David George Skeggs | Chairman
LLB, BCom
A citizen of New Zealand, David is the Managing Director of Skeggs Group Limited which has interests in the Maritime, Seafood, Tourism, Wine and Property industries. These investments are either directly owned or with joint ventures partners.
He is a director on a number of private sector boards and is the chairman of Barnes Oysters Limited and Bluff Oyster Management Limited.
David has extensive experience in all facets of business management including general management, operations, sales, marketing and finance.
He graduated from Otago University with Law and Commerce degrees in 1985 and then joined a chartered accountancy firm before becoming the Financial Manager for McConnell Group Limited. He joined the family business in 1989, working in a variety of roles before being appointed Managing Director. He is a member of the New Zealand Institute of Directors.
Nigel James Skeggs | Director
BCom(Hon), MAICD
A citizen of Fiji, Nigel owns and operates businesses in Fiji including The Rhum-Ba bar and restaurant, Unique Charters, a private sailing charter company, and HydroTech Farms, an agriculture technology business.
He is also the president and trustee of Sea Mercy (Fiji), a locally registered charity.
After ten years running Superyachts in Europe, Nigel turned his attention to developing superyacht and commercial marine facilities in Fiji by designing, building and operating Port Denarau Marina as the CEO and Managing Director.
During this time the Marina has emerged as the focal point for marine tourism activities with considerable revenue and profit growth. Under his leadership, the Marina was awarded International Marina of the Year for the past four consecutive years and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2019.
During the same period, Nigel was on the Board of Directors for Denarau Corporation Limited (DCL) for seven years including two as Chairman. He was also the Chairman of the Maritime Safety Authority of Fiji for two years and Vice President of the Fiji NZ Business Council for five years. Nigel will be rejoining the DCL board in the third quarter of 2019.
Nigel graduated in 1999 with a Bachelor of Commerce (Management) with Honours degree from the University of Otago, achieved a Merit award in the Fiji Directors Course, has completed the International Directors Course and is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Bryan John Skeggs | Director
BCom
A citizen of New Zealand, Bryan has a long term interest in Fiji being a Residential Property Owner on Denarau Island.
Bryan has a private sector background, having spent 30 years employed within the New Zealand Seafood Industry, and has extensive knowledge and experience in the Inshore, Deepwater and Aquaculture Sectors of the Industry. He has also spent many years on Industry boards both as a Director and a Chairperson.
Currently, Bryan holds various directorships within the Tourism, Seafood and Property Sectors in addition to his role as a director of PDML. Bryan graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Auckland in 1982.
Malakai Ratu Naiyaga | Independent Director
BA
A citizen of Fiji, Malakai was Managing Director of Colonial Fiji, now BSP Life, from July 2010 to January 2019. BSP Life is a long-established life insurance business in Fiji.
A vastly experienced financial services senior executive that has held CEO positions in Indonesia and Fiji, Malakai has broad experience in Corporate Leadership, Insurance, Risk Management, Corporate Finance, Investment Management, HR and Strategic Planning.
He served in various management, senior executive, and CEO roles in the Colonial Group in Fiji and Australia from 1987 to 2004 and Commonwealth Bank of Australia Indonesia to June, 2010.
Malakai holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Accounting and Economics from the University of the South Pacific as well as a Post Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance & Investment from the Securities Institute of Australia. He has also completed various risk certification, advanced banking and Leadership training programs. He is a Chartered Accountant member of the Fiji Institute of Accountants and a Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia.
He has served on several boards. Currently he is Chairman of Richmond Limited, the owners of Sofitel Fiji Resort & Spa, Chairman of Future Farms Limited, trading as Rooster Chicken, and Chairman of Oceania Hospitals Pacific Limited, trading as MIOT Pacific Hospitals.
Bruce Whewell Phillips | Independent Director
A Citizen of Fiji, Bruce Phillips was born in Wellington, New Zealand, where he attended Lower Hutt Primary and Hutt Valley High Schools. In 1961 he started an apprenticeship and trained as an Electrical Refrigeration tradesman and worked for McAlpines Ltd and Tip Top Ltd in Wellington and Hastings.
In 1970 Bruce relocated to Fiji and was employed by Burns Philp (SS) Ltd in Suva as the Service Manager for Fiji, Tonga and Samoa. After two years he took the opportunity to sail to the British Virgin Islands to run the 52 ft charter vessel “Taku Tori” for the owner. Two years later, at the owner’s request, he sailed the boat to Europe.
In 1976 Bruce returned to Fiji with his wife Lesley to start a refrigeration and air-conditioning service business located in Lautoka, where he successfully ran his company, Kooline Refrigeration (Lautoka) Ltd, for the next 40 years.
In 2008 he moved the company to Denarau. During the next several years he worked closely with Fletchers Construction Ltd and Tabua Investments in building The Regent Hotel, The Denarau Villas, The Radisson Hotel, Golf Terrace Apartments and the Shopping Centre; also, the Denarau Marina Terminal and Denarau Yacht Club buildings.
Over the years Bruce has been President of the Northern Club Lautoka (for 6 terms) and Flag Officer at Royal Suva Yacht Club and for the last 40 years has been an active member of Fiji Yachting Association. Bruce has taken teams on four occasions to the South Pacific Games and twice to the Olympic Games – both as a participant and a Sailing Team Manager.
For eight years and during the 2000 coup, Bruce and Lesley ran a very successful bed and breakfast accommodation in the historic home of Sir Ratu Edward Cakobau with 8 guest rooms catering to tourists and businesspeople, running at very high occupancy.
In 2017 Bruce sold Kooline Refrigeration and retired. Bruce lives in the Cove, Denarau and now travels and spends time maintaining properties on the island.
Bruce represents the Cove for Denarau Residential Estates Limited (DREL) and has previously represented Mariners Reach and The Links. He has also represented DREL at Denarau Corporation Limited (DCL).
Bruce has been married to Lesley for 45 years and they have two grown up children, Nicholas who now lives in Dubai and has children, and Lisa who lives in BC, Canada.
Josephine Yee Joy | Company Secretary
MBA, MA, BA
A citizen of Fiji, Josephine is currently Treasurer / Company Secretary of Golf Terrace Apartments Limited and Denarau Golf Terraces Apartments Inc.
She was the Executive General Manager Corporate Support for the then Air Pacific Limited (now Fiji Airways Limited) from 1998 to 2010 and served as Company Secretary from 1998 to 2010.
Josephine held other senior positions at Air Pacific Limited during her 24 years of service, including General Manager Commercial and Financial Planning Manager. Other roles in the organisation included Financial Planning Accountant and Financial Analyst.
Prior to joining Air Pacific Limited, she worked as a Business Planner at Raychem Corporation in California, USA.
She has served on various boards over the years and is currently a director of several boards including Hawkins, Newcrest (Fiji) Pte Limited/Newcrest Exploration (Fiji) Pte Limited and Boeing Asia Pacific Pte. Limited, Fiji Branch.
Josephine holds an MBA from Pepperdine University, USA and graduated from the College of Notre Dame, USA with a Master of Arts in Teaching and a Bachelor of Arts in French.
Senior Management
Cynthia Rasch | General Manager
CMM
A citizen of Fiji, Cynthia is the General Manager of the Marina, a position she was appointed to in 2018 and is a Certified Marina Manager. Currently, she is studying for her MBA with the University of Fiji.
Advancing through a series of promotions at Digicel Fiji, Cynthia was headhunted for a management position at PDML and joined in 2011.
She has led many strategic initiatives that have had positive impact on multiple business areas driving down costs, increasing revenue, and improving the overall performance of various business areas.
Cynthia’s overachieving attitude is driven by her unrelenting pursuit of excellence, which has been the catalyst for a leap to the maritime industry from telecommunications.
Her experience has a common theme of process analysis, redesign, training and implementation. She is very structured in her thinking, has great attention to detail and has a strong focus on delivery.
Cynthia is an active member of Women in Maritime Association and is involved in a number of community initiatives.