Stuart has been in public practice since 1989. Having spent five years with Deloitte in Wellington and London he settled in Hawkes Bay in 1982. He became a partner of Dent Robertson & Partners, which merged to form Baker Tilly Staples Rodway Hawkes Bay Ltd in 2006.

He holds several other directorships outside of the firm and is a member of the New Zealand Institute of Directors. He also acts for several charitable trusts in trustee and/or secretarial capacities, giving him wide experience in corporate governance practices.

Stuart specialises in providing audit and assurance related services and heads the firm's specialist audit team - one of the largest in Hawke's Bay. He has extensive audit experience with over 30 years operating in this specialisation of the profession.