About Us
Leadership that leaves a lasting legacy.
For more than 21 years, Kerridge & Partners has helped boards, CEOs and senior leaders make the appointments and leadership decisions that shape what comes next.
We bring together executive search, succession, governance advisory and leadership assessment to help organisations see beyond the immediate brief — and make decisions with lasting consequences in mind
Who we are
Kerridge & Partners is an executive search and leadership advisory firm working alongside boards, CEOs and senior leaders on decisions that materially influence an organisation’s future.
Our work spans executive and board appointments, succession planning, governance advisory and leadership assessment. While every engagement has its own context, the underlying challenge is often the same: understanding what the organisation needs next, and identifying the leadership required to deliver it.
As an executive search firm in New Zealand, we have built our practice over more than two decades through long-term relationships, deep market knowledge and a disciplined approach to judgement. We are a genuinely local firm, embedded in the New Zealand and Australian markets, while remaining connected to the wider world when a brief requires a broader search.
Leadership decisions are rarely isolated. An appointment affects a board’s capability, a leadership team’s dynamics, an organisation’s culture and its capacity to respond to what lies ahead. That is why we take the time to understand not only the role to be filled, but the environment in which that leader must succeed.
88%
Placement Rate
CEO’s placed into the
right organisations
Our expertise
A broader view of leadership
The most important leadership decisions cannot be reduced to a process alone.
Our work brings together executive search, succession, governance advisory and leadership solutions because each offers a different perspective on the same question: what does effective leadership look like here, now and into the future?
This integrated view allows us to look beyond functional capability and technical experience. We consider leadership character, drivers, judgement and the conditions in which an individual is most likely to contribute. It also helps clients make stronger connections between the appointment they are making today and the leadership capability they will need tomorrow.
Whether the question concerns a CEO appointment, board capability, succession readiness or leadership effectiveness, our role is to provide informed perspective, rigorous assessment and clear advice.
What sets us apart
Search and leadership are our entire focus.
We are not a generalist recruitment business that also undertakes executive search. Our team is one of New Zealand’s largest dedicated search practices, bringing depth of market knowledge across sectors and functions. That specialisation matters when the brief is complex, the market is tight or the cost of a poor decision is high.
Depth beyond the shortlist
A well-managed search process is important. It is not, on its own, enough.
By combining search with leadership assessment and advisory, we help clients gain a more complete picture of the leaders they are considering. This means looking beyond credentials and track record to understand how a person leads, what motivates them and how they may operate in the context of the organisation.
Judgement built over time
Many of our relationships are long-standing. We do not approach an engagement as a transaction; we think about the relationship, the organisation and the consequences of the decision over the longer term.
That perspective enables more candid conversations. It means being prepared to say when a brief is not working, when a candidate is not right, or when a succession situation is more fragile than it may first appear.
Deliberate diversity outcomes
Diversity is not left to aspiration. It is built into the discipline of our process.
Forty-one per cent of our appointments are women — an outcome supported by structured and deliberate approaches to how leadership markets are mapped, assessed and presented.
Values in practice
Our values shape how we work with clients, candidates, colleagues and the wider community. They are not separate from the work; they are expressed through the decisions we make and the standards we hold ourselves to.
Grace
Hautau
The work is often confidential, high-stakes and personal. We create space for considered thinking, honest conversation and sound judgement — with respect for the people involved.
Courage
Māia
We tell clients what they need to hear, not simply what they want to hear. This includes challenging assumptions, raising difficult questions and giving direct advice when the circumstances require it.
Together
Ngātahi
Leadership decisions benefit from strong collaboration. We work closely with boards, CEOs and senior leaders as thought partners, bringing our perspective while respecting the knowledge and responsibility held by those closest to the organisation.
Innovate
Auaha
We seek better ways to understand leadership and identify talent. Bringing search, assessment and advisory together allows us to look at leadership decisions more fully, rather than treating each issue as a separate exercise.
A considered way of working
The quality of the outcome depends on the quality of the thinking that comes before it.
Our approach is grounded in curiosity, rigour and partnership. We take time to understand the leadership context, challenge the brief where necessary and bring clarity to the decision in front of our clients.
The detail of that work varies by engagement. What remains consistent is the care we bring to defining the challenge, assessing the market and helping clients reach a decision they can stand behind.
The people behind the work
We are defined by the quality of our people.
Our experienced advisers who combine market knowledge, professional judgement and a genuine interest in the organisations and leaders with whom they work. Our team brings different perspectives, specialist knowledge and strong relationships across New Zealand and Australia. Together, we work closely with clients through leadership moments that demand both discretion and clear thinking.
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Peter Kerridge
Partner
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Vikki Maclean
Partner
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Cheewei Kwan
Partner, Leadership
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Claire Denison
Partner, Governance
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Nick Edlin
Partner
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Adelene Lynch
Partner
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Tim Scanlan
Partner
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Grounded in New Zealand and Australia. Connected globally.
We are based in Auckland and Sydney, and work across New Zealand and Australia as a matter of course.
Where a brief requires an international perspective, we have conducted searches into the United Kingdom, North America and Asia. Through leading global search networks, we can access and assess talent internationally while remaining grounded in the markets, organisations and leadership contexts we know best.
⬥ Explore Kerridge & Partners Australia
The decisions that shape what comes next.
For boards, CEOs and senior leaders facing an appointment, succession, governance or leadership challenge, a confidential conversation can be the right place to begin.