Brian Hall Picot - CMG

1 Nov

Brian Picot is remembered by many as an education reformer. But he made his mark in business as joint managing director supermarket operator Progressive Enterprises.

That business was established in 1958 when Tom Ah Chee, Norman Kent and John Brown opened a supermarket at Otahuhu, South Auckland.
Picot became a partner and joint managing director in 1961, introducing family capital and expertise.

Picot retired as a director in 1986 after the company was taken over by Rainbow Corporation but he then chaired the government-appointed Taskforce to Review Education Administration whose Tomorrow's Schools report led to the biggest shake-up in the running of schools for more than a century.