Laurie Stevens

Sir Laurence Houghton Stevens (9 January 1920 – 28 September 2006) was a New Zealand accountant and industrialist.

Early life and family Born in Auckland on 9 January 1920, Stevens was educated at Auckland Grammar School. He went on to study at Auckland University College, graduating with a Bachelor of Commerce in 1949, and qualify as a chartered accountant.

During World War II, Stevens served with the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force in Italy and the Middle East. On 28 August 1943, he married Beryl Joyce Dickson at St Andrew's Church, Epsom, and the couple went on to have three children, including Court of Appeal judge and Queen's Counsel Lyn Stevens.

Career Stevens began working for Auckland Knitting Mills Limited in 1946, becoming secretary in 1948, manager in 1952 and managing director from 1962 until his retirement in 1980.

A staunch advocate for free trade, Stevens helped to persuade New Zealand manufacturers to accept the New Zealand Australia Free Trade Agreement in 1965, and later was closely involved in negotiations leading to the Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement between New Zealand and Australia in 1983. and in the 1983 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was made a Knight Bachelor, for services to the textile industry and export. He was inducted into the New Zealand Business Hall of Fame in 1999. Beryl, Lady Stevens, died in 2010.