TAB New Zealand announced today that its Chair Mark Stewart, MNZM, will be stepping down at the end of August after overseeing two years of transformative change at the national betting operator. The Minister for Racing, Hon Kieran McAnulty, has appointed Anna Stove as Interim Chair, commencing 1 September.

 

Mr Stewart was appointed Chair of TAB NZ at the start of the 2021/22 financial year, and most-recently was instrumental in securing TAB NZ’s strategic partnering arrangement with Entain.

 

“We are indebted to Mark for generously giving his time to TAB NZ”, said TAB NZ CEO Nick Roberts.

 

“We have been incredibly lucky to have had access to Mark’s unparalleled experience and unique skillset. His leadership at TAB NZ has changed the lives of tens of thousands of Kiwis, from those in our sporting communities to those whose jobs are reliant on the domestic racing industry”.

 

Mr Stewart says he is very proud of the legacy that has been created by TAB NZ during his time as Chair.

 

“It has been a rewarding couple of years on the TAB NZ Board and more importantly we’ve delivered a sustainable long-term outcome for our stakeholders through the Entain partnership”.

 

“I would like to thank the Minister, and all my director and management colleagues who I have worked with during this revolutionary time for the business. They have all shown great integrity and commitment to reaching a once in a generation outcome that we are all very proud of”.

 

“I have the utmost confidence in the remaining Board and management team continuing to build on the Entain partnership for the benefit of our country”.

 

“I am also delighted that Anna has been appointed as Interim Chair. We have benefited from her governance experience in racing and commercial acumen over the last couple of years”.

 

Ms Stove was a member of the Racing Industry Transition Agency Board and has been Deputy Chair of TAB NZ since 1 August 2021.

 

“I want to thank Mark for his incredible leadership and drive. I am very excited to be picking up the reins as we pay particular focus to working with the Government on modernising New Zealand’s gambling settings”, Ms Stove says.

 

“A legislative net which restores TAB NZ’s monopoly in the modern, online world will not only result in better harm minimisation outcomes for Kiwi punters, but would also see an immediate funding uplift to racing and sport.”

 

Bill Birnie CNZM, Wendie Harvey, and Raewyn Lovett ONZM remain on the Board with Ms Stove. Jason Fleming resigned from the Board at the start of August and has since taken up the role of General Manager Commercial in TAB NZ’s management team.

 

TAB NZ commenced its strategic partnering arrangement with Entain on 1 June. The partnership has already delivered a big funding boost to the three New Zealand Racing Codes, Sport NZ, and the 37 National Sporting Organisations who have a sports betting agreement with TAB NZ.

 

Entain brings world class products, services and gambling harm minimisation tools to TAB NZ’s 250,000 customers.