Bronwen Holdsworth

Dame Bronwen Scott Holdsworth (née Pearson; born 13 September 1942) is a New Zealand businesswoman and arts patron from Gisborne, New Zealand.

Private life Bronwen Scott Pearson was born in Wellington, New Zealand, in 1942. She received her secondary education at Samuel Marsden Collegiate School.

Her parents, Tom and Ngara Pearson, moved to Gisborne in 1960 where her father was the vicar of the Holy Trinity parish. She remained in Wellington to study English, music, politics and philosophy at Victoria University of Wellington.

She continued her association with Gisborne even after her parents had moved on and in 1966, she met local farmer and engineer Peter Holdsworth just before she was posted to Malaysia with the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs diplomatic service. She returned to New Zealand in 1969 and Peter Holdsworth and Bronwen Pearson married in 1970. Since their marriage, they have lived in Te Karaka near Gisborne, initially running the Holdsworth family farm. They have four children, Dr Katharine Holdsworth, Jasper Holdsworth, Dr Samantha Holdsworth, and Zak Holdsworth, all of whom have studied engineering before branching out into other disciplines/entrepreneurial businesses. Bronwen is a keen musician and accomplished pianist.

Pultron is a leader in the research, development and manufacturing of high-performance glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) pultrusions. Pultron concentrates on innovation and R&D, and has developed more than 45 new specialist GFRP structural products for marine, mining, infrastructure, electrical, agriculture and recreation applications – including Mateenbar™, Pultron’s proprietary composite rebar. (http://www.mateenbar.com)

As of 2015, Dame Bronwen is finance director and chairman of the Holdsworth Group, which includes interests in farming, forestry, property, investment, and manufacturing under the banner of Pultron Composites. having originally been on the NZSO Board between 1996 and 2000.

Honours and awards In 1988, Holdsworth was chosen as Businesswoman of the Year in a competition sponsored by the New Zealand women's magazine More. In the 1997 New Year Honours, she was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to business, art and the community. When Marsden School introduced its Hall of Fame in 2007, Holdsworth was the inaugural laureate. In the 2015 Queen's Birthday Honours, she was appointed a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to business and the arts. In 2019, she was inducted into the New Zealand Hall of Fame for Women Entrepreneurs.