In this issue: CELEBRATING EXPORT WINNERS - EMA

Business Plus 

n e w s , a d v i c e , l e a r n i n g a n d n e t w o r k i n g 

Official Publication of EMA Northern and Employers’ Chamber of Commerce (Central) 

Issue 72 - July 2010 

CELEBRATING EXPORT WINNERS 

Budget 2010: 

Accounting implications 

In this issue: 

WECC/ ECCC Brand Consideration - Proposed Logo Variations 

Following on from our discussions and refinements to date, below are the proposed brand options to be used in all ongoing branded material & communication for WECC/ ECCC. 

Subject to your approval and confirmation of taglines for both entities, usage guidelines, final files in all standard formats and sample branded material will be prepared. 

WECC Version 1 

WELLINGTON 

E M P LOY E R S ’ C H A M E R 

O F CO M M E R C E 

■ How Fiji's economy is faring 

The voice of business in Wellington City 

■ Mediation, better than going to court 

■ How to buy/sell ETS credits 

WECC Version 2 

■ The 'P' word 

WELLINGTON 



The voice of business in Wellington City 

US fresh food exports 

ECCC Version 1 

face new barrier 



CENTRAL 

Your checklist for 

the GST changeover 

The voice of business in the Central Region 

ECCC Version 2 



CENTRAL 

The voice of business in the Central Region

No bull, 

and very little 

moolah. 

Ute RANGe* 

FRom 

$40,622 + ORC 

SpoRtwAGoN RANGe* 

FRom 

$43,087 + ORC 

CommoDoRe RANGe* 

FRom 

$41,217 + ORC 

CAptivA RANGe 

FRom 

$29,136 + ORC 

For a short time, we’re offering emA members incredible prices right across the Colorado and 

Ute ranges, plus great pricing across the range of Commodore Sedan, Sportwagon, Captiva 

and epica. No freebies, no gimmicks, no bull. Check it out at your local Holden Dealer today. 

holden.co.nz 

offers not available with any other offer or discount. offers valid while stocks last or until 31 July 2010 

at participating Holden Dealers. *excludes limited edition and special edition vehicles.

Business Plus 

is published for: 

EMA Northern 

159 Khyber Pass Rd, Grafton, 

Private Bag 92066 Auckland 

Ph: 09 367 0909 or 0800 800 362 

Email: ema@ema.co.nz Website: www.ema.co.nz 

Chief Executive: Alasdair Thompson 

Advocacy Manager: Bruce Goldsworthy 

Manager, Employment: David Lowe 

Manager EMA Learning: David Foley 

Manager EMA Events: Mauro Barsi 

Whangarei 

Myriam Heynen 

09 459 1501 mob 021 920 414 

Waikato 

Denis Quigan 07 839 2995 mob 027 203 0694 

Cor Speksnijder 07 853 0018 mob 027 203 0694 

Bay of Plenty 

Kim Stretton 07 577 9665 

Terry Arnold 07 575 8401 mob 021 662 656 

Rotorua 

Clive Thomson 

07 345 8122 mob 027 437 2808 

Employers Chamber of Commerce Central 

PO Box 1087 Wellington 

Ph: 04 473 7224 Fax: 04 473 4501 

Email: info@eccc.org.nz 

Website: www.eccc.org.nz 

Chief Executive: Paul Winter 

Gisborne: 06 863 2438 

Hawke’s Bay: 06 835 2522 

Taranaki: 06 759 4006 

Manawatu/Wanganui: 06 350 3395 

Nelson: 03 548 4528 

On the cover 

Bay of Plenty Polytech staff Anna-Marie Lawrence, Cynthia 

Verran and Kristina Nink came out to party for the Bay of Plenty 

Export New Zealand Awards late last month. The theme for the 

gala evening was the 'Roaring Twenties'. All the details of the 

winners are on page 23 

03 

12 

02 

04 

05 

06 

11 

20 

22 

23 

26 

08 

Interest, exchange rate holy grail no nearer 

Alasdair Thompson 

Growth consolidating 

Where/how do I get and sell credits for the ETS? 

Members save $275k in bulk buying tenders 

Job Ops 'very successful' 

Your checklist for the GST increase 

Music makes business hum 

Air freighted food to US faces new rule barrier 

Boats, beer and buildings: Fiji economy recovers 

BOP export award winners 

- Smartfoods Ltd 

- InterMed 

- GardyneHOLT 

Business Plus 

For this issue we are rebranding Business Plus in recognition of the 

new name and structure of the Employers Chamber of Commerce 

Central, previously EMA Central. 

ADVOCACY 

NEWS 

ADVICE 

EMA member 

Proud Moments 

noticeboard 

Protecting your staff & recruiting on Skype? 

Wayne Tait Photography 

04 

Employment chat 

CONTENTS 

Business Plus 

Editor 

Gilbert Peterson 09 367 0916 

Writer 

Mary MacKinven 

Published by 

TPL Publishing Services 

Project Manager 

Anthony Stead 09 529 3921 

Advertising Sales 

Colin Gestro (09) 444 9158 

colin@affinityads.com 

ISSN No. 1176-4953 

14 

17 

18 

19 

Financially sorted people good for business 

The 'P' word 

More from Dr Graeme Washer on men's health 

Releasing the pressure gently, with mediation 

Accounting implications of Budget 2010 

TECHNOLOGY 

24 Stretching your IT budget could be bad for business health 

people 

28 

1 

29 

EMA's 

TAX TIPS 

2 

2 

3 

4 

Our Vision. Your Success 

PAGE 1 

5

NEWS 

Business Plus 

Where/how do I get credits for the ETS? 

Emission units can come from any 

number of sources – both domestic 

and international. 

The Government is issuing units 

(New Zealand Units) to tradeexposed 

emissions intensive 

businesses, and to foresters. They 

can sell these on a willing buyer/ 

willing seller basis either through 

over the counter (OTC), trades 

over the phone, via a broker, or 

via an exchange, and to domestic 

compliance buyers (ie the power 

companies), or to offshore buyers. 

While foresters are able to sell 

offshore, no-one else can because 

under a price cap they could buy 

cheap and sell dear offshore. Some 

foresters are already doing this (e.g., 

Earnslaw, see EMABusiness+, June). 

Buyers can also go offshore to 

purchase units they require to offset 

their emissions, and this is a good 

thing because, if they can buy units 

cheaper offshore, this will drive 

down the overall cost of compliance. 

There will be non-forestry 

businesses with surplus units to sell 

domestically andthere is also a range 

of Kyoto units that can be bought 

and sold (CERs, ERUs, AAUs, etc, 

though some are subject to trade 

restrictions). 

How or where can ETS units be 

sold? 

We listed two local ones in the 

two-pager we circulated (see centrespread, 

May issue of EMABusiness+) 

but also Westpac has just commenced 

trading. 

“Internationally, there are heaps 

of options, but the obvious one is 

the European Climate Exchange 

www.ecx.eu/. All the big financial 

institutions trade carbon e.g., 

Standard Bank, Macquarie Bank 

Limited etc. 

New all-in-one business software launched for SMEs 

Attache Software has launched a 

business solution combining accounting, 

payroll, business intelligence, customer 

relationship management (CRM), training 

and support within a single integrated 

package. 

Attaché Accounts All-In-One has all the 

typical systems required in a modern 

business, with an unconditional six month 

money-back guarantee. 

Kiwi-born Mike Rich, Managing Director, 

Attaché Software said: “The success or 

failure of an SME often rests on how well it 

manages its cash flow, debtors, stock and 

expenses. The data needs to be monitored, 

analysed and compared to benchmarks to 

provide real value, but few SMEs have the 

time or resources to do this. 

“Our objective is to offer all SMEs 

access to a similar quality and depth of 

operational business intelligence that 

larger enterprises have long taken for 

granted.” 

Attaché Software has research and 

development centres in Auckland and 

Sydney and employs 200 consultants in 

both countries. 

BIG/VER606/EMA1 

A win, win, win, win, win, win situation for our customers. 

v 

VER606 Bull ad 260x87 EMU.indd 1 

PAGE 2 

Business Plus Magazine - Exclusive news, advice, learning and networking

By Alasdair Thompson, Chief Executive, EMA Northern 

Business Plus ADVOCACY 

Interest, exchange rate holy grail no nearer 

(First published in NZ Herald, 7/7/2010) 

It’s great to see Labour state that the 

key to turning the economy around 

is to encourage exporters. (Business 

Herald 5/7/2010). 

To do that, says Labour’s finance 

spokesman David Cunliffe, monetary 

policy must change. 

The change he wants is to achieve 

lower, more stable interest rates as 

a means to achieving a lower, more 

stable NZ dollar. Were it that simple 

we would already have measures to 

do it! 

To achieve Labour’s objective we 

might ask why Mr Cunliffe places so 

much emphasis on monetary policy 

when a focus on fiscal policy could 

achieve the desired outcome faster? 

That is, if the Government were to 

cut its demand for revenue via taxes, 

more New Zealanders could afford 

to save more in a (compulsory) 

KiwiSaver scheme, and this would 

achieve higher domestic savings 

which would help stabilise interest 

rates and the exchange rate, which 

Labour says is essential. But would 

Labour countenance reducing the 

tax take? 

It is true that high New Zealand 

interest rates in the past have 

encouraged foreigners to seek them 

through the carry trade and other 

ways of buying the NZ dollar. In 

turn this has pushed the exchange 

rate up. But many other factors also 

affect the volatility and price of the 

NZ dollar, and the biggest of these is 

the change in prices of other major 

currencies. 

Also, we should bear in mind that 

the NZ dollar is attractive partly 

because we have stable government 

and relatively low inflation while our 

appetite for borrowing offshore also 

pushes up the price of the NZ dollar. 

Indeed we have been finding out 

lately that achieving a lower OCR 

in New Zealand will not necessarily 

result in reducing our interest rates. 

Furthermore, Labour’s plan to 

have the Reserve Bank further 

regulate (“increase”) our banks’ 

capital adequacy, and hold a higher 

proportion of their liabilities 

in domestic deposits may have 

the unintended consequence 

of increasing the interest rates 

demanded by local savers compared 

to foreigners. That is, it could 

increase interest rate stability but 

also stifle bank lending to grow 

businesses. 

Nevertheless Labour is right to 

review things like these that will 

lead to a greater reliance on our 

own savings funds rather than those 

of foreigners. Likewise, its view that 

inflows of foreign money could be 

taxed to discourage them bidding 

up the price of the NZ dollar isn’t 

new. Brazil, for example, has such a 

tax, but again it’s no silver bullet for 

them and it may also discourage the 

very type of foreign investment we 

want to help build our economy. 

One really important thing Mr 

Cunliffe did not mention is that 

monetary policy alone cannot 

simultaneously do all things. It needs 

friends in government so that the 

ever-increasing demand for more 

revenue is held back, and the value 

of government spending becomes 

more productive. These things, 

more than anything Mr Cunliffe has 

suggested, will help lower interest 

rates and maintain the NZ dollar 

within a reasonable, stable range of 

prices. 

Growing your business through R&D 

How to access Government Funding 

Register 

Now 

Breakfast Seminar 

The Government has committed an extra $234 million over 

four years to support businesses to undertake R & D. 

A total of $75 million for 2010/11 is available through the TechNZ business 

programme, delivered by the Foundation for Research, Science, and Technology. 

ero.co.nz/win 

Friday, July 16 2010, 7.15am - 9.00am 

$45.00 + GST ($50.63) 

The Pakuranga Hunt Room, Ellerslie Event Centre 

80-100 Ascot Ave, Greenlane East 

Please note: Free parking is available within the grounds 

Please register by July 14 to Julie Brough 

by email julie.brough@ema.co.nz or 

phone (09) 367 0913 

21/05/10 10:17 AM 


PAGE 3

NEWS 

Business Plus 

Members save $275K in bulk buying tenders 

In the last six months, members 

have cut their utilities costs by over 

$275,000 after joining EMA’s bulk 

utilities tenders. (Want to join them?) 

A rolling schedule of bulk tenders 

for electricity, gas/LPG and waste 

management services means even 

greater savings are up for grabs in the 

coming six months. 

“It doesn’t matter when your 

utilities contracts are up for renewal 

as you should register now for our 

bulk tenders and your company will 

be automatically included in the next 

tender closest to your renewal date,” 

said EMA’s Gilbert Peterson. 

“It means you can leave the 

experts to focus on the tender 

process while you get on with core 

business.” 

McIntosh Timber Laminates MD, 

Grant McIntosh appreciates the 

benefits from being involved in the 

second electricity tender. He said: 

“Using TUMG in conjunction with 

EMA bulk tender process to source 

our new electricity provider was a 

valuable experience for McIntosh 

Timber Laminates Ltd. Our 

predicted savings per annum are 

approximately 11%, which will more 

than cover our EMA membership 

for a year. The process was promoted 

well andwas pretty painless in terms 

of the time involved.” 

All you have to do to participate 

in the bulk tenders is register online 

at TUMG’s store on E-MArket 

(hosted on www.ema.co.nz). The 

process automatically verifies your 

EMA membership and qualifies 

you for a 20% discount off TUMG’s 

one-off brokering fee. The fee is 

performance related so if there are 

no savings there’s no fee. 

Then supply a copy of your 

monthly account and a signed 

authority form to TUMG and they 

will do the rest. 

David Blair, Support Services 

Manager at Kapiti Retirement Trust 

found the process straightforward. 

“Participating in the bulk tender 

was very easy and we achieved 

good savings. It’s great to see EMA 

providing services that directly help 

members cut costs.” 

July four day specials (13th to 19th July) on EMArket 

Ultra Slim 20” LG monitors for $229 

50 units available to members on a first come, first served basis over four days only. 

Full HD monitor that delivers the brilliant colors, deeper blacks and better energy efficiency of LED 

backlighting technology. And, with its Ultra Slim Design, it's as sleek as it smart. 

RRP $249 ex GST. Price excludes GST & Freight 

PRODUCT FEATURES: • LED Backlighting • 1600 x 800 Resolution • Photo Effect • 4:3 Wide 

• Energy Star Rated • 3 year onsite service 

Go to Maclean Computing’s storefront on EMArket (hosted on www.ema.co.nz) 

Dynamix UPS for $133 

10 units available to members on a first come, first served basis over four days only. Protect your 

computer, data center, telecommunication and other equipment from data loss in the event of an 

unexpected power disruption. 

Model UPS1000CL 

RRP $195.55 ex GST. Price excludes GST & freight 

PRODUCT FEATURES: • Rated power 1000VA/600W • 4 sockets • Net weight 13kg • Dimensions 

120 x 300 x 190mm 

Go to Resolution AV’s storefront on EMArket (hosted on www.ema.co.nz) 

16GB Flash drives for $58 

25 units available to members on a first come, first served basis over four days only. 

RRP $68.45 ex GST. Price excludes GST & freight 

PRODUCT FEATURES: • High speed USB 2.0 interface • Maximum Data Transfer Rate of 

480Mbit/s 

• Easily & conveniently transfer of files between computers • Plug and play, hot swappable • No drivers 

needed for Windows ME/2K/XP/Server2003/Vista 

Go to Resolution AV’s storefront on EMArket (hosted on www.ema.co.nz) 

All offers open at 9am on 13th July and close at 5pm on 19th July 2010. 

PAGE 4 


By Marie Hasler, EMA 

Job Ops ‘very successful’ 

The Job Ops scheme launched 

11 months ago has kept more 

than 5000 young people in 

work when they may have 

otherwise been unemployed 

and on a benefit. 

Employers have reported 

positive feedback on the 

scheme with many taking on 

a young person through Job 

Ops because they needed a 

worker but felt they couldn't 

afford it. So the subsidy was 

essential. 

Many say they felt they were 

taking a punt on a young 

person but were actually 

surprised at the results when 

young people stood up and 

engaged with the job, and 

impressed their employer and 

colleagues. 

Three-quarters of those 

who finished their placement 

remained in work, a positive 

result. 

Because of the success the 

Government announced in 

Budget 2010 an increase in 

funding of $26.7million to 

double the places available 

from 6,000 to 12,000. 

Though New Zealand 

is technically out of the 

recession, the latest benefit 

figures show 18,484 young 

people are currently on 

welfare. 

Last year employer demand 

started slowly but the 

scheme's popularity quickly 

grew and uptake since has 

been consistently strong. 

Business Plus NEWS 

Job Ops stats to 31 May 2010 

Job Ops targets unskilled and unemployed 16 

to 24 year olds with low or no qualifications and 

pays subsidises to employers of $5,000 for each 

young person hired into a newly created entry level 

position. 

Social Development Minister Paula Bennett 

announced an extra $26.7 million in Budget 2010 

to double the places available from 6,000 to 12,000. 

5,339 positions have been filled putting the scheme 

on track to fill 6,000 places by June 30. Of the 1247 

who completed the scheme: 

n 665 (53.3%) are employed full time by their Job 

Ops employer 

n 51 (4.1%) are employed part-time by their Job 

Ops employer 

n 203 (16.3%) are employed full-time elsewhere 

n 9 (0.7%) are employed part-time elsewhere 

A total of 928 (74.4%) of young people who 

completed their participation by 31 May 2010 had, as 

atJune 9, secured employment. 

Of the 815 who finished their participation 

early, 95 did so because they secured employment 

elsewhere and 45 because they were moving into 

training or education. 

Reducing your 

running around costs 

The Caltex StarCard ® * gives you competitive 

discounts off petrol and diesel at most Caltex 

and Challenge Service Stations and Diesel Stops. 

The Caltex StarCard ® system also gives you a 

variety of billing and reporting options to record 

your fleet’s transactions. 

The Caltex StarCard ® allows you to manage your 

cash flows and gives you up to 55 days free credit. 

To find out more contact Caltex Customer Services 

(on 0800 733 835 or nzservice@chevron.com) 

or download an application form from the 

EMAdvantage section of www.ema.co.nz. 

Caltex StarCard ® * 

terms and conditions apply, available from www.caltex.co.nz. 

CTX 1603 EMA StarCard Ad_04.indd 1 


5/5/10 3:31:59 PM PAGE 5

NEWS 

Business Plus 

Your checklist for the GST increase 

By Garth Wyllie, EMA 

While some core issues around the 

upcoming GST increase will perplex 

some businesses, two fundamental 

considerations apply to everyone. These 

are whether to: 

1. Pass on the increase which is 

actually a net increase of around 

2% on a current retail price, or 

2. Absorb the increase for now 

(through improved efficiencies, 

better buying of inputs/materials 

or products, and getting suppliers to 

take a hit on their prices.) 

As for the mechanics of applying the 

increase , every manufacturer, supplier, 

service provider and retailer needs to 

consider the following factors: 

1. Transition pricing (when you 

lift your prices to accommodate 

the increase) 

2. Physical pricing changes: 

(particularly for retailers who will 

need to re-price all shelf stock at 

the changeover time) and RRP 

pricing for suppliers/service 

providers 

3. Separation of the old GST inputs 

and the goods they apply to before 

the change date, from the new 

GST inputs and their supply after 

the GST implementation date 

(This may require stocktakes at the 

change date but also accommodate 

the accounting for goods where 

invoicing is ahead of the change 

but the physical supply is after it.) 

4. Advertising to show clear 

price changes if they occur 

in your advertising before the 

implementation date so consumers 

and those purchasing services are 

fully aware of the end date of your 

present advertised prices. Web site 

pricing will be a challenge for 

those that don’t have fully back 

end integration! 

5. Accounting/Software: Changes 

in accounting and POS systems 

are needed to ensure that, at 

the change date, there has been 

both a close off for the old rate, 

and an opening of the ledger 

with the new rate, with the data 

flowing through to POS. (This 

is particularly relevant for those 

in retail where errors may not be 

tolerated under the Fair Trading 

Act) 

6. Partial pricing: When part 

of a job or service or sale is 

charged at the old rate and part 

is charged at the new rate. This 

often applies to service agreements 

for domestic supply more than 

in the commercial arena, but it 

also affects layby, and may have an 

impact on quoted jobs where GST 

inclusive was stated, or in domestic 

building/renovation projects. 

For example standard quote terms 

may apply only for a period stipulated 

and they may need to be modified as 

the change date approaches, or if the 

likely performance of the quote is to 

take place after the change date. 

Quotes from now on should show 

two sets of GST to make this clear, or 

the GST amount not shown. 

A failure to show GST on a 

domestic quote may be in breach of 

the Fair Trading Act unless it is clear 

that GST will be charged and there 

is a reasonable understanding by the 

consumer that GST will be charged. 

None of this is rocket science but 

all issues have to be considered and 

checked off in a tick box fashion. 

Business concerns about technical 

issues involved with the increase 

of GST to 15 per cent got their first 

airing last month when a group of 

Government-appointed specialists met. 

Revenue minister Peter Dunne said 

the GST Advisory Panel would act as 

a conduit between business and the 

Government. 

Tax accountants have said larger firms 

and retailers with complex computer 

systems could struggle to meet the 

October 1 deadline for increasing GST. 

A dedicated website is being launched 

as well as an 0800 freephone number. 

Specialist Employment Lawyers 

Our high success rate reflects our expertise. Our 

lawyers specialise in employment law and only act for 

employers. As part of a member-owned organisation, 

EMA Legal offers services that are excellent value. 

Strategic advice 

Practical solutions 

Skilled representation 

Call 0800 362 534 

for your nearest contact 

Auckland Parvez Akbar, Jo Douglas 

Auckland Parvez Akbar, Jo Douglas 

Wellington Susan-Jane Davies, Blair Scotland 

Wellington Susan-Jane Davies, Blair Scotland 

Nelson Maree Kirk • Napier Elizabeth Inger 

Nelson Maree Kirk Napier Elizabeth Inger 

Palmerston North Leile Sims 

Palmerston North Leile Sims 

New Plymouth Mikaela Harker 

PAGE 6 


The power to 

power your 

business 

We know it takes a lot of power to run a 

business. And we’d like to help. When 

you switch to Meridian Energy, we’ll give 

every EMA member a special discount. 

It’s a little celebration of the new 

partnership between EMA and Meridian, 

and our way of saying we know what it 

takes to power a New Zealand business, 

because we are one too. 

Call our Business Team on 0800 496 777 for details on our EMA offer, 

or visit www.meridianenergy.co.nz/EMA to learn more about our 

special kind of power.


What employers are asking AdviceLine this month 

What you need to do to protect your staff and... 

Q. How much am I expected to 

protect my staff who work in frontline 

positions dealing with the public? 

What if someone comes in with a gun 

and demands money, for example? Am 

I liable if anything goes wrong and my 

employee gets hurt? What if they are 

just yelled at by a nasty customer and 

get stressed? – Marion 

Dear Marion, 

Basically, yes, you are required to 

protect your staff. Under the Health 

and Safety in Employment Act 1992 

you need to take “all practicable steps” 

to ensure employees are not harmed 

while at work which effectively means 

that everything that can be done 

should be done to keep employees 

safe. 

You need to identify workplace 

hazards and potential hazards and 

manage them. If a hazard cannot be 

eliminated it needs to be isolated 

or minimised. You also need to 

develop procedures for dealing with 

emergencies. 

Employees also have a role to play 

in health and safety so you need to 

involve them in health and safety in 

the workplace. 

Management of hazards takes many 

forms. What is appropriate will depend 

on the circumstances, but you need 

to be satisfied you have taken “all 

practicable steps” to ensure the safety 

of your employees. 

For example, if you are a bank or 

handling large amounts of cash (high 

risk) you may have bullet-proof glass 

around your cashiers and probably 

other physical barriers, and provide 

training for dealing with a potential 

incident. 

In a retail or café type situation, and 

certainly in health care, employees can 

be quite exposed to all types of assault. 

Providing appropriate training should 

assist. 

Training could include customer 

service courses that cover dealing with 

conflict and difficult people, and as 

well as tricky situations that can arise. 

The training should provide 

employees with skills to equip them 

to prevent most altercations if they 

escalate to a threatening level. 

Training would include an awareness 

of when to remove oneself before 

things got nasty. Staff should feel 

supported in doing what might 

superficially appear being rude to a 

client/patient. 

Terminal tax is a beast. Managed poorly it can savage your cashflow, with penalties for underpayment and lost returns 

for overpayment. But in the hands of experts it has a lot less bite, actually working with you to grow your bottom line. As 

New Zealand’s original tax pooling provider, Tax Management NZ has more than seven years’ experience in provisional 

tax management. We are the tax intermediary for most of the top 100 companies in New Zealand and the top four 

chartered accountancy firms. So if you’d like to get your terminal tax under control, talk to the best. 

Call Tax Management NZ now on 0800 829 888 or for more information visit www.tmnz.co.nz 

TMNZ/G 

PAGE 8 Business Plus Magazine - Exclusive news, advice, learning and networking 

EMA H/P.indd 1 

25/1/10 10:48:55 AM


What employers are asking AdviceLine this month 

...Recruiting on Skype? 

In relation to stress, the health and safety legislation 

defines the terms ‘hazard’ and ‘harm’, which includes 

physical and mental harm caused by work related 

stress and fatigue. Systems for handling complaints, and 

supporting stressed staff need to be adhered to and kept 

up to date. 

In terms of liability after a traumatic or stressful event, 

carefully debrief and support your staff – those directly 

involved in any incident as well as witnesses and perhaps 

all staff, or morale could suffer. 

Staff may need time off. You could offer post-incident 

support and counseling through, for example, Workplace 

Support. Afterwards, when your employee is ready and 

after any police interviews and urgent medical treatment 

– perhaps after a few days – you need to ask them 

what happened, and how it could have been prevented 

in their view. Changes to your physical workplace or 

procedures or training might be required. 

A range of insurance options are available to cover for 

key staff in their absence and for other people liabilities 

as well as for damaged physical assets. 

register on the site. 

Users contact each other via the site, so make sure your 

Skype ‘account’ settings show you are online and allow 

you to be seen and not just heard! 

The caller selects the receiver’s registered Skype name 

(often the person’s real name but it can be a pseudonym) 

or phone number. Select the ‘video’ option rather than 

‘call (voice only)’. 

By the EMA Advocacy team in consultation with EMA Advice, 

and based on real calls to EMA’s AdviceLine. 

The information in this article is a guide only and not to be 

used as business advice without further consultation. 

Start with our AdviceLine team at phone 0800 800 362 (within 

New Zealand), 1800 300 362 (from Australia) or 09-367 0909 

(for EMA Northern) or 04-473 7224 (for EMA Central), 8am-8pm 

weekdays. Alternatively, email adviceline@ema.co.nz, and 

read or download information such as the A-Z of Employing – 

a manager’s guide on more than 100 specific topics, at www. 

ema.co.nz/advice 

Q. I’m thinking of interviewing a candidate on a Skype 

video chat but am not familiar with Skype or this kind of 

‘distant’ communication. Can you give me any guidance? 

- Julie 

Dear Julie 

Online video chat is available free through Skype 

and Google and these are increasingly popular ways 

to interview candidates, e.g., if they are overseas. The 

technology is pretty good – the picture and sound very 

clear. 

Take account of the fact that you and possibly 

the candidate are new to this, which might add a 

nervousness factor to the communication. 

But it is one step better than a phone call in terms of 

‘getting close’ to each other; you have extra clues from 

body language such as smiling and eye contact, and 

dress/style. 

The experience is quite personal as there are just the 

two of you face-to-face (although you could fit others 

into the screen view, perhaps in the background and 

who could move closer to the web cam if they needed 

to take centre stage). 

Consider your own surrounding environment – what’s 

on the wall behind you, for example? And theirs. 

I’m not a techie but I can advise you that you just 

open skype.com and follow the instructions to sign up/ 

EMPLOYER 

bulletin2009 

Order Order your CD ROM ROM of the 

Employer Bulletin NOW! 

Over 200 selected 2009 employment 

law cases summarised by EMA 

• Search by word or topic 

• Indexed by subject 

Investment: EMA member $245 +gst 

Non-member $490 +gst 

To order please visit: 

www.ema.co.nz/bulletincases.pdf 

For further information: 

Phone: 0800 800 362 1800 300 362 


PAGE 9

2010 

national 

employers 

wage&salary 

SURVEY 

www.nzsalarysurvey.co.nz 

Participate 

NOW! 

rebalancing 

balancing business needs 

and staff retention 

• Gain access to NZ’s most comprehensive 

wage and salary information 

• Participating members pay less than 

1/3 of the purchase price 

• Non-members gain access 

only by participating 

• 215 positions within 18 fields 

business needs 

staff retention 

For more information visit 

www.nzsalarysurvey.co.nz 

together serving employers’ needs 

E M P LOY E R S ’ C H A M 


E R 

CENTRAL 

(09) 367 0974 (03) 366 5096 

(04) 470 9947 

(03) 456 1806

Check out our special offer 

exclusive to EMA members. 

Go to www.ema.co.nz/memberbenefi ts or call 09 966 7478 

TEMP/CONTRACT 

ACCOUNTING 

EXECUTIVE 

TECH/OPS 

SALES/MKTING 

OFFICE SUPPORT 

Music makes business (and employees) hum 

Music is clearly valuable for attracting 

and retaining customers, and motivating 

staff. It can even allow businesses in 

some circumstances to charge a premium 

for their product or service. So what 

would you think such a service is worth? 

What would you pay for it? 

A recent UK survey found over 80% 

of people like to hear music when 

they eat out in cafes and restaurants, 

visit retail stores, gyms or have a hair 

salon appointment. 

But are businesses prepared to pay 

recording artists and record labels for 

their contribution? 

Its easy to do. They simply apply for 

a PPNZ Public Performance Licence. 

The licence allows them to play music 

to their customers, knowing that those 

who performed and recorded it will be 

paid a royalty for their work. 

Like many small businesses, 

recording artists are increasingly “owner 

operated”. Many NZ based artists now 

record their own work and retain the 

copyright of their sound recordings. 

While they may sell their work 

on-line or in-store, and play to live 

audiences, they also rely on royalties 

from public performances to add to 

their overall income. 

One prominent local artist said: 

“Survival as a musician has always been 

challenging and it has become even 

harder over the last few years as the 

value of recorded music has declined. 

“A musician needs multiple income 

streams to survive and performance 

income and producer royalties are 

hugely important elements in the mix.” 

Through PPNZs Recording Artist 

and Producer Fund, NZ based artists 

and labels receive annual royalties direct. 

The scheme now has over 1,600 artists 

and labels. 

The PPNZ is not-for-profit. It 

distributes $9 out of every $10 back 

to its members each year. The cost of a 

music license for most small to medium 

sized businesses is just 43c per day. 

The online licence form at www.ppnz. 

co.nz takes few minutes to complete, or 

phone toll-free 0800 88 77 69 to talk with a 

PPNZ Licensing Rep. 


PAGE 11

By Business NZ’s CEO Phil O’Reilly 

The last thing you 

need is another 

benefit, but... 

You know the value 

of a meaningful 

employee benefits 

package in helping 

to attract and retain 

good employees. 

The good news for you is that at 

TOWER, we’ve rationalised the 

whole process by bringing a wide 

range of benefi ts together, making 

it simple for you – with one point 

of contact to manage an employee 

benefi ts package tailored to your 

organisation. 

We have experience in managing 

employee benefi ts solutions for over 

300 employers. 

You can choose a solution that suits 

your organisation by picking a 

combination from our wide range 

of products including: 

▪ 

▪ 

▪ 

▪ 

Health insurance 

Life insurance 

Income protection 

Trauma/Crisis cover 

To discuss how we can help you, 

contact us on 0800 755 556 (press 3) 

or employee.benefits@tower.co.nz 

Growth consolidating 

Growth is consolidating - this could be the main theme of New 

Zealand’s economy in mid-winter 2010. 

With the darkest days of the global financial downturn behind us, 

we’ve been eagerly awaiting the return of the golden weather. 

It’s not here yet, but the signs are at least reasonably promising. 

Sales are flat in many sectors - a situation that could well continue 

until the events of October shake things up. 

Many existing businesses weren’t around the last time GST 

was increased in 1989 and may be nervous of the impact of the 

upcoming GST increase in October. 

But in 1989 there wasn’t a big dip in sales, and moreover this time 

round the GST rise will be offset by tax cuts. 

Reductions in personal tax from October will mean more money 

in circulation, likely to be good for small businesses and retailers. 

The big question will be whether the stimulation of the tax cuts 

will be greater than the general buying caution we see now. 

In any case, New Zealanders’ prosperity is strongly affected by 

global events. 

By necessity we are an exporting nation, as our population of four 

million is too small, by itself, to sustain first world level growth. 

The big question will be 

whether the stimulation of the 

tax cuts will be greater than 

general buying caution. 

Fortunately, recent export returns have been reasonable even 

through the worst of the global economic downturn, and are likely 

to continue at least in the medium term. 

This year we experienced our first annual trade surplus since 2002. 

What’s more, our two largest trading partners, Australia and China, 

are in growth mode. 

China, which only recently became our second largest trading 

partner, occupies a pivotal position in terms of New Zealand’s 

economic future. 

There is some nervousness about a number of high profile 

Chinese attempts to buy New Zealand farms and other assets (despite 

similar New Zealand interest and involvement in commercial 

enterprises in China). 

This is something New Zealand is going to have to work through. 

Foreign investment and ownership is the inevitable result of New 

Zealand’s high debt levels. 

The Government is showing commendable fortitude in seeking to 

reduce public debt. Hopefully more businesses and individuals will 

follow this lead in reducing private debt. 

Higher export levels, higher productivity and reduced debt are the 

best way to help us invest more in enterprise both here and abroad. 

PAGE 12 


Foreigners have more than twice 

as much invested in New Zealand as 

we have invested overseas and turning 

this statistic around will be to our 

advantage. 

Also important for prosperity is 

keeping a tight rein on inflation. 

As the economy continues to pick 

up and as tax cuts flow through the 

economy, pressure on prices is likely to 

increase, so rising interest rates are likely 

to be part of the mix at least in the 

short term. 

In light of all this, what could we be 

doing better? 

The Government has made some 

positive moves, including tax cuts, plans 

to reduce debt and promises of reduced 

government spending. Also positive 

is the plan to set up a Productivity 

Commission – a much needed focus 

given New Zealand’s poor productivity 

record. 

Other areas for improvement should 

include doing something about the 

expensive Working for Families policy 

which can act as a disincentive to higher 

value enterprise, and the interest-free 

student loan policy which is a relatively 

unproductive use of taxpayer dollars. 

Another good move would be 

getting a Regulatory Responsibility 

Act to achieve adherence to principles 

of good law making and more use of 

cost-benefit analysis when determining 

whether new legislation is warranted. 

This would be a key measure in 

reducing low quality legislation that acts 

as a drag on the economy. 

What could we do better as 

businesses? 

Enhancing productivity levels - by 

innovation or improved efficiency - 

would go a long way towards improving 

economic growth. Investing in skills 

Phil O’Reilly 

training and productivity-enhancing 

equipment is part of that. 

Reducing and retiring debt and 

seeking to turn more of our goods 

and services into high value, branded 

exports are essential. 

Our current situation is one of 

consolidating growth but we can do 

better by setting our sights on the things 

that will bring faster, more dynamic 

economic growth. 

BusinessNZ has launched a 

new online resource to help 

manufacturing businesses to 

raise their game. A key initial 

feature allows manufacturers to 

search the R&D, prototype work 

and business services carried 

out in the country’s Universities 

and Polytechnics through one 

website: 

www.manufacturingnz.org.nz. 

www.manufacturingnz.org.nz 

BusinessNZ CEO Phil O’Reilly says 

this is a first in New Zealand and 

will be a key tool to help build the 

capability of manufacturers and 

help them take on the world. 

“Over time, the aim is to make this 

website the number one resource 

for our manufacturers.” 

Executive Director of 

Manufacturing at BusinessNZ, 

Catherine Beard, says that apart 

from the new search functions, 

manufacturing businesses 

will find a lot of other useful 

resources on the website. 

“Like any website, it will 

be a work of continuous 

improvement, but our goal is for 

it to be a one-stop-shop for NZ 

manufacturers and to make the 

commercialisation of innovation 

easier and quicker.” 

PAYROLL 

More New Zealand businesses use Ace 

Payroll than any other computerised 

wages program. 

Visit our constantly updated website at www.acepay.co.nz 

for employment law, legislative links, tax planning etc 

or call toll free on 0800 223 729 for a free demonstration kit. 

PAYROLL 


PAGE 13

ADVICE 

Business Plus 

Financially sorted people good for business 

Helping your staff get their money 

sorted is good for profitability, 

productivity and workplace safety, 

according to three employers who 

have introduced financial education 

in their workplaces. 

The three businesses – a Wellington 

Pak ‘n Save store, New Zealand Post 

and Blue Star subsidiary Printlink 

– feature in a new Retirement 

Commission DVD on businesses 

offering staff financial education at 

work. 

In the DVD the businesses talk 

about why they have run seminars 

for their staff and offered them other 

resources and what it has meant for 

their businesses. The DVD was made 

available to EMA Northern and 

Central members attending member 

briefings in June and July. 

Pak’n Save 

Pak ‘n Save Petone owner-operator 

Leo O’Sullivan was initially skeptical 

about running seminars for his 

230-strong staff on topics like 

budgeting and managing debt. 

“I thought it was a waste of time 

initially. Then I realised people don’t 

know how to do budgeting and they 

don’t know how to save,” he says. 

Since then he has encouraged staff 

to attend Sorted seminars at Pak 

‘n Save and use the accompanying 

materials to sort out a budget, 

get on top of their debts and start 

regular saving. 

One of the most common 

problems he sees is staff trapped in 

a spiral of hire purchase and credit 

card debt. That causes financial 

stress, increased absenteeism, reduced 

productivity and in some cases, 

dishonesty and theft. 

“The biggest impact is on how 

people work and how much they 

produce. If they’re worrying about 

money it envelops them: they can’t 

see a way out and they can’t focus 

on their work.” he says. 

Leo O’Sullivan has had instances 

of senior managers with financial 

worries that have affected the 

profitability of the whole business. 

Helping a departmental manager to 

find a way out of financial trouble 

could improve their department’s 

bottom line by up to 10%. 

Blue Star 

Group General Manager at Blue Star 

Peter Ward says you only have to 

be in the payroll department to see 

how many employees are affected by 

financial problems. 

“Often the first inkling you get is 

when people are looking for some 

financial assistance – an advance on 

wages or a pay rise,” he says. 

“If people are anxious about 

whether their bills have been paid 

or whether the power’s been cut 

off they’re not thinking about what 

they’re doing at work.” 

In a workplace where people 

operate heavy equipment that 

distraction can be dangerous. 

“Taking the opportunity to help 

staff to gain a greater level of 

financial literacy is important,” he 

says. 

NZ Post 

Providing financial education at 

New Zealand Post fits well with 

the company’s focus on employee 

engagement and wellbeing. New 

Zealand Post Human Resources 

Manager Luke Southorn says the 

company wants a workplace where 

staff are highly engaged and enjoy 

coming to work. 

“We know from a range of 

research that the higher the level 

of staff engagement the greater 

the level of productivity so it does 

feed through to the bottom line. 

Financial worries can be a major 

distraction.” 

“Once people have had access to 

some financial education they feel 

they really can take some control of 

this area,” Luke Southorn says. 

That’s been the case for 

Willamene Kerei, who works in 

New Zealand Post’s Wellington call 

centre. Since attending a Sorted 

seminar eight months ago she’s now 

saving enough to join New Zealand 

Post’s superannuation scheme, 

something she’s wanted to do since 

joining the company. 

She’s also planning her daughter’s 

21st birthday party. Unlike past 

family events she’s had to borrow 

for, this one she’ll pay for out of her 

recent savings. 

“I’ve set up my goals and plans 

using the calculators on the Sorted 

website and I keep going back to 

them. That gives me the reassurance 

that I’m on track and everything’s 

going correctly. Then I don’t need 

to worry,” she says. 

Now her workmates are asking 

her for advice about their finances. 

To find out more about free Sorted 

resources for employers go to sorted. 

org.nz. You can order Sorted booklets 

for your staff online at sorted.org.nz/ 

ordering or by calling 0800 SORTED 

MONEY (767 866). 

Sorted seminars for you 

to run for your staff 

The Retirement Commission has 

developed five Sorted seminars for 

employers and managers to run with 

their staff. 

The free, independent seminars 

range from goal setting, budgeting 

and managing debt through to making 

decisions about KiwiSaver. 

All the material needed to run them 

can be downloaded from the Sorted 

website, sorted.org.nz/seminars. 

Each seminar takes about an hour and 

can be run by a company manager or 

an external facilitator. There is a list of 

facilitators on the Sorted website for 

employers wanting to engage external 

help. 

PAGE 14 


Business Plus MANUFACTURING 

How the PMI and PSI work; participate to benefit 

The Bank of NZ/ Business NZ 

Performance of Manufacturing Index 

and for the Services sector are leading 

indicators of NZ's level of economic 

activity. They are also recognised around 

the world, so how do they work? Stephen 

Summers from Business NZ explains. 

When manufacturers and service 

industries complete the BNZ-Business 

NZ Performance of Manufacturing 

Index (PMI) and PSI every month their 

data is collated to form the latest guides 

on how the economy is going. 

Manufacturers in the North Island 

make up the bulk of contributors to the 

PMI, which is a Business NZ owned 

survey that’s been running almost eight 

years. Its now the leading indicator of 

manufacturing in New Zealand and 

thereby for the economy overall. 

A lot of surveys take so long for their 

data to be collated that often issues have 

moved on before the results are out. 

The PMI is different. Manufacturers 

are surveyed one week and the results 

are out the next. 

The PMI results are widely used. 

EMA and ECCC uses it as a pulse 

for understanding how manufacturers 

are performing. Business NZ uses it 

in submissions and discussions with 

politicians/Government on what 

policies need to be reviewed. 

Government agencies such as the 

Reserve Bank and Treasury monitor 

the results for their forecasts and state of 

play of the New Zealand economy. 

Most importantly, individual 

manufacturers make use of the 

information to better understand 

changing trends affecting them, 

especially in production, new orders and 

employment. 

Because the results are close to real 

time, the survey picks up points in time 

when production could be picking up, 

new orders from offshore becoming 

more prevalent, or manufacturers are 

looking to hire more people on the 

factory floor. 

Early signs of changing trends can 

be identified through it too. The graph 

below shows that, after a difficult 2008 

and 2009, activity in 2010 has steadily 

picked up. The latest result for April 

showed activity levels as strong as late 

2004, the best year for expansion in 

manufacturing. 

Average PMI Values for EMA 

Northern, ECCC and Nationwide 

(2003– 2010) 

* A PMI reading above 50 indicates 

manufacturing is generally expanding: below 

50 signals decline. The distance from 50 is 

indicative of the strength of the expansion or 

decline. 

Looking forward, the main 

question is: How will the rest of 2010 

pan out? National, seasonally adjusted 

results are certainly off to a good start 

with an average of 55.4 for the first 

four months. 

Unadjusted results for EMA 

Northern and Central average out 

at 51.8 and 50.7 respectively. The 

good news is that results for March 

and April were much improved from 

January and February, particularly for 

production and new orders. 

Benchmark offshore 

New Zealand’s PMI results also 

contribute to the NTC Global PMI, 

which covers manufacturing from 23 

countries, including the USA, UK, 

Australia, China and France. All of 

these run the same survey as ours. 

Collectively the Global PMI 

accounts for an estimated 82% of 

global manufacturing output. They 

are literally world leading and market 

changing in terms of providing 

up-to-date information on global 

growth. 

Enlisting 

EMA and Business NZ always 

want more manufacturers to come 

on board to fill in the survey every 

month. It is one of the simplest 

surveys and takes 1-2 minutes per 

month to complete. 

Please become a part of this, to assist 

both New Zealand manufacturing and 

contribute to a global indicator. 

$1 Million Available for Big Ideas 

The Entrepreneurs’ Challenge started with a generous $3 million foundation gift from 

Kiwi businessman Charles Bidwell. 

Competition winners receive up to $1 million in funding, available for a period of three 

years. More than money is on offer. Successful entrants also receive mentoring by 

highly-experienced entrepreneurs and business executives along with access to the 

Entrepreneurs’ Challenge’s partners and networks. Priority is given for placement in the 

Business School’s internship, consulting and experiential learning programmes. 

For instructions how to enter plus dates and terms and profiles of previous winners, 

please visit the Challenge website www.entrepreneurschallenge.co.nz 

Entries close on 19 July 2010. 


PAGE 15

HOW COME YOUR 

PHOTOCOPIER 

HAS A BETTER 

HEALTH PLAN 

THAN YOUR STAFF? 

It’s true: in many companies the health of 

the office photocopier is more important 

than that of their living, breathing 

employees. 

The photocopier almost certainly 

has a multi-year warranty, a regular 

-as-clockwork maintenance 

programme, and gets attended 

to in a heartbeat by 

high-priced repair folk 

should it begin to feel the 

slightest bit off-colour. 

Now, imagine how smoothly 

your business would run if 

your staff had the same kind 

of TLC. Faster treatment 1 , 

a quicker return to work, 

greater loyalty, and less 

absence 2 - no wonder 93 

of New Zealand’s top 100 

companies 3 already provide their 

employees with health insurance from Southern 

Cross Health Society. And the cost can be as little 

as 1% of your annual payroll 4 . In these challenging 

economic times, with mounting pressure 

on your key personnel, their health and 

wellbeing is more critical to the health 

and wellbeing of your business than 

ever. 

Best of all, because Southern 

Cross is a not-for-profit organisation, 

our duty is to look after the health of 

New Zealanders not the pockets of 

shareholders. And we pass this value 

on by paying out 96.6 cents of every 

dollar received in premiums back to our 

members 5 . No other health insurance 

company comes close to our 843,000 

members or is as committed to the 

health of New Zealanders as Southern 

Cross. 

Talk to us today about the best way 

to look after what really makes your 

business tick. And no, we don’t mean 

the photocopier. 

To find out more, call Southern Cross Health 

Society on 0800 323 555 or visit our website 

www.healthybusiness.co.nz 

BC&F4771 

Southern Cross Medical Care Society, 181 Grafton Road, Grafton, Auckland 1010 

1. For elective surgical procedures. 2. TNS research 2004 3. Top 200 Companies, magazine, Dec 2008 4. Based on actual cost of Wellbeing One for a 41 year old as at 1 March 2010, 

calculated as a percentage of the average NZ salary of $45,000. 5. For the year ended 30 June 2009, Southern Cross Annual Report, 2009 

09/10

We’ve just had International Men’s 

Health Week, when the topic of men and 

their health (or lack of it) gets publicised. 

Many organisations and celebrities speak 

their piece and top of the billing always 

seems to be the ‘P’ word – prostate 

cancer. 

Several other conditions – heart and 

blood vessel diseases, lung disease, non 

malignant and cancer, and colorectal 

cancer - kill more men each year. But 

a large group of men are alive at any 

given time diagnosed with prostate 

cancer, more so than for the other 

cancers. 

We fear prostate cancer because 

it attacks our sexual function and 

therefore strikes at the core of our 

maleness. 

Just because you have prostate 

symptoms (as discussed in Listen to 

Your Engine Part 2 - see last issue of 

EMABusiness+) does not usually mean 

you have prostate cancer. It means you 

should be checked. 

One in 12 

Around one in 12 New Zealand 

men will develop prostate cancer in his 

lifetime and many elderly men with 

prostate cancer will die from another 

cause. Most men with early prostate 

cancer have absolutely no symptoms at 

all. 

The first fact to understand is it’s 

not a perfect science. We’re not as good 

as we would like to be at detecting 

prostate cancer and we have some 

difficulty sorting out the patients likely 

to have poorer outcomes from those 

who will do better. 

Huge amounts of research are 

ongoing; we will get better at it. One 

of the biggest steps we must take is to 

encourage all men to be checked. But 

even this statement is said cautiously, as 

many authorities worry that in trying 

to improve things we will needlessly 

treat some men who would have done 

By Dr Graeme Washer 

The ‘P’ word 

well if we didn’t find their tumor, or left 

them alone even with known cancer! 

The latter remark particularly applies to 

older and elderly men. 

None of this is much comfort to you 

as an individual, and recently two very 

large scientific studies of screening big 

groups of men for prostate cancer, then 

following them for long periods of time, 

produced disappointing results in terms 

of lives saved. This illustrates why our 

Government is not rushing to set up a 

prostate screening programme. 

Best advice 

It’s important, however, not to 

develop a pessimistic view. You and your 

doctor are concerned about YOU, not a 

statistical conclusion. 

With the limitations of our 

currently available methods it is still 

the best advice to have a PSA blood 

test annually after the age of 40, along 

with a yearly physical examination 

of the prostate gland (yes, a finger in 

the rectum, guys). These examinations 

should always BOTH be done because 

either can be misleading or falsely 

negative. 

The most important clue to trouble 

is CHANGE over time in either or 

both tests. Your doctor may speak of 

“PSA velocity” meaning rate of change 

of the blood test reading. 

Because of the uncertainties about 

diagnosis it is very important that 

negative tests are repeated in the future 

and that the interpretation of positive 

tests is done with great care. 

Looking after your prostate 

There’s good evidence that dietary 

and lifestyle measures (stress, exercise) 

and what’s good for your heart, 

especially lowering fat in your diet, are 

equally as good at reducing the risk of 

prostate cancer. 

If you have a family history your 

risk is considerably greater, so look after 

yourself and don’t put off the checks 

above. 

The other key difficult area you 

Business Plus ADVICE 

should know about is in the choice of 

treatment for prostate cancer. The basic 

principle is early diagnosis while the 

cancer is small and contained within the 

prostate itself. 

We are certainly getting a lot better 

at surgery to remove the whole prostate 

gland without damaging continence 

of urine or even erectile function, 

but there is still much debate on the 

optimum treatment at each particular 

stage of the disease. 

Today surgery is often done by 

laparoscopy (“keyhole”) or even using 

a surgical “robot” which allows the 

laparoscopic surgeon to do finer work 

while watching with 3-D vision. 

Treatments 

Some men have external radiation 

or internal radiation “seeds” instead of 

surgery and there are advantages and 

disadvantages to each choice. Drug 

treatments, usually by manipulating 

hormones and reducing testosterone, 

are also used. Some options will not be 

suitable for a particular individual for 

specific reasons. 

It is mandatory for patients to have 

a very full and frank discussion with at 

least one specialist before embarking 

on treatment. It is often a good idea to 

seek a second opinion, and a good GP 

can guide his patient in the selection of 

opinions to be sought. 

As always, knowledge is strength. 

Here are some sources from the myriad 

of places available online. 

www.prostate.org.nz - the NZ Prostate 

Cancer Foundation. 

www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/ 

prostate - US National Cancer Institute. 

www.medicinenet.com/prostate_cancer - 

Comprehensive information, US bias. 

Graeme Washer MB ChB FRACS gained his 

basic medical degrees at Otago University 

then Fellowships in Auckland, London, 

Canada and the US. He is a Trustee of the 

NZ Men’s Health Trust and involved with 

Medecins sans Frontieres (Doctors without 

Borders). 


PAGE 17

ADVICE 

Business Plus 

By Mary MacKinven 

Releasing the pressure gently, with mediation 

When disputes get out of control and 

you’re stressed to the max, “who you 

gonna call”? The Mediate team! 

Two mediators told EMA members 

at a seminar last month how 

mediation works and why it’s a 

smart alternative to adjudication, 

and especially to going to court, or 

litigation. 

Presenters Danny Gelb (Mediate 

co.nz) and John Isaac advised 

that mediation is defined as a 

confidential decision-making 

process where the mediator assists 

the parties to discuss the issue in 

dispute and find a solution (that 

could be multifaceted). They then 

document the parties’ agreement on 

how they will resolve the issue. The 

resulting document/contract might 

be drawn up with the help of a 

lawyer and is legally binding. 

Case study 

Because confidentiality 

is critical to the 

process, case studies 

are heavily altered to 

protect the identity of 

the parties. However, 

Danny provided the 

following example 

of how mediation is 

beneficial in resolving 

business-to business 

disputes. 

A dispute arose over payment for 

the re-print of a large printing job 

that had gone horribly wrong. In 

the initial print the client had signed 

off the proof but later discovered 

the printer had run a wrong 

graphic, and as well the client’s 

proof-reading had not picked up 

a typographical error. Both errors 

contributed to the problem but the 

parties could not agree who was 

liable and therefore who should 

pay what for the re-print. Neither 

wanted to go to court as it was too 

expensive compared to the value of 

the dispute, and the uncertainty over 

what a court would decide. 

For a charge of $999 + GST and 

disbursements to each party per day, 

a mediator helped them resolve the 

conflict. The mediator does not 

decide the outcome; he or she helps 

the parties negotiate an agreement 

of their own making. 

Sharing the damage 

The parties ended up agreeing 

the client paid 75% of the reprint 

and the printer gave the client a 

credit on her account equivalent 

to 25% of the invoice for use on a 

future print job. 

“Effectively they split the cost 

50/50, but the printer secured 

further work and maintained the 

business relationship. Our courts 

cannot reach outcomes like this,” 

says Danny. 

"...litigation costs from 

$20-30,000, mediation 

costs $1000" 

Neutral facilitation 

A mediator is a neutral facilitator; 

the parties involved agree on the 

particular person to hire. The 

mediator is not a lawyer, though 

lawyers can be consulted, e.g., the 

parties might have already discussed 

the issue with their lawyers and they 

might provide useful information to 

the mediator, or suggest their clients 

use a mediator. 

Business disputes can arise for 

many different reasons: customer 

complaints, supplier issues, 

property disputes with landlords 

or agents, and business partnership 

disagreements. 

The barriers to their resolution 

are commonly about money but also 

ego and emotion can be important 

– or all three. 

Special features of mediation 

Mediation is increasingly popular 

worldwide since it offers key 

advantages: 

n A neutral person (agreed by both 

parties) facilitates; 

n The entire process is confidential 

and uses the ‘without prejudice’ 

process; 

n Good faith negotiations are 

integral. A good chance of 

preserving relationships to do 

future business is retained; 

n The consensual process decides 

the outcome; 

n Sessions are quick, e.g., they 

can take place in a couple of 

days from booking the mediator 

unlike a courtroom which can 

take six months or more to get a 

hearing. 

n It’s cost effective. For example, 

litigation costs from $20-30,000 

for each party, and offers little 

control over the outcome, and 

there is always a winner and a 

loser. 

Win win 

With mediation the outcome 

is often win-win, and at worst, a 

liveable solution and a quick end to 

the stress of conflict. 

Danny says mediators are 

trained to turn confrontation into 

co-operation, to attack the problem 

not the people and focus on the 

parties’ needs as opposed to their 

wants, as well as how to break 

stale-mates. Approximately 85% of 

mediations result in a settlement. 

To find a mediator, google “mediation” 

or select one from the Arbitrators and 

Mediators Institute of New Zealand or 

LEADR NZ. Or go to www.mediate.co.nz 

PAGE 18 


EMA's 

TAX TIPS 

Business Plus ADVICE 

Budget 2010: Major impacts 

Major implications from Budget 2010 

are expected arising from the loss of the 

depreciation deduction for buildings that 

an entity currently owns and holds with 

the intention of use in the future (rather 

than sale), and that have an estimated 

useful life of greater than 50 years. This 

is applicable for those entities with 

investment properties within the scope 

of NZ IAS 40 Investment Property and 

for buildings held for own use under NZ 

IAS 16 Property, Plant and Equipment. 

Broadly speaking, entities were generally 

able to claim a tax deduction for 

depreciation on buildings they own. 

In the 2010 Budget the Government 

effectively removed this depreciation 

deduction on buildings with expected 

lives of 50 years or more. 

Repairs and maintenance 

expenditure by building owners will 

remain deductible for income tax 

purposes, and depreciation deductions 

will remain for "fit out" items not 

considered part of the taxpayer's 

building. A review of the tax treatment 

of commercial building "fit outs" is to 

come. 

Our comments: 

Accounting for deferred tax is a 

complex area of accounting, which can 

result in the need to recognise deferred 

tax liabilities that are hard to explain 

in economic terms – for many, the 

resulting deferred tax liabilities do not 

represent ‘real’ liabilities in an economic 

sense, particularly when any potential 

future tax liability is unlikely to 

crystallise for decades or even centuries. 

The removal of these depreciation 

deductions will therefore increase 

some existing deferred tax liabilities, 

while creating some new deferred tax 

liabilities for entities that may have 

not previously been faced with this 

troublesome issue. 

The potentially large impact on 

after-tax profit and the balance sheet 

in the year of change will need to be 

assessed, and the wider commercial 

implications identified. 

The removal of the depreciation 

deduction will have the following 

implications for entities reporting under 

NZ IFRS: 

Existing Buildings: the impact of the 

removal of depreciation deductions will 

depend on an entity’s intended use of 

the building in the future which may 

be: 

n Intention to sell: the calculation 

of the deferred tax liability remains 

unchanged. 

n Intention to hold for use (either 

for own use or as an investment 

property): the calculation of the 

deferred tax liability will change. 

In this case, the use of the asset is 

expected to generate future taxable 

income and, in the absence of 

depreciation deductions to claim 

against that taxable income after the 

end of the 2011 tax year, a taxable 

temporary difference will arise based 

on the carrying value of the building 

less the remaining year’s deprecation 

deduction. 

Example 

An entity purchased a building two 

years ago for $10,000,000. For 

accounting and tax purposes it has been 

depreciated at 2% per annum. As at 

June 30, 2010, the carrying amount of 

the asset for accounting purposes was 

$9,600,000. Prior to the changes the 

tax base of the asset would have also 

been $9,600,000, meaning there is no 

difference between the accounting 

carrying amount and the tax base of 

the building. Hence, no deferred tax is 

recognised. 

However, with the change in tax 

legislation, the entity can now only 

claim a depreciation deduction for one 

further year before the tax legislation 

change takes effect. Therefore, the 

new tax base of the building is only 

$200,000, but its carrying amount for 

accounting purposes is $9,600,000. The 

difference between these two amounts 

is $9,400,000. This difference is referred 

to as a “taxable temporary difference” in 

NZ IAS 12. The deferred tax liability 

on this taxable temporary difference 

at the 28% company tax rate equals 

$2,632,000. An entity would thus be 

required to recognise a deferred tax 

liability of $2,632,000 and tax expense 

of the same amount. 

Change in the Company Tax Rate 

The other significant tax change 

with accounting implications is that to 

the company tax rate from 30% to 28% 

from the 2011/2012 tax year. 

This will impact differently 

depending on entities balance date as 

explained below: 

For balance dates before May 

21. The existing rate of 30% should 

be used when measuring deferred tax 

assets and liabilities. 

However, if the change in rate is 

expected to have a material impact on 

the measurement of deferred tax assets 

or liabilities, then disclosures about 

this post-balance-date event may be 

required under paragraph 21 of NZ 

IAS 10. 

For balance dates that fall after 

May 21 but before the new tax 

rate applies. The impact on deferred 

tax will depend on whether the 

temporary difference will reverse in the 

2010/2011 tax year when the 30% rate 

is applicable, or in the 2011/2012 tax 

year or later years, when the 28% rate is 

applicable. 

The resulting tax expense/income 

should be recorded either in profit or 

loss, or in other comprehensive income 

(reserves), depending on what the tax 

relates to. 

For example, if the deferred tax 

relates to the revaluation of buildings, 

the change in the deferred tax balance 

will be recognised in other comprehensive 

income (reserves). Conversely, 

if the deferred tax relates to a doubtful 

debts provision, the change should be 

recognised in profit or loss. 

We recommend that affected entities 

contact their Ernst & Young adviser to 

discuss this important issue further. 


PAGE 19

By Garth Wyllie 

Air freight exports to US face new inspection 

A new US airfreight border goods 

inspection rule is shaping up as a 

serious issue that will impact on 

exports of food products going to, or 

via, the US by airfreight. 

The new screening rule will see a US 

border security measure defy food 

product safety requirements. 

Since May 1 this year the mandatory 

screening of loose goods air freighted to 

and via the US was brought into force 

by the US Government’s Transportation 

Security Administration (TSA) under 

the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 

to satisfy US concerns over safety of 

passenger planes. 

New Zealand did not oppose this 

Certified Cargo Screening Programme 

as there was no evidence it would harm 

our export ability. 

However, this is not the case for 

containerised or palletised air cargo. 

Since May 1 the rule has meant a 

percentage of these goods have been 

examined, and that containers holding 

food or refrigerated/chilled foods 

were left sealed as required by the 

New Zealand Food Safety Authority 

(NZFSA). 

But from August 1 the screening is to 

be extended and applied to all airfreight, 

which means all containers must be 

opened and their contents individually 

screened. This requirement is contrary 

to the food safety requirements for such 

goods. 

Opening the containers of food-type 

products, particularly those that are 

chilled or refrigerated, places them at 

considerable risk of contamination, and 

this would jeopardise New Zealand 

fresh food industries using airfreight to 

supply international markets in the US, 

Europe and elsewhere. 

EMA has written to Transport 

Minister Steven Joyce asking for urgent 

attention to this matter. 

We understand the Board of Airline 

Representatives has already raised it 

with both the Ministry of Transport 

(MOT) and NZFSA. Neither agency 

appears willing to find a way to resolve 

it, and time is short. 

New Zealand Customs has offered 

to try and use its Secure Export 

Partnership agreement with the US 

to find a way forward, but this has not 

been taken up by the MOT, which 

must take the lead agency role for the 

issue. 

EMA is deeply concerned the issue 

has not been actioned up by officials 

to date even though the rule has the 

potential to harm both New Zealand 

exports and New Zealand’s reputation 

for food quality. 

PAGE 20 



PAGE 21

Boats, beer and buildings: Fiji economy recovering 

Business confidence in Fiji is a lot 

more positive than during the thick 

of the global financial crisis last year, 

says Michael Greenslade, Pacific Trade 

Commissioner at New Zealand Trade 

and Enterprise. 

He’s full of news about new 

developments and business 

opportunities. He points out New 

Zealand and Fiji have never had 

trade sanctions against each other, 

and despite political upheaval in 

Fiji, business relations have always 

flourished. 

“The reality is trade has never been 

an issue,” Greenslade said. 

The region is New Zealand’s sixth 

biggest export market. 

Greenslade was previously Trade 

Commissioner for Fiji based in Suva 

for five years. In April he visited there 

with the recently appointed new 

Trade Commissioner for Fiji, Peter 

Lund. 

Among Fiji’s 333 islands, Denerau 

Island is the scene of much new 

business activity. Port Denerau 

company owned by the Skeggs family 

from Dunedin is at the heart of large 

improvements: Major dredging to 

allow super yachts to berth (two were 

in port at the time of Greenslade’s 

visit); and the re-establishment of 

the iconic Auckland to Suva Yacht 

Race under the new name of 

Auckland- Fiji Denerau Yacht Race 

2010. The company is also planning 

to build a yacht club on Denerau. 

Other major developments on 

Denerau include the sale of the 

last two hotel development sites 

ready for development. Another 

hotel’s foundations have begun 

for building on reclaimed land, 

with a new apartment block in the 

pipeline. 

A local, niche boat builder is 

building two large aluminum boats 

for New Zealand customers, using 

materials from Ullrich Aluminum. 

Furthermore, New Zealanders 

Jeremy and Jonathan Ullrich have 

set up the Fiji Island Brewing 

Company in Nadi; their Vonu brand 

beer is one of Fiji’s most popular, says 

Greenslade. 

In Suva a new head office has 

been built for Flour Mills of Fiji Ltd. 

Similarly Vinod Patel and the Tappoo 

group have built a new retail centre. 

Carpenters Fiji Group which has 

wide business interests, including a 

shipping agency, has moved directly 

into shipping and is operating four 

vessels on the Fiji-New Zealand- 

Australia-Papua New Guinea route, 

promising competitive cargo rates. 

“Everyone is watching closely!” 

There’s a movement back to Fiji’s 

duty free status of the 1960s and 70s. 

Additional licenses were recently 

granted for duty free shopping, to 

increase tourism. 

Greenslade concludes: “After my 

absence I noticed a lot of building 

as Fijian companies reposition 

themselves for the good times. 

“There are strong businesses in Fiji 

who are very aware of the cycles the 

country goes through.” 

During the ‘recession’ of 2009 

New Zealand’s global exports 

declined 7.5% and Australia’s 

similarly, but in the Pacific region 

where New Zealand’s export 

revenues reach $1.2 billion, exports 

declined by less than 1%. 

“The Pacific is a growing market 

even in times of recession because of 

tourism, growing wealth and middle 

class expectations, and a reliance 

on technology and food they don’t 

produce themselves.” 

EMA Northern provides 

secretarial services to the New 

Zealand Fiji Business Council 

established in 1988 to facilitate and 

support trade and investment links 

between New Zealand and Fiji. 

For more information contact mike. 

burgess@ema.co.nz 

PAGE 22 


BOP export award winners dress for success 

Winners in the Bank of NZ Partners 

Bay of Plenty Export Awards 2010 

were announced late June at a 'Roaring 

Twenties' themed celebration. They were: 

United Travel Emerging Exporter of 

the Year: Pollen-Plus 

Pollen-Plus is the world's largest 

producer and supplier of male kiwifruit 

pollen and pollination services for 

kiwifruit. 

The judges said: 

“Pollen Plus is leveraging their 

expertise, performance and ability to 

develop relationships with like-minded 

people in key markets globally to 

build a thriving export business, while 

retaining ownership of a key “IP” 

throughout the process.” 

Page Macrae Innovation in Export 

Award: Trimax Mowing Systems 

Trimax designs, develops, 

manufactures, exports and markets 

tractor powered mowing equipment 

for applications including horticulture, 

parks and reserves, sports fields, golf 

courses, airports and roadsides. A full 

after-sales service is supplied in more 

than 15 countries. 

Their particular innovation is their 

ground-breaking tractor-powered, 

multi-spindled rotary, tri-deck 

roller mower called the Merlin, the 

first tractor-powered roller mower 

developed primarily for golf course 

mowing. 


“Trimax have made a step-change. 

Feedback from users has confirmed the 

investment in R&D of this innovative 

Gemma Craven and Karen Littlewood of Moca 

product will definitely impact on their 

market.” 

BOP Polytech Export Achiever: 

Scott Coulter, sales and marketing 

manager at Comvita in Te Puke 

Comvita is a manufacturer of a 

unique range of natural health products 

marketed internationally for food, 

healthcare, skincare and wound care. 

Scott Coulter was nominated by Alan 

Bougen – director and co-founder 

of Comvita who said: Scott joined 

Comvita in 2003 as marketing manager 

and since then Comvita has grown 

its offshore business from $5m to its 

present level of $66m. “Scott is a skilful 

operator with well honed business skills 

and a ‘can-do’ attitude. ” 

The judges agreed! 

Sharp Tudhope Exporter of the Year: 

Allied Industrial Engineering (AIE) 

in Kawerau 

Mark Lovegrove, managing director 

of Allied Industrial Engineering 

winner of the Sharp Tudhope 

Exporter of the year Award 

Allied Industrial 

Engineering (AIE) is 

a heavy mechanical 

engineering service 

company specialising in 

component manufacturing, 

maintenance and 

re-engineering services. It 

Scott Coulter from Comvita, winner of the Bay 

of Plenty Polytech Export Achiever Award 

targets pulp and paper, defence, 

marine, power generation, wood 

processing, steel manufacture, mining 

and food processing/dairy. 

AIE’s large capacity CNC milling 

machines and CNC centre lathes mean 

they can machine large complicated 

components and small production runs 

cost effectively. 


“AIE has a vision of the future 

owned by everyone in the organisation 

and its team has an underlying passion 

for the business and an individual sense 

of accountability. It aims for success-bydesign.” 

Zespri Service to Export Award: 

Graeme Boyd 

Graeme is now his own boss as 

managing director of Boyd Insight Ltd 

management consultancy. He previously 

worked at Trimax from 2006 and before 

that at Comvita till 2005 as GM then 

chief executive. 


“Graeme inspires others to achieve 

by showing how it is done. When he 

speaks, people listen and the advice is 

always sound and clear. 

He is one of those people who gets 

on and makes exports happen. There 

are many millions of dollars of export 

earnings because of his influence, action 

and clear thinking.” 


PAGE 23

TECHNOLOGY 

Business Plus 

Stretching IT budgets could be bad 

By Andrew Charlesworth 

Over the last 18 months many firms 

have held off upgrading their IT to 

hold costs and stretch their budgets. 

When faced with cost cutting its 

often tempting to delay hardware 

refreshes and extend systems for 

four or more years. So what is an 

appropriate time you can keep your 

existing hardware? 

While a delay avoids acquisition 

costs, when the cost of support, 

maintenance, and user downtime is 

accounted for, short term savings 

can rapidly disappear and the 

decision to stop investing can turn 

out expensive. 

Compounding the issue of 

ageing hardware is the additional 

challenge represented by the 60% 

annual growth rate in data being 

experienced by many organisations. 

Stretch to your own limit 

To establish the breaking point 

to which you can stretch your 

hardware investment you need to 

consider all the elements involved 

in the ownership of your PCs and 

servers. The total cost of hardware 

goes well beyond its initial cost: 

installation, maintenance, the cost of 

peripherals, consumables, repairs and 

training generally surpass hardware 

costs. 

On average, the routine task of 

updating PCs is the greatest cost 

driver and failures relating to PC 

updates are very common 

and their manual resolution 

can be time consuming and 

costly. So ask: 

What is the cost to your 

business if your email, 

invoicing system or CRM is 

down for an hour, a day or 

a week? 

Ways to reduce total ownership 

costs 

1. The first and best method to 

control computer cost is to 

purchase an extended warranty 

for each system so you can utilise 

warranty services for on-going 

maintenance. 

2. The second way is to recognise 

the majority of repair costs often 

occur after the warranty has 

expired. If you retire a computer 

soon after the warranty expires, 

then the lifetime cost of 

your computer ownership 

will decrease dramatically. 

3. Ensure the environment 

is optimal for computers 

to work efficiently. Low 

dust, cooling air, and 

maybe even consider 

air moisture control are 

simple ways to achieve 

this. 

4. On-going maintenance 

and support of hardware 

will also extend the 

life and maintain the 

performance of the 

machines. 

Benefits of keeping it fresh 

Then you need to weigh up 

the positives from deploying new 

technology. Running the latest 

hardware has been shown to; 

1. Reduce overhead IT management 

costs by reducing time spent 

conducting patch and application 

deployments, PC inventory audits, 

and desk side visits to resolve issues. 

2. Increase user productivity due 

to improved speed and machine 

performance. 

3. Increase efficiency by leapfrogging 

existing hardware in terms of 

technology, price, performance, and 

range of applications. 

4. Shorten server and PC lifecycles 

enabling companies to reduce energy 

consumption and their carbon 

footprints. 

Conclusion 

Everyone knows and understands 

that computers are a considerable 

investment. But it is often easy to 

underestimate the impact of underperforming 

and unreliable hardware on a 

business. 

The answer is to have a strategy 

around refresh cycles for your PCs 

and servers to take advantage of the 

continuous advancements in technology. 

This provides a more reliable operating 

environment and results in a lower total 

cost of ownership. 

Research provided by Intel & Wipro 

Technologies 2009 

Maclean Computing, the IT infrastructure 

experts. 

Ph: 0508 622 532 

www.maclean.co.nz 

PAGE 24 


Sometimes, you need 

to take risks... 

Sometimes, there’s no need. 

XT Risk Free Trial 

New customers to XT can discover how impressive it is with 

Telecoms 30 day Risk Free Trial 

Just purchase any XT mobile or T-stick and sign up to one of these 24 month plans 

- One Rate 50 or 100 

- Talk and Text 300 

- Mobile broadband 2GB or 4GB 

If you’re not happy with your experience on our XT Network simply return the mobile in good 

working order (with its packaging and proof of purchase) to where you bought it within 30 days and 

we’ll give you a refund* on the amount you paid for the mobile, any monthly plan charges, monthly 

charges for Text Extras, Data Extras, Frequently Called Number or My Favourites you’ve signed up to. 

*Refund excludes all additional minutes, texts or data charges above your mobile monthly plan or Extra allocation. Excludes casual data or standard text charges if you havent signed 

up to an Extra. Excludes chargeable downloaded content. You can claim a refund once for each connection you make under the Risk Free Trial. However, once you make a claim, you cannot make any 

further connections to XT for three months and, after that, any subsequent connections will not be eligible for the Risk Free Trial. Disconnection charges will not apply if you return your mobile or T-Stick 

within 30 days. Account credits (if any) will not be available if you get a refund under the Risk Free Trial. Early disconnection fees will apply if you end your existing CDMA contract early to take up this 

offer. Accessories, Netbooks, & second hand devices are excluded. Telecom terms and conditions, charges and credit criteria apply. 

ORB.CO.NZ Stores Nationwide 0800 ORB COM 

Orb. We’re big on small business

EMA member Proud Moments noticeboard 

"Where EMA members show off their achievements" 

Sky no limit 

It’s exciting times for 

Smartfoods Ltd, maker of 

Vogel’s breakfast cereals and 

snacks. 

The company has celebrated 

the launch of its Vogel’s Tasty 

Little Clusters (TLCs) as an 

energy snack which has been 

available on Air New Zealand 

domestic jet flights as part of 

the free in-flight breakfast offer 

since May this year. 

General manager Vicky 

Taylor says: “All our team 

are incredibly proud to have 

our products served on Air 

New Zealand. And now we 

are working on producing a 

product to be sold through 

supermarkets, so Kiwis can 

enjoy Tasty Little Clusters on 

the ground. 

“Smartfoods is constantly 

creating new products made 

locally to meet the needs 

of discerning Kiwis which 

are sold in supermarkets 

throughout the country. 

“The business was started 

almost six years ago to take 

the well known Vogel’s brand 

into new categories and has 

grown significantly over that 

time.” 

Now based in St Johns, 

Auckland, Smartfoods employs 

20 people across production 

and office teams. 

Special offer to our 

readers: 

basket of goodies! 

We invite you to enter the draw to win a basket 

of Vogel’s snacks and breakfast cereals. 

Smartfoods has kindly donated the prize for 

a fellow EMA member to experience Vogel’s 

range of famously healthy and delicious food. 

Simply email your name, company name and 

courier address to myvoice@ema.co.nz with 

‘Vogel’s’ in the subject line (only valid entries 

will enter the draw). 

The winner will be drawn on July 20 and 

notified by EMA. We will send only the winner’s 

contact details to Smartfoods so the company 

can deliver the basket to the lucky person. 

30th birthday for 100% Kiwi-owned medical supplies firm 

Last month was party time for InterMed Medical Ltd in 

Albany, Auckland, as the company celebrated 30 years in 

business supplying equipment to the healthcare industry. 

Founder Geddes Weston set up the company in his 

home basement in Browns Bay selling nationwide 

(travelling all the North Island by car) while his wife 

Trish balanced office administration tasks around family 

needs. The first sale was a $2 vial of sensitivity discs, says 

Geddes. 

A year later, his fellow trainee laboratory 

medical technologist from their days at 

Auckland Hospital, Donn de Silva, joined 

the company (then called InterMed 

Scientific and Medical Sales Ltd) as a 

shareholder and director. The business 

moved to Newmarket. 

The pair recognised an opportunity to 

provide better and more responsive service 

than the dominant multi-national suppliers. 

They initially specialised in medical 

laboratory products as well as developing 

business in specialist hospital areas. 

However, they came to realise there was a 

wider scope and better future in medical 

equipment. When the laboratory part 

of the business was split off and ultimately sold, the 

company name changed to InterMed Medical Ltd. 

Company growth accelerated when partnerships 

were established with internationally recognised 

leaders such as US companies Arrow International, 

Arizant Healthcare, Boston Scientific, Mallinckrodt and 

Snowden Pencer, as well as Wipak of Finland. 

Today the Albany-based company employs 65 staff. 

InterMed Medical directors, from left: Donn de Silva and wife Marieke Spruijt, Nigel 

Arkell, Trish and husband Geddes Weston (founding directors). 

PAGE 26 


EMA member Proud Moments noticeboard 

"Where EMA members show off their achievements" 

Designed to judge 

Judging design awards is commonplace for Fraser 

Gardyne of gardyneHOLT - design consultant 

partners of Central Auckland. 

Fraser judged 2000 logos in March for the 

worldwide logo competition WOLDA, along 

with nine other international design experts. 

The task took concentrated effort for part 

of every day for three weeks, he says. In some 

cases he had to dig deeper to see the logos in 

use and make sure he understood their cultural 

application in regions as varied as Iran, Korea, 

Spain and Africa. 

The overall winner – announced last month 

- was from the US and the Oceania winner was 

the Australian designer of the City of Melbourne 

logo – Fraser’s overall personal favourite. 

He says WOLDA used an 

interesting three-tiered judging 

system whereby the entries were 

first judged by 10 designers, then 

10 marketers judged their reduced 

list and finally 10 consumers 

judged a further reduced list.” 

Fraser has also been the 

convener of judges for the 

graphics discipline for NZ’s 

annual Best Design Awards since 

2003. Winners are announced late 

Fraser Gardyne 

September/early October. “Our 

successes go on to win international 

awards so I know our process is 

good,” he said. 

Westpac Manukau Business Excellence Finalists out this month 

Finalists in the 16th annual 

Westpac Manukau Business 

Excellence Awards will be announced 

on July 28. The winners will be 

celebrated at a glamorous black-tie 

Awards Gala Dinner, known locally as 

the “Oscars” of the business world, on 

September 17. 

“Everyone who takes part is a 

winner when they get feedback from 

the judges,” says Ian Blair, General 

Manager of Business Banking at 

Westpac, major sponsor of the Awards. 

Manukau Mayor Len Brown 

adds: “I’m inspired and awed by the 

brilliant stories Manukau businesses 

have to tell. And it’s important 

that these stories are heard and 

celebrated.” 

EMA is the sponsor of 

Manufacturing category of the 

Awards which are delivered on 

behalf of the council by Enterprising 

Manukau. 

Making it Lean By Barry Nolan 

Buy several – your managers need 

their own 'hymn' sheets! 

“It’s a good and relevant read. I would recommend it to anyone 

intent on maximising returns for their business” 

– Peter Townsend, CEO, Canterbury Employers' Chamber of Commerce 

$39.90 incl GST 

(add $3 for post and packing) per copy. 

It shows you how Lean is the way to 

go to achieve greater productivity 

and reduce costs. 

Best of all Nolan describes a straight 

forward, step by step practical approach 

for any business to lift its performance. 

TO ORDER EMAIL: 

Gilbert.Peterson@ema.co.nz 


PAGE 27

people 

1 

2 

2 

4 

3 

5 

7 

6 

8 

9 

BOP China Delegation & Rugby 2011 Business Club Launch with Hon John Key 

11 

1 Fiona Haiko [Asia NZ], Hon John Key [Prime Minister], Petrina Page [Tourism BOP] 

2 David Kirk [Rugby Ambassador], Angela Wallace [Export NZ BOP] 

3 Glen Chen [Kiwiseng], James Liu [Poseidon Services] 

4 Michael & Irmengard Deinlein [Distillerie Deinlein] 

5 Murray Hill [Sharp Tudhope], Ed Baggeley and 

Harvey Bryant [Aquasplash] 

6 Peter and Jaquie Wren-Hilton and Chris de Boer [Pingar] 

10 

7 Jenny Milson [NZTE], Hon John Key [Prime Minister] 

8 John Forbes [Mayor of Opotiki], Rob Jeffrey [ENZ Nat Board and Jeffco], Hon John Key [Prime Minister] 

9 Angela Tomazeski & Greg Knight [Florentines] 

10 Hon John Key [Prime Minister], Maia Millard [Export NZ BOP] 

11 Malcolm Douglas [Morton Estate ] & Karen Long [EMA] 

12 Tauranga Delegation heading to China 

13 Steve Wineti [NZ Customs], Grant Macvey [Port of Tauranga], Jamie Hickey [NZ Customs] 

12 13

Business Plus

Let QJumpers 

sort through your 

job applicants... 

...while you 

concentrate on 

the good ones. 

Introducing QJumper’s Filter recruitment service. 

We’ll advertise on New Zealand’s top job-sites, 

and then filter your candidates so you can focus on 

the shortlist. Fantastic value at only $499 (+GST). 

Why waste time wading through scores of unsuitable 

applicants? The QJumpers Filter service offers the 

following effective tools for quickly finding the right staff: 

Advertising on New Zealand’s top jobsites SEEK, 

TradeMeJobs, Heraldjobs and QJumpers as well as a 

posting on Twitter.com 

Our easy to use online recruitment system 

(Applicant Tracking System) will help you through the 

recruitment process and provide you with the tools to 

communicate with all applicants. 

Email, short list, request an interview and dismiss - 

all with the click of a button. 

We will place applicants that meet your minimum 

requirements in your online QJumpers account. 

Dismissed applicants will be viewable - just in case you 

decide to reconsider later. 

Visit www.QJumpers.co.nz 

or call 0800 QJUMPERS 

(0800 758 673) 

© Icon 6660 QJumpers

In this issue: CELEBRATING EXPORT WINNERS - EMA

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?