Bay of Plenty Business News March/April 2017

Bay of plenty 

MARCH/APRIL 2017 VOLUME 2: ISSUE 9 WWW.BOPBUSINESSNEWS.CO.NZ FACEBOOK.COM/BOPBUSINESSNEWS 

From left: Stu Stevenson Clubfit Manager, Cian O’Cinnseala BayAV Manager, Gillian Houser Business Development Manager, 

Amy Kemeys Event Delivery Manager, Ervin McSweeney Commercial Manager, Richard Wilson ASB Baypark Venue Manager 

A marked increase in the number and 

variety of events staged is giving Mt 

Maunganui’s ASB Baypark Stadium 

and Arena a reputation as ‘the hub of 

entertainment in Bay of Plenty’. 

By GEOFF TAYLOR 

2017 has been a spectacular 

year to date highlighted 

by a second Bay 

Dreams Festival in early 

January which with 18,000 

attending was the largest festival 

in the country over summer. 

It was the start of an incredibly 

busy period as the venue 

also hosted the Frequency 

under 18 event and acts such 

as Peking Duck, Times x 

TWO, Dragon, Mi-Sex, The 

Feelers, Broods, Kings, Theia, 

Devilskin, Halestorm,T-Pain, 

Jimmy Barnes and The Hollies 

as well as stadium events Nitro 

Circus and D1NZ - Drifting. 

The line-up emphasises 

the venue’s transformation 

and highlights the fact that the 

days of ASB Baypark being 

known mainly for speedway 

and rugby have long gone. 

In all, this financial year, 

ASB Baypark is expected 

to host about 550 events, 

including everything from 

small meetings, conferences, 

functions, concerts, sporting 

events to major speed events. 

Already it has hosted 230,000 

people since June 2016 with 

activities achieving 18 percent 

above last year. 

“Baypark is a very busy 

place with the last two months 

being the busiest by far with 

Bay Dreams Festival in January. 

a variety of different events,” 

says Richard Wilson, venue 

manager ASB Baypark. 

“Since Christmas there 

have been six speedway meetings, 

seven concerts, one very 

large music festival (Bay 

Dreams), Nitro Circus, the 

Drifting (where the clay speedway 

track got temporarily covered 

by a concrete track), and 

of course, our regular sporting 

programmes and activities.” 

Offering such versatility 

doesn’t come easy and the 

venue has hundreds of people 

often working through the 

night to reorganise a conference 

room or concert stage. 

“Our experienced team 

works hard and enjoys the challenge 

of preparing Baypark for 

so many varied events,” he 

says. 

ASB Baypark business 

development manager, Gillian 

Continued on page 3

2 BAY OF PLENTY BUSINESS NEWS March/April 2017 

Big plans moving on city 

cultural development 

Private-public funding models have 

not been ruled out for helping get 

one of Tauranga’s biggest central city 

development projects in years off the 

ground. 

By RICHARD RENNIE 

In March the Tauranga City 

Council announced more 

details around the proposed 

museum site, with plans for 

library and Baycourt options 

as key parts of the Heart of the 

City programme. 

The library and Baycourt 

options include a decision on 

whether to upgrade or rebuild, 

and all three projects combined 

could come with a $60 million-plus 

price tag. 

In coming months council 

staff are tasked with presenting 

a business case for the projects 

including assessments of 

income flows and estimated 

operating costs for each. 

TAKING A CUE FROM LEVIN? 

City planners tasked with determining a museum site and 

cultural precinct are looking across the world, and down 

the island for inspiration. 

Project leader Carole Canler said Marseille, in her native 

France, was an inspirational example of how sensitive 

planning and design turned a seedy, rough, port city into 

a rising star for locals and tourists alike. 

Across the channel in the United Kingdom the port city of 

Bristol has had the city area linked back to the harbourcanal 

network over time, combining industrial heritage 

museums and displays with modern design. 

“And we can look at what has been done in Auckland 

around the Viaduct area as a great example of linking 

harbour and city.” 

Perhaps surprisingly Carole also points to the Horowhenua 

town of Levin. 

A proposed town centre upgrade punches well above its 

weight in terms of aesthetic appeal and layout. 

“We are looking at a lot of different models and how they 

might work for Tauranga,” she said. 

Tauranga City mayor Greg 

Brownless said all options 

were on the table when it came 

to funding the big projects. He 

said he would not turn down an 

offer from a large syndicate or 

corporate to help back any or 

all of them. 

“A fair amount of investigation 

has gone into ownership 

and partnership options of 

cultural facilities, and whether 

local government needs to own 

them or not. 

“When we look across to 

Australia, they are further 

down this path, for example 

at its most extreme you even 

find libraries incorporated into 

shopping malls there.” 

Mayor Brownless acknowledged 

the controversy that had 

surrounded earlier bids to establish 

a museum in Tauranga, 

and one of the sites proposed 

10 years ago had included an 

expensive water front proposal. 

Seventy percent of 

people have not lived 

here for more than 10 

years, so I think the 

city is open to ideas 

(on funding) and 

all options can be 

explored. 

“What we got back was that 

people were not against the 

museum, it was the location 

and the cost they were against, 

hence the two sites we have 

got down to now, both on land 

owned by council,” he said. 

The sites are located on the 

council owned land at Cliff 

Pictured on the Tauranga City Council’s Willow St site, Tauranga Cultural facility 

investment leader Carole Canler and Mayor Greg Brownless. 

Road rose garden site or the 

Willow Street library-Baycourt 

site. 

The library and a performing 

arts facility were not necessarily 

required also to be 

located where the museum was 

built. 

Mayor Brownless said 

given the significance of a 

museum facility to a city that 

is the only one in the country 

without one, valuable government 

funding sources were also 

available. 

Tauranga city had also 

changed since the earlier 

debate, with significant growth 

in population of people from 

outside the region. 

“Seventy percent of people 

have not lived here for more 

than 10 years, so I think 

the city is open to ideas (on 

funding) and all options can be 

explored.” 

He said surveys did also 

show support for the facilities 

was shared evenly across all 

Tauranga city suburbs, which 

was encouraging. 

“We are still really in the 

‘why’ and ‘what’ phase with 

the first discussion in council 

in April on our museum strategy.” 

Cultural facility investment 

leader Carole Canler said estimates 

are for a 2500 square 

metre museum project to cost at 

least $25 million, with estimated 

running expenses of about 

$2.5 million a year. 

Options for the city library 

now in a building nearing the 

end of its economic life include 

a refurbishment, extension or 

complete rebuild. 

While total library use in 

Tauranga has increased, the 

central city facility has experienced 

a decline in attendance, 

and has space and suitability 

issues. 

“That decline has in part 

been due to new libraries opening 

in Greerton and Papamoa.” 

Feasibility studies are 

also underway on expanding 

Baycourt or building a larger 

facility that could take 1000- 

1200 people. The present theatre 

can only hold 590. 

“Baycourt is a quality facility, 

but there are shows and 

performers who do not come 

because of its size, that includes 

the New Zealand Symphony 

Orchestra,” said Canler. 

The potential for a cultural 

precinct constructed on the 

Willow Street site fitting with 

the wider plan to rejuvenate the 

central city area is clear. 

Once the existing vacated 

old council offices are demolished, 

and possibly the library 

building if that option were pursued, 

an appealing view shaft 

from the Willow Street site 

through to the harbour opens 

up. 

That in turn links to the harbour 

side tidal steps and shore 

development. The two project 

areas would reconnect the CBD 

with the water. 

Mayor Brownless said a site 

decision for the museum was 

likely by late May. 

Making change in business happen 

Change management 

came into focus in the 

mid-1990s. Since then 

it has grown from its foundational 

concepts into a recognised 

discipline. No business 

owner survives in the long run 

if he or she isn’t capable to 

evolve and at times, reinvent 

themselves. 

Re-directing the use of 

resources and reviewing processes, 

budget allocations, 

or other operational aspects 

of a business are essential 

to finding a way forward in 

business. But did you know 

that nearly 70 percent of large 

scale change management programmes 

fail to meet their 

goals? That’s something to 

think about, especially if you 

are serious about seeing your 

business grow. 

Many initiatives to change 

have failed because it’s often 

perceived as an outside-in process. 

Workers can see change 

as negative, implemented 

without much consideration 

for them and their work environment, 

thrown at them from 

the top down. 

So, what makes initiatives 

to change successful in the 

long run? 

It’s about getting people on 

the same page. There needs to 

be a clear understanding that 

change doesn't happen without 

people’s willingness to transform. 

Embracing change takes 

guts, for everyone involved. 

To give your transformation 

a chance of success, the 

right actions need to be taken 

at the right time, and pitfalls 

avoided. Enthusiasm to evolve 

and grow together stands or 

falls with honest and clear 

communications. It has to 

be a transparent process. If 

you can’t communicate your 

vision in five minutes or less 

and get a positive reaction, 

there’s more work to be done. 

Transformation will be 

accepted if people are comfortable 

with thinking differently 

about their jobs. If they’re 

willing to grow the business 

alongside you, and clearly see 

better outcomes in the long 

run. Construct a common set 

of definitions, approaches, 

and a simple checklist that 

everyone is familiar and comfortable 

with if you are keen 

to clear the path for business 

growth. 

Arron Edwards is the CEO 

of Bravesight, a Taurangabased 

strategic marketing 

and creative technology firm 

that works with businesses 

that want to grow. Bravesight 

helps business owners define 

the best possible solutions for 

a great future in business. 

Bay leads the country on Manuka strategy development 

The Bay of Plenty’s 

manuka honey industry 

has become one of the 

first in the country to set up 

an advocacy group to help 

implement a manuka strategy. 

The Manuka Action 

Group was established as part 

of the region’s Agribusiness 

Action Plan - one of the 

nine action areas of the Bay 

of Plenty Regional Growth 

Programme. 

Action group chairman, 

Warwick Murray, says the 

group’s objectives include 

expanding Bay of Plenty’s 

manuka estate, diversifying 

alternative land use, supporting 

industry to collectively 

resolve issues, encouraging 

innovation and developing, 

and providing an advocacy 

role for manuka-based agribusiness. 

“The development of 

the group has been a huge 

achievement, with representation 

from five of the 

major processing and export 

organisations in Bay of Plenty 

sitting around the table, 

along with significant Māori 

landowners, Department of 

Conservation, and crown 

research institutes,” he says. 

“We have clearly established 

our objective of working 

together and coordinating our 

Arron Edwards. 

efforts to address challenges 

facing the industry. We’re 

here for action, not just talk.” 

New Zealand exports 

about 9000 tonnes of honey 

annually and the demand for 

Manuka honey, in particular 

internationally, significantly 

outweighs supply. 

“Manuka honey has huge 

potential for growth, but 

there are still many obstacles 

the industry is facing in terms 

of realising that growth,” 

says Mr Murray. 

“We are one of the early 

movers to start developing 

a strategy and many will be 

looking to us to help guide 

the way.”

Massive year highlights 

Baypark’s status 

From page 1 

Houser, says the impact of the 

venue is gaining awareness in 

the city. 

“People can see there is a 

variety of events taking place 

at Baypark now. We are presenting 

an interesting mix of 

activities. 

“The more events we secure 

the more we will get because 

we are now on the radar of 

many of the promoters. There 

is an awareness that Tauranga 

and our location can attract the 

audiences they need.” 

ASB Baypark’s attendances 

have consistently been at the 

higher end compared with 

other venues. Most recently, 

the Hollies attracted their best 

crowd in New Zealand at ASB 

Arena. 

ASB Baypark’s schedule 

in coming months is busy 

with a series of large events; 

In March the venue has just 

hosted the Zespri Conference 

with more than 600 dele- 

gates. The Speedway Bay 

of Plenty Championships is 

coming up and in April there 

is the Demolition Derby 

and South Pacific 6 Shooter 

Championship. Also in April 

is the Firework Extravaganza 

and Harry Fredrickson Gold 

Cup. 

The momentum continues 

in May with some very 

special events such as Dr 

Hook, Armageddon and even 

a Venetian Ball. Other events 

coming up are; June - Urban 

Dance Youth Hip Hop Dance 

Competitions, Ladies’ Charity 

Luncheon, July - Food Show 

and Horticultural Conference, 

House of the Year, August - 

Tarnished Frocks & Divas, 

September AIMS Games with 

up to 10,000 youths participating, 

Spring Home Show, 

October - Hoopnation with 

international participants, 

National Crossfit championship 

and the musical ‘Sound of 

Music’. Other exciting events 

through the year are still to be 

released. 

Along with the increase in 

entertainment in 2017, there is 

a strong focus on local meetings 

and events and attracting 

national conferences. 

Gillian says the economic 

impact to the city from one 

conference with approximately 

400 delegates is in excess 

of $500,000. She and her 

team are actively promoting 

the venue in Wellington and 

Auckland. 

“Regions are definitely 

trending upwards – and not just 

in real estate,” says Gillian. 

“There is interest from 

meeting planners, associations 

and corporates to move out of 

the main cities for their events 

and Tauranga’s climate and 

lifestyle advantages make our 

venue even more attractive.” 

The state-of-the-art arena 

has been open just over five 

years and has 13,000 square 

metres of space available 

including two large auditoriums, 

four inter-connectable 

BAY OF PLENTY BUSINESS NEWS March/April 2017 3 

meeting suites and two circulation 

areas joined together by 

an expansive foyer. 

The arena is suitable for 

conferences of more than 600 

delegates, gala dinners for 

more than 1200 and meetings 

and entertainment of 

up to 4600. Meanwhile ASB 

Baypark Stadium can seat 

17,000 people. 

ASB Baypark offers a comprehensive 

package with quality 

in-house catering through 

Baycatering and in-house 

audio visual. These competitive 

services are extended offsite 

as well for many events in 

the Tauranga area and further 

afield. 

Cian O’Cinnseala, Bay 

Audio Visual manager, says 

it is leading supplier of production 

systems for corporate 

events, conferences, awards 

dinners, sporting events and 

festivals in Bay of Plenty. 

To complete the ASB 

Baypark package is experienced, 

professional event management, 

marketing and promotional 

assistance for events 

of any size. 

It is the people within the 

venue that make the difference, 

says Gillian. 

“Tauranga has a complex 

to be proud of and a team to 

give us the edge on our competitors.” 

ASB BAYPARK FAST FACTS: 

Hosted largest summer festival in New Zealand 

– Bay Dreams 

550 events in 2016/17 

230,000 visitors so far in 2016/17 

Activity up 18 percent on last financial year


From the editor Blessing given as site work on 

Tauranga CBD campus begins 

Tauranga has been one 

of New Zealand’s outstanding 

growth stories 

over the last decade, a story 

well documented in recent 

editions of Bay of Plenty 

Business News. 

As with any fast growing 

city, infrastructure has lagged 

behind, not just in core areas 

such as roading but also in 

some of the amenities a city 

the size of Tauranga needs to 

be able to offer. 

This issue of Bay of 

Plenty Business News focuses 

on some of those infrastructural 

issues. 

From an amenity point 

of view, ASB Baypark is 

making exciting strides as a 

venue for entertainment and 

embarking on the competitive 

but lucrative conference 

market, thanks to the great 

work of Bay Venues. 

Meanwhile it is heartening 

to see Tauranga City Council 

grapple with the proposed 

museum at its Willow St site, 

with plans for a library and 

Baycourt other key parts of 

the Heart of the City programme. 

Given the possible 

$60 million price tag it is 

not surprising to see mayor 

Greg Brownless emphasise 

that private money could 

be an option. Partnerships 

are becoming more important 

than ever for local government 

in the provision of 

infrastructure. 

Lastly, this edition also 

catches up with Waikato 

University’s planned campus 

in Tauranga’s CBD, 

construction of which begins 

mid year. 

There is plenty going on 

in the CBD, although still 

unresolved at this point is the 

call for another top quality 

hotel. 

This edition features 

more excellent contributions 

from our stable of columnists 

as well as stories about a 

possible threat to the kiwifruit 

industry from China, 

the Rotorua Airport upgrade 

and great work being done 

by Tauranga Chamber of 

Commerce through Small 

Business Tauranga led by 

Steve Farrant. 

Bay of Plenty Business 

News is always on the look 

out for great business stories 

and advertisers. We are here 

to tell your story and we look 

forward to hearing from you. 

Geoff Taylor 

Editor 

The new Tauranga CBD campus 

development, led by the University of 

Waikato on behalf of the Tertiary Education 

Partnership, has reached a significant 

milestone. 

A 

dawn karakia was held 

on Friday March 10 to 

mark the beginning of 

site preparation for the Durham 

Street campus. 

The ceremony was led by 

the elders of Ngāi Tamarāwaho 

to acknowledge those who will 

be working on the site to prepare 

it for construction. 

Construction work is 

expected to commence midyear 

and will be marked by an 

event with regional funders and 

other key stakeholders. 

The new campus will enable 

more students to stay and 

Peri Kohu (Ngāi Tamarāwaho) performs a blessing on the Durham 

Street site for the new Tauranga CBD campus development. 

An artist’s impression of the 

new campus development. 

study in the Bay. The university 

is working closely with its 

tertiary partners Toi Ohomai 

and Te Whare Wānanga o 

Awanuiārangi to extend the 

range of qualifications and 

study options for students in 

the region. 

Waikato University senior 

deputy vice-chancellor professor 

Alister Jones said the next 

two or three months would be 

spent preparing the site for construction. 

Mr Jones said it was important 

to get the ground work 

started in autumn so construction 

could begin as soon as 

the contract is let which would 

happen in the next couple of 

months. 

Last May Waikato 

University announced plans to 

spend an extra $15 million, on 

top of the original $10 million 

committed to the project, 

to produce a Tauranga CBD 

campus of the highest possible 

standard. The campus already 

had $30 million of community 

funding from the Bay of 

Plenty Regional Council and 

the Tauranga Energy Consumer 

Trust, and will sit on land donated 

by Tauranga City Council. 


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businesses develop opportunities in the modern world. 

“I really enjoy people and getting to 

know what drives them, what they 

want to achieve and how I may be 

able to assist in the process. I get 

excited working with people to follow 

through on marketing plans and connect 

with their customers,” she says. 

“Bay of Plenty Business News provides 

a niche opportunity to get out 

and about amongst the diverse range 

of businesses that we have spread 

across the Bay and meet with the 

people who contribute to our local 

economy.” 

Having lived in the Bay for the last 15 

years after moving up from Ruapehu 

Maxine definitely calls the Bay home. 

“I just love this area, the beach, the 

Mount, the cycling and tramping and 

our fabulous climate. I am a keen 

runner and our outdoors lifestyle is 

particularly attractive to me. 

Maxine Parker 

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Maxine Parker 

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Chinese threat looms 

in kiwifruit sector 

If its apple industry is any indicator, the 

Chinese kiwifruit sector is poised to ramp 

up production to an unprecedented level 

making it a major influence as a global 

player competing against Zespri. 


Zespri’s global marketing 

and management team 

provided growers and 

industry at its Momentum conference 

with a frank insight 

on the challenges China’s burgeoning 

kiwifruit industry presented 

in coming years. 

Zespri views China as a 

major disruptor in the global 

kiwifruit market as that country’s 

production sets itself up 

to almost triple in the next 20 

years. 

Sheila McCann-Morrison, 

Zespri’s global supply chain 

manager used China’s apple 

industry as a template for how 

things may play out in its kiwi- 

fruit sector. 

As the largest apple grower 

in the world, China has almost 

tripled its 1995 production 

of 1.5 million tonnes in 20 

years. Meantime United States 

exports there have declined 26 

percent, and New Zealand’s by 

12 percent. 

“Only four percent of 

China’s apples are exported, 

but that still makes it a major 

exporter today, and we expect 

to see the quality improve with 

time.” 

Today China grows 1.3 

million tonnes of kiwifruit 

compared with New Zealand’s 

488,000 tonnes, close to Italy’s 

532,000t. 

Sheila said Zespri believed 

China was on the verge of disrupting 

the kiwifruit industry 

in a way it did with its huge 

surge in apple production. 

“New Zealand has doubled 

its volumes in 20 years, but 

China has grown its kiwifruit 

volumes by eight times in 20 

years.” 

Zespri’s own estimates 

have Chinese kiwifruit production 

growing to 3.0m tonnes by 

2027, while NZ’s is estimated 

to be about 1.1m tonnes. 

So for Zespri, for 

the non-NZ growing 

season, growing 

locally in China will 

be very important. For 

Zespri to maintain its 

position we will have 

to be a leader in the 

local growing world. 

Bay’s small businesses 

get a voice 

Zespri global supply chain manager Sheila McCann-Morrison. 

“But kiwifruit still remain a 

small proportion of total fruit 

sold globally, accounting for 

2kg for every 1000kg of fruit 

grown.” 

“If kiwifruit go the same 

way, we may not see such a 

decline, given it’s not a 12 

month market. However there 

are also other companies looking 

to emulate Zespri in China. 

This is also backed by China 

having the people, the land 

the plant breeding ability and 

a central government desire 

to improve the income of the 

rural peasant population.” 

She said other than Psa, the 

industry had enjoyed a period 

of relative calm over the past 

20 years, making it ripe for 

disruption. 

“So for Zespri, for the non- 

NZ growing season, growing 

locally in China will be very 

important. For Zespri to maintain 

its position we will have 

to be a leader in the local 

growing world.” 

Zespri already has several 

initiatives underway to expand 

its grower presence in China. 

Last year it signed a collaborative 

research agreement with 

the Shaanxi provincial government 

on knowledge exchange. 

It also invested $40 million 

into developing the Chinese 

market in 2016, and this 

included establishing personnel 

presence in two cities far 

west of the eastern seaboard, 

in Xi’an and Chongqing. 

The cities have a combined 

population of 14 million and 

will take staff numbers on the 

ground in China to more than 

50. 

Meantime other countries 

were ramping up production 

in coming years that were not 

traditionally regarded as kiwifruit 

growing nations. 

Greece is expected to double 

production to 350,000t, 

and Iran to increase 2.5 times 

to 200,000t. 


For the first time small 

business owners in Bay 

of Plenty have a resource 

to call on for expanding, 

enhancing or consolidating 

their enterprise. 

Small Business 

Tauranga(SBT) launched earlier 

this year under the umbrella 

of the Tauranga Chamber of 

Commerce, and is now the 

third prong in the chamber’s 

member specific services. 

Chamber chief executive 

Stan Gregec says with the 

Women’s Business Network 

and Linkt for business people 

under 40, businesses are now 

well served with the resources 

and networks their diversity 

demands. 

We can see we have 

really tapped into 

something that people 

have been looking for. 

SBT head Steve Farrant 

said the organisation’s focus 

was largely on businesses 

with less than 10 people 

which bring their own particular 

set of demands to their 

owners. 

“We typically find these 

business owners are time 

poor, they wear many hats 

and are expected to operate 

on a number of levels, not 

only operationally but also 

carrying out the administrative 

needs those businesses 

demand.” 

For this reason SBT has 

focused on providing relevant 

information to members, 

keeping the delivery tight and 

timely. 

Tauranga Chamber of 

Commerce chief 

executive Stan Gregec. 

“For example our fortnightly 

breakfast meetings 

kick off at 7am and are over 

by about 8. We have also run 

a number of training sessions 

we’ve called “Fully Charged” 

which get straight to the point 

of what you need to know, 

within 90 minutes.” 

These popular seminars 

have included presentations 

on Google analytics uses, 

health and safety requirements 

and setting up employment 

agreements. 

While it has only been 

in existence since February 

2016, SBT has had input to 

the annual Westpac Business 

Awards, helping put more 

emphasis upon smaller businesses. 

“For the first time we saw 

additional categories for small 

businesses, and that was also 

reflected in having more small 

businesses enter the competition 

than before.” 

The organisation has a few 

success stories already in its 

showcase, including the company 

Heavenly Pies. 

“Having started at the 

Little Big markets, it now 

employs 15 people and is 

exporting.” 

Steven says SBT provides 

small businesses with 

Small Business Tauranga 

manager Steven Farrant. 

the opportunity to tap into a 

pool of highly talented and 

experienced people capable 

of offering advice across the 

spectrum of business needs. 

Growth in membership is 

coming as much from outside 

the region with new businesses 

moving to Bay of Plenty, as 

it is from existing businesses 

joining. 

“People are attracted to 

the region because if offers 

a lifestyle harder to get in 

Auckland these days. They 

see the region as somewhere 

they can come to without having 

to move too far, it’s still 

close enough to their existing 

connections, as well as being 

extremely well connected to 

the port for export.” 

“We can see we have really 

tapped into something that 

people have been looking for. 

We have built 2000 followers 

on social media, had 150 people 

attend our launch event 

and regularly get 40 people at 

our breakfast meetings.” 

Steven says the SBT model 

under the chamber umbrella 

is unique in New Zealand 

and offers the potential to be 

replicated elsewhere in the 

country. 

To learn more visit www. 

sbt.org.nz


Considerations in building a portfolio 

Rather than write more about the hot topic 

of the year, being the impact of Donald 

Trump’s tweets on investment markets, I 

thought it timely to reflect on something 

more fundamental. 

One of the universally 

accepted principles of 

investment advising is 

that diversification reduces 

risk. However, beyond simply 

“not putting all of your eggs in 

one basket”, there are a number 

of aspects to be considered 

in applying this concept. 

For a start, the level of 

diversification needs to be 

balanced between not having 

enough diversification and 

having too much diversification. 

Not having enough diversification 

concentrates risk into 

one or a few investments. If 

successful, greater returns can 

be achieved this way, but risk 

is higher because, if unsuccessful, 

greater losses can be 

experienced. 

Having too much 

diversification may 

increase the cost of 

investing. 

For example, if an investor 

had all of their funds invested 

in Pumpkin Patch which 

recently went into liquidation, 

they would have lost the lot. 

Spreading risk across a 

number of investments reduces 

the potential return, but 

significantly, reduces potential 

loss. For most investors, 

it is fear of loss rather than 

achievement of gain which is 

more important. 

At the other end of the 

scale, having too much diversification 

can defeat the purpose 

of reducing risk. 

For example, investing into 

international sharemarkets 

through a range of managed 

funds may lead to overweighting 

to underlying companies 

which may be held by all of 

the funds owned, potentially 

increasing the concentration 

risk, and defeating the very 

objective trying to be achieved. 

Consideration therefore 

needs to be given to minimising 

duplication of investments 

when using these types 

of investment vehicles. 

Taking a step back from 

the decision on the number of 

investments held in a portfolio, 

is the more important decision 

of what types of investment 

assets are held and the amount 

of a portfolio held in each 

asset class. 

In investment jargon, this 

is called the “asset allocation” 

decision. In other words, how 

much is invested into income 

assets such as cash and bonds 

(fixed interest), versus how 

much is invested into growth 

assets, such as property and 

shares (equities). Further decisions 

are then made, within 

each asset class. 

For example, in recommending 

an amount be invested 

into fixed interest, consideration 

needs to be given 

to the length of time to be 

invested (maturity), the interest 

rate received (coupon rate), 

the price of the investment 

paid and the return achieved 

(yield), and the credit rating of 

the issuer (security). 

Consideration of economic 

conditions, monetary policy 

and world events, plus checking 

on availability of fixed 

interest investments, will all 

be required to construct a suitable 

range of fixed interest 

investments. 

In recommending an 

amount be invested into 

growth assets, consideration 

needs to be given to whether 

the focus is on income, or 

growth, or a mix of the two. 

Focusing on income will 

necessitate recommending 

higher dividend paying companies 

such as utilities and 

property companies. A growth 

focus may look at a higher 

weighting to Australia and 

international markets. 

Cost is another factor to 

be considered. Having too 

much diversification may 

increase the cost of investing. 

Minimum brokerage costs per 

trade, for example, may mean 

a higher cost to implement a 

portfolio if the amounts invested 

into individual investments 

to achieve sufficient diversification 

are too small. 

Similarly, costs of advice, 

plus ongoing administration, 

funds management costs and 

trading costs may mean a very 

high hurdle rate to achieve, 

WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR MONEY 

> BY BRETT BELL-BOOTH 

Investment Advisor with Forsyth Barr Limited in Tauranga. 

Phone: (07) 577 5725 or email brett.bell-booth@forsythbarr.co.nz 

compared with a lower cost 

approach. Cost needs to be 

assessed in terms of the added 

value it is expected to deliver. 

Most importantly, constructing 

a portfolio needs to 

meet a client’s objectives, risk 

profile (what I call the sleep 

test – how much risk are they 

willing to accept, and are comfortable 

with), and preferences 

(if any). Is it suitable and will 

it deliver? 

This column is general in 

nature and is not personalised 

investment advice. Disclosure 

Statements for Forsyth Barr 

Authorised Financial Advisers 

are available on request and 

free of charge. 

ExportNZ leading overseas 

business missions 

ExportNZ is seeking 

expressions of interest 

from exporters who want 

to know more about, or want 

to join two business missions 

overseas this year. 

In August ExportNZ leads 

a delegation to Thailand and 

Vietnam and in late September/ 

early October a second trip is 

planned to South America. 

The trips will enable exporters 

to meet prequalified prospects 

and undertake in-depth 

market research on a pre-arranged 

itinerary which will be 

developed to meet the needs of 

participating businesses. 

The provisional dates for the 

trip to Asia are from Saturday, 

August 5 until Friday, August 

11 this year and the delegation 

will comprise 20-27 people. 

The outcomes sought by the 

trade mission include: 

• Gaining a better understanding 

of the market and 

If you are considering your current 

investment arrangements, perhaps 

it’s time to get a complimentary review 

finding out about consumer 

preferences and market 

intelligence 

• Developing a strategy/plan 

for the market through 

advice from NZ Trade & 

Enterprise 

• Building connections to 

partners and/or buyers 

through a dedicated business-to-business 

matching 

programme. 

The trip to South America 

will cover Argentina and either 

Chile or Uruguay, depending 

on business interest and will 

be undertaken in partnership 

with organisations such as the 

Latin American NZ Business 

Council, NZ Trade & Enterprise 

and Ministry of Foreign Affairs 

and Trade which have close ties 

to the South American market. 

The provisional dates for 

the 10 day trade mission are 

late September to early October 

and the delegation will comprise 

up to 27 people. 

Benefits of joining the delegation 

include: 

• Meeting one-on-one with 

pre-qualified potential partners, 

buyers, and distributors 

• Experiencing the scale 

and magnitude of business 

opportunities with visits 

to New Zealand companies 

with a base in South 

America 

• Networking at local 

Chambers of Commerce 

and at a dinner hosted by the 

New Zealand Ambassador 

to the countries 

• Engaging with high-level 

government officials 

to understand the benefits 

for foreign investors 

to Argentina and Chile/ 

Uruguay. 

Participation in the business 

missions is open to all exporters 

from all industry sectors 

who have an interest in either 

region. If you are interested 

in taking part or would like 

further information, email 

Catherine Lye on catherine@ 

exportnz.org.nz. 

Forsyth Barr is a New Zealand owned firm with 21 offices nationwide 

including three offices in the Bay of Plenty and Waikato regions. 

Supported by Forsyth Barr’s research and investment expertise, our Authorised 

Financial Advisers can work with you to deliver a personalised approach taking 

into account your investment objectives, preferences and your tolerance for risk. 

To make an obligation free appointment to discuss your investment 

arrangements, contact your local Forsyth Barr office by calling 0800 367 227. 

We look forward to discussing how our investment advice can work for you. 

TAU5162-01 – © Forsyth Barr Limited August 2016 

Disclosure Statements are available on request and free of charge. 

Fees and charges will apply if you elect to have a continuing relationship with Forsyth Barr.

Family key to 

holiday park’s 

success 


The slew of awards won last year by the 

Rotorua TOP 10 Holiday Park speaks as 

much to the success of family unity as it 

does to sound business management. 

By VIV POSSELT 

The park is the only fivestar 

holiday park in the 

city, and attracts a healthy 

slice of Rotorua’s more than 

$700 million a year visitor 

spend. Impressive as that figure 

is, indications are that the 

city is on track to achieving 

its goal of $1 billion in visitor 

expenditure by 2030. 

Rotorua TOP 10 Holiday 

Park co-owner Jared Adams, 

who is no stranger to awards 

it seems, is working hard to 

ensure they are ready for that 

influx. 

Last year, the 2ha park was 

named the TOP 10 Holiday 

Parks Supreme Winner in the 

annual TOP 10 Holiday Parks 

New Zealand awards. It also 

took the title of the TOP 10 

Holiday Parks People’s Choice 

Award, was runner-up for the 

TOP 10 Holiday Parks Best 

Web Profile Award 2016, 

and attained a Certificate of 

Excellence from Tripadvisor. 

One of the park’s managers, 

Sashah Macleod, scooped the 

Employee of the Year award 

at the 2016 Westpac Business 

Awards, and Jared was a finalist 

for the Emerging Tourism 

Leader Award in the Tourism 

Industry Aotearoa Awards. 

Awards snapped up in previous 

years include the TOP 10 

Holiday Parks People’s Choice 

Award 2015, the Highest 

Qualmark Increase 2015, the 

Top 10 Holiday Parks Best 

Web Profile 2014, certificates 

of excellence in 2013 and 

2014, and the TOP 10 Holiday 

Park Best Qualmark Score 

Increase in 2011. 

Keeping grounded in the 

face of such widespread recognition 

is a key to the park’s 

success. 

“We’re a really tight-knit 

family here,” said owner/director 

Jared. 

He has been involved with 

the park since he was about 

seven years old. Now into his 

30s, he shares the task of running 

it with his wife Jasmine, 

and several of 12-strong fulltime 

staff are related, either 

by blood or through marriage. 

Between them, they have many 

years’ experience in hospitality. 

Jared and Jasmine live on 

site with their two sons, and 

own the park together with 

Jared’s parents, Dave and 

Carol Adams, who originally 

purchased it in 1992. The 

Adams senior are now retired 

from the park’s day-to-day running 

– they sold a half share 

in the business to Jared and 

Jasmine in 2012. 

“Before it was a TOP 

10 park, it was known as 

Healing hands in Manuka 

products and essential oils 


Not everyone can claim 

to be excited to get to 

work each morning, 

but HoneyBliss owner Margie 

Thomas can, and has the bonus 

of helping others feel better too 

when she starts her day. 

Located in a quiet cul de 

sac in Maungatapu, Margie’s 

home-based business is poised 

on the cusp of greater growth 

as more people tune into the 

healing powers of Manuka 

honey and quality botanical 

ingredients, not only for themselves, 

but also for their pets. 

The trained aromatherapist 

and therapeutic masseuse spent 

several years quietly building 

her health-focused business as 

she continued to work as a 

massage therapist and physio 

practice manager before taking 

the plunge into a fully-fledged 

business. 

Manuka honey and essential 

oils form the foundation of her 

product range, and where ever 

possible she aims to source 

locally produced ingredients. 

Local company Kaimai 

Honey is her source for the 

UMF Manuka honey, while 

avocado and macadamia nut 

ingredients also come locally. 

“My focus has always been 

on making a product here 

myself that is genuinely natural. 

In New Zealand, the definition 

of what is “natural” may 

only include 10 percent natural 

ingredients, it is not a very 

strict definition.” 

Her product range is 

split into three broad areas 

– Manuka-based skincare, 

Manuka healing and animal-pet 

care. Many of the 

products have been developed 

from her own experiences and 

needs, combining Manuka 

with essential oils for healing 

or protection. She points to her 

Honey Bliss Roll On Relief 

muscle reliever as a product 

she has managed to evolve to 

fit clients’ needs. 

“I found after pulling a muscle 

it was too hard and painful 

to try and massage in the balm, 

so we came up with a roll on 

that proves very effective to 

apply the product yourself.” 

She creates the base recipes 

for her products, with the entire 

range made at her Tauranga 

premises. 

Margie has found being 

a member of both the Venus 

Network for women in business 

and Small Business Tauranga 

have helped her set a positive 

pathway for future growth. 

The successful family-oriented crew at Rotorua Top 10 Holiday Park, from left: Willy Mokaraka; Gaye Whata; Whakatau 

Whata; Rene Mokaraka Syben; Brad Syben (manager); Sashah Macleod (manager); Charmaine Hohaia; Bradly Foreman; 

and owners Jasmine and Jared Adams. 

“I particularly enjoy 

the short courses that Small 

Business Tauranga offers, with 

specific subjects covered in a 

short time, which is important 

when you are the only one 

working in your business.” 

She has attended a seminar 

on design and promotion and 

is looking at one about better 

utilising Facebook. 

“I have found social media 

plays a big part in engaging 

with potential customers and 

guiding them to our website. 

People often tend to use it to 

ask questions, while Instagram 

is a great way to promote the 

visual nature of the products.” 

Margie wants to emphasise 

the sensory nature of her 

products. Such as smell, feel 

and sight of the rich creams 

and scented oils. Appealing to 

the market is helped by being 

able to display and trial the 

products. 

She is also finding vets are 

engaging more with her, as 

they increasingly appreciate 

the healing power of Manuka 

honey as an alternative to steroids 

and antibiotics. 

As she grows her market 

and considers export opportunities 

Margie remains inspired by 

her move from the Coromandel 

to Tauranga when her children 

Acacia Park,” said Jared. “We 

revamped it completely when 

we took it over and started 

marketing it more proactively 

both locally and internationally.” 

Renovating the site to 

upgrade the facilities was a priority 

when Jared and Jasmine 

took over, and keeping up 

standards remains central to 

maintaining their five-star rating, 

particularly as most of the 

clientele are international tourists. 

Jared has been on the 

Holiday Accommodation 

Parks New Zealand (HAPNZ) 

HoneyBliss director Margie Thomas. 

were younger. 

“Tauranga is a good place to 

do business, it’s a good-sized 

city but we still have the lifestyle 

people are seeking. 

Board for several years. He and 

Jasmine streamline the operation 

and use whatever organisational 

and online tools they 

can access to help keep staff on 

top of their game. 

The daily running of the 

park falls to the two managers, 

Sashah Macleod and Brad 

Syben. One or other is always 

on duty, and the fact that Brad 

was a finalist for the Employee 

of the Year Award that Sashah 

won last year speaks volumes 

about their quality control. 

“They do such a good job, 

which means Jasmine and I 

are free to spend more time 

“The support I have 

had from the likes of Small 

Business Tauranga also means 

there is a great resource there 

to call on, and a good network 

on growing our business,” said 

Jared. 

The relatively youthful staff 

and close family feel means 

issues are raised and dealt with 

fast with minimal sugar-coating. 

Strident efforts are made 

to keep the park management 

and staff positive, and to recognise 

everyone’s differences 

as strengths. 

“We try to ensure that everyone 

can do whatever job is 

being asked of an employee – I 

think that’s important. We’re 

not going to critique someone 

for doing something that we 

haven’t done ourselves.” 

of people experiencing many 

of the same things in their business 

as I am.” 

To learn more visit: www. 

honeybliss.co.nz 

www.stratusblue.nz 

*Read the full article in this paper, or on our website 

1 

in 5 

Kiwis Are Affected By 

Cybercrime Each Year 

TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS 

FROM GROUND TO CLOUD


Surviving a 

media crisis 

It’s Monday morning, you’ve just settled 

in at your desk with your morning coffee 

and the phone rings. It’s a journalist from 

the local paper. One of your staff has 

been accused of discriminatory behaviour 

towards a customer and they want to know 

if it’s symptomatic of your company culture. 

What do you do? In situations 

like this, the 

way you respond can 

have a big impact on your businesses’ 

reputation, so it pays to 

have a plan. 

A sound plan will identify 

spokespeople, other parties 

that should be kept informed, 

holding statements and key 

messages. It needs the flexibility 

to cater for a wide range of 

potential crises, without being 

so generic that it fails to help 

in any specific scenario. 

When responding to a 

crisis, it’s important that the 

right person is commenting. 

Generally this should be the 

business owner or chief executive, 

particularly when you 

want to convey sincerity and 

show you are serious about 

ensuring the same thing does 

not happen again. 

While it can be tempting 

to deflect blame or go on the 

attack, often the best response 

is to apologise early and to 

offer to do whatever you can to 

put things right. 

Denying the allegation or 

trying to cast blame elsewhere 

often prolongs the story and 

risks even more reputational 

damage. Attempting to justify 

your position using statistics 

seldom works either – even if 

just 0.001 of your staff are discriminatory, 

that will be seen 

as one bad egg too many in 

your team. 

This tried and true approach 

doesn’t only apply in business. 

For example, Dan Carter’s 

early apology after his recent 

drink driving charge in France 

limited the reputational damage 

from what was, at the end 

of the day, a terrible lapse in 

judgement. His decision to 

drive drunk damaged the All 

Blacks brand and more significantly 

put others’ lives at 

risk, but his early apology and 

admission that what he did was 

wrong reduced the length of 

time the story remained on the 

front pages. 

When making an apology, 

showing sincerity is important. 

When the Rena grounded on 

the Astrolabe Reef in 2011, the 

ship’s owners’ decision to apologise 

more than a week after 

the event by video rather than 

in person caused significant 

consternation and was spurned 

by then-Tauranga Mayor Stuart 

Crosby. When they finally 

made the decision to fly to 

New Zealand to apologise in 

person 10 months after the disaster, 

it was too little too late. 

What’s more, an apology 

is meaningless if people don’t 

have confidence that you have 

learnt from the incident and 

are taking steps to ensure it 

doesn’t happen again. Tangible 

actions often speak louder than 

words for businesses looking 

to regain public confidence. 

It’s worth remembering that 

in 2017, reputation and crisis 

management needs to be exercised 

across multiple communications 

channels, including 

social media. Negative comments 

on Facebook or Twitter 

can quickly snowball if not 

handled well early on. 

A good example of this 

was the uproar that followed 

a Facebook rant by the owner 

of Wellington’s Ekim Burger, 

after a customer’s allegation 

that the burger bar gave her son 

food poisoning. The owner’s 

unapologetic response, which 

TELLING YOUR STORY 

> BY JAMES HEFFIELD 

Director of Bay of Plenty communications consultancy Last Word 

Writing Services. To find out more visit lastwordwriting.co.nz or 

email james@lastwordwriting.co.nz. 

claimed “Almost 20 years in 

this f***ing industry and never 

had a person who ate what I 

cook get sick from it”, caused 

outrage on social media, and 

was covered by radio stations 

and news media across New 

Zealand. 

Many of these issues can 

be mitigated with a bit of planning. 

While a fast response to a 

crisis is often critical, it needs 

to be considered. 

Speaking off the cuff can be 

dangerous. 

An effective response is 

credible and delivered by the 

right person at the right time. 

You can’t always turn a 

negative into a positive, but 

you can mitigate the impact, 

learn from it, and keep your 

business moving forward. 

07 578 9144 

Tauranga Windscreen 

54 First ave, Tauranga 3110 

info@taurangawindscreen.co.nz 

www.taurangawindscreen.co.nz 

15094 

Hamilton Windscreen LWP.indd 1 

2/12/10 9:23:50 AM


Don’t bankroll your customers’ businesses 

One of the most pertinent lessons for 

small business owners is that you can’t 

afford to let your clients use you as their 

bank because your bank may not be as 

supportive as they once were. 

Not that getting a loan 

has ever been easy, but 

it suddenly got tougher 

a couple of years ago and it is 

likely to remain that way. 

A common reason Small 

and Medium-sized Enterprises 

(SME) owners need shortterm 

cash top-ups is to manage 

while slow-paying clients 

get round to paying their 

debts. 

A recent survey by Xero 

of their users revealed that 

around 60 percent of invoices 

are paid late and more than a 

third are at least two weeks 

late. Irrespective of where in 

the world they ran the study, 

the results are essentially the 

same. Small businesses have 

a hard time getting paid. 

Cash keeps a business 

going on a day-to-day basis. 

So businesses that find themselves 

needing cash top-ups 

while they wait for their clients 

to pay up, may be forced 

MONEY MATTERS 

> BY STEPHEN GRAHAM 

Stephen Graham is director and managing partner at BDO Rotorua, 

Chartered Accountants and Advisers. To find out more visit bdorotorua.co.nz 

or email rotorua@bdo.co.nz 

to use alternatives to bank 

loans, which will almost certainly 

not be inexpensive. 

The best approach by far, 

is to get paid up front where 

possible. 

Other strategies that you 

can employ to mitigate late 

payments include: 

• Invoice as soon as possible 

– this way the value 

of your work will still be 

fresh in your client’s mind. 

Email your invoice for 

super efficient delivery. 

• Don’t wait, chase – never 

procrastinate when dealing 

with slow payers. Don’t 

wait until it is two weeks 

overdue before reminding 

them, remind them as soon 

as payment becomes overdue. 

• Then keep talking – let 

them know that you are 

serious about getting paid. 

• Agree terms up front – best 

place to start. Advising 

clients of your costing 

structure up front helps 

ensure they’re making 

an informed decision and 

so will be less likely to 

question pricing at invoice 

time. 

• Partial up-front payment – 

a partial payment up front 

followed by progress payments 

is a good option, 

particularly where you 

have a new client relationship 

or you have a sale 

with materials as part of 

the supply. You don’t want 

to be left chasing a client 

for payment well after 

paying your supplier. At 

the very least, get the cost 

of the materials paid for up 

front. 

• Variances from agreed 

terms – ensure you negotiate, 

and get a written and 

signed agreement of, any 

further terms before starting 

work. This will reduce 

any nasty surprises on the 

part of either party. 

• Be aware of your margins. 

Slow payers will very 

quickly ruin any profit. 

Be prepared to walk away 

from some jobs. 

Implementing a strategy 

is hard, most people take 

the attitude that any business 

is better than no business. 

Wrong! Business is business. 

If you set client expectations 

up front and follow through 

on your strategy, the client 

will still love you tomorrow. 

Be the SME that sticks 

Small and medium businesses 

are the backbone 

of the New Zealand 

economy and contribute 26 

percent to this country’s GDP. 

Unfortunately, the sad fact 

is that most small to medium 

enterprises have a short 

life span. Research by the 

Institute of Directors shows 

only three out of ten SMEs 

get to celebrate their fifth 

birthday and only one out of 

ten make it to double digits. 

With SMEs struggling to 

achieve longevity what is 

one of the key characteristics 

of success? From the get-go 

they are serious about growing 

revenue. 

A sales strategy is a must 

for all businesses, but especially 

important for a fledging 

business. Many start-ups 

focus solely on creating a 

great product. It is equally 

important to convey how 

great your product is to the 

right people so they want to 

do business with you. 

You need to wake up 

every morning and be thinking 

about where your next 

order or customer is coming 

from. Let’s face it, a business 

with no customers or orders is 

dead in the water. 

To be successful in sales 

you need to have a deliberate 

strategy. You might get 

by initially with an ad-hoc 

approach, but the odds will be 

against you for the long term. 

Look at Xero, one of New 

Zealand’s most successful 

start-ups recognised by international 

investors. In 2008 it 

had one customer and grew 

this to 400,000 by the end of 

2014. By the end of 2016 it 

was close to reaching 900,000 

customers. 

Xero set out a clear vision 

and has worked towards 

achieving it. 

So how can you have a 

successful sales strategy? 

Develop a sales vision 

that is inspiring, motivating, 

achievable (but a real stretch) 

and measurable. 

Know who your target 

market is and identify prospects. 

Make sure you know 

who the decision maker is 

so you’re talking to the right 

person. Find out who their 

influencers are. 

Understand the ‘value’ of 

your product or service. You 

are not selling your company 

but the value your product 

GROWING YOUR BUSINESS 

> BY DARREN MCGARVIE 

Darren McGarvie is co-founder and Chief Coach of the 

Firestation, the Bay’s only business growth centre. To find out 

more go to www.thefirestation.nz or email grow@thefirestation.nz 

or service provides. Always 

speak to your prospects on 

the benefits. 

Just as importantly take 

the time to listen to your 

prospects. The sales process 

should be a conversation, 

not a one-way dialogue. This 

only works if you actively 

listen. 

Make sure you follow up 

and deliver. If you’ve promised 

a follow up call or material 

make sure you deliver 

the goods. This shows you 

are reliable and are good to 

your word. 

You need to commit to 

your sales on an ongoing 

basis. Like anything worthwhile, 

it isn’t easy. It takes 

perseverance, time and energy, 

but the rewards are well 

worth it. 

Business leader to provide advice 

on science and innovation 

The government agency 

tasked with growing 

New Zealand’s economy 

by helping businesses succeed 

through technology has reappointed 

local business person 

and Priority One chair, Brett 

Hewlett, to its stakeholder 

advisory group. 

Callaghan Innovation 

announced the appointment 

recently, alongside the reappointment 

of Claire Robinson 

and Suse Reynolds. 

The Stakeholder Advisory 

Group provides independent, 

expert advice to the Callaghan 

Innovation Board. 

It includes some of the 

most well-respected people 

involved in New Zealand 

innovation. 

Brett is former CEO of 

Comvita Limited and an 

independent director of the 

US-based specialty medical 

device and pharmaceutical 

company Derma Sciences Inc. 

Claire Robinson is 

Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor 

of the College of Creative 

Arts at Massey University and 

former head of the Institute of 

Communication Design. 

Suse Reynolds is a founder 

and board member of Angel 

HQ, the Wellington region’s 

angel network, and currently 

an executive director on 

the Board of Angel Capital 

Association NZ. 

Science and Innovation 

Minister Paul Goldsmith says: 

“The reappointment of Ms 

Robinson, Mr Hewlett and Ms 

Reynolds recognises the valuable 

skills and insights they 

all contribute to the advisory 

group, as well as their work 

to ensure that Callaghan is 

connected and engaged with 

its stakeholders.” 

Brett Hewlett. 



$12.2m 

Funded for the 

STRATUS Project 




Chinese business finds a home in Rotorua 

Just over two years since it was 

established, the Rotorua Chinese 

Community of Commerce (RCCC) is 

proving to be a success story with benefits 

now widely enjoyed throughout the district. 


The non-profit organisation 

was founded in 

December 2014 to support 

the growing number of 

Chinese-owned businesses in 

Rotorua, and to collaborate 

with local council, business 

leaders and other groups to 

aid in the city’s economic and 

community growth. 

China is very 

important to the New 

Zealand economy in 

terms of trade, and it 

is essential for us to 

be as connected as 

possible to China in a 

global sense. 

“The intention,” said 

co-founder and president of 

the group, Frank Zhou, “was 

to boost business opportunities 

for local members, to benefit 

existing businesses looking 

to enhance their links locally 

and with the Chinese market, 

and to attract new ventures to 

Rotorua.” 

The ‘we’ referenced by 

Frank, who is commercial 

manager at Westpac Bank in 

Rotorua, brings in the other 

RCCC co-founder, Chris Low, 

a surgeon who now lives in 

Tauranga. 

“Back in 2013, we saw 

the level of Asian business 

activity becoming particularly 

buoyant in Bay of Plenty and 

Waikato. A growing number of 

people were viewing Rotorua 

not only as a visitor destination, 

but as a place in which 

to settle and do business,” said 

Frank. 

“On the back of that, we 

thought the time was right 

to do something to promote 

greater business-focused connectivity 

between Chineseowned 

operations and the 

wider business community.” 

It sought to connect 

Rotorua Chinese businesses to 

local and international businesses 

in a way that was economically 

sustainable yet sensitive 

to the protection of the 

region’s cultural values. Frank 

identified the need for a group 

that would also bring potential 

investors into the fabric of the 

local community. 

At the same time, Chris 

described Chinese investment 

as a key to Rotorua’s growth, 

adding that the formation of 

the RCCC would bring benefits 

to the city. Its point of difference, 

he is reported to have 

said, was that it was made up 

of people from different walks 

of life, professionals sharing a 

common goal. 

From the outset, the concept 

was welcomed. A series 

of meetings with Asian business 

owners identified strong 

support for the establishment 

of a group, and both the local 

council and local business 

organisations stepped up to 

champion RCCC activities. 

Rotorua Mayor Steve 

Chadwick said the RCCC contributes 

widely to the district 

through the “business and creative 

experience of its members”. 

“It has established a positive 

relationship with Rotorua 

Lakes Council,” she said. “We 

fully support the diverse communities 

which are driven to 

create their own destiny and 

are contributing to the wider 

community and the local economy. 

We’ve seen this happening 

through the establishment 

of the Chinese Community of 

Commerce, which was a very 

positive step forward for our 

Chinese community.” 

When the RCCC was 

established, a leading Chinese 

embassy official described the 

fledgling group as the “icing 

on the cake” for the century-old 

relationship between 

the city and China. 

Similar sentiment was 

expressed recently by Allison 

Lawton, interim CEO of 

the Rotorua Chamber of 

Commerce, who said: “This is 

a fabulous example of collaboration 

between two Chambers 

working together to exchange 

ideas and share tips on how to 

conduct business in different 

cultural settings.” 

Last month, Frank 

described the RCCC model 

as “quite unique and very different” 

in terms of cultural 

business groups. 

“China is very important to 

the New Zealand economy in 

terms of trade, and it is essential 

for us to be as connected 

Rotorua Chinese Community of Commerce 

founder and president Frank Zhou. 

as possible to China in a global 

sense. 

“Rotorua is a unique place; 

what we offer is quite different 

from many other New Zealand 

centres. We are the most popular 

destination for 90 percent 

of Chinese tourists to New 

Zealand. Local Chinese businesses, 

many of which have 

been here for a very long time, 

operate in a diverse number of 

industries, and we reflect this 

in RCCC membership. The 

unofficial figure is that more 

than 40 percent of local commercial 

accommodation businesses 

are owned by Asians.” 

He said the RCCC now had 

50 members, 20 corporate and 

30 individual business members. 

“Our members often collaborate 

with council where 

there are Chinese interests 

involved or people visiting 

Rotorua, and we are active 

across the community in other 

areas. There is an increasing 

number of Chinese students 

coming here - we help in the 

teaching of English at schools 

and tertiary institutions, and 

support them as they integrate 

into the community. 

“We also organise networking 

functions and activities, 

and free business seminars 

covering topics often selected 

by our members. These are 

open to everyone, not just our 

members. We encourage our 

members to set up their own 

networks for specific projects 

– a few have already been 

established. There is also a 

great deal of cultural support 

offered to our members and 

we are very socially active 

within the wider community. 

“As a group, we are grateful 

for the support we have 

had from Rotorua. We want 

to reciprocate, and actively 

find ways in which we can 

do that.” 

Frank said he felt “very 

proud” of the RCCC’s 

achievements. 

“The feedback we have 

had is very positive. We are 

now in the process of designing 

a glossy prospectus which 

we hope to be able to distribute 

in March. That will help 

us disseminate information to 

our members, and hopefully, 

attract more to the group.” 

Whakatane boat manufacturer takes out top Australian award 

Surtees Boats’ 700 Game Fisher model. 

Photo: Apchem Images. 

Whakatane boat builder 

Surtees Boats’ 700 

Game Fisher model 

has been named Australia’s 

Greatest Aluminium Boat by 

Australian media outlet TradeaBoat. 

Surtees Boats eased out 

strong competition from the 

American built Tracker, 

the Australian Stessco and 

Anglapro brands as well as 

another New Zealand boat 

from Stabicraft. 

Surtees Boats’ CEO, Adam 

Dyck, says the company has 

always been proud of their 

innovation, which carries 

across to quality, construction, 

performance, design and safety. 

“We pride ourselves on 

making safe, confidence-inspiring 

boats,” he says. 

“What is even more special, 

these awards are given after 

putting the boat through its 

paces in its natural environment 

– out on the water. It was 

great to hear the judges felt 

confident and safe on the 700 

Game Fisher.” 

Judges assessed finalists 

across 10 criteria, starting with 

suitability for fishing, innovation, 

design and layout, quality 

of finish, handling and ride, 

and stability at rest. Senior boat 

tester and host, John ‘Bear’ 

Willis, says “The 700 Game 

Fisher is an absolute corker! 

The entire workplace is pure 

platinum in the eyes of any 

keen fisho, especially those 

with a yearning for the big blue 

water.” 

Banks’ customers “most indebted in history” 

Banks are increasingly 

having to adapt their 

service offerings as the 

customer demographic morphs 

from the wealthiest generation 

in history to the most indebted,” 

according to an expert. 

Sam Shuttleworth, PwC 

partner and banking and capital 

markets leader, says the level 

of debt was a significant issue 

revealed in a new PwC report. 

The Future of Banking 

through a Kiwi Lens looks at 

the performance of Australia’s 

big banks and raises questions 

about the six trends that are 

forcing them to consider how 

they operate today, in preparation 

for tomorrow. 

Almost all of New Zealand’s 

banks are Australian-owned 

and therefore face the same 

issues – most of these are global 

challenges that cannot be 

ignored. 

“Banks are increasingly 

having to adapt their service 

offerings as the customer 

demographic morphs from the 

wealthiest generation in history 

to the most indebted,” he 

explains. 

“In New Zealand, half of 

our population have some form 

of debt, with 24 to 35-year-olds 

the most indebted age group, 

which brings up questions 

about how our banks service 

different, less-wealthy demographics 

and whether their 

appetite for risk is changing as 

a result.” 

The report says that banks 

must become simpler, smaller 

and more deeply connected 

to customers so that they 

can become more agile in an 

ever-changing world. 

Mr Shuttleworth says a 

bank’s ability to quickly adapt 

to suit customer preferences is 

going to be a key focus over the 

next few years. 

“This also poses some big 

questions for CEOs in the sector: 

Are NZ banks ready for a 

wider change to their banking 

models because of a change in 

their customers’ circumstances? 

From an ageing population 

to one with different levels of 

wealth, banks will seek to be 

more responsive to our shifting 

demographics.” 

The report looks at changes 

in demographics, technology 

and consumer behaviour; 

Asiafication; the impact of an 

interventionist Government; 

and a subdued macro economy. 

Mr Shuttleworth says getting 

ahead of these trends and 

looking at them from a Kiwi 

perspective is really important 

for our own banking sector. 

“When we look at the report, 

we see six big trends affecting 

the financial sector. All of these 

can be looked at through a New 

Zealand lens – they have to be, 

if our banks are to stay relevant, 

profitable and evolve to suit 

the environment,” explains Mr 

Shuttleworth. 

As we approach 2020, the 

report outlines six priorities 

for banks and some proposals 

for how they can respond. 

They must organise themselves 

around the customer, simplify 

the organisation, make the most 

of their partnerships, focus on 

specific areas of innovation, 

embrace regulation and put 

their culture to work.


Whakatane retirement 

development inches closer 

A proposed development with a 30- 

year history is a step closer with eight 

expressions of interest sitting with 

Whakatane District Council. (WDC) 

Council purchased the 40 

hectare “Piripai Block” 

at 77 Bunyan Rd on the 

outskirts of Whakatane in the 

1970s and has wanted to develop 

the site for a “long time” 

according to Mayor Tony 

Bonne. 

In 2013 WDC signed 

individual memoranda of 

understandings with Hopper 

Developments and Whakatane 

Marina Limited to use the 

Piripai Block, and the adjoining 

Bennett’s Block, for a 

major lifestyle development. 

However, the memoranda 

were time-based and the time 

expired following a lengthy 

Environment Court appeal. 

The appeal was lodged by 

the Opihi Whanaungakore 

Trust and asked that the Piripai 

site be set aside as an urupa 

buffer to protect the adjacent 

Opihi Whanaunga Kore, one of 

the final resting places of local 

iwi Ngati Awa. 

The appeal was dismissed 

by the Environment Court in 

2016 and, the same year, council 

invited selected real estate 

agencies to submit proposals 

for marketing its landholding 

at 77 Bunyan Rd for “residential 

and lifestyle retirement village 

development purposes”. 

Late last year council 

announced it had received 

eight expressions of interest 

from commercial entities interested 

in developing the property. 

Mr Bonne said submitters 

had proposed a range of development 

options including a 

lifestyle retirement village, a 

residential subdivision and a 

mixed subdivision and retirement 

village approach. 

“I am looking forward to 

negotiating with parties that 

The 40 hectare Piripai Block outside 

Whakatane where a lifestyle and 

retirement village is planned. 

can offer a development plan 

that makes a positive, longterm 

contribution to the district,” 

he said. 

“A retirement village means 

our older residents will no 

longer need to leave to find the 

quality lifestyle they are looking 

for in their golden years. 

“We would like to see the 

development get underway relatively 

soon.” 

Mr Bonne said any development 

approach would have 

to be in accordance with the 

Opihi Structure Plan and added 

work to develop a management 

plan for the buffer between the 

land set aside for development 

and the Opihi Whanaugakore 

Urupa is continuing. 

Whakatane District Council 

public affairs manager Ross 

Boreham said council was still 

going through the process of 

selecting a preferred developer. 

“Once that has happened 

we expect to enter into a due 

diligence process and, at the 

end of that process, there will 

be a formal offer to purchase 

the land.” 

A sign advertising Whakatane’s 

new Shaw Road subdivision. 

Subdivisions to ease 

Whakatane section shortage 

By KATEE SHANKS 

Two planned subdivisions 

will go a long way 

towards easing the land 

shortage in Whakatane. 

Professionals are marketing 

a 6.75-hectare, 65-section, 

residential subdivision 

in Shaw Rd on the outskirts 

of Whakatane with the first 

20 lots currently offered for 

sale. 

The block of land is a 

three kilometre distance from 

Easter trading on Eastern Bay agendas 

Whakatane and just down the 

road from “The Hub” retail 

centre. 

Previously farmed as an 

olive grove, land owner and 

property developer Barney 

Gray proposed a “quality residential 

suburb to meet the 

critical demand for affordable 

sections in the town”. 

In spite of opposition 

regarding a 2013 request to 

rezone the property to residential 

land, Whakatane 

District Council gave consent 

as part of the district’s urban 

growth strategy. 

The second subdivision is 

to be carried out on Keepa Rd 

by Lysaght Developments. 

The 40-lot subdivision 

is awaiting consent from 

Whakatane District Council 

and has been designed to provide 

affordable sections ranging 

from 550 square metres to 

800 square metres. 

Keepa Rd is within walking 

distance to Coastlands 

Beach, and close to the River 

Edge Walkway that leads into 

the town centre. 

Two of the three Eastern 

Bay councils will have a 

decision regarding Easter 

trading in time for the April 

holiday this year. 

Kawerau District Council 

has already voted to allow 

Easter trading in 2017, Opotiki 

District Council will make its 

decision before Easter this 

year, while Whakatane District 

Council will decide in time for 

Easter 2018. 

Kawerau Mayor 

Malcolm Campbell believes 

Government has “shonked its 

duty” by passing the decision 

on to local councils. 

“Easter trading was a decision 

I believe, which should 

have been made at a higher 

level, but, it obviously was 

not,” Mr Campbell said. 

“We undertook community 

consultation, received one 

nay, so it became a no-brainer 

for us.” 

Mr Campbell said the one 

objection came from a church 

that argued Easter Sunday 

should be a family day. 

We [Eastern Bay] 

are not good Sunday 

traders nor are we 

a retail destination. 

We are a beach 

destination and that’s 

what we promote 

ourselves as. 

“And I don’t disagree with 

that but I also do not think we 

should impede on those business 

that want to trade. 

“Businesses don’t have to 

open, employees don’t have 

to work – but they can if they 

wish to.” 

Whakatane District 

Council will be seeking community 

consultation regarding 

Easter trading in time for 

Easter 2018. 

Public affairs manager 

Ross Boreham said council 

did not believe there was sufficient 

time for the consultation 

process to be carried out 

in a measured fashion before 

April this year while Opotiki 

District Council’s Easter trading 

community consultation 

closed on Friday, March 10. 

A decision was expected 

before Easter. 

Eastern Bay of Plenty 

Chamber of Commerce chief 

executive Gerard Casey said 

a quick poll of retailers within 

Whakatane suggested 80 

percent supported the right to 

trade on Easter Sunday. 

“However, only 40 percent 

said they definitely would,” 

Mr Casey said. 

“We [Eastern Bay] are not 

good Sunday traders nor are 

we a retail destination. We are 

a beach destination and that’s 

what we promote ourselves as. 

“If we were a retail destination 

and we had an area 

consistent with Sunday trading 

I would be advocating for 

change, but we are not. But 

I believe people visiting the 

region do need the option to 

shop.” 

Kawerau Mayor Malcolm Campbell. 



83% 

Number of New Zealanders that have 

experienced a cyber breach 

FROM 


GROUND TO CLOUD


MyFarm offers first BoP gold kiwifruit investment 

Rural investment specialist MyFarm has 

released its first opportunity for investors to 

own a stake in a gold kiwifruit orchard after 

an exhaustive two-year hunt for the right 

property. 

MyFarm is seeking $6.3 

million from investors 

to purchase the 16 hectare 

property at Paengaroa, the 

eastern end of the Tauranga 

Eastern Link. 

Expressway Orchard 

Limited Partnership is the third 

kiwifruit orchard syndicate to 

be established by MyFarm in 

the past two years. However, 

chief executive Andrew Watters 

says it has taken two years to 

secure a quality gold kiwifruit 

orchard with the key attributes 

investors are looking for. 

“It is a very competitive 

market for quality orchards with 

established gold vines. We’re 

thrilled to find a property that is 

established but also has a development 

component that will add 

value for investors.” 

The orchard which is adjacent 

to the Te Puke golf course 

comprises 9.83 canopy hectares 

already planted in Gold; 2.9 cha 

of Hayward (green) and 3.3 cha 

of G14 (green) which will be 

replanted in gold over the next 

five years. 

Paeangarora is a prime kiwifruit 

growing area, favoured for 

its climate, low altitude, flat 

contour and free draining soils. 

And Andrew Watters says the 

conversion to gold kiwifruit will 

add a nice ‘twist’ for investors 

in the form of a forecast 11.3 

percent development margin. 

Expressway Orchard will be 

leased and managed by current 

owner DMS under a 10 year 

contract. DMS, is one of NZ’s 

largest kiwifruit and avocado 

management companies with 

more than 100 orchards in the 

region under its management. 

Mr Watters says investors 

are hungry for access to the 

kiwifruit sector, and praised 

Zespri’s careful management 

of export supply and kiwifruit 

variety licences. 

“The accelerating export 

demand for kiwifruit, with the 

gold variety leading the charge, 

Expressway Kiwifruit Orchard at Paengaroa. 

Mossop’s Honey meets new challenges 

Rheumatism and a desire 

to put the frighteners up 

some noisy partygoers 

played a big part in establishing 

one of the Bay of Plenty’s largest 

family honey businesses. 

Mossop’s Honey celebrates 

70 years this autumn, with roots 

that started on the other side of 

the Kaimais, migrated across 

to the Bay, and now have hives 

spread throughout the Central 

North Island and East Coast. 

Back in 1947 Neil Mossop’s 

father Ron who worked at 

Waharoa dairy factory had 

heard about the positive effect 

on rheumatism that bee stings 

could have, thanks to the venom’s 

ability to ease inflammation 

of joints. 

Ron was well ahead of his 

time, with researchers today, 

only starting to learn more 

about how the venom increases 

anti-inflammatory hormones in 

the body. 

“Dad decided to get a few 

hives and subject himself to 

stings while he looked after 

them, and sure enough he found 

the stings did help him with his 

joints,” says Neil. 

The cheese maker and boiler 

operator turned backyard beekeeper 

soon learned bee hives 

could also have a positive effect 

keeping other unwelcome ailments 

away. 

“It was the days of the 6 

o’clock swill, when people 

would drink as much as 

they could and then pile out 

of the pub, and continue to 

drink at home. We had a bunch 

of rowdy people who would 

always congregate at the end of 

our street once the pubs shut. 

Dad asked a beekeeper if he 

could put a few hives there – it 

soon dealt to the noisy parties!” 

Ron’s passion for beekeeping 

grew and he leapt at the 

opportunity in the early ‘50s to 

buy 800 hives off a Te Aroha 

beekeeper. 

“In those days that was a lot 

of hives, enough to be a fulltime 

business and he bought 

the lot for 22 shillings and 6 

pence.” Today a single hive can 

be worth up to $1000. 

Most honey collected 

then was predominately pasture-based, 

but Ron’s passion 

for variety and innovation 

shone through when he tracked 

down the source of a sweet tasting, 

light coloured honey that 

appeared in his hives. 

“They followed the bees 

right up into the top of the 

Kaimais to find the source 

which turned out to be Tawari. 

It’s less common today, but the 

Tawari tree had a flower that 

yielded this beautiful butterscotch-type 

honey.” 

Over those early years, Ron 

worked hard building relationships 

with land owners and 

farmers through Waikato, running 

hives in return for a generous 

supply of honey. 

In today’s increasingly competitive 

honey industry it is a 

tradition Neil and Wendy continue, 

along with making hive 

rental payments that provides 

valuable income for farmers 

on some of the tough hill country 

around the East Coast and 

Central North Island. 

Ron had also been retailing 

Mossop’s Honey around shops 

in the region, and in 1961 the 

family opened their store on 

the site they continue to occupy 

today at Tauriko. 

Ever innovative, Neil, like 

his father Ron, was also the 

first beekeeper in New Zealand 

to commercially provide hives 

for kiwifruit pollination, moving 

eight or nine hives at a time 

around on his Ford V8 truck. 

He was a pioneer working with 

the families who planted the 

first kiwifruit in the Bay of 

Plenty. 

“Today we cart 400-450 

hives at a time on a 44 tonne 

truck, travelling and returning 

in a day to places Dad would 

have stayed overnight at, given 

how rough the roads and routes 

were back then,” says Neil. 

These days, kiwifruit pollination 

is still an important 

part of the business, but not 

as significant, given honey’s 

increasing value. 

Those honey sales expanded 

well in the ‘80s, after Neil 

and Wendy bought the business 

from Ron in 1981. This also 

included their first exports. 

“Hong Kong was relatively 

easy to export to in those 

days and today we export to 

10 countries with Asia and the 

United States really strong markets 

for us,” says Wendy. 

Their pioneering ventures 

continued as they closely 

followed early research on 

Manuka honey done by the late 

Professor Molan at Waikato 

University. 

“Until then field honey and 

Tawari were the main honey 

types, Manuka was a bit of an 

unknown, seen as a little different,” 

says Neil. 

A group of beekeepers however 

saw Manuka’s potential 

and formed the Unique Manuka 

Factor association which 

Mossops was part of. 

Meantime Wendy witnessed 

the antibacterial power of 

Manuka when she saw how it 

cured an ulcer her mother had 

struggled to have healed conventionally. 

“I saw how the skin around 

the ulcer was softened and that 

was the seed of an idea to 

develop a skincare range using 

Manuka.” 

But it was not until 2007 

when she met a cosmetologist 

capable of developing a genuinely 

natural range of products 

that saw the birth of the company’s 

“Natrual” range. 

“The ‘80s really became the 

decade where Manuka was discovered 

and better understood,” 

she says. 

Wendy and Neil recount the 

many challenges the business 

has faced over the years, from 

the Whakatane earthquake, to 

PSA in kiwifruit, but perhaps 

the biggest one was learning 

varroa had infected New 

Zealand beehives in April 2000. 

Today Wendy and Neil are 

proud to see their own family 

taking over as the third generation, 

with sons Ryan and Duane 

employed, and youngest son 

Joshua working alongside the 

is testament to the investment 

the industry has made in R + 

D.” 

He says MyFarm has experienced 

strong interest in the 

Expressway Orchard investment 

opportunity since launching 

it recently. 

Neil Mossop bee keeping. 

business with his own bee operation, 

Beelieve Enterprises. 

Their daughter Charity has also 

been closely involved in the 

business. 

Wendy says their focus on 

providing a consistently high 

quality product, with minimal 

stirring or treatment has lent 

Mossop’s Honey a different 

texture from most commercial 

honeys, and earned them many 

dedicated customers in New 

Zealand and around the world. 

Meantime the innovative 

“Investors want access to 

the growth of the kiwifruit sector 

and to the Bay of Plenty 

region.” 

couple are looking forward 

to the forthcoming launch of 

another honey-based product 

for winter, a specially developed 

cough elixir that promises 

to help ease the usual winter 

colds thanks to Manuka’s now 

well-known healing properties. 

“We feel we have been very 

blessed to work where we are, 

in the business we are in and 

to have our family close and 

involved, with plenty of challenges 

and opportunities,” says 

Wendy. 

1947 - 2017


Can the Government 

protect us? 

TECH TALK 

> BY TONY SNOW 

Director Stratus Blue Ltd. Tony@stratusblue.co.nz | Mobile 

022 122 8669 T 07 777 0010. 

Yes – you are being attacked. It is not a 

matter of if, but when, and that when is a 

lot of the time! Thanks to technology, it is 

becoming easier to do business and the 

risks with interacting with other entities, 

businesses or consumers is on the rise. 

As we do business together 

we can take for granted 

that we are safe to deal 

with each other in this way. Of 

course, at the same time, global 

hackers are becoming more 

sophisticated with even some 

of the bigger name hosting services 

being breached. 

The Government is 

investing 22.2 million 

from Budget 2016 to 

set up a new national 

Computer Emergency 

Response Team 

(CERT). 

Security systems help prevent 

and monitor the issues 

and it is amazing the frequency 

of attacks that you may not 

know about! Not only can your 

IT provider assist, depending 

on your risk profile, to put 

measures in place but the government 

is also assisting in this 

fight. 

Civil Defence exists for natural 

and physical disasters and 

plans for disaster recovery, and 

as the Ministry of Business and 

Innovation points out ‘’The 

Government is investing 22.2 

million from Budget 2016 to 

set up a new national Computer 

Emergency Response Team 

(CERT). The CERT will be 

responsible for monitoring, 

tracking and advising on cyber 

security incidents or attacks 

affecting New Zealand. The 

national CERT will be solely 

dedicated to cyber security and 

will be the central component 

of New Zealand’s cyber security 

architecture. 

We are also pleased to 

have the STRATUS project 

on our doorstep. ‘Security 

Technologies Returning 

Accountability, Trust and 

User-centric Services” in the 

Cloud is funded by the New 

Zealand Government through 

the Ministry of Business, 

Innovation, and Employment 

(MBIE) and is led by the 

University of Waikato’s Dr 

Ryan Ko. 

STRATUS is a six-year, 

$12.2 million cyber security 

project, This ground-breaking 

project will create a range of 

security tools, techniques and 

capabilities which return the 

control of data to Cloud computing 

users. The overall aim 

of the project is to empower 

users to be able to control 

the security of their data in 

the Cloud without the need 

for third parties. The project 

also aims to develop tools and 

services which can be commercialised. 

Work on STRATUS began 

in 2014 and is being carried 

out by a team of leading Cloud 

security researchers and practitioners 

from the University 

of Waikato, the University of 

Auckland, Unitec Institute of 

Technology and the Cloud 

Security Alliance. 

Government and international 

teams are working on 

cyber security, multinational 

organisations are invested 

heavily in security both physical 

and cyber, so the question 

remains as a Bay of Plenty 

business, are you protected? 

What happens when something 

does happen? Are you insured 

against attack or harmful loss 

and how long will it take to 

get your business back up and 

running? 

Stratus Blue recommends a 

business continuity plan which 

includes a disaster recovery 

Exciting news from summer 

entrepreneurial programme 

Top students from 

Toi Ohomai Institute 

of Technology and 

University of Waikato spent 

the summer in Priority One’s 

Ignition co-working space taking 

part in an innovative entrepreneurship 

programme. 

Project Ignite invited students 

from across a range of 

faculties to apply for scholarships 

to complete the programme 

over a 10-week period. 

Participants were provided 

with a unique, tailored experience 

and the tools they needed 

to validate their ideas and create 

a sustainable business. 

Local entrepreneur and 

CEO of Eurofins Bay of Plenty, 

Tina Jennen, was the expert 

coach on the programme, providing 

advice and support to 

the student entrepreneurs. 

“The programme included 

group and individual activities, 

guidance by start-up coaches, 

inspirational speakers, practical 

sessions, access to specialist 

mentors and help with 

applications for seed-funding.” 

At the completion of the 

programme, the students 

pitched their ideas to project 

sponsors and local businesspeople. 

The businesses they 

developed included: 

• EDM Productions – leaving 

a legacy through documentaries 

of the personal 

stories of elderly or ill people 

• My Good Neighbour – an 

online platform that connects 

locals that need an 

odd job done with people 

looking for casual work 

• Homebuilding.co.nz – discover 

your dream home 

with thousands of housing 

plans, all in one place 

• Fashenz – an online platform 

that helps NZ’s 

emerging fashion designers 

• The Capture Collective – a 

full service one-stop-shop 

to access professional photography 

• In Touch – a real time 

scheduling app for small 

contracting businessses to 

help them stay better organised 

• The Plunge – new technology 

which enables a water 

gun to fill in under two 

seconds. 

Project Ignite is jointly 

funded by Priority One 

and members Ballance 

Agri-Nutrients, Plus Group 

Horticulture, University of 

Waikato and Toi Ohomai 

Institute of Technology. 

plan and knowledge of time 

and process to get business 

back up and running. 

Depending on your industry, 

with Easter weekend coming 

up, this may be a good time 

with minimum disruption to 

test these plans. 

Don’t leave it all to the 

Government! Talk to your 

technology department about 

these plans, the downtime you 

can afford and the risks you 

wish to take and how to insure 

and protect against them. 

Local company releases 

emissions-reducing cement 

A 

Mount Maunganui-based cement company 

has taken lessons from ancient 

Roman concrete to create and launch 

a low carbon footprint cement that helps 

reduce CO 2 emissions. 

HR Cement Ltd managing director Chris 

Hall said the company has managed to develop 

a more environmentally friendly cement 

called Eco-Cem that has significant benefits 

when compared with standard cements. 

“EcoCem has the potential to reduce 

the carbon footprint of concrete utilised on 

construction sites by 15-30 percent and set 

a New Zealand benchmark for low carbon 

concretes in New Zealand,” he says. 

The company looked at concrete mixtures 

used by the ancient Romans and, after 

applying modern cement manufacturing 

techniques, engineered a new cement using 

Pozzolan from the central plateau of the 

North Island. In addition, compared with 

standard cement Eco-Cem gets stronger as 

time goes on, increases abrasion resistance, 

improves durability and permeability and has 

a high resistance to the harsh climatic conditions 

experienced in New Zealand. 

Mr Hall said one of Eco-Cem’s greatest 

strengths was that it was far more environmentally 

friendly than the existing production 

of Portland cement, which is energy-intensive 

and results in higher global 

greenhouse gas emissions. 



1 

in 5 

Kiwis Are Affected By 

Cybercrime Each Year 




Business interruption 

planning and crisis 

management 

As a business which provides advice to 

employers and also as an employer of my 

own staff, it’s timely to revisit the “planning” 

aspect around interruption of business 

operations. 

It’s pertinent to take a serious 

look at our business survival 

and crisis management 

plans. 

We have seen many issues 

arise from earthquakes in the 

south, and more recently businesses 

that have suffered losses 

through fire and flooding. 

When planning for 

the unexpected, think 

outside the square 

in terms of where 

your business could 

potentially operate 

from 

Planning for business 

continuity when the unexpected 

arises in terms of 

your employment obligations 

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makes smart business sense. 

Employers have obligations 

to their employees under the 

Employment Relations Act. 

Business interruption can present 

itself in many forms – not 

necessarily through a national 

disaster, therefore businesses 

can’t rely upon outside assistance 

as a given. 

There are numbers of 

unique employment and legal 

situations that arose from the 

earthquake in Christchurch. 

Many situations, dependent 

on the nature of the business 

interruption will not be covered 

in current employment 

agreements. 

In the past inclusion of 

such clauses were generally 

not common practice, but there 

are clauses that are worth considering 

for new employment 

situations. 

An important factor when 

dealing with any interruption 

in your business and then subsequent 

decisions around running 

the business and negotiating 

with your staff is to keep 

communication lines open and 

active. 

It is a stressful time for 

all concerned and a flexible 

and common-sense approach 

is needed to get businesses up 

and running and staff back on 

board. 

When planning for the 

unexpected, think outside the 

square in terms of where your 

business could potentially 

operate from – for example, if 

your premises was damaged or 

unavailable, could your staff 

work from home or another 

location and how easily could 

company information and data 

be accessed in order to do so? 

Likewise a current crisis 

management plan should be 

in place and form part of your 

Health & Safety policy. A 

crisis management plan should 

be a rehearsed plan which outlines 

policies and procedures 

that staff need to follow in 

the immediate wake of such 

an event. 

It will cover aspects such 

as evacuation plans, location 

of emergency equipment, 

procedures for containment, 

treatment etc as they relate to 

different events, a list of people 

and/or agencies that need 

to be contacted in event of 

an emergency on site. Key 

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steps include avoiding injury/ 

saving lives, minimising environmental 

impact, saving of 

data and records, saving of 

critical stock and equipment 

and getting back into business. 

Business interruption insurance 

can help cover normal 

operating expenses and will 

HUMAN RESOURCES 

> BY KELLIE HAMLETT 

Director, Recruitment & HR Specialist, Talent ID Recruitment Ltd 

likely include covering wages 

for a period of time while your 

business may not be generating 

an income. 

There is a general obligation 

for employers to pay salaried 

and wage workers who are 

fit, willing and able to work 

but can’t because their place 

of employment is closed or 

damaged. 

There are other options 

which include the negotiation 

of using annual leave for a 

period of time, negotiating a 

reduction in wages, unpaid 

leave or the offering of alternative 

work. 

New kiosk allows easy 

engagement with shoppers 

Tauranga marketing company 

Bravesight has 

developed an automotive-lead 

generation kiosk that 

is self-powered to help gather 

information on shopper interest 

in the cars on display at Bay 

Fair shopping centre. 

Farmer AutoVillage is a 

regular advertiser at Bay Fair, 

displaying three to four cars 

each week. 

In the past, lead generation 

was based on people ringing 

the sales contact and number 

that was featured on the car. 

Now, shoppers can immerse 

themselves in the automotive 

brand, make and model on display 

by watching a product 

video, viewing the specifications, 

requesting a test-drive 

and or an information brochure. 

Once a request for a test 

drive or further information 

has been sent, the details 

are received in real time by 

the sales team at Farmer 

AutoVillage to arrange for a 

requested test drive. 

The technology allows 

Farmer AutoVillage to easily 

engage with shoppers in a 

high-dwell time environment 

in a way that is relevant and 

non-invasive. 

In addition, the kiosks are 

run off self-contained power 

which allows them to be placed 

in any environment without 

having to be connected to 

mains power. 

“Autolead provides automotive 

brands and their retail 

dealers with real time leads that 

integrate with their CRM system, 

like Autoplay,” says group 

business director Bravesight, 

Pete Wales. 

“Leads can also be sent as 

text and emails or customised 

to the preferred sales management 

tool for the sales team 

to engage with interested customers.” 

“Autolead provides customers 

with the opportunity to 

explore the vehicle in greater 

detail in their own time without 

sales pressure.” 

Bravesight’s new Autolead kiosk. 

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‘Transport hub’ plan 

for Rotorua Airport 

Rotorua Airport’s new CEO Mark Gibb is 

optimistic that the first visible signs of a 

$4.4 million planned upgrade to the airport 

could be seen in August. 


That is when he expects a 

start might be made on 

upgrading facilities housing 

the airport’s fire rescue 

operation. Structural work on 

upgrading the terminal building 

could start a month or so 

later. 

Since coming in as chief 

executive in early January, 

Mark has been working closely 

with the airport owners, 

Rotorua Lakes Council, and its 

independent board of directors 

to convert a long-term Airport 

Master Plan into action. 

Plans to maximise future 

opportunities are taking shape 

fast. The aim is to create what 

Mark described as an integrated 

travel and transport hub, 

one that first offers visitors a 

new-look welcome, but also 

offers an on-site network of 

aligned businesses that dovetail 

with and support the 

broader growth of Rotorua. 

“These are likely to include 

tourism-based industries that 

have transport requirements. 

We already have an established 

community … helicopter 

operators, a rafting group 

and rental car businesses, and 

there is a charter aircraft operator 

coming in,” he said. 

“Rotorua Airport sits on 

about 100 hectares of land. 

We needed to adopt a strategic 

perspective that integrates vertically 

with the development 

of Rotorua. 

“The challenge for us is to 

ensure that any development 

of the airport fits that broader 

framework. The Airport 

Master Plan has had to be 

very carefully considered … it 

must fit hand-in-glove with its 

environment. 

“My approach is to start 

with the end-user perception. 

We need to get a clear view of 

New Rotorua Airport CEO Mark Gibb 

wants to steer the business through 

a phase of considered growth. 

the type of businesses we are 

trying to attract, and build out 

from that point. The Master 

Plan must not become so aspirational 

that is misses the mark 

in terms of reality. 

“As I see it, either you 

either control development, or 

development happens to you.” 

Mark’s 28 years’ experience 

in governance, management, 

finance and strategic 

planning were considered a 

major asset by airport chairman 

Peter Stubbs, when he 

announced the appointment 

in late 2016 and said Mark’s 

experience would be “invaluable 

over the next decade as the 

airport enters its next phase of 

development”. 

Leading up to his appointment, 

Mark was general 

manager of global property 

and facilities at Fonterra 

Cooperative Group. 

Before that he had spent 

years delivering residential 

and business development projects 

in Auckland, including 

two decades working on the 

city’s prestigious Highbrook 

Business Park. 

He also worked with 

Auckland Airport during its 

corporatisation phase, when 

the focus was on building 

non-aeronautical revenue 

streams. It is that area of 

expertise that Mark said was 

crucial to the successful development 

of Rotorua Airport, 

and he sees his first 90 days as 

critical in terms of converting 

the Master Plan into action. 

Of the 225,000 people now 

coming through the airport 

annually, most are tourists, he 

said. Seat capacity in and out 

of Rotorua has grown about 

six percent per annum, and 

passenger growth is keeping 

tabs with that. 

“Key to keeping that 

growth going is to ensure 

we have a robust commercial 

relationship with Air New 

Zealand. This airport has had 

its fair share of criticism in 

recent years – we want to 

enter a phase of considered 

growth.” 

Mark’s reference to criticism 

relates to the decision to 

end international flights into 

Rotorua for financial reasons. 

Flights to Australia started in 

2009 after the runway was 

extended and ended in April 

2015. While the move was 

controversial at the time, Mark 

sees real benefit in its legacy. 

“Realistically, Rotorua 

Airport is probably more 

comfortable in its skin at a 

domestic level, but having 

that extended runway from the 

trans-Tasman era is an advantage 

for the future should commercially 

viable opportunities 

for the activation of international 

flights arise again.” 

Capitalising on the airport’s 

strengths, Mark is taking 

a considered approach to a 

modern business model. 

“Airports have moved 

away from simply counting 

the number of passengers and 

aircraft landing and taking off. 

Most airports today have a 

broad range of non-aeronautical 

activities. Some smaller 

airports will remain oriented 

to mainly passenger movement, 

but most have had to 

adopt a different business 

model to survive, and in some 

ways New Zealand airports 

are better suited to such development. 

They tend to have 

larger land tracts, and therefore 

more space to develop 

other income opportunities.” 

In terms of its aeronautical 

future, Mark believes it is 

essential to work closely with 

the airlines to ensure they use 

Rotorua as a hub. He suggested 

that those choosing not to 

talk routes and sectors directly 

with the airlines could be 

missing the boat. 

There are also other changes 

set to impact future plans. 

“Travel patterns have 

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changed,” Mark said. “Tourists 

used to land in Auckland, 

come to Rotorua and then fly 

out again. Now they’re coming 

to Rotorua and using it as a 

hub from which to do day trips 

elsewhere. They might base 

themselves here for a week or 

so, which is a massive benefit 

to local businesses. 

“Making a good first 

impression at our airport gateway 

is critical for both our 

tourism and business sectors,” 

he said. “We have a developing 

business community at 

the airport, and our goal is to 

expand this and support these 

businesses by aligning to their 

tempo and cadence as they 

grow.” 

Mark has found his own 

tempo and cadence with 

Rotorua. He recently brought 

a slice of Paradise Valley, and 

plans are afoot to develop it 

in a way that harmonises with 

his love of the area and his 

family’s long-term view on a 

new Rotorua lifestyle. 

Professional training is critical if you want to keep pace in a fast moving world. 

Wintec has a range of programmes designed to keep you and your organisation 

ahead of the game. 

Professional Development Programmes: Evening or weekend courses for 

individuals. 

Industry Compliance Training: Keep pace with professional regulatory 

requirements. 

Tailored Courses for Teams: Customised to fit your needs. 

Bespoke Professional Programmes: Highly customised, delivered by experts, 

designed to impact the organisation at a strategic level. 

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PROFESSIONAL 

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The facilities housing Rotorua Airport’s fire rescue operation 

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NZ small business underpin 

“rockstar” economy 

New Zealand’s strong economic credentials 

have been given a ringing endorsement 

in the latest survey of small businesses 

across Asia Pacific, with growth 

expectations at a record high. 

The Asia Pacific Small 

Business Survey 2016, 

commissioned by global 

accounting body CPA 

Australia, showed New 

Zealand small businesses are 

growing strongly, adding new 

jobs and expect even better 

performance this year, this 

country’s strongest showing 

in the six years it has been 

included in the survey. 

Growth expectations for 

2017 are the headline figure 

– 71 percent expect to grow 

their business in 2017, a figure 

that significantly betters 

the other developed markets 

surveyed – Hong Kong, 

Singapore and Australia. 

One in five businesses 

reported hiring new employees 

during the year – double 

the figure recorded in 

Australia – and New Zealand 

PROFESSIONAL 

SERVICES 

LAW • ACCOUNTING • HR • FINANCE • INVESTMENT • INSURANCE • HEALTH & SAFETY 

was the only country in the 

survey where expectations for 

employment (as recorded in 

2015) matched what actually 

occurred in 2016. In all 

other countries, expectations 

exceeded the reality. 

Highlights from the 2016 

survey include: 

• Nearly 60 percent of 

respondents reported 

growing their business last 

year 

Small business growth 

is critical to a nation’s 

economic health and 

this report suggests 

New Zealand is in a 

very good place at the 

moment. 

• More than 70 percent of 

respondents expect to grow 

their business in 2017 

• Nearly 20 percent of 

respondents increased 

employee numbers last year 

• One in four businesses 

expect to hire additional 

staff this year 

The results show New 

Zealand outstripped both Asia 

Pacific economic powerhouses 

Australia and Singapore but 

remain below the developing 

economies of Indonesia and 

Vietnam. 

Commenting on the results, 

CPA Australia chief executive 

Alex Malley says the results 

justify New Zealand’s 

reputation for its “rock-star 

economy”. 

“New Zealand recorded 

the largest percentage increase 

in the number of businesses 

expecting the domestic economy 

to grow this year, demonstrating 

strong confidence at 

a business grassroots level,” 

he said. 

“Small business growth is 

critical to a nation’s economic 

health and this report suggests 

New Zealand is in a very good 

place at the moment.” 

“For me, the growth and 

employment expectations are 

particularly noteworthy.” 

“Contrast New Zealand’s 

performance with Australia, 

particularly around actual and 

intended employment, and it 

makes sobering reading on this 

side of the Ditch,” Alex comments. 

There are a few line items 

of concern, particularly around 

the slow uptake of social media 

and online selling compared 

with New Zealand’s Asian 

competitors. 

Across the region, the 

survey found that small businesses 

that are growing are 

significantly more likely to 

be focusing on innovation, 

e-commerce, social media, 

training and exporting. 

New Zealand topped the 

rankings of small businesses 

reporting that they found it 

easy to access external finance 

over the past 12 months. 

However, looking ahead, there 

was a drop in the number of 

small businesses reporting 

they expected it to be easy to 

access finance. 

“With great uncertainty 

around global market conditions, 

that might be one for 

business leaders to keep an 

eye on in 2017 and beyond,” 

Alex said. 

The CPA Australia Asia- 

Pacific Small Business Survey 

provides annual insights into 

the views of small businesses 

across eight markets in the 

region. This is the seventh 

year the research has been 

conducted. 

Exciting news from summer 

entrepreneurial programme 

BAY OF PLENTY 

PROFESSIONAL 

SERVICES 

BOOK YOUR SPOT IN 

OUR APRIL ISSUE 

For more information contact the team today 

at info@bopbusinessnews.co.nz 

or 07 838 1333 


Top students from 

Toi Ohomai Institute 

of Technology and 

University of Waikato spent 

the summer in Priority One’s 

Ignition co-working space taking 

part in an innovative entrepreneurship 

programme. 

At the completion 

of the programme, 

the students pitched 

their ideas to project 

sponsors and local 

businesspeople. 

Project Ignite invited 

students from across a range 

of faculties to apply for 

scholarships to complete the 

programme over a 10-week 

period. 

Participants were provided 

with a unique, tailored experience 

and the tools they needed 

to validate their ideas and create 

a sustainable business. 

Local entrepreneur and 

CEO of Eurofins Bay of Plenty, 

Tina Jennen, was the expert 

coach on the programme, providing 

advice and support to 

the student entrepreneurs. 

“The programme included 

group and individual activities, 

guidance by start-up coaches, 

inspirational speakers, practical 

sessions, access to specialist 

mentors and help with 

applications for seed-funding.” 

At the completion of the 

programme, the students 

pitched their ideas to project 

sponsors and local businesspeople. 

The businesses they 

developed included: 

• EDM Productions – leaving 

a legacy through documentaries 

of the personal stories 

of elderly or ill people 

• My Good Neighbour – an 

online platform that connects 

locals that need an 

odd job done with people 

looking for casual work 

• Homebuilding.co.nz – discover 

your dream home 

with thousands of housing 

plans, all in one place 

• Fashenz – an online platform 

that helps NZ’s 

emerging fashion designers 

• The Capture Collective – a 

full service one-stop-shop 

to access professional photography 

• In Touch – a real time 

scheduling app for small 

contracting businessses to 

help them stay better organised 

• The Plunge – new technology 

which enables a water 

gun to fill in under two 

seconds. 

Project Ignite is jointly 

funded by Priority One 

and members Ballance 

Agri-Nutrients, Plus Group 

Horticulture, University of 

Waikato and Toi Ohomai 

Institute of Technology. 

We’re 

introducing 

a new 

partner 

We’re proud to announce the promotion of 

David Fraundorfer to our partnership team. 

David’s commitment to our Bay of Plenty clients is matched 

only by his international experience. He is qualified both in 

England and New Zealand. 

David grew up in Tauranga and has been with Holland Beckett 

since his return to New Zealand in 2014. David specialises in 

commercial litigation and is also an expert in sports law. 

David Fraundorfer - Partner DDI 07 927 2750 david.fraundorfer@hobec.co.nz 

WAVE23499 

Tauranga 

525 Cameron Road 

T 07 578 2199 

Rotorua 

1108 Pukaki Street 

T 07 349 4400 

Whakatane 

97 The Strand 

T 07 308 8325 

Opotiki 

125 St John Street 

T 07 315 6058 

Private Bag 12011, Tauranga 3143 T 07 578 2199 F 07 578 8055 www.hobec.co.nz

HR MANAGEMENT AND RECRUITMENT 


Superior Personnel brings personal 

service to Tauranga 

Superior Personnel has opened an office 

in Tauranga, providing clients with a 

professional service and a personal touch. 

The company was established 

in Auckland in 

1997 and its success has 

seen it expand into Hamilton 

and now at 42 Hewletts Rd. 

Tauranga’s new branch 

manager, Mandi Hopwood, has 

been with Superior Personnel 

all that time and brings huge 

experience to the role. She says 

that she and business development 

manager, Drew Walker, 

are excited to be operating the 

business in Tauranga at a time 

of such expansion. 

It’s a big decision 

and we would like 

the opportunity to 

prove what we can 

do for them. 

“It’s such a big, up-and-coming 

city that it’s great to be 

involved in part of the boom,” 

she says. 

“We have many long-standing, 

strong relationships with 

companies in Auckland and we 

aim to build similar relationships 

in Bay of Plenty. We are 

not here for short wins, we are 

here for the long-term and we 

look forward to becoming part 

of the Bay of Plenty community.” 

Drew says being a very 

approachable and friendly 

two-person team, they look forward 

to providing a real level of 

personal service. 

“We’ve not lost that personal 

touch that many larger 

agencies tend to.” 

Superior Personnel recognises 

that there are a lot of 

small family-owned companies 

in Bay of Plenty that need help. 

“Employing someone is a 

big step for many companies,” 

says Mandi. 

“It’s a big decision and we 

would like the opportunity 

to prove what we can do for 

them.” 

“We are very competitively 

priced and we understand that 

inviting an agency in can be 

expensive. We are happy to 

work with clients to work out 

what’s reasonable.” 

Superior Personnel takes 

great care screening and interviewing 

potential staff for clients. 

“We are selective. We will 

only provide clients with candidates 

that would suit because 

when we are putting someone 

up we are well aware that 

they are representing us,” says 

Drew. “We have to get it right.” 

Superior Personnel will also 

provide job seekers’ extensive 

help with CVs and advice and 

direction. 

Both Mandi and Drew say 

they find recruitment incredibly 

rewarding and get huge 

satisfaction from finding a great 

role for a job seeker or finding 

the perfect new staff member 

for a client. 

“There’s nothing better than 

when you have a long term client 

whose trust you have earned 

and with whom you have 

developed a great relationship 

because you know their needs 

so well,” says Mandi. 

Superior Personnel provides 

all round expertise but has particular 

experience in the industrial, 

construction, trade and 

temping markets. 

Drew notes there is a significant 

skill shortage in Bay 

of Plenty and agencies such as 

Superior Personnel can play a 

big part helping companies find 

qualified staff. 

Superior Personnel has been 

audited by ACC and its practices 

and Health and Safety performance 

found to be of the 

highest standards. This includes 

a proactive Drug & Alcohol 

Policy, including pre-employment 

and random testing. 

For more information about 

the Superior Personnel service 

check out the website www. 

superiorpersonnel.co.nz or contact 

Mandi direct at mandi@ 

superiorpersonnel.co.nz or call 

on 07 262 0222. 

Since 1997 Superior Personnel have been recruiting great 

people to build great businesses. We’re pleased to bring our 

expertise to Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty. 

We know where to find quality people, including ex-services 

personnel, who can help you build your business. Our team 

works with you every step of the way to make sure we deliver 

the right fit.


Tauranga hosts investor migrants 

to highlight local opportunities 

Investor migrants can make a significant 

contribution to New Zealand’s economic 

transformation through their business 

experience, international connections and 

financial capital. 

They are highly sought 

after internationally and 

competition for them is 

fierce. 

Priority One strategic 

projects manager, Greg 

Simmonds, says it’s important 

that New Zealand grow 

more internationally connected 

firms. 

“This means that many 

New Zealand companies need 

business contacts, knowledge 

and financial capital to expand 

and develop into innovative, 

productive and globally competitive 

firms. 

“All of these components 

can come from investor 

migrants,” he says. 

During February Priority 

One partnered with member 

businesses ANZ Private and 

Crowe Horwath to host 12 

investor migrants to Tauranga. 

The day included a bus 

tour of the Tauriko Business 

Estate and Lakes residential 

development and visits to Port 

of Tauranga and Newnham 

Innovation Park at Te Puna. 

The group also toured a 

kiwifruit orchard, visited 

the University of Waikato’s 

Coastal Marine Field Station 

and ended the day with a 

mayoral function at Tauranga 

Club. 

Greg says the purpose 

of the day was to welcome 

migrant investors to Tauranga 

and the Western Bay of Plenty, 

connect them with appropriate 

networks and discuss topics of 

mutual interest. 

“We were able to showcase 

the region’s growth story 

and key industry sectors, and 

introduce the investors to 

potential opportunities that 

encourage the use of their 

skills, capital and networks 

for the benefit of the sub-region,” 

said Greg. 

Bayleys – the stress free way 

to manage property 

Bayleys commercial property 

management division 

has seen an increased 

number of retirees looking to 

put their property portfolios 

into professional property management. 

The motivation being 

the realisation that they need 

to release themselves from the 

stress of dealing with tenants 

and leasing issue. The idea of 

using their retirement years to 

travel and enjoy the benefits of 

their working lives becomes a 

reality and leaving their investments 

under management will 

help make this a more enjoyable 

reality and ensure the rents, 

outgoings and maintenance are 

taken care of. 

Another more important 

motivation for landlords is the 

health and safety reforms and 

the significant implications of 

these on owner/landlords has 

become a reality with the introduction 

of the Health and Safety 

at Work Act 2015. Landlords’ 

respective duties will be wider 

than those which are prescribed 

in the lease. 

Undertaking risk assessments, 

consultation with tenants 

and implementation of 

procedures to ensure landlords 

have discharged their health 

and safety obligations are not 

for the uninitiated and is an 

ongoing requirement under the 

Act. 

Bayleys commercial agent 

Lloyd Davidson has seen the 

rise of small investment syndicates 

(made up of not only 

professional groups of people) 

who pool their resources to take 

advantage of the commercial 

investment property returns. 

With interest rate returns being 

as low as they have been for the 

past number of years, returns are 

forecast to remain strong. Lloyd 

sees the hands off approach as 

allowing those owners the ‘all 

is good’ environment provided 

by professional management. 

These investors see the value in 

using the knowledge, expertise 

and financial reporting of professional 

property management. 

How nice …the do’s and 

the don’ts ticked and in place 

…..excellent peace of mind. 

Horticulture industry celebrates 

unprecedented growth 

New Zealand’s export earnings from 

horticulture have grown 40 percent 

since 2014. The strong results are highlighted 

in Horticulture New Zealand and the 

New Zealand Horticulture Export Authority 

(HEA)’s report, ‘New Zealand Horticulture – 

Barriers to Our Export Trade’. 

With export revenue just under $5 billion, 

horticulture is our fourth largest export 

industry and employs 60,000 people in New 

Zealand. 

Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy 

says, “The report highlights that tariffs on 

exported produce have come down by 22 

percent since 2012, which is good news but 

there is still more to be done. Reducing tariffs 

and non-tariff barriers are a big priority for 

the government.” 

To download the executive summary from 

the report, visit www.priorityone.co.nz/vdb/ 

document/1167. 

Commercial 

Property 

Management 

Bayleys Commercial Property Management covers both commercial 

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

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

investment property is our results driven team. 

We understand that to maximise the return on your property 

you need: 

Professional property management 

A business partner that understands your investment, 

views and goals 

At Bayleys, we believe 

relationships are what 

businesses are built 

on and how they 

succeed. 

SPEAK TO BAYLEYS TODAY 

Jan Cooney 

Commercial Property Manager 

B 07 579 0609 M 027 408 9339 

jan.cooney@bayleys.co.nz 

Brodie Thomas 

Commercial Property Management Assistant 

B 07 579 0608 

brodie.thomas@bayleys.co.nz 

247 Cameron Road, 

Tauranga 

Success Realty Ltd, Bayleys, 

Licensed Under The REA Act 2008

REMARKABLE WOMEN IN BUSINESS 

Celebrating 10 years in Business 

Kellie Hamlett, Director 

Talent ID Recruitment Ltd 

A 

Rotorua local, Kellie has spent stints 

overseas but has spent the majority of 

her career working in the Bay of Plenty. 

Her 20 years’ business experience includes 

working for organisations such as Rotorua 

Lakes District Council, PF Olsen and Norske 

Skog. 

Kellie is passionate about the region and 

strongly promotes the career opportunities on 

offer, across a diverse range of sectors. 

For the past 14 years her career has 

been focused around recruitment and human 

resource consulting and has worked with 

hundreds of employers and candidates to successful 

HR & recruitment outcomes across 

Bay of Plenty. 

Kellie started Talent ID Recruitment in 

2007, helping employers with their day to 

day needs around recruiting and employment 

relations. The following year, Talent 

ID won the Emerging Business of the Year 

at the Westpac Rotorua Business Excellence 

Awards. More recently in 2016 Talent ID 

won the SEEK Small Recruitment Agency of 

the Year which is a great achievement for a 

regionally based company. 

Kellie strongly believes in giving back to 

the business community and has been a longtime 

supporter of the ‘Employee of the Year’ 

award at the Rotorua Business Excellence 

Awards, and the ‘Best Professional Services 

Team’ at the Taupo Stella Awards for 

Excellent Customer Experience. In Tauranga, 

Kellie sits on the board of the Chamber of 

Commerce and served as a judge at the 2016 

Tauranga Business Excellence Awards. 

This year Talent ID celebrates 10 years in 

business. “It’s been an amazing achievement 

and I can’t quite believe it’s been 10 years 

already,” she says. 

“We are thankful to have an extensive 

group of supportive clients and candidates 

to work with. I’m also grateful to have the 

support of an excellent group of business 

advisors and a supportive family. I have 

an fantastic team at Talent ID, a group of 

remarkable women in their own right and 

together we have all contributed to make the 

business the success it is today.” 

Talent ID 

Suite 2, 117 Willow Street, Tauranga 

tauranga@talentid.co.nz 

0800 850 080 

www.talentid.co.nz 


Be smarter with money to get 

ahead faster 

Vanessa Dodunski 

Financial personal trainer 

Your hair is styled by the best hairdresser 

in town. Your wardrobe fashioned by the 

savviest store stylists. Your pantry brims 

with Moet and organic coconut oil. Your fabulous 

body is down to your personal trainer. But 

you might go bankrupt tomorrow. Or less dramatic, 

but no less serious, you have no money 

left at the end of each month, your credit card 

is maxed and you will take 30 years to pay off 

your house. 

There is a new must have for your black 

book – a financial personal trainer. Vanessa 

established enableMe Bay of Plenty two and a 

half years ago, being the first office setup outside 

of Auckland. enableMe now has 10 offices 

throughout New Zealand. Vanessa says “If you 

want to lose weight and get fit, you might know 

what you should be doing – eating less and 

exercising more, but do you actually do it? That 

is where we come in – to get people looking 

honestly at behaviours and money.” 

Vanessa stresses enableMe does not offer 

investment advice. We offer impartial advice, 

creating plans for clients to get financially ahead 

faster, whilst still having a life. During the initial 

consultation, clients spend 15 minutes looking 

at what they are spending. It can be confrontational, 

like getting on the scales. “Most people 

do not know where the money goes. A key part 

of my role is the psychology of their spending. 

When we work out a plan it has to be something 

they can live with. There is no point on putting 

them on a strict ‘diet’ that they won’t be happy 

with.” 

Vanessa starts by establishing ‘non-negotiables’ 

such as kids swimming lessons or 

the hairdresser. Within any budget, there will 

always be money being ‘frittered’. “The aim is 

to change people’s mind-set so they realise their 

frittering is not only not getting them ahead, but 

not making them any happier.” 

We establish a surplus which can be then 

applied to individual goals – whether for a 

deposit on a house, paying off the mortgage or 

planning for retirement. As in the diet analogy, 

when people see results, they are encouraged 

to keep with the programme. enableMe was 

founded by Auckland based Hannah McQueen 

a chartered accountant with a master in taxation 

and ‘a personality’. 

Although the emphasis is on personal 

finances, for the Bay of Plenty many small 

business owners Vanessa says there could be 

huge savings to be made in insurance or taxation. 

“I will help clients be smart around money 

which ultimately helps them get ahead faster 

and makes them happy”. 

enableMe 

20 Jean Batten Drive, Mount Maunganui 

P 07 281 1049 | P 0800 897 898 

vanessa@enableme.co.nz 

www.enableme.co.nz 

Theresa Le Bas’ work takes 

her to places that most 

people don’t get to. 

She’s tramped around wastewater 

plants, lakes and rivers, 

she’s been down mines on 

the Coromandel Peninsula 

and in Australia, she’s 

examined landfills, roading 

infrastructure, and visited 

remote forestry blocks. 

Theresa is a lawyer, she specialises in 

environmental and planning law. She’s 

had wide experience in New Zealand 

and Australia in getting approvals for mining, 

energy and industrial projects and largescale 

infrastructure, as well as dealing with 

contaminated site issues and performing legal 

due diligence for a variety of clients. As she says, 

“this is not a desk-bound job”. 

She is a partner in law firm Tompkins 

Wake, one of three women among 18 partners. 

Tompkins Wake has offices in Hamilton, Rotorua 

and Auckland; Theresa is primarily based in 

Rotorua but also works at the other two sites. She 

leads Tompkins Wake’s Resource Management 

and Environment team. She was drawn to this 

area of law as an Auckland University student in 

1991 when she researched an aspect of the then 

new Resource Management Act (RMA) for her 

Master’s degree. 

“It was pure timing,” she says. “The RMA 

Bill was about to become an Act just as I was 

looking for a Master’s topic. It captured me.” 

She relishes the multi-disciplinary approach of 

this field, likes working with other professionals 

including planners, scientists, engineers and 

fellow lawyers. 

Out of the office, she is proud to be involved 

in community work through the St Vincent de 

Paul Society, and she is a committed rower. She 

is currently training with Hamilton Rowing Club 

crews to compete in the World Masters Games 

in April. She says: “It’s a lot of fun. We’ve 

consistently won medals at national regattas and 

we’re looking good for the Masters.” 

Theresa is a sixth generation New Zealander 

with ancestral family links to Hawke’s Bay and 

Akaroa (the latter being the French connection of 

her surname). She loves her country’s landscapes, 

and the rugged untamed beauty of the Central 

North Island has a special place in her heart. 

At present she’s working on a case for Rotorua 

Lakes Council, taking part in an initial hearing 

before retired Judge Gordon Whiting which 

aims at setting new rules that would significantly 

reduce the amount of nitrogen entering Lake 

Rotorua. This would have a big impact on the 

quality of the lake’s water. Theresa says the 

issues are complex and there are a large number 

of submitters. 

She’s only ever had wins in her work. She 

(modestly) puts this down to the privilege of 

working with clients who have taken legal advice 

and expert opinion on board, and in some cases 

have accordingly recalibrated their expectations 

to achieve a positive result. 

“It is challenging and satisfying. You are 

always looking at what you can achieve. We try 

to find solutions not create roadblocks.” 

P: +64 7 347 9466 

E: theresa.lebas@tompkinswake.co.nz 

1105 Arawa Street 

P O BOX 248, Rotorua 3010 

www.tompkinswake.co.nz


REMARKABLE WOMEN IN BUSINESS 

Its all go for Kinetic! 

Kinetic Recruitment 

launched in the Bay two 

years ago, it was an obvious 

choice for Kate Ross, 

Director. Always true to her 

values, she made sure to 

appoint the right people to 

run the local office. 

Kate Ross established the award-winning 

agency that has just reached 20 years 

in business. Kinetic has four offices 

nationally in Auckland, Tauranga, Wellington 

and Christchurch. This gives Kinetic an 

advantage, as it creates opportunities for 

clients to tap into a larger pool of talent. For 

job seekers happy to relocate it also means 

more quality choices. 

Cherie Hill and Keri McAdam take care 

of business here in Tauranga. Together, they 

have more than 26 years of experience in 

recruitment, and they love what they do. 

Cherie has been with Kinetic for close to 

10 years and Keri has extensive experience 

developing and managing recruitment teams 

with a speciality in the temp and contract 

market. 

“We are a part of a National Group but 

operate with a real local focus, passion and 

commitment to business in the Bay. We are 

excited by the growth and demand for temps 

and contractors here, and there is a gap in 

the market for an experienced, fast and quality 

provider in this space.” Keri says. 

What you can expect from Kinetic Tauranga 

is a genuine approach and a slick and seamless 

experience with quality and speed. “For us its 

about being an extension of our clients business 

and being a part of their team. The kick for us is 

the relationships and experiences we have with 

our candidates and clients and the icing on the 

cake is in the referrals we receive” Cherie says. 

As an example of their community spirit, 

Kinetic has recently launched Wise Ones; an 

online platform for talented people aged 55+ 

to connect them with employers, organisations 

and individuals. People can list their skills and 

wishes to find a permanent or part time job, 

volunteering position, or mentoring/coaching 

through to home/domestic type work. This site 

offers multiple options for the job seeker and 

the employer to work with this experienced and 

flexible pool of talent. www.wiseones.co.nz 

A Kinetic client says… 

Unlike the majority of recruiters who typically 

over promise and then disappoint Kinetic 

always provides exceptional options for us for 

any role that we have discussed with them. 

Save time and avoid frustration – give Kinetic 

a call and I’m sure they’ll deliver. 

For us its simple, we deal with people and 

make a difference in their lives, whats not to 

love! If you want a recruitment partner with 

a difference call the team at Kinetic Tauranga 

07 281 2509. 

Kinetic Recruitment 

Phone: 07 281 2509 

Level 1, 39 Spring Street 

Tauranga, Bay of Plenty 3110 

www.kinetic.co.nz 

When a passion for property 

and people combine 

Adrienne Mikkelsen, 

Property InDepth. 

Property InDepth has been operating 

nationwide for over a decade, and while 

Adrienne has been a valuer for almost 

20 years, her love for the Bay of Plenty region 

bought her back here 10 years ago. Teaming 

up with Property InDepth has enabled to grow 

her business to cover the Bay of Plenty and 

Coromandel. 

Adrienne is a one-woman band and is 

forging a new style in property valuation, by 

being one of the few female business owners 

in the industry. While studying an accounting 

degree, Adrienne caught the property bug 

when studying in university. While reviewing 

construction plans for house she developed a 

fondness for houses and building. This chance 

moment completely diverted her line of study 

and with her father having previously been 

a Registered Valuer, it was almost inevitable 

she would follow suit. Adrienne enjoys being 

a part of the high quality Property InDepth 

brand. ‘Buying and selling property can be 

rather daunting. Clients like to feel confident 

in working with a professional who listens 

and understands the goals they are trying to 

achieve. 

Working Smarter 

Property In -Depth offers a range of services 

covering property valuation. Are you considering 

selling and want to know what your 

current property is worth? Are you looking to 

buy, but want to make sure you’re getting the 

very best value for your money? Are you refinancing 

your bank and wanting to understand 

your financial position with your property? 

This is where Property InDepth can help. If 

you’re considering building your next home, 

Adrienne can get involved as early on as the 

design stage to determine whether you’re 

making good investment decisions. And, if 

it’s your investment portfolio you’re looking 

to develop, she can assess your assets to help 

you maximize the return on your investment. 

Property InDepth understands the importance 

of always staying ahead of the game and 

has developed Smart Reports. These concise, 

easy to decipher reports are made available 

to clients online and are ‘InDepth’ reports, 

helping you to understand the current market, 

comprehensive details about the property, 

sales analysis and a risk assessment. All the 

major banks and lenders accept our reports. 

Power for the People 

Although Adrienne loves the homes she 

sees, and there have been some stunners, to her 

it’s not all about property but instead, about 

the people. ‘Whether it’s building a new home, 

starting or adding to an investment portfolio, 

I love to be able to help kiwis achieve their 

property dreams.’ She has a warm and natural 

way with people. She reiterates, ‘It’s about 

people. I want my clients to feel confident in 

working with an expert, by providing advice 

to ensure any financial mistakes are avoided. I 

want to see people buy right.’’ 

For Adrienne to get to where she is today, it 

wasn’t an easy road by any means. Without the 

luxury to be a stay at home mum, she returned 

to work just days after her daughter was born. 

Six years on, Adrienne looks back regret free, 

knowing that it has helped her become the 

success she is today. 

It’s not always about property though and 

when she manages to clear her diary, her 

desk and her thoughts, you’ll find Adrienne 

cruising on her Harley Davidson or sipping 

delicious wine with friends and family. Not at 

the same time of course! 

Adrienne Mikkelsen 

Registered Valuer, ANZIV, MPINZ 

Property InDepth Limited 

021 776 303 

www.propertyindepth.co.nz

CONFERENCE, EVENTS AND VENUES 

BAY OF PLENTY BUSINESS NEWS March/April 2017 

21 

Local business travel 

company offering no 

fees introduction 


THE REGION’S BUSINESS VOICE 

Local business travel specialists Orbit 

Travel Tauranga are offering new clients the 

opportunity of no fees for two months to 

demonstrate the value to be gained from 

working with a business travel agency. 

“A key driver to us taking 

this offer to market 

is that we really want to 

showcase the true value you 

could be getting from working 

with Orbit,” said business 

owner and managing director 

of Orbit Travel Tauranga, Paul 

Forward. 

“Without blowing our 

own trumpet, we know exactly 

why Orbit World Travel 

were awarded the best corpo- 

rate travel agency award at 

the National Travel Industry 

Awards – so what we wanted 

to do was introduce something 

for other businesses to experience 

Orbit”. 

The offer involves no fees 

for a period of two months for 

all new clients that sign on with 

Orbit Tauranga by 30 April, 

something that isn’t the norm 

for an industry that operates 

off low margins. “We haven’t 

introduced this offer for any 

major financial benefits, rather 

it is about demonstrating how 

we can make a big difference 

to businesses and the way they 

manage their business travel 

currently,” says Paul. 

“Whether you’re booking 

direct through airnz.co.nz or 

booking with another travel 

agency – we want to demonstrate 

the benefits of partnering 

with Orbit”. 

Orbit Tauranga’s client base 

ranges from relatively small 

clients through to large corporate 

clients - $10,000 upwards. 

Orbit World Travel are 

New Zealand’s largest locally 

business travel company, with 

nine offices throughout New 

Zealand and five in Australia. 

COMING TO YOU MONTHLY 

In print edition and online at 

www.bopbusinessnews.co.nz 

www.facebook.com/bopbusinessnews 

EDITOR 


Email: geoff@bopbusinessnews.co.nz 

Mobile: 022 694 1595 

SALES MANAGER 

Jody Anderson 

Email: jody@bopbusinessnews.co.nz 

Mobile: 027 236 7912 

Are you getting value from your 

business travel? 

Join Orbit before 30 April & have no fees for 2 months 

As one of New Zealand’s largest travel 

management companies Orbit Travel 

Tauranga have a wide range of business and 

corporate clients that we provide business 

travel services for – ranging from small, to 

medium to large companies. 

To help you experience how Orbit Travel 

can improve the way your business travel is 

managed, we are offering new clients the 

chance to join Orbit Travel Tauranga and 

have no fees for 2 months. 

Whether you are looking for cost savings, 

improved efficiencies, leading technology 

solutions, or all of the above – we’d love to 

catch up to discuss how you could benefit 

from a partnership with Orbit. 

Want to know more? We’d love to chat 

07 557 9400 

tauranga@orbit.co.nz 

www.orbit.co.nz /free-fees-offer


Adventure lodge helps spur Kawerau recovery 

The pristine water of the Tarawera River 

flows north-eastward toward Kawerau. 

By KATEE SHANKS since its inception in 1953. 

If the Tarawera’s babble 

could be translated, it would 

While not subject to 

ebbs and flows, the 

river has borne witness 

to the changing tide of 

New Zealand’s youngest town 

tell a tale of geothermal 

delights, timber mills, a tightknit 

community, a volcanic 

cone called Putauaki and of 

a town rising on an incoming 

swell. 

Its latest boast would be of 

a lodge built on the banks of 

the Tarawera and at the foothills 

of Putauaki - a lodge built 

so people can stay over and 

share in the country’s best-kept 

secret. 

Kawerau Adventure Hub - 

Firmin Lodge - has done more 

than bear witness to 63 years of 

history, it has been a part of it. 

Once home to a rugby club 

Kawerau Mayor Malcolm Campbell and Kawerau District 

Council events and venues manager Lee Barton at the opening. 

integral to the thriving town, 

the lodge is now the centre 

piece of an adventure hub, 

again integral to the thriving 

town. 

In 1955, two years after 

geothermal energy saw 

Tasman Pulp and Paper bosses 

begin to build a town, the 

Kawerau Rugby Football 

Club was formed. Rugby was 

what locals did on a Saturday 

and Firmin Field provided 

the platform for fierce rivalry 

between players followed by 

great social occasions between 

families. 

The field was named after 

Constable William (Bill) 

Firmin who, with his wife Cis, 

transferred from Wellington 

to Kawerau in 1954. A keen 

rugby player who had represented 

both Whanganui and 

Wellington, Bill was instrumental 

in establishing both the 

Kawerau Rugby Football Club 

and a recreational reserve off 

River Rd - later to become 

Firmin Field. 

At the time and as in most 

New Zealand towns and cities, 

Kawerau rugby was strong. 

New clubrooms were built 

at Firmin Field in 1976 and 

extended in 1985. 

By the mid 1990s the 

town’s largest employers, 

Mount Putauaki presides over the 

blessing of a carving outside the new 

Adventure Hub. 

Kawerau Mayor Malcolm Campbell cuts the ribbon 

at the official opening of the Adventure Hub. 

Official opening of the Adventure Hub. 

the paper mills, were changing 

the way they operated, 

businesses closed and rugby 

numbers were on the decline. 

Amalgamation talks between 

clubs were realised, initially in 

1999 and again in 2007. 

Rugby stalwart and tireless 

behind-the-scenes man Russell 

Chase, has ridden the highs 

and lows of Kawerau sport 

since 1970 and says the opening 

of The Adventure Hub is 

a thrill. 

“Sporting priorities of our 

young ones have changed but 

it’s important they continue to 

be challenged physically and 

the lodge allows a great platform 

for that. 

“It also allows the coming 

together of like-minded people 

in a purpose-built facility. 

Amalgamation of clubs and 

codes could have resulted in 

buildings decaying or being 

demolished so what we have is 

exceptional.” 

The Adventure Hub - Firmin 

Lodge - has come about on a 

surging tide. Against predicted 

odds the Kawerau population 

grows, real estate is booming 

and the town is fast-making a 

name for itself as an adventure 

destination. 

There’s the Tarawera 

Ultramarathon, a race for 

ultra-runners from around the 

globe, KIng of the Mountain, 

an annual run up and down 

Putauaki first raced in 1955 

and the Kawerau Gravity 

Sports 6HR Adventure Race 

In recent years whitewater 

adventures on the Tarawera 

River have seen people descend 

in droves, no more so than 

when the town hosted the 2013 

World Rafting Championships. 

Adjacent to Firmin Field 

there’s an 800-metre-long 

stretch of grade 2-3 rapids and 

there’s also a beginner’s course 

- of course. 

In 2014 Kawerau District 

Council bought Firmin Field 

with plans for development. 

At the recent opening of 

Firmin Lodge, Kawerau Mayor 

Malcolm Campbell said it was 

important not to let a town die 

due to downsizing. 

“To those people who had 

the courage and the foresight 

to come up with what we have 

today - thank you.” 

Now the lodge waits for 

people to bring their adventure 

- whatever that may be. To hear 

the excited babble of school 

groups, sports teams and club 

members reverberate around 

the complex, and to bear witness 

to new memories. 

Firmin Lodge is a multi-use, 

dormitory-style facility 

that sleeps 60 in ten bunk 

rooms and can seat 130. The 

dining area also makes for a 

great workshop space. 

There’s a commercial grade 

kitchen, four gas-heated showers 

for ladies and four for men, 

a disability shower and toilet, 

lockable shipping containers 

for storage, 12 external motorhome 

points, ample parking, 

an enormous reserve for outdoor 

play and the Tarawera 

River. 

Kawerau also has superb 

walking tracks, the Tarawera 

Falls and the free Maurie Kjar 

Memorial Swimming Pool 

Complex, the best nightcap 

after a day of adventuring. 

Kawerau District Council 

events and venues manager 

Lee Barton believes the 

Adventure Hub - Firmin Lodge 

- is just the start for Kawerau. 

“This facility is going to set 

the tone,” he said.



First on the scene 

The Business Market makes an impact 

The Business Market’s “pop up trade shows” have been a significant new feature in Tauranga’s business scene. 

Below are images from some of The Business Market’s recent events. The next Regional Business Market will be held 

at the ASB Arena on May 12 - for more info or to book your table, please go to www.thebusinessmarket.org 

1 

2 

1 A breakfast group listens to a guest speaker. 2 The Business Market founder Brett Yeatman. 

3 

4 5 

3 From Left to Right: Gert van der Westhuizen, Ronnie Thomas, Cecile van der Westhuizen, Sonya Joubertand and Craig Retief. 4 Tauranga Chamber of Commerce chief executive Stan 

Gregec. 5 Shane Southby, ANZ Bank. 

6 7 8 9 

6 Nico de Jong. 7 Kelvin Clout - deputy mayor of Tauranga City Council. 9 Hon. Simon Bridges - Minister of Economic Development. 9 Murray Maunder.


ROTORUA CUP 

13th of May 2017 at Arawa Park Corporate Hospitality 

Enjoy an afternoon at the races to reward yourself, 

your valued clients or staff. 

YOUR DAY INCLUDES: Admission to the corporate lounge, 

Delicious Lunch, Official Race Book 

Your investment starts from $90 per person 

Proudly supported by Campbell Infrastructure 

For more information please phone 07 348 224 

or visit our website www.arawapark.co.nz 

Rotorua Plate Day on the 21st of October is another day of fun 

filled racing for all the family, both dates are for all ages, with kids 

entertainment and if you are wanting to stay close to the action 

Rydges Rotorua will be more than happy to have you for the 

night, www.rydges.com/accommodation/new-zealand/rotorua.

Bay of Plenty Business News March/April 2017

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