McDonald Vague The Insolvency & Business Recovery Specialists

Peri Finnigan

Partner

Peri Finnigan is a trusted and experienced insolvency specialist. She is often the primary point of contact for McDonald Vague, and her management of an assignment is characterised by her exceptionally high levels of competency and effectiveness.

Clients have noted Peri's responsiveness, listening skills, empathetic manner, negotiation skills, and her ability to take ownership of an assignment and achieve the best possible outcome.

Peri has extensive experience in a wide spectrum of insolvency issues, and has particular expertise in liquidations, compromises, and individual Part 5 proposals. She has worked across a wide range of industries, including retail, property, hospitality, finance, transport, export, manufacturing, construction, finance, forestry and publishing.

Peri has also played a key role in many of the firm's well known cases, including Feltex, Dawn Raid Entertainment, Ian Croft Produce, Architectural Waterproofing and Worldwide Publishers.

Peri is a Chartered Accountant, holding a Bachelor of Business Studies (majoring in Information Systems) and a Diploma in Business (Accountancy). She was previously an accountant for two large accounting firms and a manufacturing company.

She joined McDonald Vague in 2001, and became a partner in 2005. In addition to her insolvency work, Peri is in charge of the firm's marketing, annual seminar series, staff training and HR systems.

Peri's interests include gardening, home improvement projects, experimenting with different cuisines, outdoor pursuits and simply relaxing with her family.

Boris van Delden

Partner

Boris van Delden is a highly experienced insolvency practitioner, culminating with his appointment as partner at McDonald Vague in 2005. Boris thrives on the energy and vibrancy of McDonald Vague, but mostly enjoys maintaining close contact with his clients. In his eight years with the team he has worked on a large number of liquidations, receiverships, turnaround management projects and business evaluations and appraisals.

"Insolvency work has always been a keen interest of mine," he says. "It is challenging, complex and requires the ability to work diligently to achieve the most positive outcome."

Boris began his career as an investigating accountant with the Insolvency and Trustee Service in Auckland. He went on to specialise in business advisory and insolvency services in chartered accounting firms and has had wide experience in hospitality management, forestry, transport and retail. He has also worked in Papua New Guinea for Deloitte.

Boris is a member of the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants and INSOL, a special interest group of NZICA.

Outside of work, Boris is a passionate golfer, a weekend sailor and a keen supporter of rugby and the New Zealand Warriors.

Roy Horrocks

Partner

Roy joined McDonald Vague in March 2004. He is an exceptionally skilled forensic investigator and accountant, and plays a key role at McDonald Vague in unravelling the financial position of a company, often tracking down funds that most other investigators would miss.

He has made significant contributions to many of the firm's complex assignments including a number of pub receiverships, a vegetable produce receivership, a foreign currency trading company and a private education organisation. All have required detailed and extensive investigations leading to legal proceedings.

Roy's personal drive and naturally inquisitive mind are a perfect complement to his solid insolvency experience. He has worked across a wide spectrum of industries, and has developed specific skills in hospitality, finance, banking, dairy farming, biotechnology and construction.

A key factor behind Roy's success is his commercial acumen, and hands-on experience of how businesses are run. Roy spent eleven years as the financial accountant for the East Tamaki Co-operative Dairy Company. He became immersed in the development of the company and, when it was taken over by New Zealand Dairy Group, gained crucial experience in change management.

Roy is a Chartered Accountant, and a member of the NZICA Public Practice Special Interest Group. He is also a regular speaker at the McDonald Vague annual Seminar Series.

Tony Maginness

Partner

Tony Maginness joined McDonald Vague in 2009. He has a wealth of expertise and experience in lending and business recovery. Tony is a straight talker, and has established a reputation for impressive results.

Tony has acted as receiver in many of McDonald Vague's larger receiverships with work including completing and selling down a 21-unit apartment development in Auckland, a 4,593 sqm commercial building with complicated body corporate issues, an 1800 hectare sheep station in the King Country and a 40 hectare vineyard in Marlborough.

He has also been managing the trading on of a 110 hectare pip and stone fruit orchard in the Hawkes Bay and has been involved in many of the restructuring and Investigating Accountant assignments McDonald Vague has completed for various banks.

Prior to joining McDonald Vague, Tony spent four years working as the Property Finance Manager at North South Finance, and three years at Nationwide Finance where he was the Property National Sales Manager.

Tony has particular skill in implementing innovative realisation strategies designed to maximise recoveries. He knows the intricacies of re-financing and re-structuring lending, and is very experienced at recovering debt.

He is a skilled negotiator, resolving and managing legal disputes with borrowers and guarantors. He has a persuasive manner, easily builds good working relationships, and has a wide network of contacts in property, farming and finance.

Tony holds a Diploma in Business Studies (The University of Auckland) and an International Capital Markets Qualification (UK). He also has international financial experience, having spent almost five years in Shanghai and Singapore providing private banking services to international investors in a very challenging market.

A former Canterbury boy, Tony started his career at PPCS (now Silver Fern Farms) in the late 1980s buying livestock in Canterbury and Central Otago. He spent time working on farms and in freezing works, and has an excellent understanding of the New Zealand farming sector.

Tony played rugby competitively in Canterbury, UK and Singapore, and occasionally his wife and kids allow him to watch rugby at home! Tony also enjoys boating, reading and renovating property.

Iain McLennan

Director

Iain joined McDonald Vague in 2001, became a consultant to the firm in 2004 and was appointed as a director in July 2010. He has over 20 years experience in business recovery and insolvency.

Iain has developed extensive experience in technical liquidations and receiverships for companies in a wide variety of industries including finance, e-commerce, software development and manufacturing. He has successfully provided advice to numerous liquidators on recovery actions, particularly actions against directors involving fraud and reckless trading.

Iain has also conducted investigations and has provided expert evidence in cases of suspected corporate fraud and in matrimonial proceedings. He also has significant experience providing "work out" and recovery advice as an alternative to receivership/liquidation.

In cases where there appears to have been breaches of fiduciary responsibility or other suspicious activities or events, Iain's skills are essential in determining what has happened and what might, even at a relatively late stage, be done to obtain recovery for the benefit of stakeholders.

Iain spent a decade working in Corporate Recovery at KPMG and was involved in liquidations, receiverships and investigations involving fraud, misappropriation and property theft. His early training was as an accountant at the AHI/CHH group of companies with various roles from assistant accountant to Head Office accountant.

Iain is a keen spectator for virtually all types of sport, with a particular interest in yachts and yachting. He spends a great deal of his leisure time with his wife and 3 daughters and their extended families.

Kevin Bromwich

Director

27 years of Military service have played a critical role in Kevin's approach to managing complex and challenging situations.

After retiring from the Military, Kevin spent eight years with KPMG gaining practical experience in a variety of insolvency situations from small organisations through to major, and complex, assignments. Although he worked in a variety of sectors primarily the assignments he undertook were in construction, transport and heavy engineering.

In 1996 Kevin joined McDonald Vague as an Insolvency Manager where his duties included staff training, administration, publication and editing of procedural manuals and peer development and review. In 2002 he was appointed a Director of the practice and extended his responsibilities to include quality control and other senior activities.

Kevin has now completed studying for a professional accounting qualification to augment his many years of practical experience and achievement.

Mike Skilling

Consultant

Mike Skilling has over 20 years' experience working in senior management for some of New Zealand's leading agribusiness and financial organisations. This includes work as General Manager Customer Services for PGC Wrightson and General Manager of both the BNZ's Agribusiness Financial Services team and its Business Financial Services team. Recently, Mike worked for the receivers of South Canterbury Finance assisting with the preparation of the business for sale, the sale process, managing the branches and staff and maintenance of a going concern.

His experience in managing large rural organisations brings a depth of knowledge of the agricultural sector and a thorough understanding of rural lending, interest rate risk, deposits, insurance, private banking services, FX, currency risk and managed funds.

Mike is known for his ability to see through complex situations and data, to quickly establish and articulate a clear and easy to understand way forward.

His agribusiness experience covers the dairy, sheep, beef, deer, cropping, horticulture, aquaculture and forestry sectors. This vast rural experience and his network of professional farming contacts means he can provide a fast and cost-effective solution in any farm insolvency situation. This results in the best possible outcome for our appointers and other creditors.

John Vague

Consultant

John's interest in insolvency began when he worked as finance accountant for Foodstuffs (Auckland) Limited. He soon became involved in the appointment of Receivers in respect of grocery stores and supermarkets. The doyen of insolvency at that time was Fred Watson. John eventually joined Seaman Robinson Shove & Strickett (Fred Watson's firm) as an Insolvency Manager.

In 1979 John became a founding member of Edwards & Vague Chartered Accountants and in that first year of practice was appointed once a month as Receiver / Liquidator / Statutory Manager. The firm, in 1985 merged with Coopers & Lybrand where John became an insolvency partner.

In 1990 John set out on his own again to form John Vague & Associates. This firm was New Zealand's first practice dealing solely with insolvency matters and after name changes became the McDonald Vague of today.

John has always taken a keen interest in the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants ("NZICA") and served on the Auckland Branch Committee and has also been the Chairman of INSOL Auckland. He takes a special interest in insolvency law reform and was a member of the Joint Insolvency Committee for a number of years. In 1992 his work for NZICA was recognised by his appointment as a Fellow of the Institute.

John is proud of the way the firm has grown and the recognition it has received. He enjoys the challenge each day brings and likes the place where the firm has positioned itself. It can meet not only the demands of the large assignment but can still deal with the financial stresses of the smaller companies and individuals.

Jared Booth

Associate

Jared offers over 10 years of local and international experience in business recovery and restructuring, insolvency, compliance and investigations.

This covers a range of industries, including telecommunications, transport, finance, agribusiness, hospitality, construction, manufacturing, recruitment and the creative sector.

Jared is a Chartered Accountant, a committee member of the NZICA Forensic Accounting Special Interest Group, a member of INSOL, and a graduate of the University of Waikato.

Prior to joining McDonald Vague in September 2008, Jared worked for the Public Interest Unit and Investigations Directorate in London, and the National Enforcement Unit in Auckland.

Outside of work Jared enjoys sailing, the outdoors and fatherhood.

Jonathan Barrett

Associate

Jonathan joined McDonald Vague in 2007. He has over 17 years' experience in corporate insolvency across a variety of industries, including retail, construction and hospitality.

Jonathan has managed numerous business sales and litigation proceedings for the firm.  He is also a highly experienced investigator, and has had a number of successes identifying and recovering overdrawn shareholder current accounts and voidable preferences.  Jonathan has run some of the firm's larger construction industry liquidations, including the Tribro housebuilding group and a large roading contractor in Hawkes Bay. He is also involved in various other activities such as marketing the firm, developing its website, advising clients and mentoring newer staff.

Jonathan is a Chartered Accountant and a member of INSOL. He holds a BCom in Accounting and a BA in History from the University of Auckland, as well as a UK insolvency licensing qualification.  Outside of work, Jonathan enjoys reading, playing tennis, attempting to play golf and spending time with his wife and four year old son.

Garry Whimp

Consultant

Garry Whimp is based in Whangarei and is the firm's key contact in Northland. Garry is a consultant for McDonald Vague and has been a director of his own companies for over 25 years. He has a wealth of commercial knowledge and first hand appreciation of the challenges that directors face regarding a business's liquidity, structure and commitment to creditors. His expertise lies in his understanding of lending criteria, his commercial acumen, and his ability to rapidly asses risk profiles.

Garry is the co-founder of two mortgage companies, and still remains a director of one of them, as well as being a member of the NZ Mortgage Brokers Association. He has extensive mortgage experience and knowledge of financing structures, both in commercial and residential properties. Garry has had many years' successful experience negotiating mortgage agreements with banks, and is very familiar with the processes involved.

Garry has a special interest in forensic accounting. He enjoys the challenge of examining financial records and filling in the vital gaps. He is also skilled at unearthing any discrepancies and following hidden money trails.

Garry started his accounting career at Winstones, where he worked for almost 8 years before leaving to start his own business. Over the next 20 years Garry was involved in the start-up, management, and sale of several businesses, including a timber business and a restaurant. He has significant skills in developing businesses for sale as well as re-structuring businesses.

On a personal level Garry is very down to earth, pragmatic, committed and focused on obtaining the best possible results for the relevant parties.

Colin Sanderson

Insolvency Manager

Colin Sanderson is the firm's key contact in our Hamilton office. Colin brings a wealth of fraud and insolvency experience to the firm. He was previously with Indepth Forensic Limited, where he managed the liquidation of over 100 small companies.  He was also involved in carrying out investigations on behalf of clients into staff theft and fraud allegations and has helped provide litigation support in both Civil and Criminal Court matters. Prior to that Colin was a member of the New Zealand Police for 27 years,  reaching the rank of Detective Sergeant. Colin  was in charge of major fraud investigations in the Waikato Police region for a number of years and managed and conducted numerous fraud investigations.

Chris Eade

Insolvency Manager

Chris graduated with a Bachelor of Business degree majoring in Finance and Management. He has a solid background in farming, having grown up working on his family's farm in Waikato, and maintains a keen interest in dairy and cattle farming.

Chris' finance skills combined with his rural background make him an excellent asset on the McDonald Vague Agri-Business and Property/Construction teams. As a Rural Insolvency Manager, Chris works closely with bankers, farmers and other stakeholders to ensure that the best financial result is achieved on rural appointments.

Chris previously developed his project management and finance skills working in the construction and property industry. He worked for McConnell Property and Hawkins Construction, where he was appointed as a Site Manager on the Auckland Art Gallery redevelopment project.

Chris is a former professional rugby player, who until recently was playing in Europe. He is trying to impart those rugby skills to his colleagues at McDonald Vague, but it is a slow process!

In his spare time Chris enjoys hunting, fishing and farming.

Daniel Zhang

Insolvency Manager

Daniel joined McDonald Vague in 2006.  He has been involved in a wide range of insolvency assignments across a variety of industries including hospitality, manufacturing, construction, printing and finance.

Daniel is experienced at managing and running businesses in receivership.  This involves appraising the business to identify problem areas and implementing new structures to improve the business.  Daniel is also able to maintain strong relationships with key suppliers, landlords, clients and staff.  Daniel has successfully managed and sold a number of hospitality businesses and is skilled at achieving sound results from asset realisations in an efficient manner.

Daniel is a Chartered Accountant, holding a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Auckland. Outside of work Daniel is a fishing fanatic.  He also enjoys rugby, travelling, watching movies and spending time with friends.  Daniel is fluent in both English and Mandarin.

Murray Matthews

Insolvency Accountant

Murray was initially employed within a large hospitality receivership handled by the firm in late 2010, before taking up an insolvency accountant role with McDonald Vague in early 2011.

Since then Murray has been involved in a wide range of insolvency assignments across a diverse range of industries including rural/hospitality/fishing and trade services.

Murray's prior work experience is just as diverse, having worked in a number of industries including large format retail, horse racing, recycling/waste management, and the automotive trades.

Murray holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Auckland, with a double major in Accounting and Operations Management and is currently pursuing a Postgraduate Diploma in Commercial Law.  Outside of work Murray enjoys horse racing, supporting the NZ Breakers and DIY projects.

Tracy Yelverton

Insolvency Accountant

Tracy joined McDonald Vague in 2010 after relocating to Auckland from Nelson.

Tracy holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree with a double major in Accounting and Marketing. She has worked in public practice, where she gained extensive expertise in drafting annual accounts and income tax returns, and compiling/completion of GST, PAYE and FBT returns.

Tracy comes from a farming background and is an integral part of McDonald Vague's Agri-business team. She has been actively involved in a number of large rural receiverships across the full range of activities within the agricultural sector. These include dairy, beef and sheep farming, and avocado and kumara businesses.

The insolvencies that Tracy has worked on have all involved multi-million dollar loans by secured creditors. Tracy works closely with the Agri-business "on farm" team, referrers and major stakeholders to ensure that the maximum return for appointers is achieved.

With her family farming background, Tracy is able to bring hands on expertise to the team and a touch of reality to the day to day farm related problems she encounters in her work. This quality, matched with her enthusiasm for developing strong relationships with people at all levels within the industry and professional advisers, allows her to achieve the very best results possible for creditors.