Two Nelson College students found themselves rubbing shoulders with some of New Zealand’s biggest business names after being invited to the 2026 Business Hall of Fame Awards.
Year 13 students Finn Dallas and Aedan Bruce were flown to Auckland to introduce Business Hall of Fame inductees Tom Sturgess and David Irving ONZM.
A Nelson College old boy, David requested a student from the school to introduce him on stage.
Originally, the pair were set to sit with David, with only one of them introducing him. However, organisers later needed a student to introduce Tom as well and, with his son a former Nelson College student, Aedan was a natural fit for the role.
Aedan knew a little about Tom before researching him further.
"He's got a very good reputation, apparently he's a really good employer."
Finn is involved in the Young Enterprise Scheme and won the school's business academic prize last year. He is currently developing an app that he hopes to launch to the Nelson public soon.
"I'm creating a digital app that has discounts to places around Nelson. So, the idea is that once it's launched, it'll bring locally owned businesses more customers, while the Nelson public will get discounts and cheaper food. And so, if it's successful, then it could like benefit the economy of Nelson."
Aedan, who won the school's economics award last year, describes the experience as "stepping into a whole new world".
Finn says he spent plenty of time practising public speaking beforehand and sought tips from others.
"I was very nervous beforehand, but then when the speech actually came, I sort of learned how to calm my nerves and just enjoy the moment.
"It's a pretty special sort of moment being up there and just learning to appreciate it while you're doing it. It's not something you'll ever potentially do again."
Aedan took the opportunity to chat with the chief executives seated at his table.
"They're all CEOs sitting around him, so I talked to them and got to know them a little bit and got to know a bit about Tom. He's quite smart and he has a whole team around him that helps him run all his businesses, so that was quite cool to see that and to see how that operates."
The following day, the pair caught up with David, who took them on a tour of Auckland University.
The students say it was their first time staying in a five-star hotel, the Cordis, and they made the most of a few hours of downtime by visiting the sauna and steam rooms during the four-day trip.
Now back home, both are turning their attention to the future.
Finn is considering studying business, economics or entrepreneurship at the University of Canterbury, while Aedan is weighing up a path in economics.
"Before going, I wanted to do a Bachelor of Laws, and I also wanted to do a Bachelor of Science. I was probably leaning on towards doing a physics degree. But after this, I actually feel much broader inspiration to go to the economics route instead."
