White Tie Catering has a long proud history of family and friend ownership, family culture and a strong, loyal team. Our people are creative, innovative and professional. They are connected; to each other, their community and their clients. We love them and know you will too.
OUR STORY
The White Tie story started in 1986 and since then, the Company has grown significantly in experience and reputation. Our name has become synonymous with excellence and style, testified by our repeat clientele and personal references. Continual evolution has been critical to our success, consistently delivering contemporary cuisine with exemplary service.
Katie Duncan, Michelle Walker & Shari Carter are the directors and owners along with their partners Fin Sarginson, Robin Walker & Brendan Blackmur. Katie and Michelle had been operating the Company as General Manager and Business Manager for many years before the purchase from Tina and Grant Duncan in October 2013. Shari had been working alongside them as a consultant in her role as a Deloitte partner. Along with business and financial control, the team of six represent creative, practical and logistical expertise and all take turns doing dishes and sweeping floors. The secret to White Tie has always been that all staff are created equal and our owners are no exception.
Katie Duncan, Michelle Walker & Shari Carter are the directors and owners along with their partners Fin Sarginson, Robin Walker & Brendan Blackmur. Katie and Michelle had been operating the Company as General Manager and Business Manager for many years before the purchase from Tina and Grant Duncan in October 2013. Shari had been working alongside them as a consultant in her role as a Deloitte partner. Along with business and financial control, the team of six represent creative, practical and logistical expertise and all take turns doing dishes and sweeping floors. The secret to White Tie has always been that all staff are created equal and our owners are no exception.
"Even in reflection, we cannot fault anything – the attention to detail being unparalleled.." Pammie & Jim (parents of the bride)
OUR PEOPLE
Katie Duncan, General Manager, Director
Katie grew up around White Tie, working on and off for the Company since 1996 before her parents convinced her to take a permanent role in 2008. She has focussed on business development with her experience in communications, writing, brand development and project management, creating The Catering Dept a sister brand offering a funky informal alternative. First and foremost Katie is a passionate foodie and is one of the creative forces behind White Tie's menu design. You'll even find her out the back in a chef's jacket……
Michelle Walker, Business Manager, Director
Michelle joined White Tie in 2008 and loved the place so much she bought it! Stepping in at a time of major growth, Michelle has developed new strategies to manage White Tie's business and set it up for future opportunities. She has a firm hand on financial direction and would be one of few Business Managers who know the difference between a pacojet and a thermomix. Michelle's two children are both part of White Tie's casual team carrying on the Company's tradition of making it a family affair.
Shari Carter, Director
Shari began working with the White Tie team when Deloitte was selected as the Company's accountants in 2009. But as is true to form at White Tie, once you're in, you're in and Shari was no exception. Shari worked with Katie & Michelle to purchase the business in 2013 bringing her extensive business and financial acumen. Despite being a partner at Deloitte, she still loves to spend the occasional weekend with the event teams back-of-house at a wedding or a gala dinner.
Tina Duncan, Food Consultant
Tina was locked into a rock solid consultancy agreement when she moved out of White Tie's ownership. She still meets regularly with Katie and Lil to create new menus and works with us to develop recipes, run master classes in the kitchen and occasionally work out the back of a function. For Tina, the new system is a dream – she no longer has to worry about executive management and all her energy at White Tie is purely creative and food driven. She's in bliss.
Georgina Cullen, Client Services Manager
George has worked on and off at White Tie Catering since she was 15 years old and is now responsible for all sales and client contact at White Tie. She meets with the Company clients to discuss initial vision and formulate a plan to go to our Event Managers. George has helped design more weddings than she's had hot dinners and after years supervising events, is uniquely placed to help you consider all possibilities. She isn't fazed by mothers-in-laws, CEOs or the Foreign Office and always figures out the key to every client's happiness.
Helen Harrowfield, Events Manager
Helen was part of the team that founded White Tie more than 30 years ago and has a contract forbidding her from leaving. She is the heart and soul of White Tie and has planned literally thousands of events. Helen is the calm influence in every aspect of our work, in the office, at events and with clients, she is reassuring and experienced. Over the past 30 years Helen has problem solved every possible scenario, counselled couples, worked budgets and remembered every tiny detail in the planning.
Emma Lynch, Events Manager
Emma first started working for White Tie when she was 15 years old as part of the front of house team and has been a staple at the Company ever since. After studying event management and a stint in Melbourne, Emma returned home to family where we were waiting eagerly to shoulder tap her for Georgina's maternity cover. Emma works on all the detail of your event, from conception to fruition and the logistics in between.
Lil Huckle, Food Services Manager
Lil is the lynchpin in our kitchens - maintaining the quality and consistency at all of our production sites. Lil has more than 20 years' experience in food including mentoring at the New Zealand School of Food & Wine. Lil's skills are put to use developing new recipes, working on menu ideas and rolling up her sleeves in the events kitchen on busy days while also managing White Tie's team of 10 permanent chefs and the many more part-time and casual chefs that make up our kitchens. Not to mention the mounds of paperwork that go into running events, corporate commercial contracts, food safety plans and feeding hundreds of people a week...
Stuart Morrison, Head Events Chef
Stuart oversees all of the production at our Gasson St head office kitchen. With more than 30 years in the industry including major hotels (the Savoy among them!), Stuart has run large event and a la carte kitchens throughout the UK and New Zealand. He's a calm, strong influence and unflappable whether he's got one or 15 events on the go.
Peter Young, Operations Manager
Peter is another one of the long-timers. He has been in hospitality since forever, working in restaurants, hotels and at events. Peter is White Tie's back of house guru, his team manages every pack out to and from events, deliveries from Akaroa to Wanaka, the airport and Forte Health hospital. He is our MacGyver, jimmying any emergency measures to save a day.
Abbi Middleton, Koru Performance Manager
Abbi is a White Tie bride who also completed her internship at the Company when finishing off her tertiary studies. She is now our Koru Performance Manager, responsible for White Tie's operations at our Air New Zealand's Koru Lounges in Christchurch. Abbi is a trained chef to boot and can turn her hand to a kitchen or floor service whenever the need arises as well as managing food and service to 15-thousand passengers a week.
The head office & kitchen team
We work hard to bring in the best people who add to our skills and our culture, and our head office & kitchen is a great example of that. George, Chris, Stanley, Eero and Alesi make up the rest of our permanent kitchen team, preparing everything fresh on site from seasonal, local ingredients and to the highest quality expected by our clients. Katie and Lisa round out our stellar head office team managing staff relationships, invoicing and marketing.
Behind the Scenes and Front of House
Our all-important food and service staff! Our function supervisors are your key contact on the day and are hand-picked and developed by us. They work between the kitchen, front of house and you, to oversee a seamless event. The boutique nature of our business means we have personal relationships with every member of our team. Our staff are loyal to our company values, quality of delivery and most importantly, the expectations of our Directors. With White Tie Catering's staff training programmes, your guests will always be greeted with warm smiles and gentle attentive service. Our staff take pride in themselves, in what they do and where they work – we wouldn't have it any other way.
Katie grew up around White Tie, working on and off for the Company since 1996 before her parents convinced her to take a permanent role in 2008. She has focussed on business development with her experience in communications, writing, brand development and project management, creating The Catering Dept a sister brand offering a funky informal alternative. First and foremost Katie is a passionate foodie and is one of the creative forces behind White Tie's menu design. You'll even find her out the back in a chef's jacket……
Michelle Walker, Business Manager, Director
Michelle joined White Tie in 2008 and loved the place so much she bought it! Stepping in at a time of major growth, Michelle has developed new strategies to manage White Tie's business and set it up for future opportunities. She has a firm hand on financial direction and would be one of few Business Managers who know the difference between a pacojet and a thermomix. Michelle's two children are both part of White Tie's casual team carrying on the Company's tradition of making it a family affair.
Shari Carter, Director
Shari began working with the White Tie team when Deloitte was selected as the Company's accountants in 2009. But as is true to form at White Tie, once you're in, you're in and Shari was no exception. Shari worked with Katie & Michelle to purchase the business in 2013 bringing her extensive business and financial acumen. Despite being a partner at Deloitte, she still loves to spend the occasional weekend with the event teams back-of-house at a wedding or a gala dinner.
Tina Duncan, Food Consultant
Tina was locked into a rock solid consultancy agreement when she moved out of White Tie's ownership. She still meets regularly with Katie and Lil to create new menus and works with us to develop recipes, run master classes in the kitchen and occasionally work out the back of a function. For Tina, the new system is a dream – she no longer has to worry about executive management and all her energy at White Tie is purely creative and food driven. She's in bliss.
Georgina Cullen, Client Services Manager
George has worked on and off at White Tie Catering since she was 15 years old and is now responsible for all sales and client contact at White Tie. She meets with the Company clients to discuss initial vision and formulate a plan to go to our Event Managers. George has helped design more weddings than she's had hot dinners and after years supervising events, is uniquely placed to help you consider all possibilities. She isn't fazed by mothers-in-laws, CEOs or the Foreign Office and always figures out the key to every client's happiness.
Helen Harrowfield, Events Manager
Helen was part of the team that founded White Tie more than 30 years ago and has a contract forbidding her from leaving. She is the heart and soul of White Tie and has planned literally thousands of events. Helen is the calm influence in every aspect of our work, in the office, at events and with clients, she is reassuring and experienced. Over the past 30 years Helen has problem solved every possible scenario, counselled couples, worked budgets and remembered every tiny detail in the planning.
Emma Lynch, Events Manager
Emma first started working for White Tie when she was 15 years old as part of the front of house team and has been a staple at the Company ever since. After studying event management and a stint in Melbourne, Emma returned home to family where we were waiting eagerly to shoulder tap her for Georgina's maternity cover. Emma works on all the detail of your event, from conception to fruition and the logistics in between.
Lil Huckle, Food Services Manager
Lil is the lynchpin in our kitchens - maintaining the quality and consistency at all of our production sites. Lil has more than 20 years' experience in food including mentoring at the New Zealand School of Food & Wine. Lil's skills are put to use developing new recipes, working on menu ideas and rolling up her sleeves in the events kitchen on busy days while also managing White Tie's team of 10 permanent chefs and the many more part-time and casual chefs that make up our kitchens. Not to mention the mounds of paperwork that go into running events, corporate commercial contracts, food safety plans and feeding hundreds of people a week...
Stuart Morrison, Head Events Chef
Stuart oversees all of the production at our Gasson St head office kitchen. With more than 30 years in the industry including major hotels (the Savoy among them!), Stuart has run large event and a la carte kitchens throughout the UK and New Zealand. He's a calm, strong influence and unflappable whether he's got one or 15 events on the go.
Peter Young, Operations Manager
Peter is another one of the long-timers. He has been in hospitality since forever, working in restaurants, hotels and at events. Peter is White Tie's back of house guru, his team manages every pack out to and from events, deliveries from Akaroa to Wanaka, the airport and Forte Health hospital. He is our MacGyver, jimmying any emergency measures to save a day.
Abbi Middleton, Koru Performance Manager
Abbi is a White Tie bride who also completed her internship at the Company when finishing off her tertiary studies. She is now our Koru Performance Manager, responsible for White Tie's operations at our Air New Zealand's Koru Lounges in Christchurch. Abbi is a trained chef to boot and can turn her hand to a kitchen or floor service whenever the need arises as well as managing food and service to 15-thousand passengers a week.
The head office & kitchen team
We work hard to bring in the best people who add to our skills and our culture, and our head office & kitchen is a great example of that. George, Chris, Stanley, Eero and Alesi make up the rest of our permanent kitchen team, preparing everything fresh on site from seasonal, local ingredients and to the highest quality expected by our clients. Katie and Lisa round out our stellar head office team managing staff relationships, invoicing and marketing.
Behind the Scenes and Front of House
Our all-important food and service staff! Our function supervisors are your key contact on the day and are hand-picked and developed by us. They work between the kitchen, front of house and you, to oversee a seamless event. The boutique nature of our business means we have personal relationships with every member of our team. Our staff are loyal to our company values, quality of delivery and most importantly, the expectations of our Directors. With White Tie Catering's staff training programmes, your guests will always be greeted with warm smiles and gentle attentive service. Our staff take pride in themselves, in what they do and where they work – we wouldn't have it any other way.
"Your wonderfully pleasant, polite and efficient staff - endless praise from guests. Your staff were so well groomed and made all our guests feel special. Their attentiveness was outstanding and appreciated by everyone." Sally
OUR PROMISE
It comes back to inspiring experiences – we will design and create an event that fits with you, your needs and your ideas. We will remember the small things, take care of the big things and notice everything that needs to be done in between.
All you have to do is turn up...(looking fabulous of course).
It starts with our first contact with you, listening and understanding how to best capture the image of your dream event. That’s when the fun begins.
FOOD: Our food is seasonal and fresh, innovative, consistent with a total focus on quality.
MENU: Our menus are simple and enticing, clean, uncluttered, celebrating the taste of fresh food beautifully cooked; a contemporary approach to traditional cuisine.
SERVICE: Our service is consultative, personal, specialised and appropriate to each event. We anticipate the needs of our clients resulting in a memorable, flawless experience. Our White Tie training sessions ensure attentive yet discreet service, warm and professional staff with a polished edge. We will notice if grandma would prefer a cuppa first before the bubbles kick off, we will have a safety pin out back if your strappy dress breaks or a plaster for the flower girl’s grazed knee.
CREATIVITY: Our creativity is without parallel. We pride ourselves on our ability to think outside the square to transform a successful event into something remarkable. Limitless imagination lets us add those unique touches and having fun with an idea makes it memorable for the guests.
All you have to do is turn up...(looking fabulous of course).
It starts with our first contact with you, listening and understanding how to best capture the image of your dream event. That’s when the fun begins.
FOOD: Our food is seasonal and fresh, innovative, consistent with a total focus on quality.
MENU: Our menus are simple and enticing, clean, uncluttered, celebrating the taste of fresh food beautifully cooked; a contemporary approach to traditional cuisine.
SERVICE: Our service is consultative, personal, specialised and appropriate to each event. We anticipate the needs of our clients resulting in a memorable, flawless experience. Our White Tie training sessions ensure attentive yet discreet service, warm and professional staff with a polished edge. We will notice if grandma would prefer a cuppa first before the bubbles kick off, we will have a safety pin out back if your strappy dress breaks or a plaster for the flower girl’s grazed knee.
CREATIVITY: Our creativity is without parallel. We pride ourselves on our ability to think outside the square to transform a successful event into something remarkable. Limitless imagination lets us add those unique touches and having fun with an idea makes it memorable for the guests.
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