Ben Gracewood joins Fergus as VP of engineering in Auckland

Fergus has announced the appointment of Ben Gracewood as the new Vice President of Engineering, stationed in Auckland.

In this newly created role, Gracewood will lead the engineering team in further developing Fergus's cloud-based job management software tailored for trades businesses, including plumbers and electricians, to enhance automation and efficiency.

Mark Bartels, Chief Executive Officer of Fergus, commented, "Ben is a highly respected figure in the New Zealand tech community. He will be a tremendous asset to our amazing engineering team and a strong partner for us at Fergus. We have found an engineering leader who not only understands the complexities of SaaS and marketplace payments platforms but also shares our commitment to customer success and product innovation."

Gracewood brings over twenty years of experience in solutions architecture and systems engineering to Fergus. His career spans various roles in companies ranging from start-ups to multinational enterprises.

He has contributed significantly to the growth of companies such as the AI platform Kolatr within the fashion retail sector, as well as holding a pivotal role at Westpac as Chief Experience Officer – Experience Engineering.

Gracewood's previous experience also includes a seven-year tenure at Vend, where he held senior roles, including Chief Delivery Officer and Chief Engineering Officer. There, he established a globally-standardised engineering team that played a part in Vend's NZD $500 million exit.

Reflecting on his new role, Ben Gracewood stated, "Fergus has consistently set the benchmark for delivering software that solves everyday business challenges for tradies fundamentally transforming processes and unlocking efficiencies through automation and data insight. Joining Fergus as Vice President of Engineering gives me an incredible opportunity to build on that foundation and positively impact the company's technology offering into the future. I look forward to continuing to enhance Fergus' solutions and to accelerate our ability to scale and continuously deliver customer value."

Fergus, founded in 2012, provides solutions aimed at helping over 21,000 tradespeople worldwide. These include tools for quoting, scheduling, invoicing, and workforce tracking, with integrations for accounting platforms like Xero, MYOB, and QuickBooks.

In addition to Gracewood's appointment, Fergus recently named Christina Knock as Vice President of Marketing and Adam Maddox as Head of Product. These roles are seen as pivotal for the company's growth strategy under CEO Mark Bartels, who began leading the company in August 2024.

Knock, Maddox, and Gracewood are all tasked with scaling go-to-market teams and enhancing small business support through Fergus's platforms.

Howard Leibman, Director at Fergus and Partner at EVP, a Sydney-based software investment firm, expressed enthusiasm, "We are incredibly excited to welcome Ben to Fergus. Ben's experience in leading successful engineering teams through periods of transformation will be immensely valuable to Fergus as we accelerate our growth across New Zealand, Australia and the UK."