Energy Mad Board
Energy Mad's governing board consists of:
Rick Ramsay - Chair
Rick Ramsay (Officer, Order of St John) has had a varied career with extensive interests in local body politics and energy companies. His background as a journalist lead him into 7 years of public relations for New Zealand's largest public hydro electric scheme (The Upper Waitaki Power Development) and then into local body politics.
He spent 9 years as Deputy Mayor and is widely regarded as the architect of the Mackenzie District Council District Plan, while at the same time pioneering salmon farming in the Mackenzie Basin hydro electric canals.
He furthered his energy interests as chairman of Line Trust South Canterbury which first engaged Energy Mad on its mass CFL "Ecobulb" replacement programme - one of the highest uptakes of CFLs in the world.
Rick was rapidly promoted onto the executive of the Electricity Trusts of New Zealand, and then was appointed a director of Alpine Energy, (the South Canterbury lines reticulation Company) its 100% owned contracting arm Netcon, and joint venture LPG gas supply company Rockgas.
Rick is also a director of Salmon Smolt New Zealand Limited, a collective of smaller salmon farmers who purchased the former government owned hatchery near Christchurch. As a director and then Board member Rick has been involved in a multimillion dollar development of an airfield at Twizel.
Andrew Plympton
Andrew was born and educated in Melbourne, Australia and has extensive experience in global operations. He has enjoyed a long and successful career in the business sector, in particular financial services, and as a director and Chairman of both ASX and unlisted companies.
His background in sport and sport administration is well documented.
Over the last twenty years he has been CEO/Chairman of two global insurance broking firms' Asia Pacific operations. In addition Andrew served as Chairman of a specialist aviation underwriting company and as Chairman of a high profile captive insurance operation.
In the public company sector Andrew is the appointed Chairman of Beyond Sportswear International Ltd, Intermoco Limited, The Swish Group Limited and Director of Newsat Limited. He is also Chairman of MDHDG, a private company involved with 5 Star hotel/marina developments.
In sport Andrew has a high profile having been elected as an Executive Member of The Australian Olympic Committee and appointed director of The Australian Olympic Foundation Limited. He is also the longest serving President of Yachting Australia Inc and held the Chairmanship of AFL club St Kilda Football Club Limited for eight years.
Andrew has been successful in sport, winning a World Championship in sailing. He holds numerous sporting achievement awards and has received life membership from two sporting organisations.
Phil James
Early in his working life, Phil spent nine years in the Australian Regular Army, serving in various roles including overseas postings in South Vietnam and Indonesia. On leaving the Army in 1975, he became self-employed in the gas industry.
This began a career in the energy sector that would last for more than 33 years.
Phil spent the bulk of his career with the Australian Gaslight Company and its successors, during which time it became Australia's largest energy retailer, serving more than 3 million electricity and gas consumers. He held a number of senior executive roles across the AGL group of companies, principally focused on sales, marketing and operations and was deeply involved in sector reform and regulatory issues.
In 2001, Phil was appointed Chief Executive of the Natural Gas Corporation in New Zealand, a role in which he became well known in the NZ market. On his return to Australia in 2005 he took up a new position as the head of AGL's retail businesses and oversaw the transformation of AGL's customer systems during the period to 2008 when he retired from full time work.
Phil is now a professional company director and holds non-executive directorships with Hansen Technologies, a Melbourne-based listed IT company specialising in the energy and telecommunications markets, and Secure Meters International, a private company based in Singapore, focusing on smart metering and related technology.
He maintains a keen interest in the Australasian energy sector and an active engagement in the challenges and opportunities that flow from change.
Dr Chris Mardon, BE(Hons), PhD - Founder and Managing Director
Dr Chris Mardon was one of New Zealand's leading young manufacturing executives prior to co-founding Energy Mad in early 2004.
Following his graduate and doctorate degrees in Mechanical Engineering, Chris was rapidly promoted through senior manufacturing management roles in paper tissue, automotive and plastic film manufacturing facilities. His most recent position involved responsibility for 130 manufacturing, planning, engineering, distribution and customer services staff for a large plastic film manufacturer.
Chris made his name during the formation of a new Hygenex paper tissue site. His leadership resulted in world class performance being achieved by several of the large production lines. This resulted in Chris being awarded the prestigious New Zealand Institution of Professional Engineers Young Engineer of the Year award in 2002. His outstanding results continued in successive roles which saw large increases in plant productivity, faster delivery times, significant cost savings, and considerable reductions in health, safety and quality issues.
Chris has been responsible for setting the strategic direction of Energy Mad as it has grown over the last three years. This has included the successful marketing of the innovative Ecobulb® projects to the electricity utilities and supermarket chains, including negotiations to secure these agreements. During this time Chris has established a growing Energy Mad team of specialist managers and highly motivated staff.
A keen runner and tennis player, Chris was 1995 New Zealand Marathon Champion in his only attempt at the distance.
Tom Mackenzie, BE(Hons), MSc - Founder and Technical Director
Tom Mackenzie has a background in project management, which involved the implementation of energy saving designs in large international buildings. His formal education includes a graduate degree in Mechanical Engineering, and a Masterate in Advanced Environmental and Energy Studies.
Tom's project management experience includes the heating and ventilation systems and energy saving systems for the £1.2 billion Wyeth building in Dublin, and the £600 million Madrid airport.
However, Tom's key strengths are as an entrepreneur and an innovator. As co-founder of Energy Mad, Tom has been responsible for the technical development and evolution of the Ecobulb®. He has managed the operations that have ensured the successful delivery of the Ecobulb® projects. This has included the manufacturing of the Ecobulb® lamps, the supermarket distribution of the Ecobulb® lamps and the operational details behind implementing the promotional campaigns. Tom also manages the financial systems underpinning Energy Mad.
