Meet The Team

Fiona MacCallum – General Manager

As General Manager, Fiona exemplifies the same motivation and dedication that saw her enjoy a successful career as a teacher before she moved in to recruitment. With previous experience working for a global consultancy across a range of sectors, Fiona is well able to guide her team to continued success. Initially joining The Madison Group in 2006 and appointed General Manager FORCE in 2009, Fiona fosters a strong team spirit and focuses on quality of service delivery. She is an excellent trainer and is well respected by all.

Matthew Bufton – Consultant

Matthew relocated to Auckland in 2011 and joined FORCE having gained previous recruitment and business development experience. His attitude to work is infectious – he is driven to exceed expectations and takes every opportunity to use his initiative. He sees the bigger picture and looks for ways he can contribute to the achievement of desired outcomes. Matthew has a Bachelor of Management degree with 1st class honours from Waikato University.

Sarah Hutcheson – Consultant

Sarah’s remarkable client focus comes from her ten years of experience working in the hospitality industry; and with several years spent working in human resources for a leading hotel chain, she has recruitment knowledge to match. Joining Madison’s contact centre recruitment team in 2003, Sarah became an integral part of the team. Now devoted to recruiting for FORCE, her friendly personality and dedication to a job well done has been a major contribution to the establishment of this business. Sarah is currently on maternity leave.

Wynnis Armour – Director

With a double major (and post graduate papers in Psychology, Counselling and Linguistics) from The University of Canterbury, Wynnis entered the recruitment environment after a very diverse and successful management career in both the private and public sectors at General Management and Directorship level. Wynnis is a member of the Institute of Directors and and brings a wealth of commercial acumen, experience and understanding in leading Madison’s strategic and financial operations.

Simon Bennett – Chief Executive

Simon has significant commercial experience, having begun his career in FMCG sales and then set up a food production business in the early 1990’s. Simon grew sales and profitability significantly, opening new retail sites, developing a specialised manufacturing facility and negotiating significant commercial supply agreements. Simon has been a director of several NZ businesses and Chairman of the Alumni Advisory Board of The Icehouse. He works in a consulting capacity with a number of private companies.

Stuart Walder – Manager

Stuart joined us in 2011 when he relocated from the UK. He has significant experience including sales and marketing, employee and organisational development, business management, product management, and design & development. His broad background in a range of industries within the manufacturing and service sectors puts him in good stead to lead our South East team. The recruitment environment will certainly utilise his range of skills and his enthusiasm, energy and goal driven nature is already valued.

Kate O’Regan – Consultant

We are thrilled to have Kate back in The Madison Group after a managerial role in hospitality. She previously ran a busy recruitment desk in Madison Recruitment’s Wellington branch, and having recently relocated to Auckland, Kate is now part of the FORCE team. She also has experience from the travel, investment and banking industries; underlying each of these industries is the opportunity for Kate to interact with people. This is her passion and together with her tertiary qualifications in Business and Marketing she delivers results.

Kelly Ngakuru – Consultant

Kelly has recently joined FORCE after three and half years as a Branch Receptionist/Evaluator for a large global recruitment company where she supported an office of 14 and where her organized and approachable personality made her the first point of call for all candidates and clients. Kelly thrives within a fast paced and challenging environment and insists that dealing with a wide range of people and finding candidates employment gives her a sense of satisfaction and is the reason why she continues to enjoy recruitment.

Marisa Fong – Director

Following a career in the media world, Marisa entered recruitment and enjoyed 20 successful years culminating in a National Sales Director role at a large global staffing provider prior to co-founding Madison Recruitment in 1998. Marisa is a member of Springboard New Zealand – a group of GMs and company owners who provide a channel for the next generation of Directors. Together with Wynnis, Marisa leads the strategic and financial operations and does so with creative vision and an innovative approach.

Mark Lowndes – Advisory Board

Mark is the founder of Lowndes Associates. His 29 years of commercial law practice commenced with Simpson Grierson and has included a period as in-house counsel for a multinational oil company, with involvement in international commercial matters and government affairs. He has held various company directorships. Mark led the legal work on over $450 million of M and A activity in the year prior to the GFC. Mark has participated in trade missions and is active in a number of international trade organisations.