Head Office
Melanie Harper – Director/Owner
Melanie Harper is the founder, owner and a director of Driving Miss Daisy NZ Ltd. She identified a need in the market for a companion driving service nearly 20 years ago and following extensive research, she launched Driving Miss Daisy NZ in Havelock North in 2009, with one car and one franchise.
Melanie’s goal has always been to have a “Daisy” in every town in New Zealand and she, alongside husband Jack, continue to work enthusiastically toward this goal. Her passion is supporting the network of Franchisees to ensure they are inspired to deliver the most amazing experience to all of our clients, every time they leave home.
Jack Harper – Director/Owner
Jack joined Melanie in developing the Driving Miss Daisy business when he saw the potential to roll out the successful business model across the country. He has been instrumental in growing the business from the initial single franchise to the multi-franchise business we have today. His extensive background in financial planning and consultancy helps drive the business strategy for Driving Miss Daisy NZ Ltd.
Having experienced success with the business in NZ, Jack and Melanie embarked on taking the business to the world and Driving Miss Daisy is now established in Australia and the UK, with more countries to come.
Andrew Kirkpatrick – General Manager
Born and bred in Hawke’s Bay, and having spent most of his working life based here, Andrew, a Chartered Accountant, has a wealth of business and commercial experience behind him, having advised small and large businesses across a multitude of industries, over many years.
Andrew joined Driving Miss Daisy NZ in 2022 and his primary responsibility is to enable the continued growth and success of the Driving Miss Daisy Franchise system, the Franchisees and the Franchisor, in a manner that consistently honours the values of the company and the brand.
A family man with two adult children, he enjoys golf, tennis, and all that the beautiful Hawke’s Bay region has to offer!
MJ Price – Sales & Marketing Manager
MJ’s role provides support to our Franchisees and to the Head Office team. Her focus is on national, regional and local marketing initiatives that help Franchisees to grow their businesses, while ensuring that our brand values, expectations and brand integrity continue to be protected. Additionally, MJ is an integral member of the team overseeing the sales and acquisitions of franchise territories – helping to connect outgoing franchisees with prospective franchisees!
Originally from the UK, MJ has spent most of her life in Hawke’s Bay, where she raised her two daughters and established a successful 30-year career in the packaging industry. Throughout this time, she held senior sales and account management roles and is recognised for her strong relationship-building skills and strategic commercial thinking. This expertise and experience coupled with a genuine empathy for the community we serve, makes her a valuable member of the head office team.
Outside of work, MJ enjoys staying active and connected to the outdoors. Having completed several half marathons, she now favours a balanced routine of Pilates and regular walks with her Labrador, Walter. Very family focused, MJ loves spending as much time with her family as she can.
Wendi Good – Franchisee Systems Support
Born and raised in Hawke’s Bay, Wendi spent seven years overseas before returning to ‘The Bay’. She has a background in banking, finance and business administration, plus extensive information technology and systems experience across several industries which included 13 years working for a New Zealand founded global franchise organisation.
Wendi primarily supports the Driving Miss Daisy Franchisees and Head Office in their systems and processes.
Iris Nobel – Administration Support
Iris (pronounced “Ear-iss”) provides administration support at Head Office. Her past commercial experience is predominantly a variety of administration, management and sales roles within the Retail and Hospitality sectors.
She immigrated to NZ with her family, from The Netherlands, at the age of 10 and has lived in Hawke’s Bay for most of her life. Iris is a solo mum to two young adults, two dogs and two belligerent cats! She is a crafter of all sorts, a keen illustrator, gardener, nature lover and travel enthusiast. Her proudest accomplishment, other than her children, is relocating a house from Auckland to Hastings and DIY renovating it to create a cosy home for herself and her family.
Gypsy Ravenwood – Social Media Co‑ordinator
Gypsy is another team member born and bred in Hawke’s Bay.
With a Bachelor in Business Studies Majoring in Marketing & Management, she has spent most of her time behind the scenes of many businesses working on their marketing and e-commerce.
Gypsy enjoys gardening, cooking, animals and spending time with her family – her husband, 2 dogs and 2 cats.
Neil Fleury – Company Accountant
Originally coming from Dunedin, Neil moved to sunny Hawke’s Bay about 40 years ago. Most of Neil’s working life has been based in Hawke’s Bay, with a couple of longish stints as a Finance Manager working for multinational companies, complemented by other roles including selling computers and running courier operations.
Neil, his wife and daughter are animal lovers, and currently have two dogs, two cats and a turtle at home. They have been involved in dog agility for the last couple of years, running their youngest dog in competitions, with limited success but lots of fun.