Lloyd Budd lives the Keystone story – in every sense.
Be it trust, business, or family matters, he’s had a hand in it. And now Lloyd has added another string to his bow: he’s joining the Keystone Trust board following the retirement of long-term trustee Mike Bayley.
Lloyd, a Keystone recipient of 2001, is now CEO for Bayleys Auckland. It is the only company in NZ he has ever worked for. Bayleys has been a sponsor of the trust since its beginning, and until Mike Bayley’s retirement, there’s always been a Bayley on the trust board.
Mike is one of two key people 
in Lloyd’s Keystone journey who he wants to salute at the start of this story. “I want to acknowledge and appreciate Mike and the role he’s played as a trustee for the last 22 years.” Binty Bringans – who is responsible for establishing the trust in her late husband Graeme’s name is the other. “I owe a world of respect to these two rockstars,” says Lloyd. “If it hadn’t been for Keystone, I wouldn’t be here today.”
His “awesome” mother Jan Walters also deserves special recognition. Her support goes beyond maternal matters: she too has worked for Bayleys, and in fact worked for her son when, in 2006, at the age of 25 he bought a 45 per cent shareholding in the firm’s Northland franchise.
The way he sees it, there have been a few ‘sliding door moments’ in his life that have led him to where he is now. There was the moment when he decided to switch from a planned marketing career to real estate in order to apply for a [property-related] Keystone scholarship. “The decision was purely financially motivated. It was more money than I’d ever seen.” But once he became a Keystone scholar, he realised the money was the least important factor; it was the mentoring and contact-building that was the enduring and vital factor, Lloyd says.
Then there was another sliding door moment – the one when he took a mate of his, Andrew Sharp, to a Keystone networking function One of that year’s scholars was Simone Sharp – now a trustee. “They met at that function and went on to get married and have two awesome boys – George & Matt.
“The ‘people’ side of things is really important to me. The fact I’ll be joining Simone on the trust is really something,” says Lloyd.
It pays to be in the know. Lloyd has used his real estate skills to the benefit of Keystone. Some examples: Lloyd has been actively involved with the selection of the Bayleys key partner scholarship recipient along with his colleague Stuart Bent. He has also hosted a sponsor
showcase for the Auckland-based students giving them insights to his career path and to the breadth of work Bayleys is involved with. In 2022, he was MC for the trusts’s awards evening. And he’s played an important role as a spotter for bidders at various rugby lunches. That’s no easy task, says Keystone general manager Amanda Stanes, who describes Lloyd as: “a larger-than-life character and a real asset to the trust”. As for Lloyd, he is very excited to be taking this next step. “To be able to develop from a young Palmerston North boy, who knew nothing about real estate, to where I am today is incredible. I feel very privileged to be in a position now to be able to give back.”
