Spring Sheep Milk started with just one farm in 2015 and is now the largest sheep milking group in the Southern Hemisphere with 16 farmer suppliers and over 11,000 Zealandia milking sheep. The business was co-founded by Nick Hammond and earlier this year his friend and fellow UC alumni, James Horrocks joined the team.
The pair were good friends at UC and flatted together in Auckland where James started at Macquarie Group. James went overseas in 2013 and completed his MBA at Oxford University, before moving to Kenya to set up a social enterprise business, Linkage. Following this, he then moved to the UK and spent 6 years at Google in finance, culminating in a global role focused on their long-term planning and capital allocation. After returning to NZ with plenty of offshore experience, he joined the company that his friend and fellow Canterbury alum had started earlier this year.
Spring Sheep Milk won the “best infant nutrition” product at the World Dairy Innovation awards this year and is scaling up its operations, aiming to expand to more than 40,000 sheep within five years. They have also recently been nominated as a finalist in the NZ Food Award’s Business Innovation Award.
Below, James reflects on his time at UC and his journey to where he is today:
What was your motivation for studying both a BA and a BCom?
Reflecting back on my decision, I think I was really looking for two things. The first was practical, commercial experience that I could use as a starting point for a career in business. The second was the pursuit of knowledge and growing academically. The BA and BCom fulfilled both these desires, whether it was debating the existence of free will in philosophy, or trying to wrap my head around monetary policy.
How do you think your time at UC has shaped where you are today?
I think UC had a profound impact on where I am today. My whole life centered around UC from age 18-22 not just academically, but also socially (my wife Izzy is a UC alum as well!). I think UC provided me with a great foundation going into the workforce and then for my MBA at Oxford. I’ve had many of my friends from UC excel in fields across the globe and I think we should all be proud of the quality of education UC delivers.
In the past you have developed a social enterprise in Kenya, as well as holding senior positions at Google in the UK. What did you enjoy most about these roles?
The social enterprise was an incredible adventure, working in rural Kenya with small hold farmers to increase their access to markets. I think I really enjoyed the autonomy, as well as the sense of purpose that comes with building something with a positive mission. Google was a fantastic place to learn and grow, and I really valued the focus on personal development. The content of the work was really interesting too - in my last role there, I got to advise on Google's allocation of capital across the entire business which was fascinating given the scale and growth.
You and Nick Hammond (Spring Sheep Co-Founder and CEO) met while studying at UC. Your new role as CFO at Spring Sheep sees you working together. How are you finding the role so far?
I’m really enjoying the journey so far. Nick and the team have done an incredible job of building the company and have created an amazing culture. There’s a huge opportunity in front of us to take New Zealand sheep milk to the world and to create a sustainable, high growth industry for the country. It’s been amazing to link up with Nick - you never know where the friendships you make at university might lead one day!
If you could give one piece of advice to current UC students, what would it be?
I think it’s important to take advantage of all the amazing things on offer outside of the classroom. Whether that’s playing sport or participating in the student societies or spending time building quality friendships. There aren’t many other times in your life when you can experiment and try new things easily, so really seize the moment.
What do the next 10 years hold for you?
The immediate focus is to grow Spring Sheep and build a high value New Zealand dairy sheep industry which could easily be the next 10 years! For me, I think the challenge is balancing career with family life. We’ve got three young children and my wife Izzy also has big career aspirations in the social sector, so the next ten years is going to be full on to say the least!