Wairarapa

Brett Wooffindin

Brett grew up on a sheep farm in South Canterbury and made the move to the Wairarapa in 2015. He earned a first-class honours degree in Commerce from Lincoln University and became a Chartered Accountant in 2007.

Brett’s career has seen him qualify at a big four accounting firm, work at investment banks in London, and contract for top 10 NZX listed companies, where he honed his skills in change management and process improvement.

These days, Brett is the go-to guy for cloud computing at his firm, specializing in Xero and Figured, and he’s also well-versed in other tools like WorkflowMax, Spotlight Reporting, and various payroll programs. He loves helping businesses improve their performance through strategic planning.

When he’s not working, Brett enjoys playing rugby, cricket, and golf. He also loves spending time with his kids at the beach, going for runs, and getting lost in a good book.

Jennifer Martin

Jennifer grew up in the Wairarapa and has spent most of her life there. She earned a BCA in Accounting, Economics, and Commercial Law from Victoria University and became a Chartered Accountant in 2011.

She’s worked in various roles for firms in Wellington and the Wairarapa before joining Lawson Avery in August 2018 as our cloud-based specialist. Jennifer handles products like Xero, Figured, Cash Manager Focus, Spotlight Reporting, Workflow Max, and MYOB Essentials.

On top of that, she’s got hands-on business experience from helping run a family business for the past eight years. Outside of work, Jennifer enjoys playing netball and squash, hitting the gym, and playing card games like Canasta and Samba.

Heather Macdonald

Heather is a seasoned Chartered Accountant, born into a farming family near Taihape, and has spent most of her life immersed in farm life. She pursued her studies at Massey University, qualifying as a Chartered Accountant in 1986. Heather’s career started off at large CA firm in Hamilton, before she moved to the Wairarapa and joined Lawson Avery in July 1984.

Her expertise is enriched by many years of hands-on involvement on a family sheep and beef cattle farm, giving her firsthand insight into the unique challenges faced by farmers and rural businesses, as well as the specialised accounting and taxation needs of farming operations.

Outside of work, Heather enjoys pitching in on the farm, gardening, travelling, and playing bridge.

Rob Royle

Rob was born and raised in Wainuiomata before moving to the Wairarapa in 2015 with his wife and two young boys.

Rob studied at Victoria University completing a BCA and post-Graduate Diploma in Accounting before qualifying as Chartered Accountant in 2018.

Prior to joining Lawson Avery in 2018, Rob had worked at another local accounting firm and worked in the finance team at The Salvation Army.

When Rob isn’t in the office or chasing his kids around, it’s likely he’ll be out pig hunting with his dogs.

Jaimi Stewart

Jaimi was born and raised in the Wairarapa. She achieved her Bachelor of Accountancy from Massey University and in 2020 qualified as a Chartered Accountant.

Prior to joining Lawson Avery in 2021, Jaimi worked at another local accounting firm for five years.

Out of the office Jaimi loves playing and watching sport, particularly hockey and spending time with friends and family.

Svetlana Dumanovskaya

Svetlana was born in Crimea, Ukraine and at the age of 9 moved over to New Zealand with her family becoming a local here in the Wairarapa.

She graduated with a Bachelor of Accountancy through Massey in 2019 and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 2021.

Prior to coming onboard with Lawson Avery, Svetlana has worked at other CA practices over the last 10 years. She has a passion for the Dairy Industry and is involved in the Dairy Industry Awards as the Regional Manager.

In her spare time she can be found at the local F45 gym, helping out her partner with their contract milking business or on their lifestyle property in Carterton with their dog, and soon to be little helper.

Jhellaica Manjares

Jhellaica, also known as Laica, was born in the Philippines and moved to Masterton in 2013 to join her husband who’s been an apiarist in Wairarapa for 15 years now.

She is a Certified Public Accountant abroad and is currently doing her last CAANZ module to become a fully qualified Chartered Accountant.

She has had several exciting roles overseas including being an auditor at PwC and an accountant at IBM. Prior to joining Lawson Avery, she was juggling her role as a Senior Finance Officer in Wellington, and study towards becoming a Chartered Accountant.

Laica is also a mum of two beautiful kids – Eunice and Lucas.

Hiona Haeata

Hiona was born and raised in the Wairarapa and spent 10 years living in Australia. She moved home in 2022 to be closer to family.

She completed her certificate level 4 in accounting and bookkeeping, then completed her registration as a BAS Agent, and is now currently working towards her bachelor’s degree in accounting.

Prior to coming on board with Lawson Avery Hiona worked at another CA Practice in the Gold Coast
as a bookkeeper, developing her skills she grew a passion for accounting.

Out of the office Hiona loves spending time with her daughter and family and looks forward to
exploring the beautiful outdoors and scenery that she missed.

Robyn Morgan

Robyn was born and raised in the Wairarapa.  Prior to joining Lawson Avery she worked at another local accounting firm for ten years. In 2022 she qualified as an Accounting Techinician.

Out of the office along with her husband she’s kept busy with their two kids, enjoying a good coffee, a gluten free scone and podcast. 

Julian Allen

Julian’s previous work experience includes working in small, medium and large accounting firms as well as holding senior financial and management roles within a diverse locally run family businesses, a nationwide professional services firm and a publicly listed multi-national company.

Julian gained a Bachelor of Business Studies, majoring in Accountancy, from Massey University before qualifying as a Chartered Accountant in 1999.

He has enjoyed gaining an understanding of businesses from the ground up, particularly to appreciate the impact of accounting and management decisions on a business.

He has predominantly lived in the Wairarapa, Wellington and the Manawatu since he was a teenager.  This includes attending Kuranui and Makoura Colleges. 

In 2020 he and his wife Fleur (Chanel College teacher) bought a lifestyle block just out of Carterton.  In their spare time, they enjoy tending to the myriad of animals on their ‘farm’ as well spending time with their three grown up children and young grandchild.

Kathryn Pound

Kathryn was born and raised on a sheep and beef farm in Pahiatua.

She attended the University of Alaska Fairbanks, on a swimming scholarship where she graduated with a BBA in Accounting, complemented by a Minor in Sports Management in 2017. She then completed her Chartered Accounting qualification in 2023.

Prior to joining Lawson Avery in 2024, she worked for six years at an accountancy firm in Lower Hutt and a Grant Thornton in Wellington, specialising in Business Advisory Services.

Outside of work she enjoys gin, cricket, or returning to her roots to lend a hand on the family farm, in no particular order.

Neha Patel

Neha obtained her Bachelor of Commerce in 2015 and her Master of Commerce in 2017 from India.

She is currently pursuing a Graduate Diploma in commerce with a major in Taxation at Victoria University of Wellington to gain knowledge about NZ business and tax law.  She is also a Provisional CAANZ member.

Prior to joining Lawson Avery, Neha worked in the New Zealand banking sector. She has developed excellent communication skills and is always eager to try new approaches.

Neha was born and raised in India and moved to Masterton in 2020 to join her kiwi husband who works locally as a pharmacist.

In her free time, she enjoys drawing, painting, and spending time with her family.

Nicole Sim

Nicole was born and raised in the Wairarapa, growing up on numerous dairy farms across the region and developing a love for the outdoors and animals.

Working in a GP Practice while commuting to Upper Hutt for the past 5 years, Nicole has developed a fine eye for detail and is looking forward to being closer to home and all that this has to offer.

You can often find Nicole out walking and exploring the great outdoors of the Wairarapa with her fur baby, whipping up some baking in the kitchen, and spending time with family and friends.

Helen Pauley

Helen is a Marlburian who has travelled the world and landed back here. Having a varied work life from managing a regional office for a multi-national advertising firm, owning a hospitality business to practice management of a medical practice, Helen brings a bucket load of skills. Communication is her flag ship skill and she enjoys problem solving. Resourceful and fun, pretty much sums her up.

She is married to Gary, who is a Business Advisor and in their spare time they love to travel to family & friends, experience the great outdoors and discovering new recipes and flavours, accompanied by a glass of fine wine.

Julie Copland

Whilst also being a Chartered Accountant, Julie has a passion for projects and improving business processes. Julie works across the Sidekick Group to find better and smarter ways to work.

After attending Lincoln University, Julie was in the New Zealand Airforce where she was a Logistics Officer, organising the deployment of both staff and equipment within New Zealand and around the world. She then moved home to Canterbury to pursue Accounting and has since had roles in a Chartered Accounting firm in Ashburton, as a Management Accountant for Ravensdown, and then more lately Midlands Apiaries.

Outside of work Julie loves playing squash and netball, travelling, and spending time with her husband Dan and son Thomas.

Ric Thorpe

Ric Thorpe is one of the owners of Sidekick Chartered Accountancy Group. Ric is one of the leads in the 20-strong Christchurch team, as well as assisting the Sidekick group across the South Island, which now has offices in six locations and over 50 team members (with an additional 15+ overseas). Ric has been instrumental in fostering the incredible family-like team culture at Sidekick and helping grow the business by spreading the word of Fixed-Fee, Modern Accountancy across the country. Ric has also held roles in governance and strategy for not-for-profit organisations, membership organisations such as the Christchurch Business Club, as well as within the Sidekick Group.

Traditionally, Ric has been at the front end of Sidekick as the sales expert, building referral networks and solution partners across many industries. Since 2020, Ric has been predominantly Christchurch-based (which can largely be attributed to the Covid-19 situation). Now, as CEO, Ric’s role is consulting to small and medium businesses, working with clients to help them grow and driving the growth of Sidekick across the country with new office locations and recruitment!

A key thing for Ric is culture. If you have the right people and they all have a common purpose along with respect and love for one another, your business should thrive!

Victoria Hay

Victoria is a digital marketing guru, her most recent position was with Harrison Bloy as their Digital Marketing Manager. She has a Bachelor of Design specialising in multimedia. She has recently returned from a 5 month break where she hiked the full Te Araroa trail (3,000 kms from Cape Reinga to Bluff), a pretty amazing feat! Other than tramping Victoria is also a keen runner and horse rider. Victoria will be based in the Christchurch office and possibly a bit from home & Selwyn too.