Sir Noel Stuart Robinson (born 28 December 1943) is a New Zealand businessman and philanthropist.

Early life and family

Robinson was born in the

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

suburb of Remuera on 28 December 1943, the son of Percy Robinson and Florence Robinson (née Fisher). He was educated at St Peter's School, Cambridge, from 1953 to 1957, and Saint Kentigern College in Auckland between 1958 and 1961. Upon leaving school, he became an engineering cadet at

Fisher & Paykel Fisher & Paykel Appliances Holdings Ltd () is a major appliance manufacturer which is a subsidiary of Chinese multinational home appliance manufacturer Haier. It is a multinational corporation based in East Tāmaki, New Zealand. Originally a ...

, the appliance manufacturing company co-founded in 1934 by his uncle,

Woolf Fisher Sir Woolf Fisher (20 May 1912 – 12 January 1975) was a New Zealand businessman and philanthropist who along with Maurice Paykel co-founded Fisher & Paykel, a major appliance manufacturing company, and the Ra Ora Stud, an important Thoroughbre ...

, and rose to become factory manager at

East Tāmaki East Tāmaki is a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It is a largely industrial area adjacent to a rapidly growing population. Prior to the 1960s it was largely a dairy farming area. A landmark is Smales Mountain which in 2010 has the remains of ...

Business activities

In 1970, Robinson established his own company, Robinson Industries, manufacturing and marketing home appliances including range hoods, washing tubs and ironing centres. He retired from his roles as managing director and company chair and sold the company in 1999. Robinson was also active in property development, particularly the Highbrook Industrial Estate and

Paraparaumu Airport Kapiti Coast Airport ( IATA: PPQ, ICAO: NZPP), earlier called Paraparaumu Airport, is on the Kapiti Coast of New Zealand's North Island, between the Wellington dormitory suburbs of Paraparaumu Beach (to the west and north), Paraparaumu to the ...

. He led the purchase of the airport in 2006, developing it and the neighbouring business park, and the name of the airport was changed to Kapiti Coast Airport in 2011. Air New Zealand began regional services from the airport in 2011, but ceased operations there at short notice in 2018 in a decision of which Robinson was highly critical. In the 1990s, Robinson was a director and for a time deputy chair of South Auckland Health, which later became the Counties Manukau District Health Board.

Philanthropy

After retiring from business, Robinson became involved in philanthropic activities, primarily in the

South Auckland South Auckland is an imprecisely defined urban area of Auckland, New Zealand, with a young population, a relatively large Polynesian and Māori demographic, and lower incomes than other parts of Auckland. The name ''South Auckland'', though not ...

area. In 2000, he was the founding chair of Second Nature Charitable Trust, which established the

Vodafone Events Centre Due Drop Events Centre (previously known as the Vodafone Events Centre and TelstraClear Pacific Events Centre) is a multi-purpose event centre located in Manukau, Auckland, New Zealand (suburb of the former Manukau City), with an indoor arena, t ...

, Vector Wero Whitewater Park, and Momentum Hub (a youth leadership and social innovation centre) in

Manukau Manukau (), or Manukau Central, is a suburb of South Auckland, New Zealand, centred on the Manukau City Centre business district. It is located 23 kilometres south of the Auckland Central Business District, west of the Southern Motorway, so ...

. He stepped down from the board of trustees in 2020, and is now the organisation's patron. Robinson is also chair of the Sir Woolf Fisher Charitable Trust, a trustee of the John Walker Find Your Field of Dreams Foundation, and patron of the Manukau Symphony Orchestra.

Honours and awards

In the 2006 Queen's Birthday Honours, Robinson was appointed a

Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...

, for services to business and the community. Following the restoration of titular honours by the New Zealand government in 2009, he accepted redesignation as a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit. In 2006, Robinson was inducted into the Manukau Business Hall of Fame, and in 2019 he was added to the New Zealand Business Hall of Fame.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Noel 1943 births Living people People educated at St Peter's School, Cambridge People educated at Saint Kentigern College New Zealand businesspeople New Zealand philanthropists Knights Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit Businesspeople awarded knighthoods Businesspeople from Auckland