Who is Kirk Hope? The small-town boy who became a big deal

BusinessNZ CEO Kirk Hope: “It was apparent to me I wouldn’t be a long-time public servant." (Photo: supplied).

Fri, 15 Apr 2022

Business New Zealand CEO Kirk Hope gets around. Born in Dunedin in 1971, which puts him firmly in the middle of Generation X, he spent his childhood years living between that city, Palmerston North and Nelson. He collected degrees and worked in Dunedin and Wellington. And last year, in and around lockdowns, alert levels and traffic lights, he, his dental technician wife, Tess, and daughters Mika and Orla moved from the nation’s political centre to its commercial heart, relocating from Wellington to Auckland.The affable Hope is no angsty G...

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