About us / Our team

Meet our team

At Paramount Gardening, our people are at the heart of everything we do. When we built our team, we chose experienced professionals driven to achieve excellence in their work, from our hard-working gardening and mowing crews to our seasoned management staff.

100%

NZ owned & operated

Paramount’s people

We are dedicated to providing personalised customer service that is a cut above the rest, from the initial consultation to total service delivery. When you work with us, you don’t just get a job well done; you get a total property care partner dedicated to excellence every step of the way.

Get to know the talented individuals behind Paramount Gardening.

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Auckland

Galvin Barlett

Chairman

Galvin and his wife, Suzanne, are founding members of Paramount Services. Since 1979, his vision has been the foundation of our strong commitment to centring the client and the team to produce award-winning outcomes. Galvin’s industry background and ability to lead and motivate staff have helped the company attract and retain major clients such as government departments and high-profile commercial organisations. Under his leadership, Paramount Services has flourished with operational centres throughout the country and currently employs around 1500 staff.

Auckland

Bill Wu

CEO

As Director and CEO of Paramount Services for, Bill controls and oversees all business and functional operations, people, and stakeholders. With an open door policy, he aims to deliver good governance, principles, and practices to ensure company goals are achieved in accordance with the strategic direction and business objectives. Bill leads the team as a qualified Accredited Chartered Accountant NZ with an MBA (Distinction) from Massey University in 2003 and a BIB (Bachelor of International Business) from Auckland Institute of Studies in 2001.

Auckland

Murray Hamilton

Operation Director

Murray’s career with Paramount Services began over 25 years ago, starting in operations, training and human resources. Working with key clients, he develops strong and lasting relationships. He has served on the Executive Committee of the Building Services Contractors Association for over 10 years and assisted the Government Advisory Committee in developing NZQA industry training standards. Monitoring customer relations, he provides top-level advice and support to staff across the board.

Auckland

Avi Rao

Operation Director

Avi has worked for Paramount Services since 2012 and comes from a marketing and business development background for major organisations, including AT&T. He has a postgraduate degree from Massey University Albany, specialising in management, which he applies in his current capacity as Operations Director. Utilising his exceptional customer service skills, he leads the businesses’ Regional and National Account Managers.

Auckland

Michelle Liao

Finance Director

As Finance Director, Michelle is responsible for leading the Finance and Customer Services Team with regard to customer liaison, quality assurance and the company’s financials. She provides expert advice and guidance, sharpened over her nearly twenty years of experience with Paramount Services. Michelle has a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering.

Auckland

Stella Blake

National Franchise Manager

As National Franchise Manager, Stella is pivotal in developing the Paramount Services award-winning franchise model. She recruits, mentors, and creates programmes and standard practices for franchise owners and ensures franchises and employees have the necessary support and knowledge to thrive.

Wellington

Brad Farrier

General Manager - Domestic

Brad has extensive experience in the domestic and facility service industry across regional management and ownership roles. As Paramount Services’ General Manager for domestic operations, he coordinates the area managers and seeks to grow the domestic market share. Brad is also the Key Account Manager for Plunket NZ, one of Paramount’s valued partners.

Wellington

Dan Totty

Regional Manager - Wellington

Dan is an experienced project manager who has worked in the facilities management, service, and administrative sectors. He has a Bachelor of Engineering degree and strong analytical and technical skills. In his role as Paramount Services Regional Manager for the Lower North Island, he collaborates with franchise owners and individual clients to grow customer relationships. He also conducts thorough site inspections to ensure quality control.

Otago

Jan Bezuidenhout

Regional Manager - Otago

Jan is an experienced project manager with more than 29 years in multi-site operations and team management, with a proven track record of driving financial results and business growth. Jan has an extensive background in the service industry, particularly in facilities management and waste management. Jan holds a Sales & Marketing Degree from NMMU in Port Elizabeth. Jan has also been an active member of BSCNZ Otago & Southland since June 2017, serving as President (2019-2020) and committee member representing OCS in Otago & Southland 2021- 2023. As Regional Manager for the Otago & South Region, Jan will collaborate with our in-house team in the region and manage the performance of our Franchisees and client relationships and ensure quality management and performance.

Central North Island

Darron Read

Regional Manager - Waikato

Darron has more than 25 years’ experience across all aspects of contracted services management, people, project management, and building client relationships within various contracted service sectors. Darron commenced with Paramount in 2016 as an Account Manager and has worked his way up to Regional Manager. In his role as Regional Manager for the Central North Island, Darron actively manages the overview of our sites in the Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Hawkes Bay. He is responsible for managing the ongoing client relationships, managing the regional Customer Services Managers and the performance of our Franchisees. Darron’s core role is focused on quality assurance, client satisfaction. Darron has a proven track record in management of multi-site contracts throughout the Waikato/BOP/Hawkes Bay region.

Upper South Island

Danielle Hampson

Danielle has been with Paramount since 2017 and has has a proven track record and experience in managing large contracts. Dani has a Level 6 Legal Executive Diploma along-with Level 3 certification in Supervision & Cleaning. In her role as Paramount’s Regional; Manager for the Upper North Island Dani will work with our local Customer Relationship Manager and with our site franchisees to ensure consistent and satisfactory service delivery. Dani will work with clients on the bigger picture, carrying out site visits, Quality Audits and reporting.

Canterbury

Kiri James

Kiri has more than 25 years’ experience across all aspects of sales management, business development and in the service industry and holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree with a major in Business Administration. Kiri is a people person with strengths in building client relationships within various service sectors. In her role as Regional Manager for Canterbury, Kiri actively manages the overview of our sites, and managing the franchisees and staff in the region. Kiri will oversee all aspects quality assurance and client satisfaction.

Call The Experts At Paramount

Get in touch with our expert team for the best quality gardening and lawn care services. Call now for a free quote or to book a service.

Paramount services have recently taken over the lawn maintenance for our slightly more than 5000 square metre property. The team use a ride on mower and also do boundary edges with a line trimmer. We are very happy with the outcomes and excellent communication from the team both before and after completion, including before and after photos of the work which are appreciated.

Jacqui Simpson

The team did an excellent job for our block - all jobs were done with care and skill. And the gardeners were very efficient with their time.

Irene Gardiner

Very fast and efficient and did a beautiful job.

Julie Cato

Meet our team

100%

Paramount’s people

Galvin Barlett

Chairman

Bill Wu

CEO

Murray Hamilton

Operation Director

Avi Rao

Operation Director

Michelle Liao

Finance Director

Stella Blake

National Franchise Manager

Brad Farrier

General Manager - Domestic

Dan Totty

Regional Manager - Wellington

Jan Bezuidenhout

Regional Manager - Otago

Darron Read

Regional Manager - Waikato

Danielle Hampson

Kiri James

Call The Experts At Paramount

The team did an excellent job for our block - all jobs were done with care and skill. And the gardeners were very efficient with their time.

Very fast and efficient and did a beautiful job.

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