A serial entrepreneur currently owning and operating the biggest childcare organisation in the country – to some, it was no surprise that Wayne Wright was named Ernest and Young's Master Entrepreneur at their Entrepreneur of the Year competition.

That is, except, the man himself.

Wayne and Chloe Wright. Photo: Supplied.

'I was a bit taken aback,” says the 69-year-old. 'There was some pretty stiff competition there.”

The founder of KidiCorp, now renamed Best Start Educare, has been chosen from 17 overall finalists as one of five category finalists.

The New Zealand winner will be announced this month in Auckland, with that entrepreneur heading to Monaco for five-to-six days next year for a chance to represent the nation in the international finals.

Looking back at his distinguished career, having been the founder and owner of seven national and international businesses throughout his life, Wayne never imagined he'd be where he is today.

'I never think that far ahead – I just go with the flow,” admits Wayne.

'All this has happened as a result of talking to people and seeing an opportunity. Most of the businesses I have run, everyone else has done too – I've just done them a little differently.”

Born in Christchurch and raised in Dunedin, Wayne came from humble beginnings and grew up in a time when only 7 per cent of high school students went on to University – the privileged few whose parents could afford the luxury.

'I didn't fit the criteria,” he says. 'And I was too enthusiastic to settle down. I was into sport and Boy Scouts and all sorts, putting my energy into other things more than study.”

He started 'mowing lawns and shovelling coal in the winter to pay my way”, working his way up to his first business in retaining walls, where he saw an opportunity.

'At that time, no-one else made the concrete blocks, built the walls and had engineers design the walls to provide a package solution both here and the US – businesses had several people do each component of it.

'I looked for ways to do things better, mainly from a customer's point of view and develop a reputation for quality. It's a process I applied throughout my other businesses.”

He went on to found and own a kiwifruit orchard development business, a US-based enterprise of his New Zealand retaining wall operation employing 1000 staff with nine plants in US and Mexico, and a VOIP telecommunications venture going up against ICT ‘heavyweight' Bell South at the time.

But early childhood education has also been a huge passion of both Wayne and his wife Chloe.

KidiCorp, which started on Waihi Road, has recently been made into a charitable trust. With 260 centres around the country, they influence 20,000 children on a daily basis. He's also behind the scenes in Chloe's organisation, the Birthing Centre in Bethlehem.

'If you spend any time in that sector and see the difference a qualified, passionate, compassionate teacher can make on a child and their immediate family, you would be involved too,” he says.

'It's the most satisfying thing I have ever done in my life.”