Kirk Hope has been appointed Chief Executive of the business advocacy group BusinessNZ, replacing Phil O'Reilly.

Mr Hope is currently Chief Executive of the NZ Bankers' Association. 

Holding an LLM, Mr Hope has been admitted as a barrister and solicitor and has practised as a lawyer. He was formerly Executive Director of the Financial Services Federation and a member of the New Zealand Law Society's Commercial and Business Law Committee.

Mr Hope takes up his role at BusinessNZ in February 2016.