Bay of Plenty Business News April/May 2017

Bay of plenty 

APRIL/MAY 2017 VOLUME 2: ISSUE 10 WWW.BOPBUSINESSNEWS.CO.NZ FACEBOOK.COM/BOPBUSINESSNEWS 

Tauriko booms 

Tauranga Crossing 

“smashes” expectations 

Tauriko Business Estate continues to grow 

at pace as businesses, particularly from 

other parts of Tauranga make the move to 

the 200ha site. 

By GEOFF TAYLOR 

And the resulting growth 

in foot traffic has also 

been a boon for new 

shopping centre, Tauranga 

Crossing which has “smashed” 

its six month budgets. 

Tauriko Business Estate 

commercial manager Rachel 

Emerson says park management 

has been kept busy this 

year unlocking future stages 

they thought would be five 

years away. 

“We have sold all bar one 

title for 2017 and are pre-selling 

2018 Stage 3C titles currently. 

Demand for this future 

stage has been strong with 12 

lots sold and an additional 10 

lots conditional pending due 

diligence,” she says. 

Rachel says since January 

2016, Tauriko Business Estate 

Oyster Management senior 

asset manager Graeme 

Gunthorp. 

has grown from 52 businesses 

to 94 and the number of people 

working there has grown from 

1580 to more than 2000. This 

increase is a combination of 

new businesses establishing in 

Tauriko and growth of existing 

businesses. 

“This daytime population 

has contributed to the success 

of Tauranga Crossing in its first 

six months which has smashed 

all budgets for turnover and 

foot count and provided a welcome 

addition to local amenity 

for local residents and businesses.” 

Graeme Gunthorp, senior 

asset manager at Oyster 

Management which owns 

Tauranga Crossing, agreed that 

the shopping centre is booming. 

“The first six months of 

trading for Tauranga Crossing 

has exceeded expectations, 

with shoppers coming from 

across the Bay to experience 

the unique retail, service, and 

hospitality offerings,” he said. 

“The centre continues to 

perform strongly, with majors 

like Pak'nSave and The 

Warehouse providing essential 

products for families at outstanding 

value, and new retailers 

opening regularly.” 

The centre opened on 

September 15, delivering 

17,000 square metres of space 

that has been termed a first for 

the region. 

The next phase of development 

will be in two zones: an 

indoor shopping centre with 

Event Cinemas and specialty 

retailers, and ‘The Depot’, a 

bulk goods centre aimed at 

accommodating larger scale 

lifestyle and homeware stores. 

Site-work is already 

underway on the Tauranga 

Crossing Event Cinema 

complex, which will comprise 

Another busy day at Tauranga Crossing 

as Tauriko Business Estate booms. 

a six screen, 1000-seater plus 

Vmax cinema development, 

and is part of the project’s 

second stage. The Vmax 

cinema will offer movie-goers 

a huge 24 metre digital screen, 

the latest Dolby Atmos speaker 

system and extra spacious 

seating. 

Rachel says the clear majority 

of relocations into Tauriko 

Business Estate have been from 

elsewhere within the Tauranga 

region, rather than from other 

regions such as Auckland. 

“As a region we should 

acknoweldege and celebrate 

this internal growth – as it has 

been phenomenal and this is 

one of many business locations 

that have grown in the region. 

The vacancy across the city 

is at an all time low; the relocated 

businesses have not left 

gaping holes, they have been 

filled with upcoming businesses 

themselves.” 

“We have certainly grown 

up as a region and it has been 

an immensely exciting journey 

to be part of here at the Tauriko 

Business Estate. We have a 

strong asset values and very 

powerful point of difference. 

The competitive advantages 

our estate has on offer are 

undeniable. It’s pretty clear and 

evidenced through our growth 

that we are recongised as a 

premier business location.” 

Meanwhile, Rachel says 

the expected completion of the 

Kennedy Road Bridge project 

in July will be a game changer 

for many businesses accessing 

stage two at the business 

estate as well as the future 

stage three. 

“Most will elect to take the 

SH36 bypass up to Kennedy 

Road as opposed to tracking 

slowly along Taurikura Drive 

at 50 km/hour,” she says.

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Twin cyclones dismal 

news for businesses 

BAY OF PLENTY BUSINESS NEWS April/May 2017 3 

An independent review of this month’s 

Edgecumbe flood will be cold comfort for 

businesses impacted by back-to-back 

cyclones Debbie and Cook. 

The Rangitaiki River, behind Edgecumbe. 

By KATEE SHANKS 

Not long after the 

announcement that Sir 

Michael Cullen would 

lead the review into infrastructure 

and circumstances 

of the flood, Minister for 

Primary Industries Nathan 

Guy announced a Government 

Support Package for Bay of 

Plenty Farmers. 

Officials were investigating 

how many businesses had been 

affected by the flood. 

“I think there will be support,” 

Economic Development 

Minister Simon Bridges said at 

a media conference. “It’s really 

Flooding at Poplar Lane, Otakiri. 

just a question of the level 

needed.” 

Both Ministers were in 

Edgecumbe in the days after 

the April 6 event when the 

Rangitaiki River breached its 

stop bank and sent a swirling 

mass of dirty water through 

streets, into homes and into 

local businesses. 

The 900 homes within the 

township were evacuated and 

have since been stickered in 

Continued on page 9 

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Robots to help 

harvest booming 

crop volumes 

With SunGold kiwifruit volumes set to 

double by 2021, chances are that by then 

growers struggling to find pickers for a 

timely harvest will be reaching for a robotic 

solution. 

By RICHARD RENNIE 

Dr Alistair Scarfe and his 

colleagues at Robotics 

Plus based at Te Puna’s 

Newnham Park Innovation 

Centre are well down the track 

developing a robotic kiwifruit 

picker that should arrive on the 

market as kiwifruit volumes 

start to ramp up strongly. 

But rather than putting hundreds 

of humans out of work, it 

is more likely to help boost skill 

levels and deliver a more timely 

harvest of high quality fruit. 

After five years’ development, 

Dr Scarfe is optimistic 

the project will go commercial 

in two years. This coincides 

well with an anticipated massive 

boost in SunGold fruit 

volumes expected to match 

Green’s 80 million trays within 

five years. 

“The challenges for the sector 

are getting that big volume 

of crop off in time, to 

meet strict quality parameters, 

and also early enough to earn 

premiums that a late harvested 

crop does not. 

“There is also going to be 

a greater challenge there with 

Green and Gold harvest periods 

starting to overlap, increasing 

the harvest volume load even 

more.” 

A looming labour shortage 

for the primary sector comes 

despite a lift in the number 

of workers capable of being 

employed under the Recognised 

Seasonal Employer (RSE) 

scheme to 10,500 from 9500 

in 2016. 

Last year a Ministry for 

Primary Industries report estimated 

the booming horticultural 

sector needed nearly 8000 

more skilled workers by 2025 

to cope with predicted rises in 

production. 

Primary ITO general manager 

Alister Shennan said then 

that changing horticultural 

demands required more skilled 

workers over and above seasonal 

workers. 

Dr Scarfe’s company also 

has work underway developing 

robotic apple packers for 

RoboticPlus director and engineer 

Alistair Scarfe (left) and chief operating 

office Bram Smith with the autonomous 

platform developed for kiwifruit picking. 

an industry that has grown 10 

percent a year in the past five 

years. 

He describes the robotic 

picker as a result of a meeting 

of minds between himself 

and fellow Robotics Plus owner 

Steve Saunders. 

Steve had already established 

a sound reputation in the 

industry with 30 years’ experience 

in orchard management 

with GroPlus, and more recently 

as an angel investor. 

The technology is based off 

a ground-up design ultimately 

aiming to have a multipurpose 

application, capable of switching 

between spraying, pollination, 

pruning and harvesting 

work. 

“The key focus at this stage 

though, where industry sees the 

most immediate gains, is using 

it for harvesting. The other 

applications will come along 

over time,” says Dr Scarfe. 

Its ground-up design distinguishes 

it from the current wave 

of standard tractors that have 

been converted to driverless 

vehicles. 

A hybrid petrol-electric 

power system drives the 

machine while GPS, 3D camera 

technology and sensors help it 

determine where it is and its 

route of travel. 

Latest camera detectors 

identify ripe fruit that is delicately 

plucked by servo driven 

arms, placing them in the integrated 

bin. 

The machine is ultimately 

capable of performing the work 

of four pickers and can operate 

day and night, having to 

stop harvesting only when dewpoint 

levels are risky. 

Perhaps surprisingly the 

design holds only a few patents, 

but chief operating officer Dr 

Bram Smith said much of the 

“smarts” for the company lie in 

the small army of robotics and 

mechatronic graduates the company 

recruits from Auckland 

and Waikato universities. 

The university involvement 

is augmented with funding to 

those institutions from Ministry 

for Business, Innovation and 

Enterprise, with funding from 

Steve Saunders, along with 

Zespri. 

Dr Scarfe says some of 

the project’s challenges have 

included getting the machine 

capable of recognising ripe fruit 

across all light conditions, with 

bursts of sunlight or darkness 

changing the image of a ripe 

fruit. 

“It also has to be capable 

of handling that one percent of 

exceptions, like the branch that 

drops down in front of it unexpectedly. 

It is no good requiring 

perfect conditions for it to operate 

successfully.” 

The developers have also 

worked to a strong commercial 

brief to keep the machine viable 

with the industry. 

“Plenty of machines are 

developed that have had a heap 

of money thrown at them, but 

we took a view from the start 

on how much such a machine 

should cost, and worked back 

from there.” 

He anticipates the robots 

will be leased out. 

And Dr Scarfe is confident 

the machine will help meet the 

industry’s need for more skilled 

staff, rather than reduce opportunities. 

“The robot will harvest 

eighty percent of the crop, 

dealing with the high volume, 

stressful fruit load, with sweeper 

crews coming through to 

pick whatever other fruit has 

been missed. 

“It also means there is a 

place for upskilling people 

capable of running this equipment 

and diverting them away 

from the tough seasonal work 

to develop more skills around 

orchard management.” 

New editor for Bay of 

Plenty Business News 

Experienced senior journalist David Porter will be taking over 

the role of editor of Bay of Plenty Business News this month. 

Tauranga-based since his return from 

abroad in late 2010 for family reasons, 

David has an extensive international 

background reporting on and analysing 

business, trade and politics. 

He recently spent three-and-half years 

as the daily business writer for the Bay of 

Plenty Times and the Rotorua Daily Post 

newspapers. 

“I’ve been very impressed since coming 

to live in the Bay by the creativity, collaborative 

approach and energy of the local 

business community,” says David. “I’m excited 

about the potential of Bay of Plenty 

Business News to provide detailed coverage 

of the key business issues.” 

Geoff Taylor, who has edited Bay of 

Plenty Business News since its launch in 

June last year, says he is delighted to be 

handing the reins over to a journalist of David’s 

calibre. 

David’s career highlights include serving as: 

• The Asia Communications Consultant 

to Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy, 

a global law firm, advising on business-to-business 

communications and 

media relations for the firm’s four Asian 

offices, based in Hong Kong. 

• A special advisor on media to Mike 

Moore during his term as Director General 

of the World Trade Organisation in 

Geneva. He also helped draft, and edited, 

Mr Moore’s book, A World Without 

Walls: Freedom, Development, Free 

Trade and Global Governance. 

• The spokesman for the World Health Organisation’s 

non-communicable diseases 

group in Geneva, and for the WHO 

Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity 

and Health. 

• An account director with Acumen Group 

public relations, based in Wellington. 


David Porter 

EDITOR 

David Porter 

David first worked in Asia as a staff 

correspondent for the New Zealand Press 

Association based in Hong Kong covering 

business, trade and political stories throughout 

the region. He subsequently held senior 

editorial roles at a number of weekly 

and monthly publications, including Asian 

Venture Capital Journal (Managing Editor), 

Readers Digest Asia (Managing Editor), 

and the Far Eastern Economic Review 

(Asst. Regional Editor). 

021 884 858 

david@bopbusinessnews.co.nz 

www.bopbusinessnews.co.nz 

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Gold kiwifruit 

orchard investment 

oversubscribed 

Investors have snapped up the opportunity 

to own a stake in a gold Bay of Plenty 

kiwifruit orchard offered by rural investment 

specialist, MyFarm. 

MyFarm was seeking 

$6.3 million from 

investors to purchase 

Expressway Orchard, a 16 

hectare property at Paengaroa, 

the eastern end of the Tauranga 

Eastern Link. 

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. 

MyFarm chief executive, 

Andrew Watters says when 

the investment opportunity 

closed Friday, March 31 it 

was oversubscribed by more 

than $500,000. 

The minimum investment 

level was $100,000. 

A third of the 28 investors 

who took up the opportunity 

are Bay of Plenty based and 

half have other investments in 

MyFarm managed orchards, 

Expressway Orchard. 

dairy farms or vineyards. 

The average investment 

level was $225,000. 

Andrew says the competitive 

orchard market meant it 

had taken two years for 

MyFarm to secure a quality 

gold kiwifruit orchard with 

the key attributes investors are 

looking for. 

The hunt has already begun 

for another kiwifruit orchard 

to meet investor demand. 

“There’s no doubt investors 

want access to the kiwifruit 

sector,” said Andrew. 

“They want a slice of the 

export action created by 

Bid for research institute goes to business case stage 

Zespri’s strategic investment 

in plant variety rights and 

careful management of global 

supply.” 

Expressway Orchard 

Limited Partnership is the 

third kiwifruit orchard syndicate 

to be established by 

MyFarm in the past two years. 

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New technology 

boosts EastPack 

capacity 

The EastPack Washer Road kiwifruit 

packing facility at Te Puke is a long way 

from the hollowed out, mothballed pack 

house it was after the devastating Psa 

outbreak in 2010. 

Today the high throughput 

plant is bristling with 

the latest technology to 

determine fruit quality and 

grade it to export standards, 

employs 300 people per shift 

and can move 200,000 trays 

over a day’s operation from 

delivery to final packing. 

A central part of the 

upgraded facilities technology 

sits with EastPack’s 14 

lane “Bravo” sorter, a $12.8 

million installation comprising 

entirely New Zealand 

developed sorting technology 

developed by local company 

Compac, based at Papamoa. 

Installed alongside the 

existing “Alpha” machine it 

takes the company’s capacity 

Fail to plan? Plan to fail! 

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breaking the steps that need to 

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up into smaller chunks. The process 

will seem more manageable 

and more achievable that way. 

Think of breaking up a task 

that must be completed by the 

at this site along up from six 

million trays last year to 10.5 

million. 

We now have people 

who have a good level 

of skills and have 

moved up the ranks to 

be team leaders and 

operators, and proven 

exceptional to have on 

board 

end of the month into a weekly 

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Celebrate progress, lead by 

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the positive. 

Site manager Matt Bowker 

said that will rise to 12 million 

trays next year, keeping 

the company well ahead of 

the expected sure in SunGold 

fruit expected as new plantings 

come to harvest next year 

and beyond. 

He likens the processing 

profile of the plant to that 

of a sharply shaped peak, 

describing the site as a “sprint 

shed” when the harvest hits 

full pace. 

The plant has been 

designed with that in mind, 

incorporating levels of technology 

capable of dealing 

with 7500 fruit per minute 

flowing through it, while also 

meeting Zespri’s high export 

standards for Grade 1 fruit. 

A key part of the plant’s 

technology is the use of 

“Spectrim” digital photographic 

technology that scans 

and photographs every piece 

of fruit passing through the 

14 lanes. This amounts to one 

million photographs a minute 

Arron Edwards. 

EastPack Washer Road site 

manager Matt Bowker. 

being taken, with the ability to 

capture images in colour and 

two differing infrared spectrums. 

“The equipment can 

Arron Edwards is the CEO of Bravesight, a Tauranga-based 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. 

essentially create a 3D image 

of the fruit for evaluation, and 

gets ‘taught’ by us what to look 

for in terms of imperfections. 

Because we now have this 

technology across three sites, 

we are also able to share what 

we already know between 

machines, and keep all sites 

updated on grade issues,” said 

Matt. 

In addition the grader is 

equipped with “near infra-red 

grading” (NIR) technology, 

capable of determining what 

the fruit’s interior and eating 

quality is like. 

“It measures four key quality 

parameters – fruit firmness, 

brix (sugar) levels, internal 

flesh colour and dry matter.” 

Combined with data on 

weight, a profile of the fruit’s 

quality can be determined. It is 

invaluable particularly at the 

early part of the season when 

growers want to capitalise on 

the Kiwistart early harvest 

bonuses, but have to be wary 

of smaller fruit struggling to 

make the required brix and 

drymatter levels to be eligible. 

“NIR has enabled us to 

extract the fruit that does meet 

the standards for growers who 

otherwise may not have had 

any, or very little be eligible 

from their orchard, giving 

them a significantly greater 

return than they would otherwise 

have had.” 

Investment in the boosted 

capacity comes as Zespri continues 

to offer 400ha tranches 

of SunGold licences to growers 

for the next four years, 

with this area alone generating 

an additional six million 

trays a year once reaching full 

maturity. 

Expectations for this season 

are for about 30-40 million 

trays of SunGold variety 

and 60 million of Green. 

Matt said despite the high 

level of automation in the 

plant, there was still a need 

for good staff in the operation, 

with a stable source 

of Recognised Seasonal 

Employer (RSE) staff from 

the islands returning year on 

year. 

“We now have people who 

have a good level of skills 

and have moved up the ranks 

to be team leaders and operators, 

and proven exceptional to 

have on board.” 

EastPack has had to reinforce 

the increased grading 

capacity with an additional 

$10 million spend on cool 

store capacity, taking the 

entire investment on the one 

site to $25 million. 

“Since I started in late 2014 

the company has invested $50 

million across all its facilities, 

ensuring we have capacity 

ahead of time to deal with fruit 

volumes,” said Matt. 

Cool Job • Hot Location 

For employment solutions across the Bay of Plenty, partner with Talent ID 

Temporary & Contract Staff 

Permanent Recruitment Solutions 

Skill & Psychometric Assessments 

Redundancy & Outplacement 

Interview Coaching 

Human Resource Consulting 

• Tauranga • Rotorua • Taupo • 

0800 850 080


The aged care sector as an investment 

Much has been written about the babyboomer 

generation, and the population 

bulge that is entering retirement. 

Through improved 

healthcare and lifestyle 

choices, people are living 

longer. Retirement villages 

have gained in popularity due 

to benefits such as security, 

easy care homes, a pathway 

from independent living to 

long-term care, and lifestyle 

benefits from a range of social 

activities that are offered in 

many of the larger villages. 

Investors can access the 

sector currently through 

four listed companies on the 

sharemarket, namely Ryman 

Healthcare, Summerset Group, 

Metlifecare, and Arvida Group. 

A fifth company, Oceania, is 

in the process of listing. Is the 

sector an attractive sector to 

invest in? 

The current population 

aged 75 plus totals just over 

300,000. Of this, an estimated 

13 percent reside in retirement 

villages (up from 10 percent 

in 2008), and a further 10.5 

percent occupy aged care beds. 

Over the next 10 years, the population 

aged over 75 is estimated 

to grow to 462,000. Based 

on the existing stock of units 

and care beds, over 2,100 units 

and 1,200 beds will be required 

to be built every year for the 

next 10 years to meet demand 

(figures supplied by District 

Health Board forecasts.) The 

four companies listed above 

are projected to deliver 1,350 

units and 480 beds per year, 

based on their current plans, 

leaving a significant shortfall. 

The shortfall is not going 

to be met by smaller private 

operators. In fact, many of the 

private operators are experiencing 

an ageing of their facilities, 

particularly in the aged 

care bed sector. Due to lack of 

scale, under capitalisation, and 

a trend by district health boards 

to try and keep the aged in 

their own homes longer, many 

of these smaller older facilities 

will not be renewed or 

upgraded. 

Retirement village operators 

receive income from provision 

of ongoing services to 

residents in the aged care bed 

sector, and property management 

for the villages of independent 

living units. They also 

receive development margins 

on sale of newly constructed 

units, and resale margins on 

units that change hands. Most 

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 

of the units are not sold as freehold, 

but as licences to occupy. 

Residents buying into a village 

effectively give up any capital 

gain from property ownership, 

in exchange for the benefits of 

village life and a lower capital 

cost than a similar freehold 

purchase, in the current property 

market. 

Over the last few years the 

listed operators have grown 

their businesses on the back of 

increased demand, and delivered 

good returns for investors. 

The three largest operators in 

the market, Ryman, Summerset 

and Metlifecare, have seen their 

share prices grow between 149 

percent to 234 percent over 

the last five years, plus deliver 

some dividend income on top. 

A buoyant property market has 

encouraged potential residents 

to sell up their family home, 

buy a unit in a village, and 

bank the difference, with the 

added benefits outlined earlier. 

However, the rampant property 

market is a double edged sword 

because it has also increased 

development costs, both of 

land for new village sites, and 

construction costs due to shortages 

of skilled trades and materials. 

There lies the risk – if 

units become too expensive, 

demand for units may reduce, 

and profitability of the operators 

will be affected. 

So far these risks, although 

increasing, have not resulted in 

a lessening of demand. Those 

operators who provide a pathway 

from independent units to 

aged care beds are in a better 

position to weather a property 

market downturn, whenever 

that may happen. The listed 

companies in the aged care sector 

are not seen to be slowing 

down, and demand continues 

to be strong for quality offerings. 

Whether an investment in 

this sector should form part of 

an investment portfolio will be 

a matter for individual investors 

to consider, based on their 

own set of circumstances. 

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. 

The art of the interview 

HUMAN RESOURCES 

What companies often 

overlook is that interviewing 

is as much 

a chance for the company to 

sell the merits of joining their 

team as it is about finding 

the best person for the role. 

An interview is a one off 

company’s first chance to 

demonstrate the culture that 

the new employee should 

expect to see in the workplace 

which will help the candidate 

to decide whether or not the 

role or company is for them. 

An interview that misses this 

chance can mean the best 

candidates slip through your 

fingers. 

A poor interview, with 

unprepared interviewers, 

badly worded questions or 

questions that are irrelevant 

to the role are mistakes that 

are commonly seen and lead 

to frustrations for both parties. 

Here is some advice drawn 

from the thousands of interviews 

Talent ID has participated 

in: 

Make sure your questions 

have meaning 

Creating a two-way 

exchange that draws out real 

experience from the candidate 

will help you to evaluate the 

value the candidate can add. 

An interview is not a chance 

to trip people up or find fault 

but the opportunity to receive 

information that will help you 

make the best decision for 

your company. 

Understand what is 

important and what is 

superficial 

An interview calls for 

in-depth questions which 

allow the candidate to clearly 

demonstrate the skills and 

experience they have that will 

add value to the role. While 

the interview is also a chance 

to see how the candidate 

prepares and presents themselves, 

these more superficial 

aspects should play a smaller 

part in the final decision making 

process. 

Give candidates a chance 

to succeed 

It is beneficial for both 

parties if candidates are given 

a chance to prepare by telling 

them beforehand what the 

interview format will be and 

who will be at the interview 

including their roles within 

the company. There is nothing 

more disappointing than 

a candidate who you know 

could excel at the role, but 

is so nervous that they don’t 

succeed at the interview. The 

role of the interviewer is to 

also put the candidate at ease. 

A skilled interviewer can 

coach the interviewee through 

nerves and mind-blocks enabling 

them to portray their 

skills in the best way possible. 

Let the interview evolve 

It’s okay to go off script. 

You’ll have your set questions 

and format to follow, but as 

the interview evolves and discussion 

ensues there will be 

other questions that pop up. 

These ad-hoc questions can 

be the best as you’ll often get 

more from these answers than 

your original questions. By 

being inquisitive you’ll learn 

something extra about the 

candidate and get past their 

pre-prepared answers. You 

really want to get to the point 

where the candidate is relaxed 

enough that their personality 

is starting to shine through. 

You must be prepared to 

Interviewing is just one 

part of the recruitment process, 

but it is often overlooked. 

It is such an important 

part of the process and 

the first real opportunity for 

both parties to verbally sell 

their attributes. So often the 

HR department does its job 

by screening applicants and 

pass on to line managers to 

interview. They may have 

received little training on how 

to conduct an interview, or 

the interview process may be 

left to the boss where in a 

small business environment, 

it could be a completely foreign 

process to them – this is 

where we often see poor and 

costly recruitment decisions 

> BY KELLIE HAMLETT 

Director, Recruitment & HR Specialist, Talent ID Recruitment Ltd 

made. 

Interviewing really is an 

art – a combination of preparation 

and intuition, conducted 

in the right manner 

provides rewarding outcomes 

for both parties. Talent ID 

is trained and experienced in 

If you are considering your current 

investment arrangements, perhaps 

it’s time to get a complimentary review 

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. 

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. 

conducting interviews and 

can support you by providing 

training, sitting in on the 

interview or conducting it for 

you. Please feel free to talk to 

us about this by calling 0800 

850080 or emailing kellie@ 

talentid.co.nz 

TAU5162-01 – © Forsyth Barr Limited August 2016 

OTS 


DO YOU KNOW YOUR FROM YOUR 

OS 


FROM GROUND TO CLOUD


Free tech expo a must for Bay businesses 

A free technology expo in Tauranga on 

May 10 will give Bay of Plenty businesses 

an opportunity to find out how the latest 

innovative technology could underpin 

growth and transform their workplaces. 

By VIV POSSELT 

Facilitated by economic 

development organisation 

Priority One on 

behalf of the Western Bay 

ICT Cluster, the free 2017 

Technology for Smarter 

Business Expo will feature 

stands by 20 exhibitors showcasing 

a range of products and 

services geared to maximising 

business potential. 

The expo will provide a 

‘one stop shop’ for business 

people to discover new technology 

that can reduce overheads, 

increase productivity, 

lift company profiles and help 

build staff knowledge, said 

Priority One’s project manager 

Annie Hill. 

“This is the sixth time we 

have held the expo, which 

is specifically focused 

on technology to support 

business growth,” she added. 

“Technology has long been 

recognised as having the 

Priority One project manager Annie Hill is putting the final 

touches on plans for the May 10 free technology expo in 

Tauranga. 

ability to lift productivity and 

enable businesses to work 

smarter, not harder.” 

The expo is being held 

in conjunction with national 

Techweek NZ, a May 6-14 

nationwide initiative celebrating 

ground-breaking technology, 

design and innovation. 

Techweek launched in 

Auckland last year. Its initial 

programme saw more 

than 10,000 people attend 55 

events across 10 days that 

united investors, business 

leaders, entrepreneurs, professionals 

and enthusiasts 

in their common interest in 

tackling global issues using 

technology. 

This year, Techweek has 

more than 100 events throughout 

New Zealand. Among the 

raft of topics being covered 

are sessions on the future of 

farming, starting your own 

company, virtual reality, augmented 

reality, game development, 

women in technology, 

and New Zealand’s place in 

the world of tech. 

Annie said those exhibiting 

at the Tauranga expo would 

feature a range of products 

and services, including the 

latest solutions to manage 

information, enable better 

decision-making, streamline 

business processes and 

work remotely. The flexibility 

offered by open source software 

will also be covered, 

as well as business graphics 

to make brands look good, 

and maximising business and 

sales opportunities through 

savvy websites and digital 

marketing. 

Annie said a number of 

There was a steady flow of businesses attending 

last year’s free technology expo in Tauranga. 

exhibitors would be showcasing 

the latest Cloud computing 

solutions and demonstrating 

how to integrate different 

systems. 

“In addition to disaster 

recovery, Cloud solutions are 

particularly relevant for small 

business owners that want to 

keep their capital costs down, 

as well as tradespeople that 

need to communicate with 

staff on the road.” 

She said 65 percent of 

those exhibiting this year had 

done so at previous expos. 

“In terms of exhibitor 

attendance, we have filled the 

expo each year. It ranges from 

around 18 to 22 at each expo. 

The business attendance has 

tended to remain the same 

over the years – around 500 

people come through in the 

afternoon. 

“This number works well 

in that exhibitors are kept very 

busy, but there are not too 

many people where they feel 

they are missing valuable contacts 

because they don’t have 

time to talk to everyone.” 

The May 10 expo would 

also provide an opportunity 

for local ICT companies to 

showcase their products and 

services to Bay of Plenty businesses, 

she said. 

“In particular, it is to 

encourage small and medium-sized 

businesses that 

currently access ICT goods 

and services from outside the 

region to give local suppliers 

a chance to provide the same. 

In addition, the support of the 

region’s larger businesses will 

increase the opportunities for 

local ICT businesses to grow.” 

Adam Hughes, director of 

software development company 

Think Ltd, has exhibited at 

the last two technology expos. 

He said: “The bottom line 

is we won business directly 

from being at the IT expo. It 

was a fantastic opportunity 

for us to meet potential clients 

that we just would not have 

met otherwise. Businesses 

came along with problems to 

solve. It was a great experience 

for both the exhibitors 

and expo visitors.” 

The free expo will be open 

to the public from noon to 5pm 

on Wednesday, May 10, at 

the Baycourt Exhibition Hall, 

Durham Street, Tauranga.


Why ex services staff 

make great employees 

Anzac Day is a time of the year when, 

quite rightly, we remember the sacrifices of 

service personnel from days gone by and 

also when we give thought to those that 

are still serving. 

By ANDREW BERRY 

Andrew Berry is Managing 

Director of exServices 

Recruitment and Superior 

Personnel. 

Equally I encourage 

employers to think about 

the benefits of having 

ex services personnel in their 

businesses and the benefits that 

a services ethos can give to 

their businesses. 

After 14 years in the New 

Zealand Police I transitioned 

into civilian employment. 

ExServices Recruitment has 

been established based on my 

experience of the opportunities 

and challenges that a transition 

to civilian work can provide. 

We are now working with ex 

New Zealand Defence Force, 

New Zealand Police and New 

Zealand Fire Service staff to 

assist them with employment. 

It is estimated that over the 

next three years about 5250 

people will transition out of the 

services. Many of them will be 

looking for their next civilian 

career. We have worked alongside 

the New Zealand Defence 

Force for the last 18 months, 

ensuring we understand their 

processes. As a result we are 

in a great position to represent 

ex services personnel in their 

transition to civilian career. 

In the United States, United 

Kingdom and to a lesser extent 

Australia, there is a very 

strong employer commitment 

and understanding of the benefits 

when employing ex services 

personnel. ExServices 

Recruitment is attempting to 

reflect that experience here in 

New Zealand. We are the first 

and only dedicated ex Services 

recruiter in New Zealand that 

specifically recruits for services 

personnel. ExServices 

Recruitment is about providing 

that link to meaningful and 

challenging career opportunities 

after service. 

Ex services personnel have 

a set of traits that in our experience, 

may not be so common 

in the New Zealand workplace. 

The traits they bring include 

a high level of dependability, 

integrity, leadership, decision-making 

ability, initiative, 

tenacity, adaptability and professional 

presence. 

Since exServices Recruitment 

launched in 2016, we have 

had plenty of feedback from 

clients specifically looking for 

more ex services staff. They 

tell us they value the fact that 

these staff are very strong 

especially in the area of teamwork, 

dependability and that 

they have a ‘can do’ attitude. 

They find ex services staff tend 

not to be part of any ‘knocking 

machine’ that can sometimes 

develop in a workplace. 

Instead ex services personnel 

are very goal focused and they 

persevere to achieve a goal. 

That tenacity and dependability 

is invaluable to our clients. 

Employers may not realise 

the tremendous breadth of 

skills that exist in the police, 

defence force and fire service. 

As well as inter-personal 

skills, health and safety, 

leadership, operations and 

logistics skills, there is a 

wide variety of trade-related 

knowledge - everything from 

warehousing to chef skills to 

logistics and HR. 

There is a significant 

opportunity for employers 

with ex Services personnel, 

one that we believe in wholeheartedly 

and utilise in our 

own business. A great example 

of that is the business 

development manager at 

our Tauranga branch, Drew 

Walker, who formerly served 

in the Royal New Zealand Air 

Force. Employers in the Bay 

keen to tap into the skills ex 

services personnel can offer 

can contact me directly on 

Andrew@exservices.co.nz or 

call Drew Walker on 07 262 

0222. 

Twin cyclones dismal 

news for businesses 

From page 3 

accordance with the amount 

of damage each has suffered. 

There are 134 businesses operating 

from Edgecumbe. 

Unfortunately Debbie was 

followed by Cook, hampering 

efforts to get Edgecumbe and 

its residents back on their feet. 

The package for farmers 

is based on the event being 

classed as a medium-scale, 

adverse event, meaning farmers 

can get help from Task 

Force Green teams and the Bay 

of Plenty Rural Support Trust, 

as well as receiving tax assistance 

and civil defence payments. 

Eastern Bay of Plenty 

Chamber of Commerce chief 

executive Ged Casey said he 

had been working closely with 

business owners in Edgecumbe 

in the aftermath of the flooding. 

“The chamber liaised with 

the Emergency Response Team 

and we did what we could in 

the early stages including trying 

to talk with as many of the 

business owners as we could,” 

Mr Casey said. 

Mr Casey set up a temporary 

office in Edgecumbe’s Fonterra 

factory so people with concerns 

could express them directly to 

the chamber. He also helped 

facilitate the opportunity for 

local shop owners to go into 

the cordoned areas and recover 

as much stock and paperwork 

as possible and assess damage. 

“We are also working our 

way through looking at business 

assistance recovery packages. 

“Our aim is to gets shops 

and businesses up and running 

as soon as possible.” 

Mr Casey said it was still 

the very early stages of what 

would be a long recovery but 

the prognosis is positive. 

“We have some of the bigger 

businesses, like Fonterra 

and Eastpack, who were able to 

remain open.” 

Whakatane Mayor Tony 

Bonne described the impact on 

local businesses and organisations 

as “huge” but was confident 

the area would work 

together and get through. 

“The Government packages 

will help but we are a resilient 

community and we’ll help each 

other get back on our feet.” 

The Rangitaiki Community 

Board and the The Edgecumbe 

Development and Improvement 

Team (EDIT) had met to talk 

about what could be done to 

help each other and the community. 

Stock being loaded to higher 

ground near Edgecumbe. 

CRM 


DO YOU KNOW YOUR FROM YOUR 

CBA 




Tauranga's pier 

- a step towards a 

“sensational” waterfront 

Crowds enjoy the new pier, pontoon 

and stairs at Tauranga waterfront. 

Tauranga new waterfront’s development 

opened to the public in April, giving 

residents the chance to get a little closer to 

the water. 

The $2.8 million project 

featuring 50 metres 

of tidal stairs, a new 

27 metre pier and a new 24 

metre floating pontoon was 

opened to the public in time 

for the Tauranga National Jazz 

Festival over Easter Weekend. 

The facility allows views 

across the water and gives 

residents the chance to head 

down and dip their toes in the 

water, enjoy a coffee or a bite 

to eat from the local shops 

while sitting on the steps and 

soaking up the harbour. 

“This is an exciting opportunity 

to celebrate Tauranga’s 

waterfront and enjoy renewed 

connections to the water”, 

says deputy mayor Kelvin 

Clout. 

Tauranga city councillor 

Max Mason, chairman of 

the council’s Economic and 

Investment Committee, says 

internationally competitive 

cities have “sensational” 

waterfronts. 

“This is an exciting 

and important project for 

Tauranga. This project connects 

our city centre to the 

waterfront. It provides an 

opportunity once again where 

people can access the water 

and take advantage of our city 

environment. 

“This is the first project 

that delivers on The Heart of 

the City project, which we 

believe will create a vibrant, 

safe and successful city centre 

in Tauranga.” 

The Heart of the City 

Council-led projects include 

the new civic administration 

building and surrounding 

open space, business cases for 

a museum, city library and 

performance venue and future 

investment in the waterfront 

and streetscape. 

The council allocated $8 

million to be spent in the first 

five years and a construction 

contract of $2.8 million was 

awarded to HEB Construction 

for the tidal stairs, pier and 

pontoon project. 

“Alongside the new steps 

and pier, the incorporation of 

public art into the facility has 

been important to this project 

and to reflect Tauranga’s 

marine history and connections”, 

say Kelvin. 

Etched into the stairs is 

a karakia and story about 

Tauranga and it is possible 

to see different parts of this 

depending on the tide level.” 

Artist Elliot Collins 

worked closely with Ngai 

Tamarawaho in the development 

of the artwork and use 

of the karakia. The karakia 

and poetry have been painted 

in colours reflecting the surrounding 

environment. 

An artist's impression of the Tauranga waterfront project. 

ITS FLU VACCINATION 

TIME AGAIN 

So host a flu vaccination 

clinic in your workplace 

Services available in Tauranga and Rotorua 

Call us today 

0800 464 432 

eve@go4health.co.nz 

www.go4health.co.nz 

47 Fraser street, Tauranga 

www.facebook.com/Go4healthnz 

Services include: 

Hearing tests 

Lung function/spirometry tests 

Comprehensive health checks 

Pre-employment medicals 

Workstation assessments 

Drug and alcohol tests 

Flu vaccinations 

Hepatitis vaccinations 

M5289P


The challenges associated with managing time 

Everyone only has 24 hours in every day, 

yet some people appear to be able to 

achieve more than others. 

Why is that? 

It’s because they 

know exactly what 

they want to achieve. 

In order to better manage 

time it is vital to set your 

direction, ensuring you’re on 

track and the goals you’ve set 

are being met. 

There are two types of 

goals – short-term and longterm 

goals. 

Long-term goals are the 

one, five, 10 or even 20 year 

goals which you establish first 

so you can work towards them 

with your short- term goals. 

These are goals that take 

less than 90 days to achieve, 

are part of the bigger picture 

and you plan them weekly. 

Goals need to be results 

driven and measurable. They 

need to be positive and realistic 

while providing you with a 

challenge - and they must have 

specific deadlines. 

But, in any given day we 

may have a number of urgent 

deadlines placed before us, 

have team members and perhaps 

irate customers to deal 

with. 

How do we decide what to 

do first? 

What else needs to be dealt 

with and in what order? 

If we’re being driven by 

urgency in this decision process, 

it’s time to think again. 

A book, First Things First 

by Stephen R Covey and A 

Roger Merrill categorises the 

way we spend our time in four 

ways: 

1. Important/urgent – eg crises, 

pressing problems, 

deadline-driven projects, 

preparations 

2. Important/not-urgent – eg 

prevention, values clarification, 

planning, relationship 

building, team meetings 

3. Not important/urgent – eg 

interruptions, some phone 

calls, some emails/mail, 

some reports, and some 

meetings 

4. Not important/not urgent – 

eg trivia, busywork, junk 

mail, some phone calls, 

“escape” activities 

But just because something 

is urgent, doesn’t mean it’s 

important. 

A quick way to differentiate 

is to ask whether the activity 

is contributing to an important 

objective. If not, it’s probably 

not important. 

If you find urgency is driving 

you, consider the cost. 

What important things – 

maybe even “first things” – are 

not receiving your time and 

attention? 

Consider the activities 

you’ve completed successfully 

and which have had a positive 

effect your lives or business. 

They’re most likely to be 

activities that are not driven by 

urgency, mostly falling under 

seven activities: 

1. Improving communication 

2. Better preparation 

3. Better planning and organising 

4. Taking better care of self 

5. Seizing new opportunities 

6. Personal development 

7. Empowerment 

They are all important 

activities. 

So why aren’t we doing 

them or doing more of them? 

Probably because they 

aren’t urgent. 

They don’t act on you, you 

MONEY MATTERS 

> BY MICHELLE HILL 

Michelle Hill is director and partner at BDO Rotorua, Chartered 

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

email rotorua@bdo.co.nz 

have to act on them. 

Take time to consider how 

you spend your time and make 

some positive changes in the 

short term to help you achieve 

your long term goals. 

Making time for marketing 

I 

recently met with a Bay 

of Plenty business owner 

who wanted to launch a 

website but didn’t have the 

time to source photos or think 

about the written content. He 

had some major projects due 

that were demanding all of 

his attention but few jobs on 

his books afterwards, which 

was fuelling an increasingly 

urgent need to generate new 

business. 

When things get busy 

it’s easy to focus 

single-mindedly on the 

job at hand instead 

of devoting time to 

securing the next sale. 

This is a common experience 

for many small business 

owners. When things 

get busy it’s easy to focus 

single-mindedly on the job at 

hand instead of devoting time 

to securing the next sale. 

I’ve been guilty of it 

myself. Using the argument 

that it’s easier to keep an 

existing client than to find a 

new one, I’ve often thrown 

future-proofing to the wayside 

to ensure I deliver my 

current projects ahead of 

schedule. 

Exceeding expectations is 

key to most successful businesses, 

and for good reason. 

But when projects end and 

money gets tight, it becomes 

painfully obvious that building 

time into your daily schedule 

to ensure there’s more 

work on the horizon is also a 

must. Minimising downtime 

and making sure new work is 

coming in is even more critical 

for businesses that employ 

staff. After all, wages need to 

be paid, whether or not staff 

have productive work to do. 

It’s difficult to put a number 

on how much time a small 

business owner should devote 

to prospecting, marketing, 

and improving their business, 

but I’d suggest a bare minimum 

of an hour every single 

day is a reasonable starting 

point. 

This time can be spent 

identifying and approaching 

prospects, exploring advertising 

avenues, identifying 

media opportunities, attending 

networking events, or on 

any number of other activities 

that raise your business’ profile 

with those who you want 

to connect with. 

Of course, this kind of 

work doesn’t generally pay 

by the hour, so it’s vital that it 

elicits a return in the long run. 

Ensure everything you do is 

measurable so you can tell 

whether or not it is resulting 

in a return on investment. If 

you are placing online advertising 

with the goal of driving 

traffic to your website, it’s 

worth paying attention to the 

number of people clicking on 

your ad so you can calculate 

what you are paying per click. 

This can also be done for time 

spent approaching prospects. 

By quantifying how many of 

your approaches are resulting 

in successful sales, you 

can determine the kinds of 

approaches that are working, 

and which ones aren’t worth 

the effort. 

Finally, pressure on time 

isn’t the only obstacle for 

business owners looking 

to ramp up their marketing 

and development efforts. 

Sometimes financial hurdles 

can feel just as insurmountable. 

Fortunately there are a 

number of funds available that 

Bay of Plenty business owners 

can apply to if they need 

financial support. These range 

from New Zealand Story’s 

Creative Collective funding, 

which assists exporters with 

the costs of producing promotional 

videos, to New Zealand 

Trade and Enterprise’s 

Capability Development 

Voucher scheme, which 

co-funds coaching and training 

for people who want to 

build capability in a variety of 

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. 

different capacities, including 

marketing. 

Securing funding support 

can be a game-changer, but 

it can also be onerous process, 

so it pays to ensure your 

business can clearly articulate 

how it meets all of the criteria 

before sitting down to develop 

an application. 

The Bay of Plenty’s very own job portal. 

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RAM 

WHAT DOES IT STAND FOR? 





Part of this block on Tauranga’s Durham 

Street is one of the sites being considered 

for a new hotel and conference centre. 

Calls grow for top hotel in Tauranga 

Calls for an internationally-branded hotel 

and conference centre in Tauranga are 

growing louder as Bay of Plenty celebrates 

its status as New Zealand’s fastest-growing 

region in terms of prosperity. 

By VIV POSSELT 

Recent Statistics NZ figures 

put the Bay’s GDP 

growth rate at 7.7 percent, 

a figure that topped the 

country in the year to March 

2016 and put it a respectable 

few points ahead of the next 

two on the list - Auckland on 

6 percent, and Otago at 4.8 

percent. 

And while the nod to the 

Bay’s increase in prosperity 

has been welcomed by all, 

concerns are mounting that 

Tauranga is losing big events 

and conferences to other 

regions because it doesn’t 

have an internationally-branded 

hotel and conference centre. 

“Not knowing exactly 

how many conferences we 

are missing out on is one of 

the difficulties we are facing 

right now,” said Annie Hill, 

projects and communications 

manager at Priority One, the 

Tauranga and Western Bay of 

Plenty economic development 

organisation. 

She said major events now 

coming to the area were putting 

the city’s facilities under 

pressure, and plans for a new 

tertiary campus – expected 

to be operational by 2020 – 

would likely increase the need 

for suitable hotel/conference 

venue. 

Tauranga needs another 

four-star hotel and conference 

venue, she said, one with 

international brand recognition. 

“There are huge opportunities 

we are missing because we 

don’t have that in Tauranga. 

The brand is often what drives 

conference organisers to select 

a venue, preferably one where 

their delegates can stay on the 

same site. We don’t have a 

branded venue like that here.” 

At a September 2016 meeting 

at which Tauranga City 

Council signalled its readiness 

to move ahead on its 

City Heart plan, council gave 

the thumbs up to an ongoing 

search for a private developer 

to build a new hotel in the city. 

Tauranga City Mayor Greg 

Brownless, who took over the 

mayoralty after that meeting, 

has added his voice to those 

now keen to move the hotel 

project forward. 

He said: “This is something 

we need here now more 

than ever. We have the land 

available; there are a couple of 

ideal sites. If someone chose 

to build it elsewhere, we’d be 

open to looking at that too, 

and we could possibly support 

more than one [hotel development]. 

“Every few weeks, people 

come through my doors with 

ideas for developing a hotel. 

It’s now just a matter of those 

ideas taking shape.” 

He said now is a particularly 

good time to move that process 

forward. The economy 

is good, business is buoyant 

and Tauranga’s existing hotels 

are enjoying high occupancy 

rates. 

“The idea of another hotel 

has been under discussion for 

a few years, but the last time it 

was on the table we were facing 

the global financial crisis 

and it all came to a grinding 

halt. Now we are in a different 

situation. We’re doing well 

economically right now … I 

think we’re pretty confident 

that we can get it underway.” 

Two sites are being considered 

for the development. 

One is at 91 Willow Street, 

and the other – favoured by 

Mr Brownless - is at the 21-41 

Durham Street block, opposite 

Baycourt and on the footprint 

of the old TV3 site. 

“The foundations are 

already there. There is an 

underground carpark, and 

another carpark on top. It is 

an ideal site. 

“But realistically, this is a 

long-term thing for investors. 

It will not be a decision taken 

quickly.” 

Mr Brownless described 

the council’s current zoning 

requirements as “pretty liberal” 

and said he believed that 

council would be co-operative 

in the event of any potential 

developer seeking more flexibility 

around issues such as 

consents. 

Priority One’s Annie Hill 

said the difficulty for potential 

developers is that with hotels, 

no-one received anything back 

on their investment until the 

first rooms were booked. 

“Several potential investors 

have done due diligence. 

Most are looking at mixed 

use – offering office space, 

commercial or retail space as 

well as hotel accommodation. 

They would be looking for an 

anchor tenant of sufficient size 

to make it a viable option.” 

She said local organisations 

were working hard together to 

develop a year-round events 

programme that would bolster 

current peak seasonal surges. 

Tauranga does need 

more accommodation 

of a certain standard 

for visitors, especially 

a branded hotel for 

international visitors. 

“We are feeling cautiously 

optimistic that we are moving 

closer to getting the hotel 

underway.” 

Gillian Houser, business 

development manager at Bay 

Venues, said the decision to 

hold conferences and other 

major events in Tauranga was 

definitely being impacted by 

issues of accommodation and 

other limitations around infrastructure 

- in particular, airline 

access. 

“We are bringing conferences 

and events into the city, 

but there are accommodation 

and other restrictions which 

have cost us several bookings 

this year alone,” she said. “So 

yes, we are securing conferences 

– some of them bringing 

in 400 to 500 delegates. We 

have to put those delegates 

into a variety of hotels and 

then bus them to the conference 

venue … and while that 

would be the norm in many 

centres, it is far from ideal, 

particularly when we cannot 

offer the quality in accommodation 

that we should be.” 

She said accommodation 

and infrastructure was of paramount 

importance to those 

seeking to book conferences 

or major events. 

“Our conference venues 

are fit for purpose, but the 

difficulty we are facing is in 

trying to accommodate the 

number of delegates or people 

attending events and transporting 

them to Tauranga. 

“It is also a fact that the 

regions are increasingly on the 

radar of conference and event 

organisers in Australia. If we 

don’t prepare for that now, 

the risk is we will miss out on 

those events in the long term.” 

Ms Houser said promoters 

of large concerts also looked 

closely at accommodation 

options and the ease with 

which people could travel to a 

venue before they considered 

firming up on a booking. 

Tauranga Chamber of 

Commerce chief executive 

Stan Gregec echoed the call 

for a new hotel development 

for the city. 

“Tauranga does need more 

accommodation of a certain 

standard for visitors, especially 

a branded hotel for international 

visitors. 

“There are all sorts of proposals 

and ideas that are being 

put forward for this.” 

Kath Low, head of marketing 

with Tourism Bay of 

Plenty, said while Tauranga 

did offer a range of high end 

accommodation and conference 

options, and the tourism 

spend in the area had 

grown 41 percent over the past 

five years – 5 percent of the 

national average - the lack of 

a branded hotel was an issue. 

“While Tauranga does have 

a variety of accommodation 

offerings, not having a known 

brand hotel limits our ability 

to attract all markets. There 

are international markets 

that have a predisposition to 

book branded hotels, such as 

Singapore, India and China. 

“Tauranga is one of New 

Zealand’s most appealing destinations 

in which to holiday,” 

she added. “Visitors come 

here for leisure, and then try to 

create an opportunity to come 

back – conferences provide a 

good excuse.” 

Tauranga Mayor Greg Brownless said the 

time is right for a new hotel development. 

Priority One’s Annie Hill says Tauranga is missing out on 

major conferences and events because there is currently 

no internationally-branded hotel and conference centre. 

Gillian Houser from Bay Venues says current restrictions 

mean Tauranga may miss out on events long-term.

BAY OF PLENTY BUSINESS NEWS April/May 2017 

13


Tauranga moves to 

next stage of Housing 

Infrastructure Fund 

Tauranga City Council has submitted its 

application for the Government’s $1 billion 

Housing Infrastructure Fund. 

The Housing Infrastructure 

Fund (HIF) is a contestable 

$1 billion fund to 

assist high growth councils 

advance infrastructure projects 

required to increase housing 

supply. 

It is proposed as an interest-free 

loan to help meet the 

requirements of the National 

Policy Statement on Urban 

Development Capacity for 

development-ready land. 

Tauranga City Council has 

applied for a total of $256.1m 

to fund four packages of projects 

that will allow both citywide 

growth and to open new 

urban growth areas: 

• Waiari Water Treatment 

Plant ($114.6m) - city-wide 

• Te Maunga Wastewater 

Treatment Plant upgrade 

($55.9m) - city-wide 

• Infrastructure for Te Tumu 

urban growth area ($39.8m) 

- Eastern Corridor 

• Infrastructure for Tauriko 

West urban growth area 

($45.8m) - Western Corridor 

The council noted that submitting 

the HIF application is 

non-binding and that further 

assessment of risk, particularly 

in respect of strategic and 

financial impact, will be undertaken 

as part of the 2018-2028 

Long Term Plan. 

The main risk identified at 

this stage was that because the 

funding is provided as a loan, 

the debt associated would sit 

Remuneration trends for 2017 

A brief review 

Last year, New Zealand 

maintained a solid momentum 

within its economy. At the 

same time, global uncertainty 

persisted and the demand 

for skilled labour remained 

high despite strong migration 

levels. This combined with 

regional housing pressure 

resulted in wage increases in 

the private sector sitting at or 

close to the 3 percent mark. 

This was an increase from 

what we have seen in recent 

years with average salary 

increases in the previous four 

years closer to 2.5 percent in 

on council's balance sheet, and 

would make council exceed its 

debt limit. 

Chief financial officer Paul 

Davidson indicated that this 

would affect council’s credit 

rating. 

“Any impact on council’s 

credit quality would likely 

increase the cost of council’s 

borrowings” says Paul. 

Participating in the bid will 

enable council to continue 

discussions with both central 

government and other high 

growth councils on possible 

alternative financial and funding 

structures. 

Businesses must embrace change: KPMG 

Advances in technology 

are rapidly changing the 

way that companies do 

business, and as such, organisations 

are finding themselves 

having to respond faster and be 

more agile in the way projects 

are managed. A survey of New 

Zealand’s private and public 

sector project management 

professionals, senior executives 

and business representatives, 

released recently, looks 

into the project management 

profession and shows there is 

room for improvement. 

KPMG’s Project 

Management Survey 2017 

revealed that around twothirds 

of projects undertaken in 

New Zealand are failing. The 

survey showed only 29 percent 

of projects are delivered on 

budget, 21 percent of projects 

are delivering on benefits and 

33 per cent meet original goals 

or business objectives. 

Gina Barlow, director in the 

advisory team at KPMG New 

Zealand says that while the 

survey results may seem discouraging, 

they present New 

Zealand organisations with an 

opportunity to embrace new 

ways of working to increase 

their performance. 

“The survey shows that 

current project management 

methods are struggling to provide 

efficient project delivery, 

so there is a need for project 

management to take a big step 

closer to business strategy and 

agile project management this 

year.” 

The survey shows that 

the number and complexity 

of projects organisations are 

completing has risen, with 40 

percent of organisations completing 

more than 30 projects 

a year. 

“We see that organisations 

have more projects, less 

time, and change is constant, 

so ensuring that change management 

activities are integrated 

with project management 

activities is important 

to achieve desired results and 

planned business outcomes. 

“Interestingly, despite project 

failure rates 61 percent of 

organisations feel project success 

rates have improved over 

the last two years, showing a 

disconnect between how well 

organisations think they are 

managing their projects, and 

reality.” 

The survey also highlighted 

a skills shortage in the project 

Commercial use for sea lettuce explored 

Sea lettuce is one of the 

less appreciated sights 

on our beaches in summer, 

however a new collaborative 

project between Priority 

One and the University of 

Waikato has used it to test 

ways of encouraging regional 

innovation. 

With scholarships provided 

by Priority One, the 

Summer Marine Innovation 

Lab involved university students 

working on projects 

that applied science, design 

thinking and business disciplines 

to investigate the value 

or benefit that can potentially 

be derived from sea lettuce. 

The project was supervised 

by Dr Ralf Schlothauer, with 

support from Professor Chris 

Battershill, chair in Coastal 

Science from the University of 

Waikato. Ralf was keen to find 

a model that worked for Bay of 

the private sector and around 

2 percent in the public sector. 

Talking numbers for 2017 

With employers still 

reporting talent shortages in 

key areas and salary projections 

sitting at 3.1 percent for 

the private sector, it will be 

interesting to see how wages 

will move in 2017. Strategic 

Pay have already published 

some industry surveys this 

year which are indicating 

increases in the private sector 

could be above 3 percent. We 

will however get a clearer 

picture how wage movement 

Plenty and did something a bit 

different by providing students 

with a great career experience 

and enhanced the engagement 

of businesses in science. 

“We used the tools of science 

and design thinking to 

come up with solutions that 

turn this thing that is considered 

a pest into something that 

is a source of environmental 

and economic benefit,” says 

Ralf. 

Suzy Twaddle, from the 

University of Waikato, looked 

at agricultural applications 

of sea lettuce. She created a 

worm farm and found that 

sea lettuce doesn’t kill worms 

or damage worm juice. She 

is now working at Comvita 

and undertaking her Master’s 

degree. 

Eva Lichtenberg-Cloo, 

from University of Auckland, 

mapped where sea lettuce is 

has played out over the last 

12 months from our flagship 

New Zealand Remuneration 

Survey which is due for publication 

at the end of this 

month. This comprehensive 

remuneration survey enables 

us to understand market 

movement and remuneration 

practices. With more than 500 

participating organisations, 

the survey also gives insight 

into regional pay differences 

which continue to be a hot 

topic. 

Strategic Pay will be running 

remuneration briefings 

in Tauranga and Hamilton 

in May to highlight the key 

findings from this survey. 

Our regular clients and survey 

participants are invited to 

attend these free events and 

find them useful additions to 

their remuneration forecasting 

and budgeting. This year 

our Hamilton briefing will be 

at the Novotel Tainui on May 

16 at 4pm and our Tauranga 

Briefing will be at Trinity 

Wharf on May 17 at 7:30am. 

You must register before the 

event to attend. If you are 

a new to Strategic Pay and 

would like to attend one of 

the briefings please get in 

touch with your local consultant 

for more details. 

growing and where it is best 

to collect. After she found the 

main barrier to growing sea 

lettuce was regulatory as no 

aquaculture is allowed under 

the Fisheries Act, she worked 

with the Ministry of Primary 

Industries to develop a comprehensive 

guide to the regulations 

that apply to this area. 

Meanwhile Miles Buob, 

from University of Wisconsin- 

Madison, investigated the ability 

of sea lettuce to absorb 

nutrients and pollution, eg bromide. 

In Australia, it is used 

“We are confident that 

ongoing conversations will 

ensure we maintain our credit 

quality.” 

The process of applying 

for the HIF has initiated 

good discussions with both 

the Government and other 

high growth councils such as 

Hamilton and Auckland facing 

the same debt-related issues. 

The process has also shown 

the commitment from all parties 

– Government, Tauranga 

City Council, SmartGrowth 

partners and developers – to 

work together to bring forward 

housing supply. 

Cathy Hendry 

Senior consultant 

Strategic Pay 

Tauranga 

+ mob 027 498 9812 

+ cathy@strategicpay.co.nz 

management profession. The 

survey found the skills project 

managers were most lacking in 

included: leading change in the 

organisation, managing conflict, 

political smarts, resolving 

grey issues and communications 

skills. 

“A lack of skilled project 

managers, an ageing workforce 

(60 percent of Project 

Management Institute members 

are more than 40 years 

old), merging technologies, a 

lack of training of new talent 

and existing shortage of skills 

supply is a concern for organisations 

and is also contributing 

to clean water and it seems to 

work well. He found that the 

sea lettuce can absorb pollution, 

turn it into biochar and 

then be returned into the soil as 

a nutrient. The students have 

presented to the community 

and produced a website which 

Should Tauranga City 

Council be successful in this 

bid, further work would be 

required to prepare detailed 

business cases for the 

Government to review before 

delivering the funding. This 

will give the council the opportunity 

to further assess whether 

to take up the funding and 

commit to completing the four 

projects in the advanced timeframes. 

This assessment needs to be 

made within the wider context 

of the 2018-2028 Long Term 

Plan and the other projects and 

priorities for Tauranga City. 

Nigel Murphy 

Consultant 

Strategic Pay 

Hamilton 

+ mob 027 403 1242 

+ nigel.murphy@ 

strategicpay.co.nz 

www.strategicpay.co.nz 

the failure results we’ve seen 

in the survey. 

“There is a need for organisations 

to take a strategic 

approach to talent management, 

providing for the future 

by creating suitable career 

paths and investing in developing 

talent to ensure project 

delivery capabilities do not 

impact the outcomes from strategic 

initiatives. 

“It is no longer enough 

to focus on talent hiring and 

development for those who 

only have technical project 

management skills,” says 

Gina. 

gives an overview of all they 

have found: ttps://regionalinnovationlab.squarespace. 

com. 

A number of science and 

commercial opportunities are 

now in development arising 

from the students’ initial 

work.


Scion celebrates 70 years’ of science 

Crown Research Centre Scion is 

celebrating its 70th year in operation. 

The organisation began 

when in April 1947 the 

then State Forest Service 

established a Forest Experiment 

Station beside the existing nursery 

at Whakarewarewa Forest. 

Its decision to centralise forestry 

research laid the foundation for 

today’s Scion research institute 

that supports New Zealand’s 

third largest export industry. In 

2017 Scion employs more than 

300 people at offices in Rotorua 

and Christchurch. 

Scion’s research areas have 

evolved dramatically in the past 

70 years. In the 1950s research 

into growth modelling for forests 

and timber engineering had 

only just begun, but some of 

the timber drying, preservation 

and fibre production that were 

developed then are still used 

today. 

Scion now has science capa- 

bility stretching across the value 

chain with work in fields from 

genetics to the design and use 

of wood, fibre and other forest 

resources. This reflects the 

enormous increase in uses for 

forests and their products over 

the last 70 years. Forests and 

their products are now used 

as sources of energy for liquid 

biofuels, feedstock for high 

performance bioplastic in car 

components and adhesives in 

sustainable wood products. 

Scion chief executive Dr 

Julian Elder says “In our 70 

years, Scion has undertaken 

research that has brought benefits 

to forestry in New Zealand 

and around the world. It was 

our scientists who helped analyse 

the brown-rot fungi in 

Auckland leaky homes in 2004, 

and it was our science that 

helped resolve technical issues 

Some of Scion’s Rotorua staff celebrate this year’s milestone. 

with the production of wooden 

beams for the 2000 Sydney 

Olympics. 

“Trees are very important to 

New Zealand, for our economy, 

our lifestyles and our environment. 

Going forward their significance 

will continue to grow. 

And we will continue to serve 

New Zealand by optimising forests 

and protecting them from 

potential risks and diseases. 

“This 70th anniversary is an 

opportunity look back on those 

achievements but also to look 

forward as we continue to grow 

New Zealand through trees.” 

Celebrations at Scion commenced 

with an in-house event 

on April 10 and a commemorative 

staff photo. Activities and 

events are planned throughout 

2017 to honour Scion’s past and 

look to the future. 

To TLA or not to TLA 

Three Letter Acronym a language of its own 

Having lived in a number 

of countries and been 

involved in a wide cross 

section of industries, I have 

seen my fair share of the TLA. 

The ‘Three Letter Acronym’ 

sometimes appears to be a language 

of its own. 

It appears in every day conversation 

from travel (AKL, 

LAX, SYD) to finance (GBP, 

EUR, AUS, NZD) and of 

course more commonly text 

language (LOL, BTW etc.) 

The IT industry is no different 

and in many of cases worse. 

As an outsourced IT department, 

Stratus Blue Limited 

translates Geek to Human and 

vice versa, yet sometimes we 

need to go simpler and tell the 

team to ‘paint by numbers’ to 

get the explanation and solution 

clear. 

As it is financial new 

year for most, and as you are 

communicating with your IT 

department/ provider, included 

are some common acronyms 

and their brief meanings to 

assist you in future discussions. 

ICT: Information and 

Communications Technologies 

WWW: world wide web! 

CBA: Cost Benefit 

Analysis. More of a business 

term in general but one that is 

important for IT decisions. 

BCP: Business continuity 

planning. 

IT is one part of this for 

your business. What happens 

in a state of disaster? Or how 

does the business continue 

to operate if a failure event 

occurs. 

DR: Disaster recovery 

and plan. Remediation and 

recovery plans in a state of 

disaster. Forms part of the BCP. 

OTS = ‘off the shelf’, referring 

to product or service that is 

bought and implemented with 

no changes. Common when 

looking at software, applications 

and business tools. An 

OTS may do 80 percent of the 

work you want and have to 

adjust 20 percent processes to 

fit it. This goes hand in hand 

with OOTB (out of the Box) or 

PNP (plug and play). 

WAN: Wide area network. 

Multiple branches or cloud 

based applications use a WAN 

to communicate with each 

other. 

LAN: Local area network. 

Your immediate workplace/ 

workspace network. That is 

local to you. 

RDS: Remote Desktop 

Services, also known as terminal 

services. Allows support 

teams to take control of a 

device remotely. 

RDP: Remote Desktop 

Protocol. Provides a user with 

an interface to connect another 

computer over a network connection. 

VPN: Virtual Private 

Network. Allows you to send/ 

receive data across public or 

shared networks as if you are 

connected to a private network. 

RAM: Random Access 

Memory. Computer Storage 

which stores frequently used 

programmes (eg. OS) The bigger 

it is, or more gigabytes 

(GB) the faster the machine 

can be. 

OS: Operating system, 

like Windows 7 or MacOS 

Sierra. 

MSP: Managed Service 

Provider (Like what Stratus 

Blue is). Providing managed 

services for IT support and 

operational continuity. 

SLA: Service Level 

agreement. Agreement which 

defines response criteria and 

applicable charges 

MSA: Managed Service 

Agreement, Containing SLA 

and charges for support and 

services outside the SLA 

SSD: solid state drive. The 

common modern replacement 

of the hard disk drive (HDD). 

SSDs have no moving parts 

so are faster, quieter and less 

to maintain. Combined with a 

RAM upgrade is an economic 

way to improve operational 

performance. 

NAS: Network attached 

storage. A cheaper alternative 

to a data file store than a server. 

UFB: Ultra fast broadband. 

If there are others that you 

don’t know and want to know 

more, feel free to contact us. 

TECH TALK 

> BY TONY SNOW 

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

022 122 8669 T 07 777 0010. 

PROPERTY VALUATION 

SERVICES 

Covering the Bay of Plenty and Coromandel - lakes to sea! 

Let us take the stress out of your residential and 

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www.propertyindepth.co.nz 

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WHAT DOES IT STAND FOR? 





From the Ground Up: 

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Disaster response 

recognised in national 

planning awards 

A joint response to complex planning 

and technical challenges following the 

Canterbury Earthquakes of 2010 and 2011 

in parts of the Waimakariri District north of 

Christchurch has achieved the supreme 

accolade at this year’s New Zealand 

Planning Institute (NZPI) awards. 

The draft Waimakariri 

Residential Red Zone 

Recovery Plan – developed 

by Waimakariri District 

Council, Greater Christchurch 

Group (within the Department 

of the Prime Minister and 

Cabinet), Te Rūnanga o Ngāi 

Tahu and Te Ngāi Tū Ahuriri 

Rūnanga – won both the award 

for Best Practice Strategic 

Planning and Guidance and 

Waimakariri Red Zone. 

the Nancy Northcroft Award, 

which is the NZPI’s supreme 

award. 

Bay of Plenty interests 

were also well represented 

at the NZPI awards in 

Wellington receiving the Best 

Practice District or Regional 

Plan award for Natural Hazard 

Risk in the Bay of Plenty 

Regional Policy Statement. 

Organisations recognised for 

the work were Bay of Plenty 

Regional Council, Enfocus, 

GNS Science and Integrity 

Professionals Limited. 

Waimakariri’s Recovery 

Plan proposes parks and 

reserves, walking and cycling 

links, community facilities, 

mixed use business areas, 

roads and infrastructure, and 

provision for heritage and 

mahinga kai activities and 

rural activities. 

NZPI chief executive 

David Curtis says the judges 

drew attention to how the project 

“displayed innovative and 

creative excellence in planning, 

community engagement 

and leadership, successfully 

responding to complex planning 

and technical requirements 

across three distinct 

regeneration areas within a 

relatively short time frame. 

“The plan provides a good 

The draft Waimakariri Red Zone Recovery 

Plan was the supreme winner at the New 

Zealand Plannig Institute (NZPI) awards. 

balance between certainty and 

flexibility in land uses and 

successfully integrates the 

proposed land uses within the 

wider community and planning 

framework.” 

Besides Bay of Plenty, 

other key awards related to 

transport and infrastructure 

planning in Auckland, consultation 

on a pedestrian / cycle 

bridge in Palmerston North 

and a disaster risk reduction 

project in Vanuatu. 

Mr Curtis said a variety 

of significant national 

and regional projects were 

nominated, with competition 

being so intense the awards 

committee determined that 

additional projects needed 

to be recognised as Highly 

Commended within some of 

the categories. 

Commenting at the end 

of NZPI’s conference in 

Wellington, David said the 

top three planning issues 

addressed were reform of 

Resource Management Act, 

urban development and natural 

hazards. Water management, 

living-roof urbanism, 

Māori participation in 

Resource Management processes, 

compact cities, transport 

and rural issues were also 

on the agenda. 

More than 600 delegates 

attended the conference. This 

included, in addition to planners 

and resource management 

practitioners, industry 

leaders, iwi, designers, scientists, 

members of the legal 

profession and judiciary and 

local and central government 

representatives. 

The NZPI conference, 

which has been held annually 

since 1964, coincides with 

“an unprecedented period of 

planning reform and legislative 

change,” said David. 

360 degree tours attract millennials 

Rotorua tourism operators 

are seeing their 

social media hits surge 

ahead and discovering an 

innovative way to increase 

their bookings after adding 

360° virtual tours to their 

websites. 

Redwoods Treewalk, 

Whakarewarewa – The Living 

Maori Village, Tamaki Maori 

Village, Te Puia, City Lights 

Boutique Lodge, and the 

Rotorua and Blue Lake Top 

10 Holiday Parks are among 

the growing number of local 

tourism and hospitality businesses 

who are now using 

360° panoramic imagery to 

lure new customers through 

the door. 

Independent research conducted 

for Google in 2015 

showed those who view a 

business listing with a virtual 

tour are twice as likely to 

make a booking, while millennial 

customers (aged 18-34) 

are 130 percent more likely to 

book if a virtual tour is available 

for them to see first. 

Redwoods Treewalk 

supervisor Karen Mather was 

amazed when images from 

their 360° photo shoot, organised 

by Bay of Plenty-based 

ScanView last month, reached 

nearly 13,500 people and generated 

400 comments, shares 

and ‘likes’ within just a few 

days. 

“ScanView has created a 

lot of interest for us, especially 

on social media. The 360° 

images have helped us reach 

a really big audience and I’m 

sure it’s had an impact on 

ticket sales,” Karen says. 

“Having a 360° tour available 

makes people feel like 

they’re already there. It gives 

something extra to our website 

experience and people are 

more persuaded to come and 

see it for themselves.” 

Whakarewarewa – The 

Living Maori Village also 

recently organised a virtual 

tour of their key indoor 

and outdoor spaces. A staggering 

125,000 people have 

already accessed their 360° 

tours directly off their Google 

Maps listing in the past three 

months. 

“It’s a fantastic marketing 

tool,” says Whakarewarewa 

business development manager 

Helen Beckett. “It not 

only allows us to advertise the 

Village, but to reconnect with 

our people overseas as well. 

The more people who see or 

experience the Village via the 

360° images, the more likely 

they are to come here. 

“It really takes our website 

to the next level. It’s given 

us a huge amount of exposure 

and has improved our 

business visibility on Google. 

We’ve also used the images 

on Facebook as well and the 

amount of social media hits 

we’re getting is fantastic.” 

ScanView launched just 

over 12 months ago and is 

the only company in the Bay 

of Plenty delivering customized 

360° virtual tours. Owner 

Mike Watt says demand is so 

great the company has now 

expanded to Waikato and 

Auckland. 

“Businesses focus a lot of 

time and effort preparing their 

ScanView owner Mike Watt. 

physical premises to attract 

customers but often that’s 

not replicated online where 

today’s consumer is making 

their decisions about where to 

book and spend their money,” 

Mike explains. 

“The interactive virtual 

tours give customers the best 

view of a business and the 

added confidence to visit 

or make a booking. From 

your laptop, tablet or mobile 

phone, you can step directly 

inside any type of business 

including tourism attractions, 

hotel rooms and restaurants, 

to view it as if you were 

standing there in person.” 

Aside from reaching new 

customers on their own website, 

businesses can also 

increase their visibility on 

Facebook and Google. The 

360° tours feature on Google’s 

main platforms including 

Google Search and Google 

Maps. 

“Our virtual tours are proving 

to be a huge hit on social 

media. Customers are getting 

a lot of positive feedback on 

their Facebook pages every 

time they share a 360° image 

where users can click and 

drag the images in the posts. 

It’s proving to be very shareable 

content and enabling businesses 

to extend their reach to 

a new audience.” 

Redwoods Treewalk and Whakarewarewa 

have both benefitted from the 360 tours.


Short term picture bright, says BERL 

The New Zealand economy has just 

celebrated its seventh year of uninterrupted 

annual expansion, BERL chief economist 

Dr Ganesh Nana says. 

On the back of strong 

population growth, in 

turn driven by unprecedented 

migration inflows, 

GDP has grown 18 percent 

since 2010. 

The latest OECD 

outlook notes key 

risks including housing 

valuations that are 

a matter of concern 

in some advanced 

economies, and a 

disconnect between 

financial valuations 

markets and real 

economic activity. 

A commodity price boom 

initially helped dairy exports 

surge over this period, Dr 

Nana says. But, this driver has 

been replaced by tourism as 

the lead engine for the export 

sector over the past couple of 

years. 

“Accompanying these 

drivers has been ongoing construction 

activity, as building 

and infrastructure investment 

spending strives to catch up 

on previous years of decline. 

“The short-term scenario 

for growth is positive, as the 

migration and tourism drivers 

remain robust. “However, the 

appetite for increased building 

and infrastructure spending 

may be less robust. Signs 

of higher interest rates and 

tighter credit conditions will 

see this appetite recede. 

“The clamour for tax cuts 

to take priority on public sector 

funds will also inevitably 

impact on government spending 

on infrastructure. 

“There are also signs that 

the house building cycle may 

have already peaked. 

“Longer-term prospects 

are somewhat clouded, as a 

combination of external influences 

and internal pressures 

add increasing risk. 

“External influences 

revolve around increasing 

protectionist sentiment, 

geo-political instability, a 

weak global economic recovery 

and a fragile financial 

sector. 

“The latest OECD outlook 

notes key risks including 

housing valuations that are 

a matter of concern in some 

advanced economies, and a 

disconnect between financial 

valuations markets and real 

economic activity,” said Dr 

Nana. 

“The world’s economy is 

not in a happy space and New 

Zealand is not immune to any 

of these risks. Indeed, the 

disconnect between financial 

valuations and real economic 

activity sets the scene for an 

inevitable disruptive correction 

where we will not be 

able to escape the damage. 

The concern around housing 

valuations is in reality a subset 

of this financial market 

disconnect.” 

Internal pressures are led 

by the elephant in the room 

– the household sector debtto-income 

ratio surging to 

a historical high at close to 

170 percent. In addition, the 

viability of ongoing growth 

BERL chief economist Ganesh Nana. 

based on rapid migration 

expansion is questionable Dr 

Nana says. 

New Zealand’s remarkable 

GDP growth figures hide 

the somewhat more sobering 

outcome that GDP per capita 

has risen only eight percent 

since 2010. 

“Bluntly, expansion has 

been purchased again by an 

artificial demand-side boost, 

with little evidence that New 

Zealand’s supply side is in 

any way more efficient, productive, 

or profitable. 

“What we don’t know is 

will the tourism boom continue 

to ease gradually, or revert 

to double-digit growth? How 

much will the infrastructure 

rebuild around Kaikoura delay 

other infrastructure projects in 

the pipeline? Or, whether tax 

cuts will dominate the need 

for infrastructure spending?” 

Dr Nana says. 

Attracting talent 

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 

Let’s face it, when it comes 

to hiring new staff for 

your small or medium 

business it can be a little daunting. 

If you make the wrong 

choice it can have major ramifications 

for your business and 

your back pocket. 

Hiring right is not just about 

choosing the person with the 

best skills or experience. The 

person needs to be able to fit 

in and work well with your 

current team members. 

You might also think that 

you start on the back foot 

trying to compete for the best 

staff against larger organisations. 

But small businesses 

have many other things to 

offer to potential employees. 

The first real difference is 

that positions usually have a 

larger job scope. People at 

smaller businesses usually 

wear more hats, providing 

more variety than roles at 

large corporates. 

As the owner and boss you 

can easily decide what flexibility 

you can offer – work 

from home, earlier or later 

start times to name a few. 

In large organisations there 

are policy and procedures to 

follow to get anything out of 

the ordinary approved and it 

can be difficult and take time. 

You skip all that with a simple 

yes or no. 

If your business is growing 

fast you can also offer 

advancement opportunities for 

key staff roles that can take 

longer to become available in 

slower growing larger firms. 

The other big attraction 

is you can offer a share in 

the profits. While this is not 

something you would want to 

offer right off the bat, it is 

something you can throw on 

the table for future consideration 

if things are going well. 

Giving key staff some skin in 

the game can also make them 

work harder and increase loyalty 

ensuring your staff stay 

for the long term. 

Probably the best tip for 

any business, not matter what 

size, is never to stop recruiting. 

One of the biggest issues 

for growing businesses is finding 

talent. If you are continually 

looking for the right talent 

you can have potentials ready 

to call when the time is right 

to employ new staff. So start a 

potential hire list today. 

Don’t forget to use your 

existing team to help promote 

working for you. After all who 

knows your business better 

than your own team? You can 

reward successful referrals 

with cash bonus, gift cards or 

even an extra day off. 

And remember don’t settle. 

It will take time to find the 

right person. 

New Zealand start-ups feature in global survey 

New Zealand start-ups 

have the highest percentage 

of offshore 

customers when measured 

against their counterparts 

from 50 other ecosystems, 

including New York, Moscow, 

Beijing and London. For the 

first time, more than 100 kiwi 

start-ups have taken part in the 

Compass Start-up Genome’s 

Ecosystem Ranking Survey. 

The Compass Start-up 

Genome project team is based 

in San Francisco and benchmarks 

start-up ecosystems 

from around the world. New 

Zealand Angel Association 

chair, Marcel van den Assum, 

says he was pleased to see 

‘NZ Inc’ on the world map. 

“Start-up eco-system 

inputs such as volume of 

deals, number of angel investors 

and investment levels 

have grown consistently, and 

position New Zealand as a 

highly credible performer on a 

per capita basis,” says Marcel. 

He is particularly pleased to 

see New Zealand start-ups 

leading the charge when it 

comes to engaging globally. 

“To generate the level of 

value we hope our start-ups 

will deliver for New Zealand 

and their shareholders, we 

have to think and sell globally 

from day one - and our 

companies obviously are,” 

he says. Another interesting 

insight from the survey was 

the lack of experience of New 

Zealand entrepreneurs. Less 

than half of the kiwi startup 

growth teams have had 

more than two years’ previous 

entrepreneurial experience. 

“The challenge for New 

Zealand is to apply higher 

levels of capability, capital 

and connections to those businesses 

that have real potential 

to scale and deliver a 

return on investment to all 

eco-system participants,” says 

Marcel. 

The survey was led by 

the Angel Association NZ 

and carried out with support 

from NZX, New Zealand 

Trade and Enterprise, New 

Zealand Venture Investment 

Fund, Ministry of Business 

Innovation and Employment 

and Callaghan Innovation.

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES 

BAY OF PLENTY BUSINESS NEWS April/May 2017 

19 

Job Seekers 

hold the cards 

Over the last 18 months we’ve seen a 

real shift in what motivates job seekers. 

It’s not all about the money any more 

Historically the key drivers for a job seeker 

have been money, stability and career 

progression. Money is still a motivator but not 

a key driver with job seekers looking to work 

for an organisation that has a strong sense of 

community. This includes working with an 

inspiring leader, a mentor who they will be able 

to gain ‘on the job’ learning experiences and 

progression opportunities through. 

Community involvement 

The influencing factor that job seekers want 

to see before they accept a job are examples 

of the organisation ‘doing good’. They want 

to see that the employer plays a part in the 

community, giving back in some way. This 

doesn’t mean the candidate wants to necessarily 

be involved in community work but is a part of 

a company that does. 

The connection with an agency 

In todays’ society we are more time poor 

than ever, which is also the case for job 

seekers. Spending time daily scrolling job 

boards, creating a quality LinkedIn profile 

and connecting with networks takes time. Job 

seekers want to connect with an agency that 

knows the market. We’ve seen this particularly 

with candidates relocating within New Zealand 

and returning from overseas. Job seekers want 

up to date and relevant information, local intel, 

salary guidance and to know who the key 

employers are in their area of speciality and the 

general market. 

Employees and Employers are both being 

interviewed 

Technology has armed job seekers with 

information and they will do their research 

before meeting with or accepting a 

new position. Potential employees are 

interviewing employers just as much as 

the employers are interviewing potential 

employees. The number of jobs listed on 

both Seek and Trademe are up 17 percent 

on April last year; job seekers are flush 

with opportunity. Quality candidates are ‘in 

demand’ and being head hunted. 

Employer branding is key 

To secure top talent for your business 

the key is in the offering; and this starts 

from how your brand is portrayed in the 

market, including what current and past 

employees say about you. Job seekers want 

a connection with the company and the 

person that is interviewing them. 

This is an important part of the recruitment 

process. It shows the job seeker how the 

leader or senior manager may treat and 

value their staff and the organisational 

culture they uphold in the business. 

The value in engaging with the team at 

Kinetic is we get to the heart of people – 

our clients, their businesses and candidates. 

We facilitate that match for you and the 

job seeker to ensure it’s a win-win for both 

client and candidate. 

If you want a recruitment partner for your 

business with a difference, call us today and 

let us show you how we can deliver the right 

match for your business. 

Keri McAdam (L) and Cherie Hill (R) are the team at Kinetic Recruitment Tauranga, specialising in 

contract, temporary and permanent recruitment for SMEs and Corporates in The Bay of Plenty. 

Kinetic Recruitment 

Phone: 07 281 2509 

Level 1, 39 Spring Street 

Tauranga, Bay of Plenty 3110 

www.kinetic.co.nz 

Commercial 

Property 

Management 

Bayleys Commercial Property Management covers both commercial 

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

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

investment property is our results driven team. 

We understand that to maximise the return on your property 

you need: 

Professional property management 

A business partner that understands your investment, 

views and goals 

SPEAK TO BAYLEYS TODAY 

Jan Cooney 

Commercial Property Manager 

B 07 579 0609 M 027 408 9339 

jan.cooney@bayleystauranga.co.nz 

Brodie Thomas 

Associate Commercial Property Manager 

B 07 579 0608 M 027 746 9218 

brodie.thomas@bayleystauranga.co.nz 

247 Cameron Road, 

Tauranga 

Success Realty Ltd, Bayleys, 

Licensed Under The REA Act 2008



When a potential client doesn’t feel quite right 

After 10 years in the debt recovery game 

I’m seldom surprised by debtor behaviour 

but this week I was both shocked and 

impressed when I visited one of my 

favourite customers. 

I 

received an email from Kelly 

(not her real name) from a 

tile manufacturing company 

in Tauranga. She said that she 

had received a $50,000 order 

from a new prospective client 

in Auckland (a place with at 

least 10 tile importers and manufacturers) 

for an Aucklandbased 

job and that she had a gut 

feeling that something wasn’t 

right. She wanted my input. 

Kelly had done some homework 

before I got there and had 

discovered that the company in 

question had changed names 

twice in the previous two years. 

Also, when the director filled 

out the credit application form 

they put down vague and minor 

credit references, then got a 

completely unrelated party to 

fill out the personal guarantee. 

When I arrived we credit 

checked the guarantor and they 

had a Veda Score of 290 out of 

1000 and had third tier finance 

defaults and court collections 

against them. Kelly sent the 

form back to the director and 

they returned it again with yet 

another unrelated party guarantee. 

At that point my advice 

was simple: “ If the director 

and major shareholder won’t 

back the company then why 

would you?” 

When assessing these types 

of situations I use a simple 

point system. It contains five 

criteria, and each fail is worth 

two points. The closer to 10 it 

ranks, the riskier it is. 

1. Is the prospective client 

purchasing outside of their 

local area where there are 

competing suppliers? 

2. Is the prospective client 

claiming that the transaction 

is time sensitive and must 

be done quickly? 

3. Do they complete the credit 

application and PG (if 

applicable) honestly with 

major relevant suppliers as 

credit references and directors 

/shareholders as guarantors? 

4. How stable is the company? 

Are there many name or 

industry changes, is there 

director attrition, are there 

address changes? 

5. Veda credit score? 

In this case the prospective 

client scored a 10 out of 10 

and Kelly saved her employers 

$49,970 because she listened to 

her gut and used her terms of 

trade and Veda tools perfectly. 

To get your own credit 

management system assessed 

or strengthened call Nick 

from EC Credit Control 

027 713 2128 or email nick. 

kerr@ecccreditcontrol.co.nz 

Nick Kerr, Bay of Plenty 

area manager and debt prevention 

specialist, EC CREDIT 

CONTROL NZ LTD. 

1. No clearly defined Terms and 

Conditions disclosed 

In the past it has been common for 

businesses to do business on a simple 

handshake. As consumers have become 

wiser, and maybe a little more cunning, 

business owners now face many uphill 

struggles. Whether it be getting paid on 

time, jobs cancelled at the last minute, 

defects being noted some 12 or 24 months 

after the work was completed, or being 

able to pass collection costs on to the customer 

for late payment, nothing is ever as 

easy as it first appears. EC Credit Controls 

Terms of Trade could protect you from all 

of the above. Without Terms of Trade in 

place you could be heading for disaster. 

2. No formal Credit Policy 

One of the biggest failings in business 

is that after the job is completed there is 

no follow up for payment, and before you 

know it, the invoice can be three months 

overdue. By having a clear credit policy 

from the start of the relationship with your 

customer a lot of potential problems can 

be erased. There is no point you having 

done the job and then never get paid for 

it because you haven’t bothered following 

up payment. It can be as simple as sending 

an invoice, then statement and then a 

reminder phone call. If they still haven’t 

paid, then don’t be afraid to escalate. 

3. Provide Credit when you state you 

are a Cash Business 

A cash business is exactly that – your 

customer pays cash as soon as the job is 

completed. If you allow the customer to 

pay in seven days then you provide credit 

which means you need to have a credit 

policy in place. 

THE 7 DEADLY CREDIT MANAGEMENT SINS 

4. Have a Credit Policy but never use it 

How often have we spoken to clients 

who have paid hard earned cash for a good 

solid credit management program and 

still have it sitting in the bottom draw, or 

better still, have it wrapped up in the box 

it came in! If you have a credit policy, then 

use it. If you aren’t the right person to be 

implementing it then find someone who 

can, as well as someone who enjoys doing 

these duties. You will be surprised at how 

quickly your cash-flow improves when 

you follow a structured approach. 

5. Procrastination when dealing with 

slow payers 

Too often we hear clients say: “I will 

just give them one last chance” when 

the debt is 6-12 months old. How many 

chances do you need to give your customers? 

What communication have you 

had with your customer over the past 6-12 

months? If you are not talking to your 

customer then what chances do you have 

in collecting the money? Next to none I 

would suggest. If your customer has not 

paid you then don’t be afraid to escalate it 

to the experts i.e. EC Credit Control! 

6. You believe everything the customer 

tells you 

If I was asked to write a book on every 

line or excuse we have been told when it 

comes to asking for payment, the book 

would be an extremely large novel. If 

someone says they will pay you, then get 

a date from them and the amount they 

will be paying as this gets a commitment 

(make sure you diary this date so 

you can follow up). You don’t have eyes 

and ears around the place to ensure you 

have up-to-date information on all your 

clients. There are some great products in 

the market which can assist you with this. 

With EC Credit Control you can place an 

alert/monitor on your customers which 

will alert you of anything from change of 

business address, credit enquiries made 

against them or any adverse credit placed 

against them. This service is very inexpensive 

as well as potentially saving you 

financial ruin as often you can be advised 

of customer issues prior to anyone else 

knowing. 

7. Reliance on Trade References rather 

than an independent robust credit 

checking 

So many times a business will phone 

the trade references written down on 

the credit application form and funnily 

enough receive a glowing reference. Well 

of course you will as the customer is not 

really going to put down someone who 

will say negative experiences are they! 

Unless you can control who they write 

down as a referee, relying on trade references 

can be very dangerous. 

To ensure you receive a robust and 

independent picture on your new customer, 

EC Credit Control can provide 

you with the ability to gather information 

through a credit bureau. This will provide 

you with important data i.e. identification 

of your customer, credit history (enquiries 

and any adverse data), on companies you 

will receive the correct legal entity of your 

customer, who the directors are, whether 

company forms have been lodged on time, 

as well as any adverse credit the company 

may have had in the past. But just 

remember that to enable you to complete 

such reports you will need to have your 

terms of trade in place and up to date to 

ensure you comply with current Privacy 

requirements. 

TERMS 

OF TRADE 

CREDIT 

CHECKING / 

MONITORING 

DEBT 

COLLECTION 

Nick from 

EC Credit Control 

is the Bay of 

Plentys leading 

debt prevention 

expert. 

CREDIT 

MANAGEMENT 

TRAINING 

FOR A NO OBLIGATION MEETING CALL OR EMAIL NICK TODAY 

nick.kerr@eccreditcontrol.co.nz | P: 027 713 2128 

0800 EC GROUP | www.eccreditcontrol.co.nz



Legal expertise 

without the jargon 

When buying or selling a business, or 

getting personal affairs in order, you may 

need specialist legal advice. 

Getting this service 

from a knowledgeable, 

no-nonsense solicitor 

who speaks in everyday terms 

can make the process so much 

easier. That’s what Paula Lines 

and the all-female team at The 

Law Shop are all about, and the 

firm has just opened premises 

at Mount Maunganui with 

a second office due to open 

shortly in Tauranga. 

I expect to be 

working more with 

franchises and 

commercial property, 

and a wider range 

of businesses and 

business owners, 

which is exciting 

“The Law Shop’s main 

point of difference is that we 

bring a holistic approach to 

legal matters. Every situation 

is different, so we carefully 

listen to the people behind the 

business, ask lots of questions, 

and then look at what it is they 

need,” Paula explains. 

“We pride ourselves in 

offering individuals and 

businesses with personable 

advice and take people’s whole 

life circumstances into account. 

Our culture is down to earth, 

informal, and friendly. The 

team genuinely cares about 

their clients, and it’s important 

to us to provide timely and 

accurate legal advice without 

the jargon, and at a fair price,” 

she says. 

For the team at The 

Law Shop, it’s important to 

communicate well. They work 

with businesses, families and 

retirees and bring a friendly, 

easy to understand approach to 

legal matters. 

Paula took over the Rotoruabased 

legal firm in September 

2008 and since then she has 

expanded the services from 

mainly residential property 

transactions to include 

trusts, relationship property, 

subdivisions and all business 

legal matters. Stephanie Northey 

joined Paula in partnership in 

2014 and added court services 

to the mix, including family and 

mental health. 

Stephanie will keep working 

from the Rotorua office. Paula, 

who moved to Tauranga last 

year, will operate primarily 

from new premises at Mount 

Maunganui where the recently 

purchased practice Stratagem 

Lawyers was based. 

A third office closer to 

Greerton will be managed 

by Sarsha Tyrrell, who has 

recently returned from living 

and working in London. 

Sarsha specialises in family 

law, and she will also offer 

family crisis management 

and assist Tauranga Women’s 

Refuge whose office is based 

in Greerton. 

Paula says she won’t miss 

the commute to Rotorua, and 

she’s looking forward to a 

greater variety of clients while 

working from the new Mount 

Maunganui branch. 

“I expect to be working 

more with franchises and 

commercial property, and a 

wider range of businesses and 

business owners, which is 

exciting,” she says. 

“We can meet in person at 

our offices in Rotorua, Greerton 

or Mount Maunganui, or we 

can come to your home or 

business. We can also Skype, 

talk on the phone, message 

on Facebook, email or text. 

Whatever is easiest. Feel free 

to make contact any time.” 

For more information 

about THE LAW SHOP 

service check out the website 

www.thelawshop.co.nz or 

contact Paula direct at 

paula@thelawshop.co.nz or 

call 0800 LAW SHOP. 

Paula Lines (L) and Stephanie Northey (R). 

Friendly legal advice 

that won’t leave you 

drowning in jargon 

For over 30 years, The Law Shop has been giving clear advice 

for a fair price to individuals, small and medium businesses 

in the Bay of Plenty. 

If your business needs advice on Agreements, Buying and Selling, 

Terms of Trade, Structure and Succession Planning, Banking, 

Leasing, Debt Collection, Franchising and Employment Services 

then we’re the team for you. 

STEPHANIE NORTHEY, LL.B Director 

PAULA LINES, LL.B Director 

Proudly bringing our strong reputation for legal expertise 

to Tauranga and Mount Maunganui. 

ROTORUA 

1268 Arawa Street 

Rotorua 

MOUNT MAUNGANUI 

65a Girven Road 

Mount Maunganui 

TAURANGA 

Coming soon 

Call us on 0800 LAW SHOP or visit www.thelawshop.co.nz 

Lawyers for everyday people


Fintechs won’t feature in five years - report 

Today’s companies are too focused on 

start-ups at the expense of other potential 

sources of disruption, reveals the New 

Zealand PwC Global FinTech Report. 

The risk highlighted by the 

report is that the focus 

on start-ups comes at 

the expense of other potential 

sources of disruption. A 

staggering 100 percent of New 

Zealand respondents felt that 

the most disruptive force in 

financial services in the next 

five years would be start-ups, 

compared with a global average 

of 75 percent. 

Compared with our global 

findings, local companies are 

overestimating the impact of 

start-ups and underestimating 

the disruptive potential of themselves 

and their competitors. 

“This makes me think that in 

five years we won’t be talking 

about FinTechs anymore,” says 

Andy Symons, financial services 

leader at PwC. 

“The FinTech revolution 

won’t just be driven by startups. 

It will come from the established 

competitors you thought 

you knew, but who are already a 

step ahead in transforming their 

businesses to meet changing 

customer expectations.” 

“The distinction we’re now 

seeing between FinTech startups 

and incumbents is only 

temporary and will disappear 

completely as corporates realise 

their own transformational 

potential and today’s start-ups 

mature. 

“Where today’s corporates 

aren’t focusing is on their existing 

competitors – our global 

respondents were twice as likely 

to predict disruption coming 

from existing financial service 

institutions as our New Zealand 

survey participants,” says Andy. 

FinTech partnerships – 

outsourcing innovation or 

the start of transformation? 

The report finds that financial 

services companies are 

relying too heavily on start-ups 

for innovation with almost 85 

percent saying they are entering 

into partnerships with FinTechs, 

compared to 45 percent globally. 

“The risk that comes with 

these partnerships is that established 

firms treat a FinTech partnership 

as a chance to outsource 

innovation to a start-up, rather 

than signaling the beginning of 

a much wider transformation of 

their operations,” says Andy. 

Preparing for the FinTech 

revolution 

Today’s corporates will have 

to look beyond simply partnering 

with FinTechs and create 

a two-speed innovation strategy 

if they want to survive the 

changes coming. 

This will mean bringing 

together the best of both worlds 

– the existing expertise within 

the business; and the innovation, 

creativity and digitally 

enabled business models of 

today’s start-ups. 

The FinTech revolution 

won’t happen overnight, but it 

will happen – and companies 

of every size across financial 

services have to be ready for it. 

Sky’s the limit with business programme 

Rotorua business owner 

Lee McKenzie urges 

others to apply for 

Incubate, a 12 week programme 

that helps start-ups or 

newly established businesses 

and social enterprises succeed 

and grow. 

Lee owns Ace Company, 

an online retail store selling 

racing drones, parts and 

accessories mainly to the New 

Zealand market, but he is 

growing the company’s export 

sales. He started the business 

18 months ago and has a goal 

to become the leading drone 

racing brand in the country 

and take drone racing and 

freestyle mainstream. 

Drone racing is quickly 

becoming a popular sport and 

is a growing industry. ESPN, 

Mountain Dew, SKYTV, and 

Red Bull are all investing in 

drone racing overseas and 

there are now professional 

athletes in the industry. 

Lee graduated from the 

Incubate programme in March, 

which is run by Firestation, 

the Bay of Plenty’s business 

growth centre which delivers 

the programme in partnership 

with Rotorua X. It is also 

supported by Employers and 

Manufacturers Association 

BOP. 

“It’s a great, affordable 

programme that gives you 

valuable tools to move forward 

with your business,” 

says Lee. 

“The sessions are reasonably 

intimate and easy to feel 

comfortable in.” 

He originally applied for 

the Incubate programme to 

help improve his business 

acumen and get guidance on 

how to realise his dream for 

the company. Lee said the 

programme delivered this 

with some extra benefits as 

well. 

“I had some amazing 

businesses in the programme 

with me that I could draw off 

their experience. I'm going 

into another Firestation programme 

for the networking 

opportunities as well as the 

material. Plus, I just loved the 

learning,” he said. 

He received one-on-one 

coaching sessions and group 

training modules to build 

business capability to help 

develop and grow a sustainable 

organisation and would 

highly recommend it to others. 

“The aspect I enjoyed the 

most about the incubate programme 

was firstly the training, 

it was great to be in an 

environment where you were 

learning through the material 

provided.” 

“In addition, it was incredibly 

valuable to receive feedback 

from other participants 

as well as providing feedback 

to them. That room got so 

chocca full of ideas and inspiration,” 

said McKenzie. 

Incubate gives participants 

coaching and training to set 

goals, implement actions 

and increase overall success 

through business planning. At 

the end of the 12 weeks they 

present their business plan to 

the group. 

The big focus from the 

programme is encouraging 

participants to implement 

what they have learned and 

make progress in the business. 

“The biggest change we 

made as a direct result of 

Incubate was to completely 

overhaul our branding, which 

changed our business culture 

and has had a massive impact 

on how we do things.” 

“The best part is I'm proud 

of our new brand and am 

happy to show it off. The old 

branding I was a bit hesitant 

about it,” he said. 

Applications are open for 

the next round of Incubate. 

The programme is generously 

subsidised thanks to funding 

from Rotorua Lakes Council. 

Applications close on April 

26 and the programme starts 

mid-May. It requires a time 

commitment of two to three 

hours per week. Rotorua businesses 

and social enterprises 

are invited to register their 

interest online at http://bit.ly/ 

Inc-9 

Owner of racing drone 

business, Ace Company, 

Lee McKenzie. 

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



First on the scene 

Farmers Autovillage hosts a Tauranga Chamber of Commerce BA5. 

1 

2 3 

1 Mark Vercoe, Roger Matthews and Mike Farmer, Farmers Auto Village. 2 Deborah Workman, Kirsten Daley and Paul Forward, Orbit World Travel. 3 Mike Lambert, Port of Tauranga; 

Deborah Naysmith, Metlifecare. 

4 

5 6 

4 Matt Bloxham, Matrix Metal Solutions; Sheila Logan, VIP Home Services. 5 Debbie Smith, Public Trust; Barry Foster, Heartland Bank; Jacqui Beilby, Public Trust. 6 Tony Marsden, Silc 

Ltd; Mark Baker, Bridge It NZ. 

7 8 9 

7 Nav Mally and Brett Down, Crombie Lockwood NZ. 8 Neil Gedge, Elliott’s Funeral Services; Kevin Kerr, Tabak Business Sales. 9 Eddie Jackson, Bronwyn Jackson, Grief Support; 

Stan Gregec, Tauranga Chamber of Commerce.


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027 498 9812 

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Bay of Plenty Business News April/May 2017

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