Meet our Senior Managers
Hugh Morrison - Chief Executive Officer
As Chief Executive, Hugh's role is to ensure that the Board and management team are aligned on an exciting sustainable strategic direction for the business and then to support all parts of the business to deliver on that strategy. All this to be done in a manner consistent with the guiding Purpose and Values of the Port. Hugh started at Port Nelson in September 2019. With qualifications in civil engineering (BE) and management (MBA), his career has been in construction, infrastructure, and property. This background has enabled Hugh to work in over ten countries including Malaysia, Singapore; Australia; Saudi Arabia; Abu Dhabi; Hong Kong, as well as lead large design, construction, and project management companies in New Zealand and Malaysia. During this time Hugh has been fortunate to have leadership roles in a number of challenging projects including Forsythe Barr Stadium (Dunedin) and Pan Borneo Highway – Sabah (Malaysia). When Hugh's not at work it’s off into the beautiful hills, mountains, and rivers that make up Te Tauihu.
Daryl Wehner - Chief Financial Officer
Daryl joined Port Nelson in April 2013 as Chief Financial Officer. Daryl has had a corporate career of almost 30 years, including eight years in the building and gas retail and reticulation sectors and eight years in business recovery and rescue. Prior to his role at Port Nelson, Daryl was Chief Financial Officer of the Cawthron Institute, New Zealand’s largest independent science organisation. Daryl is a Chartered Accountant and a member of the New Zealand Institute of Directors. He is a Director of Trinity Lands and has also held the role of Chair, Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology Limited. Daryl is passionate about leading and mentoring high-performance individuals and teams to achieve beyond their perceived level of expectation. When not working, Daryl enjoys the gym, running, and spending time with family and friends.
Matt McDonald - General Manager Operations
Matt is General Manager – Operations at Port Nelson and has been in that role for 4 years. This role has a broad commercial, cargo, and customer focus. Our Marine, Containers, Stevedoring, and QuayPack operational teams report through to him. Matt has bachelor and master’s degrees in civil engineering and has worked in infrastructure business across Australasia and the UK. He returned home to Nelson in 2008 to take up the Infrastructure Manager role at Port Nelson looking after asset management, capital development, property, and environmental management. He held that role for 8 years before moving into the operations role. He is also a director of Nelson Airport.
Shelley Spencer - General Manager of People and Safety
Shelley is the GM of People and Safety at Port Nelson and a member of PNL’s senior management team. She has worked at PNL for 5 years. Prior to joining the Port industry, Shelley worked in HR roles for many years in the aviation and fishing industries and healthcare. Shelley holds an LLB from the University of Canterbury and practiced criminal and family law early in her career as well as working in the Department of Labour legal section providing advice to Ministers, drafting legislation, and conducting Health and Safety prosecutions. Her hometown is Nelson where she enjoys sailing and paddleboarding in the sunshine
Allanagh Rivers - General Manager of Infrastructure and Environment
Allanagh joined Port Nelson in 2017 and is responsible for the management of the fixed and mobile assets including the major capital and maintenance projects of the Port together with environmental strategy and compliance matters including the carbon reduction programmes. Allanagh has worked in roles in New Zealand and Australia, in Consulting, Heavy Manufacturing, Mining, Heavy Maintenance, Defence, and Facilities Management. She holds a Bachelors degree in Engineering and a Masters degree in Management. Allanagh is married with two children.
Jaron McLeod - General Manager QuayConnect
Jaron manages the supply chain solutions business unit at Port Nelson. Originally from Christchurch, he moved to Nelson in 2013 where he worked for Sealord initially then for Cold Storage Nelson as the South Island Operations Manager. Jaron joined Port Nelson in 2017 as the Operations Manager of QuayConnect. Jaron has been in the Supply Chain / Third Party Logistics industry for the past 16 years following a 2 Year OE in the UK after graduating University. He has a Bachelor of Science majoring in Zoology from Canterbury University. Jaron has worked in various operational management and business development roles throughout his career, working with some of New Zealand’s leading FMCG businesses.
Julie Waghorn - Executive Assistant
Julie joined Port Nelson in 2020 as Executive Assistant after returning from 17 years in Australia where she worked as an APAC regional manager in Procurement, Real Estate and Insurance in the advertising and media industries, having originally transferred to Australia with Telecom New Zealand to support their Australian entities. Julie has an accredited University Entrance and a diploma in management from Waikato University. Julie's time off is spent with family or in the motorhome touring the wonderful regions of Aotearoa.
