Waikato Business News August/September 2020
Waikato Business News has for a quarter of a century been the voice of the region’s business community, a business community with a very real commitment to innovation and an ethos of co-operation.
Waikato Business News has for a quarter of a century been the voice of the region’s business community, a business community with a very real commitment to innovation and an ethos of co-operation.
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10 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS <strong>August</strong>/<strong>September</strong> <strong>2020</strong><br />
‘ <strong>Business</strong> takes<br />
the hit for our team<br />
of five million’<br />
I write this just after the announcement by Prime Minister<br />
Jacinda Ardern today that Auckland’s level 3 restrictions<br />
would remain at least until 11.59pm on Sunday, <strong>August</strong><br />
30, before being phased into level alert level 2 with the<br />
rest of the country from Monday, <strong>August</strong> 31.<br />
What galls business most is<br />
that New Zealand has had six<br />
months to get our act together<br />
on border control, tracking, tracing and<br />
testing. We have been told that we have<br />
learnt a lot about how to stamp out outbreaks<br />
and that lockdowns will not always<br />
be necessary but still Auckland is<br />
shut.<br />
There is a credibility gap appearing<br />
between what we are being told and what<br />
is being delivered.<br />
You have to feel for the hospitality<br />
industry. The majority of their industry<br />
is made up of small owner-operator businesses<br />
that simply cannot sustain these<br />
ongoing closures and restrictions. With<br />
the industry already facing restrictions<br />
to trading and reduced overseas visitor<br />
numbers, they are currently looking at<br />
between a further 10 to 12 per cent of all<br />
hospitality businesses closing their doors<br />
as a result. The enforced closure for another<br />
full weekend, which are key trading<br />
days for hospitality, is another blow.<br />
The industry is estimating this will<br />
translate into a loss of over 10,000 jobs if<br />
the restrictions continue. A simple form<br />
of assistance for the industry would be<br />
to copy the UK subsidy to get people out<br />
and dining for a month.<br />
In the UK, diners are entitled to a 50<br />
percent discount on food and non-alcoholic<br />
drinks to eat or drink in, up<br />
to a maximum of 10 pounds discount<br />
per head every Monday, Tuesday and<br />
Wednesday between Aug 3 and Aug 31.<br />
The offer is open to diners in participating<br />
restaurants, cafés, bars, pubs, work<br />
and school canteens and food halls. More<br />
than 72,000 restaurants have registered.<br />
We agree with Auckland <strong>Business</strong><br />
Chamber chief executive Michael Barnett<br />
saying business was “carrying the<br />
burden for the team of five million”<br />
and that “each business must do whatever<br />
it takes to survive”.<br />
While businesspeople understand<br />
the trade-offs required to protect public<br />
health before the economy, it is business<br />
that is taking the brunt of the current<br />
elimination strategy.<br />
By Don Good, <strong>Waikato</strong> Chamber<br />
of Commerce executive director<br />
The failure by the Government and<br />
its bureaucracy to control our border in<br />
order to keep the virus out has a direct<br />
consequence in the ability of business to<br />
keep people in jobs.<br />
All banks are being more prudent<br />
with their lending. They are taking longer<br />
to approve loans, critically reviewing<br />
your budgeted revenue estimates, going<br />
through line by line of your expenses and<br />
taking a good look at your spending conduct.<br />
Again, it is understandable, but cash<br />
is the lifeblood of business and again we<br />
can see a cashflow gap appearing.<br />
You must do whatever it takes to get<br />
through this. Review your revenue, cut<br />
costs, check your supply chains, and<br />
make contact with all your customers<br />
again. Make sure you keep talking to all<br />
your staff. You may not have all the answers,<br />
but they will appreciate your honesty<br />
and may have a few good suggestions<br />
on changes that help your business<br />
survive.<br />
There will be a personal toll on people’s<br />
wellbeing and mental resilience,<br />
not just jobs and business continuity, so<br />
seek out good advice from your lawyer,<br />
accountant, or other trusted mentors and<br />
above all look after your own health.<br />
<strong>Business</strong> Floor, Wintec House Cnr Nisbet and Anglesea Street, HAMILTON<br />
07 839 5895 | help@waikatochamber.co.nz<br />
www.waikatochamber.co.nz<br />
$14m integrated<br />
trades training<br />
centre for South<br />
<strong>Waikato</strong><br />
Tokoroa will have a brand new $14 million trades training centre<br />
by 2022 catering for up to 500 students a year thanks to a<br />
Government grant of $10.84 million announced in <strong>August</strong>.<br />
The new trades training<br />
centre is being<br />
co-funded with $1 million<br />
grants from each of Toi<br />
Ohomai Institute of Technology,<br />
Trust <strong>Waikato</strong> and the<br />
South <strong>Waikato</strong> Investment<br />
Fund Trust (SWIFT).<br />
Security manufacturer<br />
Gallagher will develop a<br />
new European headquarters<br />
in Warwick, England.<br />
The 1,500 square metre<br />
office, with on site café, will<br />
allow Gallagher to host prospective<br />
clients, hold events,<br />
and support Channel Partners<br />
and customers with<br />
meeting, conference, and<br />
training facilities.<br />
The development also<br />
includes a 670 sq m warehouse,<br />
with land available for<br />
future expansions.<br />
“We’re very excited to<br />
announce this new facility for<br />
our UK and Europe operations,”<br />
says Richard Huison,<br />
regional manager for the UK<br />
and Europe.<br />
“We’ve experienced rapid<br />
growth over recent years and<br />
have fast outgrown our current<br />
Nuneaton premises. This new<br />
facility will enable us to showcase<br />
our exceptional security<br />
solutions while providing outstanding<br />
support for our Channel<br />
Partners and customers.”<br />
Gallagher has invested in<br />
the development of solutions<br />
that comply with UK access<br />
control, perimeter intrusion<br />
detection, cybersecurity, and<br />
high security standards. Their<br />
UK-certified high security<br />
solutions build on Gallagher’s<br />
government-approved solutions<br />
for the U.S., Australian,<br />
and New Zealand markets.<br />
Mark Junge, global general<br />
SWIFT has facilitated and<br />
driven the project, including<br />
buying the one-hectare site<br />
for the centre on Chambers St<br />
near the northern entrance to<br />
Tokoroa, doing the preliminary<br />
design, engineering and<br />
costings for the project and<br />
New European<br />
HQ for Gallagher<br />
manager for security, says Gallagher<br />
aims to be the security<br />
solution of choice for countries<br />
in the Five Eyes alliance. “With<br />
discussions already underway<br />
with several UK government<br />
agencies, this new facility provides<br />
the ideal base to support<br />
our extensive growth plans<br />
for the region.”<br />
Gallagher’s European headquarters<br />
will be located in<br />
Tournament Fields business<br />
park. Development is set to<br />
begin in <strong>September</strong>, with the<br />
team aiming to occupy the<br />
building in mid-2021.<br />
Gallagher has also been recognised<br />
for innovation following<br />
its Covid-19 response. Its<br />
Proximity and Contact Tracing<br />
Report won the Outstanding<br />
New Product award at the New<br />
Zealand Security Awards in<br />
<strong>August</strong>. Developed in response<br />
to the Covid-19 pandemic, the<br />
Mark Junge<br />
applying for the Government<br />
funding.<br />
The new trades training<br />
centre will bring together three<br />
separate existing Toi Ohomai<br />
training sites in Tokoroa into<br />
one purpose-built campus<br />
catering for the key local secreport<br />
gives Gallagher customers<br />
critical information<br />
to manage exposure and protect<br />
the health and safety of<br />
people on site.<br />
Gallagher has made its<br />
Proximity and Contact Tracing<br />
utility available to customers<br />
free of charge during<br />
the pandemic.<br />
“I’m very proud of our<br />
team who worked hard to produce<br />
this tool in an incredibly<br />
tight timeframe, while working<br />
in virtual environments,”<br />
said Rachel Kelly, chief product<br />
officer for Gallagher’s<br />
security division.<br />
The Proximity and Contact<br />
Tracing Report, released in<br />
May, enables organisations to<br />
quickly identify areas where a<br />
person with a contagious virus<br />
has been on site. It also identifies<br />
all other cardholders who<br />
shared these areas.