Jon Brough

Jon Brough

Business Coach & Strategic Advisor

About

With 40 years of experience spanning agriculture, horticulture, seafood, meat, apiculture, food processing, retail, regional development, industry associations and business mentoring, Jon has consulted and led teams in NZ corporates, SMEs, startups and turnaround organisations. His senior roles have covered Operations, Sales & Marketing, Finance, Strategic Planning, General Management and CEO. As Managing Director of his own contract management company for 20 years, he has delivered measurable results in diverse settings.

Jon holds a BSc (Hons) and an MBA from the University of Otago. He has lived and worked in eight countries, bringing a global perspective to local challenges. His philosophy is simple: "People and teams are the foundation, backed by robust systems and clear communication. When a company masters its financial data and processes, sound decisions follow and both owners and leaders achieve a healthy life balance."

Jon wants to meet with you to deeply understand your business and your personal goals, and offer his time to coach you and enhance your skill levels in areas where you acknowledge you need some assistance. See it as a hand up so that you develop a heightened skill base to manage your own business to achieve your chosen goals.

Business Details
Legal Business NameMiddle Earth Foods Limited
Trading NameMiddle Earth Foods
NZBN9429034506028
Address434 Oruru Road, Taipa 0483
RegionNorthland
IRD Number091 979 314

Experience Providing Training

Professional Experience

Business Mentors New Zealand

2026

Appointed as a Business Mentor, Northland region, to assist SME businesses with specific training requirements across a range of business competencies.

Business Advisory Partner – Strategize Limited

2024 – 2025

Advises clients across a range of sectors, applying proven frameworks and my own experience, for strategic planning, business management, financial structure, cash flow management, risk analysis, sales & marketing, process improvement, margin analysis and growth, team development and operations optimisation.

Managing Director – Middle Earth Foods Limited

2003 – 2024

My own Business Consultancy company focussed on 12–18-month contractual roles in significant re-construction of medium sized business entities. A strong emphasis on developing capability for growth into domestic and export markets.

Senior Executive Roles – Various Companies and Corporations

1990 – 2003

Held CEO, General Management, Strategic Planning, Operations, Finance, and Sales & Marketing positions across a range of New Zealand businesses.

Education

BSc (Hons) – University of Otago

1991

Marine Biology

MBA – University of Otago

1995

Specialisation: Finance & Strategic Management

Core Competencies
Services

Jon partners with businesses to:

Testimonials

We have been extremely fortunate to ‘find’ Jon at a time when we desperately needed guidance on how to move our business forward.

He has been providing great support and valuable advice in setting goals within a structured, achievable framework. We can highly recommend Jon as a business coach.

Steve’s Takeaways Limited

Jon has been our Business Coach for several months now and has coached us through a tricky period of divestment from a Joint Venture company and focussing on our core business.

He is coaching us in strategic planning, analysing risk and general business administration to strengthen our own capability level to become successful.

We are happy to recommend Jon as a Business Coach and Advisor.

Safe Access Scaffolding Ltd

Jon has been working with us on restructuring our business after a separation of partners. He has been teaching us how to create and implement a focussed business plan that aligns key staff members on achieving their delegated goals as part of the 3-year plan.

We have also learnt a better style of marketing and sales communication and that is having its rewards. We are more than happy to endorse Jon’s capabilities as a Business Coach.

Advanced Waste Water Systems Ltd

Jon has taught us the importance of having a Strategic Plan that is created by the whole team and reviewed on a regular basis.

This has moved us into a more effective organisational structure and growth into a new region in the North Island.

The company is now resourced and highly capable of achieving its growth plans.

Northland Underground Drilling / Enviroworks

We engaged with Jon to better understand how we could progress our business. Since then, we have gained confidence in clarifying our goals and resourcing our structure to execute our goals of growth in Northland.

Jon is a coach and advisor and works with us to ensure we have thought through the issues and focussed on the best outcomes at least risk.

We are happy to recommend Jon as a Business Coach and Advisor.

Northland Power Services

We have been working with Jon to understand how to rationalise our investment in two separate entities, obtain clarity in our direction and make decisions that we can move forward with and manage on our own account. We are succeeding.

Jon has nurtured and assisted us in our processes, both strategic and at a personal level to better understand our business and what we want personally from our business.

We have no hesitation in recommending Jon for his ability to understand the personal link to a business and how to connect it to success.

GD Roofing & Cladding

Over the past five months, I’ve had the pleasure of working alongside Jon to develop and refine a relevant client database, helping Morgan Engineering build market awareness and generate a stronger pipeline of opportunities.

Throughout this time, Jon has consistently gone above and beyond the scope of our partnership. His commitment, initiative, and genuine focus on Morgan Engineering’s success are evident in everything he does.

Thank you, Jon, for the energy, professionalism, and focus you bring every week to help us achieve our goals.

Morgan Engineering

We have been working with Jon Brough as a business mentor and adviser for Sinbad Sesame Limited, trading as Simsim Tahini. Jon has supported us throughout the development and growth of our tahini business, particularly with strategic planning, pricing strategy, supermarket approach, and business development.

One of Jon’s strengths is his ability to simplify problems and help us find practical solutions. He is always very responsive and available when we need support and often brings new ideas and different ways of approaching a challenge.

His coaching style is positive and motivating. Rather than focusing on what has gone wrong, Jon helps us look at the options, learn from the situation, and keep moving the business forward. We have found his advice, strategic thinking, and ongoing coaching very valuable in developing Simsim Tahini and planning our next stage of growth.

Sinbad Sesame Limited (Trading as Simsim Tahini)

Working with Jon has been a valuable experience for our business. His knowledge, practical approach and ability to see the bigger picture have helped us gain clarity and direction.

Through strategic planning and coaching, Jon has supported us to better understand our business, identify opportunities and make more confident decisions. He brings a genuine passion for helping businesses grow and is someone you can trust to challenge your thinking while keeping you focused on what matters.

I would highly recommend Jon to any business owner looking for practical guidance, strategic planning and coaching to help take their business to the next level.

Nourished

Contact

Email: jon@middleearthfoods.co.nz

Phone: +64 27 648 2479