Who Are We

Our People

White Tie Catering’s team consists of people who feel personal reward and satisfaction putting together the South Island’s most stylish and creative events. We all love that you trust us to make yours a special event.

Whether your next event is an impressive corporate lunch, a gilded cocktail party, an elegant formal dinner or your dream wedding, we have the expertise within our catering and event management team.

Tina Duncan Owner

Tina has been living and breathing food and entertaining since she was a child; perfect batches of scones at age seven and dinner parties at age 12. Tina and her sisters spent weekends concocting lavish dinner parties - now her passion is her career. Highly regarded as a food stylist and in demand as a guest chef at the country’s cooking schools, Tina was also a founding director of Savour New Zealand, a prestigious culinary event. She is food editor of Simply You Living magazine and is a regular contributor on Newstalk ZB’s Kerre’s Café with Kerre Woodham. Tina’s own boutique cooking school, Deux Tartes and her online blog give her much-needed forums in which she shares and indulges in all things culinary.

Most importantly, Tina’s discerning and creative eye dictates White Tie’s quality control and standards. For a Dunedin wedding, Tina spent the night before in Oamaru to ensure she got the best picks from the first potato dig the following morning. They really were excellent potatoes...and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

With this finger on the pulse of industry developments and standards, Tina is best equipped to make your event stand out from the rest.

Grant Duncan Owner

Grant is our operations guru and “all round good guy”! He oversees the whole operation, ensuring the marquee is pitched in the right place, all staff arrive smiling and in the correct uniforms to the right venue, right through to making sure the fairy lights work. Grant has been with White Tie for nine years, bringing 20 years of corporate, commercial experience and more than 30 years as a self-employed operator. His ability to engage with staff is second-to-none and results in a stable, loyal, committed workforce.

His staff adore him which probably has something to do with ‘the flat white run’ at three in the morning when they’re just starting to fade...

Katie Duncan General Manager

Katie spent her teenage years working front of house at White Tie while completing tertiary studies. With experience in writing, communications, brand development and project management, Katie is the strategic brain. Working with the team to ensure all elements of operations are true to the White Tie style, Katie is helping to further develop the Company. That’s not to say you won’t occasionally find her working the floor or donning a chef’s jacket...

Helen Harrowfield Events

Helen is our anchor! With more than 20 years at White Tie Catering, there is nothing about organising an event that Helen can’t deal with. You really are in safe hands. Each event begins with a “vision”, but the true success is in the details, and this is when Helen’s experience and total focus on detail is so valuable. Helen is the soothing, calming influence as your event draws near.

Georgina Duncan Client Services

George has worked on and off at White Tie Catering since she was 15 years old.  That's what happens in a family business!  George is now responsible for all sales and client contact at White Tie, meeting with you to discuss your initial plans and put everything together.  George has been to more weddings than she's had hot dinners and after years supervising events, is uniquely placed to help you consider all possibilities. 

Glenda Mitchell Team Performance

Glenda has a background in hospitality management and has been our frontline ambassador in Client Services for the past two years. Glenda now monitors all our staff and their performance to make sure they remain the best in the business.  Working between head office, Air New Zealand Koru lounges and various White Tie events, Glenda is the queen of staff welfare.  Sometimes it means a coffee run, organising a massage or being a shoulder to cry on but mostly it means enhancing the culture that makes White Tie so special.

The head office & kitchen team Michelle, Nicola, Peter, Jen, George, Kathryn

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.  Michelle runs our office completely, as Business Manager she has eyes on our books and keeps everything ticking over.  Nicola (another daughter!) works on the business side as well, often with one or both of her littleuns kicking around the office with us.  We're grooming them for 3rd generation take over.  Peter is our man who makes sure everything gets done, he's been around forever (like Helen!) and puts together the back end of every event White Tie does.  He's most loved however for turning up with cold drinks to a marquee on a stinking hot day, or a pot of tea for a stressed out kitchen.  Peter's one of those keep everyone together people and we love him for it.  Jen is our testing and development chef, she works with Tina to develop new food and recipes constantly.  Famous for losing sleep over food ideas and pastry cream... George and Kathryn make up the rest of our permanent kitchen team at base, preparing everything fresh on site and keeping our food to the high quality expected by our clients.

Our all important office, food and service staff!

Our full-time chefs are constantly learning and growing, they also enjoy an environment giving them freedom to create, contribute and explore. They make sure every plate leaves the kitchen looking fit for a photo.

Our function supervisors are your key contact on the day and are hand-picked and developed by Grant and Glenda. 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 so special. Their attentiveness was outstanding and appreciated by everyone.” Sally

Get a taste of the White Tie experience and Our Promise To You