Graham's your contact

1/7/2009

Graham Cockroft (1976-80, Head Boy 1980) has been appointed to the new position of Chief Operating Officer of Contact Energy in New Zealand and is two weeks into his new role.

Better known to Kiwis in their 40s and 50s as the bass guitar player for early 1980's new wave band The Netherworld Dancing Toys, Graham has arrived at Contact after an outstanding international career spanning 19 years with British Gas in senior strategy, business development and operational roles around the globe.

Most recently, he was Asset General Manager for BG Group based in Sāo Paulo, Brazil, with responsibility for BG’s activities in Bolivia, Chile, Argentina and Uruguay.Operations under his management included BG’s gas wholesaling operation in Brazil which supplied Comgas, the largest gas distribution company in Brazil, with responsibility for 1100 employees as well as regional strategy and development.

Graham has taken responsibility for the operation of Contact’s wholesale and generation functions, including generation development.

He holds bachelor and masters degrees in Commerce from the University of Otago, and a Master of Finance degree from the London Business School – and began his career in investment banking and treasury.

While at Otago University, Graham played bass for The Netherworld Dancing Toys, one of the more clean-cut acts in the alternative Flying Nun label's stable. The band was perhaps best known for the song For Today (I Remember Your Smile), which made it to Number 3 on the New Zealand charts in 1985 and remained in the Top 10 for five weeks.