Sir Stephen Robert Tindall (born May 1951) is the

founder Founder or Founders may refer to: Places *Founders Park, a stadium in South Carolina, formerly known as Carolina Stadium * Founders Park, a waterside park in Islamorada, Florida Arts, entertainment, and media * Founders (''Star Trek''), the ali ...

of New Zealand retailer The Warehouse,

The Warehouse Group The Warehouse Group (TWG) was founded by Stephen Tindall in 1982, and is the largest retail group operating in New Zealand. It is a corporate group that consists of The Warehouse, Warehouse Stationery, Torpedo7, Noel Leeming, 1-day and TheMark ...

, and the Tindall Foundation.

Early life and education

Tindall attended Takapuna Grammar and has a Diploma of Management from the Auckland Institute of Technology.

Business career

Tindall founded The Warehouse in 1982 after 12 years with retailer George Court & Sons as Merchandise Director and

Farmers A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer mi ...

retailer. He held the position of Loss Prevention Manager of The Warehouse until January 2001, when he became known as the Founder. In 2009 The Warehouse Group had sales of

NZ$ The New Zealand dollar ( mi, tāra o Aotearoa; sign: $, NZ$; code: NZD) is the official currency and legal tender of New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, the Ross Dependency, Tokelau, and a British territory, the Pitcairn Islands. Within New ...

1.72 billion. In 2018, The Warehouse Group had 251 stores throughout New Zealand, The Warehouse, Warehouse Stationery, Noel Leeming, Torpedo7 and TheMarket stores.

Philanthropy

In 1995 Tindall and his wife, Margaret, set up The Tindall Foundation to provide help to New Zealanders in need.

Honours and awards

The New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspapers ...

'' named Tindall their Business Person of the Year for 1997, and the following year he was named the Deloitte–''New Zealand Management'' magazine Executive of the Year. In the 1997 Queen's Birthday Honours, Tindall was appointed an

Officer 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 rend ...

, for services to business and the community. In the 2007 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was promoted to

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 rend ...

, for services to business and the community. In

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, following the restoration of titular honours by the New Zealand government, he accepted redesignation as a

Knight 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 ...

. He was elevated to

Knight Grand 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 rend ...

, for services to business, the community, and the environment, in the

2019 New Year Honours The 2019 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

. Tindall has been conferred honorary doctorates by

AUT AUT may refer to the following. Locations *Austria (ISO 3166-1 country code) *Agongointo-Zoungoudo Underground Town, Benin *Aktio–Preveza Undersea Tunnel, Greece *Airstrip on Atauro Island, East Timor (IATA airport code) Organizations *Arriva ...

and

Massey University Massey University ( mi, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa) is a university based in Palmerston North, New Zealand, with significant campuses in Albany and Wellington. Massey University has approximately 30,883 students, 13,796 of whom are extramural or ...

. In 2005, Tindall was inducted into the

New Zealand Business Hall of Fame The New Zealand Business Hall of Fame is a figurative hall of fame dedicated to New Zealanders who have made a significant contribution to the economic and social development of New Zealand. The hall was established in 1994 by the Young Enterpri ...

. In 2006, he was awarded the Blake Medal on behalf of the Sir Peter Blake Trust in recognition of his leadership contributions to New Zealand. In 2015, he was named Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year.

References

External links

The Tindall Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tindall, Stephen 1951 births Living people Auckland University of Technology alumni New Zealand businesspeople New Zealand chief executives Knights Grand Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit People educated at Takapuna Grammar School Businesspeople awarded knighthoods New Zealand philanthropists