Our Team

Trevor Gardiner

Trevor is the CEO of thoughtplanters and has nearly 30 years experience in the arboriculture and horticulture industry, including 16 years with Asplundh in New Zealand. 10 years as Asplundh's New Zealand Manager.

Previous President of the New Zealand Arboricultural Association (2004 - 2005)

"thoughplanters is a very exciting opportunity for me to give something back to the industry I love and to get involved in leadership training which is another passion for me. I have had a very successful career and I would love to be able to use the experience I gained during the last 30 years in business training."

Mark Roberts

Mark is the clever one who writes and formats the bulk of the course resources. He also makes sure our processes meet the requirements of the various tertiary bodies that govern the quality of teaching in New Zealand.

He has nearly 20 years experience in the Arboriculture industry working in England, Australia and New Zealand - including work in the field as a climbing arborist, a manager and a trainer at Otago Polytechnic.

Mark is currently the Vice President of the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA), a member of the Approved Code of Practice Review committee and the NZQA Units Standard review committee, and was President of the New Zealand Arboricultural Association from 2001 to 2003.

Richard Wanhill - Business Development Manager

Richard is the guy who talks to people here and overseas to find out how thoughtplanters can meet the needs of horticultural companies, trainees and practicing horticulturalists.

Primarily he talks to them about how we can help:

• train staff to be safe and comply with the latest legislation
• introduce companies and staff to the most up-to-date and best practice drawing from national and international standards
• increase efficiency and productivity of companies and their staff
• companies and staff become part of an overall push in New Zealand and overseas to raise industry standards
• improve the literacy and numeracy skills and knowledge of trainees and practicing horticulturalists within the workplace.

Richard has 13 years experience in the Arboricultural Industry, with five years on the tools, five years as a branch manager of Treescape Ltd, and three years in his current role.

He is Immediate Past President of the New Zealand Arboricultureal Association and still serving on their Executive Committee as Secretary.

"I really enjoy meeting people. There are are some great people in the horticulture industry, which makes my job really interesting. Watching a company grow and develop through training and education is a buzz. I also really enjoy identifying a client's education and training issues, addressing those needs and, at the same time, raising the standards and quality of our industry overall. That way, it's a win-win."

His favourite pastime is surfing.

"I surf as much as I can when I am not working. It's about being outdoors and challenging myself physically - particularly now that I no longer climb trees and spend most of my day in front of a computer screen! I learnt to surf when I was 6 or 7 years old. My Dad surfed, and so do my two older brothers. So it was a family sport. I really enjoy spear fishing and other water sports as well. I'd rate traveling overseas with my job and sampling Singapore's chicken rice as favorite pastimes too."

Richard is married to Jacqui. They both like making the most of what Northland has to offer like camping, swimming and playing lawn bowls (which is good fun and usually involves a few quiet beers as the sun goes down).

Alysha McLellan

Alysha has been with Horttraining for over two years and now is working in a similar role for thoughtplanters. Alysha has become a valued member of the team.

Her role in the company is to organise training days, results, enrollments and general admin duties.

She has a National Certificate in Business Administration Level 4 and a National Certificate in Business Administration and Computing Level 3.

"I especially enjoy working in training when we receive our students' National Certificates and Diplomas. I know that all the guys and girls have put a lot of time and effort into getting their qualifications... so this is a very rewarding part of my job."