Recognised on King’s Birthday
Scott O’Donnell, director of HW Richardson Group (HWR), has been made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to business in the King’s Birthday Honours List.
Based in Invercargill, he has supported the city’s development for more than 30 years. He was HWR’s managing director from 2006 to 2015, leading its expansion into petroleum, rural transport and waste sectors.
O’Donnell is currently supporting HWR’s development of green hydrogen, providing an alternative fuel for heavy vehicles.
He helped the company pioneer the first hydrogen-diesel dual-fuel truck in New Zealand, contributing to the decarbonisation of heavy-vehicle transport. He developed the HWR Group’s property portfolio and was appointed CEO in 2016.
As chairman of Invercargill Central, he led a joint venture between HWR and the city council for a $180 million redevelopment of the city centre.
He has supported the development of tourist attractions in Invercargill, including the Classic Motorcycle Mecca, Toot Sweets, Bill Richardson Transport World and The Lodges at Transport World.
O’Donnell is chairman of Blue Sky Pastures Ltd. He has served on the board of MotorSport NZ since 2016 and is a promoter of Invercargill’s George Begg Motorsport Festival.
Services to road-freight industry
Warwick Wilshier has been made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the road-freight industry.
He has been a log-truck operator for more than 44 years and has substantially increased the safety standards of log transport nationally through governance and advocacy.
Wilshier was a founding member of the NZ Log Transport Safety Council in 1996, established to address the safety of log trucks operating on highways.
He advocated for the increase of log-truck trailer lengths to 22 metres, allowing for lower loads and significantly increasing their safety. He led the development of new vehicle designs and driver education. At the end of his 25 years as chairman of the council in 2025, log-truck rollovers had reduced from 2.4 per million kilometres to 0.3.
Wilshier was appointed chairman of the Road Transport Forum and was chairman of I Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand from 2021-24. He was inducted into the New Zealand Road Transport Hall of Fame in 2022.
Business and governance
The group CEO of the Todd Corporation has been made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit. Evan Davies has been honoured for services to business and governance.
The Todd Corporation is a family-owned business that produces and supplies energy locally, and partners with investors here and abroad across a diverse range of other industries.
Davies has contributed to multiple businesses, government and not-for-profit organisations locally and internationally.
He was the inaugural chief executive of SkyCity Entertainment Group from 1996 to 2007. Davies was recognised by the Deloitte Top 200 awards as the 2000 chief executive of the year and led SkyCity to win company of the year in 2001.
He has been a trustee with the Melanesian Mission Trust Board since 1998, and a trustee with the Anglican Trust for Women and Children since 2005. Davies has also held several central and local government appointments.
The Todd family used to be involved in the car industry. The Todd Motor Company was founded in 1923 and Todd Motor Industries started to manufacture vehicles in Petone in 1935. Todd Motor Company bought the Mitsubishi franchise in 1970. Ten years later it had become New Zealand’s biggest car company before being sold to Mitsubishi in 1987.
