Waikato Business News June/July 2017

JUNE/JULY 2017 VOLUME 25: ISSUE 6 WWW.WBN.CO.NZ FACEBOOK.COM/WAIKATOBUSINESSNEWS 

Sevens success 

‘just the start’ 

Dallas Fisher who brought the Sevens 

to Hamilton is poised to attract more 

big events to Waikato. P3 

Hamilton Club 

Club’s closure windfall 

for city 

P5 

Gardens Café 

Dramatic transformation 

under new owners 

P16 

Innovation Park 

Waikato Innovation Park 

continues to grow 

P25

2 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS June/July 2017 

These days it’s 

hard to know 

where you 

should go to 

have orthodontic 

treatment. 

There are only five specialist Orthodontists 

in Hamilton who are experts in their field 

and dedicated to transforming crooked 

teeth into beautiful healthy smiles. 

Mark Ewing and Andrew Quick are two 

of Hamilton’s most experienced and wellregarded 

orthodontists, with a wealth of 

expertise in solving orthodontic problems. 

Mark gained his postgraduate orthodontic 

qualification at the Eastman School of 

Dentistry in Rochester, New York. Mark is 

also the consulting orthodontist for the 

Waikato Hospital’s cleft palate team. 

Originally from Zimbabwe, Andrew is 

a well-respected and widely published 

researcher in the field of medical biochemistry 

and dental research. Andrew 

has achieved a PhD in Orthodontics 

from the University of Otago. 

Orthodontics is always innovating, 

and Mark and Andrew keep up with the 

changes. Hamilton Orthodontic patients 

receive the most comfortable and discreet 

braces and aligners available. The clinic 

looks after people of all ages with private 

consult rooms also available, and treatment 

is complimented with the provision 

of an onsite oral hygienist service. 

The clinic is a relaxed, friendly practice 

that is light and bright. It was purposebuilt 

in 2015 and features a unique 

and welcoming waiting area, great 

art and plenty of off street parking. 

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Hamilton Orthodontics believes in 

supporting the community and sponsor 

custom made mouth guards for sports 

teams at several local schools. Having 

quality mouth guards that fit properly 

helps students protect their teeth and 

avoid concussion while playing team 

sports — particularly rugby and hockey. 

They are also proud supporters of the 

Wish for a Smile Trust. The Trust was 

formed in 2012 by the New Zealand 

Association of Orthodontists to provide 

treatment to selected children from 

our community who, due to financial 

hardship, can’t access orthodontic care. 

With children of their own who have 

needed treatment, both Mark and 

Andrew know how a great smile can 

increase self-confidence and help 

protect the life of your teeth. 

10687209AA 

For more information: 07 839 5870 

17 Pembroke St / Hamilton 

hamiltonorthodontics.co.nz 

Hamilton 

Orthodontics 

Specialist 

Orthodontic 

Practice 

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WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS June/July 2017 

3 

Sevens success ‘just the start’ 

The phone call came just one day after 

the announcement Hamilton had won the 

Sevens rugby tournament. Dallas Fisher 

said to himself, “it’s begun”. 

By ANDREA FOX 

Calling him was a major 

concert promoter wanting 

to talk about holding 

a big concert at the FMG 

Stadium Waikato. Exactly the 

sort of inquiry for which Dallas 

had planned when he came 

up with the idea of 37 South, 

the new company on a mission 

to propel Waikato from 

regional events player into 

the big entertainment league - 

without risk to ratepayers. 

“It’s easy to get 

over-focused on the Sevens, 

this is a much bigger strategy. 

My job with the group I’ve 

put together is to go out and 

hunt down big events,” says 

Dallas between back-to-back 

meetings at the Claudelands 

Event Centre headquarters 

of Montana Catering, the 

heavyweight events service 

provider of which he is a 

major shareholder. 

The place is hopping. In 

a few days Dallas will lead a 

massive planning session for 

the Sevens, just seven months 

away on the first weekend in 

February. 37 South, in partnership 

with the New Zealand 

Rugby Union, secured for 

Hamilton the 2018 and 2019 

legs of the World Rugby Sevens 

series. 

Dallas may have his eye 

on a bigger picture but this is 

Waikato’s big chance to show 

off its events capability muscle. 

The pressure is on to deliver 

a great experience. 

Why? Because successful 

events produce revenue and 

prestige, which creates jobs 

and fires up the local economy. 

The bigger the success, 

the bigger the rewards for the 

host region. 

But how can Hamilton 

have any show of pulling off 

a stunning Sevens when the 

Capital City’s effort died a 

slow and miserable death? 

For a bunch of reasons, 

says Dallas, starting with the 

fact that Wellington’s rugby 

stadium, aka The Cake Tin, is 

a circle with one entry. Hamilton’s 

has four sides and four 

entries. 

In a round stadium with 

one entrance, they couldn’t 

successfully separate the 

vastly different Sevens audiences. 

Primary school children 

mixed it with F-bomb 

dropping drinkers out to party 

hard. 

The potential excitement 

of the sport of Sevens hasn’t 

died, the venue strangled 

it, says Dallas, chairman 

of the Chiefs and Waikato 

Means Business, an accountant-turned-entrepreneur 

businessman 

whose commercial 

experience takes up several 

pages of the Companies Office 

register. 

Stadium will be divided up 

Capacity at the FMG stadium 

will be set at 23,000. (Wellington 

was 35,000). The 

Hamilton venue will be divided 

into four territories accessed 

by appropriate tickets. 

The WEL stand will be an R18 

party and super-heroes dressup 

zone, offering 8000 tickets. 

The stadium side known as the 

Green Zone will be dedicated 

to families with 3000 tickets 

available. Separate fun parks 

will be created for families 

and the R18 revellers. Access 

to a multitude of off-field entertainments 

will be covered 

by the ticket price. As Dallas 

says, 45 games is “a lot of 

rugby”; providing plenty of 

extra entertainment is imperative. 

The Brian Perry stand 

will host die-hard rugby fans 

– local club members, Sevens 

followers, veteran supporters, 

“Old School Rugby” types, as 

Dallas puts it. There are 5000 

Hamilton and Waikato club 

members so that’s a big chunk 

of the 11,000 tickets available 

in this zone probably sold already, 

he says. They’ll be able 

to mainline on rugby with 

access to Fred Jones Park, 

the Sevens players’ warm up 

area directly behind. The Goal 

Line Terrace will be set aside 

for 1000 under-18-year-olds. 

It will be alcohol-free with a 

social media entertainment 

focus. 

Cheaper tickets 

Another point of difference 

from Wellington will be ticket 

prices and the cost of attending 

the Sevens, says Dallas. 

“This is all about segmenting 

the market across Hamilton 

and Waikato, Auckland 

and the upper North Island region 

then looking at segments 

within each of those. “ 

Auckland’s Sevens fans 

are a hot button segment and 

“we’re really interested in the 

Pacifica one”. 

“On average to go to the 

Wellington Sevens cost you 

$1200 (per person) for flights, 

accommodation, and tickets. 

That’s a big number. We can 

majorly reduce that. If you 

live in Auckland you can get 

in a car and come down with 

your crew for maybe $70 for 

a tank of gas among four people. 

Or you can get on a bus 

or a train. We’ll be talking to 

them (KiwiRail).” 

Ticket prices will be announced 

when they go on sale, 

likely in late July. “They’ll be 

very competitive,” says Dallas. 

He expects Waikato-ites to 

be inundated with requests for 

beds from outside friends and 

family as they are for National 

Fieldays. 

Continued on page 4 

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Sevens success ‘just the start’ 

From page 3 

The Sevens tournament 

will be held over Saturday and 

Sunday, February 3 and 4. The 

following Tuesday, February 

6 is Waitangi Day. Monday 

will be the greater Waikato’s 

time to shine, says Dallas. 

It’s hoped Sevens’ visitors 

will use this day to fan out to 

spots like Raglan, Waitomo, 

Hobbiton, Cambridge and the 

Avantidrome. “This is a holistic 

approach for Waikato. The 

thinking is that everyone can 

do well out of it.” 

Events business takes off 

So much for the aspirations 

– what are the nuts and bolts 

holding the new 37 South big 

events vehicle together and 

how roadworthy is it? By Dallas’ 

own admission the Sevens 

deal came together fast and 

the ink is barely dry on 37 

South’s greater strategy. 

The Fisher name has oiled 

some of the initial squeaks 

about another Hamilton foray 

into big events hosting after 

the V8 motor racing financial 

flop. His business pedigree – 

Dallas says about 60 percent 

of his commercial life these 

days is in the events business 

- and assurance to ratepayers 

that their pockets will not be 

tapped by the Sevens venture 

seems to have comforted naysayers. 

But 37 South isn’t about 

one man, he says. As Dallas 

tells it, he’s having to beat off 

backers with a stick. 

And no, they’re not all 

the usual suspects, Waikato 

philanthropists forever opening 

their wallets to the city. 

“They’re my suspects, people 

I know in the events sector 

who are going to add value to 

the sector. Some will be wellknown, 

others won’t be.” 

The company’s been registered 

– it started life as the 

Hamilton Events Funding 

Group before getting the 

catchier, latitude-associated 

moniker – and its shareholders 

or “owners” will be finalised 

soon, Dallas says. 

”It’s going to have some 

owners, some marketing relationships, 

and some other 

people are interested in putting 

cash in from a benefactor 

position. All these people are 

putting money in – it’s not one 

person writing a cheque, it’s a 

whole lot of people.” 

Dallas’ aim is to create a 37 

South events fund of $600,000 

– every year. That’s about 

double Hamilton City Council’s 

events budget he reckons. 

“Essentially there are two 

lots of funders. There will be 

the people who put in some 

of their marketing budget – 

that’s about us working together 

with businesses – and 

they will get a return in their 

own business because they’re 

involved in this sector. 

“The owners will get a return 

based on the fact that 37 

South will, from time to time, 

be a promoter. The owners are 

putting up some capital and 

taking some risk, therefore 

they should get a return when 

the business is taking a promoter’s 

risk. 

“But in this case (the Sevens) 

there will be not return 

for shareholders because it 

is a joint venture (with NZ 

Rugby) and it’s about making 

this business work. We’re not 

going to be a promoter all the 

time.” 

Dallas himself and the 

Montana Catering company 

will be both types of funders, 

he says. There will be no dominant 

shareholders. 

“I like businesses where 

people get together to work 

and there’s no super minority, 

it’s an equal partnership.” 

So far so good. 

Great facilities 

But why do 37 South’s backers 

think they can bring the 

big event bucks to Waikato? 

Essential ingredients for a 

successful big event are the 

right facilities – think FMG 

stadium, Claudelands, Seddon 

Park, Mystery Creek, Avantidrome 

– a fresh and exciting 

event, and being close to the 

target market place, says Dallas. 

“There’s got to be demand 

to go to your event. Hamilton 

has great facilities. It’s got 

the right geographic location 

– close to Auckland but not 

in it, and close to the (rest of) 

central North Island. 

“We have an events industry 

sector that knows what it’s 

doing. We know what we are 

doing and we’re good at it. 

We are short of hotel space in 

Hamilton, probably between 

150 and 250 beds short of 

three-star accommodation, 

and we have to fix it. But some 

people are working on that. 

“We’re close to the biggest 

market in New Zealand and 

there is reasonable transport 

from other markets. The guy 

who has an event wants a facility 

and some help. Maybe 

not money help but there’s a 

range of things you can provide 

these guys through the 

network we are putting in 

place. Now we just need promoters 

who are willing to take 

a risk and have the product 

that people want.” 

Winning the Sevens 

Dallas says the 37 South concept 

had been on his “strategic 

thinking” radar since last year. 

The Sevens opportunity was 

just serendipity. It came up 

along the way. He’d already 

signed a contract with Hamilton 

City Council to secure the 

city’s event facilities, depending 

on availability, for new 

events. 

“I did that first. I’d talked 

to a whole lot of people and 

basically got (37 South) sorted 

but needed to finalise exactly 

who was in and who was out. 

I knew it was over-subscribed. 

Then out of the blue while I 

was working on that along 

comes the Sevens. I had to 

push pause on finalising the 

last participants. We had to 

secure it because these big, 

big events don’t come up very 

often. Here was an opportunity 

to take an event that was 

struggling and fix it.” 

37 South pitched to Sevens 

promoter, the New Zealand 

Rugby Union and negotiated 

a deal. 

What’s the commercial rationale 

driving 37 South? 

“We all know the events 

industry sector produces 

revenues, employment and 

economic value. Players in 

this sector here are Hamilton 

and Waikato Tourism, various 

event promoters, various 

event facilities, and local government,” 

says Dallas. 

“I wanted to develop some 

thinking – not about small 

events, but big stuff. If we 

want to make real step changes 

economically we have to 

bring big events to Hamilton 

and Waikato. But we had the 

hangover of the V8s, and we 

also had a tight Hamilton City 

Council budget. If I wanted to 

put serious money into events 

here I had to come up with 

money that wasn’t council’s. 

“Then I said ‘who are 

the people who have things 

to contribute?’ 

“The industry – security, 

accommodation providers, 

hospitality, transport and so 

on - has cash. The council puts 

in the facility but the cost of 

operating that facility, security 

etc, gets paid by the promoter. 

The council’s not putting up 

any cash. We needed to get 

that sorted because we need 

the people of Hamilton to be 

positive about this, to know 

that it’s not negatively affecting 

their rates bill. Hamilton 

and Waikato Tourism has the 

contacts and databases. 

“So you end up with quite 

a big list of where the money 

gets spent, and who has the 

ability to invest. Event promoters 

are the receivers in 

this. The council has no cash 

but it has the facilities – those 

investments have been made 

in Claudelands, Seddon Park, 

the stadium…. now we have 

to make them work to drive 

revenue, jobs and economic 

development.” 

Done well, big events are 

money-spinners for a town or 

city, Dallas says. 

“It’s old information now 

but there was a calculation 

done some years ago that one 

sold-out rugby test in Hamilton 

drove about $3.5 million 

of economic value. Twenty 

thousand people? It’ll probably 

be more like $4 million or 

more now. 

”Whether it’s a sporting 

event, business event, large 

conference, cultural event, 

you get 1500 people in town 

(each) spending an average of 

$250 a day for three days, it 

adds up.” 

How do you build an organisation? 

At what point in your 

business do you need 

to think about putting 

some structure around you? 

Interestingly it’s a question that 

rarely gets asked until it’s too 

late. 

Recently I’ve worked with 

a number of business owners 

who have created substantial 

enterprises ($20 million plus 

turnover) but have resisted creating 

a team to support them 

because they felt they could do 

it all themselves. 

Now this is admirable but 

certainly isn’t sustainable 

nor manageable in the long 

run. I’m sure we all know the 

downsides of doing everything 

yourself – unhappy customers, 

unhappy home life, personal 

resilience is damaged, ineffectiveness 

and low productivity 

creeps in. 

Naturally putting a structure 

around you (or good old 

overheads as we often refer 

to them) needs to be balanced 

with a number of factors – affordability, 

productivity gains, 

fit with you and your culture, 

outcomes that can be achieved 

and so on. 

The bigger question in my 

mind however, is that without 

some structure at some point 

in your business journey, how 

will you remain competitive? 

So how do you start? 

Like any good plan you need 

to start with your objectives in 

mind. 

We always say that strategy 

comes before structure – but 

what does this really mean? 

The first step in developing 

an organisational structure is to 

lay down its objectives in very 

clear terms. 

What are you actually trying 

to achieve by developing a 

MANAGEMENT AND HR 

> BY SENGA ALLEN 

Managing director, Everest Group Limited. Everest Group, 

Creating Exceptional Workplaces, www.everestgroup.co.nz 

structure for your business? 

What are the special characteristics 

you want to retain 

or must have in place to build 

your business? 

Next, in order to achieve 

your objectives, you’ll need to 

determine which activities are 

actually necessary. 

This will vary widely depending 

on the nature and size 

of your business – for example, 

if you’re a manufacturer you 

might have production, marketing 

and operations. 

But if you’re a retail outlet, 

your needs might be quite different 

– e.g., it’s not likely you 

will have production facilities 

on-site. 

The last part of the process 

is to think about clustering the 

activities into roles. With this 

in mind I like to talk to business 

owners about how much 

they need to own themselves 

and how much they can delegate 

to people who are more 

skilled than themselves. 

This doesn’t necessarily 

mean you need to go out and 

hire six people to do the work 

of three but the opportunity to 

build a role or structure that 

will help you do what you do 

best, is liberating (and great for 

sanity levels). 

Once you have defined the 

structure, the activities and the 

likely roles required these need 

to be supported with simple 

processes such as job descriptions, 

who is responsible for 

what, standards and accountabilities. 

You don’t need to 

write a novel, but you do need 

to clear your head and share 

your vision with others. 

Lastly, one of the areas of 

resistance we often hear when 

talking with business owners, 

is managing the “what-if” factor. 

What if I put a structure in 

place and things change? 

What if I create new roles 

and the bottom falls out of my 

market? 

What if I hire someone I 

don’t really like and they end 

up having a negative impact on 

my business? Yes, that’s true – 

these things can happen. 

The lifecycle of business 

can be turbulent but with the 

right structures, processes and 

people around you the challenge 

of creating and managing 

strategy and structure inside 

your business doesn’t have to 

be faced alone and certainly 

doesn’t have to be complicated.


5 

Historic club’s closure leaves legacy for city 

The closure of a Hamilton institution has 

resulted in a windfall for a number of the 

city’s causes. 

By GEOFF TAYLOR 

The Hamilton Club has 

closed after 119 years, 

a recognition that it 

couldn’t continue to function 

in this day and age. 

At its peak in 1970 the club 

had 390 members and a waiting 

list to join. Like all clubs 

in New Zealand the Hamilton 

Club has struggled with dwindling 

membership and profitability. 

But the silver lining is that 

five organisations are to benefit 

from the distribution of 

$1.3 million of the club’s capital 

assets. 

Lyall Green has done 

a fantastic thing for 

the city by restoring 

the building and by 

bringing all these 

extra people into 

Grantham St. 

University of Waikato 

Foundation will receive 

$350,000, Wintec Foundation 

$350,000, Hamilton Gardens 

Development Trust $350,000, 

Waikato Medical Research 

Foundation $150,000 and 

Founders Theatre through 

Momentum Trust $100,000. 

Money for the tertiary 

foundations are likely to be allocated 

for scholarships in the 

name of the club funded from 

the interest. Hamilton Gardens 

will be able to use the funding 

for capital development and 

the Medical Research Foundation 

grant is likely to be 

added to its capital fund which 

creates grants from interest 

each year. The grant for the 

Founders will go towards the 

money needed to be raised by 

Momentum Foundation. 

The funds came from the 

club’s sale of the building for 

a reported $1.6 million to developer 

Lyall Green in August 

2009. 

The move to dissolve the 

club accelerated after former 

Hamilton deputy mayor Gordon 

Chesterman was elected 

president in April last year. 

A few months later he put 

up a discussion document for 

members outlining options 

and left members in no doubt 

about the problems the club 

faced: 

“We have reached the end 

of the road,” it began. 

“Sadly, the time has come 

to close the doors and turn 

out the lights on 119 years of 

history. It is inevitable. To be 

frank, today we are a club in 

name only.” 

The document urged members 

to start discussions on 

“the only logical step forward: 

That is to wind up the club and 

distribute the assets by majority 

decision”. 

Mr Chesterman told 

Waikato Business News that 

in recent years opportunities 

had arisen which could have 

provided a different outcome 

for the club, but they weren’t 

taken. In 1999 there were discussions 

about merging with 

Hamilton Golf Club and then 

Hamilton Cosmopolitan Club 

but the memberships were 

too disparate. A merger with 

Waikato Chamber of Commerce 

proposed in 1999 could 

have provided a huge boost 

for the club’s membership but 

it never went ahead. 

In 2006 Hamilton City 

Council offered $2.2 million 

for the building including free 

occupancy for two years while 

the club sorted out its affairs. 

The plan never went ahead. 

The club decided to dissolve 

at a Special General 

Meeting on September 19 last 

year and Mr Chesterman and 

vice-president Cliff Bindon 

were delegated responsibility 

to negotiate a legacy by leading 

the decision about which 

organisations in Hamilton 

should benefit from the club’s 

assets. A submission process 

was set up and at a meeting 

at Gallagher Events Centre at 

Wintec on May 22 members 

voted on their preferences. 

“Every single member has 

participated in the dissolution 

of the club, the rules and the 

distribution of money,” said 

Mr Chesterman. 

As part of the closure 

process, club assets were 

sold such as its snooker table 

which was more than 100 

years old, leather chairs and a 

grandfather clock made in England 

between 1791 and 1800 

and purchased by the club in 

1930. 

The club had its beginning 

as a private club in two 

permanently hired rooms in 

Hamilton Club committee member David Mannering, left 

with president Gordon Chesterman outside the clubrooms. 

the Hamilton Hotel. A select 

group including local 

businessmen, solicitors, accountants, 

bank managers 

and farmers met in these two 

rooms to chat and play cards. 

As the gatherings became 

more popular a club was 

formed in 1898 and in 1901 

when the town’s population 

was about 1250 the committee 

leased the land on which the 

club was built in 2004. The 

club later purchased the land. 

More recently, after Mr 

Green bought the building in 

2009, he stripped away all of 

the recent additions and restored 

the original building, 

moving it a few metres and 

building the ANZ Centre next 

to it. 

“Lyall Green has done a 

fantastic thing for the city by 

restoring the building and by 

bringing all these extra people 

into Grantham St,” said Mr 

Chesterman. 

He also praised the work 

of developer Matt Stark who 

subsequently bought the 

building and has continued 

restoration work, naming it 

Panama House and basing his 

own business, Stark Property 

there. Eight other businesses 

presently lease space in the 

building. 

The club’s last rites will occur 

when the committee holds 

a lunch for members at Waikato 

Stadium on October 19. All 

members will also receive a 

special gift to acknowledge 

the history of the club. 

First home buyers should act now 

say Hamilton real estate leaders 


If you’re a first home buyer 

in Hamilton now’s a good 

time to act, according to 

two leading city realtors. 

The departure of investors 

in the Hamilton market has 

played a big part in prices plateauing, 

according to Lodge 

Real Estate’s managing director, 

Jeremy O’Rourke and 

Harcourts’ general manager, 

Brian King. 

Increases in house prices 

over the last year or so have 

put even modest homes out of 

reach for many potential first 

home buyers. 

But Jeremy said a combination 

of factors have created 

an excellent opportunity 

for first home buyers in 

Brian King 

Hamilton. 

“First home buyers interested 

in purchasing a home 

in the Hamilton market have 

a great opportunity to do so 

Jeremy O’Rourke 

while prices have plateaued,” 

he said. 

“There are numerous low 

to mid-priced homes currently 

listed on the market at more 

realistic price points than 

what we were seeing 12 to 18 

months ago. 

“So, our message to first 

home buyers at the moment 

is: This is not the time to be 

cautious. Although prices 

have eased off a bit, history 

tells us they will rise again. If 

you’re a first home buyer, this 

is not the time to wait and see 

what happens in the market. 

It’s time to act,” he said. 

Brian King said some of 

the energy has gone out of 

parts of the Hamilton market. 

“The huge influx of Auckland 

investors seems to have 

disappeared and that’s very 

good news for first home buyers. 

“We were being driven by 

a huge influx of Auckland investors 

who were coming here 

and picking the eyes out of the 

market. But now locals have 

an opportunity.” 

Jeremy said loan to value 

ratio (LVR) restrictions which 

came into force last year certainly 

have dampened investor 

activity in the market. 

“For the past few years, 

investors really were severely 

hampering first home buyers’ 

abilities to purchase as they 

were competing directly with 

them. That’s not the case at 

the moment,” he said. 

Jeremy and Brian both 

agreed that migration into 

Hamilton will boost future 

prices. 

“There are still many people 

relocating to Hamilton to 

work which tells us the market 

will remain strong,” said 

Brian. 

“Our feeling is that it will 

be steady as she goes throughout 

the winter. Around the end 

of September to December we 

will have a rise in the market 

again coinciding with spring. 

In that sense we are going 

back to a traditional market.” 

Real Estate Institute of 

NZ (REINZ) figures for May 

show Hamilton city’s median 

house price for the month 

was $534,500, compared with 

$535,000 in April. The number 

of homes sold in Hamilton 

was up from 240 in April to 

309. 

Jeremy said there are many 

homes listed on the Hamilton 

market, with 692 currently 

available for sale in the city. 

“Properties are sticking 

around longer. It’s currently 

averaging 37 days to sell a 

property in Hamilton, which 

compares with 24 days to sell 

in May 2016. 

“Some vendors are getting 

ahead of the market and 

listing their homes at ambitious 

prices, which can delay 

sales,” he said.


From the editor 

It always feels good when 

Waikato punches above its 

weight. Despite the problems 

which later dogged the 

Hamilton 400, Waikato people 

felt justifiably proud when we 

had those noisy V8s roaring 

around our streets while Auckland 

looked on enviously. 

Picking up the ailing Sevens 

feels similar but this time 

without the risk. Because it’s 

privately funded ratepayers aren’t 

having to contribute. The 

only cost to the city is forgoing 

a hireage fee of a venue 

which would otherwise be 

empty that weekend. What’s 

more I’m tipping Hamilton 

will breathe much needed life 

into an event which was strangled 

by inept administrators in 

Wellington. 

In this issue of Waikato 

Business News we profile 

Dallas Fisher, managing director 

of 37 South, the company 

behind the event. Dallas’ message 

to readers is an exciting 

one: Winning the Sevens is 

only the beginning. With the 

great facilities in and around 

Hamilton – Waikato Stadium, 

Claudelands Event Centre, 

Seddon Park and the Avantidrome 

– he’s confident that 

there are other big events on 

the way. The chairman of the 

Chiefs franchise is a savvy 

operator with a knack for pulling 

off big deals in the sports 

and entertainment area. Many 

people may have forgotten that 

it was Dallas Fisher alongside 

Michael Redman and Keith 

Ward who got the Breakers 

basketball franchise up and 

running all those years ago. 

We also profile a number of 

other success stories; we look 

at Waikato Innovation Park’s 

continued growth and see how 

they’ve developed a similar 

co-working space to Soda. We 

describe how the new owners 

of Hamilton Gardens Café, 

Craig and Jenny Fraser have 

transformed a struggling facility 

into one of the busiest cafes 

in the city. 

Meanwhile the sad news 

that the Hamilton Club has 

dissolved after 119 years is 

tempered by the brilliant work 

Lyall Green and now Matt 

Stark have done restoring the 

building and the fact that about 

$1.3 million in assets is to be 

dispersed to five of the city’s 

important causes. I hope you 

enjoy this edition of Waikato 

Business news. 

If you’ve got a good news 

story to tell, you know who to 

call. 

Geoff Taylor 

Editor 

MONTHLY POLL 

Vote and win 

Sponsored by the Helm Bar 

and Kitchen 

This month’s poll 

Waikato councils are planning to have another look at starting a commuter 

train service to Auckland. The service has been tried before and 

failed. However, growth in areas such as Pokeno, Te Kauwhata and 

Tuakau, the number of people driving between Hamilton and Auckland 

daily and congestion on the southern motorway has some people suggesting 

it’s time for another look. What do you think? Would a commuter 

train service to Auckland work? Are we ready to have another go? 

Vote on the WBN website (www.wbn.co.nz) and fill in the entry form 

to Last be in to month’s win a meal voucher results for two at The Helm Bar & Kitchen. 

Voting closes Thursday July 20. 

Will the Hamilton World Rugby Sevens event be a success? 

There was plenty of excitement at the news that Hamilton has landed 

the New Zealand Sevens event for at least two years from 2018. The 

Sevens was dying at Wellington and we asked whether Hamilton 

could resurrect the event and make it a success. Waikato Business 

News readers responded dramatically with 100 percent confident the 

crowds will flock along. It doesn’t get any clearer than that. 

100% 

0% 

100% 

0% 

Would a commuter train service 

to Auckland work? 

A. No, been there done that, 

people won’t use it 

B. Yes people would support it 

Cast your vote at: 

www.wbn.co.nz 

WINNER OF THE HELM DINNER VOUCHER IS: 

Donna 

Absolutely, the crowds will flock along 

No it’s probably had its time as an event


7 

Insights, tools and support available for business 

With the growing visitor expenditure, 

increased international and domestic tourists, 

as well as a wave of business travellers, 

there’s never a better time to be in tourism. 

Visitor expenditure in 

the region has now 

exceeded $1.4 billion 

per annum, making us the fifth 

highest region in New Zealand 

behind Auckland, Wellington, 

Christchurch and Queenstown. 

Whether you wished to 

grow your existing business 

or develop a new tourism opportunity, 

there are a range 

of insights, tools and support 

available. 

Introducing DGiT 

To help target and market the 

domestic market better, the 

tourism industry funded DGiT 

which stands for Domestic 

Growth Insight Tool. 

Businesses can use the 

online tool to identify which 

Kiwi travellers to target, when 

they want to visit, their motivation 

for travel, what else 

they want to do and their preferred 

type of accommodation. 

DGiT can also suggest the best 

way to market to them. 

To find out more and access 

the free online tool, visit: 

www.dgit.nz 

Telling your story 

Whether you export internationally, 

or focus on the domestic 

market, there are free 

online tools and resources 

available to help you tell your 

story. 

NZ Story 

In a competitive global economy, 

reputation matters. The 

more we tell a compelling and 

inspirational story about our 

country, the greater chance 

we have of attracting people 

to all that we offer - whether 

it be to visit, study, live, or do 

business. 

The NZ Story creates and 

curates content to arm exporters 

and Government agencies 

with the tools, skills, and 

knowledge to communicate 

more consistent and compelling 

stories about our country. 


the free toolkit, visit: www.nzstory.govt.nz 

The Waikato Story 

Following a similar framework 

to the NZ Story, the creation 

of The Waikato Story is 

to help local businesses and 

people share a cohesive story 

about what makes the region 

great. 

About 600 people were 

consulted on what the region 

is about and what it means 

to them. In the end, the three 

defining features of Waikato 

people are: 

• our role as Kaitiaki or 

guardians; 

• as people who operate with 

integrity; and 

• as a resourceful group. 

The Waikato Story has a 

range of free tools and resources 

to help businesses tell 

their story within the region, 

including images, presentations, 

case studies, infographics, 

videos and research. 


tools to strengthen your 

unique business proposition, 

visit: www.waikatostory.nz 

TELLING WAIKATO’S STORY 

> BY JASON DAWSON 

Chief Executive, 

Hamilton & Waikato Tourism 

Business events, 

conferences and meetings 

Does an employer have a right to know? 

Hamilton and Waikato is now 

the third largest region for 

hosting business events, conferences 

and meetings in New 

Zealand. Our international conference 

destination star is also 

rising with New Zealand rising 

four places in the world listings, 

taking out the 12th spot in 

Asia-Pacific and the 47th in the 

world in the latest International 

Congress & Convention Association’s 

(ICCA) annual data. 

To help grow this lucrative 

business market into the region, 

we are hosting our second Business 

Events Waikato Showcase. 

If you organise conferences, 

meetings, team events, accommodation 

or anything business 

event-related, don’t miss this 

opportunity to meet with the 

Waikato’s top venues and suppliers. 

This tradeshow is free for 

buyers to attend and a great way 

to find out the diverse range 

of business event products we 

have available in Waikato, all 

under one roof. 

To exhibit or register for the 

Business Events Waikato Showcase 

on August 10, visit: www. 

hamiltonwaikato.com/business-events/ 

The Supreme Court recently 

confirmed an employer 

has a right to know of an 

employee’s criminal charges, 

regardless of whether such 

charges arose at work, if the 

charges relate to the employee’s 

role (ASG v Harlene Hayne, 

Vice-Chancellor of the University 

of Otago). 

The Court of Appeal previously 

held ASG (name suppressed), 

a security guard working 

for Campus watch, Otago 

University’s security team, 

should have disclosed criminal 

charges for assault and wilful 

damage to his employer. ASG 

was responsible for student 

safety and the protection of 

university and student property. 

The charges he faced were 

directly relevant to whether he 

could carry out his duties properly, 

and the university needed 

to have trust and confidence in 

his ability. 

ASG pleaded guilty to one 

charge of wilful damage and 

another of assault (against his 

former spouse) in the Dunedin 

District Court. The court discharged 

ASG without conviction 

on both charges, and made 

an order for the suppression of 

ASG's name and all details of 

his offending under section 200 

of the Criminal Procedure Act 

2011 (CPA). 

The Deputy-Proctor of the 

university was in court while 

ASG was being sentenced. After 

seeking legal advice, he advised 

a small number of university 

personnel of the charges against 

ASG. ASG was subsequently 

investigated and then issued a 

final written warning. ASG then 

returned to work, later raising 

two personal grievances. 

The Supreme Court held that 

suppression orders made under 

section 200 of the CPA prohibit 

“word of mouth” communications 

as well as publication by 

the media. However, it went on 

to confirm the section does not 

encompass the dissemination of 

information to persons with a 

legitimate and objectively justifiable 

interest in the information 

i.e. a clear nexus between the 

offending and the employee's 

job. 

Earlier courts held ASG’s 

failure to disclose the charges 

was a breach of the duty of good 

faith owed by him as an employee 

under the Employment 

Relations Act 2000. 

Harkness Henry lawyers, 

Hamilton 

Harkness Henry welcomes Alexandria Till, Senior Associate, 

into their Resource Management, Employment and Alcohol 

Licensing team. 

www.braemarhospital.co.nz 

24 Ohaupo Road, Hamilton 

Phone: 07 843 1899 

All health insurers accepted 

Alex provides timely and commercially savvy employment 

law advice covering a broad spectrum of topics including: 

employment agreements and policies, disciplinary 

proceedings, medical incapacity and the Holidays Act. Alex 

is also able to provide mediation support and carry out 

independent investigations into contentious matters. 

Harkness Henry specialists 

advise on a full range 

of employment issues, 

transactions and disputes. 

Our employment team headed 

by Susan-Jane Davies provides 

constructive advice and 

identify pragmatic solutions 

on all employment, health 

and safety, and education 

law issues. Harkness Henry 

provides practical advice 

to clients based on a sound 

risk assessment process that 

ensures dispute resolution is 

aligned with both business and 

personal needs. We advise 

and represent both employers 

and employees in workplace 

conflict and dispute resolution. 

Alexandria Till 

Senior Associate 

Because Braemar is owned by a charitable trust, we reinvest 

any surplus back into the hospital to stay at the forefront of 

surgical innovation. 

Excellence means Braemar 

30430


IT BUSINESS SOLUTIONS 

The dummies guide to Ransomware 

Ransomware attacks are now affecting 

Windows, Mac and Linux platforms. What 

can I do to help protect my business? 

The problem: 

Ransomware encrypts your 

data so you can’t access it and 

the criminals who do have access 

to your data can threaten 

to distribute the data publicly 

e.g. personal records or sell 

your data to other criminal organisations. 

The cost of a data breach is 

not just the loss of data, business 

disruption and IT costs 

but also the potential damage 

to your business through lost 

confidence. It’s a legal obligation 

to publicly disclose loss of 

client information. 

Unfortunately, Antivirus 

(AV) software has limited 

ability to stop a Ransomware 

attack because traditional AV 

uses a signature to identify 

viruses. Many Ransomware 

viruses have a unique signature 

on every infection. It 

takes time for AV vendors to 

identify signatures, produce a 

patch and distribute the patch. 

Not every business has a patch 

management plan in place. 

The most recent Ransomware 

variant WannaCry took 

advantage of a known Microsoft 

security flaw to rapidly 

jump across networks and affect 

any PC or Server on a network 

that wasn’t patched. Microsoft 

had released a patch for 

the security flaw months earlier 

but the issue was the patch 

hadn’t been applied to devic- 

es in the affected networks. 

There is also still a significant 

number of devices now running 

unsupported operating 

systems such as Windows XP 

and Server 2003 for which the 

patch hadn’t originally been 

distributed. 

Is Ransomware going 

to be an ongoing problem? 

Absolutely! The growth in 

Ransomware was 35-fold in 

2016 alone. Bitcoin ransom 

payments are virtually impossible 

to track. Ransomware 

software can be purchased by 

any low life/criminal on the 

Dark Web for relatively small 

sums of money. The return on 

investment (ROI) is impressive 

- ROI of 1500 has been 

reported. 

A point to note for MAC 

users and Linux users: It's not 

just Windows anymore. Samba 

which is an open source 

network system commonly 

used on MAC networks and 

Network Area Storage (NAS) 

systems also has a major bug 

that is being targeted by Ransomware. 

Here is a list of some activities, 

products and services that 

may help in the fight against 

Ransomware. 

How to help fight 

Ransomware: 

1. Backups are critical to help 

fight Ransomware attacks. 

If you have access to your 

data, much of the ransomware 

criminal’s negotiation 

power is diminished or removed 

for many organisations. 

However, you need to 

ensure you are not just relying 

on cloud based backups 

that synchronise files such 

as Drobox, where if Ransomware 

encrypts data on a 

local device this can spread 

to your synchronised files 

and encrypt your entire 

cloud storage also. Proper 

cloud based backups take 

incremental, encrypted, 

compressed snap shots of 

your data. Backing up to 

multiple platforms is highly 

recommended.Talk to your 

IT provider about effective 

data backup solutions 

and full Disaster Recovery 

(DR) solutions. 

2. Ensure your devices are 

fully patched and patching 

is regularly performed. 

a. Windows Operating 

System (OS) and Samba 

OS patches. 

b. Third-party Applications 

e.g. Adobe, Java etc. 

c. Antivirus (AV). 

Talk to your IT provider 

about fully managed patch 

solutions where this can be 

taken care of for you on a 

scheduled regular basis. Most 

systems will also send you a 

monthly report on patching 

status. Why is the report important? 

Because devices can 

either not be connected to your 

network or switched off when 

the updates are scheduled. It 

only takes one poorly patched 

device on a network to cause 

you grief. 

3. Some AV can help prevent 

the spread of Ransomware 

by monitoring the 

activity on your device or 

network. This is known 

as Behavioural Analysis. 

So, if Ransomware affects 

your device or network the 

damage can be minimised. 

A couple of products that 

include Behavioural Analysis 

are Kaspersky AV and 

Bit Defender AV. Note only 

some of the versions have 

this. 

Your IT provider should be 

able to provide a managed AV 

solution that monitors and reports 

on threat activity and AV 

updates status on devices connecting 

to your network. 

4. Firewall sandboxing and 

cloud based filtering: Some 

firewalls and cloud services 

can monitor web traffic 

looking for Ransomware 

type activity. Suspected 

files can be detonated in 

what’s called a sandbox - a 

virtual environment outside 

of your internal network - 

to try and determine if the 

web traffic is safe. All internet 

activity across your 

organisation is logged, categorized 

by threat and content, 

and where necessary 

blocked. 

Most major business grade 

Firewall products such as Fortinet 

and Cisco offer add-on 

sandboxing solutions and web 

filtering solutions. 

5. Advanced Email Threat 

Protection. Microsoft provide 

an email threat protection 

add-on for most 

office 365 subscriptions. 

This cost-effective solution 

helps prevent staff from 

accidently or unknowingly 

clicking on a malicious 

email attachment or a malicious 

email link. The 

system uses Artificial Intelligence 

(AI) and Machine 

Learning to open attachments 

and links outside of 

your physical network to 

help detect malicious files 

and links. Information can 

be found on the Microsoft 

website https://products.office.com/en-nz/exchange/ 

online-email-threat-protection 

Your IT provider can help 

you to implement an email 

threat protection solutions 

for your Office 365 products. 

There are advanced configuration 

options that can be configured 

to provide even more 

value from this product.


WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS June/July 2017 9 

Hamilton company 

among exporting legends 

Finalists in Air New Zealand Cargo 

ExportNZ Awards 2017 announced. 

Waikato software specialist 

Company-X 

has joined the league 

of exporting legends by being 

named as a finalist in the Air 

New Zealand Cargo ExportNZ 

Awards 2017. 

Company-X was 

announced as a contender for 

the Services Exporter of the 

Year award, open to businesses 

with export revenue of up to 

$10 million, at the Employers 

and Manufacturers Business 

Hub in Auckland on May 17. 

The software specialist, 

based at Wintec House in 

Hamilton, develops software 

for a diverse group of clients, 

including international companies, 

some based in New 

Zealand, others based in the 

United States. 

The Services Exporter 

award recognises excellence 

in businesses who are building 

extraordinary and sustainable 

export growth, working in the 

areas of ICT, tourism, education 

and consultancy services. 

ExportNZ, a division 

of business advocacy body 

BusinessNZ, is looking for a 

winner that has profitable and 

sustainable foreign exchange 

growth and is also adept at 

quality planning, leadership 

and direction. ExportNZ is 

also looking for excellence in 

export marketing and operational 

excellence for that 

award category. 

“We’re delighted 

Company-X has been named a 

finalist in this year’s ExportNZ 

Awards,” said Company-X 

director David Hallett. 

Being named as a 

finalist in the ExportNZ 

awards recognises the 

work of everyone in the 

Company-X team over 

the last five years. 

“It recognises the work that 

everyone in the Company-X 

team has put in to growing the 

business since we registered 

the company with the New 

Zealand Companies Office 

in 2012. Since then we have 

grown from employing a handful 

of staff to a team of almost 

40 clever and talented men and 

women. We call them the X 

men and X women!” 

Fellow director Jeremy 

Hughes said he was humbled 

that Company-X had been singled 

out, among other businesses 

who had entered the 

ExportNZ Awards in 2017, for 

its export results. 

“Being named as a finalist 

in the ExportNZ awards recognises 

the work of everyone 

in the Company-X team over 

the last five years. It provides 

our growing team of project 

managers, business analysts, 

technical support analysts 

and software 

developers with the perfect 

opportunity to stop 

and think about the role 

they have played in the 

company’s success.” 

The ExportNZ 

Award is the fourth 

award Company-X has 

been up for in the last 

year. 

Company-X director 

Jeremy Hughes was a 

finalist in the 2016 New 

Zealand Excellence 

in IT Awards. The One 

Network Road Classification 

Performance Measures 

Reporting Tool (ONRC PMRT) 

went on to win the Roading 

Asset Management Innovation 

Award at the Road Infrastructure 

Management Forum in 

Auckland. Company-X was 

also a finalist in the Strategy 

and Planning category of the 

Westpac Waikato Business 

Awards for 2016. 

The ExportNZ Awards 

programme has been inspiring 

New Zealand exporters to 

expand their business horizons 

and grow internationally since 

2009. In that time the ExportNZ 

Awards has celebrated 104 

inspirational success stories. 

These stories of Kiwi ingenuity, 

innovation, and export success 

showcase the incredible diversity 

of our export sector. 

The awards recognise businesses 

who back the government’s 

plan to build export 

markets for New Zealand and 

increase the contribution of 

exports to the economy by 10 

to 40 per cent of gross domestic 

product (GDP) by 2025. 

The winners will be 

announced at the Air New 

Zealand Cargo ExportNZ 

Awards gala dinner on 

Thursday, June 29 at the Sky 

City Convention Centre in 

Auckland. 

Waikato Milking Systems 

chief executive Dean Bell, 

whose company was supreme 

winner last year, said, “Our 

focus has always been on innovating, 

designing and manufacturing 

milking systems and 

technologies which revolutionise 

dairy farming and we hadn’t 

formally paused to reflect and 

compare our achievements with 

other leading New Zealand 

businesses.” 

EXPORT LEGENDS: Company-X directors David Hallett (right) 

and Jeremy Hughes 

Company-X is an ExportNZ Awards 

2017 finalist in Services Exporter of 

the Year for businesses with export 

revenue of up to $10 million. 

Congratulations to every member of the 

Company-X team for their work over the last five 

years to get the company where it is today.

ts 

ore 

ng 

all your 

s 

on MEFILE Site 

on 

VISIT VISIT MEFILE 



Hamilton becomes a ‘neat place’ 

Hamilton Central Business Association 

in conjunction with Hamilton & Waikato 

Tourism and Hamilton City Council has 

introduced Neat Places to Hamilton. 

Neat Places, an independent 

city guide to New 

Zealand, has profiled 

more than 50 Hamilton businesses 

on their website (www. 

neatplaces.co.nz), smartphone 

app for Android and iOS and 

have produced a printed guide 

to the central city, with more 

places to be added over the 

coming year. 

The partnership between 

three key Waikato organisations: 

Hamilton Central Business 

Association, Hamilton 

Waikato Tourism and Hamilton 

City Council, and Neat 

Places was formed to showcase 

Hamilton to the rest of 

the country, to encourage New 

Zealand residents to visit this 

cosmopolitan city and offer 

them the tools so they can have 

the best experience possible. 

A young influencer group, 

Neat Places was spoilt for 

choice when looking at the retail, 

hospitality and entertainment 

offerings Hamilton has 

on offer. 

"We love Hamilton so it has 

been a goal of ours for many 

years to celebrate the 'neat' 

restaurants, cafes, shops, bars 

and galleries of this city", says 

Neat Places' managing director, 

Marcia Butterfield. 

"We are known for selecting 

businesses based on their 

uniqueness and customer experience. 

This is our point of difference 

in the growing industry 

of city guides; a business 

cannot choose to be on Neat 

Places, instead we make that 

selection ourselves, ensuring 

that we produce a truly curated 

guide to a city." 

One of the objectives of the 

partnership was to give Hamiltonians 

the opportunity to feel 

proud of their city. Vanessa 

Williams, general manager 

of the Hamilton Central City 

Business Association says, "As 

a resident we know the ‘neat 

places’ Hamilton has to offer 

and now with a suite of collateral 

from Neat Places including 

a printed map, an app, website 

and social media coverage, 

people visiting Hamilton will 

know where they are too.” 

Jason Dawson, CEO of 

Hamilton & Waikato Tourism 

is excited with the launch of 

the new Neat Places Guide for 

Hamilton. 

“To be able to showcase 

some of the best places in 

Hamilton which are unique 

and special to us, really offers 

visitors to the city the chance 

to ‘live like a local’. 

“Hamilton offers a cosmopolitan 

mix of local and international 

boutiques, unique 

retail offerings, an established 

coffee and craft brewery scene 

and some of the most awarded 

regional restaurants in the 

country.” 

“The launch of the Neat 

Places Guide really adds to the 

buzz of the city and celebrates 

the reasons why we truly 

#lovethetron. It will also provide 

locals a chance to explore 

and celebrate some of the best 

new places in town.” 

The Hamilton Neat Places 

pocket guides are available 

via the Neat Places website 

(www.neatplaces.co.nz/pocket-guides) 

and will be distributed 

around Auckland, Hamilton, 

Wellington, Christchurch 

and Dunedin. 

Ultrafast Fibre encouraged 

by Tauranga fibre uptake 

Fibre uptake accelerating 

in the north of the city 

New Zealand’s largest 

community-owned fibre 

company, Hamilton-based 

Ultrafast Fibre, says 

the high level of fibre connections 

in one of its key markets 

is extremely encouraging. 

The company is responding 

to figures released by the Ministry 

of Business, Innovation 

and Employment which show 

that Tauranga has the most significant 

uptake of fibre of any 

major centre throughout the 

country. 

UFF chief executive, William 

Hamilton, says the figures 

show Tauranga at 41 percent 

fibre uptake which is ahead of 

all other major areas in New 

Zealand where a connection 

rate of around 33 percent appears 

to be the norm. 

“We are especially encouraged 

to see that level of uptake 

in Tauranga as we are now 

planning for further deployment 

of fibre in Omokoroa, 

Katikati and Te Puke,” he says. 

Mr Hamilton says there 

is no doubt there has been a 

momentum shift in the last 

18 months with regard to the 

demand for high speed broadband 

on the highly reliable and 

consistent fibre networks. 

“More and more people are 

now streaming video at home 

on multiple devices from the 

likes of Netflix and YouTube, 

increasingly in ultra-high definition, 

and when this happens 

the only satisfactory option is 

to have fibre connected. 

“There is a lot more to fibre 

than just video streaming, 

and there are clear advantages 

for people wanting to work 

from home, or to be involved 

in businesses that require high 

speed data transfer. It is now 

becoming clear that Tauranga 

is leading the charge when it 

comes to taking advantage of 

the potential of fibre,” says Mr 

Hamilton. 

Ultrafast Fibre (UFF) has 

completed deployment of a 

3000 kilometre fibre optic network 

to eight central North 

Island cities and towns under 

the first tranche of the UFB 

initiative. 

The demand for fibre broadband is accelerating 

in the north of Hamilton following 

the building of a special fibre extension by 

Ultrafast Fibre. 

The extension was completed about six 

months ago and included a corridor of existing 

houses in Hamilton North along River Road. 

The extension was over and above the 

planned Hamilton footprint for Ultrafast Fibre. 

UFF chief executive, William Hamilton, says 

connections figures for the fibre extension are 

very encouraging. 

“Within a few months we have had 40 percent 

of houses in the area connect to our fibre 

network which is among the highest connection 

rates in the country. 

“In many ways, this is a good example of the 

demand for fibre generally throughout the country. 

More and more people want the benefits of 

having high speed fibre broadband at home.” 

Recently the Ministry of Business, Innovation 

and Employment released figures on fibre 

uptake around the country which showed that 

Ultrafast Fibre’s Tauranga network has the most 

significant uptake of fibre of any major centre 

throughout the country. The uptake in Tauranga 

where connection is available is at 41 percent, 

compared with the national average of 33 percent. 

Mr Hamilton says the north Hamilton example 

provides further evidence of how consumer 

expectations and behaviour is changing. 

“We would like to see the connection rate 

even higher in Hamilton and our hope is that 

many of the properties not connected, but are 

able to connect, will do so in the months ahead,” 

he says. 

Ultrafast Fibre is currently in the planning 

stages to roll out fibre to 12 more North Island 

towns in Bay of Plenty, Waikato and Taranaki. 

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11 

Fonterra to extend Te Rapa dairy factory 

Market demand is driving investment in 

some of Fonterra’s most popular valueadded 

products. 

The co-operative has taken 

another strong step 

forward on its commitment 

to drive more milk 

into value-added products, 

announcing an investment of 

almost $20 million at its Te 

Rapa site to meet growing 

demand for cream cheese and 

mini-dish butter. 

The expansions will see Te 

Rapa go from six cream product 

lines to eight, incorporat- 

ing state-of-the-art technology 

to achieve highest possible 

output. 

The new butter line will 

see production more than 

double from 250 million to 

650 million mini-dishes per 

year. 

Meanwhile the additional 

cream cheese line will increase 

plant capacity from 

30,000 tonnes to 33,500 

tonnes per year, as well as add 

capability to manufacture 5kg 

blocks in addition to the 20kg 

ones currently produced. 

Robert Spurway, chief operating 

officer Global Operations, 

says the growth in demand 

is further demonstration 

of a shift in food preferences 

in China and across wider 

Asia. 

“Much of the demand 

we’re seeing for products 

like the mini-dish butter is 

from hotels, restaurants and 

commercial kitchens in China 

– all out-of-home eating experiences 

where consumers are 

choosing dairy to complement 

their meal,” says Mr Spurway. 

“Where in the past, many 

of these markets have trended 

towards non-dairy creams 

and spreads, we’re seeing a 

real desire for natural dairy in 

both food preparation and at 

the table. And while the food 

service aspects are important, 

it is the latter that is really exciting 

– consumers actively 

choosing to incorporate more 

dairy into their daily diets.” 

China is the greatest 

growth driver for Fonterra’s 

successful consumer and 

foodservice business with a 

40 percent increase in volumes 

for the financial year to 

date compared with the same 

period last year. 

A taste trend towards 

butter is evidenced by the 

increase of the country’s imports 

from 17,000 tonnes 

in 2009 to 63,000 tonnes in 

2016, representing an annual 

growth of around 20 percent. 

“Recently we’ve seen the 

demand, particularly out of 

China, exceed supply,” says 

Mr Spurway. 

“This expansion is all 

about responding to the market, 

investing in building capacity 

and delivering on our 

value-add strategy by converting 

more milk into higher-returning 

products. It will 

also give us more choices in 

the products we’re able to 

make so we can be more responsive 

to our customers.” 

The Te Rapa Site was established 

in 1967 as a powder 

drying facility. The cream 

plant was established in 1997 

for the manufacture of consumer 

and bulk butter and 

cream cheese. An additional 

cream cheese line was added 

in 2013. 

As one of Fonterra’s top 

five manufacturing sites nationwide, 

Te Rapa employs 

around 500 staff and produces 

80,000 tonnes of cream products 

per year. 

Emerging Director’s 

Awards launched 

Applications have 

opened for the Institute 

of Directors 

(IoD) Waikato branch Emerging 

Director Award. 

An Emerging Director’s 

dinner at Gothenburg Restaurant 

in May provided attendees 

an opportunity to listen 

to a Q & A panel discussion, 

hear from past Emerging 

Director Award winners 

and also have the chance to 

engage with some of the region’s 

most experienced directors. 

Last year there were 20 

applicants for the highly regarded 

award. Applications 

closes on July 14. 

Taking part in a Q & A panel discussion are facilitator Natasha 

Harvey (from left), Ken Williamson and Bruce Sheridan. 

Steven Joyce speaks 

on budget in Hamilton 

Finance Minister Steven 

Joyce spoke at a joint 

Institute of Directors/ 

Waikato Chamber of Commerce 

business breakfast in 

June. At the well attended 

function at the Bronze Lounge, 

FMG Stadium Waikato, Mr 

Joyce gave an overview of the 

2017 Budget he announced on 

May 25. 

Finance Minister Steven 

Joyce speaks at a 

breakfast at FMG Stadium. 

From left, William Durning (Waikato Chamber of 

Commerce), Jan Gatley (PwC), Mark McCabe (PwC), Steven 

Joyce, Simon Lockwood(IoD) and Kirsten Patterson (IoD). 

First female president for IoD 

The Institute of Directors (IoD) has appointed 

Liz Coutts as its first female 

president, and Alan Isaac as vice president. 

Mrs Coutts, who was the IoD’s first female 

vice president, replaces outgoing president 

Michael Stiassny. 

Mr Stiassny says Mrs Coutts brings exceptional 

governance experience and leadership to 

the IoD Council. 

“Both Liz and Alan have served on and 

added value as directors on some of the country’s 

biggest boards,” he says. 

“The IoD is in good stead and has accomplished 

much over the last two years. We live 

in a dynamic and complex world with globalisation 

and technology reshaping the business 

landscape. I leave the IoD in great heart and 

am excited about its plans to connect, equip 

and inspire directors in New Zealand business 

and society to face the challenges and grasp the 

opportunities of tomorrow. 

“Liz and Alan will continue to strengthen 

this strategic priority to meet the needs and expectations 

of our members.” 

Mrs Coutts, an IoD chartered fellow, and a 

fellow chartered accountant was made an Officer 

of the New Zealand Order of Merit for 

services to governance in the 2016 Queen’s 

Birthday honours. Mrs Coutts’ extensive board 

experience includes being chair of Oceania 

New Institute of Directors 

president Liz Coutts. 

Healthcare Ltd, Ports of Auckland Ltd, Skellerup 

Holdings and Urwin &Co Ltd. She has 

directorships on EBOS Group Ltd, Yellow 

Pages Group, Sanford Ltd. and Tennis Auckland, 

and is a member of the Marsh New Zealand 

Advisory Board. 

Mr Isaac is also a chartered fellow of the 

IoD, and a fellow chartered accountant. In 

2013 New Year’s Honours he was made a 

Companion of the New Zealand Order of 

Merit for services to cricket and business. Mr 

Isaac is chair of the New Zealand Community 

Trust and McGrathNicol. He has directorships 

on Opus International Consultants Ltd, Scales 

Corporation Ltd, Fliway Group Limited, Skellerup 

Holdings, Oceania Healthcare Ltd, Isaac 

Advisory Services Ltd, New Zealand Vault 

Ltd, Murray Capital General Partner Ltd, and 

the Wellington Free Ambulance. 

Waikato Branch Emerging Director Award 

The Institute of Directors in 

New Zealand (IoD) promotes 

excellence in corporate 

governance, represents directors’ 

interests and facilitates their 

professional development 

through education and training. 

Are you... 

• Aspiring to follow a directorship path? 

• Committed to excellence within governance? 

• Have some experience but want to accelerate your development? 

Have you... 

• Shown commitment to your own governance development? 

• Shown a sense of passion and enthusiasm for governance? 

Benefits include: 

• Complimentary membership with IoD for 12 months 

• Complimentary attendance at all branch functions for 12 months 

• Mentoring with an experienced director for 12 months 

• $4,000 towards IoD professional development (must be spent in current year) 

• ‘Director development’* position for 12 months with the sponsoring board 

UFF (Ultrafast Fibre) 

Waikato branch is kindly sponsored by: 

This award in 

association with: 

LEADING 

GOVERNANCE 

IoD 15131 

*The emerging director will have the right to participate in board 

and audit committee meetings but will not be able to vote on any 

board resolution. The successful applicant will be required to 

sign a confidentiality agreement with the sponsoring board. 

Applications close at 5.00pm, Friday 14 July 2017. 

To obtain an application form please contact our Branch Manager, 

Megan Beveridge, email: waikato.branch@iod.org.nz, 

tel: 021 358772, fax: 07 8547429.


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13 

Mystery Creek cleans up 

after ‘best ever’ Fieldays 

A bit of rain was barely noticed by hardy 

crowds at Mystery Creek as the 49th 

National Agricultural Fieldays notched up 

an all time record gate of 133,588. 

Fieldays chief executive 

Peter Nation said he had 

people suggest to him it 

was the best ever Fieldays. 

“Certainly we had the biggest 

gate ever at 133,588 and 

we had the biggest Thursday 

on record. The primary industry 

overall is in good shape – 

certainly better than last year 

- so that’s a good sign. The 

farmers were in good heart,” 

he said. 

Peter was thrilled that representatives 

from more than 

40 countries attended the 

event and nine of them exhibited. 

“We made a few changes 

to the layout of the site which 

was a risk but it worked well. 

And we opened the Rural 

Health Hub so there was a lot 

going on at this year’s event. 

“The exhibitors I talked to 

have all had good sales, some 

even exceeded their sales targets 

by Wednesday night or 

Thursday,” he said. 

“I’ve even had good reports 

of traffic flow. Whether 

that was a result of our new 

park and ride at The Base I 

don’t know but I’ll take it.” 

Peter paid tribute to the 

Mystery Creek staff and the 

280 volunteers, many of 

whom were taking some time 

off to recover. 

“I think some people probably 

take it for granted now 

that it will go off without a 

hitch. But we put a lot of work 

into emergency planning. We 

inducted 7800 contractors to 

the site which is the biggest 

at any event in New Zealand 

according to Worksafe. 

“You step back and look at 

what a whole of people have 

created here at Mystery Creek 

and it’s very rewarding.” 1 

2 

3 4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

1 Crowds came to Fieldays despite a bit of rain. 

2 Robotics Plus demonstrates its kiwifruit picking 

harvester at the University of Waikato site. 

3 Hansa Chippers’ site drew plenty of interest. 

4 Dressed for the weather. 

5 & 6 Plenty of great food on offer. 

7 The British Pavilion. 

8 Bullwhip demonstration. 

9 Plenty to talk about at Fieldays. 

10 Staff at the large Gallagher site. 

9 

10


‘Good Noze’ irresistible treat for pooches 

A couple of mates got talking over a beer 

after tennis and a bright idea was born. 

When Raglan mates 

Dave Smith and 

Frank Bellerby 

wanted an expert panel to assess 

their new product, they 

assembled the district’s fussiest 

eaters. 

The results were conclusive. 

The taste-testers wolfed 

down the samples, licked their 

bowls and looked around for 

more. 

“It was a good feeling,” 

says Dave. “It wasn’t just the 

dogs that were happy, but their 

owners, too.” 

Raglan mates Frank Bellerby, left, and Dave Smith, right, 

with Dave’s dog Tommy who inspired their new venture. 

The quirky images on the packing were designed by Raglan artist Hayley Hamilton. 

Dave and Frank have been 

mates for years. Dave’s an 

English Literature major and 

former investment banker, 

who now co-owns the Raglan 

Chronicle with his wife, 

Jacqui. The couple has two 

daughters, three alpacas and 

a dog named Tommy. Frank 

has an honours degree in Agricultural 

Science. The father of 

three sons, he doesn’t have a 

dog, but regularly babysits for 

Tommy (a bichon fries-chihuahua 

cross). “A sort of dog 

uncle.” 

Over a few beers after tennis, 

when they were chewing 

the fat about the future, the 

subject turned to Tommy’s 

fussy palate. “I had a pantry 

full of partially-eaten pet 

food,” says Dave. Frank is an 

animal nutritionist and works 

in the animal feeds business, 

so Dave asked for his advice. 

What if, Frank asked, we 

came up with something new 

that no dog could resist? 

Their start point was fresh 

meat, a food universally popular 

with pooches, but not with 

owners who dislike handling 

raw meat. The result – after 

two years of trials and refinements 

– is Good Noze, a range 

of freeze-dried fresh meat 

for dogs and cats, made from 

lamb, lamb organs, chicken 

and a smidgen of honey. 

“Once we discovered the 

freeze-drying process, we 

realised we were on to something. 

No handling or refrigeration 

issues. But all the nutritional 

goodness of raw meat,” 

says Dave. 

The men say the new product 

suits the increasing demand 

from pet owners for natural 

foods. They say the gap in 

attitudes towards human foods 

and pet foods has narrowed 

as more people appreciate the 

benefits of feeding good tucker 

to their pets. 

“Ten years ago, there 

wasn’t the same emphasis on 

pet nutrition,” says Frank. 

“Now, more people appreciate 

good nutrition equals low vet 

bills.” 

Several vet clinics now 

use their product as pre-and 

post-surgery treats. 

Currently, the food is available 

at Raglan outlets, specialist 

food stores, pet friendly 

cafes, several online retailers, 

New World and Farro Fresh 

in Auckland. The men say it 

sits well in outlets that stock 

healthy foods. 

“Pet owners who buy those 

foods for themselves also want 

good food for their animals.” 

Ultimately, they see huge 

export potential – especially 

to Asian markets where there 

is a high affinity for New Zealand-made 

products. 

The men say Raglan was 

the perfect venue to launch 

their business. 

“There are so many entrepreneurs 

here. Because this is 

a small town with a shortage 

of work opportunities, people 

are compelled to be creative 

and take risks,” says Dave. 

“Raglan is also known as 

a tourist and wellbeing destination, 

so that is really helpful 

from a marketing viewpoint,” 

says Dave. 

Other Raglan residents 

helped with marketing and 

design, including a friend – 

Raglan artist Hayley Hamilton 

– who came up with anthropomorphic 

sketches of animals 

wearing cravats, ties and 

glasses. One has a silver fern 

embroidered on its smoking 

jacket. 

The website, www.goodnoze.co.nz 

was designed by 

Raglan Ink and Raglan photographer 

Leanne Roughton 

shot the images. 

“It turns out Raglan was the 

perfect backdrop for capturing 

images of people and pets 

hanging out together.” 

The name – Good Noze – 

came after an evening brainstorming. 

The men say it suggests 

their customers have an 

appreciation for good things. 

One of their biggest fans is 

the barista, “Bobo” at Raglan 

Roast. 

“He says his dog goes crazy 

when he yells out ‘Good 

Noze’. That’s customer satisfaction.” 

No fuss ‘non-ice’ 

rink a drawcard 

By VIV POSSELT 

A 

‘non-ice’ artificial ice 

rink available in New 

Zealand for the past 

three years is becoming an 

eco-friendly addition to commercial 

and fundraising events 

around the country. 

Dutch-born Robin de Goeij 

imported the artificial ice floor 

into New Zealand in 2014, securing 

the exclusive distribution 

of the floors in New Zealand, 

Australia and the Pacific, 

and developing and establishing 

his family-based business, 

Ice Skate Tour. 

Four years of research and 

planning went into the de Goeij’s 

development of the Ice 

Skate Tour concept. The family 

now run it locally from Matamata, 

and have a franchise in 

Auckland, covering the entire 

Auckland region and Northland. 

Such is the popularity of the 

concept, that Robin is currently 

working on setting up a franchise 

network in Australia. 

His own New Zealand background 

is in event management. 

For five of the seven years he 

has been in New Zealand he 

helped organised the Sanitarium 

Weet-Bix Kids TRYathlon. 

The ice floor originates from 

Holland where Robin said it 

Robin and Miriam de Goeij, with their children Kiare and 

Benjamin, at a school fundraiser held at Cambridge’s 

Goodwood School on this occasion. 

was developed almost by accident. 

The seed was sewn by a 

couple of engineers in a Dutch 

plastics factory who apparently 

spent one of their lunch breaks 

thinking about how they could 

make an artificial skating surface. 

“That was about eight or 

nine years ago, and it is now 

used worldwide.” 

What makes the artificial 

rink particularly appealing is 

the ease with which it can be 

transported to and set up in any 

number of venues. All that’s 

needed is enough indoor or 

outdoor space in which to erect 

the snap-together artificial ice 

blocks and put up the inflatable 

boarding surround. 

“It’s very easy to transport to 

any venue, and is very ‘green’ 

to operate. It uses no power either, 

which makes it very economical 

and eco-friendly.” 

Manufactured using a synthetic 

polymer not unlike that 

used to make standard kitchen 

chopping boards, the blocks 

simply connect to form an almost 

seamless skating surface 

that looks like ice, but is neither 

cold nor wet. It has 97 percent 

of the same gliding capacity as 

natural ice, and isn’t anywhere 

near as slippery, which, said 

Robin, makes it particularly 

safe for new skaters. 

Another advantage is that 

either side of the blocks can be 

used. 

“To established skaters who 

may be used to a real ice sur- 

face, it does feel a little bit different,” 

he said. “But we have 

had experienced ice hockey 

players use this rink, and they 

say that once they settle into 

the feel of the surface, they are 

quickly able to skate normally. 

“As a Hollander, I am very 

familiar with skating on ice. 

This is not the same – you need 

to work a little harder to get the 

sort of speed up that skaters on 

real ice might be used to. But 

it works almost as well, and is 

perfect for people not used to 

real ice.” 

Robin and his wife Miriam 

run two rinks with the business. 

The accessibility and ease with 

which they can become part of 

an event programme is clearly a 

draw card. 

The rinks can either be used 

separately or can be connected 

to make one much larger rink 

for bigger events, and can be set 

Ice Skate Tour owner Robin de Geoij with small 

samples of the connectable floor product used 

to assemble the artificial ice rink. 

up in almost any configuration. 

They can be hired either as a 

straightforward business model 

- for events that might be held in 

shopping centres, councils, fairs 

or corporate functions – or used 

by schools as fundraisers. 

Everything required for the 

skaters comes with the rink, 

including hire skates from 

around size 9 upward and the 

colour-coded bibs which they 

monitor booked time on the 

rink. 

Demand for the school fundraiser 

option is increasing all the 

time. That scenario sees the rink 

set up at a school for anywhere 

from three to five days at no 

cost to the host school – with 20 

percent of the proceeds going to 

the school, and the remainder to 

Ice Skate Tour. 

“That has become a very 

popular fundraiser. The only 

limitation we face is the size of 

the hall, but once we know we 

can fit it in – and we can adjust 

the size of the rink – we can set 

up with minimal help. All we 

usually ask is that the school 

provides a few volunteers to 

help us with the pack-down at 

the end of that time.” 

The green-theme continues 

in the rink’s aftercare, with 

soya-based cleaning products 

being used instead of chemicals. 

The artificial rink can go indoors 

or outdoors, and has been 

used in Hamilton’s Centre Place 

during Christmas festivities. It 

has also gone to several Royal 

Easter Show events, to Auckland’s 

Westgate shopping mall 

and to numerous corporate, 

club, church and community 

events at schools and kindergartens. 

More details are available on 

the website www.iceskatetour. 

co.nz


15 

Wintec joins global Design 

Factory community 

Wintec’s Design Hub has joined the Design 

Factory Global Network and will establish 

New Zealand’s first Design Factory. 

The Design Factory teaching 

model at Wintec is 

based on the growing 

global network of design factories 

that began in Aalto University, 

Helsinki, Finland. There 

are now 11 design factories in 

the Design Factory Global Network 

across five continents. 

They are based in universities 

and research centres where students 

work with industry partners 

in positive learning environments 

to solve complex, real 

world problems. 

The Design Factory brings 

together research, education 

and business practitioners to 

create a new learning culture 

and hands-on learning experiences. 

“This approach prepares 

Wintec students for future industries, 

employment and a 

complex world full of change 

and the unknown,” says 

Wintec Design Hub director 

WEL Networks a finalist in 

Industry Technology Awards 

The story of how smart 

technology is enhancing 

customer experience 

has earned WEL Networks a 

finals position in the Deloitte 

Energy Excellence Awards. 

WEL Networks is one of 

three finalists in the Energy 

Technology of the Year category 

(sponsored by Callaghan 

Innovation) alongside LZ New 

Zealand and Dairy Green. 

Chief executive, Garth 

Dibley says the announcement 

is exciting news as it reinforces 

the business decision to invest 

in technologies that will 

help its communities thrive 

well into the future. 

“WEL Networks plays a 

critical role in Waikato’s economic 

and social development 

so it’s important that we identify, 

and invest in sustainable 

technologies that will modernise 

the network and provide 

the right infrastructure 

to build sustainable communities. 

“To meet this objective we 

are transforming from a traditional 

electricity distribution 

business into a distribution 

system operator. 

“Our entry in the Deloitte 

Energy Excellence Awards describes 

the development and 

implementation of a smart network 

which will enable us to 

understand, and be able to respond 

to changes that occur at 

the low voltage (LV) level, ultimately 

delivering enhanced 

customer service.” 

A smart meter measures 

electricity usage, voltage and 

power quality in the home, 

stores the history and communicates 

usage and/or any 

outages directly to the WEL 

Networks operation centre via 

a radio signal. 

“The obvious benefits of 

the system is that information 

is collected in real-time allowing 

WEL Networks to quickly 

send repair crews, optimise 

electricity flows and provide 

advice to customers on energy 

efficiency. 

We’re using the smart meter 

as our ‘eyes and ears’.” 

The winner of the category 

will be announced at a formal 

event on Wednesday August 9 

in Auckland. 

Council housing policy 

out for submissions 

Hamilton City Council’s 

draft Special Housing 

Areas Policy will be 

open for public feedback until 

July 14. 

The community will be able 

to provide feedback on the draft 

policy which sets the criteria for 

defining Special Housing Areas 

(SHAs). SHAs are proposed 

areas of land (including sites 

not currently zoned for residential) 

in the city that can be put 

forward for housing development 

by landowners or developers 

for consideration by the 

council. 

If accepted, the council can 

then recommend the proposal 

to Government for approval 

which would enable fast track 

consenting processes on these 

sites. 

Hamilton City Council’s 

economic growth and planning 

manager Luke O’Dwyer says 

it’s important the community 

have an opportunity to be involved 

with defining the criteria. 

“While it is not an official 

requirement to have a policy 

in place, it will provide a clear 

and consistent framework and 

DO IT YOURSELF 

DECONTAMINATION 

provide certainty for developers 

and the community about what 

can be considered as an SHA,” 

says Mr O’Dwyer. 

“Defining Special Housing 

Areas (through the policy) is 

a way for the council to deliver 

on its commitments for 

increased housing supply and 

affordability outlined in the 

Housing Accord. 

Hamilton City Council and 

the Government signed a Housing 

Accord in December 2016 

as a way to increase housing 

supply and improve housing affordability 

in Hamilton. 

Margi Moore. 

“Together with our industry 

partners, we have embraced a 

learning by doing, fail-fast philosophy 

and can-do mindset, to 

help the students adopt ways 

of knowing and doing that will 

prepare them for employment.” 

It’s been an exciting journey 

for the project team led by Margi 

whose end goal was to have 

the Design Hub pilot accepted 

as part of the global network. 

“We applaud our students 

and our industry partners, they 

are trailblazers, they invested in 

our process, took risks and we 

appreciate they were prepared 

to participate in a pilot. 

“Over the past year we 

worked closely with Melbourne’s 

Design Factory to develop 

this model and submit an 

application.” 

The results of the pilot went 

under the spotlight at Wintec 

recently. After fifteen weeks, 

the student teams from the disciplines 

of design, communication, 

engineering and information 

technology outlined their 

methods and presented their 

final solutions to partners from 

Opus, Midland Trauma and 

Waikato District Health Board 

(DHB). The complex problems, 

managing water flow, 

reducing quad bike trauma and 

promoting interconnectedness 

for health and wellbeing were 

resolved and presented as opportunities. 

For the students, this has 

been an exciting journey that 

has involved taking on the 

challenge of interdisciplinary 

learning, working in teams with 

people they have never met before, 

putting themselves out of 

their comfort zone and bravely 

working directly with industry 

partners. They are now part of 

a highly-connected global network 

of design thinkers and 

problem solvers. 

Margi is looking ahead with 

a smile, there are students to 

select in semester two, new 

partners to work with and new 

problems to solve. 

Tighter immigration policy 

‘tough for business’ 

BusinessNZ says Labour’s immigration 

policy has a positive focus on higher 

skills and regional concerns, but the 

overall tightening of migrant numbers could 

be difficult for business. 

Labour proposes to tighten skills criteria, 

place more consideration on skill needs in the 

regions, and more actively enforce the Labour 

Market Test for work visas. 

BusinessNZ chief executive Kirk Hope 

says these policies would help bring higher-skilled 

migrants here, bring workers to the 

regions, and ensure employers are not misusing 

the Labour Market Test. 

"It would be particularly useful to get the 

regions’ skill needs more comprehensively 

represented in the occupational shortages list, 

to have visas issued for work in specific regions, 

and to involve regional businesses and 

business organisations in those decisions. For 

regional economic growth, businesses rely on 

a mix of skills - some provided by migrants - 

and it is important to give regional economies 

the best chance of success," Mr Hope said. 

But he said on top of restrictions recently 

imposed by Government (restricting lowskilled 

workers to three-year visas, restricting 

skilled worker visas to those earning more 

than $49,000 a year, and increasing the points 

needed for skilled migrants to get residency), 

Labour’s proposed restrictions could make it 

harder for businesses to fill jobs. 

"Employers are finding it hard to fill positions 

in hospitality, IT, horticulture, construction 

and other sectors. The more restrictions 

that are placed on lower-skilled migrants coming 

here, the harder it will be for the economy 

to grow." 

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New owners behind 

Gardens café transformation 

Years of business and hospitality 

experience are behind the transformation 

of a struggling Hamilton Gardens Café into 

one of the busiest cafes in Waikato. 


Owners Craig and Jenny 

Fraser took over 

the operation at Hamilton’s 

biggest tourism attraction 

18 months ago and in that 

time have increased turnover 

by 75 percent and Hamilton 

City Council’s annual income 

through commissions by 600 

percent. 

The once struggling facility 

is now chugging through 

45kg of coffee beans a week, 

hosts functions virtually every 

weekend and in summer can 

accommodate 2000 customers 

in a day. 

How did they do it? Craig 

and Jenny brought an objective 

eye to the business, focusing 

on making the venture a café 

above all else, opening it up 

to the lake front, investing in 

100 years’ of experience in the 

kitchen, revamping the décor 

and systems and forming great 

relationships with council staff 

working in the Gardens. 

And according to Craig 

there’s even better to come. 

“It’s taken 25 years to get 

this operation going full steam 

ahead and we’re not finished 

yet,” he says. 

Craig who has been fascinated 

by hospitality all his life 

brought immense experience 

to the role. As a 14 year-old 

Fraser High School boy he 

took a job selling ice creams 

at Founders Theatre and 

throughout years in high powered 

jobs at the National Bank 

would still work evenings at 

every restaurant he could find. 

He cut his teeth training as a 

manager at the busiest Whitbread 

pub in London next to 

the Stock Exchange at a time 

when the staff still drank at 

lunch time. 

“The bell used to go and 

500 of them used to come all at 

once. We would just be pouring 

beer as fast as we could. 

This happened day in, day out 

five days a week. For those 

five days you got just absolutely 

pounded. 

“That’s why I’ve tackled 

some pretty big jobs in my 

time and nothing really daunts 

me. Because I’ve seen it at its 

relentless worst.” 

Through work as a commercial 

manager in the bank 

and later as a business broker 

Craig saw horror stories and 

worked out the nuts and bolts 

behind making a hospitality 

businesses work. He put his 

experience to work in Cambridge, 

setting up a syndicate 

to buy the Prince Albert and 

transforming the former post 

office on Victoria St into the 

GPO Bar & Brasserie, all the 

while catering for events such 

as the New Zealand Show 

Jumping Championships and 

the New Zealand Pony Club 

Championships. Annual turnover 

was at $5 million when 

Craig and Jenny sold up, 

moved to Mt Maunganui and 

bought a café which they sold 

three years later for double the 

price. 

Craig and Jenny’s focus 

was to make the Hamilton 

Gardens Cafe a café first and 

foremost and to bring the café 

up to the standard befitting 

Hamilton’s prime tourism facility. 

But he was also determined 

to make the café a destination 

in its own right and more and 

more he is seeing the café 

crowded even on a wet winter 

day. 

He also focused on setting 

up great relations with council 

staff and becoming “part of the 

community” at the gardens to 

ensure maximum usage of all 

facilities. 

“Relations are everything, 

if you get 5000 people down 

here in a day it is like a little 

village.” 

Craig and Jenny also made 

a dramatic change to the café’s 

décor, decking it out with Tintin 

book covers and Thunderbirds 

pictures. Craig says he 

thinks of the facility as a business 

class lounge and wanted 

to go for a classic, timeless 

look. 

“I think atmosphere in hospitality 

is as important as food. 

Otherwise why bother going 

out when you can get so much 

delivered at home?” 

The food is a balance between 

cabinet and blackboard 

but with an emphasis on ensuring 

it caters for a wide variety, 

given the large proportion of 

international visitors. 

Craig also tripled the number 

of tills and eftpos machines 

and set up a pop up counter to 

speed up service and cater for 

the sale of ice creams in summer. 

“We are one of the biggest 

retailers of novelty ice creams 

in New Zealand,” he says, adding 

that their record is 1100 ice 

creams in a day. 

He also extended the outdoor 

seating area, doubled the 

number of chefs and ensured 

that the café was almost always 

open, regardless of whether it 

was hosting functions. 

“Here in a busy weekend 

we can roll the tables seven 

times a day. On a really busy 

day we can see 2000 people 

through our doors.” 

Hamilton Gardens Café is 

active in the community, with 

a relationship with Berkley 

Normal Middle School and 

Friends of the Gardens and 

sponsorships of Hamilton Garden 

Arts Festival and Pacific 

Rose Bowl Festival. 

Craig and Jenny are setting 

up packages for weddings, funerals 

and conferences based 

at the Gardens which he says 

will be a benefit to all. Because 

Hamilton Gardens Café’s catering 

is based on-site, rates 

are extremely competitive. 

Craig says with the visitor 

numbers in the Gardens growing 

and with theme gardens 

still to be created, it’s more important 

than ever that the café 

is a top class operation. 

“There is better to come. 

We are keen to just keep investing 

here. I think we’ve just 

scratched the surface.” 

Hamilton Gardens Cafe provides visitors to the 

Hamilton Gardens with a warm, inviting cafe 

experience. Visit us and enjoy our large alfresco 

dining area with views across turtle lake. Choose 

from a delicious range of freshly prepared food from 

our cabinet or seasonal menu. 

BOOK YOUR LAKESIDE CHRISTMAS PARTY 

Hungerford Crescent, Hamilton Gardens 

Open 7 days from 9.00am - 5pm | P: 07 856 6581 

Ideal for workplaces of 30 persons and upwards, sole 

use (evening only) of the facility and no venue cost. Be 

in quick to secure your date for Christmas 2017! 

P6055W


17 

Beauty Express – experts in skin care 

Hamilton’s only organic beauty salon is 

under new management. 

Sejal Patel, who recently 

bought the business, at 

564 Victoria Street, studied 

beauty therapy in New Zealand 

after arriving here from 

India in 2013. She also has an 

Indian qualification in the art. 

She works at the beauty therapy 

salon and spa as a senior 

therapist alongside four other 

staff members. 

Beauty Express staff are experts 

at looking after the skin, 

the body’s largest organ, of 

their clients. 

“We are fully organic,” Sejal 

said. 

“It’s a pretty major thing 

these days. The products that 

we use in our beauty treatments 

are completely natural, so don’t 

include any nasty chemicals, 

and are really active.” 

Beauty Express products 

use natural and organic superfoods 

to cleanse, hydrate, protect 

and nourish the skin. 

“Like the body, the skin 

needs essential nutrients in order 

to function properly. Therefore, 

Skin Juice has developed 

each product using ingredients 

that will nourish the skin in the 

same manner as a balanced 

diet nourishes the body. This 

allows optimum and, most importantly, 

sustainable results 

to be achieved, slowing and 

minimise the effects of ageing 

to maintain healthy, youthful 

skin. 

“They are also not tested 

on animals.” 

The Beauty Express team 

are passionate about delivering 

advanced face and body 

treatments to their customers, 

offering a full range of beauty 

therapy treatments including 

facials, waxing, massage, 

spray tanning and nail services, 

as well as day spa and wedding 

packages. 

And Sejal ensures Beauty 

Express’s experienced and internationally 

qualified therapists 

stay bang up to date with 

all the latest training around the 

latest beauty techniques and 

technologies. 

For those who find making 

time for a treatment difficult, 

Beauty Express is open until 

8pm on week days, and 11am 

until 5pm on Saturdays. 

Beauty Express isn’t just for 

the ladies, either, offering his 

and her treatments for couples. 

Claudia Bryant, Sejal patel (owner) and Demi Foley. 

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located Hamilton Beauty. 

564 Victoria Street, Hamilton 

P: 07 839 6559 

M: 022 685 5875 

E: lousbeautyexpress@gmail.com 

be 

www.mybeautyexpress.co.nz


Refrigerated Couriers’ 

success leads to expansion 

Matt Webby of Waikato-based Refrigerated 

Couriers is feeling both confident and 

excited about the recent purchase of Metro 

Urgent. 

By ANTHEA BATCHELOR 

He has acquired a solid 

background in specialised 

courier services and 

attributes much of his understanding 

about business development 

to Dave and Lynda, his 

parents, who he says played a 

huge part in this process. This is 

a family concern that has been in 

operation since 1983. Now, with 

the recent purchase of Metro 

Urgent the business has become 

well rounded and caters for 

all markets. 

The family has been in business 

thirty-four years in Waikato 

running the Refrigerated 

Couriers company. Matt says he 

grew up knowing what it is to 

work hard and can recall being 

strapped into a van at times as 

a child. 

Matt is clear, that first and 

foremost the dollar is not the 

bottom line. He asserts that 

the customer must feel valued 

and their needs be paramount, 

that open communication is a 

necessity. All his workers are 

paid above the minimum wage, 

and encouraged with positive 

feedback which creates happy 

employees who are motivated 

to work well. This in turn, results 

in satisfied customers who 

appreciate consistency and reliable, 

efficient services. 

When it is considered that 

Refrigerated Couriers operates 

in a targeted niche market with 

a range of companies, including 

NZ Blood and Fonterra, it 

is clear that this business plays 

a vital role in the Waikato business 

sector and reaches across 

into the wider community 

as well. 

Not only does Refrigerated 

Couriers and Metro Urgent cover 

the region with a sprint service 

from Waikato to Auckland 

and Tauranga, they also drive 

nationwide. They have drivers 

based throughout the South Island, 

not only covering the general 

demands of business but 

also functioning in highly specialised 

areas as well, such as 

transporting blood product and 

milk samples and many others. 

Another aspect of this company 

is its 24 hours, seven day a 

week on call service that can be 

utilised should the need arise. 

With the effective online tool 

available it is easier for clients 

to book in and it saves time. The 

Metro Urgent website is bright, 

up-to-date and easily accessible. 

As the refrigerated vehicles 

are very specialised the company 

maintains good relationships 

with reputable vehicle dealerships 

in Waikato, a necessary 

component to a business which 

needs vehicles to be fitted out, 

customised and receive ongoing 

maintenance. 

At the base line, Matt Webby 

as a businessman, values a 

down to earth approach. He has 

clear principles that guide him 

at the same time as just being 

a decent human being. These 

qualities combined with Matt’s 

experience and energy will continue 

to build the success of Refrigerated 

Couriers and are now 

flowing into the latest acquisition 

Metro Urgent. 

YOUR PARCEL.. OUR PRIORITY! 

GET THERE 

0800 43 88 43 

www.metrourgent.co.nz 

P7116W


19 

‘Averaging out’- Why it’s unlawful and 

how to get around it 

EMPLOYMENT LAW 

Many New Zealand employers are currently breaking the law, and 

may not even know it. Under the Minimum Wage Act 1983, every 

employee (with the exception of those aged under 16 or those on 

the Starting Out Wage) must receive at least the minimum wage, 

currently $15.75 per hour, for every hour worked. 

Averaging out is common, 

for example, for 

farm labourers who 

receive a salary. Both the employer 

and the employee want 

the salary paid out weekly/ 

fortnightly at the same amount 

throughout the year. The problem 

is, during the peak season 

the employee might work 60 

hours per week and in the low 

season only 20 hours per week. 

When the employee is working 

60 hours per week, they are usually 

being paid well below the 

minimum wage for every hour 

worked, even though when they 

are working only 20 hours per 

... even where both 

an employer and an 

employee are happy 

with a system that is 

technically unlawful, 

that will not be any 

comfort if a Labour 

Inspector visits. 

week, they are being paid well 

above the minimum wage. The 

law does not allow an employer 

to “average” it out over the 

year, even if both the employer 

and employee want it that way. 

The same problem appears 

to be common in early childcare 

centres, where many employees 

want to take the whole of the 

school holidays off but, rather 

than take the school holidays 

off as leave without pay, prefer 

to have the same amount paid 

to them each week throughout 

the year. By equally spreading 

the payments across the year, 

there is a risk that the employer 

will be breaching the minimum 

wage when the employees are 

working their regular hours. 

From 1 April 2016, employers 

have been required to keep 

records of hours worked even 

for salaried workers pursuant to 

s 130(1D) of the Employment 

Relations Act 2000. Where an 

employee works ‘usual hours’ 

(the same hours every week) 

it should be sufficient to show 

that the employee’s usual hours 

and payment for those hours are 

agreed to in the employment 

agreement. However, where 

you have employees working 

regular hours some weeks and 

irregular hours other weeks, 

then an employer needs to keep 

records (and produce them to a 

Labour Inspector if required) to 

show the hours the employee 

worked each week and the remuneration 

received for those 

hours. That is where the averaging 

out issue will catch some 

employers out. 

Despite the fact that both 

the employer and the employee 

prefer the employee’s salary to 

> BY ERIN BURKE 

Employment lawyer and director at Practica Legal 

Email: erin@practicalegal.co.nz phone: 027 459 3375 

be paid evenly throughout the 

year, that does not change the 

fact that the law does not allow 

it. So, is there any way to get 

around this issue? Sometimes, 

we just need to think outside the 

box a little! 

My suggestion to a client 

(an ECE Centre) recently was 

to ask the employees to sign an 

ongoing authorised deduction 

from their pay each week (when 

they are working) and then pay 

those deducted funds out to 

them weekly during the school 

holidays (when the employee is 

not working) to avoid breaching 

the averaging out/minimum 

wage dilemma. However, the 

deducted money would clearly 

need to be held on trust for 

the employees, given they have 

already earned it, it belongs to 

them and to avoid problems if 

the company went into receivership. 

This suggestion would require 

the employer to set up a 

separate trust account, where 

the funds in the account are 

specified to be held on trust for 

the company’s employees. Employers 

should discuss this option 

with their bank and find out 

what the bank requires to make 

this happen. 

In conclusion, even where 

both an employer and an employee 

are happy with a system 

that is technically unlawful, that 

will not be any comfort if a Labour 

Inspector visits. Employers 

who have salaried workers 

working irregular hours need 

to ensure that every hour is still 

paid at the minimum wage, and 

setting up a trust account for 

employees, may be one way 

that an employee can still receive 

equal payments throughout 

the year. 

Closed for Good applications open 

BNZ is asking community 

groups to put their 

hands up for support as 

Closed for Good project submissions 

open. 

Closed for Good will see 

the bank close each of its 

stores for one day on Wednesday, 

August 23 and thousands 

of BNZ staffers will head out 

to help community organisations 

all across the country. 

BNZ chief executive Anthony 

Healy says staff look 

forward to Closed for Good 

and the opportunity to get out 

in the community and help 

those who need it. 

“This is the eighth time we 

have run Closed for Good and 

it’s always hugely exciting to 

see all the different project 

submissions come in. The day 

reflects the great Kiwi reputation 

for mucking in and helping 

out, so I would encourage 

everyone out there to have a 

think about how we can help 

you with a project – we are 

ready and willing. 

“Last year we worked on 

more than 500 different projects 

around New Zealand – everything 

from painting fences 

to teaching young children. 

We used our people’s specialised 

skills when it came to 

areas like budgeting, business 

planning and financial literacy, 

as well as the good, old 

fashioned Kiwi skills of DIY 

and ingenuity. 

“We still have people in 

the business who are just as 

excited to get involved as 

when it first started. It’s a 

very rewarding day and as all 

staff have a second day to use 

for volunteering purposes we 

often find Closed for Good 

becomes the catalyst for conversations 

around how we can 

support a community on a longer 

term basis.” 

Submissions for this year’s 

projects close on July 7. 

To find out more about how 

Closed for Good can help and 

to submit a project, visit www. 

closedforgood.org.nz 

METH DECONTAMINATION 

We decontaminate properties throughout New Zealand ranging 

from high rise units/apartments to storage sheds, garages, vehicles and 

houses of all sizes and construction. 

In most cases the decontamination process limits the need to remove 

ceilings, walls, cabinets etc. 

If you have a contaminated property and require decontamination, 

contact All Surface Decontamination today on 0800 897 590 

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022 047 1490 | info@allsd.co.nz | www.allsd.co.nz


Kerry Hopper 

Kerry Hopper is well regarded in 

Hamilton residential property 

sales. He has worked as an 

independent salesperson since 1993, 

merging with Lugtons in 1997. Lugtons 

has had a long and committed heritage 

in Hamilton since 1955. During his 

time with the team in Hamilton, sales 

have increased which testifies to his 

skill and underlines his reputation. 

He is one of the company’s top sales 

achievers. 

He believes that putting in the 

hours is essential to the results he 

achieves. However, Kerry has learnt 

to balance his work and his lifestyle 

wisely. He says that the ability to work 

hard needs to be counterbalanced by 

having a definite time to relax so in 

that way, he brings his energies into 

focus for the client’s benefit. 

Kerry places importance on face to 

face relationships with his clients. He 

walks with them as they make their 

journey and in some sense, guides 

them through. Human interaction is 

his specialty. 

As Kerry is an astute businessman he 

also values up-to-date technology. His 

customers benefit from his integration 

of optimal business systems. 

Kerry, above all, has integrity as 

his base. His customers, experience a 

less stressful journey and appreciate 

his honesty. He remembers highlights 

of his varied journey and says that 

the Pauanui Waterways development 

in Coromandel where he worked 

for eighteen months was one of the 

fulfilling times in his career. 

With his attitude and his proven 

career, it can be said simply…Kerry 

meets you with his best. 

Luke Parsons 

NZHL Consultant 

Luke Parsons has been a consultant 

for NZHL for five years working 

in their Hamilton CBD office on 

Victoria Street. Founded in Waikato 

NZHL still has its head office here and is 

now a nationwide business with some 78 

franchises. 

Te Awamutu raised, Luke ventured 

overseas and first worked in the UK 

and then in Sydney where he gained 

experience in debt management and 

solvency. The particular skills learned 

in these fields prepared him well for 

his current position. He understands how 

much mortgages can affect people’s lives 

and it is the complete approach using the 

company’s unique on-line budget tools 

that enables NZHL clients to save interest 

and to set their own goals. Along with 

these tools and options to pay off your 

debt as fast as you want, the client is then 

freed up earlier to use their money for 

other purposes. It is a fairer approach to 

mortgages than traditional home lending 

as people can manage their lifestyles 

and make decisions to save interest. This 

in turn, allows for saving for a holiday 

or other improvements to their lifestyle. 

Luke advocates strongly that his clients 

should maintain work /life balance. 

He says that being honest and upfront 

is integral to his way of business. Luke 

knows that organising priorities is 

paramount to success and he does just 

that. He is also aware how important it 

is to be versatile, to be adaptable in this 

MEN IN BUSINESS 

fast-moving competitive mortgage market. 

Luke says if there’s one thing that 

needs emphasis it is establishing an open 

interactive relationship with the client. He 

sees NZHL and their lending philosophy 

as changing lives for the better. Luke 

simply wants to help people manage their 

mortgage and to make choices that free 

them from debt. 

Kerry Hopper 

DDI: (07) 838 5870 

Mobile: (021) 984 173 

www.KerryHopper.nz 

Kerry Hopper – Lugtons Real Estate 

New Zealand Home Loans 

851 Victoria Street, Hamilton CBD 

P: 07 839 9620 | M: 027 8917 517 

luke.parsons@nzhl.co.nz 

www.nzhl.co.nz 

Bevan Houlbrooke - Director, CKL 

CKL is pleased to announce 

the appointment of Bevan 

Houlbrooke as a director, 

effective 1 May 2017. 

Director Mark Gilberd says 

Bevan - who is based in CKL’s 

Hamilton Office - brings a wealth 

of experience and energy, as well 

as strong local relationships and 

knowledge, to his new role. 

Along with Mark, he will lead the 

30-strong team at CKL Waikato, 

replacing Warren Lovegrove 

who is stepping into the role of 

project manager for major land 

development projects. 

Bevan will join the CKL 

directorship team of Geoff 

Webster, Bronwyn Rhynd, 

Campbell Burrows and Mark 

Gilberd. 

He holds a Bachelor of 

Science majoring in resource 

and environmental planning and 

a Masters of Planning Practice. 

His first job out of university 

was at CKL where he worked 

for three years before a stint in 

local government in the UK. On 

his return to New Zealand nine 

years ago, Bevan was appointed 

planning manager at CKL 

Waikato before becoming an 

associate and a minor shareholder 

in the business. 

Bevan says he is looking 

forward to taking on a role where 

he will be working across the 

entire business, although planning 

will continue to be a key focus. 

“I’m really excited about the 

challenge and delighted to be 

the first CKL director with a 

planning background. CKL 

has had a long and successful 

history in Waikato and I’m keen 

to contribute to that reputation 

moving forward.” 

Warren Lovegrove has been 

working at CKL since 1989 and 

been a shareholder and director 

of CKL since 2001. He believes 

it is now time for someone else 

to move into this leadership role, 

and take on his governance and 

management responsibilities so 

that he can focus on delivery of 

CKL’s major land development 

projects. 

“I am thrilled for Bevan and 

believe he has all the skills and 

energy to enable CKL to achieve 

its strategic goals around growth 

and supporting the company’s 

ongoing goals of providing our 

clients with the best possible 

service.” 

In other developments, 

Hamish Ross who is the office 

manager of CKL’s Te Awamutu 

Bevan Houlbrooke and Warren Lovegrove 

office is becoming a minor 

shareholder; and Andrew Wood 

is stepping into the planner 

manager’s role within CKL’s 

Hamilton office. 

“These are great achievements 

- all three have been long-term 

employees of CKL so it is 

really exciting to see these guys 

progressing within the company 

and to see what they can achieve 

over the next few years.” 

07 849 9921 | hamilton@ckl.co.nz 

58 Church Road, PO Box 171, Hamilton 3240 

www.ckl.co.nz



21 

Anthony Licht 

Goldsmith Gallery 

Jewellery-making may be an ancient 

profession but leading edge technology 

is what sets Hamilton’s Goldsmiths 

Gallery Designer Jewellers apart. 

Anthony Licht, who established 

the gallery in 2000, is at the forefront of 

technology, design and technique, behind 

quality customised engagement rings and 

other jewellery to suit every taste and budget. 

Anthony has two stores in Hamilton, one in 

Victoria street, and the second in Chartwell 

Shopping Centre. Goldsmiths Gallery 

Designer Jewellers have a superb front store 

that is a showcase for their large range 

of unique, hand-made, imported and NZ 

manufactured jewellery, as well as an award 

winning workshop. 

Anthony was the first jeweller in New 

Zealand to use CAD computer programming 

and a Roland wax milling machine, allowing 

customers to see a 3D image of their unique 

piece of jewellery before it is created. 

Using the programme, Anthony creates 

3D images of bespoke rings, pendants, 

earrings, bracelets and brooches, which can 

be viewed from all angles. This allows for 

proportions, dimensions, shapes and colours 

to be arranged and altered, achieving a 

perfect, unique and breath-taking piece. 

Wax models are then made to the exact 

size of the finished product. Anthony has also 

invested in a 3D printer, and he now produces 

models of jewellery design from resin. 

“This is much more cost effective to the 

customer as it allows any changes to be made 

simply, with a few stokes of the computer 

keys. Then it gets cast into the metal of 

choice, perfectly, first time,” Anthony says. 

Anthony and his wife Michelle have 

owned and operated Goldsmiths for more 

than 15 years, establishing the business after 

moving from South Africa. They have built 

a reputation of professionalism and integrity 

with their blend of quality workmanship 

and competitive prices. The gallery is also 

a registered member of the New Zealand 

Jewellers and Watchmakers Association. 

Anthony learned his craft as an apprentice 

in Johannesburg, South Africa and he 

relishes the process of creating customdesigned 

jewellery to last a lifetime. “We 

also specialise in remodelling jewellery, 

which is another cost-effective way of taking 

something special and making something 

new. We love creating something unique for 

people. Our customers are often surprised at 

just how affordable the process can be.” 

Anthony believes that family is the 

essence of life, and makes sure he is always 

there for his two children aged, 15 and 12. He 

is always home at dinnertime, watches soccer 

intently, hip hop patiently, and his creativity 

is amazing when it comes to school projects. 

Krishna Reddy 

Plus 91 Café 

“We want to be more of a local 

café, supporting local businesses, and 

keeping it all affordable,” says Plus 

91 Café owner Krishna Reddy. 

He’s been the owner of Plus 91 Café, 

in Ulster Street, Hamilton, for nearly three 

years, changing the name from Momento 

North about a year ago. 

Krishna, and his staff at Plus 91 Café, 

are proud supporters of the Waikato 

Chiefs rugby team, with an impressive 

collection of signed players’ jerseys. It 

means players regularly stop by for a 

drink or a bite to eat. 

“We are dedicated to helping the local 

community,” Krishna said. 

For Krishna that means serving up 

great coffee, and he has partnered with 

award winning Roma Coffee to offer an 

extensive menu made by expert baristas 

that will measure up for the toughest 

coffee connoisseur. 

It also means serving delicious 

breakfasts and tasty lunches served in 

generous portions at an affordable price in 

a customer-friendly atmosphere. 

“We want our customers to keep 

coming back,” Krishna said. 

If customers do return to Plus 91 Café, 

its expansive menu means they can keep 

having something new every time. 

“We offer a variety of diet options 

including gluten-free and vegan diets. The 

quality of our product is something we 

refuse to sacrifice and we source the best 

and seasonal local ingredients to deliver 

you food which is simply among the best 

on offer in Waikato.” 

Plus 91 Café is also the catering partner 

for The Hamilton Old Boys Rugby & 

Sports Club on the corner of Willoughby 

and Richmond Streets in the city. 

“We look after the kitchen side of 

things for the Old Boys,” Krishna said. 

“We have got flexibility at the club for 

functions, it’s easy to get to, and there’s 

plenty of free parking for patrons.” 

Goldsmiths Gallery 

441 Victoria Street, Hamilton 

P. 07 838 3418 

Ground Floor, Chartwell Shopping Centre 

P. 07 852 5341 

www.goldsmithsgallery.co.nz 

Plus 91 Cafe 

3 Ulster Street, Hamilton 

phone: 07 838 2045 

info@plus91cafe.co.nz 

www.plus91cafe.co.nz 

Hugo Van In - Treescape 

Clearing unwanted trees and vegetation from 

vital Waikato infrastructure can be complex 

and a strategic business – just ask Treescape 

Waikato’s Business manager Hugo Van In. 

For 15 years Hugo has 

led the team responsible 

for major contracts to 

keep the region’s rail corridor, 

power supply, roads and rivers 

free from unwanted vegetation 

growth, including removing 

many large trees in some 

challenging locations. 

“Arboriculture is strategic 

and skilled work and sometimes 

people are unaware just how 

specialised arborists are” Hugo 

says. “We work with a variety 

of equipment from elevated 

platforms, diggers ranging from 

5 tons to 20 tons, tractors, stump 

grinders, hirail spray units, 

cranes and helicopters from 

time to time”. 

Hugo and his staff of 56 work 

throughout the year in all kinds 

of weather, to provide a quick 

and competitive service for 

commercial, utility, residential 

and local government 

contracts. Their scope of 

work covers commercial 

grounds maintenance, 

pruning, trimming, hedge 

removal, power line clearance, 

revegetation, and large land 

clearing work. 

Removing a big tree from 

confined spaces requires a great 

deal of skill to avoid damaging 

the surrounding buildings, 

water pipes and power lines. “ 

Our experienced arborists have 

the equipment and techniques 

which enable them to safely 

remove trees, big and small 

without causing damage. In 

particularly confined spaces, the 

tree can be lowered in small 

sections using specialised 

roping techniques, elevated 

platforms and helicopters. The 

site will be left clean and tidy, 

with limbs cut into firewood 

size if required”, Hugo says. 

Treescape’s Hamilton based 

at 123 Riverlea Road covers a 

huge area, including Waikato, 

King country, Bay of Plenty 

and two contracts in Whangarei 

which fall under the branch’s 

umbrella. Hugo oversees the 

operations in Hamilton and in 

two satellite depots in Rotorua 

and Whangarei. The depot 

in Hamilton is custom built, 

with an onsite workshop and is 

home to many crews, plant and 

equipment needed to service 

their numerous contracts. 

Treescape is committed 

to providing a healthy and 

safe work environment for 

employees, contractors and the 

general public affected by our 

activities. Treescape has worked 

on large projects for corporate, 

private and council clients 

and have $100 million public 

liability insurance cover in place 

for extra peace of mind. 

Phone: 0800 873 396 | 07 857 0280 

Email: hugov@treescape.co.nz 

www.treescape.co.nz | facebook.com/TreescapeWaikato



Greg Petrin 

Eves Realty 

There’s nothing Eves Realty 

Hamilton branch manager Greg 

Petrin won’t do to help his clients 

and team. 

“My main focus is to ensure our team 

provides exceptional service and gets the 

best results for their clients,” Greg says. 

“I’m very hands on. Always available 

to my team to help train, mentor and coach 

them on all aspects of real estate business 

to ensure they are a step ahead of their 

competition. This has been clearly evident 

from the testimonials they have received 

from many happy clients.” 

Greg’s attitude has paid off, rewarding 

him with a successful real estate career. 

he started out in real estate in Sydney, 

Australia, in 2000, and came home to 

Hamilton in 2015. 

“The enjoyment of helping people is 

why I love this business and first became 

involved. You are rewarded for the hard 

work and the effort that you put into it,” 

he says. 

“Priding myself on my experience and 

ability to grow real estate teams through 

hard work and the unwavering focus that 

each salesperson needs to provide their 

clients top quality service. I ensure the 

team is able to do this by providing them 

with the skills and tools for each part of the 

real estate transaction process. Being an 

accomplished auctioneer has also helps to 

provide the team and their clients support 

around all types of marketing methods 

available for the sale of a property. Helping 

all to understand everything that’s going 

on assists to eliminate the stress of the 

transaction.” 

His reputation for integrity and 

experience has attracted some top 

salespeople to his branch. 

Greg, a keen lover of sport, and his 

wife Deb, whose family has been in real 

estate for three generations, have five 

children. 

“Real estate is about helping people 

more than it is about selling houses. You’re 

working with people to find solutions of 

how to move from A to B. You’re helping 

them achieve a goal, whether that’s 

moving into their first home, buying their 

dream home or downsizing. My goal is 

to help others achieve theirs,” Greg says. 

Steven Pett 

Platinum Transfers & Tours 

New business Platinum Transfers and 

Tours is driving into unchartered territory 

by providing door-to-door premier luxury 

transport around Hamilton and the Waikato. 

Owners Steven and Bronny Pett are no 

strangers to delivering top-class service, 

it’s what they based their previous awardwinning 

business Astra Motor Lodge on, 

and this new venture is no exception. 

Steven is passionate about the Waikato 

and all it has to offer and he’s even more 

passionate about the amazing sights, 

sounds and flavours of Hamilton. 

“There is so much to do and see in this 

city,” he says 

“We want to promote the known spots 

as well as the hidden secrets to our guests 

and keep them in our city longer.” 

Tour packages in Hamilton are designed 

to showcase the city and include excursions 

to Hamilton’s Hidden Secrets, Gordonton 

Country Village, Good George Brewery, 

St Andrew’s Golf Course and the Waikato 

River Explorer. 

From the sculptures, gardens and parks 

to the museum, river walks, cafes and 

restaurants, Steven believes Hamilton can 

offer international and Kiwi corporate 

travellers a feast of entertainment, first-rate 

food and awesome activities. 

Steven has been involved in hospitality 

for close to five years and says providing 

a personal touch is key to delivering 

outstanding customer service. 

“People want to do business with people 

and we offer a full personalised service to 

all our clients.” 

And that means Steven and Bronny are 

behind the wheels of their Grand Cherokee 

Overland and Ford Tourneo luxury van, 

greeting guests and ensuring they get what 

they want from their stay in the Waikato, 

and more. 

Platinum Transfers and Tours also have 

a selection of tours to premier destinations 

in the Waikato, including Waitomo Caves, 

Hobbiton, Rotorua and Zealong Tea Estate. 

For Steven and Bronny it’s about getting 

the details right and providing exceptional 

client service. 

“We have always worked hard to build 

strong relationships and understand the 

value of great communication.” 

Eves Realty 

Greg Petrin - Rototuna branch manager 

P 07 834 9570 | M 027 801 9962 

www.eves.co.nz 

P: 027 277 9581 or P: 027 560 4838 

E: info@ptt.nz 

www.ptt.nz 

Defining the marketplace niche 

The business environment is inundated with 

businesses that offer a generalised ranged of services. 

These businesses generally end up competing against 

each other on issues of price and convenience and as 

such they live or die based on their acceptance in the 

marketplace. 

In 2010, when Russell Drake Consulting was 

established, Russell wanted to take the best of his 

15 years (at that time) human resource management 

and consulting experience and build a business that 

operated in its own space. Having worked for large 

human resource consultancies, local legal practices 

and having held senior human resource and general 

management roles, Russell wanted to establish 

a business that directly supported Employers in 

addressing the people problems they faced on a 

day to day basis within their business. He believed 

that this needed to be more than a ‘soft-fluffy’ HR 

practice as Employers wanted to be supported in 

areas that directly challenged their ability to manage 

and operate their businesses. 

The principles established by Russell and his wife/ 

business partner Linda-Maree from the outset, and 

still well in practice today, have been based around 

a desire to provide practical, compliant employment 

solutions to a vast array of situations. Russell 

discovered many years ago that many Employers 

had an understanding of risk and liability but did 

not know how to create and implement a strategy 

to achieve their desired outcomes while being 

confident that, if this was legally challenged, it would 

withstand scrutiny. 

Through building a business that only worked on behalf 

of Employers and specialised in being exceptionally 

responsive to client requirements, the business has 

grown to now have eight staff working across its two 

operating entities. An alignment with the Employers 

and Manufacturers Association (EMA) has reinforced 

the Employer orientation of the company. 

The nature of the engagements undertaken often 

centre on conflict and dispute resolution, employment 

relationship breakdowns or personality differences 

(Employee to Employee and Employer to Employer) 

with the services provided by Russell and his team being 

delivered within the workplace, within mediation or 

through representation in The Employment Relations 

Authority. 

As such disputes can occur overnight Russell has 

always emphasised a sense of urgency to ensure that 

advice and guidance is available without delay with 

this resulting in the growth of the business through 

the establishment of a strong reputation of customer 

focused service. 

Russell holds tertiary level qualifications in 

counselling, industrial psychology and business 

management and combined with extensive 

employment law and business management experience 

believes that this has enabled him to develop a strong 

understanding of business operations from an ownermanager 

perspective. Russell is a Chartered Member 

of the Human Resource Institute of NZ, a Member of 

the Employment Law Institute of NZ, The NZ Institute 

of Directors and a Mediator with LEADR. 

Written by Russell Drake, of Russell Drake 

Consulting Ltd., Specialist Employment Relations. 

Consultants who act exclusively for Employers - see 

www.russelldrakeconsulting.co.nz or phone (07) 838 0018. 

Russell Drake Consulting 

Ph: 07 838 0018 

www.russelldrakeconsulting.co.nz 

J9549P


23 

WINGER HAMILTON PROUD TO BE ASSOCIATED 

WITH COLLINS AUTOMOTIVE TECHNICIANS


WAIKATO INNOVATION PARK 

High demand for Waikato 

Innovation Park’s CO-SPACE 

A co-working space at the rapidly growing 

Waikato Innovation Park is proving popular 

with small businesses. 


CO-SPACE @ the Park 

has been such a success 

that there is only a small 

supply still available. 

Waikato Innovation Park 

CEO Stuart Gordon says the 

Innovation Park board set up 

Co-Space because it was well 

aware of the growing trend 

towards shared workspaces, 

best demonstrated locally by 

the Wintec-based Soda Inc. 

The Park was getting continual 

inquiries from people in small 

businesses or branch offices 

who needed somewhere to 

work. 

“Rather than working from 

home they wanted office space 

but on a small scale,” says Mr 

Gordon. 

Now the Park can accommodate 

them. From around 

$80 a week a business can rent 

attractive new space but also 

have access to meeting rooms, 

a new conference centre that 

can accommodate up to 50 

people and easy parking in a 

nice park environment. 

The shared space comprises 

five small offices plus 14 desks. 

Desks or studio offices range 

from 12 to 25 square metres, 

allowing flexibility to meet 

changing needs and enabling 

businesses to shape their own 

work experience. The space is 

ideal for companies with up 

to five employees who would 

benefit from a flexible, professional, 

supported and equipped 

office environment. Individuals 

can also lease a desk in the 

open office space. 

“The people in the Co- 

Space area are really enjoying 

it,” says Mr Gordon. 

“They enjoy having their 

own space but there are interesting 

people around them 

doing interesting things so it 

keeps them invigorated. They 

absolutely love it.” 

Businesses based at Innovation 

Park also benefit from the 

Park being a very professional, 

attractive and easy to find address 

for visitors. 

It is also an ideal location 

for large companies to base 

branch offices. 

“The facilities here in terms 

of communication are such that 

you can easily be working in 

Hamilton when the head office 

is elsewhere,” says Mr Gordon. 

In keeping with the huge 

growth of businesses at Innovation 

Park, some businesses 

have used the Co-Space but 

then evolved to a point where 

they’ve taken bigger office 

space at the Park. 

Mr Gordon says Waikato 

Innovation Park is also able 

to offer businesses top quality 

laboratory space. 

From a business 

point of view it’s easy 

to invite people here. 

They know where it is 

and most people are 

keen to come here. 

It’s a great address 

to have on your 

website.” 

“We can offer businesses 

the best of both worlds. They 

can share office space but also 

utilise fully equipped, fitted 

out, high spec labs.” 

The majority of the 53 businesses 

at Waikato Innovation 

Park are technology focused 

and oriented towards agritech, 

food or ICT. Collaboration is 

a huge aspect of the Park and 

39 percent of businesses are 

working on projects together. 

Opened in 2004, the Park 

was established with funding 

from WEL Energy Trust, 

the government and Hamilton 

City Council. It provides 

a collaborative environment 

for innovators in agribusiness 

and more than two thirds of its 

tenant firms are exporters. Collectively 

their gross turnover 

was more than $427 million in 

2016, up 42 percent from $300 

million in 2015. 

The Park is now worth 

about $25 million, has four 

buildings including a spray 

dryer, and is home to businesses 

employing 561 staff and 

another 1049 offsite. Employment 

at the Park has risen by 

20 percent each year. 

“Growth has been tremendous, 

especially when you 

consider that some of this has 

occurred when there has been 

a downturn in the dairy industry,” 

says Mr Gordon. 

“But we don’t want to lose 

momentum and we are always 

looking at taking the next 

step.” 

A 20 year master plan 

shows the potential for the 

Park to house 2500 staff, add 

another 12 buildings to its 17 

hectare site and be worth $180 

million. 

The success of CO-SPACE 

@ the Park is likely to see more 

shared space offices available 


In business, there’s the wrong 

way, the hard way, and the 

RightWay 

Your accounting 

and business experts 

W: rightway.co.nz 

E: info@rightway.co.nz P: 0800 555 024 

NEW CONFERENCE CENTRE 

OPENING JULY 2017 

Ruakura Conference Centre @ the Park offers 

a unique parklike conference facility with a 

collaborative, vibrant, exciting and modern 

environment. We also offer free on-site parking 

available at the Park. 

Come and be part of a unique vibrant working 

environment at the Waikato Innovation Park with 

lots of break out space for conference attendees 

and visitors both inside and out. 

CO-SPACE @ the Park provides an adaptive, 

collaborative and inspiring shared workspace 

that takes advantage of all on offer at the park. 

Using a range of moveable elements, desks 

or studio offices to define a variety of work 

settings the CO-SPACE allows flexibility to 

meet your changing needs and enabling you 

to shape your work experience. The space is 

ideal for companies with 1-5 employees who 

would benefit from a flexible, professional office 

environment with an eye on future growth into 

larger premises if needed. 

9 Melody Lane, Ruakura, Hamilton | 07 8570500 | info@wipltd.co.nz | wipltd.co.nz



25 

From page 24 

at the Park in future. 

Recruitment company Phil 

Burton & Associates moved 

into the park’s Co-Space the 

day it opened and the business, 

now in its third year has continued 

to expand. Phil has two 

part-time staff, one of whom 

works alongside him in the office. 

“It’s just a really nice place 

to work,” he says. “It’s a great 

environment inside and outside.” 

Phil says he enjoys being 

with like-minded people and 

has developed a network he 

works with. 

“There’s a number of business 

that I do work with in the 

Park and that has come about 

since I started here.” 

“It has good meeting rooms 

which are well provisioned in 

terms of equipment and technology 

and there’s a great 

café.” 

Remuneration expert Strategic 

Pay’s headquarters is in 

Auckland and Hamilton-based 

staff member Nigel Murphy 

loves operating out of the Co- 

Space. Previously he worked 

from home and says “it’s fantastic 

having colleagues again. 

“I didn’t realise how much 

I missed it until I started here. 

Even to be able to say hi to 

people in the morning is great. 

There’s a general banter you 

get on the floor but also there 

are people you can bounce 

ideas off.” 

“From a business point of 

view it’s easy to invite people 

here. They know where it is 

and most people are keen to 

come here. It’s a great address 

to have on your website.” 

The site’s flexibility in 

terms of accommodating different 

sizes of business is also 

a plus. 

“You can go up and down 

in size as you need to,” says 

Nigel. 

Innovation Park is a busy 

place and Nigel enjoys the 

buzz of so much business going 

on around him. 

Marion Peck of the Lake 

Taupo Protection Trust has en- 


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High demand for 

Waikato Innovation 

Park’s CO-SPACE 

From page 23 

joyed coming to CO-SPACE 

@ the Park after being in an 

office building on her own. 

“Waikato Innovation Park 

is a happening place, it is so 

vibrant, it gives you the opportunity 

to network widely and it 

has great ambience. It provides 

me with security and company 

and it ticks all of those boxes. 

It’s just a great place to be located 

really.” 

Alastair Macdiarmid is a 

business partner with Right- 

Way business advisory and accounting 

services. 

He has been working in the 

Co-Space since March as one 

of 130 staff around the country 

offering Xero-based accounting 

advice for SMEs. 

“It’s brilliant. It’s fantastic 

for all sorts of businesses,” 

he says of CO-SPACE @ the 

Park. 

“It’s quite a modern, upbeat 

place with lots of variety. 

Alastair says RightWay is 

in a strong growth phase at 

present and he expects that 

like other businesses, it will at 

some stage expand to the point 

where it has its own office 

space. 

“The Park’s Co-Space is a 

great place to grow your business,” 

he says. 

Peter Gatley, general man- 

ger of sheep milk producer 

Maui Milk, says Waikato Innovation 

Park is well located and 

easy to get to. 

He says working from the 

site is especially relevant for 

him as Innovation Park processes 

the company’s milk 

through its dryer facilities. 

“The Park is fantastic, has a 

great café and meeting rooms 

and plenty of networking opportunities. 

It’s hard to have a 

cup of coffee without bumping 

into someone you know or 

need to know.” 

Anastasia Hildred has based 

her business OrgDesign at CO- 

SPACE @ the Park since it 

started, in fact she was the first 

person to choose a desk there. 

“I was working at home 

and I wanted to go somewhere 

where there were other people 

to talk to,” she says. 

She deliberately chose a 

desk in an open plan area rather 

than an office. 

“I like being in the open 

area and there are plenty of 

places to go if we want a quiet 

place.” 

OrgDesign focuses on ensuring 

businesses and organisations 

have the right people 

doing the right things, she says. 

“I focus on organisational 

design and structure, on making 

sure everyone knows what 

they should be doing, that the 

roles they are in are correct and 

that the reporting structure is 

right.” 

Anastasia says there is a 

core of people in the office 

most of the time who have an 

easy, casual relationship. 

“It’s nice to see what others 

are doing,” she says. 

“The facilities here are all 

really good and the Innovation 

Park team are really responsive 

if we need anything.” 

CO-SPACE a perfect launch pad 

for communications company 

HMC Communications is a classic 

example of a business flourishing 

within Waikato Innovation 

Park and its success saw it outgrow the 

CO-SPACE @ the Park within a year. 

Director Heather Claycomb says the 

public relations firm has moved three 

times within Innovation Park as it has 

grown. 

“We were in a little office then when 

we became four staff we moved into the 

Co-Space,” she says. 

“Then after a crazy year of growth 

last year we now have eight staff so we 

moved upstairs to a bigger office.” 

Heather says the new office operates 

in a similar way to the Co-Space in that 

businesses can share facilities such as a 

kitchen and meeting rooms. 

“It means as a small company you 

are able to invest as much as possible 

back into the business.” 

HMC Communications has many 

clients in the agriculture and dairy industries 

but also works across a wide 

variety of industries including health 

and electricity. 

HMC Communications celebrated 

its 13th year of operation in May but 

the expansion has only come in recent 

years. 

“The first eight years I worked on 

my own at home. Then I decided I needed 

to either learn to say no more often 

or hire staff,” says Heather. 

The business has grown to eight staff 

in rapid time and Heather says she intends 

to continue growing the business 

– albeit at a more sustainable pace. 

SkyPoint Technologies is an IT and Communications 

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P: 07 929 4932 | www.skypoint.co.nz 

9 Melody Lane, Waikato Innovation Park, Hamilton 3216 

Ph. +64 7 857 0900 | www.gclegal.co.nz



27 

Waikato businesses benefit 

from free support service 

Waikato business entrepreneurs, inventors 

and start-ups have been receiving valuable 

free advice and mentoring support thanks 

to a team of local experts. 

Waikato Innovation 

Park’s Business 

Growth Services 

team meets with around 600 

From left, Craig Purcell, Merran Davis, Tony Kane, 

Peter Davey, Novell Gopal and Sneha Tiwary. 

businesses every year helping 

them grow and supporting 

embryonic products and 

services to reach their market. 

The services are free to 

all greater Waikato businesses, 

not just those based at 

Waikato Innovation Park. The 

Business Growth Services 

team is funded by the Regional 

Business Partner Network 

(RBPN) which is supported by 

New Zealand Trade & Enterprise 

(NZTE) and Callaghan 

Innovation and Business 

FUNDING 

for business 

Can you tick one of these boxes? 

Mentors NZ. 

To date the team has engaged 

with more than 1000 

businesses and have helped 

contribute more than $1.3 million 

to the regional economy 

through their support of new 

businesses and products. 

Led by business growth 

manager Craig Purcell, the 

team of six includes business 

growth advisors Peter Davey 

and Novell Gopal, Vanessa 

Clark, and Waikato mentor 

manager Tony Kane. 

“We’ve got a privileged 

job,” says Craig. “We meet 

with people who have new 

ideas with real merit and commercial 

application, week 

in-week out. The challenge 

is taking their inventions and 

good ideas through to reality 

and commercial success.” 

Plump & Co 

Hamilton woman Jacinta Stevenson’s 

business Plump & 

Co’s plus size knitting is attracting 

a new generation of 

crafters. Using giant wooden 

knitting needles and chunky 

yarn, the 28-year-old art 

school graduate turned entrepreneur, 

has tapped into 

the worldwide movement 

for ‘slow craft’ – embracing 

craftsmanship, mindfulness 

and simplicity. From her office 

in Flagstaff she sells 

her unique giant wool to the 

world, via an elegant e-commerce 

website: plumpandco. 

com. 

NZ Auto Traps Ltd 

Kevin Bain and George 

Campbell are developing a 

pest trap which can automatically 

reset. Once triggered, 

the dead pest is released and 

falls to the ground and the trap 

is rebaited and reset, ready for 

the next forest invader. The 

trap can kill multiple pests 

and can continue operating, 

unchecked, for 12 months or 

more, and will be able to catch 

an estimated 100 predators 

without intervention. 

Delytics 

Mark Loeffen’s business 

Delytics uses mathematical 

algorithms and clever analytics 

to help primary sector 

industries and businesses increase 

demand for their fresh 

produce by up to 100 percent. 

Delytics can help growers and 

marketers achieve superior 

returns for their produce by 

ensuring their crop quality 

and taste consistently delights 

consumers, right from the start 

of the season. They can also 

help predict the consumer acceptance 

of crops before they 

are harvested, and achieve 

consistent quality across multiple 

growing locations. 

AgriSea NZ Seaweed Ltd 

Paeroa-based biostimulant 

company AgriSea NZ Seaweed 

Ltd has just been awarded a 

project grant from Callaghan 

Innovation for $74,000. The 

grant is going towards research 

and development of their bioactive 

products and the nutritional 

needs of honey bees. AgriSea’s 

organic products, which are 

derived from a unique fermentation 

process of a sustainably 

harvested species of native 

New Zealand seaweed (ecklonia 

radiata), are in-demand 

from customers in the dairy, 

horticulture, viticulture, equine 

and dry stock industries. Apiculture 

– or bee keeping – is 

also an industry which is using 

AgriSea’s range of specialist 

products. Feedback from beekeepers 

and industry partners 

indicates that the products improve 

the health, disease resistance 

and honey production of 

the bee population. 

High growth aspirations 

Export focus / export enabler 

Innovative products or services 

Technology driven 

Waikato Innovation Park offers a free business needs 

assessment to support your growth plans. We can help you 

focus and plan, offer advice and share useful connections. 

We deliver funding through the Regional Business Partner 

programme for: 

Management training / coaching across a wide range of 

business skills 

Commercial R&D activity 

Commercialisation and IP advice 

Accessing global expertise 

Phone us on 07 857 0538 

or email businessgrowth@wipltd.co.nz 

to talk with a Business Growth Advisor 

P2834W


Growth continues for 

Louise Feathers Planning 

They say you should be able to describe 

your business in the time it takes to move 

from one floor to another in the elevator. 

Louise Feathers is still working on her 

‘elevator speech’ six years later, but Louise 

has good reason. Her town planning 

business continues to grow and diversify, 

with staff, skills and space. 

Louise Feathers Planning 

now has a team of six 

in-house, plus consultants, 

to deal with the demand 

for resource consent applications 

and the provision of 

professional planning advice. 

The latest addition to staff is 

Trisha Simonson 

Trisha Simonson, who has 

brought with her a wealth of 

knowledge and experience in 

regional council work, specifically 

with regard to wastewater 

disposal. 

Hamilton-based projects 

still remain as bread and butter, 

but business has extended 

from projects in Queenstown 

through to Northland. “We 

maintain a strong presence in 

Hamilton City, the Waikato 

District and the Waipa District, 

but increasingly are working 

on projects in the wider area, 

including Matamata Piako, 

Rotorua, South Waikato, Tauranga 

and Thames Coromandel,” 

says Louise. 

Her clients have also diversified 

from the initial 

small-medium developer 

and ‘mums and dads’ to include 

government agencies, 

educational institutions and 

multi-national companies. 

However, Louise says that her 

business remains able to assist 

small and large projects 

“We provide a professional 

service to everyone regardless 

of the size of the project and I 

allocate projects according to 

Predrag (Pj) Draca 

the strengths of my planners. 

This ensures the best and most 

efficient service for our clients, 

be they mums and dads or internationally 

franchised businesses.” 

She also likes to challenge 

her planners, providing 

opportunities for growth and 

career development. 

Predrag (Pj) Draca, Louise 

Feathers Planning’s youngest 

team member and graduate 

planner was tasked with managing 

the latest Housing New 

Zealand (HNZ) Minor Infill 

Development Project. As a 

team, “Louise Feathers Planning” 

successfully obtained 

Resource Consent for 36 minor 

dwellings and permitted 

status for seven further minor 

dwellings, all within HNZ’s 

extremely tight three month 

timeframe. “This was an invaluable 

project to be involved 

with, not only for the obvious 

community and social benefits 

it provided to Hamilton, but 

for the development of Pj’s 

skills and knowledge,” says 

Louise. 

“With the range of skills 

and staff we now have I can 

say that my personal pursuit 

of inner city and urban design 

projects is being matched with 

more environmentally technical 

projects, like fuel stations, 

wastewater stations or with 

policy work. We also have 

random (but very interesting) 

projects like temporary music 

events, doggy day cares and 

abbatoirs.” 

And still the team will 

grow, as Louise Feathers Planning 

is currently looking for 

another team member. “We 

need to be able to continue to 

respond immediately to new 

and varied projects and another 

planner is required so we have 

that capacity.” 

Louise’s space at Riverbank 

Lane has also expanded 

to account for growing staff 

numbers. “I thought it was 

time that a ‘proper’ staff room 

was provided where staff could 

escape from their desks if they 

wanted,” she says. The staff 

room is located in a little tenancy 

directly below her office 

space in the Lane and she has 

adorned it with mid-century 

furniture to match the flair 

and theme in the upstairs office, 

taking through the muted 

blues, affinity towards taxidermy 

and of course a wine fridge 

just in case meetings run into 

the late afternoon. 

RESOURCE CONSENTS | PLANNING | SUBDIVISION 

The Mezzanine at Riverbank Lane, 286 Victoria Street, Hamilton 

P 07 282 1042 • M 022 444 4082 • www.feathersplanning.co.nz 

Qualified, reputable and local – Happy clients and proven success 

resource consent specialists 

P9517W


29 

While the cat’s away… watch out 

for the ‘games’ employees play 

QWI v The Great Gatsby Limited 

A 

nightmare scenario for 

any employer is the 

staff getting up to mischief 

when the boss goes on 

leave, which is what happened 

here. 

Ms Buttula is the owner 

of The Great Gatsby Ltd, a 

restaurant in Raumati where 

QWI was the head chef. While 

Buttula was on holiday in Fiji 

she received a message from a 

friend who was in her restaurant 

and said one of the staff related 

…that there is some difficulty 

with your head chef, who 

he claims is causing problems 

and had offered to sell him “p”. 

A week later Buttula returned 

to NZ and told QWI of 

the allegation which she flatly 

denied. Buttula then asked 

the original informant and 

four other staff if any of them 

had been offered methamphetamine 

by QWI. Both the 

original person and one other 

staff member acknowledged 

that she had made the offer to 

them. She was also informed 

that, during her absence QWI 

had been using stock for her 

own purposes and encouraged 

another staff member to do so. 

As a result of this, Buttula put 

notices on the stock that it was 

for company use only. 

When QWI arrived at work, 

she ripped the notices off and 

said to Buttula that the accusation 

of theft meant that she was 

not going to work and she left. 

When QWI arrived at work the 

following day Buttula ‘told her 

that anyone who was offering 

drugs to [her] staff would not 

be tolerated in [her] kitchen. 

[She] told her she was being 

dismissed immediately for this 

reason.’ 

Understandably, QWI took 

a personal grievance for unjustified 

dismissal, and equally 

as understandably, Buttula 

defended her action and would 

not compromise. 

The Authority was quick 

to reach a conclusion that the 

process for the dismissal fell 

woefully short of the expected 

standard, even for a small 

employer with limited access 

to resources. Buttula did not 

put the full details of the accusations 

to QWI and did not 

give her a chance to respond 

to the allegations or the intention 

to dismiss her. As a result, 

the dismissal was found to be 

unjustified. However, it wasn’t 

left there. 

QWI sought three months 

lost wages and $10,000 compensation 

for hurt and humiliation. 

The Authority however 

concluded ‘if there is misconduct 

by an applicant employee 

that is outrageous, particularly 

egregious or disgraceful I 

should consider whether it is 

appropriate to award any remedies. 

In doing so I note that 

if QWI did offer drugs as alleged 

I would have no qualms 

in concluding she acted in a 

way that would have provided 

a substantive justification for 

dismissal’. 

The Authority then went 

on to explore the information 

around the allegations and to 

conclude that, had Buttula conducted 

a proper investigation, 

she would have reached the 

conclusion that QWI had acted 

as alleged. 

As a result, the Authority 

concluded that there should be 

no remedies awarded to QWI. 

Any employer reading this 

would have sympathy for Buttula 

and would be tempted to 

take action and to hell with the 

consequences. In fact, it might 

have been a commercially savvy 

decision, instead of wasting 

time and resources on an 

investigation and disciplinary 

process, which would inevitably 

be disruptive and unsettling 

for the staff, she took action 

and took her chances. It is not a 

strategy for those who are risk 

averse. 

At the very least, Buttula 

needed to put the information 

she had to QWI, including who 

had made the allegations and 

give her an opportunity to answer 

them. She also needed to 

seek her feedback on the proposal 

to dismiss before making 

her decision. A thoroughly safe 

process would also include 

giving QWI the allegations in 

writing and an opportunity to 

bring a support person or representative 

along to the meeting. 

Equally it was a high risk 

strategy for QWI. Although she 

has name suppression, it won’t 

HR AND THE LAW 

> BY ANNE AITKEN 

Anne Aitken, HR Professional | Email: anne@anneaitken.co.nz 

take much for any prospective 

employer to recognise that she 

worked for The Great Gatsby 

at around the same time and 

make some enquiries. A standard 

google search won’t bring 

her name up because of the 

name suppression order from 

the Authority, but it isn’t much 

protection for her reputation. 

Who is the captain 

of your ship? 

We learn the jargon of 

the business world 

in the same way as 

a child learns his or her mother 

tongue. For example, when 

was the last time you looked 

up the definition of marketing? 

Did you ever look it up? If you 

have, did your understanding 

match the definition in the dictionary? 

When asked about marketing 

plans, businesses often refer 

to the many Ps of marketing - 

ie. product, price, placement, 

and promotion. The focus of 

the answer is often one directional 

and tends to address how 

the product or service is going 

to be pushed out to the market. 

So intense is the outward focus 

that it’s not uncommon for the 

question, “what’s your marketing 

plan?” to be answered with, 

“I’m going to put some ads in 

the local paper, and do some 

online advertising.” But marketing 

is so much more than 

that. 

Marketing is the captain that 

should be guiding your ship. A 

good captain knows the waters 

and understands the environment 

in which he or she is going 

to be sailing. This knowledge is 

MARKETING MATTERS 

> BY MEHRDAD BEHROOZI 

Mehrdad (Merv) Behroozi is general manager of Hamilton graphic 

design and web development company E9. Phone: 07 838 1188 

Email: merv@e9.nz 

used to guide the ship and its 

crew safely through the waters 

to a pre-decided destination. 

During the journey the captain 

is constantly checking to 

ensure that the ship is on course. 

Lookouts are always in place to 

spot threats such as storms or 

ice bergs and when a threat is 

spotted the captain must decide 

what action to take. 

In the same way, it is marketing’s 

job to, well, know the 

market and understand it. This 

knowledge is used to guide 

the product or service that the 

business provides to the correct 

people, in the right place, at the 

right time, using the right packaging 

and promotions. The goal 

is to achieve earnings targets or 

increases in market share. The 

marketing team is constantly 

monitoring the market to identify 

any threats or opportunities 

that could have an impact on 

the business. If either is found 

then the marketing team must 

decide how to minimise damage 

and maximise profits. Why 

the marketing team? Because it 

knows the market. 

Marketing is not just an outward 

communication function. 

A good marketing plan is based 

on solid market information. 

Built into it are methods and 

mechanisms that monitor the 

market, and collect and collate 

data. It constantly provides 

feedback to the marketing team 

which feeds this information 

back to the business. Marketing 

information is used to provide 

insight into what is needed for 

the product designers to create 

designs that customers want; it 

informs logistics of the kinds 

of numbers they should be 

prepared to transport; it tells 

the public relations team about 

what customers and the market 

are thinking. Marketing teams 

provide senior management 

with the information they need 

to understand the waters in 

which business is sailing. Market 

information is the CEO’s 

best friend. 

The American Marketing 

Association defines marketing 

as "the activity, set of institutions, 

and processes for creating, 

communicating, delivering, 

and exchanging offerings 

that have value for customers, 

clients, partners, and society at 

large.” But I prefer a far simpler 

one, that marketing is the captain 

of the ship. 

Do you interact with people 

on the Autism Spectrum? 

Interacting with people on the Autism 

Spectrum is becoming part of everyday 

life for many of us. The effect of Autism 

on our society today is huge, and the most recent 

figures from the USA estimate 1:45 people 

have been diagnosed with Autism (Centre 

for Disease, Control and Prevention, 2014). 

Here in New Zealand it is thought that 

around one in 100 New Zealanders have a 

diagnosis of Autism, but actual figures haven’t 

been collected. The cause of Autism is 

still unknown, but it does not discriminate, 

it effects any ethnicity, age and social demographic. 

It’s important to remember that 

many people live with autistic traits without 

ever having been diagnosed. 

There has also been extensive research 

that indicates females have been mis-diagnosed 

and, whilst males tend to present 

more autistic characteristics, the difference 

between male to female diagnosis is not as 

great as originally presumed. 

As a spectrum disorder, Autism can present 

in many different ways. You will often 

hear people talk about the Autism spectrum 

and this refers to a wide range of strengths 

and abilities as well as social, communication, 

behavioural and/ or sensory challenges. 

There are two areas of diagnostic criteria; social 

communication difficulties and repeated 

or restricted behaviour. 

Social communication difficulties can 

vary, ranging from incredible abilities of 

language about certain areas to limited verbal 

communication. In addition people with 

high functioning Autism may find it hard to 

make eye contact, express their feelings and 

emotions, understand facial expressions and 

body language in others and maintain conversations. 

All of which can make social 

interactions very difficult for the person and 

those around them. 

Repeated or restricted behaviours in those 

with high functioning Autism might look like 

difficulty adjusting to rules, patterns and inflexibility 

throughout the day. A person may 

struggle to adapt to change, and come across 

as ‘set in their ways’. In addition some sensory 

sensitivities may be present. 

Many people diagnosed with Autism are 

able to lead very fulfilling and meaningful 

lives especially when their environments 

are tailored to be Autism friendly; small 

changes can be made to schools and work 

places especially for those that have slight 

sensory or communication challenges and 

Enrich+ Spectrum Energy can provide support 

with environment assessments. 

Enrich+ Spectrum Energy also provides 

training for employers, whānau and friends 

who interact or support those with Autism. 

Our experienced and skilled staff customise 

short 1-2 hour training sessions to meet 

specific needs based on the individual you 

are interacting with in the workplace or at 

home. 

In schools we support teachers to create 

the best possible learning environments and 

experiences for students with Autism, leading 

to greater success in the educational setting 

and confident, happy students. 

With tailor made packages we will help 

you create the best possible environment 

whether that’s at work, school or home that 

will increase productivity and success, and 

ensure better wellbeing for all. 

For more information, visit: 

www.enrichplus.org.nz/services-2/spectrum-energy


VIPs celebrate Villa Dental's new build 

A good crowd attended a “heartwarming” VIP night on June 16 

to celebrate Villa Dental’s move to a new building in Rototuna. 

Attendees including Hamilton Mayor Andrew King and Hamilton 

East MP David Bennett were there to celebrate Villa Dental’s move 

to an exciting new dental centre on Wairere Drive. 

Guest Andrew Hoggard, 

who is Country Manager 

for dental supplier 

Dentsply Sirona described the 

evening as a “tremendously 

heartwarming experience”. 

“This was a little different 

to your typical must attend 

commercial event,” he said. 

“Each of the speeches related 

to the vision shared by 

owners Henk and Annette Eksteen. 

The words and feeling 

reflected common themes of 

making a difference in somebody 

else’s life. 

“The common theme 

shared by both staff, owners 

and stakeholders was a story 

about extending kindness to 

others. It truly is a world class 

facility owned and operated by 

people who truly care about the 

needs of the community.” 

Villa Dental staff member 

Latoya Heremaia said the atmosphere 

was “buzzing”. 

“The wonderful thing was 

having stakeholders who were 

part of the building process 

share their contribution to the 

story of Villa Dental,” she said. 

“It is particularly hard to 

find words to express the gratitude, 

appreciation and honour 

we as a team hold for Henk 

and Annette Eksteen. We love 

the journey of care and service 

they're leading us all on.” 

1 

3 

2 

4 

1 Jodi, Nettie, Ricky and Juliana, all Eksteens! 

at Villa Dental. 

2 David Bennett MP speaking kind words about 

the clinic - at Villa Dental. 

3 VIP Opening Night! at Villa Dental. 

4 Mayor of Hamilton, Andrew King, delivering a 

thoughtful opening speech - at Villa Dental. 

5 Henk and Annette Eksteen acknowledge staff 

from the past. 

5 

CIVIL - SUBDIVISION - DRAINAGE - CARPARK CONSTRUCTION 

07 856 7913 - www.kblcivil.co.nz - 13 Mexted Place, Riverlea, Hamilton

31


Changing audience behaviour a test for media 

New Zealand’s entertainment and 

media industry continues to be strongly 

affected by significant changes in the way 

consumers and advertisers spend their 

time and money. 

PwC’s Global entertainment 

and media outlook 

2017 – 2021 highlights 

the changes of an industry being 

disrupted both globally and 

locally. 

“The trends and consumer 

behaviour we see unfolding in 

New Zealand are largely in line 

with global trends, with a slight 

lag,” says Greg Doone, PwC director, 

digital strategy. 

“The influence of millennials 

and younger generations 

on the consumption of digital 

media is also being widely felt. 

They seek free media, to stream 

music, watch videos on You- 

Tube and consume free news. 

And as they become the dominant 

demographic, these habits 

look set to stay with them.” 

When asked about the threat 

of industry disruption, 23 percent 

of all the leaders who responded 

to PwC’s annual CEO 

Survey said technology will 

reshape their industry over the 

next five years. But the proportion 

of entertainment and media 

CEOs who shared this sentiment 

was more than twice as 

high at 56 percent. 

“We see that technological 

changes in the entertainment 

and media industry present 

opportunities for innovative 

products and business models 

that revolve around the consumer. 

From established innovation 

such as Netflix through 

to emerging segments such as 

virtual reality and e-sports with 

rapid growth at a global level. 

For New Zealand, this presents 

an opportunity we could 

explore quickly because there 

is unprecedented growth in 

markets such as China where 

we have established networks,” 

says Mr Doone. 

Major digital tipping-points 

across key segments, global and 

local 

Internet video - In New 

Zealand the internet video segment 

is taking off as the major 

international players launch and 

bring premium original content 

that has been heavily pirated in 

the past. Despite growth of 15.6 

percent producing revenues of 

$85 million in 2021, this will 

remain less than half the size of 

the physical home video market 

for DVDs and Blu-rays. The 

physical market is in long-term 

decline and the gap between the 

two will continue to narrow as 

other platforms establish themselves. 

“Internet video streaming 

services appeal to many, but 

specifically to a generation who 

have never had to rent a video 

or buy a CD. For media companies, 

this generational change 

isn’t about just keeping up with 

technology but anticipating 

consumer needs and creating an 

excellent user experience,” says 

Mr Doone. 

Global internet video revenues 

will overtake physical 

home video in 2017. The internet 

video segment has expanded 

rapidly in recent years, and 

will overtake the physical home 

video market for the first time in 

2017. Global internet video revenues 

are projected to grow at 

11.6 percent to reach $52.7 billion 

in 2021, while the terminally 

declining market for DVDs 

and Blu rays will have fallen to 

$19.9 billion. Demand has shifted 

towards the more immediate 

and convenient video-on-demand 

market, with content 

accessible via a wide range of 

connected devices allowing 

consumers to view when and 

where they desire. 

Internet advertising - New 

Zealand’s internet advertising 

market reached $891 million in 

2016, just shy of the TV mark. 

Advertising dollars will continue 

to shift online, and growing 

at an annual rate of 9.0 percent, 

the market will reach $1.4 billion 

in 2021, overtaking TV in 

2018. 

Search engine marketing 

makes up a significant portion 

of this in New Zealand. More 

than half of New Zealand’s total 

internet advertising revenue 

in 2016 was generated by paid 

search. According to Alexa 

(Amazon’s intelligent personal 

assistant), Google is the leading 

search engine and little competition 

in the market has pushed 

up the average cost-per-click 

(CPC) on Google’s AdWords. 

“The data we have shows 

that global spending on advertising 

is growing faster than 

consumer spending but what is 

worrying traditional media is 

that advertiser spending on the 

digital side flows disproportionately 

to a few large platforms 

like Facebook and Google,” 


Internet advertising now 

generates more revenue than 

TV advertising globally. In 

2016 an important tipping point 

was reached in the global advertising 

industry, with revenue 

from Internet advertising exceeding 

that generated by TV 

advertising for the first time. 

That lead, thanks to the rapid 

growth of mobile ad revenues in 

particular, is set to increase significantly 

in the next five years. 

Newspaper circulation - 

New Zealand’s newspaper market 

will continue to endure pronounced 

revenue contraction, 

as publishers struggle to find a 

solution for declining paid subscribers 

and to solve a marked 

deterioration in advertising revenue. 

Print copies are shedding 

circulation at an annual rate of 

-10.5 percent meaning circulation 

numbers will more than 

halve between 2012 and 2021, 

to 246,000 daily copies, though 

price rises and the introduction 

of digital charges will mitigate 

some of the associated revenue 

decline. 

But advertising is in freefall, 

as media buyers follow consumers 

away. More New Zealanders 

now use the internet at breakfast 

than read a newspaper, according 

to one study. New Zealand 

publishers have long operated 

popular online services like 

Stuff.co.nz, and cross-platform 

reader strategies are successful, 

with more than half of each major 

title’s audience now coming 

via web or app. But monetisation 

is proving elusive – digital 

advertising revenue made up 

just 13.6 percent of total newspaper 

advertising revenue in 

2016 and is forecast to grow by 

only 2.8 percent a year. 

“Publishers say they are 

challenged by the dominance 

of Facebook and Google in 

online ad sales. The industry’s 

prospects will depend on publishers’ 

ability to convert audiences 

into revenue, as well as 

on ownership structure,” says 

Mr Doone. 

Radio revenue - New 

Zealand’s total radio revenue 

reached $290 million in 2016, 

up just 0.9 percent on the previous 

year. The market is made 

up of radio advertising revenue 

only and growth is expected to 

remain weak over the forecast 

period. 

Hamilton company 

lands Shell distributorship 

Tyreline Distributors Limited 

(Tyreline) is partnering 

with multinational 

oil company Shell after being 

named the new New Zealand 

distributor for its world-leading 

business Shell Lubricants. 

The distribution agreement, 

which came into effect in April, 

is a major deal for the family-run 

business which started its 

life in a Te Awamutu hay barn. 

Tyreline Distributors Limited 

was founded by Grant and 

Barbara Rushbrooke in 1987 as 

an agricultural tyre distributor. 

“We began operations out 

of our hay barn in Te Awamutu, 

making deliveries in our farm 

ute,” said Tyreline managing director 

Grant Rushbrooke. “The 

business has gone from strength 

Troy Chapman, of Shell Lubricants, left, with Tyreline 

Distributors founders Grant and Barbara Rushbrooke. 

to strength and it’s down to the 

relationships we have with our 

valued partners and customers.” 

Today, Tyreline is a full-service 

tyre importer and wholesaler 

headquartered in Hamilton, 

with warehouses in Hamilton, 

Auckland and Christchurch. 

Since signing the partnership 

with Shell, Tyreline has grown 

its Shell sales force in the field 

to ensure that customers are serviced 

throughout the country. 

Shell Lubricants is present 

in more than 100 countries 

around the world and has been 

the number one lubricants brand 

globally for the last 10 years. Its 

portfolio of products is used by 

customers in consumer motoring, 

heavy-duty transport, mining, 

power generation, general 

engineering and marine. 

Troy Chapman, executive 

director Shell South East 

Asia Oceania Lubricants, said 

there were several reasons 

Consumers are increasingly 

going online and mobile, and 

digital strategies are becoming 

important to broadcasters. 

For example, MediaWorks announced 

it will launch a digital 

audio streaming platform in 

2017 that will bring together all 

their radio stations in one place. 

“Radio has traditionally 

proved to be resilient to the 

disruptive forces in play across 

the rest of the media landscape. 

This forecast points to a slight 

weakening, but ultimately a 

continuation of this stability,” 


Tyreline was chosen. 

“We are very pleased to be 

partnering Tyreline, with its 

strong network of partners and 

its vast experience in the automotive 

industry. We look forward 

to working collaboratively 

to accelerate growth, increase 

Shell’s lubricants market share 

in New Zealand and provide 

competitive solutions to our 

customers,” said Mr Chapman. 

Grant Rushbrooke said he 

was excited about growing the 

business and seeing what it can 

offer customers. 

“Our business is constantly 

evolving and the partnership 

with Shell was the perfect opportunity 

to grow our business 

and provide the best quality 

products to our clients,” said Mr 

Rushbrooke 

“Shell invests around US$1 

billion per annum in to research 

and development – the highest 

in industry – so New Zealand 

consumers can have confidence 

that together Shell and Tyreline 

will offer both quality and value. 

Shell Lubricants is the choice 

of premium automotive manufacturers 

such as Ferrari and 

BMW,” said Mr Rushbrooke. 

• Organic food • Animals • Large outside play areas 

• Vegetable gardens • Orchard • Recycling focus 

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Green sustainable preschools


Focus on food consumers 

critical to success 

The success of the agri-food sector is 

dependent on individuals across the 

industry placing consumers at the centre of 

everything they do, according to the 2017 

KPMG Agribusiness Agenda: The Recipe 

for Action. 

Based on contributions 

from more than 100 

industry leaders, the 

Agenda explores what needs 

to be done to capture more of 

the quarter of a trillion dollars 

New Zealand products realise 

in-market and make a greater 

contribution to our nation’s 

prosperity. This relies on the 

industry collectively shifting its 

focus towards the consumers of 

the food and beverage, fibre and 

timber products it produces. 

“There is a simple unavoidable 

truth: no customers mean 

that there is no business,” says 

Ian Proudfoot, global head of 

agribusiness at KPMG. 

“However, historically, we 

have placed the majority of our 

focus on maximising production.” 

“When you are focused on 

the volume that you can produce, 

the government shapes 

your future as it sets the rules. 

However, as organisations 

pivot towards markets and consumers, 

the rules that shape the 

future are no longer determined 

by the domestic government 

but by much tougher masters, 

the consumers to whom they 

sell.” 

The government is not responsible 

for securing the value 

lift. 

Although it can be an enabler, 

Mr Proudfoot suggests 

that creating and capturing 

value falls on every person and 

organisation involved in the industry, 

including farmers, processors 

and exporters, industry 

good organisations, councils, 

Maori trusts, iwi and service 

providers. 

“Only by the whole industry 

seeking ways to work 

collaboratively will the pivot 

from a producer-focused, volume-based 

culture to a market-focused, 

value-based culture 

be achieved sufficiently 

quickly to capture the opportunities 

available to it.” 

Mr Proudfoot adds the biggest 

risk to success is complacency. 

“People don’t recognise the 

impact that structural changes 

in the agri-food sector globally, 

driven by innovation and consumer 

preferences, will have on 

our traditional markets. Some 

have the potential to literally 

vanish overnight. There is no 

place for any comfort or complacency.” 

Mr Proudfoot notes that 

New Zealand is the only developed 

nation that relies on growing 

biological products and selling 

them to the world to pay for 

schools, roads and hospitals. 

The Agenda highlights a significant 

difference in outlook in 

the lead-up to this year’s election 

compared with three years 

ago. 

Concerns about the impact 

regulatory changes would have 

on the sector’s productive capacity 

dominated conversations 

in 2014. This year, the election 

hardly rated a mention with 

conversation focusing on the 

expectations of consumers and 

the community. 

What action do industry 

leaders want to take? 

The Agenda features 110 action 

items that have been curated 

from more than 250 ideas provided 

by industry leaders. The 

ideas cover the need for a values-led 

framework for the industry, 

recruiting and training 

the best talent, rapidly deploying 

leading edge technology, 

exploring new business models, 

getting closer to customers, leveraging 

the best ideas in the 

world and telling authentic stories 

to all. 

While maintaining worldclass 

biosecurity remains the 

highest priority for industry 

leaders in the survey, there were 

a number of notable movements 

in the survey results and 

themes from conversations with 

industry leaders. 

Below is a sample of the 110 

ideas for action featured in 

the Agenda: 

• Creating channels for the 

industry to be good for the 

world [Idea 9] “Given we 

will never be able to feed 

the world, we are not excused 

from an obligation 

to help the world feed itself. 

Delivering on this obligation 

will demonstrate 

our desire to build a more 

equitable world for all.” 

• Making our authentic ways 

of cooking accessible to 

New Zealanders [Idea 15] 

“While many of us like to 

think we have mastered 

the art of the barbecue, it 

is only when our amazing 

products are cooked carefully 

in our natural kitchens 

that the magic we grow 

is truly realised.” 

• Professionalising the industry 

inside the farm gate 

[Item 38] “Today, the sector 

can no longer rely on 

informal upskilling…the 

time has arrived to introduce 

a continuous professional 

development system, 

similar to that used by 

other professions.” 

• Accelerating actions to address 

climate change obligations 

[Item 48] “Given 

New Zealand’s greenhouse 

gas profile, meeting our 

commitments requires a 

significant contribution 

from the primary sector… 

the suggestion was made 

that the sector should welcome 

its early inclusion 

into the emissions trading 

scheme, with a framework 

of incentives and penalties 

to encourage the right behaviours.” 

• Embedding our leading 

science practitioners into 

corporate organisations 

[Item 58] “The government 

should move from 

core funding science delivery 

agencies towards 

seconding leading science 

practitioners into companies 

to increase their connection 

to critical commercial 

problems… we should 

have a science system that 

celebrates impact rather 

than when a grant is secured.” 

• Challenging competition 

regulation that misses the 

bigger picture [Item 67] “It 

was noted the role of the 

Commerce Commission is 

only to protect domestic 

consumers and its myopic 

focus on this goal means 

that, ultimately, it ends up 

preventing organisations 

exploring mergers that 

would benefit 95 percent 

or more of their businesses, 

their stakeholders and 

the wider community.” 

• Sharing capital assets to 

optimise utilisation and 

provide access to emerging 

businesses [Item 79] 

“A great deal of [capital] 

investment sits underemployed 

for much of the 

year. This imposes a significant 

overhead cost on 

many sectors. Around the 

world access models are 

evolving to optimise the 

use of assets and the suggestion 

was made there is 

significant opportunity to 

take cost out the sector by 

exploring these models.” 

• Offering a larder rather 

than selling a product [Item 

90] “Consumers rarely buy 

a single product; they buy 

a meal, the ingredients to 

make a meal or a basket of 

products. Focusing on how 

products can be used together 

offers the potential 

to pool marketing budgets 

to amplify their impact, 

encourage collaborative 

innovation and collective 

investment in technology 

platforms.” 

• Creating the world’s largest 

collaborative Agri- 

Food solutions fund [Item 

96] “Being on the leading 

edge of innovation will 

contribute to securing a 

more prosperous future 

for New Zealand… this 

can be achieved by creating 

a collaborative investment 

fund to secure 

access relevant emerging 

Agri-Food technology. A 

fund of $1 billion could be 

a game-changer for the industry, 

their suppliers and 

the wider New Zealand 

community.” 

• Accelerating the pivot towards 

food by renaming 

the Ministry [Item 108] 

“Few people connect primary 

industries with the 

sustainable production 

of food and nutrition but 

making this connection 

more apparent is critically 

important. Renaming the 

‘Ministry for Primary Industries’ 

the ‘Ministry for 

Food’ was suggested as 

building more understanding 

of what the Agri-Food 

industry does.” 

CALL 

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PROFESSIONAL SERVICES 

Facelift and name 

change but it’s 

business as usual 

Vogue Drycleaniers is the new name for Waikato Dry Cleaning. 

Jeff Pothan says that this rebrand links the business to its sister 

cleaners located in Victoria Street in the Central Business District. 

The original business has been based in Frankton for 40 years 

and was purchased three years ago. 


Vogue has had a complete 

facelift and now 

with the new paint and 

alterations looks very sharp. 

Local businesses have assisted 

in the renovations, the signage, 

and the painting. In recent 

times, the machinery has been 

upgraded. Customers will continue 

to receive the high-quali- 

ty service they are used to but 

this upgrade has increased the 

capacity of the business. 

Vogue Drycleaners has a 

broad client base but specialises 

in corporate wear. It pays attention 

to detail and garments 

are treated with precision and 

care. Ball gowns, evening 

wear, suits and corporate attire 

are professionally cleaned 

as well as bedding furnishings 

and curtains. There is also a 

pick-up and delivery service 

for corporate clients. Work 

wear is commonly brought in, 

winter coats and also garments 

can be de-fluffed. 

Jeff is proud of the consistent 

high-quality work that 

Vogue has accomplished for 

their clients and knows that 

this will carry on. The revamp 

has been done. The name has 

changed but it’s business as 

usual. 

The Vogue Drycleaners team from left to right, Larnia Paranihi, Divinia Takao, Raewyn 

Shefferd, Helen McNicol, Zed Williams, Linda Marshall and Jeff Pothan. 

Drycleaned garments waiting to be 

finished on the Cissell Buck Press. 

Jeff checking a of a pair of trousers 

finished on the Veit CR2 finishing table. 

Services 

• Garment drycleaning 

• Press only Bridal Service 

• Business shirt service 

• Duvet inners 

• Sleeping bags 

• Blankets 

• Wool mattress underlays 

• Professional curtain and 

drape cleaning 

• Corporate pick-up and 

delivery 

VOGUE CENTRAL 

81 VICTORIA ST (CNR KNOX ST) 

HAMILTON, 3204 

P: (07) 838 2729 

VOGUE FRANKTON 

92 KENT STREET (CNR HALL ST) 

HAMILTON, 3204 

P: (07) 847 7181 

Visit our website: www.voguedrycleaners.co.nz or 

www.facebook.com/ voguedrycleanersnz



35 

Vogue Drycleaners – so much 

more than a drycleaning service 

Vogue Drycleaners specialise in taking 

quality care of your garments, which with 

today's busy lifestyle takes a huge load off 

the stresses at home. 

The beauty of dropping 

your clothes off with us 

is how convenient it is. 

We do the work, and when 

you come back your clothes 

are ready to wear. 

Quality and professionalism 

are hallmarks of what we 

offer and the process involves 

far more than drycleaning. Every 

time you drop garments 

off, your wardrobe gets a full 

service treatment. 

Stain removal 

Our expert staff check for 

stains. If we find any tough 

stains, we’ll remove them 

based on their chemistry. Stain 

removal is part art and part science. 

Some stains are tougher 

than others but our team can 

handle 99.9 percent of them. 

Cleaning 

During cleaning, your items 

bathe in an EPA-approved 

fluid to dissolve grease and 

oily stains. Centrifugal force 

removes most of the fluid and 

soils just like in a home washer, 

the rest comes out in drying. 

Your clothes come out smelling 

fresh but we prefer to take 

the wrinkles out before calling 

them “Ready to Wear Fresh®.” 

Finishing 

We press pants one leg 

at a time blast wrinkles with 

150-degree steam while a hot 

flat iron flattens and creases 

each leg. We get wrinkles out 

of the waist and seat with “puff 

irons” or a specialised “pants 

topper” device. If they pass 

our quality inspection, they're 

ready for you fresh. 

Shirts are a little more involved. 

We press shirts by 

hand to achieve the best finish 

possible to help keep you looking 

sharp. 

Inspection and Assembly 

Following the finishing process, 

we inspect for missing, 

loose, or broken buttons. We 

also give the items a detailed 

final quality exam to make sure 

they are truly “Ready to Wear 

Fresh®.” 

Wide range of services 

available 

There’s more to Vogue Drycleaners 

than cleaning clothes. 

We offer a full suite of other 

professional services. 

Here are a few of the extras 

a we can provide: 

Wedding gowns 

We can package these precious 

possessions for a sentimental 

keepsake or for future 

use. This service requires a 

great deal of responsibility on 

the part of the cleaner and the 

customer. 

Alterations 

We can save you a bundle 

if your body changes shape 

or size. By altering your garments 

you can save the time 

and money of going out and 

purchasing a new wardrobe. 

This is also a popular item 

for heirloom wedding gowns, 

provided the gown has been 

packaged and stored properly. 

Waterproofing 

We have access to some 

of the most powerful water 

repellents on the market. 

Stay dry by taking your 

wet-weather gear in for a 

tune-up regularly or after particularly 

harsh use. 

Household textiles 

We don't just clean clothes. 

We also process household 

items such as blankets, comforters, 

decorative pillows, 

rugs, and even upholstery and 

draperies. 

As a busy parent, you're already working 

overtime. Why not outsource your laundry to us 

and get your free time back? Easy drop off and 

no more wrinkled shirts! 

Extending the life of 

garments 

Frequent cleaning prolongs 

the life of a garment. 

Stains set with age, making 

the garment unwearable, and 

ground-in dirt and soil act as 

an abrasive, like sandpaper, 

causing rapid wear of fibres. 

Also, insects are attracted to 

soiled clothes and will cause 

further damage. 

Buttons and minor repairs 

We repair loose buttons 

or sew on new ones, if necessary. 

Our team of garment care 

experts have 80 years of 

experience between them. 

Whatever your needs, they 

can help. 

Vogue Drycleaners offer 

the ultimate in convenient, 

professional service. 

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• Renovations 

• Decks 

• Fences 

• Licensed Building Practicioner 

CHOSEN AS THE PREFERRED BUILDING 

CONTRACTOR FOR VOGUE DRY CLEANERS 

LIMITED 

Contact Kelly: 027 321 1124 

Email: kellyperry73a@gmail.com



Concern raised over 

lack of road funding 

If you are looking for an edge 

over the competition, wanting to 

update a tired look or create something 

that will hit the mark, 

give ZOOM a call today. 

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We have a brilliant design team who will help create your 

image at a very competitive price. 

Infrastructure New Zealand has welcomed an announcement 

that the Government and Auckland Council will investigate road 

pricing, but is concerned that the Terms of Reference overemphasise 

demand management and do not recognise the 

constraints current funding is placing on both near and longerterm 

investment. 

“Mobility is central to social 

and economic wellbeing. 

Imposing prices 

at a level which makes travel 

prohibitive should not be the 

goal,” says chief executive of 

Infrastructure NZ, Stephen 

Selwood. 

“We need to find an appropriate 

balance between raising 

the revenue necessary for investment 

while also managing 

demand more effectively 

across the transport system. 

“Prices should be set at a 

level that encourages people 

to think about travelling at a 

different time, in a different 

way or in another mode rather 

than at a level which is not affordable 

and where mobility is 

suppressed. 

“Organisations including 

business and community 

groups, the AA and public 

transport associations are all 

integral to winning support for 

change,” says Mr Selwood. 

“We strongly recommend 

that the governing parties 

undertake a very proactive 

engagement process to 

ensure support. 

“While a fair and robust 

pricing system is developed for 

New Zealand over the medium 

term, a near-term solution to 

Auckland’s funding challenge 

must be identified. 

“The easiest way to implement 

pricing in the short term 

would be tolls on the motorway. 

Using existing technology 

and priced dynamically, 

motorway tolls would balance 

demand and provide a stepping 

stone to full road pricing," Mr 

Selwood says. 

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37 

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Kudos for Waikato science and innovation 

Run by the Kudos Science Trust and now in their 11th year, the Kudos 

Awards continue to draw national interest and this year have the 

honour of hosting the Governor-General, Dame Patsy Reddy when the 

Waikato comes together to celebrate regional science achievement on 

September 28 at the Claudelands Event Centre. 

“We are delighted and 

honoured that the Governor-General 

has accepted 

the invitation to attend the Kudos 

Awards,” says Professor 

Ross Lawrenson, chair of the 

Kudos Science Trust. 

“The awards continue to 

celebrate the work of the fantastic 

scientists we have in the 

region. 

One of our key aims is to 

encourage more young people 

from the region to choose 

science as a career and Dame 

Patsy Reddy’s presence at our 

awards reinforces the importance 

of our endeavours to 

promote the importance of 

science locally and nationally,” 

he says. 

The Kudos awards will 

recognise eight categories of 

science excellence this year, 

including Agricultural, Environmental, 

Medical, Educator/Communicator, 

Innovator/ 

Entrepreneur, Science Manager 

and Lifetime Achievement. 

The recent addition of 

the Engineering science category 

will also enable the region’s 

engineering scientists 

to be recognised at this year’s 

awards. 

“Every year the range and 

quality of science presented 

at the awards seems to be increasing. 

We are extremely 

grateful to our sponsors for 

their continuing support,” 

says Professor Lawrenson. 

Innovative engineering 

company Simcro recently 

joined stalwart Kudos partners, 

University of Waikato, 

Hamilton City Council, 

WINTEC, Waikato Regional 

Council, Hill Laboratories, 

King St Advertising, Waikato 

DHB and Claudelands Event 

Centre to help celebrate science 

success in Hamilton and 

the Waikato. 

The Kudos Awards have 

recognised 190 Waikato scientists 

and together with their 

major partners have awarded 

Transforming Agriculture – Thanks to Science 

P: 07 856 2836 

www.agresearch.co.nz 

$300,000 in cash prizes to 

almost 70 top scientists from 

around the region. These prizes 

have enabled local scientists 

to attend international 

conferences, purchase new 

equipment and fund further 

research. They have also presented 

many past winners 

with the valuable opportunity 

to travel overseas and increase 

their international profile, 

while also networking with 

world leading peers - putting 

the Waikato and New Zealand 

on the world stage. 

Nominations and entry are 

open until 15th July. 

Tickets for the Kudos 

Awards 2017 are also available 

through www.thekudos. 

org.nz. 

Claudelands Conference 

& Exhibition Centre 

www.claudelands.co.nz 

meet_Claudelands 

meetClaudelands 

DairyNZ 

P: 0800 4 324 7969 

www.dairynz.co.nz 

Simcro 

P: 07 846 7723 

www.simcro.com 

Wintec 

0800 2 Wintec 

www.wintec.ac.nz 

WE’RE PROUD 

TO SUPPORT 

THE 2017 KUDOS AWARDS 

hill-laboratories.com


39 

Budget changes small but sound 

The 2017 Budget brings a number of small 

and positive changes to our tax system. 

There are two key talking points, both of 

which will be effective from April 1, 2018. 

Firstly, codification of the 

tax treatment for feasibility 

expenditure aims 

to provide clarity and parity to 

businesses investing in potential 

new revenue streams. 

Secondly, the family income 

package intends to incentivise 

hard work, improve 

incomes for families with 

young children or high housing 

costs and simplify the tax 

system. 

Changes to feasibility and 

black hole expenditure: 

Feasibility expenditure covers 

a broad range of costs that a 

business may incur to determine 

the viability of a new 

proposal. 

Traditionally, feasibility 

costs were immediately deductible 

for tax purposes up 

until the point in time that 

there was a definitive commitment 

to proceeding with 

a project; this covered a relatively 

wide variety of expenses. 

Last August, the Supreme 

Court decision in Trustpower 

Limited v CIR surprised 

business and tax professionals 

alike, by substantially reducing 

the type of feasibility expenditure 

that could be immediately 

deductible, requiring it 

to be capitalised instead. 

The case essentially 

changed the point in time that 

feasibility expenditure could 

be deductible from when a 

specific project was “committed 

to”, to when “tangible 

progress” or “material advancement” 

had been made on 

a specific project. 

Under the Trustpower 

treatment, if expenditure is 

incurred on projects that are 

ultimately abandoned, there is 

no final asset to capitalise the 

feasibility expenses against, 

hence neither immediate deductions 

nor depreciation deductions 

are available. In such 

cases the expenditure is said to 

have fallen into a ‘black hole’. 

Budget 2017 seeks to address 

this ‘black hole expenditure’, 

and includes a Discussion 

Document proposing 

to restore the availability of 

deductions for feasibility expenditure 

to a level that is po- 

tentially even wider than the 

pre-Trustpower rules. 

The proposed rules seek to 

mitigate the effect of Trustpower 

by restricting the application 

of the ruling to the 

specific facts of the case. It is 

proposed that full tax deductions 

will be available for: 

“expenditure to determine 

the practicability of a proposal, 

prior to the commitment to 

developing the proposal” 

If this definition is met, 

businesses will then be able 

to apply normal accounting 

standards to determine whether 

expenditure is immediately 

deductible, or must be capitalised 

and receive depreciation 

deductions when an asset is 

created. 

The Discussion Document 

also proposes to allow an immediate 

deduction for all capitalised 

expenditure (not just 

feasibility expenditure) on assets 

that fail to be completed, 

which would have been eligible 

for depreciation deductions 

on completion. 

The tax treatment of feasibility 

expenditure has undergone 

a tumultuous period 

over the last eight years as 

the Trustpower case fought 

multiple legal battles in various 

courts on its path to the 

Supreme Court. The Discussion 

Document describes the 

current tax treatment as an 

economic distortion that is an 

impediment to productivity 

growth and therefore damaging 

to the New Zealand economy. 

The introduction of clear 

guidelines allowing immediate 

deductions for feasibility 

expenditure are therefore 

welcomed as a sensible and 

necessary initiative taken by 

the Government, providing 

businesses with much needed 

certainty on the tax treatment 

of feasibility expenditure. 

The Discussion Document 

does not specify whether any 

changes would be retrospective 

and the Government are 

currently seeking submissions 

on this point. 

Family income package 

The Budget proposes tax cuts 

for individual taxpayers by 

changes to the income tax 

thresholds and the Working 

for Families package. Although 

the changes are small 

and broad, they add up to useful 

tax cuts that will be particularly 

valued by low income 

earners. It is also hoped that 

increased spending capacity 

will be a welcome boost to the 

consumer economy. 

The income tax threshold changes are summarised in the table below: 

Tax rate Current income threshold New income threshold 

(From 1 April 2018) 

10.50% Up to $14,000 Up to $22,000 

17.5% $14,001< >$48,000 $22,001< >$52,000 

30% $48,001 < $70,000 $52,001 < $70,000 

33% Above $70,000 Above $70,000 

In effect the changes reduce 

the overall amount of tax payable 

on income earned under 

$52,000, targeting low-income 

earners. The tax savings 

will be $11 a week to anyone 

earning more than $22,000 a 

year, increasing to $20 a week 

for anyone earning more than 

$52,000 a year. Together with 

the changes to Working for 

Families, these will give the 

typical earning household between 

$1000 and $2000 more 

per year in disposable income. 

For some taxpayers, a large 

chunk of the tax reduction 

could be offset by the abandonment 

of the Independent 

Earner Tax Credit (IETC). The 

IETC was worth up to $540 annually 

for individuals earning 

between $24,000 and $44,000. 

However, many eligible taxpayers 

never claimed the IECT 

so many of these earners will 

finally being seeing the tax savings 

they deserve. 

The changes to Working 

for Families includes increases 

to the Family Tax Credits 

rates. Those with a first child 

under 16 will see a $9 a week 

tax saving, and savings of between 

$18 and $27 a week for 

each subsequent child under 

16. The package will also increase 

the maximum amounts 

Zealong at tea 

expo in Las Vegas 

Team Zealong is holding 

the New Zealand 

flag high at The World 

Tea Expo’s ‘Winners’ Tasting 

Circle’ in Las Vegas where 

they are currently showcasing 

Zealong Tea Estate’s 

award-winning teas to the 

world. 

Zealong recently won 

“gold” in two categories and 

achieved top honours in a third 

category at the 2017 Global 

Tea Championship Fall in 

Colorado, USA. The Estate’s 

Black and Oolong tea bags 

received first-place honours in 

their respective categories and 

Zealong Tea Estate staff at their exhibition in Las Vegas. 

TAXATION AND THE LAW 

> BY HAYDEN FARROW 

Hayden Farrow is a PwC Executive Director based in the 

Waikato office. Email: hayden.d.farrow@nz.pwc.com 

payable to households under 

the Accommodation Supplement 

and the weekly payments 

for the Accommodation Benefit 

for eligible Student Allowance 

recipients. 

The cumulative effect of 

these tax cuts will give families 

more after-tax income to 

spend on goods and services. It 

is hoped that the flow-on of income 

into consumer spending 

will strongly support economic 

growth over the next few years. 

For businesses wanting to reap 

the benefits of this year’s budget, 

the challenge will be considering 

how to make the most 

of growing consumer spending. 

the Green tea bags came second 

in its category. The competition 

attracted more than 

245 entries from 16 countries. 

Zealong’s winning teas will 

now be entitled to proudly display 

the Global Tea Championship 

Seal and they will also 

be showcased in the October 

2017 issue of the Global Tea 

Buyers’ Guide, a digital publication 

distributed to the international 

tea community. 

Publisher 

Alan Neben 

Ph: (07) 838 1333 

Mob: 021 733 536 

Email: alan@nmmedia.co.nz 

Sales director 

Deidre Morris 

Ph: (07) 838 1333 

Mob: 027 228 8442 

Email: deidre@nmmedia.co.nz 

Editor 

Geoff Taylor 

Ph: (07) 838 1333 

Mob: 022 694 1595 

Email: geoff@nmmedia.co.nz 

Production Manager 

Tania Hogg 

Ph: (07) 838 1333 

Email: production@nmmedia.co.nz 

ADVERTISING INQUIRIES 

Please contact: 

Business development manager 

Jody Anderson 

Ph: (07) 838 1333 

Mob: 027 236 7912 

Email: jody@nmmedia.co.nz 

Advertising account managers 

Joanne Poole 

Ph: (07) 838 1333 

Mob: (021) 507 991 

Email: joanne@nmmedia.co.nz 

Penny West 

Ph: (07) 838 1333 

Mob: (021) 055 5555 

Email: penny@nmmedia.co.nz 

Suzanne Capon 

Ph: (07) 838 1333 

Mob: (022) 309 9336 

Email: suzanne@nmmedia.co.nz 

ELECTRONIC FORWARDING 

Editorial: 

News releases/Photos/Letters: 

geoff@nmmedia.co.nz 

Production: 

Copy/Proofs: 

production@nmmedia.co.nz 

Subscriptions: 

kim@nmmedia.co.nz 

12 Mill Street, Hamilton PO Box 1425, 

Hamilton, 3240. Ph: (07) 838 1333 

Fax: (07) 838 2807 | www.nmmedia.co.nz 

LIQUIDATE IT 

Corporate undertakers 

Company liquidations and restructures 

Kelera Nayacakalou 

BMS, LLM (Honours) 

021 0577198 www.liquidateit.co.nz 

LODGERENTALS.CO.NZ 

Contemporary NZ art works for hire 

in workplaces & private homes. 

FrEE consultation & installation 

Consultancy services available. 

Portfolio Art Hire 

Janet Knighton 

P 021 059 0028 E art.hire@xtra.co.nz 

NOBODY KNOWS HAMILTON LIKE US


How to track the right metrics 

(and ignore everything else) 

With today’s easy access to powerful 

analytics, we are blessed with BIG data, 

and a sea of METRICS! 

In many ways, it is a blessing 

and a curse that digital 

is so measurable. 

Not all data is helpful. 

When we set too many 

metrics, it’s easy to get confused 

and lose sight of the 

real data that matters. This is 

a problem for marketers, who 

can end up falling into the 

more-the-merrier camp. Some 

of it is worse because it tricks 

us into believing we have answers 

when we don’t. 

But when we focus on data 

that helps us make decisions, 

everything else in business 

gets easier. Now, more than 

ever, marketers need to measure 

the right things. 

According to the Internet 

Advertising Bureau (IAB), 

a good advertiser is one that 

builds up benchmarks within 

their own organisation and 

selects metrics against the objectives 

of a given campaign. 

It all comes down to one 

thing: does the metric help 

you make decisions and do 

you know what you need to 

do? If not, then you are looking 

at a vanity metric. Vanity 

metrics make you feel good as 

they give an illusion of succeeding, 

even if you’re not, 

simply because the numbers 

are growing. For example, 

the number of impressions or 

views. 

Simply think: Why are you 

undertaking this digital initiative? 

It’s unlikely that views 

are going to pay the bills. 

What most businesses are actually 

looking for is leads and 

sales, so good metrics will be 

tied to that. 

The main cause of failure 

in most digital campaigns is 

often not the lack of creativity 

or people involved. It is 

a lack of structured thinking 

about what the real purpose of 

the campaign is and what true 

success looks like. 

A complete customer-business 

journey is defined in 

Acquisition, Behavior and 

Outcomes. At their core, your 

metrics should provide answers 

to these questions: 

• How do you gain or lose 

revenue? 

• How do you gain or lose 

customers? 

• What are the key functions 

and benefits that people 

are coming to you for? 

Revenue: You need to 

track where your revenue is 

coming from. This includes 

metrics like lifetime value, total 

revenue, net profit, number 

of transactions, etc. 

Leads: You need to track 

where your leads are coming 

from. Social Media? Ad- 

Words? Google? This will tell 

Access spat at sanctuary 

A 

dispute 

over access 

has forced Sanctuary 

Mountain Maungatautari 

to change the way visitors 

enter the southern enclosure. 

The Maunga, as Sanctuary 

Mountain Maungatautari is 

often called, attracts 15,000 

visitors a year to the community-inspired 

sanctuary. It’s 

home to many of New Zealand’s 

endangered species, 

with more being introduced 

each year, and has the world’s 

longest pest-proof fence at 

47km, enclosing 3,363 hectares. 

Visitors to the Maunga 

cross from the visitor centre 

into the scenic reserve southern 

enclosure through a small 

block of land called Maungatautari 

4G Section IV, which is 

owned by the Maungatautari 

4G4 Block Trust. 

Waipa District Council has 

a lease and easement agreement 

with the iwi land owners 

and Sanctuary Mountain 

staff, volunteers, contractors 

and visitors all cross this land 

to access the southern enclosure. 

Each year, Sanctuary 

Mountain Maungatautari staff 

and volunteers must apply for 

landowner approval from the 

4G4 Trust to cross their land. 

Since January, the 4G4 

Trust has declined to approve 

some 42 key staff members, 

trustees and volunteers, including 

the general manager, 

office staff, and guides. No 

reason has been given for rejecting 

key staff; about 40 

staff and volunteers do have 

approval from the trust. 

In March, the trust that 

governs the iwi-owned land 

informed Waipa District 

Council and Sanctuary Mountain 

Maungatautari that from 

May 1, the Trust would be 

checking approvals and preventing 

access to those not 

holding approvals. As of June 

7, 4GIV agents are checking 

visitors to the southern enclosure 

entrance. 

Sanctuary Mountain 

Maungatautari general manager, 

John Simmons says 

the governance board for the 

Maunga has decided to reroute 

visitors to the southern 

enclosure. 

“Nothing changes in terms 

of the visitor experience to 

our wonderful Maunga, but 

we will be prepared to transport 

people by minivan to the 

southern enclosure for the 

foreseeable future. 

“We do want to enter into 

dialogue with 4GIV to acknowledge 

their generosity in 

allowing Sanctuary Mountain 

Maungatautari and visitors 

access over their land, and 

achieve a long-term relationship. 

We recognise their close 

connection to their land and 

deeply respect their whakapapa 

ties that align them to this 

special place,” Mr Simmons 

says. 

Mr Simmons says it is 

sad that Sanctuary Mountain 

Maungatautari has been 

forced into this position, but 

the board is determined that 

this ongoing issue, thought to 

be caused by internal disputes, 

doesn’t affect the many visitors 

to the mountain. 

“This won’t detract from 

the experience on the mountain 

in any way, but we do 

seek understanding from our 

visitors while we continue to 

try to resolve this long-standing 

issue.” 

THE DIGITAL WORLD 

> BY POOJA GUPTA 

Pooja Gupta is Digital Media Executive at Duoplus 

pooja@duoplus.nz . www.duoplus.nz 

you where you need to spend 

both your money and energy. 

With digital marketing, you 

can track the conversion rates 

of your traffic sources, primary 

keywords, and marketing 

campaigns. 

One of your top priorities 

should be to track the conversion 

rate of visitors to leads, 

and leads to customers. When 

someone comes to your site, 

they’re a visitor. When they 

give you their email, fill out 

a contact form, create a trial 

account, or add a product to 

their cart, then they become 

a lead. When they give you 

their credit card, they become 

a customer. Track the conversion 

rates at each step. 

Instead of spending time 

gathering “number of” metrics 

(number of Twitter followers, 

number of clicks, 

number of Facebook likes), 

start looking at the big picture. 

This means connecting 

marketing campaigns and activities 

to key organisational 

goals, like increasing revenue 

through customer acquisition 

or growth in dollar share of 

existing customers. 

A new follower or like 

won’t inform you much about 

people’s purchase behavior, 

but their downloading an 

e-book or requesting a free 

session might. These metrics 

should be given more attention 

to assess whether marketing 

efforts are performing, 

and helping your business to 

move in the right direction. 

In summary, set up metrics 

early that can be measurable 

from the beginning. Focusing 

on a limited number—the 

metrics that really matter— 

will serve you best. They’ll 

help you identify which marketing 

strategies are working 

and which need to be changed. 

Digital marketing is powerful. 

But don’t get lost in 

the sea of metrics – focus on 

what is important for your 

business, and it can make an 

enormous difference. 

MEA makes Government 

Web Services Panel 

Hamilton design agency MEA has 

been selected as an approved supplier 

on the new All-of-Government 

Web Services Panel. 

As an established All-of-Government 

supplier in design services, MEA is the 

only Waikato-based agency to be on both 

the All-of-Government Web Services Panel 

(WSP) and the All-of-Government Design 

Services Panel (AOG). 

The WSP is an all-of-government approved 

panel that can be engaged easily and 

quickly without primary procurement processes, 

allowing Government agencies to 

save time and money. 

“We’re delighted to be selected for the 

new Web Services Panel. This reflects all the 

great work our team puts in to designing and 

delivering world class digital experiences,” 

says Toby Hutchings, chief information officer, 

MEA. 

MEA has been selected for seven service 

categories including Native App Development, 

Back-end Development, Front-end 

Development, Visual Design, Content Design, 

Information Architecture and User Insight. 

The announcement follows a string 

of recent successes for MEA including 

MEA chief information 

officer Toby Hutchings. 

recognition as The Warehouse Group’s most 

innovative supplier and winners of the 2016 

Westpac Waikato Business Awards, Global 

Operator award. 

MEA has offices in Wellington, Auckland, 

Hamilton and New Haven, Connecticut 

and has released more than 300 apps and 

websites including projects for Samsung, 

Levi’s, Intel, Youthline, Walgreens, Kodak, 

AUT and Fieldays. 

Waikato Branch – Upcoming events/courses 

At the Institute of Directors 

we’re on the pulse of governance. 

Connecting, equipping and 

inspiring directors through thought 

leadership and our extensive 

network, professional governance 

courses, events and resources. 

4 July CPD: 2 points 

'Overseas Mergers & Acquisitions' 

Lunch function with guest speaker Colin Groves, Director, Tetra Laval 

12.00pm - 2.00pm, Waikato Room 1, Sky City Hamilton 

10 August CPD: 2 points 

Lunch function in partnership with the Waikato Chamber of Commerce 

Guest speaker Paul Thompson, CEO, Radio NZ 

12.00pm - 2.00pm, FMG Stadium Waikato 

To register, please contact: 

Megan Beveridge, 

Branch Manager 

Waikato.branch@iod.org.nz, 

021 358772 or www.iod.org.nz 

Waikato branch is kindly sponsored by:


New black tie 

ball sets $100K 

fundraising target 

Hamilton is getting a glitzy new addition 

to its social calendar this winter and 

organisers say it won’t just be a great night 

out, but a great way to support Kiwis with 

cancer. 

The inaugural LJ Hooker 

Cancer Society Ball 

kicks off on August 

5 and with up to 400 people 

expected to mingle, dine and 

dance at the Mystery Creek 

Events Centre, it is expected 

to make an impact. 

With an ambitious fundraising 

target of $100K, organisers 

have big goals for the 

event, which they hope will 

become a regular fundraiser 

for the charity. 

“It’s a huge target for our 

first event but, with the support 

of the community, we’re 

optimistic we can achieve it. 

Everyone we’ve spoken to so 

far has really embraced the 

event concept,” says Catriona 

Findlay, fundraising manager 

for the Waikato/Bay of Plenty 

Cancer Society. 

“All proceeds will go towards 

research and supportive 

care services for people 

affected by cancer within the 

region so it’s a great event for 

locals to get behind.” 

The black tie affair will 

include a three-course dinner 

and a live performance from 

funk band Late 80s Mercedes; 

while a golden ticket raffle 

and an auction of sought-after 

items and experiences will 

help raise money on the night. 

“We’re still keeping a few 

details close to our chest, but I 

can say it’s going to be a stunning 

evening with gourmet 

food, live music and plenty to 

keep you entertained through 

the evening,” says Catriona. 

“This is a great chance for 

people in the region to enjoy 

a glamorous night out while 

knowing that they’re making 

a difference for Kiwis with 

cancer.” 

With only a limited number 

of tickets available, Catriona 

urges people to act quickly 

to avoid disappointment. 

Tickets are available from 

iticket.co.nz for $140 per person 

or $1300 for a table of 

ten. 

Why consider commercial property management? 

By having an asset professionally 

managed 

a landlord is using the 

expertise, knowledge, resources 

and networks of a company 

that specialises in commercial 

and industrial leasing, sales 

and management. Landlords 

will have the benefit of innovative 

and proactive management 

techniques to maximize returns 

on their assets and retain high 

tenant occupancy. 

With more confidence having 

returned to the commercial 

and industrial property sector, 

gone are the days when the 

tenants remain in occupation of 

the premises but have declined 

to formally renew their lease 

knowing that the landlord probably 

has no other tenant and no 

leverage to bargain. This gives 

no comfort to landlords who 

have invested heavily in their 

asset. A landlord can feel pressured 

to do what he can to keep 

his tenant. 

Professional property management 

should have legal advice 

built in around it to provide 

clarification and the correct procedures 

for the implementation 

of the terms and conditions of 

the Deed of Lease should any 

issues or queries arise. Having 

access to a legal opinion every 

time there is a request from a 

tenant can be costly for landlords 

who try to manage their 

own buildings and tenants. 

Too many times operating 

expenditures are not on-charged 

to the tenant or set incorrectly. 

An operating budget should be 

prepared by the property manager 

based on management’s best 

estimates. Outgoings need to be 

recovered to maintain the landlord’s 

asset and building systems 

correctly for the benefit of 

both the landlord and the tenant. 

Relationships between 

landlords and tenants can get 

strained. A third party buffer 

which commercial property 

management is, keeps all parties 

very aware of their obligations 

under the lease and helps 

to prevent any breakdown in 

communication and relationships 

between the landlord and 

the tenant/s. 

Importantly, relationships 

need to be formed with contractors 

such as a handyman, 

roofer, plumber and electrician. 

Property management will convey 

their expectations of quality 

workmanship for a fair price, for 

contractors to take ownership of 

their skills and understand that 

the tenant and the landlord are 

not ‘cash cows’. Preventative 

measures rather than reactive. 

Often the management fee 

is included in the ‘Outgoings’ 

Schedule of the Deed of Lease 

and therefore a cost to the tenant. 

If you’re not having your 

property managed, now may be 

just the time to do so. A sound 

management contract will not 

give you any surprises. 

Commercial 

Property 

Management 

Bayleys Commercial Property Management covers both commercial 

and industrial across the Bay of Plenty and New Zealand. Situated 

in the middle of what is considered to be the Golden Triangle of 

investment property is our results driven team. 

We understand that to maximise the return on your property 

you need: 

Professional property management 

A business partner that understands your investment, 

views and goals 

SPEAK TO BAYLEYS TODAY 

Jan Cooney 

Senior Commercial Property Manager 

B 07 579 0609 M 027 408 9339 

jan.cooney@bayleystauranga.co.nz 

Brodie Thomas 

Commercial Property Manager 

B 07 579 0608 M 027 746 9218 

brodie.thomas@bayleystauranga.co.nz 

247 Cameron Road, 

Tauranga 

Success Realty Ltd, Bayleys, 

Licensed Under The REA Act 2008


Support builds for Hamilton’s interactive 

waka sculpture 

Funding success for the Wintec team 

planning an interactive waka sculpture 

for Hamilton’s Ferrybank Reserve means 

production for the community project can 

now move ahead. 

Project leader, artist, 

Wintec tutor and PHD 

student, Joe Citizen is 

‘stoked’ to announce a major 

donation of $30,000 from the 

Brian Perry Charitable Trust 

for the Matariki Interactive 

Waka Project. 

The six metre sculpture 

will have motion sensors, LED 

strip lighting and surround 

sound to encourage visitors to 

interact with the steel structure. 

It will be installed on 

the FerryBank Reserve at the 

south end of Hamilton’s CBD 

in June 2018 for Matariki. 

“We’re absolutely stoked 

to accept this very generous 

donation. It’s wonderful that 

they’re backing this community-focused 

project, and we’re 

proud to be associated with 

them. 

“This is a win-win situation 

for us. The generous support 

from the Brian Perry Charitable 

Trust has put the project 

well within reach and enables 

us to build something that will 

last for generations to come.” 

Marlene Julian from the 

Brian Perry Charitable Trust 

says the trust is committed 

to developing strong partnerships 

with like-minded organisations 

to deliver their vision 

of building stronger communities. 

“The Matariki Interactive 

Waka Project fits our brief as 

a long-term project created for 

the community by a community. 

It involves many hands and 

minds, and also contributes to 

youth, education, culture and 

community in a way that reflects 

our values.” 

Joe Citizen is working in 

partnership with Wintec’s 

Māori Achievement team, 

Wintec students, staff and industry 

partners. The project 

received Stage One approval 

from Hamilton City Council 

by a unanimous vote in April 

this year. This means the project 

has approval for installation 

within Ferrybank Reserve, 

and the exact location 

will be determined when the 

concept is finalised. 

A range of collaborators 

from local industry and within 

Wintec are working to create 

the sculpture that will reflect 

kaupapa Māori concepts of interconnectedness 

and tell the 

Matariki story on Hamilton’s 

riverbank. 

The design will be informed 

by the work of Wintec 

early childhood educators, 

who are producing storyboards 

for this year’s Matariki 

celebrations. The digital and 

interactive design is being 

done by Joe as part of his PhD 

studies, with Wintec researcher 

Andy Fendall developing 

the visual display features. 

Engineering for the sculpture’s 

prototyping, civil engineering, 

power supply and 

generation, and environmental 

sensor network, is being 

carried out by Wintec engineering 

students. The construction 

will be carried out by 

students from Wintec’s Māori 

and Pasifika Trades Training 

initiative, under the mentorship 

of the engineering firm 

Longveld. 

Follow the progress of the 

Matariki Interactive Waka 

Project on social media using 

hashtags #MIWP and #BYUS- 

FORUS. 

‘Change ahead’ for award winners 

Seen at the awards ceremony are, from left, Ideal Electrical managing director 

Darrin Hughes, Smiths Electrical managing director Amie Amosa, Smiths’ 

co-founder Cecile Smith, and Skills general manager Lance Riesterer. 

J5164P 

Hamilton Monthly Property Report 

SNAP SHOT OF WHAT 

HAS BEEN HAPPENING 

IN THE MARKET PLACE 

OVER THE PAST MONTH. 

The median price across the 

region rose $81,000 compared 

to May 2016. Compared to April 

the median price eased by $2,000, with 

prices rising 19% in Waikato District. 

Sales volumes compared to April 

rose 34%. Compared to May 2016 

sales across the region fell 19%. 

The number of days to sell eased 

by four days compared to April, from 

37 days in April to 41 days in May. 

The number of days to sell eased 

by 11 days compared to May 2016. 

Over the past 10 years the average 

number of days to sell during May 

for Waikato has been 52 days. 

“The median price has remained 

very close to its recent record high, 

with a strong lift in sales volumes 

after a weak April. Aucklanders continue 

to be active in the region, 

although increasing stock levels are 

making some sellers more negotiable.” 

REINZ Regional Director 

Philip Searle. 

Obviously the statistics contained within 

this article represent only a small 

fraction of the data we have at our fingertips. 

For more information relevant 

to your street or your property, call and 

ask for one of our team at EVES Realty. 

P 07 834 9570 M 027 801 9962 F 07 854 3837 

VISIT www.eves.co.nz 

By Greg Petrin 

Rototuna branch manager 

Local market facts 

Sales May 

Hamilton City 

2017 

Under $200k* 0 2 

Sales May 

2016 

$200 - $299k* 4 17 

$300 - $399k* 47 76 

$400 - $499k* 84 104 

$500 - $599k* 53 70 

$600 - $699k* 46 29 

$700 - $999k* 36 30 

$800 - $999k* 26 21 

$1,000,000 - 

$1,999,999* 

10 10 

$2m+* 1 0 

Total number of sales* 309 359 

Median sale price* $534,500 $480,000 

Median days to sell* 37 24 

*Statistical Information Derived From The Real Estate Institute Of New Zealand. Realty Services Ltd/Success Realty Ltd and any contractor/employee is merely passing over the 

information. We cannot guarantee its accuracy and reliability as we have not checked, audited or reviewed the information and all intending purchasers are advised to conduct 

their own due diligence investigation into the same. To the maximum extent permitted by law Realty Services Ltd/Success Realty Ltd and its contractors/employees do not accept 

any responsibility to any person for the accuracy of the information herein. 

Smiths Electrical general manager Amie Amosa, second from left, with the awardwinning 

apprentices Connor Gotty, Rochelle Arnold and Hannah Todd after the Cambridge 

presentation. 


Three national 

award-winning electrical 

apprentices were 

told recently that those entering 

their industry today would 

see more changes in a decade 

than their predecessors did 

over a lifetime. 

The three apprentices – two 

from Waikato and one from 

Auckland – were awarded 

Smiths Electrical Scholarships 

at the company’s base in Cambridge. 

The scholarships were presented 

in conjunction with 

Skills, who oversees electrical 

apprenticeships in New Zealand. 

Auckland’s Ideal Electrical 

sponsored one of the 

awards. 

It was Ideal’s managing 

director Darrin Hughes who 

told the recipients that rapid 

technological change in the 

industry meant the lines would 

continue to blur between IT 

and electrical, and today’s apprentices 

needed to embrace 

the changes. 

“Advances in technology 

means we will see more 

change in the next 10 years 

than today’s retiring electricians 

will have seen in their 

lifetime. It is an evolution of 

change … it is exciting but 

challenging. There is already 

a blurring of lines between IT 

and electrical; both will need 

the skills of the other.” 

Mr Hughes said it was exciting 

to see young trade professionals 

developing their 

skills and preparing themselves 

for rapidly evolving 

industry. 

“Completing your apprenticeship 

is just the start. What 

will set you apart is continuous 

learning, keeping abreast 

of technology and developing 

business skills early. Then you 

need to value what you do and 

never undersell your skills.” 

The Smiths Electrical 

Scholarships went to Hamilton’s 

Rochelle Arnold, who 

won the Ideal Electrical/ 

Smiths Tool Package (tools 

worth $7500); Cambridge’s 

Hannah Todd, who won the 

Female Leadership Scholarship 

(tools package worth 

$1000); and Auckland’s Connor 

Gotty, who won the Cecile 

Smith Electrical Scholarship, 

which covered one year’s 

worth of fees. 

Cecile Smith, co-founder 

of Smiths Electrical, said the 

scholarship scheme was not 

new; the 28-year-old company 

had run a low-key Best Apprentice 

of the Year scheme in 

previous years. 

“It was really when Amie 

Amosa came on board as general 

manager [about 14 months 

ago] that we decided to re-introduce 

the scholarships as a 

way of supporting our industry,” 

she said. 

She expressed concern at 

what she described as New 

Zealand’s emphasis on a university 

rather than skills-based 

education, and urged the 

Government to emulate other 

countries that had what she 

said was a more successful approach 

to tertiary funding. 

“If you look at Iceland, the 

Nordic countries, Switzerland 

and German, for example, 

they all have free tertiary education, 

not only at university 

level but also at a skills level. 

Equally important, they have 

a high expectation of their 

young people. They expect excellence, 

not mediocrity. Just 

scraping by with a 50 percent 

pass rate is not acceptable in 

the modern world. 

Mrs Smith said the fact that 

only about 11 to 13 percent of 

young Kiwis go to university 

was not reflective of a first 

world country. 

“The Government needs to 

do more to educate the young 

New Zealanders who are going 

to be our future tradespeople 

and business owners.” 

She said she hoped the 

Smiths Electrical Scholarship 

scheme would inspire other 

companies to support the industry, 

and would generate ongoing 

interest from an increasing 

number of apprentices. 

The scholarship was offered 

in conjunction with 

Skills, a multi-sector industry 

training organisation that 

works alongside New Zealand 

industries to help people gain 

workplace skills. 

Lance Riesterer, Skills general 

manager (specialist trades 

and commercial) said New 

Zealand needed more skilled 

electricians … “and we need 

them now”. 

He congratulated Smiths 

for offering the scholarships, 

which he said recognised the 

future leaders of the industry. 

Smiths’ general manager 

Amie Amosa said the awards 

are all about giving back to 

the electrical industry and supporting 

its future. 

“Smiths recognises the 

importance of employers supporting 

trainees. How industry 

and employers support trainees 

today will shape the future 

of the industry.” 

The scholarships were open 

to electrical apprentices anywhere 

in New Zealand.


You can’t beat a good business mentor 

When Company-X senior developer 

Rob Scovell’s team won the Innes48 

Hours Business Startup Competition he 

acknowledged the competition’s mentors. 

Competing as the team 

Abnormals, Rob, his 

14-year-old son Rowan, 

and medical technologist 

Emma Liu, took home a 

$10,000 cash prize after winning 

the Wintec Most Viable 

Business Award. 

“I’d give the competition a 

10 out of 10, thanks to the quality 

of the mentoring,” Rob said. 

“It wouldn’t be possible to win 

without the help of the mentors 

throughout the course of the 

competition.” 

Rob was recognising that no 

matter how good an idea you 

have, innovators with a technical 

mind are not necessarily 

good business people with the 

knowhow to bring an idea to 

market. In fact this is nearly always 

the case. 

The competition kicked off 

on Friday, April 28, at 5pm, 

with the Abnormals not coming 

up with an idea until Saturday 

morning. 

A brainstorm led to the idea 

of problem solving for medical 

professionals who spend a couple 

of hours each day writing 

comprehensive medical notes. 

“We asked how we could 

turn this from a two-hour process 

daily into a more streamlined 

process,” Rob said. “The 

solution was to create a stereoscopic 

image, using two cameras, 

of the patient’s treatment 

site. Once the image has been 

processed by the application 

you are left with the treatment 

site as a point on a map of the 

body and the photographic image 

is discarded.” 

This innovative idea is that 

the maps could replace hundreds 

of words each day. 

The winning team benefitted 

from about three hours 

of advice from many of the 

Inness48 mentors over the 

weekend, including myself. 

I enjoyed staying late to help 

the competitors off on the 

right foot. 

“I’d say that winning it is 

actually proof that you have 

learned from the mentors,” Rob 

said. 

There is as much focus on 

the business plan, and how you 

would bring the idea to market, 

as on the innovation of the idea 

itself. 

“There’s nothing like this 

around. We talked with a clinic 

manager during, and after, the 

TECH TALK 

> BY DAVID HALLETT 

David Hallett is a director of Hamilton software specialist Company-X, 

design house E9 and chief nerd at Waikato Need a Nerd. 

Innes48 event they wanted to 

discuss the next steps with us. 

There are much bigger problems 

to solve and they want us 

to look at the priorities.” 

Nothing beats a good business 

mentor. 

No matter how good you 

are at what you do, or how tight 

your business plan is, you can 

never hear enough from an experienced 

and trusted adviser. 

That’s how my software 

specialist business, Company-X, 

ended up a finalist in last 

year’s Westpac Waikato Business 

Awards. 

Company-X, bursting at the 

seams with technical knowhow, 

was a finalist in the Strategy 

and Planning category of the 

awards because we engage and 

listen to our business mentors. 

Business leaders, especially 

those with a technical mind, 

don’t have to go it alone. 

Wintec students win prestigious Chinese scholarships 

Two Wintec students 

have been successful 

in gaining more educational 

experience abroad 

as second-time recipients of 

prestigious Prime Minister’s 

Scholarships for Asia. 

Mason Holloway and 

Christopher Singh will head 

to Chengdu, China in September 

where they will study at 

Chengdu University for five 

months. 

The Hamilton-based duo 

were part of a Wintec group of 

scholarship recipients to study 

at Chengdu University in 2016 

and jumped at the opportunity 

to be involved again, this time 

applying as individuals. 

Mason and Chris, who are 

both completing Honours Degrees 

in Media Arts – Painting, 

will study Chinese language 

and a post graduate in 

Media Arts while in China. 

Chris, 26, said he was looking 

forward to another stint in 

Chengdu and the opportunity 

to further his education. 

“I’d like to get more experience 

painting in a different 

culture and see how that can 

help to shape my practice.” 

He said he enjoys studying 

abroad as it provides the 

opportunity to “indulge in a 

different culture while also 

being able to bring a Kiwiana 

flavour to their education”. 

Mason, 21, was hopeful 

the experience would help to 

create more career choices for 

him and lead to further study. 

“I’m hoping to do my Masters 

over there at one of China’s 

top universities.” 

Like Chris, Mason enjoyed 

bringing a Kiwi approach to 

the Chinese education system. 

“They don’t know a lot 

about New Zealand so it’s 

cool to be able to represent 

our country and show them a 

different way of learning.” 

Mason and Chris make up 

part of a wider group of 202 

tertiary students from across 

New Zealand heading to educational 

institutes around 

Asia. 

The Prime Minister’s 

Scholarships for Asia are 

funded by the New Zealand 

government and administered 

by Education New Zealand. 

They were established in 2013 

and have since enabled more 

than 1100 New Zealand students 

to experience an international 

education in Asian 

countries. 

Wintec students, from left, Christopher Singh and Mason 

Holloway have been selected as second-time recipients 

of prestigious Prime Minister’s Scholarships for Asia. 

At Campus Creche we see 

ourselves as part of your child's 

extended family. 

Fulfilling first year at 

Campus Creche @ Fraser 


Campus Creche @ Fraser 

recently celebrated 

their first birthday since 

Campus Creche Trust took 

over Fraser’s Little Feet. Campus 

Creche has been operating 

since 1973 as a community 

based early childhood centre in 

Hamilton. 

Creche staff are genuine, 

caring and build close relationships 

with the children and their 

families who are sometimes 

initially anxious about leaving 

their precious children. Consequently, 

strong bonds are 

formed quickly. The majority 

of Creche parents are studying 

at He Puāwai, the Teen Parent 

Unit 

Sue Bennett, the director and 

Mel McFarlane, centre manager 

explained that one of the 

new initiatives that they have 

implemented is a nature based 

programme where children go 

out into the bush on regular outings. 

Each child can experience 

nature, jumping over trickles of 

water, walking through muddy 

puddles or swinging on a low 

branch. The children have an 

opportunity to explore nature, 

be curious, build their leadership 

skills and become more 

confident. One little girl who 

had been anxious at the centre, 

felt confident enough to lead 

her friends to the summit after a 

few visits to the bush. She was 

very pleased with herself. The 

children love their expeditions 

into the community and take 

lots of positive stories of their 

explorations home to share with 

their whānau. 

The children enrich their 

language talking about different 

kinds of trees, plants, birds, 

Tane Mahuta and Papatūānuku. 

Once, at Taitua Aboretum 

the children found an ailing 

chicken which was revived at 

the centre. The chicken did not 

survive overnight however the 

children learnt valuable lessons. 

“All of this,” Sue said, “Is part 

of the rich tapestry of life.” The 

experiences help build strong 

foundations for their life. 

• A family atmosphere where 

children are valued and 

respected 

• Supporting children to develop 

into confident competent 

learners 

• Building strong foundations for 

life 

• A high number of qualified and 

experienced teachers 

• Off-site nature based 

programmes 

• Four specific aged centres at 

Hillcrest 3 months to 5 years 

• Centre at Fraser High School 

newborn to 5 years 

Hillcrest Holiday Programme, 

5 to 12 Years 

Gate 6 - University of Waikato 

166 Hillcrest Road, Hillcrest 

Hamilton 3216 

PH: 07 838 4034 

creche@campuscreche.co.nz 

P6499W


BAY NEWS 

Te Puia to carry 

out $17 million site 

development 

Moves underway in Rotorua are set to 

enrich the Maori cultural experience, both 

for visitors to the area and through the 

gifting to the United Nations of a unique 

sculptural taonga. 


The taonga is a 3.5m 

tall, four tonne bronze 

whatarangi (storehouse), 

which has been temporarily 

installed at Rotorua’s Te Puia 

(New Zealand Maori Arts and 

Crafts Institute) before being 

gifted to the UN later this year. 

The installation of the 

taonga, created by a team 

of local sculptors, comes 

as work forges ahead on a 

$17 million development at 

the site. This will include a 

new Wãnanga Precinct for the 

national schools of wood carving, 

weaving, stone and bone 

carving, as well as a 300-seat 

Whare Kai (function centre) 

that will include a café, restaurant 

and bar overlooking 

Whakarewarewa valley and 

the famous Pohutu geyser. 

The elevated whatarangi 

sculpture was unveiled at Te 

Puia last month, principally as 

a trial installation that would 

provide an opportunity for 

locals and visitors to see the 

unique piece and learn about 

its significance. 

The initiative, led by the 

Iwi Chairs Forum, was developed 

as a demonstration of 

New Zealand’s support for 

the UN Declaration for the 

Rights of Indigenous Peoples. 

Details around the gifting of 

the whataranga are currently 

being finalised. 

Sir Tumu te Heuheu, chairman 

of the Iwi Leaders’ Group, 

said one of the key objectives 

it was hoped the gifting of the 

taonga would achieve was to 

deepen understanding and to 

grow a greater social and political 

consciousness around the 

significance of the Declaration 

to both iwi Māori, and to New 

Zealand. 

“Furthermore, we hope 

that the whatarangi will help 

to nurture the blossoming of 

a set of values which will 

help to inform the development 

of a unique relationship 

between indigenous peoples 

and the United Nations into 

the future.” 

The bronze sculpture is said 

to symbolise safe-keeping, 

representing the storage and 

maintenance of tangible and 

The elevated bronze whatarangi (storehouse) 

being temporarily installed at Te Puia. 

intangible heritage, aspects 

that the UN Declaration sets 

out to protect. 

Its unveiling at Te Puia is 

seen as not only providing an 

opportunity for locals to view 

the taonga before it goes to 

the UN, but also allows for 

extensive engineering tests to 

be undertaken before it leaves 

New Zealand shores. 

The $17 million Te Puia 

site development was given 

a significant boost last year 

with the announcement of a 

$2.5 million Tourism Growth 

Partnership grant for the 

Wãnanga Precinct development 

– the single biggest grant 

ever provided under the programme. 

Te Puia chairman Harry 

Burkhardt described the vote 

of support from the Tourism 

Growth Partnership as simply 

huge. 

“The perpetuation of Maori 

art, craft and culture achieved 

by Te Puia is felt far beyond 

our immediate horizons, 

including working with indigenous 

cultures from around the 

world and strengthening the 

New Zealand story in important 

international tourism and 

trade markets.” 

He said the development 

was the most significant onsite 

investment since tourism and 

cultural development functions 

were formally joined in the 

1960s under parliamentary leg 

Iconic Whakatane corner pub faces change 

By KATEE SHANKS 

Built in 1917 in a style 

befitting that of a 

bank, Whakatane’s 

Commercial Hotel is to go on 

sale later this year. 

The building at 45 The 

Strand has been owned by 

BOP Regional Council since 

2003 when its Whakatane 

office was at capacity. Until 

2015, it was leased and run as 

a licensed premises. 

The Regional Council 

also owns 39-13 The Strand, 

which adjoins 45 and was 

built art deco style in 1939. 

The 1917 heritage 

two-storey masonry building 

was erected on a corner and 

in the classical style traditionally 

chosen for banks. 

The art deco portion of the 

site became part of the hotel 

after it was built in 1939, but 

is earthquake prone and derelict 

and will be levelled in an 

attempt to ensure the preservation 

of the corner bar. 

The Regional Council 

has been working with 

Whakatane District Council 

on future plans for the site 

and has donated some of 

the interior fittings to the 

Whakatane Museum. 

Regional Council’s 

property manager Annabel 

Chappell said the plan was 

to market the property in a 

way that encourages development 

that is complementary 

to the community’s vision for 

the future of the Whakatane 

CBD. 

Heritage New Zealand has 

issued an authority for the 

demolition work, which is 

expected to begin soon. 

Whakatane’s Commercial Hotel is 

up for sale and redevelopment. 

Tauranga to host international 

marine biotechnology convention 

The region’s growing reputation 

as the centre for 

blue innovation has seen 

Tauranga successfully secure 

the international Blue2Green 

Marine Biotechnology Convention, 

which is being held in 

New Zealand for the first time. 

The global marine biotechnology 

market is predicted to 

reach $US5.9 billion by 2022. 

The convention is seen as an 

opportunity to strengthen research 

and development ties 

among the represented Pacific 

Rim and Australasian countries, 

says Chris Battershill, the 

chair of Coastal Science at the 

University of Waikato. 

Battershill, who is also 

director of the Coastal Marine 

Field Station in Tauranga, will 

chair the Blue2Green Marine 

Biotechnology Convention, 

which he says is designed to 

splice together research interests, 

and explore new opportunities 

with a central theme of 

environmental sustainability 

linked to development of new 

high value marine industries. 

The August 8-10 event 

will be a joint meeting 

between the newly formed 

Australia New Zealand 

Marine Biotechnology 

Society (a member of 

the International Marine 

Biotechnology Association), 

the International Conference 

on Coastal Biotechnology 

(convened in China), and the 

New Zealand Aquaculture 

Science Association. The 

Korean Society for Marine 

Biotechnology will also be 

sending a special delegation. 

“This convention will 

demonstrate how we can harness 

existing international 

excellence across marine biotechnological 

sciences to fast 

track sustainable wealth creation 

through novel application 

of marine biotechnologies,” 

says Battershill. 

“Additionally [we’ll be] 

examining how these very 

technologies can be used to 

aid, repair or to strengthen 

environments under threat.” 

“The convention will allow 

us to present the latest science 

and industry updates and 

highlight the value and impact 

of the marine biotechnology 

sector,” he says. 

“Many countries, in particular 

New Zealand and 

Australia, remain in their 

infancy in realising the potential 

of novel marine bioproducts 

and biotechnologies. 

Aquaculture targets remain 

limited and there are increasing 

issues in-sea and on-land 

in terms of meeting sustainable 

production targets for any 

primary product.” 

By contrast, he says, the 

science that underpins marine 

biotechnology has advanced 

enormously in the last decade, 

with enhanced knowledge of 

marine molecular processes, 

biosynthesis, semi-synthesis, 

symbiosis, marine microbial 

science, chemical ecology, 

physiology, aquaculture husbandry, 

aqua and agri feeds, 

biomedical discovery, reproductive 

biology and genetics.” 

Battershill says the convention 

will provide a rare 

opportunity for groups carrying 

out this research to meet 

and share knowledge. 

“We know that through a 

rich legacy of biodiscovery 

in the sea, the bioinformatics 

are available for translational 

application into other sectors 

such as agriculture, aquaculture 

and veterinary sectors. 

“There is also immediate 

opportunity in applying 

biotechnological research to 

remediate damaged or threatened 

ecosystems. The convention 

will bring together 

research scientist groups that 

would not ordinarily see one 

another, as well as providing 

a platform for a truly international 

meeting of minds and 

exploration of opportunity.” 

The convention will also 

include two additional innovation 

field trip days for delegates 

to visit industries across 

the region. These are designed 

to connect the partnership and 

opportunity dots and highlight 

the value and impact that the 

marine biotechnology sector 

can bring to enhancing “blue” 

innovation in the region. 

The convention will be 

Professor Chris Battershill: potential in marine bioproducts. 

hosted at the Tauranga Yacht 

Club. 

“Where better to host a 

marine biotech convention 

with an international line up 

of speakers and delegates, 

than right on the harbour’s 

edge at the Tauranga Yacht 

Club. It’s the perfect spot to 

showcase and celebrate our 

precious harbour and marine 

environment.” 

The theme of this year’s 

convention is Toitu te 

Moana, Toitu te Tangata - 

Sustainability of the sea, sustainability 

of the people. 

The convention is convened 

by scientists from the 

University of Waikato, Priority 

One, Flinders University, 

James Cook University, 

Cawthron Institute, Toi 

Ohomai, The International 

Marine Biotechnology 

Association and the Yantai 

Institute of Coastal Zone 

Research. 

For more information visit 

www.blue2green.co.nz


Supporting 

working parents 

We live in a world where two working parents 

is now often the norm. But are workplaces 

adapting to meet the needs of these parents? 

By Michelle Rae 

Executive Communications Assistant 

True Colours Children’s Health Trust 

It can be a fine balancing act for 

working parents to ensure that the 

demands of family life and work 

commitments are met. And when 

something throws that daily juggling 

act off balance it can be a real 

challenge for them. 

Winter brings up its own problems 

for parents. They can be certain 

that at least one of their children is 

going to come down with a winter 

illness. It has been estimated that 

parents of children in formal child 

care can expect an infant to be ill 

nine to ten times a year, and other 

preschool-aged children to be ill six 

to seven times a year. 

As a parent, balancing sick 

children along with your work 

commitments can be difficult. The 

onus of caring for the sick child will 

frequently fall to the mother. They 

often feel conflicted between the 

need to care for their child, while 

also ensuring that they meet their 

work obligations. When parents take 

time off to care for their sick child, 

they may feel concerned about 

the long term impact of this on their 

jobs, and professional reputation. 

They don’t want to be seen as the 

‘unreliable’ one, and don’t want to 

push their employer’s goodwill. 

Employers 

The New Zealand law stipulates 

an employee is entitled to at least 

five days paid sick leave a year; after 

working for their employer for six 

months. Employees are allowed to 

use their sick leave for themselves or 

to care for a sick or injured spouse, 

partner or dependent child. As a 

working mum myself I know that 

those five days don’t stretch far. It 

only takes the kids to get a couple 

of colds, or ear infections and those 

five days are gone, without having 

been sick myself. 

In 2014, New Zealand lost 6.7 

million working days to absence 

according to the Wellness in the 

Workplace Survey 2015. The two 

most common causes of absence 

were 1) Illness/injury unrelated to 

the workplace and 2) Caring for a 

family member or dependant. 

It is important for organisations 

to learn to adapt to the changing 

workforce and look at how their 

workplace practices can become 

more family-friendly. The challenges 

of working parents will not go away, 

therefore there is a need to recognise 

the issues and develop workable 

solutions for both the employer 

and employee. 

Some examples of possible solutions 

are; allowing workers to deal 

with the care of sick children by 

making up lost hours of employment 

at a later time, using time off in lieu, 

having flexible rostered days off, 

working from home, and bringing 

the child to work. Flexibility is definitely 

the key here. 

Employers that do not provide 

parents the chance to care for their 

sick child can find that they may 

lose skilled workers, and it may have 

an impact on workplace morale 

as well. There is also evidence that 

employees who continue to work 

but are distracted by personal issues 

such as sick children, have lower 

productivity (“presenteeism” as 

opposed to “absenteeism”) that 

may reduce some of the benefits to 

employers with keeping parents at 

work in the first place. 

There is no easy solution to the 

issue; it will vary between workplaces, 

industries and individuals, and 

also for the parent as their family 

situation changes. However having 

a “head in the sand” approach to 

this issue will not make it go away. It 

is about looking at how your organisation 

can best support your employees 

to ensure you get the best 

out of them and they have a sense 

of fulfilment. Through mutual support 

and understanding of each other’s 

needs, you will develop a dedicated 

and committed workforce. 

When illness doesn’t go away 

For some families, illness isn’t 

something that goes away after a 

few days. For children that have a 

serious health condition, the effects 

are always present and parents will 

often have to take on the dual role 

of “carer”. 

Balancing parenthood and working 

is hard enough on its own but 

with the have the added pressures 

of a child with a serious health 

condition, keeping it all together 

can be extremely difficult. Not only 

are there the stresses and concerns 

around the child’s health and 

future, but there can also be extra 

financial pressures when a child is 

seriously ill. 

For some parents, they have to 

continue to work for financial reasons 

while still balancing the care of 

their child. Money is not always the 

main motivator for these parents 

wanting to work though. For some 

it will be about finding an “identity” 

outside of their parent carer role, 

to do something for themselves, an 

escape from the demands of their 

family life, and a chance for some 

adult interaction. 

It can be difficult however for 

these parents to combine working 

and caring for their child. They 

require flexible employment options, 

and a workplace that is responsive 

to their changing and sometimes 

unpredictable circumstances. Parttime 

roles can work for them, giving 

them the flexibility they need. These 

jobs are often lowly paid with poor 

prospects and there needs to be a 

shift to creating more flexible options 

in good quality roles and companies. 

If an organisation strives to 

be a family-friendly employer they 

need to consider different scenarios 

and options and see what can 

work for both them and their employees. 

Becoming a family friendly 

employer means not only changing 

policies, but also the attitudes of 

management and workers. 

The responsibility for supporting 

parents in the workforce that have 

a child with a serious health condition 

lies not just with the employer 

but with the whole community. Parents 

require better support systems 

around them, childcare programs 

that can cater for their child’s special 

needs, and more financial support. 

By working together, supporting 

those that need it the most, we 

can help to build a stronger, more 

vibrant and diversified community 

where everyone can participate 

and belong. 

Keeping the winter bugs away 

With winter now firmly upon us, take these steps to keep you and your 

children healthy over winter. 

True Colours extends its heart-felt thanks to all the 

businesses that have supported us over the past 13 years. 

There are far too many to name, but please know we appreciate you all. 

We couldn’t provide the much needed support to Waikato families without you. 

PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY 

1. Flu Vaccination - Stop the spread of flu with a flu vaccination. As 

an employer could you offer these to your employees, to your 

employees children? 

2. Exercise - It might be cold out, but rug up warm and enjoy some fresh 

air with the family while exploring some of the great outdoor spaces 

we have in the Waikato. 

3. Eat well - Winter can be the time for comfort food, but make sure you 

are getting a good dose of healthy food, think fruit and vegetables, 

protein, and healthy fats. As an employer can you offer healthy 

snacks to buy, or a complimentary fruit basket for staff? 

4. Cleanliness - Bugs spread easily and are everywhere. Make sure 

you wash your hands and keep your desk and keyboard clean with 

antibacterial wipes. The average computer desk harbours 400 times 

more bacteria than a toilet seat. 

5. Don’t overload your child’s schedule - Stress impairs our immune 

system to work effectively to protect us. Make sure your child(and 

you) has time to rest and relax. 

6. Keep hydrated - Your body is made up of nearly 60% water. Ensure 

you drink water over the winter months to keep hydrated.


NZ CEOS good at ‘seizing opportunities’ 

New Zealand CEOs lead the world when it 

comes to mind-set, trust and adaptability 

– attributes needed to seize opportunity, 

according to KPMG chief executive, 

Godfrey Boyce. 

Speaking to an audience 

of 500 business leaders 

in Auckland in June, Mr 

Boyce shared that an in-depth 

KPMG study of 2000 CEOs 

worldwide shows that New 

Zealand CEOs are positioned 

ahead of their peers. 

“It’s time to move the conversation 

with CEOs away 

from the negative connotations 

that go with today’s buzzwords 

of ‘uncertainty’ and ‘disruption’. 

As Kiwis, seizing opportunity 

is in our DNA. As individuals, 

we need to embrace 

personal growth, change and 

adaptation,” said Mr Boyce. 

“It’s about fostering a 

growth mind-set and building 

an ecosystem of trust – both 

with consumers and within 

your own organisation.” 

Kiwi business leaders have 

a much higher focus on building 

trust and doing the right 

thing by the consumer than 

do CEOs of other nations. 

“One hundred percent of New 

Zealand CEOs surveyed felt a 

growing responsibility to represent 

the best interests of their 

consumers, compared with 

only 70 percent of CEOs in the 

rest of the world.” 

Mr Boyce said growth is 

dependent on staying relevant 

to existing customers, becoming 

relevant to new customers 

and being adaptable and flexible 

in a changing world. Key to 

this is attracting and retaining 

people with flexible mind-sets; 

the ability to change should be 

a core competency of today’s 

team members. 

“If we focus on positioning 

our organisations to seize 

opportunities, we’ll increase 

the value we offer to consumers, 

not just for our own ends, 

but for the bigger purpose of 

increasing our nation’s prosperity.” 

The KPMG Executive 

Business Briefing Breakfast 

event, at which Prime Minister 

Bill English was the keynote 

speaker, brought together executives 

from a range of industries. 

NZ should ‘aspire to 

Goodness’ 

KPMG partner Kim Jarrett 

suggested that New Zealand 

should aspire to rank ‘Number 

One for Goodness’. Becoming 

world-renowned for ‘Goodness’ 

would mean addressing 

social inequality, improving 

living standards and the environment 

to become the best 

place in the world to live. 

“Money can’t buy happiness, 

but it can buy better living 

standards and New Zealand 

business leaders have a pivotal 

part to play in this,” said Mr 

Jarrett. 

While New Zealand is 

ranked seventh out of 38 nations 

in the OECD Better Life 

Index, which looks at a range 

of topics essential to quality of 

life, New Zealand incomes and 

wealth are below the OECD 

average. 

There is room to grow our 

GDP per capita too, from New 

Zealand’s current 22nd place in 

the world. Mr Jarrett contrasted 

NZ’s position with that of 

our closest neighbour – “Australia’s 

GDP per capita is 42 

percent higher than ours. If our 

GDP per capita were on a par 

with theirs today, that would 

mean a further $14 billion tax 

revenue in Government coffers. 

What could we do with 

$14 billion? We could further 

investment in education, infrastructure, 

healthcare, the environment, 

improve the overall 

wellbeing of our communities 

and families, improving prosperity 

for all.” 

“In a business context, think 

about what ‘Goodness’ would 

mean for the New Zealand Inc. 

brand, for trust in your products 

and for the wellbeing of 

your employees and stakeholders. 

Being ‘Number One for 

Goodness’ would be great for 

business,” said Mr Jarrett. 

“However, we won’t close 

the income gap with other 

OECD nations, and reduce 

inequality in our society, without 

increasing the value of our 

trade.” 

Mr Jarrett said that New 

Zealand organisations are 

uniquely positioned to move 

up the value chain by placing 

consumers at the centre of the 

definition of value. This was 

because New Zealand products 

across a range of sectors are 

increasingly in the ‘sweet spot’ 

of what the world’s growing 

population of middle income 

earners desire. And a cornerstone 

of this is trust. 

Building trust with 

consumers 

KPMG tax partner, Bruce 

Bernacchi, said New Zealand 

corporates could build trust 

with consumers through tax 

transparency, compliance and 

governance. 

The Australian Taxation 

Office has recently introduced 

comprehensive requirements 

around tax frameworks, controls 

and processes for Australian 

corporates – it’s only 

a matter of time before Inland 

Revenue introduces similar 

expectations for New Zealand 

corporates, said Mr Bernacchi. 

“Through stories circulating 

in the media last year, 

corporates and multi-nationals 

have unfairly gained a poor 

reputation when it comes to 

their tax contribution. It’s up 

to corporate New Zealand to 

dispel those myths by telling 

its story about what good taxpayers 

and corporate citizens 

most corporates actually are.” 

FAB Group looks for franchisee in Hamilton 

Skin treatment experts 

FAB Group is looking to 

invest a quarter of a million 

dollars in Waikato to bring 

another Caci to Hamilton. 

Caci provides services to 

more than 40,500 New Zealanders 

from Whangarei to 

Invercargill, and the group 

is looking for a franchisee to 

open a Caci clinic in Hamilton. 

Glenice Riley, global chief 

operating officer of FAB 

Group, says the Caci franchise 

has an outstanding track record 

in regional New Zealand, 

with many of its current regional 

Caci clinics proving to 

be extremely profitable. 

“The introduction of our 

unique Franchise Funding 

Model has opened opportunities 

that otherwise might not 

have been available,” she says. 

“The funding model essentially 

offers someone the 

chance to walk into their clinic 

and get stuck into building 

their team and running the 

business, for an investment of 

$125,000. It’s important we 

find the right franchisee to suit 

this community and we hope 

the unique funding model will 

help.” 

“We’re looking to invest 

in excess of $3.25 million 

through the Franchise Funding 

Model in New Zealand this 

year and Hamilton is really 

important to us,” says Glenice. 

Hamilton is one of 13 locations 

around the country 

where FAB Group wants to 

open new clinics during 2017. 

Five of these 13 locations have 

already been secured and the 

remainder are expected to be 

secured within the next eight 

weeks. 

“FAB Group has experienced 

strong growth in the last 

six years, with revenue growing 

approximately 15 percent 

compounding year-on-year. 

We want to share this momentum 

with Hamilton,” adds 

Glenice. 

For those who have ever 

considered becoming part of 

Caci, the opportunity is available 

to be part of a team of 

more than 250 people nationwide 

and run a business with 

unique franchise funding. 

Caci is at the forefront of 

the skincare and appearance 

industry, tailoring solutions 

for clients to ensure the very 

best results are achieved. The 

team are the experts in appearance 

medicine, skin rejuvenation, 

laser hair removal (using 

variable pulsed light – VPL) 

and body shaping (using fat 

freezing technology – cryolipolysis). 

KCE Tree of Light 

comes to Taumarunui 

Local electricity retailer, 

King Country Energy 

(KCE), has announced 

that Taumarunui will soon 

have its very own KCE Tree of 

Light. 

Shortly after 6pm on Monday, 

July 3, the tree next to the 

Moa on Taumarunui’s Hakiaha 

Street will be adorned in colourful 

twinkling lights. 

“We are excited to introduce 

this new initiative into 

Taumarunui. The purpose of 

the tree is to shine a light on a 

range of special occasions and 

awareness events that are important 

to the local community,” 

KCE community relations 

manager Helen Peacock said. 

“Year-round it will shine 

for various national awareness 

days, international awareness 

days, public holidays and significant 

regional events. For 

example, it might be red for 

Anzac Day, yellow for Daffodil 

Day, green for Conservation 

Week, and so on.” 

The new tree will shine for 

the first time as part of the Taumarunui 

Enterprising Incorporated 

(ETI) and Te Waka Pu 

Whenua Te Huapae o Matariki 

Winter Festival from 6-6.45pm 

on July 3, at the base of the 

tree. 

“We encourage the whole 

community to come along to 

the launch event for free hot 

drinks, some entertainment, 

and to see the tree light for the 

first time,” Helen said. 

The Taumarunui tree will 

be the third Tree of Light KCE 

has erected in King Country 

area, alongside Te Kuiti and 

Otorohanga. The Te Kuiti tree 

has shone different colours for 

more than 25 causes and occasions 

since it was installed in 

December 2015. The Otorohanga 

tree was lit for the first 

time this ANZAC Day. 

Members of the Taumarunui 

community are encouraged 

to submit causes for 

the tree to shine a light on. 

“The Tree of Light is all 

about highlighting causes and 

events that are near and dear 

to our community, so it’s only 

right that we listen to the ideas 

they have for the tree to shine 

for,” Helen said. 

“To submit a cause or event 

for the tree to light in honour 

of, community members simply 

need to email their suggestion, 

and an explanation, to 

treeoflight@kce.co.nz. National 

and international awareness 

days, public holidays, and significant 

regional events will all 

be considered. 

Visit kcetreeoflight.co.nz 

for more information. 

Taumarunui’s Hakiaha Street will soon 

be adorned in colourful twinkling lights. 

KCE takes top safety award 

King Country Energy 

(KCE) has won best 

health and safety initiative 

in the small business 

category at the prestigious 

2017 Safeguard New Zealand 

Workplace Health and Safety 

Awards. 

The electricity generator 

and retailer’s winning health 

and safety initiative centred on 

keeping the company’s team 

of meter readers safe using a 

detailed, four-pronged safety 

approach. 

This is the first year KCE 

has entered these awards, and 

chief executive Rob Foster said 

that to be announced as winner 

is an outstanding achievement 

for the team. 

“It’s a true credit to the 

commitment our staff gives to 

health and safety initiatives at 

KCE and will continue to give 

in order to keep everyone safe. 

“We have five full-time 

and five part-time meter readers 

who travel more than 

250,000km per year to 16,000 

residential, commercial, and 

farming locations. Our meter 

readers face risks every day 

while out on the job. 

“We have a responsibility to 

ensure we do everything within 

our power to minimise these 

risks. I’m very proud of the 

work the team has done with 

designing and implementing 

this health and safety initiative, 

and ensuring we are doing the 

best job possible.” 

KCE’s winning initiative 

involved identifying risks, developing 

a Hazard Risk Register 

specific to its meter readers 

and making changes to how 

new meter readers are inducted 

at KCE. 

KCE, based in Taumarunui, 

has operated in the King Country 

area for more than 50 years 

and has an expanding customer 

base across the central North 

Island. 

The awards, held at Sky- 

City Auckland, are New Zealand’s 

only nationwide all-sector 

health and safety awards. 

The category was open to 

any small business in New 

Zealand undertaking an initiative 

that shows how they have 

overcome health and safety 

challenges within the context 

of having fewer resources than 

larger organisations. 

KCE staff at the 2017 Safeguard New Zealand Workplace 

Health and Safety Awards, from left to right, Lace McCool, 

Kayla Gubb, Chris Fincham, Sandra McKenzie, Sue Burton, 

Rob Foster, Alex Polaschek, Matt Van Rooyen, Sande Jansen.


47 

70129 

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The New Zealand Commercial Project Awards is the prestigious awards programme all about celebrating 

the completed construction project and the team relationship that achieved them. 

THE VISION was very clear, 

APL (Architectural Profiles 

Limited) wanted a ‘State 

of the Art’ warehouse and 

office facility that had a very 

high architectural presence. 

There is a long history 

between Foster Construction 

and APL, having completed 

five significant building 

projects. We understand 

each other very well and 

together have achieved a 

‘State of the Art’ facility to 

an extremely high standard. 

GOLD AWARD 

APL Kawera Place 

Industrial 

THE VISTA and The Factory 

are the beating heart of the 

Zealong Tea Estate. Foster 

Construction was tasked 

with building New Zealand’s 

only tea processing facility 

and the adjoining visitor 

centre. 

We are proud to have this 

one-of-a-kind facility here 

in the Waikato and knowing 

that, it is something Foster 

Construction can be proud 

of too. 

SILVER AWARD 

The Vista at Zealong Tea Estate 

Retail

Waikato Business News June/July 2017

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