Bank accounts frozen as Wilson Parking claims rival stole company secrets

Monday, 15 June 2026

Wilson Parking has succeeded in getting a rival’s wife’s bank account frozen as it argues it is the rightful owner of all assets, leases and profits Mainland Parking accumulated.

Peter Turner, once Wilson Parking’s head of South Island operations, has been accused of stealing highly confidential information and using it to start his Mainland Parking company in Christchurch.

Wilson Parking alleges several contract breaches, and also that Turner, alongside an unnamed senior executive, began sabotaging contracts and plotting to steal clients before he resigned from Wilson Parking in late 2023.

Peter Turner, owner-operator of Mainland Parking, left, and his wife Gaynor Turner, right, arriving at the Employment Court on Monday for the start of a four-week trial.

The matter has reached the Employment Court, where a four-week trial started in Christchurch on Monday. As Employment Court proceedings begin with the plaintiff and its evidence, the court may not hear Turner’s side of the story for weeks.

On Monday, Wilson’s lawyer Rachael Reed, KC, revealed new evidence which she claimed proved Turner had constructed “a ruse to hide Mainland profits” in the months ahead of the trial.

A property in Marshland owned by Peter Turner, owner-operator of Mainland Parking. The Employment Court has heard claims it was partially paid for by money which was subject to a freezing order.

She told Judge Helen Doyle that TPM Holdings Ltd, which is not publicly linked to Turner, was his secret second car parking company.

That company, incorporated in December 2025, now had numerous car parking contracts hidden from the court’s view, Wilson alleged, including one that used to be managed by Mainland Parking.

Reed argued it proved Turner was trying to get around a freezing order, which was meant to prevent disposal of assets ahead of the trial.

Turner has admitted destroying a “burner phone” despite a legal notice requesting all evidence be kept.

Mainland’s lawyer Glenn Jones said they refuted the accusation Turner had breached the court’s order.

Speaking about a paper trail of communications with Turner and the public facing director of TPM Holdings Ltd, accountant Martin Welsford, Reed said evidence showed Turner was actually “the directing and controlling mind” of the new company.

At one point, Welsford in writing referred to it as “your [Turner’s] future car parking business”, she said.

Emily van Velthooven, communications manager for Wilson Parking, arrives at the Employment Court on Monday.

The company was owned by a trust, but the sole beneficiary was Turner’s wife Gaynor Turner, Reed said.

The involvement of Turner’s wife in transactions has resulted in an urgent application to the court to freeze both her and TPM Holdings’ bank accounts.

The move was described as “draconian” by Mainland’s lawyers and initially the judge herself, but, after hearing Wilson’s case, she agreed to interim freezing orders.

The court heard about large transactions from Mainland Parking to Turner amounting to almost $860,000 over several months. Since April, Reed said, an expert found the Turners were drawing an average of $25,000 a week.

A Mainland Parking site on Armagh St in Christchurch. The company has emerged as a rival to Wilson Parking.

Two transactions from a Mainland account, amounting to $165,000, were recorded with Gaynor Turner’s name and the address of a $1.65 million home the Turners settled in April 2026. Reed argued this aligned with a 10% house deposit.

Wilson Parking New Zealand chief executive Ryan Orchard outside the court in Christchurch during a previous hearing in September last year.

She alleged it showed Turner was spending money which otherwise should be frozen “in a determined way”.

The trial has been over a year in the making. According to earlier legal documents, Wilson is seeking about $25m worth of remedies from Mainland Parking and Turner.

On Monday, Reed said proprietary remedies were the priority. That could look like Wilson getting shares in Mainland Parking or otherwise seeing car park contracts return to Wilson, which, Reed argued, would have been Wilson’s had it not been for Turner’s alleged illicit behaviour.

A number of facts have been agreed by the parties ahead of the trial, including, Reed said, that Turner destroyed a “burner phone” after Wilson served legal letters and explicitly instructed him to keep evidence.

The trial continues on Tuesday, with Wilson Parking New Zealand chief executive Ryan Orchard expected to give evidence.