Project Manager,
Problem solver
& business mentor

Carlos Nicholls gets things done - the hard things, the complex things, the things others walk away from.
Bringing the rare combination of boardroom discipline, on-the-ground grit, and genuine human investment, you can trust me to deliver.

Carlos Nicholls

Hello.

I’ve spent nearly two decades building businesses, delivering capital programmes, and helping owners make their hardest decisions. If you’re facing something complex - in property, in business, or in a programme that’s gone sideways, I’ll bring a fresh perspective to help you get clarity and results.

Learn More
A smiling man with glasses, facial hair, and short light hair, wearing a patterned jacket over a dark shirt, standing outdoors.

Clarity. momentum. results.

  • Combined value of development programmes led across residential, commercial and subdivision.

  • running New Zealand’s largest Fonterra franchise, with 80% marketshare and multiple Franchisee of the Year awards.

  • Equally at home in a funding negotiation or onsite with a contractor. No delegation without understanding.

  • New Zealand representative across three sports including Xterra World Championships – discipline that carries into every project.

Where I can help.

  • Project/Programme Project Management

    Project & programme management

    For organisations and developers who need a senior leader to own delivery from end to end.

    • Capital-intensive programmes from $20m to $50m+

    • Feasibility, consenting, procurement, and construction management

    • Funding structuring across senior debt, mezzanine, and equity

    • Lender engagement, drawdown sequencing, and cost control

    • Contractor and consultant leadership

    • Stakeholder management: Crown, iwi, council, and private

  • Problem Solving & Recovery

    Problem Solving & Recovery

    For programmes that have stalled, gone over budget, or lost direction. I come in, assess what’s actually happening, and build a path forward.

    • Programme recovery and risk mitigation

    • Procurement strategy and international sourcing

    • Contractor relationship management

    • Cost and schedule re-forecasting

  • Business Mentoring

    Business Mentoring

    For business owners facing a critical decision—grow, restructure, sell, or start again. I work in results-focused engagements, not open-ended retainers.

    • Business model and cost structure review

    • Revenue consolidation and margin optimisation

    • Decision-making frameworks for high-stakes moments

    • Accountability and follow-through

Case Studies

  • My Food Bag - Chilled Delivery Network National Rollout

    My Food Bag Chilled Delivery Network National Rollout

    Carlos led Fonterra’s new chilled delivery network across 30 franchisees nationally. A complex logistics and negotiation challenge executed under a tight timeline.

  • Bennett's Road Subdivision (~$50m)

    Bennett's Road Subdivision - Rotorua

    ~$50m multi-stage subdivision with live dewatering, carriageway constraints, and complex staging. Maintained cost discipline under challenging ground conditions throughout.

  • National Bank of Samoa HQ

    National Bank of Samoa HQ

    Strategic advisory, offshore procurement (China sourcing), lender engagement, and drawdown sequencing for a South Pacific commercial headquarters. ~$24m.

  • Hairdresser

    OM Hairdressers

    Business Mentoring. Carlos reviewed the cost structure, helping transition to the rent-a-chair model. Within a 12 months the business generated profit for the first time in 13 years. The owner chose to keep the business rather than close the doors. This is what mentoring looks like.

  • Crescendo Trust

    Crescendo Trust

    Facilitated relationship between Eke Panuku, a social enterprise, iwi, and a creative studio. Now a board member. Community, commerce, and culture in one project.

  • Xterra World Championships

    Xterra World Championships

    Represented New Zealand in Maui, Hawaii. A personal story of discipline, resilience, and what it means to compete at the highest level.

A man with glasses, a beard, and short hair is leaning on a railing, looking down. He is wearing a polka dot blazer over a black shirt, and a necklace with a skull pendant. The image is in black and white and has a plain white background.

Ready to get started?

Whether it's a complex project, a programme in trouble, or a business at a crossroads - I bring the clarity, strategy, and experience to move things forward. Let's talk about where you are and where you need to be.

Let's Talk.

What clients say

  • Fonterra I My Food Bag

    Carlos led negotiations on Fonterra's side during the rollout of My Food Bag's chilled delivery network, which scaled to around 3,000 deliveries a week nationally. He worked through the commercial terms, then went further and personally implemented the new processes across 30 franchisees — depot logistics, driver training, the lot. It was a genuinely complex operational rollout, and Carlos saw it through end to end, then handed it over cleanly to our account manager. Reliable, thorough, and easy to work with.

    Richard Wafer - Co-Founder & CEO
    MyAutoShop

  • OM Hair

    Carlos worked with me as a business mentor when I was deciding whether to sell my hairdressing business or keep investing in it. He took the time to properly understand our cost structure and helped me see that our wage model wasn't sustainable against our sales. Moving to a rent-a-chair model, on his recommendation, changed everything — within a year we posted our first profit in 13 years.  Carlos combines commercial rigour with genuine care for the people he's advising. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend him.

    Maria I Owner Operator

  • National Bank of Samoa

    Carlos served as our key adviser on the National Bank of Samoa’s South Pacific Headquarters project. He brought the commercial discipline, technical coordination and hands-on delivery capability needed to make a highly complex programme manageable.

    He worked effectively across the full project environment - supporting board-level decision-making, coordinating specialist advisers, managing procurement and resolving practical delivery issues on the ground. His ability to move confidently between strategy, governance and execution was particularly valuable and helped maintain momentum through the challenges of delivering a major construction project in the Pacific.

    Carlos is commercially astute, pragmatic and accountable.
    I would have no hesitation working with him again.


    Sam Swann | Chief Executive Officer