Andrew Barnes (businessman)

Andrew Howard Barnes (born 5 February 1960 near Carlisle and grew up in Preston, England) is a New Zealand-based entrepreneur and philanthropist who founded New Zealand’s largest corporate trustee company, Perpetual Guardian,[1][2] and spearheaded the trust company’s efforts to create four-day working weeks.[3]

Education

Barnes attended Hutton Grammar School prior to going to University of Cambridge where he completed his MA in law and archaeology at Selwyn College in 1981. He is an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers (UK) and attended Harvard Business School’s Program for Management Development in 1992.

Career

Barnes began his financial services career in the United Kingdom before moving to Australia at the age of 27.[4]

He spent 20 years in Australia, floating realestate.com.au on the ASX in 1999[5] and holding senior roles in companies including Macquarie Bank, Citi, Tower, and County Natwest, and was chairman of Australasian Wealth Investments.[6]

A return to the United Kingdom saw Barnes taking on the role of director of Bestinvest.[6]

In 2013, Barnes acquired Perpetual Trust in New Zealand, and a year later he founded Complectus and purchased Guardian Trust, creating Perpetual Guardian.[4] In April 2015, Complectus, with Barnes as managing director, acquired e-will platform My Bucket List and in August added Foundation Corporate Trust to its list of acquisitions.[7]

In February 2018, he announced that Perpetual Guardian would be trialing four day work weeks, with staff receiving an extra day off work, on full pay, each week. Staff wouldn’t be required to work additional hours on their four working days.[8] If successful Perpetual Guardian will move to four day weeks in October 2018.[9] In late March 2018, Barnes said that the trial was going well with staff reporting more time for family, hobbies, ploughing through to-do lists and home maintenance.[10][11][12][13] After the end of the trial, 78% of employees stated they were able to successfully manage their work-life balance, compared to 54% in November 2017. Employees' stress levels decreased by 7 percentage points and overall life satisfaction increased by 5 percentage points.[14]

The trial sparked widespread international interest[15][16][17][18][19][20] and commentary from workers unions, other businesses and councillors[21][22][23][24][25]

That interest grew even more[26][27][28][29][30] when, in July 2018 at the completion of the trial, Barnes announced that the trial had been a resounding success[31][32][33], with productivity up 20%, staff stress levels down, customer engagement levels up more than 30%, revenue remaining stable and costs decreasing.[34] Staff engagement and work-life balance also improved. The trial also sparked interest from the New Zealand Government.[35] Barnes has recommended to the Perpetual Guardian board that the four day work week scheme[36] continue.[37]

The successful completion of the trial saw Barnes appearing extensively in both New Zealand and international media.[38][39][40][41] He hailed the four-day work week as a potential means of helping close the gender pay gap and increasing diversity in the workforce, saying women should stop negotiating on hours and start negotiating on their productivity.[42] Barnes also held the scheme up as a potential blueprint for the workplace of the future, ensuring companies were attractive to millennials[43] and a potential way of easing Auckland’s traffic congestion.[44]

In July 2018 he appeared on the Kiwi big business podcast, High Altitude, hosted by Dr John Peebles, discussing innovation, change management, philanthropy, entrepreneurship, the military, leadership, team engagement and the four day workweek initiative.[45][46]

Philanthropy

Barnes is a strong advocate for philanthropy. As the leader of Perpetual Guardian, he established the Perpetual Guardian Foundation,[47] which aims to make donating easy for everyone, enabling donations of as little as $5 to be pooled for causes including feeding the hungry, educating children, supporting the arts and protecting the environment.[48][49]

Under Barnes’ leadership, Perpetual Guardian provided sponsorship for a program which sees 3500 children from rural or low decile schools to visit Otago Museum’s planetarium each year in an attempt to encourage youngsters to become interested in science and technology.[50]

In February 2018, Perpetual Guardian stepped in as a private sponsor for the Auckland Primary Schools Music Festival, after Barnes heard that the festival was under threat.[51]

Perpetual Guardian also paid for the Giving New Zealand report into charitable giving in New Zealand in 2015,[52] while Barnes himself set up the NZ Bomber Command Fund to preserve the legacy of the Bomber Command in New Zealand.[53]

He worked with MOTAT to preserve the legacy of the Bomber Command unit through a travelling exhibition, followed by a dedicated archive at MOTAT.[54]

Barnes also stepped in to support the Funeral Directors Association of NZ in their bid to lobby for a law change, in order for funeral directors to be able to make final arrangements for deceased persons where there is no will.[55][56]

In April 2017 Barnes began a restoration of the classic yacht, Ariki. Ariki is a racing yacht which was built in Auckland, New Zealand in 1904 by the Logan Brothers. She had a distinguished career as a racing and cruising yacht. From the time of her launch in Oct 1904, she dominated first class Auckland yacht racing until the appearance of the yacht Ranger in 1938. She has the sail number A3.

Awards

Barnes was a finalist in the 2015 and 2016 New Zealand EY Entrepreneur of the Year awards.[57][58][59]

Barnes also regularly takes part in the Diabetes New Zealand 'Movemeant' Challenge, and won the 2016 annual challenge[60]

References

  1. ↑ "Face Value: Perpetual Guardian's Andrew Barnes on the perils of false optimism". stuff.co.nz.
  2. ↑ "The future of wills is selfie videos, says Perpetual Guardian's Andrew Barnes". stuff.co.nz.
  3. ↑ "Kiwi firm Perpetual Guardian to test four-day week with workers on full pay". nzherald.co.nz.
  4. 1 2 "Entrepreneur steps back from daily management of trustee business". stuff.co.nz.
  5. ↑ "Success stories chase top spot". nzherald.co.nz.
  6. 1 2 "Executive Profile: Andrew Howard Barnes MA, ACIB". bloomberg.com.
  7. ↑ "Complectus continues buying spree with Foundation Corporate Trust". The National Business Review. 2015-08-04. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  8. ↑ Venuto, Damien (2018-02-07). "Kiwi firm Perpetual Guardian to test four-day week with workers on full pay". NZ Herald. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  9. ↑ "Perpetual Guardian to test four-day week". Stuff. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  10. ↑ "'Heck it was productive': New Zealand company trials four-day work week .... but will it stick?". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2018-04-02.
  11. ↑ "Perpetual Guardian's four-day working week trial going well". Stuff. Retrieved 2018-04-02.
  12. ↑ "Company trials four-day week for staff while paying them for five". Mail Online. Retrieved 2018-04-02.
  13. ↑ "Workers embrace four-day week at Perpetual Guardian". NZ Herald. 2018-03-29. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 2018-04-02.
  14. ↑ Eleanor Ainge Roy (2018-07-19). "Work less, get more: New Zealand firm's four-day week an 'unmitigated success'". The Guardian. Retrieved 2018-07-23.
  15. ↑ Roy, Eleanor Ainge (2018-02-09). "Work four days, get paid for five: New Zealand company's new shorter week". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  16. ↑ "Новозеландская компания сократит рабочую неделю до 4 дней". Interfax.ru (in Russian). 2018-02-09. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  17. ↑ "A New Zealand company is trying out a four day week". The Independent. 2018-02-09. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  18. ↑ "Lavorare quattro giorni, ma essere pagati per cinque: il sogno si avvera in Nuova Zelanda". L’Huffington Post (in Italian). 2018-02-09. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  19. ↑ "New Zealand company trials four-day work week". Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  20. ↑ "'We believe efficiency will come with more staff focus'". NewsComAu. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  21. ↑ thedailypost, Merepeka Raukawa-Tait Merepeka Raukawa-Tait is a columnist for the Rotorua Daily Post (2018-02-15). "Opinion: Four-day working week worth a shot". NZ Herald. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  22. ↑ "More Kiwi companies eyeing four-day working week after Perpetual Guardian announces trial". NZ Herald. 2018-02-08. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  23. ↑ "Robyn Pearce: Can we really work less yet achieve more?". NZ Herald. 2018-02-20. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  24. ↑ "What you need to know about a four-day working week". Stuff. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  25. ↑ "NZ business announces 4-day work week for all staff". MYOB Pulse. 2018-02-14. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  26. ↑ "'Would rather come to work': Four-day working week trial a success, but didn't work for everyone". The Age. 2018-07-17. Retrieved 2018-07-24.
  27. ↑ "Company Tests 4-Day Work Week, Employees Return Energised After Long Weekend - WORLD OF BUZZ". www.worldofbuzz.com. Retrieved 2018-07-24.
  28. ↑ Heute, www.heuta.at,. "Neuseeländische Firma führt Vier-Tage-Woche ein". Heute.at. Retrieved 2018-07-24.
  29. ↑ "Neuseeländisches Unternehmen führt Vier-Tage-Woche ein (neues deutschland)" (in German). Felix Langhammer, Axel Gebauer; WARENFORM http://www.warenform.net. Retrieved 2018-07-24.
  30. ↑ "Saptamana de munca de patru zile, un succes in Noua Zeelanda". Wall-Street (in Romanian). Retrieved 2018-07-24.
  31. ↑ "'We've seen a massive increase in engagement'". NewsComAu. Retrieved 2018-07-24.
  32. ↑ Yeung, Jessie. "A New Zealand company tried a four-day work week. It was a 'resounding success'". CNNMoney. Retrieved 2018-07-24.
  33. ↑ Roy, Eleanor Ainge (2018-07-18). "Work less, get more: New Zealand firm's four-day week an 'unmitigated success'". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-07-24.
  34. ↑ "Perpetual Guardian founder Andrew Barnes hails four-day week trial". Newshub. 2018-07-18. Retrieved 2018-07-24.
  35. ↑ "Four-day work week trial 'very interesting' - Workplace Relations Minister Iain Lees-Galloway". Newshub. 2018-07-19. Retrieved 2018-07-24.
  36. ↑ "Home". 4 Day Week. Retrieved 2018-07-24.
  37. ↑ "Four-day working week trial at Perpetual Guardian a success, boss wants to make it permanent". NZ Herald. 2018-07-21. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 2018-07-24.
  38. ↑ "Kiwi company trials four-day working week for more 'energised, engaged workforce'". TVNZ. Retrieved 2018-07-24.
  39. ↑ "Seven Sharp". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2018-07-24.
  40. ↑ "Company trials four-day work week - and you won't believe the results". Mail Online. Retrieved 2018-07-24.
  41. ↑ "'Would rather come to work': Four-day working week trial a success, but didn't work for everyone". WAtoday. 2018-07-17. Retrieved 2018-07-24.
  42. ↑ "Four-day working week trial a bonus for working mums". Stuff. Retrieved 2018-07-24.
  43. ↑ "Millennials are rejecting the 9-5 workday". Stuff. Retrieved 2018-07-24.
  44. ↑ "Four-day week could help to ease Auckland's traffic woes". NZ Herald. 2018-07-18. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 2018-07-24.
  45. ↑ ""Andrew Barnes, The Man Behind the 4 Day Week Initiative" from High Altitude by Dr John Peebles on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 2018-07-24.
  46. ↑ Dr John Peebles (2018-07-17), Full Interview: High Altitude Conversations with Andrew Barnes, the man behind 4 day week initiative, retrieved 2018-07-24
  47. ↑ "Appointment announcement - Perpetual Guardian Philanthropy". The National Business Review. 2016-05-26. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  48. ↑ "Perpetual Guardian Foundation". www.perpetualguardian.co.nz. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  49. ↑ "Plan to change the way we give to charity". Stuff. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  50. ↑ "Sponsor helps museum reach for the stars". Otago Daily Times Online News. 2015-10-03. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  51. ↑ reporter, Simon Collins Education (2018-02-28). "Sponsor saves iconic Auckland Primary Schools Music Festival". NZ Herald. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  52. ↑ Perpetual Guardian (2015-12-01), Andrew Barnes on Breakfast TV1, retrieved 2018-03-02
  53. ↑ "Philanthropy report ranks Kiwis third most generous in the world". Stuff. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  54. ↑ "Aerial salute to Les Munro". NZ Herald. 2015-08-06. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  55. ↑ "Company offers to help in case of man's body held in Dargaville funeral home for seven months". NZ Herald. 2018-02-06. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  56. ↑ Laird, Lindy Laird, Lindy (2018-02-22). "Vigil nearly over for Dargaville man Thomas Brugman, unclaimed and unburied after seven months". NZ Herald. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  57. ↑ "EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2015 finalists named". Stuff. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  58. ↑ "Wide range of backgrounds in candidates for entrepreneur award". NZ Herald. 2015-07-22. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  59. ↑ "Success stories chase top spot". NZ Herald. 2015-08-06. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  60. ↑ Perpetual Guardian (2016-03-03), Diabetes New Zealand Fitbit 'Movemeant' Challenge Winner Andrew Barnes Talks Workplace Wellness, retrieved 2018-03-02
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