Latest / Best of Business / Brendan Lindsay: Sistema founder on being appointed a knight companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit

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Brendan Lindsay: Sistema founder on being appointed a knight companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit · Best of Business

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  Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from News Talks be follow
• 0:12
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  Speaker 2: The King's Birthday honors Brendon John Lindsay, the founder of Sistema,
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  Speaker 2: has found his name on the list. He is to
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  Speaker 2: be a Nate Companion of the New Zealand Order of
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  Speaker 2: Merit for his services to business and philanthropy. And Brendan
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  Speaker 2: joins me. Now, good morning to you. Brendan.
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  Speaker 3: Good morning, and may I be.
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  Speaker 2: The first to say sir Brendan, though probably somebody's already
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  Speaker 2: said that earlier this morning.
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  Speaker 3: Well, my wife didn't call me sir Brendan when I
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  Speaker 3: woke up this morning, so no, thank you for that.
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  Speaker 3: It's going to take a little bit of getting used to.
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  Speaker 2: I think, how does it feel for you? What does
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  Speaker 2: this mean for you?
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  Speaker 3: Oh? Look, it's quite it's such a huge honor and
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  Speaker 3: I think you know, with your business career and what
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  Speaker 3: we've done since we've sold the business, you know, with
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  Speaker 3: their Philanthroy side. But you know it's also a big
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  Speaker 3: accolade for a lot of folks that have supported me
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  Speaker 3: over the years. You know, the obviously family, you know,
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  Speaker 3: you miss birthdays and things like that were traveling away
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  Speaker 3: with business and my family mean obviously behind me, and
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  Speaker 3: I've got a group of trustees that have tried to
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  Speaker 3: guide me on the right path and a few times
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  Speaker 3: when I've sort of gone off the rails, and obviously
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  Speaker 3: lots of business colleagues that have built me back into shape.
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  Speaker 3: And I've had silly ideas. So no, I think everybody's
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  Speaker 3: going to enjoy this, to be honest.
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  Speaker 2: Very good. After you sold System, and that was back
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  Speaker 2: in twenty sixteen, you started back in nineteen eighty two.
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  Speaker 2: After that you and your wife established the Lindsay Foundation
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  Speaker 2: to support New Zealand charities focusing on family education, disabilities
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  Speaker 2: and animal welfare. This is possibly an impossible question, but
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  Speaker 2: what has meant more to you your services to business
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  Speaker 2: or your subsequent work in philanthropy.
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  Speaker 3: Gosh, that's a good, good question. I've never really thought
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  Speaker 3: about it too much. I think that services to businesses
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  Speaker 3: are probably a little bit self serving because you know,
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  Speaker 3: you're trying to obviously put expand your business, and as
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  Speaker 3: you do that, of course you put finance security behind you.
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  Speaker 3: But after it's sold and you've got this opportunity to
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  Speaker 3: give back to the community, particularly New Zelling community in
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  Speaker 3: those areas that you've just outlined. You know, we're very
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  Speaker 3: lucky and very fortunate to be in the position to
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  Speaker 3: make some donations if you like, and you know, influence
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  Speaker 3: and change people's lives, most of them of course we
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  Speaker 3: never get to meet or hear about. But the reality
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  Speaker 3: is that, you know, it's it gives a great deal
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  Speaker 3: of There's lots of little things that happen along way
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  Speaker 3: in that journey, and you sometimes sort of pinch yourself
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  Speaker 3: thinking how lucky we are to have the opportunity because
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  Speaker 3: you know, the thing about Philanthrophy and New Zealand, it
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  Speaker 3: doesn't really matter what you how much money you put in.
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  Speaker 3: It's the fact that when you look at a thing
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  Speaker 3: like get a little page and see how many people
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  Speaker 3: put fifty dollars or one hundred dollars in because I've read
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  Speaker 3: it out a tragedy in somebody's life, that's just the
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  Speaker 3: same as us. It's just the amounts of bit different.
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  Speaker 2: Well, the country as a whole needs to pinch itself
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  Speaker 2: to say how lucky we are to have people like
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  Speaker 2: you who have a second chapter to your career and
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  Speaker 2: you give back so very very much. But if you
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  Speaker 2: could just put your business hat on for the final question,
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  Speaker 2: if you were still in charge of SYSTEMA right now,
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  Speaker 2: how would the new tariff environment affect your business? And
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  Speaker 2: what advice would you give to Kiwi businesses right now
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  Speaker 2: to get through what we experience today.
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  Speaker 3: Oh, I see it as a huge opportunity and if
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  Speaker 3: I was involved there, I would see it as a
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  Speaker 3: massive opportunity because you know, a ten percent tariff into
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  Speaker 3: America is not a barrier to entry. It's what's more
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  Speaker 3: important is the tariffs are going to probably hit the
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  Speaker 3: Asian country is a lot worse, which, of course, as
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  Speaker 3: we competition comes, particularly in SYSTEMA, and you know, I
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  Speaker 3: see it as an opportunity rather than rather than a
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  Speaker 3: negative thing. And I'd be focusing all my efforts if
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  Speaker 3: the American market even further than what we were doing
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  Speaker 3: when we were there.
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  Speaker 2: It's a very similar view that was held by Sir
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  Speaker 2: John Keith, who says it's about relativity and we actually
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  Speaker 2: have a relative advantage.
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  Speaker 3: We've got a massive advantage. And you know, one thing
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  Speaker 3: that we've got in New Zealand which they don't have
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  Speaker 3: anywhere else in the world. And as we've got that language,
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  Speaker 3: people recognize that language. They respect us, they respect our
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  Speaker 3: business ecument, they respect our honesty and integrity and business
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  Speaker 3: and for lots of our people that have gone before us,
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  Speaker 3: and a lot of doors open for Keiwis which they
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  Speaker 3: wouldn't normally open for anybody else. And that's sort of
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  Speaker 3: setting what I've found. And I just i'd be I'd
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  Speaker 3: just be really rolling the sleeves up and you know,
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  Speaker 3: going you whippy.
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  Speaker 2: And good on you too. And as a country we
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  Speaker 2: respect for you, which is why you are now, Sir Brendan.
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  Speaker 2: Get used to it. And I thank you for your
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  Speaker 2: time today.
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  Speaker 3: Oh thank you very much herew I appreciate it.
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  Speaker 2: It's a pleasure, Sir Brendan Lindsay for services to business
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  Speaker 2: and philanthropy.
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