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Brian and Fiona Brakenridge have brought
Sotheby’s to Cooks Beach. No, not the elegant
historic auction house, world renowned for the
sale of some of the world’s most precious items,
but their International Realty division, founded in
1976 with the same commitment to exceptional
service. It is also known for the distinctive
properties it represents.
Brian and Canadian born wife Fiona joined the
Sotheby’s Sales Office at Clearwater Resort
in Christchurch six years ago where they
sold over 120 premium resort and lifestyle
properties. Early this year the couple moved to
the Coromandel to make Cooks Beach their new
home and to open the Realty’s newest office.
The Sotheby’s Realty brand has long been
synonymous with the ‘extraordinary’. “Some
city properties highlight exclusive luxury selling
points, but we like to focus on uniqueness and
accessibility. To us, anything on the Coromandel
has a special appeal, whether it’s a humble bach
or a contemporary coastal estate. We keep it
personal, maintaining the fine features of the
area’s scenery and laid back lifestyle.”
A HANDS-ON KIWI START
Kiwi born Brian first met Fiona in the early 1980s
when she was in NZ on her OE shearing for a
contractor in Waikaretu, near Port Waikato.
Canadian born Fiona was raised on a sheep
farm in Nova Scotia and was taught to shear by
her father. In 1980, wanting a break from studies
Fiona made her first trip to NZ. Three years
later Fiona returned to Canada to complete her
university studies and worked shearing the local
flocks to help pay for her degree.
Brian’s first job out of school was working
for Peter Simpson at Simpson’s Beach. After
completing a Diploma in Agriculture at Lincoln
University, Brian went share milking then
became involved in rural property development.
In 1988, Fiona returned to NZ to compete
at the Golden Shears and World Shearing
Championships and made history by becoming
the first woman to win a Golden Shears title. In
1989, she was offered the job of redeveloping
the farm and holiday accommodation on
Pohuenui, a 6000 acre, privately owned island in
the outer Pelorus Sounds.
Soon after this, while visiting friends in Waikaretu,
Brian and Fiona bumped into one another and
exchanged farm development stories. Fiona
encouraged Brian to visit Pohuenui.
“Once I arrived, Fiona wouldn’t let me leave!’
admits Brian. “And truthfully, I didn’t want to – it
was a spectacular part of the world.” The rest
is history. They married in 1990, produced two
sons and spent the next 13 years living and
working together, with their nearest neighbours
30 minutes away, by boat!
FOUNDERS OF ICEBREAKER
“As part of the redevelopment of the farm at
Pohuenui, we introduced merino sheep to the
property”, explains Brian, “and that started a
long love affair with merino wool”.
“We were dissatisfied with the returns we
were getting for our wool and had developed
some prototype thermal garments which were
being trialled by people like Sir Peter Blake
and mountaineer Graeme Dingle.” Based on a
growing list of endorsements from some serious
outdoor adventurers, we registered a start-up
company called Ice Breakers. We then teamed
up with a young marketing graduate, Jeremy
Moon, who bought into the fledgling company.
Rebranded as Icebreaker, Jeremy has grown the
business with sales in excess of $150m around
the world.”
The couple left Pohuenui in 2002 and soon
bought a lifestyle block north of Christchurch
and joined the real estate profession. “For the
first time in our married life we were not tied to
tourists and the busy summer season and could
join the rest of the family for summer holidays
on the Coromandel.” This was the start of their
annual trek to Pauanui where Brian’s parents
have lived for the past thirty years.
Brian’s family ties to the area go back even
further. “My grandfather, Bill Linden, upon
returning from WW1, worked as a sales
rep for Arthur Yates and Co, visiting remote
Coromandel farms on horseback in the 1920s.
“The Coromandel has been an important part
of our lives, there are so many memories for
us as a family.”
Brian and Fiona have just finished building a
new home at Cooks Beach so the ties to the
Coromandel are now reinforced, and they plan
to become even more integrated into local life.
Brian and Fiona with sons Ben and Sam.
Entrepreneurial couples – partners who share a home and a company – make up one of the most
dynamic and unexpected forces in small business today. Successful couples running businesses
together seem to enjoy the different perspective – many not only deal well with those differences,
they thrive on them.
BRIAN AND FIONA BRAKENRIDGE
From famed wool to fine real estate
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COROMANDEL LIFE 2014-15 HOLIDAY
PHOTO BY ALAN DUFF