Board of Directors

Baden Ngan-Kee

Chief Executive Officer

Baden arrived at MUD HOUSE with a veritable feast of food and drink experience - several years in the chocolate industry; marketing and general manager roles at Allied Liquor and Southcorp; a couple of years running his own wine business; and a brief, but very successful, flirtation with dairy products.

Very happy to be back in the wine industry, Baden recognised a rare opportunity with Mud House. “There aren’t too many chances like this left in the New Zealand wine industry. I’m here to help build great brands that are all about delivering a fantastic experience in the glass.” 

Neil Charles-Jones

Director

An architect by profession, English-born Neil made a life-changing move from London to Marlborough in 1992. Initially he busied himself with the creation of good-looking commercial buildings, but it wasn’t long before the burgeoning local wine industry caught his eye.

Neil was jointly involved in establishing the Marlborough Bottling Company and developing wineries for a number of leading Marlborough wine companies.  Later his view of the wine industry expanded to include vineyards in Marlborough, Waipara and Central Otago. His practical knowledge of New Zealand’s wine industry is invaluable to Mud House.

Often found in the far reaching corners of the globe, Neil spends much of his spare time travelling the world, searching for that perfect bottle.

Kim Crawford

Director

Hard to imagine, but there was a time when Kim Crawford had no ambitions to become a winemaker. Today his name is synonymous with unpretentious, beautifully-made wines that are enthusiastically enjoyed by fastidious wine drinkers around the world. Now the special touch that has allowed Kim Crawford wines to find huge success is helping to steer MUD HOUSE.

John Williams

Director

Former finance director of Kim Crawford Wines, John was instrumental in orchestrating the purchase of the Kim Crawford brand by North America’s fourth largest wine company.

His business and financial expertise is coming in very handy at MUD HOUSE, which mirrors many of the brand values that put Kim Crawford wines on the world wine map. “When the punter opens a MUD HOUSE wine, they’re really happy with it”, he says.

John loves a glass of red, but admits that his viticultural expertise is strictly limited to the business aspects of turning grapes into wine.

Ron Stewart

Director

From a background in property development, Ron has steadily become drawn into the wine world. Initially he was involved in creating essential services for the Marlborough wine industry, such as bottling and crushing facilities; now he’s thoroughly immersed in the ways of wine, from growing the grapes right through to sales and distribution.

It pleases Ron that MUD HOUSE has vineyards in three of the country’s most scenic regions, because driving classic cars around New Zealand is his number one pastime. He’s partial to a glass of Central Otago pinot noir, especially if he had to drive all day to get it.

John Seton

Chairman of the Board

John is a present or past director of a number of public companies in New Zealand, Australia and Canada. He has practiced in the areas of corporate, commercial, technology and property law both in New Zealand and overseas and has been admitted as an accredited director by the New Zealand Institute of Directors.

John’s other business involvements revolve around things like mineral exploration/mining, technology and event management so warming the chairman’s chair at MUD HOUSE brings welcome variety into his business life.