EY Family Business award winners 2019-20 - New Zealand

Diversity is at the heart of Barfoot & Thompson’s family culture.

We are delighted to celebrate the recipients of the EY Family Business Award of Excellence 2019-20, an honor that recognizes excellence in family businesses. Congratulations to this year’s winners for New Zealand:

Kiri Barfoot - Director, Barfoot & Thompson
Peter Thompson - Managing Director, Barfoot & Thompson
Stephen Barfoot - Director, Barfoot & Thompson

For almost 100 years, Barfoot & Thompson has steadfastly remained a family business — overcoming war, economic downturns and changes in regulation to become New Zealand’s largest, privately owned real estate company. The company has 75 branches and 17,000 residential rental properties under management.

The third generation, Kiri, Peter and Stephen, have brought new skills to the business and believe part of their strength lies in never standing still. They have evolved over time, embracing technology, diversity in hiring and innovations in the industry. They have also kept true to their families values of “Family, Community, Diversity, People” and this is reflected in a workforce made up of 75 different ethnicities and an ongoing commitment to community service.

Throughout their company's growth trajectory, they have protected their financials. Thompson says, "Instead of the families taking money out, we keep putting money aside to shore up the company. We own about 80% of the buildings we work out of, so we’re financially very sound. That’s important. It gives security to the people that work for us and it’s allowed us to make sure we can keep giving back.”