Richard Gibson – Managing Director

The people behind the brand

As a young lad my family worked the land in the Hawkes Bay and I suppose those early years made me appreciate that good, honest, hard work reaped rewards. I love people; I understand them; I seem to be able to intuitively see what their wants and needs are. I am also a fairly outgoing sort of person so I have strong networks, solid friends that go back years and long-lasting relationships in the business community.

And cricket. What can I say? It is my life's passion. And because cricket is such a team sport it has strongly influenced my thinking about life and business: give it your all, never give up, play fair and play as a team.

My early working years saw me in the public sector honing these personal beliefs and my work ethic. Those 10 years were vital because they also gave me my lucky break in developing a career in Information Technology. Moving to the private sector was amazing because I was actually dealing with people, face to face, selling products and services! I loved it! I thrived on it! I learnt the importance of having a strong client focus, of building relationships, to be the consummate professional and to have strong ideals.

After 15 years the germ of an idea began to develop – why not do it for myself? Why not build a company that offered that something a little bit extra? A company that was fun, trendy, quick to respond, with great people and superb service. I have realised my professional passions in Redvespa. But, it all comes down to people – without Sarah (Sarah adds balance and discipline to what we offer and we complement each other well), the team and our loyal and supportive clients we simply wouldn't have had the successes!