private political activities. (No allegations of unlawful lobbying have been made; the controversies lie in ethical and compliance domains.)

• Other information of note: Mainfreight is widely regarded as a New Zealand success story and has received numerous accolades. It was named Company of the Year in the 2011 Deloitte/Management Top 200 Awards, and Don Braid became the first ever two-time Executive of the Year winner (2008 and 2011) in those awards. In 2020, Braid was further honoured as “Executive of the Decade” for his sustained leadership. The company’s culture – encapsulated in the motto “special people, special company” – eschews bureaucratic norms (no HR department, a focus on long-term 100-year vision) and has been studied as a model of Kiwi corporate ethos. Mainfreight’s founders and directors have at times used their platform to advocate for broader social issues: e.g. Plested has publicly supported the idea of a wealth tax to address inequality (while cautioning against government waste). Overall, Mainfreight’s prominence in business and community spheres makes it an influential voice in national conversations beyond just freight.

• Recipient of Wage Subsidy Scheme: Yes. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mainfreight initially claimed the New Zealand Wage Subsidy in April 2020 – receiving NZ$10.6 million to support 1,526 staff. However, as trading conditions improved sooner than expected, the company voluntarily repaid the full subsidy by May 2020. Mainfreight’s repayment (along with continuing to pay dividends) was highlighted as an example of corporate responsibility, even earning mention in the Australian Parliament for “doing the right thing”. (Thus, Mainfreight is not a net beneficiary of the Wage Subsidy, having returned the funds.)

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