Bay of Plenty Business News March/April 2018

Bay of plenty 

MARCH/APRIL 2018 VOLUME 3: ISSUE 3 WWW.BOPBUSINESSNEWS.CO.NZ FACEBOOK.COM/BOPBUSINESSNEWS 

BOP tourist 

industry 

Explores 

new direction 

Gloworm kayak tours: Photo/Waimarino 

The good news for the Coastal Bay of 

Plenty is that tourists spent a record 

$1 billion last year. The less good news - at 

least for some business ratepayers - is that 

Tourism Bay of Plenty is seeking increased 

annual council funding of around $620,000 

to help support a new and better targeted 

approach. 

By DAVID PORTER 

Tourism BOP says 

the increase would 

make its funding more 

aligned with other similar-sized 

Regional Tourism 

Organisations (RTOs). 

And it would underpin its 

efforts to drill down and gain a 

better understanding of exactly 

who comes to the region and 

why, and to transition from 

largely promotional activities 

to what the industry describes 

as destination management. 

“It would be reckless to 

allow this level of growth 

without a considered management 

plan. We are aiming to 

grow the visitor economy on 

our terms, with the right visitors 

at the right time, for the 

benefit of the region,” said 

Tourism BOP chief executive 

Kristin Dunne. 

“Destination management 

Kristin Dunne: 

Photo/Tourism BOP 

is the coordinated management 

of all the elements that make 

up a region. It is the key to 

controlling tourism’s environmental 

impacts and preserving 

the region’s unique identity.” 

Dunne told Bay of Plenty 

Business News the move was 

part of a long-term strategy 

that was attempting to balance 

growth with a solid management 

plan. As part of this 

process, the tourism body has 

put together a 10-year Visitor 

Economy Strategy. This has 

forecast that the visitor economy 

will grow by more than 50 

percent by 2028, positioning 

tourism as one of the larger 

economic contributors to the 

region. 

“The additional funding 

will allow us to do a lot more 

research so that we can better 

understand the visitors and we 

could be making insight-led 

decisions. That’s really at the 

heart of destination management 

- it’s making sure we 

understand who the visitors 

are, where they’re coming 

from, and what they need.” 

The reality was that currently 

the research data was 

very poor, Dunne said. The 

BOP is a region with many 

entry and exit points, making 

measurement of visitors 

difficult. 

Continued on page 3 

dry shareholders 

Growers support new 

Zespri structure 

P8 

swiped on 

Tauranga company’s 

$15 million grant 

P9 

tourism & Events 

The wider region 

P20-22

2 BAY OF PLENTY BUSINESS NEWS March/April 2018 

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BOP tourist industry 

explores new direction 

BAY OF PLENTY BUSINESS NEWS March/April 2018 3 

From page 1 

But she emphasized that 

this wasn’t just a BOP problem, 

but a national one. 

Regional Tourism New 

Zealand says current ways of 

thinking about tourism development 

are “not fit for purpose” 

and tourism needs to be 

on the agenda of every council 

around the country. 

Executive officer Charles 

Ives says increased growth in 

tourism will place pressure on 

the regions, which has to be 

anticipated before it has a negative 

effect on communities. 

“Tourism – perhaps more 

than any other industry – 

touches the whole community 

and while most New 

Zealanders overall are still 

comfortable with the industry, 

we are already seeing 

early indicators of pressure 

such as overcrowding and 

negative reactions to Freedom 

Campers,” he says. 

“These are warnings of the 

impact tourism can have on 

us, if we don’t have a planned, 

developed and managed 

approach.” 

A core facet of destination 

management is solid visitor 

insights to best understand a 

visitor economy and its visitors, 

said Dunne. 

If the additional funding 

it has applied for through 

Tauranga City Council’s Long 

Term Plan is approved, significant 

insights work into visitor 

numbers and visitors themselves 

would be undertaken, 

enabling it to best utilise its 

marketing dollar in targeting 

the right visitors to visit at the 

right time. 

“All we really know with 

confidence is how much visitors 

are spending - we don’t 

know where they’re coming 

from or who they are, with any 

confidence,” said Dunne. 

“We are working with 

all the stakeholders who are 

involved in tourism, of which 

there are many, and we’re 

looking out the next 10 years 

to say, of what visitors have 

told us they want, what is it we 

need to deliver in the next decade 

to give them a good visitor 

experience.” 

… insight-led 

decisions [are] 

really at the heart 

of destination 

management - it’s 

making sure we 

understand who the 

visitors are, where 

they’re coming from, 

and what they need.” 

– Kristin Dunne 

Dunne said the industry was 

currently very demand-oriented. 

“We just get people here 

in as many numbers as we 

can. The other side is the sup- 

Ovation of the Seas: At Tauranga. 

Photo/Katie Cox, Tourism BOP 

Tourism BOP is mandated to promote the territories of its funding councils, which 

include Tauranga City, Western Bay of Plenty District and Whakatane District. Tourism 

BOP refers to this collection of territories as the “Coastal Bay of Plenty” and it 

stretches from Waihi Beach to Ohope Beach, and as far inland as the Kaimai Range, 

the Whirinaki Forest and part of Te Urewera. Destination Rotorua, now part of Rotorua 

Economic Development, is the key organisation managing tourism in the Rotorua 

region. (see pages 21/22) 

ply side - what experiences do 

we deliver, what products are 

there, what products should 

there be?” 

Some observers are critical 

of the limited range of 

activities available to visitors 

to Tauranga - beyond visiting 

the beaches and Mount 

Maunganui - especially in 

contrast to Rotorua’s range of 

well-developed activities and 

events programme. 

Rotorua Economic 

Development chief executive 

Michelle Templer says 

Rotorua has continued to add 

new products to ensure they 

keep pace with the changing 

wants and needs of visitors. 

(see pages 21 and 22) 

Max Mason, chair of the 

TCC’s economic development 

committee, says the council is 

well aware the tourism body 

wants to change its role from 

not only promoting, but managing 

the region. There are 

a number of negative aspects 

to tourism, including increased 

freedom camping and traffic 

issues. 

“They want to base their 

future development on 

insights, so a lot of visitor 

research needs to occur,” said 

Mason. 

“At the moment, most of 

their insights about where 

people come from and their 

impact is done in those overseas 

markets. One of the really 

important bits of information 

that we don’t have, for example, 

is how many people visit 

Tauranga to see friends and 

relatives. We know it’s a massive 

amount, but we don’t really 

know how much.” 

Tauranga Chamber of 

Commerce Chief executive 

Stan Gregec said he was in 

principle supportive of something 

that at least reflected 

a more targeted approach to 

council funding. 

“We are a membership-based 

organisation that is 

a proxy for the business community,” 

he said. 

“Tourism BOP is 100-per 

cent funded by councils and 

we have been asked to support 

them getting another $620,000 

a year. Clearly it’s the general 

business community that is 

going to have to pay for this 

eventually through rates. But 

at least it would be an example 

of a targeted rate so we would 

know in theory where those 

funds were going to be spent.” 

He was speaking in the context 

of the current opposition 

by many in the business community 

to the proposed shift to 

businesses paying higher rates. 

“We do understand there 

is a national formula for tourist 

organisations and Tourism 

BOP has a bit of catchup to do. 

I support the destination management 

approach. But their 

focus till now has been on 

promoting, and they’ve done 

very little to coordinate what 

happens at this end. I would 

have thought, given the money 

they have been getting for 

external promotion for years, 

that it would have been a good 

idea to have done some of that 

analysis already.” 

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From the editor 

In this month’s cover story 

we examine Tourism Bay 

of Plenty’s bid for increased 

council funding to shift the 

focus of its marketing efforts. 

The good news for the 

Coastal Bay of Plenty is that 

tourists spent a record $1 billion 

last year. 

Tourism Bay of Plenty 

is seeking increased annual 

council funding of around 

$620,000 to help support a new 

and better targeted approach. 

Tourism BOP says the 

increase would make its funding 

more aligned with other 

similar-sized Regional Tourism 

Organisations (RTOs). 

And it would underpin 

its efforts to drill down and 

gain a better understanding 

of exactly who comes to the 

region and why, and to transition 

from largely promotional 

activities to what the industry 

describes as destination 

management. 

Consistent promotion 

efforts by the New Zealand 

avocado sector, helped by 

tariff changes under the Free 

Trade Agreement (FTA), are 

paying off with a season of 

record returns in Korea. 

Currently the fresh domestic 

and Australian market 

account for the lion’s share of 

the avocado crop. 

Japan, Singapore, Thailand 

and Korea re the other major 

markets. 

However, the industry faces 

a major challenge in meeting 

the growing demand in Asian 

and other export markets while 

it grapples with achieving 

more consistent production. 

Major changes to Zespri’s 

share structure have been wel- 

comed by the sector’s grower 

body as the export marketer 

moves to more closely align its 

ownership with those responsible 

for producing the fruit. 

The changes resolve the 

longstanding problem of 

so-called “dry” shareholders 

- those who have shares 

in Zespri, but are no longer 

actively growing kiwifruit. 

The changes are Zespri’s 

attempt to deal with what it 

describes as a concerning 

mis-alignment of ownership 

between growers and 

non-growers. 

A special general meeting 

held in mid-March drew the 

required 75 percent-plus grower 

support for the changes. 

After almost five years and a 

major industry strategy review, 

kiwifruit growers have agreed 

to the proposed changes to 

Zespri’s constitution. 

There are now caps on the 

ability of non-producing shareholders 

to continue owning 

shares, as well as a focus on 

getting new growers to own 

shares representing the volume 

of crop they contribute. 

We also look at the success 

of Tauranga-based software 

company SwipedOn, which 

has been awarded a growth 

David Porter 

grant by Callaghan Innovation 

for its iPad-based visitor management 

system. 

The grant is for an initial 

three year term, refunding 20 

percent of all eligible spend, 

up to a total of $15 million. 

The grant reflects the rapid 

progress the company has 

made since it was founded in 

2013. The software-as-a-service 

company replaces paper 

visitor books with an innovative 

iPad application. 

Its founders grew the business 

with no financial backing 

or sales team into a product 

used in over 2,000 cities worldwide, 

largely in the UK and US. 

David Porter 

Editor 

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BAY OF PLENTY BUSINESS NEWS February/March 2018 

5 

Time for businesses 

to speak out about 

rates hike 

How do you justify a rates increase 

of 60% in a single year? 

By STAN GREGEC 

CEO of the Tauranga Chamber 

of Commerce 

That’s a question some 

business owners will be 

asking when they find 

out how much Tauranga City 

Council is proposing to bill 

them for this year’s rates. And 

that’s just the start. Further 

increases are on the cards for 

Tauranga business ratepayers 

in Years 2 and 3 of the 

Council’s new ten-year plan 

– out for consultation until 

April 16th. 

As part of a major reform 

of the current rating system, 

the Council proposes to introduce 

a business rate differential 

– which means that businesses 

will pay 20% more 

than residential ratepayers this 

year relative to a property’s 

value, rising to 40% more 

next year and 60% more in 

2020. There are other changes 

on top of this, including a 

new targeted rate applying to 

all properties in the CBD. 

Underpinning it all is a 

core belief – not backed by 

much evidence - that the commercial 

sector profits dispro- 

portionately from Council services 

and city improvements: 

this justifies it being asked to 

pay more. When pressed for 

specifics, the Council’s CEO 

Garry Poole has mentioned 

things like ‘improved speed of 

delivery, transport and logistics’ 

and amenities that add 

extra value to businesses and 

attract high quality staff to 

Tauranga. 

Not surprisingly, the 

Tauranga Chamber of 

Commerce - representing 

850 business members - is 

opposed to the rates proposal 

in its current form. It objects 

to the notion that businesses 

can be treated as a cash cow 

to spare the impact of the 

Council’s spending plans on 

residential ratepayers. 

Let’s get one thing straight. 

The business community is 

not opposed to paying its fair 

share of Council rates; and 

there may even be a case 

for making a higher contribution 

than it currently pays. 

However, there are serious 

problems with the Council’s 

plan as it currently stands. 

Missed Opportunity 

Stan Gregec 

In the Chamber’s view, it is 

not acceptable that the Council 

has sprung the rates plan on 

an unprepared business community, 

giving only a short 

window for ‘consultation’; at 

the very least it should have 

signaled a year ago that the 

current rating system was no 

longer fit for purpose; and it 

could have initiated a community-wide 

conversation about 

the Council’s ongoing financial 

sustainability. 

Unfair impacts 

The Council is proposing to 

move from the current system 

of parity between commercial 

and residential ratepayers 

to one where businesses will 

pay a 60% bigger share within 

three years. That’s a huge jump 

to make in a very short period, 

considering the other changes 

being made at the same time 

– such as bringing in the new 

targeted city centre rate. 

With some businesses 

already facing a 60% rates 

increase in just the first year, 

it’s not difficult to imagine 

what the full impact will be 

over three years. For some the 

hit will be big enough to make 

business owners, especially in 

the CBD, think seriously about 

whether to stay put or to pick 

up sticks. 

Backwards Step 

Tauranga used to have a business 

rate differential but that 

was abandoned in the early 

2000s when the Council of the 

day concluded that it was an 

unfair and unjustified way of 

putting an extra burden on the 

business community. At that 

time the Council understood 

that businesses needed the very 

opposite – support and encouragement 

- if they were to continue 

to grow and contribute to 

the economic prosperity of the 

region. 

Now, a decade or more later, 

we seem to be heading backwards. 

As study after study has 

shown, ‘differential rates tend 

to be set arbitrarily without 

explicit justification in terms 

of the benefits provided.’ Not 

only are they a blunt instrument 

for Councils to wield, 

but they can be seen as something 

of a lazy option – given 

that there are far better ways 

for Councils to fund services 

and costs that benefit specific 

groups or interests. Targeted 

rates make way more sense. 

What can you do? 

The draft 2018/28 Long Term 

Plan is open for consultation 

from 16th March to 16th April 

2018. The consultation document 

is available on the council 

website as well as details of 

public consultation meetings. 

The Chamber will be making 

a submission on behalf 

of its members, and encourages 

business owners to do the 

same. If you need help to make 

your submission, contact the 

Chamber and we can give you 

a steer. 

Tauranga businesses 

stand together… 

...by joining the Chamber. 

Join Tauranga Chamber members 

like Steve Wagstaff from Pureprint, Tauranga 

Join the Tauranga Chamber of Commerce and become part of a connected and 

committed business community that supports our region to grow and prosper. 

For more details visit www.tauranga.org.nz


South Korea market investment 

begins to pay off 

Consistent promotion efforts by the New Zealand avocado 

sector, helped by tariff changes under the Free Trade Agreement 

(FTA), are paying off with a season of record returns in Korea. 

But ensuring consistent supply remains a problem. 


Currently the fresh 

domestic (32 percent) 

and Australian market 

(56 percent) account for the 

lion’s share of the avocado 

crop, according to the latest 

ANZ Agri Focus report. 

Australia accounts for around 

80 percent of export revenue. 

Japan (four percent) Singapore 

(two percent), Thailand (two 

percent) and Korea (two percent) 

are the other major markets. 

AVANZA is the Asian 

marketing arm of AVOCO, 

a partnership between New 

Zealand’s two biggest avocado 

exporters, Southern Produce 

and Primor Produce. AVOCO 

is the biggest avocado producer 

in NZ, though there 

are other prominent producers, 

including Seeka and Just 

Avocados. 

AVANZA has been work- 

ing to educate Korean consumers 

on the health benefits 

of New Zealand avocados. 

However, the industry faces a 

major challenge in meeting the 

growing demand in Asian and 

other export markets while it 

grapples with achieving more 

consistent production. 

Last year Korea imported 

1.1 million avocado trays from 

all origins – more than double 

the volume imported in 2016. 

The overall value rose by 158 

percent – up from US$12 million 

in 2016 to US$31 million 

last year. 

New Zealand shipped more 

than 145,000 trays to Korea 

last season, with AVANZA 

accounting for 66 percent of 

that volume. 

Returns per tray improved 

by close to 20 percent during 

a season when relatively low 

productivity - typical of an 

industry where the fruit tends 

to bear more in alternate seasons 

- ensured record returns 

for most growers. 

Korea market manager 

Martin Napper said that 

AVANZA-led promotional 

activity had grown the avocado 

category in Korea, where 

people were prepared to pay 

a premium for the large New 

Zealand-grown fruit. 

Three years ago, avocados 

were a relatively unknown 

fruit in Korea, with only about 

250,000 trays imported. That 

grew to 500,000 in 2016 before 

taking a giant leap last season 

when Korea became a one million 

tray market. 

“All the work we’ve done 

to educate consumers on the 

health benefits of avocados as 

well as teaching importers and 

distributors how to correctly 

handle and store the fruit, 

is paying off with increased 

sales,” he said. 

The Ministry of Foreign 

Affairs and Trade has noted 

that the entry into force of the 

Korea-NZ FTA in December 

2015 was a positive development 

for many of its main 

horticultural exports. A number 

have enjoyed or will enjoy 

substantial tariff reductions 

under the agreement. Avocados 

are set to achieve a major tariff 

benefit under the FTA, with 

a 30 percent tariff gradually 

reduced to zero by 2024. 

Meanwhile, Korea’s 45 percent 

tariff on kiwifruit will be 

phased out by 2020 and kiwifruit 

exporters have already 

had a third wiped off this tariff 

since entry-into-force of the 

FTA. 

Napper said young Korean 

women were particularly 

receptive to the nutritional 

messages about New Zealand 

avocados, which recent 

research says have twice as 

much vitamin B6 and 20 per 

cent more folate than those 

grown in other countries. 

Last year’s promotional 

In-store promotion in Korea: local consumers are 

developing a taste for NZ avocados. Photos/supplied. 

All the work we’ve 

done to educate 

consumers on the 

health benefits of 

avocados as well 

teach importers and 

distributors how 

to correctly handle 

and store the fruit, 

is paying off with 

increased sales. 

activity included an ongoing 

association with Maeil Dairies, 

one of the largest beverage 

companies in Korea. The partnership 

enabled AVANZA to 

participate in Maeil’s soy milk 

and avocado smoothie promotions, 

including social media 

campaigns. 

Market investment also 

included recipe ideas and 

supermarket demonstrations, 

which are seen by marketers 

as an effective way to reach 

first-time consumers. Over the 

past four years, AVANZA has 

held 1500 sampling sessions, 

reaching 600,000 consumers. 

Centrepiece displays in selected 

stores providing consumers 

with the option to select 

a ready-to-eat piece of fruit 

have also increased sales, said 

Napper. 

AVANZA’s promotional 

strategies were being applied 

in North and Southeast Asian 

markets, he said. 

“It makes sense to apply the 

same strategies to all our markets, 

including Singapore and 

Thailand – anywhere where 

we can see potential for real 

consumption growth as diets 

become more varied.” 

But while developing markets 

outside of Australia - traditionally 

the major and highest-paying 

market for the NZ 

fruit - was important for the 

long-term future of the industry, 

demand is currently outstripping 

supply. 

Last season’s low crop 

volume meant New Zealand 

could only export 2.2 million 

avocado trays – less than half 

the volume shipped offshore 

during the bumper crop of 

2016-17. AVOCO handled 1.3 

million trays with about 81 

percent sent to Australia. 

The ANZ Agri Focus report 

said the increasing demand 

was leading to new greenfield 

development opportunities in 

the Upper North Island. 

“Globally many countries 

are eating more avocados due 

to their versatility, trendiness 

and health benefits,” said ANZ 

rural economist Con Williams 

in the report. “ [But] because 

avocados have a long lead 

time for development, supply 

is struggling to keep up.” 

AVOCO’s marketing and 

communications manager, 

Steve Trickett, concurs, saying 

the supply shortfall caused by 

irregular fruit bearing meant 

volumes were spread thinly 

across some AVANZA markets 

last year. With China also 

now opening its doors to New 

Zealand, all exporters wanted 

more fruit to maximise the 

growing market opportunities, 

“As an industry, we’re 

investing in research to achieve 

more consistent production and 

planting an extra 1000 hectares 

in young trees,” said Trickett. 

“But it will take time for 

us to see the benefits of that 

investment. In the interim, 

growers have to adapt quickly 

to meet specific customer market 

compliance requirements 

to ensure their fruit can be 

exported to these new markets 

being opened. As we grow our 

markets and consumers develop 

an appetite for avocados, 

every piece of fruit counts.” 

Baypark – showcasing 

Tauranga City 

Bay Venues/Baypark has 

increased its emphasis 

on business events over 

the past couple of years and 

the hard work is now paying 

dividends for the events centre 

and for Tauranga City. 

Large conferences and 

events have a long lead-in 

time and the process to secure 

significant business events is 

usually complex. Added to 

this, Tauranga as a destination 

is competing against all 

the large cities and regions in 

New Zealand. 

The huge economic impact 

generated with conferences is 

not always recognised. Just 

one 500 delegate conference 

for three days reaps more than 

$500,000 for the city. It is not 

just the benefit to Baypark, but 

also flows through to accommodation, 

leisure activities, 

retail, travel, and promotion of 

the area. In effect,our city is a 

showcase to visiting delegates. 

In one such event in March, 

Tauranga was the destination, 

and Baypark was the preferred 

venue and host for The NZ 

Planning Institute Annual 

Conference & Exhibition 2018. 

This year the theme for their 

conference was “Breaking new 

Ground” – and they did. 

The delegates, accompanying 

partners, international 

speakers and management of 

the conference attracted close 

to 800 visitors to Tauranga 

city. The visitors were in the 

city from three/ four nights. 

As well as the conference 

and exhibition, the delegates 

had field trips to significant 

developments in Tauranga 

city such as the Tauriko West 

development, a Civic Heart 

Tour, an iwi development tour, 

and the Te Temu natural hazards. 

This demonstrates the 

flow-on effect for the city from 

the exposure to just this one 

business event. 

In April, the Bethlehem 

Tertiary Institute will bring 

their Research Symposium - 

an international conference - 

to Baypark, again bringing in 

visitors for three/four nights 

generating economic impact 

across the city. SO please 

make them welcome. 

Other activities continue, 

with a variety of back-to-back 

events. Baypark was pleased 

to host Parafed’s Disability 

Sport Festival, which filled the 

Arena for a weekend in March. 

The event was made even more 

special with a Paralympics 

Open Day in the Arena on the 

Sunday. This NZ touring interactive 

exhibition showcased 

the Para sport opportunities in 

each area, with the opportunity 

to meet Paralympians, watch 

demonstrations and to even 

have a go. 

The International Tattoo 

and Art Extravaganza from 

14-15 April is now upon us. 

It has taken months of preparation 

and the promoters keep 

adding more and more into 

the programme. This is an 

event that offers most things 

and with the elements to surprise. 

See up close the 100+ 

International Tattoo Artists in 

action, enjoy a wide variety of 

exhibitions: dance, wearable 

arts, entertainment/live bands, 

variety of food and beverages, 

fire show, DJ’s, circus show, 

live street art, and even a Miss 

Tattoo contest. 

For more information, 

check out their website 

www.tattooextravaganza.nz. 

Pre-show tickets are available 

from Eventfinda, and there 

will be door sales. 

For more information on 

any events or enquiries to 

secure any of the Baypark 

venues, BayStation activities 

or services on/off site from 

BayCatering, BayAudioVisual, 

www.asbbaypark.co.nz or 

events@bayvenues.co.nz or 

call 07-577 8560.


IoT innovation 

a team sport 

Businesses are increasingly heeding the call 

to put the Internet of Things at the heart of 

their plans for digital transformation. 

By ANDREW HITCHFIELD 

Vodafone Regional Sales 

Manager, Bay of Plenty/Waikato 

Andrew.hitchfield@vodafone. 

com and 0299 289 013. 

“Farmers don’t even realise 

how much data could be available 

to them. The role of businesses 

like ours is to translate 

data into useful information 

for them to make decisions 

with – information they were 

blind to that has the potential 

to transform their business. 

It’s a really exciting journey to 

be on with them.” 

Andrew Hitchfield 

Vodafone’s 2017 IoT 

Barometer Report 

found 74% of businesses 

agree digital transformation 

is impossible without IoT. 

Our customer, Larry 

Ellison, is among them, seeing 

endless potential in IoT 

innovations to transform the 

business of farming. 

The Ellison Group which 

owns the successful agri-tech 

monitoring company, Levno 

has recently joined forces 

with another company that 

produces the Zeddy dry feeder. 

Zeddy enables farmers to 

feed individual diets to calves, 

cows, goats, deer and, currently 

under trial, sheep. 

It identifies animals by 

their electronic ear tag, then 

dispenses a predetermined 

amount of feed. Importantly, 

it communicates data back to 

the farmer’s smartphone or 

computer, giving them valuable 

information about their 

herd. 

“Smart farming is the 

future and the development 

of the IoT network is only 

going to make data more readily 

available to farmers,” says 

Ellison. 

Smart farming is 

the future and the 

development of 

the IoT network 

is only going to 

make data more 

readily available to 

farmers. 

IT TAKES A GLOBAL VILLAGE 

Whether you are developing 

a new technology like 

Zeddy, or looking for ways of 

future-proofing your business 

for the digital age, many businesses 

want to know how to 

make the leap to IoT and reap 

the rewards of this data-rich, 

always-connected way of doing 

business. My answer is always 

the same. IoT is not a solo act. 

You need to pick a team. 

Ellison, whose personal 

philosophy is that business 

in general is a team sport, 

approached his company’s IoT 

journey in the same way. 

Ellison tells me because 

Zeddy is a start-up, they’re 

careful that the people they 

choose to do business with 

share their passion. “We’ve 

been in the trenches together 

with Vodafone with other 

Zeddy data sent directly to farmer’s smartphone or computer. 

projects and know they can 

deliver,” he says. 

When we’re working 

through our customers’ IoT 

needs, typically the solution 

they need already exists 

– we’ve delivered it here or 

somewhere else in the world. 

We can draw on our global 

partner ecosystem to meet any 

IoT challenge. 

CONNECTIVITY. THE GLUE. 

Secure, reliable, global connectivity 

is at the heart of IoT – it’s 

the glue that holds it together, 

and Vodafone connects more 

than 60 million devices globally. 

Ellison says connectivity 

was one of the challenges with 

development of the Zeddy. 

“What Vodafone allowed us 

to do is to reach everyone we 

want to reach and provide our 

service to all of our markets, 

which we couldn’t do with 

another provider.” 

Our Managed IoT 

Connectivity Platform helps 

companies manage their connected 

IoT deployments in 182 

countries. Local and global 

What Vodafone 

allowed us to do is 

to reach everyone 

we want to reach 

and provide our 

service to all of our 

markets, which we 

couldn’t do with 

another provider. 

customers are given global 

IoT SIMs, managed through 

one global platform, on more 

than 600 mobile networks and 

accessed through an easy to 

use self-service portal. 

LEADING IoT INNOVATION 

Today, less 1% of all the 

things that could be connected 

are connected, often due to 

the constraints of being geo- 

graphically remote, deep within 

urban infrastructure or even 

underwater. 

Our team is taking on this 

challenge through development 

of a Narrowband IoT 

network. 

NB-IoT opens up a whole 

new world of possibilities, 

|enabling connectivity 

in previously inaccessible 

environments. 

NB-IoT is particularly relevant 

in the agriculture sector, 

where it will allow farmers 

to easily monitor things like 

gates being open or closed, 

ground moisture or water levels 

in tanks. It offers huge 

potential to drive efficiencies 

and boost productivity. 

Vodafone’s NB-IoT network 

will be rolled out in 

New Zealand this year, built 

to a global standard to deliver 

security, scalability, quality of 

service and longevity. I believe 

this will be game-changing 

for the way businesses in the 

BOP/Waikato will be able to 

operate. 

GETTING IN THE xone 

Our team approach to driving 

innovation in IoT extends to 

investing in Kiwi IoT innovators 

through our Vodafone 

xone accelerator lab. 

We provide seed-funding, 

access to world class technology 

and mentoring as part 

of a six-month programme to 

companies with game-changing 

IoT ideas. 

WHERE TO NEXT? 

As for what’s next for Zeddy, 

Ellison tells me they have great 

ambitions to be one of the biggest, 

most innovative agri-tech 

companies, saying, “We really 

believe in this sector and by 

pairing up with Vodafone, I 

think we can achieve that.” 

Zeddy smart dry feeder in action.


Zespri gets tick from growers 

for share changes 

Major changes to Zespri’s share structure have been welcomed 

by the sector’s grower body as the export marketer moves 

to more closely align its ownership with those responsible for 

producing the fruit. 

By RICHARD RENNIE 

The changes resolve the 

longstanding problem of 

so-called “dry” shareholders 

- those who have 

shares in Zespri, but are no 

longer actively growing kiwifruit. 

The changes are Zespri’s 

attempt to deal with what chairman 

Peter McBride described 

as a concerning mis-alignment 

of ownership between growers 

and non-growers. 

Almost 30 percent of shareholders 

are currently below 

the 1 share:1 tray ratio, while 

eight percent of growers are 

over the 4:1 share cap Zespri 

proposed in the constitutional 

changes. Meanwhile, 15 percent 

of Zespri’s 120 million 

shares are held by people who 

are no longer connected with 

the industry. 

A special general meeting 

held in mid-March drew the 

required 75 percent-plus grower 

support for the changes. 

After almost five years and a 

major industry strategy review, 

kiwifruit growers have agreed 

to the proposed changes to 

Zespri’s constitution. 

There are now caps on the 

ability of non-producing shareholders 

to continue owning 

shares, as well as a focus on 

getting new growers to own 

shares representing the volume 

of crop they contribute. 

Growers who are overshared, 

with more than four 

shares per tray of production, 

will face a cap on their ability 

to buy more shares. 

And those over-shared at 

the time of the new rules will 

have seven years to sell the 

surplus shares, and three years 

for those who become overshared 

after the rules are introduced. 

In an effort to better align 

the 18 million shares attached 

to non-growing owners, Zespri 

has set a dividend cap on 

non-producing shareholders, 

who now face a fade out period 

of seven years on their 

dividend payment. 

“We are at a critical junction 

with a unique opportunity 

to formalise what the majority 

of owners have asked for,” said 

McBride. 

The changes have been welcomed 

by Nikki Johnson, chief 

executive of grower body New 

Zealand Kiwifruit Growers 

Incorporated (NZKGI). 

“On behalf of NZ’s kiwifruit 

growers, NZKGI is pleased 

with the outcome of Zespri’s 

Special Meeting,” she said. 

This support for 

change reflects the 

cohesiveness of 

our industry and a 

common interest 

among growers and 

former growers in 

seeing it prosper. 

“The passing of the resolutions 

at the Special Meeting 

was the final step in achieving 

what growers indicated 

they wanted in the Kiwifruit 

Industry Strategy Project. 

“In 2015, around 90 percent 

of growers voted in the 

KISP referendum to support 

proposals to change Zespri’s 

constitution to allow for alignment 

between growers and 

shareholders.” 

McBride gave a brief history 

lesson on Zespri’s creation 

back in 2000, when growers 

had sought government 

approval to make the marketer 

a full co-operative. 

“Treasury would not allow 

NZKGI’s Nikki Johnson: Growers supportive of changes 

to address dry shareholding issue. Photo/Supplied. 

it – but that is where we are 

wanting to head back to today.” 

McBride said dealing with 

the share allocation was also 

a significant succession issue 

that needed to be addressed, 

just as in any farm or orchard 

operation’s ownership. 

“The outcome will be 

important for the next generation 

of kiwifruit growers.” 

To facilitate the entry of 

newer growers as shareholding 

operators, the changes have 

included an allowance for new 

entrants to have the entitlement 

to buy shares up to one 

share per tray. This is if they 

own or lease a site on which 

there is no history of production 

in the past three years. 

Those shares cannot be voted 

with until the orchard begins 

production. 

A share buy-back programme 

will also target those 

growers who are over-shared 

and non- producing share holders, 

purchasing their shares at 

fair market value, and targeting 

a share issue to unshared 

and under-shared growers. 

“This support for change 

reflects the cohesiveness of our 

industry and a common interest 

among growers and former 

growers in seeing it prosper,” 

said McBride. 

“The measures require 

a huge amount of goodwill, 

but ultimately they will support 

Zespri’s ability to deliver 

strong, sustainable value to 

kiwifruit growers and shareholders 

over the long term. It’s 

a fantastic legacy for the next 

generation of people in our 

industry.” 

Can’t quite get that job? 

We’ll HOOK you up with job advice, 

and even help you CATCH a job! 

N E W Z E A L A N D 

TAURANGA 

07 571 0283 

tgaadmin@nz.drakein.com


SwipedOn awarded $15 million 

Callaghan grant 

Tauranga-based software company SwipedOn has been awarded 

a growth grant by Callaghan Innovation for its iPad-based visitor 

management system. The grant is for an initial three year term, 

refunding 20 percent of all eligible spend, up to a total of $15 million. 


The grant reflects the rapid 

progress the company 

has made since it was 

founded in 2013. 

The software-as-a-service 

company replaces paper visitor 

books with an innovative 

iPad application. 

Its founders grew the business 

with no financial backing 

or sales team into a product 

used in more than 2000 cities 

worldwide, largely in the UK 

and US. 

The company has focused 

on one core product: an elegant 

iPad-based visitor management 

system that replaces 

outdated visitor books with 

a sleek, simple and modern 

solution. 

Since launching its current 

app in 2016, SwipedOn 

has achieved $1 million 

annual recurring revenue as 

of December 2017, and has 

raised an additional $1million 

in capital. The company has 

also recruited five new fulltime 

staff to keep up with 

company growth. 

Founder and chief executive 

Hadleigh Ford said the 

team was thrilled to have been 

awarded the grant. 

“SwipedOn has grown 

quickly in the last couple of 

years and this will certainly 

help us accelerate the pace of 

development and innovation,” 

said Ford. 

The $1 million capital raise 

came from various sources, 

including Bay of Plenty- 

Waikato early stage investment 

group Enterprise Angels, 

as well as Sir Stephen Tindall’s 

K1W1 fund, and the government’s 

NZ Investment Fund. 

Enterprise Angels executive 

director Bill Murphy said 

the capital raise had gone really 

well. 

“The product itself is interesting,” 

he said. 

“It’s not super special. And 

it’s kind of unusual that we 

would back something that 

isn’t strongly unique. But 

there’s only five or six companies 

in the world doing what 

they are doing. 

“And Swiped On is at a 

different price point than most 

of them - there really is a big 

market there for them. And we 

really like the team.” 

Enterprise Angels also 

helped put together a strong 

board, led by entrepreneur, 

investor and tech commentator 

Ben Kepes. 

We’re also proud of 

the fact that we have 

done this from the 

regions, being based 

in Tauranga. We don’t 

feel we need to be 

in any of the main 

centres to build and 

deliver a world class 

product.” 

– Hadleigh Ford 

Hadleigh Ford said that 

while SwipedOn had begun as 

a modern replacement for antiquated 

visitor books, the company 

saw a number of ways it 

could enhance the entire visitor 

experience. 

“We’re also proud of the 

fact that we have done this 

from the regions, being based 

in Tauranga. We don’t feel we 

need to be in any of the main 

centres to build and deliver a 

world class product.” 

SwipedOn’s Hadleigh Ford: 

Thrilled to win grant to 

further develop visitor app. 

Photo/supplied


The performance appraisal 

One of the most common complaints we hear from staff is around 

not receiving enough - if any - feedback from their managers. 

HUMAN RESOURCES 

> BY KELLIE HAMLETT 

Director, Recruitment & HR Specialist, Talent ID Recruitment Ltd 

It is fair enough to want to 

know how your performance 

is being rated, and whether 

you are doing a good job or if 

there is room for improvement. 

On the management side of 

the desk, many of the employers 

I work with really dislike 

having to do the annual round 

of performance reviews. 

It certainly doesn’t seem 

to be at the top of anyone’s 

enjoyment list, and it’s more 

often than not seen as a tick 

the box process rather than 

one that adds any value to 

the employment relationship 

or the organisation. 

So why do we do them and 

is there a better way? 

Managers have always had 

to assess their employees’ performance, 

yet the function of 

carrying out the annual performance 

appraisal is still 

problematic for many organisations. 

The negative image of the 

performance appraisal may in 

part be due to managers who 

are either poorly trained and 

inadequately prepared, or just 

not committed to the process. 

That means many managers 

view the performance appraisal 

as a chore because they 

do not understand the importance 

of performance management 

and the value that can be 

gleaned from it when carried 

out correctly. 

Or it could also be the case 

that their organisation does not 

emphasise these benefits. 

Regular sessions 

with your staff 

ultimately means that 

issues that are raised 

can be escalated if 

appropriate and dealt 

with in a more 

timely way. 

And importantly, in many 

organisations, performance 

appraisals are reactionary 

- they focus on judging past 

performance rather than being 

proactive, and often don’t have 

transparent and agreed goals 

in place. 

I’m of the opinion that 

feedback should be given on 

a regular basis. There is certainly 

a time and a place for an 

annual process. But waiting for 

potentially a year to raise an 

issue with an employee’s performance 

simply doesn’t work. 

One option is to sit down 

with your employees in a less 

formal way on a regular basis 

to talk about what is going well 

and what could be improved 

upon. 

This can be a useful tool 

both to engage employees, and 

also to deal with those niggly 

small things that can often fester 

and turn into larger issues if 

not addressed quickly. 

Regular sessions with your 

staff ultimately means that 

issues that are raised can be 

escalated if appropriate and 

dealt with in a more timely way. 

And we often see these 

more regular casual meetings 

resulting in the annual process 

being viewed in a more positive 

light, with better outcomes. 

The more formal annual 

Performance Planning & 

Review - as the process is now 

more commonly known - then 

follows on from these regular 

meetings, with a stronger 

focus on the development of 

employees’ future work targets 

and objectives. 

That allows both employer 

and staff to measure progress 

against previously established 

goals, and provides a platform 

to review work behaviours and 

job performance, and to identify 

areas for future training and 

development. 

In this sense, the manager 

can use the Performance 

Planning & Review process 

to identify and set work 

objectives, decide on performance-based 

awards, and provide 

feedback on results and 

performance. 

And the organisation can 

also identify career and succession 

planning, determine 

training needs, assist with 

employee counselling, and 

better support promotion and 

termination decisions. 

Essentially, for the worker 

this process should mean reinforcement 

through feedback 

and or pay rises, the potential 

for career advancement, training 

and development. 

It provides a platform in 

which goals can be identified 

and agreed, as well as a safe 

environment to both receive 

and provide feedback in order 

to improve performance and 

communication. 

Ultimately – whatever system 

you choose to use within 

your organisation - you need 

to meet the needs and goals of 

both employer and employee. 

There is no value at all in a 

system which is purely functional 

and just gets put away 

with no further evaluation for 

another 12 months. 

A vote for Buddy Mikaere 

means ‘bringing balance, 

pragmatism, and a fresh 

vision’ to Tauranga City. 

Keeping business financials in shape 

SPECIAL FOCUS: 

BUSINESS MONEY 

MANAGEMENT 

‘I’m passionate about 

our region and promise 

to do the very best 

for our community 

regardless of age, 

gender or ethnicity.’ 

Vote Community 

Vote Buddy Mikaere 

Follow my election campaign on 

www.facebook.com/Buddy-Mikaere-Candidatefor-Tauranga-City-Council-110419959644171/ 

Authorised by Buddy Mikaere, 6 Crichton Terrace, Papamoa 3116 

Authorised by D. Clifford, The Opportunities Party (TOP) Incorporated, 

Level 1, 190 Taranaki Street, Wellington 

Book your spot in 

this feature today. 

For more information contact: 

Pete Wales:022 495 9248 Vanessa Lee:021 715 225 

pete@nmmedia.co.nz vanessa@nmmedia.co.nz 

www.bopbusinessnews.co.nz


Building a purpose-driven brand 

Rebel Sport ran an ad campaign last year 

asking “What’s your why?” It focused on 

stories of New Zealand athletes, presenting 

the reasons they dedicated so much of 

their life and time striving to make it at the 

pinnacle of elite sport. 

All Black Malakai Fekitoa 

was featured in the campaign. 

His “why” was to 

prove the doubters wrong and 

show that he could play professional 

rugby when everyone 

said he wouldn’t make it. 

Paralympic swimmer 

Sophie Pascoe was also front 

and centre. Her “why” was 

showing the world her disability 

did not define her. 

This ad campaign is a 

great example of a company’s 

efforts to make its brand purpose-driven, 

rather than functional. 

Instead of focusing on 

a message like “high quality 

sportswear and equipment”, 

Rebel Sport was telling the personal 

stories of athletes whose 

lives had been changed by 

sport. The campaign focused 

on sport’s ability to build character 

and shape people’s lives 

in a hugely positive way – an 

idea that Rebel Sport believes 

in and aims to embody. 

The concept of creating a 

brand driven by its “why”, rather 

than its “what” or “how”, 

has become popular as companies 

vie for market share in an 

increasingly globalised world. 

Rather than focusing on the 

features of the computers they 

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. 

make, Apple built its brand by 

promoting its vision of challenging 

the status quo. 

Apple articulated this 

vision beautifully in the opening 

words of an iconic 1997 

TV commercial, which began: 

“Here’s to the crazy ones, the 

misfits, the rebels. The trouble 

makers, the round pegs in the 

square holes. The ones who 

see things differently. They’re 

not fond of rules and they have 

no respect for the status quo”. 

This struck a chord with 

all those who shared the same 

beliefs, and it positioned Apple 

as the computer company of 

choice for them. 

Many New Zealand corporates 

are doing the same. 

Fonterra’s recent advertising 

campaign, “Made by many”, 

focuses on dairy’s role as a 

major employer, its contribution 

to New Zealand society 

and its central role in the Kiwi 

way of life. 

The campaign draws attention 

to the many New Zealand 

people and companies involved 

in the dairy production chain, 

from the farmer who milks 

the cows and the truck driver 

who drives the milk tankers, 

to the people who work at the 

milk and cheese factories and 

the ship workers who transport 

Kiwi dairy products to overseas 

markets. 

Coupled with Fonterra’s 

Milk for Schools programme, 

the campaign demonstrates 

the positive outcomes of 

Fonterra’s work and helps to 

get townies on board with an 

industry that has been criticised 

for intensive farming and 

contributing to dirty rivers. 

Transitioning your business’ 

brand from one that is 

functional to one that is purpose-driven 

involves reflecting 

on what you stand for – over 

and above just making money. 

If you are the company 

founder, think about what 

beliefs were behind your decision 

to start your business. 

What are your business’ 

core values, and how does your 

work contribute to society? 

These are the foundations 

for a purpose-driven brand and 

they should be embodied in 

everything you do, from your 

logo and the words on your 

website to your products and the 

way you and your staff interact 

with the people you meet. 

If you can clearly articulate 

your purpose, your beliefs and 

the reasons why your business 

exists, then you will have 

a powerful message capable 

of influencing consumers, 

gaining recognition and rallying 

like-minded thinkers to 

your cause. 

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Video marketing is a must 

The world of marketing is continually evolving and it can be 

difficult for small and medium businesses to keep up with the 

trends. However, one area that can no longer be considered a 

trend, and should now be a marketing staple, is video marketing. 

Unfortunately many businesses are missing on this incredibly 

effective marketing tactic. 

Video already accounts for 

two-thirds of our internet 

use. This is prediced to 

increase to 82 percent by 2021. 

Video social network YouTube 

is now the second-largest 

search engine on the web. 

If this isnt compelling 

enough for you to include 

video in your marketing mix, 

then marketers who use video 

grow revenue 49 percent faster 

than those who don’t. 

Video also improves email 

marketing results. By just 

using the word video in an 

email subject, it can boost your 

open rate by 19 percent and 

increase your click-thru rate by 

65 percent. 

Furthermore videos on 

social media people are 10 

times more likely to engage, 

embed, share, and comment 

on video, rather than text or 

image alone. 

Why is video so effective? 

It allows you to evoke more 

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 

emotion. Human beings are 

visual and respond more to 

moving images than text or 

photos alone. 

It is an excellent way to 

tell a story and keep viewers 

on your site, engaged on your 

social media accounts and to 

open and click through on your 

emails. 

It’s not just consumer products 

and services, all organisations 

need to get onboard with 

video marketing. Business-tobusiness 

companies in particular 

should include video in 

their marketing mix. 

Research from forbes.com 

found that 75 percent of business 

executives watch work-related 

videos each week. And at 

least half of them share videos 

with colleagues. 

There are some things you 

need to consider when you 

start creating video. Just like 

any of your marketing, you 

need to have a strategy. Don’t 

post videos haphazardly, but 

plan your videos to be part of a 

series or campaign. 

The key is to focus on a 

message you want to share 

and be authentic to your brand. 

You must focus on the story – 

straight product promo videos 

don’t cut it anymore. Here are 

some tips to get you started: 

Videos can be as short as 

15 seconds long to hours in 

length. Marketing videos that 

get the best engagenent are up 

to two minutes long. 

The first 10 seconds of your 

video is crucial. Be up front 

straight away about your video 

content. 

Use captions – 50 percent 

of video views in social media 

are watched with no sound. 

Live video on social media 

get three times the engagement 

than traditional video, so find 

ways to include live video in 

your social media calendar. 

You don’t need to pay huge 


dollars for professionals to 

do film and edit your videos. 

Video cameras on the latest 

phones are usually pretty good 

quality and there are ample 

free and paid video editing 

apps and programmes that are 

easy to use. Check out Filmora 

Wondershare, Magistro or 

VideoShop to start. 

One thing often overlooked 

is a call to action. Tell them 

what the next step is. Point 

them to your website, get them 

to call you for a quote or even 

provide a coupon for your 

e-commerce store. 

Once you have created your 

video make sure you share and 

promote it on social media, 

newsletter database and your 

website. 

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Video can be a powerful 

way to promote your business 

and to stand out from your 

competitors. When implemented 

correctly, a video marketing 

campaign can help reach new 

consumers and turn them into 

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Creating a millennial friendly city 

A “youthquake” is happening here in 

Bay of Plenty and San Francisco-based 

entrepreneur Savannah “Savvy” Peterson 

came last month, to tell locals how to 

make the most of it. 

The event, hosted by 

SmartGrowth, focused 

on how Bay of Plenty 

can make the most of its future 

by embracing and working 

with the millennial population, 

as well as attracting and 

keeping more millennials in 

the region. 

“Millennials are self-actualising 

and curious,” Savvy 

says. “They ’do’ entrepreneurship 

and gig economy work, 

and they’re becoming selfsustaining.” 

She says while millennials, 

those born between 1980 

and 1996, are often referred 

to as ‘the me generation’, they 

have a lot to offer our local 

economy. 

“Millennials have money 

they want to give you. They 

are the largest living generation 

and the largest spending 

generation. But they 

have been marketed to in 

every possible way, so they 

want authentic, personalised 

experiences.” 

Savvy says businesses 

should bring their millennial 

staff members into their planning 

to help them tap into this 

economy. 

She also says the key is not 

to let our youth leave the Bay 

in the first place. 

“Don’t let your young people 

leave. Nurture them, keep 

them here, give them opportunities 

for entrepreneurship,” 

she says. And how do we do 

that? 

“Millennials want to be 

where there is an active group 

working to connect and support 

entrepreneurs.” 

Luckily for the Bay, we 

have exactly that in Venture 

Centre, which exists to support 

and empower youth, and those 

young-at-heart, helping entrepreneurs 

start-up and business 

owners scale-up using digital 

tools, business models and 

marketing. 

Savvy also says keeping 

our millennials is not about 

an exciting night-life or cool 

events. 

“There is no one thing, 

no one cultural event or programme 

a place can hold to 

attract young people. But, 

and this is so exciting, young 

people regard a start-up ecosystem 

as the best way to 

empower them. 

“What that means is if they 

can see people in the community 

starting new businesses, 

talking about entrepreneurship 

or exploring ways to collaborate 

with other businesses… 

young people see you 

are encouraging them to build 

their future with you – sometimes 

they just need to see it, 

they don’t even need to be 

involved. So tell your small 

Millennials have money they want to give 

you. They are the largest living generation 

and the largest spending generation. 

But they have been marketed to in every 

possible way, so they want authentic, 

personalised experiences.” 

– Savannah “Savvy” Peterson 

business story and your young 

people will feel empowered.” 

Though, Savvy says, 

encouraging entrepreneurship 

should come with a warning. 

“Do not try and emulate 

Silicon Valley! Do it your 

way.” 

She says Silicon Valley has 

spent so much time focusing 

on chasing the “unicorns”, 

which are privately held startup 

companies with a current 

valuation of US$1 billion 

or more, it has lost its heart 

and culture as a result. She 

says the key is to focus on 

“zebras”. 

“A zebra business is a 

healthy sustainable business 

that does good in the community. 

Don’t overlook the zebra!” 

Savvy says. 

She also says that communities 

should focus on localisation 

and intergenerational c 

ollaboration, as Venture Centre 

does. 

“Come together around 

social good,” she says. In part, 

this will be effective because 

87 percent of millennials 

believe that the bottom line 

in business is not monetisation, 

rather its purpose, quality 

of life and impact on one’s 

community. 

“Climate change and 

inequality are the number 

one issues for millennials. 

Perpetual oppression could 

end with this generation,” 

Savvy says. 

Not only that, but 56 per 

cent of millennials also don’t 

feel they are heard. 

“Create a space for your 

young people to be heard,” 

Savvy says. One way you can 

listen is by taking part in one 

of the many meet-ups, openhouse, 

co-working events 

Venture Centre and Basestation 

hold. 

“Share your knowledge,” 

Savvy says. “Find a nest of 

people to talk with, and be 

honest.” 

Your next chance to share 

your story, your business, your 

vision for the future with millenials, 

is to get involved in 

Techweek Tauranga 21-25 May. 

To find out how to participate 

in the events on the 

calendar or run your own with 

help from the VC team, email 

info@venturecentre.co.nz.

BAY OF PLENTY BUSINESS NEWS February/March 2018 

15 

Get the best from your millennial 

team members 

I don’t really like the term ‘millennial’. It has 

accrued so many negative connotations, none 

of which I identify with. I don’t like selfies, 

I’m not entitled or lazy. I work hard and have 

always done so in order to get ahead. 

But when Savvy Peterson 

spoke to a SmartGrowth 

meeting in March about 

what makes millennials tick, I 

found myself vigorously nodding 

my head. 

Millennials are the largest 

living generation, with more 

than one million Kiwis falling 

into this age bracket. 

With that in mind, here are 

the easiest ways to get the best 

out of your millennial team, 

based on Savvy’s data and my 

experience, as both a millennial 

employee and manager. 

GIVE US PURPOSE, 

AND A FUTURE 

According to Savvy, millennials 

want a sense of purpose 

from their job - it’s more 

important than money! 

If they can see how their 

role fits into what your company 

is doing for the community 

or its clients, they’re more 

likely to feel as though they 

have purpose. 

Equally important is to 

make sure you show them 

there’s a future career path and 

a timeline to achieve it. 

When I look back at 

my career, every time I’ve 

changed jobs or industry, it’s 

been because I didn’t feel my 

role had purpose or a future. 

GIVE US FLEXIBILITY 

Savvy’s data showed that millennials 

in New Zealand are 

most likely to change location, 

job and take a pay cut 

in favour of flexible working 

hours. We’d still like to be able 

to pay our bills of course, but 

flexibility matters. 

One of the SmartGrowth 

panellists, Grace Burman, said 

she likes to be given a workload 

and a deadline and it’s up to her 

how and when she completes 

that work. I completely agree. 

When you give us clear 

expectations and a deadline, 

treat us as part of the team, 

but leave how we manage our 

QrtHori_BOPBN_Basestation_Oct17.pdf 1 17/10/17 10:37 AM 

Rosie Dawson-Hewes 

time to us, it tells us you trust 

us. We’ll reward that trust with 

hard work and loyalty. 

Growing an online store 

Throughout New Zealand 

there are gifted entrepreneurs 

with a unique skill 

of curating or creating a range 

of products that we love to buy. 

At Rocketspark we get to 

see the potential of these businesses 

realised when they start 

to sell online and extend their 

reach beyond their shop front 

or market stall. 

From our vantage point 

of helping businesses online 

we’ve observed the essential 

elements for growing an online 

business. 

Websites, search engine optimisation 

and digital marketing 

may seem complicated but we’ve 

learnt that if you do the basics 

well you’ll see good results. 

So what are the basics? 

GENERATING VISITORS 

As Google becomes more 

sophisticated the process of 

optimising a website is less 

about technical tricks and more 

about having quality content 

on your website that answers 

the questions that people are 

searching for. 

To show Google that you 

have the answer there are various 

clues such as having keywords 

in your headings, paragraph 

content and links. 

Creating landing pages and 

blog posts that are focused on a 

specific topic shows the search 

engines that you are a credible 

website to send people to. 

Paid online advertising 

can also generate visitors and 

the introduction of Google 

Shopping in New Zealand has 

made paid online advertising 

simpler for small businesses 

but few SME’s are taking 

advantage. 

The Google Shopping ad’s 

content is automatically pulled 

from your online store so you 

don’t have to manually create 

the advertisements and they’re 

likely to convert at a higher 

rate than traditional adwords 

advertising. 

CONVERTING VISITORS 

Generating visitors is not valuable 

unless these visitors are 

making a purchase now or are 

likely to purchase in future. 

There is a lot of research 

and science behind what 

makes a website convert visits 

into sales. 

Making a great first impression 

is a good place to start 

when assessing your conversion 

potential. 

Carleton University in 

Canada found that a credible 

impression could be formed in 

0.03 seconds and if provided 

with a longer time the visitor’s 

impression didn’t really change 

GIVE US FEEDBACK 

You know how I said money 

isn’t important to us? That 

doesn’t mean we don’t like to 

feel valued. 

Your feedback and appreciation 

doesn’t have to be in the 

form of a pay rise (though we 

like those, too – who doesn’t?). 

If your team does a great 

job, put on morning tea, or 

shout Friday drinks. Or just 

stop and take the time to say 

thank you. 

That simple act will make 

us feel more appreciated and 

engaged, so we’ll keep working 

hard for you. 

BRING US INTO 

YOUR DECISIONS 

The millennial generation represent 

the biggest spending 

demographic and are the first 

generation of ‘digital natives’. 

Think about what this 

world view could do for your 

business or your clients. But 

also, 56 percent of millennials 

don’t feel heard by their 

leadership. So invite us to 

the table. 

We’re capable of more than 

just helping you set up your 

phone. 

Even if our role doesn’t 

allow us to make the final decision, 

we like to add value to 

the conversation, help you use 

Grant Johnson, 

Rocketspark Co-founder 

so it’s important to get your 

first impression right. 

Once the first impression is 

made you’ll need a clear path 

to purchase. Once someone 

has found what they are looking 

for it’s important to make it 

easy to buy. 

Providing suitable payment 

options is also important. 

We’re seeing that offering buy 

now pay later services such as 

www.laybuy.com as a payment 

option is having a significant 

the personalisation tools that 

are available to you when you 

really embrace digital business 

models and marketing. 

It comes back to that sense 

of purpose and being part of 

the bigger picture. 

We want to contribute and 

represent a large block of the 

population. 

Including us in your decisions 

is important at a higher 

level, too. 

Think about us when you’re 

considering board positions. 

We’ll do the work to get 

the experience needed to be 

part of those conversations. 

Plus, as digital natives, we’re 

often great at the tech aspects 

required in those roles. 

Finally the millennial 

generation is not represented 

at either of our local council 

tables, and yet we are the 

future of this region. 

So think strategically when 

you vote. Balanced, diverse 

representation will yield better 

results which serve the 

entire population for years 

to come. 

Rosie Dawson-Hewes has a 

background in banking, journalism, 

management and marketing 

and runs her communications 

business, Very Good 

Content. She is also a Tauranga 

Art Gallery Foundation trustee 

and is standing for Tauranga 

City Council in this month’s at 

large by-election. 

impact on order sizes and sales 

volumes. 

LEARN MORE 

To learn more about selling 

online and social media for 

ecommerce join our seminar 

on Growing an Online 

store as part of PoweringOn’s 

digital enablement series 

for the Bay of Plenty powered 

by The Venture Centre. 

See www.clik.vc/growingastore 

to learn more and register. 

MADVentures – events for youth 

Te Puke Library Holiday Coding 

17 & 27 April 2018 

Codebrite Lite Katikati 

23 April 2019, 1pm to 3pm 

PoweringON – events for business 

owners 

Making More E-Commerce Website 

Sales with Rocketspark 

18 April 2018, 10:30am to 12pm 

Knowing Your Customer with Bravesight 


Office Hours Financials with Crowe 

Horwath 

9 April 2018, 11am to 1pm 

Office Hours Xero Tips & Tricks with 

Ingham Mora 


Office Hours Intellectual Property with 

James & Wells 


Office Hours Marketing Strategy and 

Planning with Marketing on Demand 

12 April 2018, 3pm to 5pm 

Office Hours Legal with Mackenzie Elvin 


Office Hours Sales and Marketing with 

Bravesight 


Xero Users Group 

24 April 2018, 9:30am to 10:30am 

Google for Small Business Users Group 

25 April 2018, 9:30am to 10:30am 

Instigator – events for founders 

ADI (Angelic Drop In) Clinic Tauranga 

12 April 2018, 4:30pm to 6:30pm 

Tauranga Social Enterprise Meetup 


Entrepreneurs Everywhere 


Special Interest – events 

for and from experts 

Office 365 Discovery Session with 

ShareThePoint 

12 April 2018, 10am to 12:30pm 

Plug-in & power up 

C 

M 

Y 

CM 

MY 

CY 

CMY 

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Coworking – way 

more than a desk! 

Be our guest, take 

a tour & enjoy a 

coffee on the house 

• Desks, secure offices, team spaces 

• Flexible terms - come for a day, 

a week, month or year 

• Event and Meeting rooms free 

with residency or book as needed 

• Uncapped internet 

• Tech support and award 

winning barista onsite 

Designed, managed and run by 

Get in touch 0800 000557 

info@basestation.co.nz 

148 Durham Street, Tauranga 

The Communication & Technology Space 

join us!


COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY 

Construction and growth 

still looking strong for 2018 

Tauranga City Council saw a decrease in overall building consent 

activity during February 2018, while Western Bay District Council 

picked up, compared with January, according to Priority One. 

But while there was a 

lower number of commercial 

consents in 

particular, February saw 

record values for commercial 

consents issued in a January 

month. 

That meant the drop could 

be more a quirk of processing 

than setting a new trend, 

said communications/projects 

manager Annie Hill, in Priority 

One’s latest newsletter. 

February saw a total of 

$9.2 million issued for commercial 

building consents, 

compared with $19.7 million 

in January. 

Commercial building activity 

is following on a boom 

year, with $262 million in 

commercial consents issued in 

2017, up 20 percent on the 

previous year. 

The largest building project 

consented in Tauranga in 

February 2018 was a $3 million 

sports pavilion at a retirement 

village. 

It was one of 186 building 

consents issued in the 

city in February worth a total 

$48.9 million, according to 

Priority One. 

That was a 32 percent drop 

in the dollar value of consents 

issued in January, which 

reached $71.7 million, but a 10 

percent rise in the total number 

issued. 

The Western Bay of Plenty 

District Council saw an 

increase in its value of consents 

issued - more than $27.5 

million issued in the month of 

February compared with $14.1 

million the month before. 

Hill noted that building 

consents can fluctuate considerably 

month-to-month. 

“We have had many 

instances of record highs and 

lows being in consecutive 

months, so I wouldn’t read 

any long-term trends into just 

two months’ worth of activity,” 

she said. 

Priority One chief executive 

Nigel Tutt commented 

on the Bay of Plenty’s robust 

growth, including the release 

by Infometrics of their growth 

statistics for 2017, which 

saw Tauranga becoming the 

top performing city in New 

Zealand across all key measures 

of economic activity. 

Tauranga’s GDP for the 

2017 calendar year was an 

unprecedented 6.6 percent. 

That was the highest GDP 

growth for a city in New 

Zealand and well ahead of 

Auckland’s 5.2 percent, 

Hamilton’s 4.0 percent and 

Christchurch’s 3.3 percent. 

“This represents an outstanding 

performance for 

Tauranga. 

“Western Bay district’s 

growth didn’t quite reach 

these heights, but it came in 

at a respectable four percent 

GDP growth - above the New 

Zealand average of 3.6 percent,” 

said Tutt. 

“The underlying fundamentals 

of our economy are very 

strong, which bodes well for 

growth in the medium term. 

“Key industries such as 

construction, retail and horticulture 

are doing really well 

and our core regional asset, 

the Port of Tauranga, continues 

to outperform all others 

and create a real competitive 

advantage in the attraction of 

new business to the city.” 

Tutt said that Tauranga’s 

competitive advantages as a 

place from which to do business 

were being increasingly 

realised by new businesses 

who are deciding to locate 

here, and that there was also 

strong confidence reflected in 

employment growth in existing 

businesses. 

“This is right across all 

sectors, but particularly in 

the professional services, 

construction, manufacturing 

and retail.” 

Commercial Building Consent Summary – Tauranga City Council 

(Figures in $ millions) 

2008 $56.6 - $75.2 - 57% 

2009 $37.5 - $19.1 - 34% 

2010 $78.5 + $41.0 + 109% 

2011 $70.8 - $7.7 - 10% 

2012 $101.9 + $31.1 + 44% 

2013 $98.0 - $3.9 - 4% 

2014 $105.8 + $7.8 + 8% 

2015 $197.6 + $91.8 + 87% 

2016 $219.3 + $21.7 + 11% 

2017 $262.2 + $42.9 + 20% 

Great minds 

think alike 

We understand the importance of delivering to 

timeframes and budgets, and our experienced 

team will work with you to ensure all your 

projects with us achieve the best results, every 

time. 

For information about our exceptional 

windows & doors talk to Tasman Aluminium 

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tasmanaluminium.co.nz 

ACG Gymnasium - Tauranga


Well planned warehouse 

space key to business 

success 


Electrical Works provides specialist 

services in automation systems & 

industrial & commercial electrics. 

Whether you’re quite 

happy with the location 

of your industrial 

business now but need to 

improve efficiencies, or you’re 

considering a move to new 

premises to take your business 

to the next level, you need to 

consider how you can best use 

the available space to streamline 

your operation. 

The layout of your warehouse 

can directly impact the 

smooth running of your business 

operation. Many business 

owners find themselves working 

around physical inefficiencies 

simply to get work done. 

A practical, robust warehouse 

layout should be your 

starting point and sometimes, 

in the quest to get a business 

up and running, the fundamentals 

of good design get lost. 

Think of your business 

space as a blank canvas and 

imagine what it would take to 

optimise productivity. 

There are companies out 

there specialising in warehouse 

planning, layout and 

racking but it could help you to 

“see” your space more clearly 

if you physically sketch out 

– or create via an online programme 

– a to-scale blueprint, 

starting with the existing floorplan. 

Freeing up floor space can 

help ease congestion and create 

better pathways to faster, 

more cost-effective and sometimes, 

safer, daily work flows. 

Look at how you can go up 

rather than out to maximise the 

space available to you taking 

into account fixed structures 

(like existing columns and 

portioned offices) and bearing 

in mind aisles, access to doors, 

turning bays etc. 

You’ll need to be mindful 

of the equipment you use regularly 

and the clear space this 

requires, your production and 

workflow zones, and storage 

areas. 

Here are some tips to help 

you on your way to a more efficient 

workplace: 

• Consider how thinking in 

terms of m3 rather than m2 

could change up the fundamentals 

of your industrial 

space – maximise the cube! 

• Know your rack elevations, 

your pallet heights and the 

space required to move 

product – see if there’s a 

better way to make use of 

the available space 

• Look at vertical space and 

be creative – room for a 

mezzanine? 

• Look carefully at pallet 

density options 

• Combine different types of 

storage systems based on 

the movement of inventory 

• The Pareto principle would 

state that 80% of the activity 

in a warehouse comes 

from 20% of the items – always 

plan for the 20% 

• Do you have heaps of 

“dead stock” – reconsider 

its role in your business 

and perhaps free up space 

for faster moving products 

• Is there unused space 

around your dock door area 

that could be utilised for 

storage? 

• Could you decrease your 

aisle widths yet still retain 

good flow? 

• Allow time to plan, order 

and install any new system 

– you want to avoid downtime 

• If you’re moving to new 

premises, don’t just assume 

that your existing fitout 

can be transferred – question 

whether you could do 

things more efficiently 

• Plan for growth, seasonal 

inventory demands, and 

change of product/service – 

build in some flexibility 

• You’ll need to comply with 

current building codes and 

standards so seek professional 

advice before you 

undertake any major reconfiguration 

– fire standards 

are the key ones to bear in 

mind here 

www.bayleys.co.nz/work 

place/articles/insights 

We support the smartest businesses in the Bay & Beyond with: 

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We've recently moved to our new purpose built workshop and office 

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welding & generator repair services for our clients. 

To discuss your electrical needs call us on: 029 293 2945 

or drop in and see us at: Electrical Works Ltd 

Unit 5, 90 Whakakake Street, Tauriko, Tauranga 3171 

info@electricalworks.co.nz 

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We understand that to maximise the return on your property you need: 

Professional property management A business partner that understands your views and goals 

Jan Cooney 

Senior Commercial Property Manager 

B 07 579 0609 M 027 408 9339 

jan.cooney@bayleystauranga.co.nz 

Brodie Thomas 

Commercial Property Manager 

B 07 579 0608 M 027 746 9218 

brodie.thomas@bayleystauranga.co.nz 

Becky Jefferson 

Commercial Property Management Asst. 

B 07 579 0614 

becky.jefferson@bayleystauranga.co.nz


X 


BWS launches its building 

cleaning service in the BOP 

BWS (Building Wash Services) is expanding 

from its successful Auckland base and has 

opened an office in Tauranga to service 

growing client demand in the Bay of Plenty. 

“It was my wife Nicola 

who was the catalyst for 

us establishing BWS in 

2009,” says Managing Director 

Simon Green. 

“Feeling Nicola was worth 

more than she was then getting 

paid, we started looking 

at franchise opportunities. A 

house washing franchise that 

caught our eye got us thinking 

about the opportunities in 

focusing on washing commercial 

and industrial buildings.” 

With a background in commercial 

real estate, Simon 

knew the importance to a business 

of a clean building. 

He was also well aware of 

how costly and difficult building 

washing had become since 

Health & Safety Regulations 

banned long extension ladders 

and other dangerous access 

methods. The innovative idea 

that gave BWS the competitive 

edge to propel it to market 

leader in Auckland is a 

custom-built, truck-mounted 

cherry-picker boom. 

Simon says the attraction 

of starting the business came 

from the knowledge that businesses 

take pride in having 

clean buildings, as well as the 

recurring income driven by 

warranties requiring regular 

exterior surfaces washing. 

“As did assurances from 

my larger institutional clients 

of the untapped business 

potential for a building washing 

service fully complying 

with health and safety regulations 

through using better 

methods than pricey and 

time-consuming scaffolding,” 

recalls Simon.. 

“We saw solving that problem 

would give us a ‘gold 

standard’ competitive edge.” 

BWS’ boom truck is fully 

customised and fitted out 

with pumps, water heater and 

two high pressure extending 

wands. Custom-built for BWS 

by Snorkel - a world leader 

in aerial work platforms - the 

cherry-picker gives the BWS 

team a 16-metre reach. That’s 

the average height of a five 

storey building and taller than 

most big-box retail outlets. 

General Manager Gael 

Gordon, who has a background 

in business ownership 

and corporate management, 

was appointed to her new role 

in 2016 as part of Simon and 

Nicola restructuring BWS into 

a highly professional, ethical 

and transparent operation. 

“We’ve committed to further 

expansion and we’ve got 

clients ready and waiting for 

BWS in urban areas all over 

PropertyLine 

Out Now! 

The latest commercial property 

news and opinion from PMG - 

Tauranga’s award winning local 

property funds managers. 

Read online and subscribe for free at: 

www.propertymgr.co.nz 

Simon Green: ‘We’re a market leader 

in Auckland and ready to expand’ 

the country,” explains Gael. 

“We have a wide network of 

connections to leverage work.” 

Essentially, BWS takes the 

hassle out of keeping buildings 

clean, says Simon. 

“First impressions count – 

and your building is no exception. 

But we know keeping 

up with the cleaning requires 

more than a sunny day, a ladder, 

and the garden hose. 

In late December the elected 

members of Tauranga City 

Council voted to approve 

two proposed changes to the 

way rates are levied on commercial 

and industrial ratepayers 

in the city. 

The council’s proposal 

includes the introduction of a 

rates differential between commercial 

and residential properties 

over the next three years. 

If ratified by the council, it will 

result in the increase of rates 

for commercial, industrial and 

retail properties located in the 

Tauranga area (including suburban 

areas). 

For some commercial 

properties it may mean a rate 

increase of from 35 percent, to 

as high as 92 percent by 2021. 

Born and bred in Tauranga, 

Property Managers Group 

(PMG) is one of New 

Zealand’s largest and most preferred 

unlisted, property and 

funds managers and has been 

investing in property, people, 

tenants and the Bay of Plenty 

community for over 25 years. 

PMG chief executive Scott 

McKenzie acknowledges the 

Bay of Plenty is experiencing 

strong growth which is placing 

pressure on infrastructure and 

how it is funded. 

He says while the group 

is supportive of an equitable 

tax collection across business 

and residential ratepayers, the 

proposed increase, to fund 

regional infrastructure and 

“Enlisting BWS means 

your building is taken care of, 

so you can get on with other 

more pressing things. We’ll 

clean all surfaces – roofs, windows, 

and walls – as well as 

gutters and downpipes. No 

area goes untreated. 

“And if you’re not totally 

satisfied with any aspect of 

our work, we’ll come back and 

make it right.” 

PMG Opinion: Opposed 

to proposed Tauranga 

rates differential 

growing administration overheads, 

disproportionately burdens 

businesses and commercial 

property owners and is not 

acceptable. 

“The last thing we would 

want to see is businesses dialling 

back their investment into 

the region due to growing 

occupancy costs and perceivably 

unclear benefits,” says 

McKenzie. 

The last thing we 

would want to see is 

businesses dialling 

back their investment 

into the region due to 

growing occupancy 

costs and perceivably 

unclear benefits.” 

– Scott McKenzie. 

“We favour a targeted rating 

system where those who 

pay receive the benefit, this 

works well in many other 

regions such as the Waikato. 

“PMG is the manager of 

a number of properties in the 

Tauranga region, which are 

home to over 100 tenants. We 

take our role as manager very 

seriously and pride ourselves 

on working in support of local 

businesses (our tenants) to help 

them thrive. Hence, on behalf 

of our property owners, investors 

and tenants we are formally 

opposing the Council’s 

proposed rates differential.” 

PMG has sought feedback 

on the proposal from its tenants 

and is in the process of 

preparing a public submission, 

which it will submit to the 

council in mid-April. 

The proposal for a rates differential 

is not a new concept. 

The Property Council (formerly 

BOMA) successfully fought 

against a similar proposal in 

Tauranga 15-20 years ago. 

Other New Zealand cities 

currently have a differential 

rates, but are in the process 

of reducing or removing them 

due to the inequitable burden it 

places on businesses. 

“We welcome and encourage 

local Tauranga businesses 

which will be affected by 

the rates increase to complete 

a submission to the Council 

by April 16, and ensure 

their voices are heard,” says 

McKenzie. 

PMG advises that businesses 

can complete their submissions 

by printing the consultation 

form here: https://www. 

tauranga.govt.nz/Portals/0/ 

data/council/long_term_ 

plans/2018_2028/files/ltp_ 

consultation_document.pdf

WAIKATO NEWS 


Sixty year project to link city 

ends at intersection 

Earthworks have begun ahead of a likely 

green light in June for completion of 

Hamilton’s ring road. 

By RICHARD WALKER 

The final 400 metre stage 

of the arterial route will 

see Wairere Drive connect 

with Cobham Drive to 

conclude a remarkable journey 

that has been more than 60 

years in the making. 

The go-ahead for the final 

stage, south of Cambridge 

Road, has Hamilton City Council 

support and is all but certain 

once the 10-Year Plan is complete. 

That’s partly because the 

NZ Transport Agency will fund 

more than its customary 51 

percent of the project, in recognition 

of its value to the state 

highway network. 

Council’s city development 

manager Andrew Parsons says 

the Transport Agency will contribute 

$18m to the partnership 

project. 

The intersection will have 

multiple on and off-ramps and 

walking and cycling paths, and 

will see Cobham Drive raised 

to allow Wairere Drive to pass 

under it. It is future-proofed to 

connect with proposed roading 

networks south of the city. 

Meanwhile, the council 

has been using the tail end of 

summer to get major earthworks 

done on the south side of 

Cobham Drive. 

New stormwater pipes will 

be drilled and jacked under 

Cobham Drive, and there will 

also be some land recontouring. 

Completion of the final 

piece in the ring road puzzle is 

“critical” for the city to make it 

more efficient and safer to get 

around, and to support future 

growth, said Parsons. 

If the full project gets council 

approval, the construction 

project will go out to tender in 

time for a summer start. 

“It means the main contrac- 

Traffic flowing over the newly four-laned 

Pukete Bridge in October 2013. 

tor would turn up on site with 

it basically prepared for them,” 

Parsons said. 

It will take more than one 

summer to complete, with finish 

date at least a couple of 

years off, but when Wairere 

Drive reaches Cobham Drive, 

the city will have a 24 kilometre 

circuit around the city. 

The full route takes in Wairere 

Drive to the east, Cobham 

Drive to the south and the SH1 

corridor on the west. 

It can be traced to a grand 

plan for a motorway from 

Auckland to Hamilton which 

was touted as far back as the 

1950s. Work began north of 

Hamilton in the early 1970s but 

was soon brought to a halt by 

the oil crisis. The land that was 

ultimately to become the Fairview 

Downs section of the ring 

road, and which had been intended 

as part of the motorway, 

lay as a green strip of pasture 

for the intervening decades. 

Planners were concerned 

After decades 

of planning and 

development, there 

remains just the final 

400 metre link to 

complete, along with 

future connections 

to the Waikato 

expressway. 

Construction is set to begin on the section from 

Cambridge Road to Cobham Drive. Photo: Mark Purdom. 

not just with the proposed motorway 

but with its links to the 

growing city’s arterial routes. 

One milestone arrived at the 

end of the 1960s. The Hamilton 

Transportation Study laid 

down a blueprint for roading 

in the city that was to prove remarkably 

resilient. It included 

a network of arterial routes that 

were to link to the motorway. 

Corridors were identified and 

protected that made the future 

road building possible. 

Much of the recent development 

has been on the eastern 

side of the river. The western 

arterial route was laid down 

in earlier decades, particularly 

after the Second World War. 

Many of those roads were developed 

with limited access, 

and all were built wide enough 

to allow for four lanes of traffic 

and are now part of the nearly 

completed ring road. 

The first major speed bump 

had been the oil crisis in the 

1970s. In 1984, the developing 

ring road hit its second speed 

bump. It was played out on the 

pages of the Waikato Times. 

“Principal condemns highway” 

was the headline which 

greeted the newspaper’s readers 

on October 8, 1984. Plans 

for a temporary state highway 

in Hamilton’s eastern suburbs 

looked set to “spark an 

uprising”, according to the 

newspaper. The temporary 

highway was intended for the 

corridor formed by Hukanui 

Road, Peachgrove Road and 

Galloway Street, as plans for 

a Taupiri-Rototuna link were 

revived. Opponents pointed 

out the route took in several 

schools, rest homes, shopping 

centres and two sets of doctors’ 

rooms. 

Hamilton Residents’ Council 

president Martin Gallagher 

chaired a public meeting 

at Fairfield Intermediate in 

opposition to the plans. It was 

packed with more than 500 

people, some jammed against 

the walls and some sitting on 

the floor. They were described 

by the Waikato Times as a 

“heckling, jeering crowd”. 

Just over a week later, on 

October 17, following a further 

protest and the presentation 

of a 10,410 signature petition, 

the City Council fell into line. 

It resolved to tell the National 

Roads Board that it supported 

the Taupiri link and an eastern 

arterial bypass but that it also 

supported local opposition to 

the proposed staging of the 

link and temporary use of city 

streets as a highway. 

It marked the beginning of a 

new approach to road planning 

in Hamilton. By April 1986, a 

discussion paper prepared as 

part of the Hamilton Arterial 

Roading Study referred to the 

need to take the public along. 

When Pukete Bridge, a key 

element in the ring road, was 

built across the Waikato River 

in the mid-1990s, the public 

was involved through articles 

in local media and consultation 

meetings. The city’s sixth 

traffic bridge was opened on 

October 20, 1996. On that day, 

up to 15,000 swarmed across 

the bridge by foot before it was 

opened for traffic at 5.15pm. 

It was in stark contrast to the 

opening, 33 years earlier, of the 

ring road’s other link across the 

river, Cobham Bridge. That occasion, 

on June 29, 1963, was 

marked by pomp and circumstance, 

with dignitaries seated 

on a dais and a brass band 

playing. 

Once Pukete Bridge was 

opened, there was gradual development 

of the route through 

GT Civil contracts manager Nathan Thomas, Hamilton deputy mayor Martin Gallagher 

and council city development manager Andrew Parsons look at earthworks behind the 

site of the new Wairere Drive/Cobham Drive intersection. 

to Tramway Road. 

A significant staging post 

was reached in October 2012, 

with the opening of the Fairview 

Downs section of Wairere 

Drive at the same time that 

Pukete Bridge was being fourlaned, 

part of an $84 million 

project, at the time the council’s 

largest ever. It had been 

enabled by NZTA paying the 

full amount up front, with the 

council paying back its 49 percent 

share over several years. 

Still ahead of the council 

and its contractor, Downer, 

were several linked stretches 

that would carry traffic all the 

way to Cambridge Road. 

For the following stages, 

the designers had to allow for 

a green belt running along the 

eastern side of the route, restricting 

the road to two lanes 

in places. The earliest plan, 

for a motorway, would have 

seen the green belt eaten up 

by tarmac, but the intervening 

years had seen a fundamental 

change, with the ring road serving 

to move traffic around the 

city, and the expressway acting 

as a bypass. 

Progress was rapid on the 

remaining sections of Wairere 

Drive. The section from 

Ruakura Road to Clyde Street 

opened in May 2014 and the 

section from Clyde Street to 

Cambridge Road quickly followed, 

opening in early September. 

Meanwhile, Downer 

also four-laned the 550 metre 

section from River Road to 

Resolution Drive. 

After decades of planning 

and development, there remains 

just the final 400 metre 

link to complete, along with future 

connections to the Waikato 

expressway. 

Gallagher, now deputy 

mayor, said he’s delighted to be 

part of a council that has voted 

for the completion of the route 

but added there’s still work to 

be done, particularly when it 

comes to getting heavy traffic 

off residential streets. 

He said when he campaigned 

back in 1984, he hadn’t 

appreciated how much Hamilton’s 

population and private car 

ownership would grow, along 

with housing density. 

“All of those factors place 

incredible extra pressure on our 

transport network,” he said. 

Ring road Facebook 

page won awards 

Almost six months into the Fairview 

Downs section of the ring road project, 

in June 2011, the council set up a Facebook 

page (https://www.facebook.com/HamiltonRingRoad) 

to engage with residents. 

The page was run by Brandy Smith from 

Downer, and she has a knack for engaging her 

readers. In between posts giving roadworks 

updates, including notification of closures, she 

also used the page to cheer on the likes of the 

Chiefs, as well as urging driver safety and answering 

reader questions. The page had more 

than 2000 likes at any one time, and from the 

city council’s point of view was an overwhelming 

success with its ability to keep residents in 

the picture. 

Its success was recognised when the project 

won the ''Best Use of Social Media in Local 

Government'' award at the Association of 

Local Government Information Management 

(ALGIM ) annual conference in May 2013. 

What does it take to run a successful social 

media page? 

Brandy says she had no training. “I just did 

what felt right. I’ve made bad calls along the 

way but have made many more good ones. It’s 

still a learning journey, that’s for sure. 

“You need to connect on a personal level, 

not a robotic one, be professional but relaxed 

and it is important not to engage in any negativity 

or online arguments – there’s a time 

and place and this isn’t it. It’s also important 

to have a policy in place for when things do 

“As a young man as president 

of the Residents’ Council, 

I probably didn't reflect strongly 

enough on the need for the 

public transport side of that. I 

thought that just doing the ring 

road would solve the problem 

of taking traffic and heavy 

trucks off our residential streets 

but I now realise it's only one 

part of the equation.” 

He welcomes the link the 

new overpass will create between 

Hamilton Gardens and 

the eastern town belt, but said 

there is still work to do to make 

sure the land titles get rejoined 

with the rest of the reserve and 

avoid piecemeal development. 

Meanwhile, Dave Macpherson, 

chair of the council Growth 

and Infrastructure Committee, 

said he was “amazed” when he 

got on to council to see that the 

whole route for the ring road 

was already in place. 

“I can't think of another 

council that would have done 

that. I think we're unique - we 

didn't have to bowl a single 

house to put that ring road 

through.” 

Brandy Smith from Downer who ran the 

award winning Ring Road Facebook page. 

get negative. Most people just want to be heard, 

you need to put yourselves in their shoes and 

be willing to acknowledge their complaints. 

Sometimes nothing can be done but in many 

cases something can. You have to listen to all 

feedback, good or bad.” 

Brandy signed off this year, pointing readers 

to the Hamilton City Council Facebook page 

for future ring road updates. She wrote her final 

post, with characteristic warmth, at 10.59 

on February 21: “This page is signing off but 

it’s been a great ride with you all. Drive safe 

Hamilton! ~B”


CONFERENCE, EVENTS AND VENUES

CONFERENCE, EVENTS AND VENUES 


Approaching BOP 

tourism as a 

connected region 

Tourism Bay of Plenty recently reported a $1 billion spend in 

Coastal Bay of Plenty (excluding Rotorua) last year. Meanwhile, 

Rotorua reported around $800 million in total tourist spending 

in 2017. 

Tauranga’s newest Conference Centre, ‘The Deck at Papamoa 

Beach’ is set in the heart of 16 acres of park-like Resort. 

As reported in this month’s 

cover story, Tourism 

Bay of Plenty Chief 

Executive Officer Kristin 

Dunne says the organisation 

is seeking increased council 

funding for a planned shift 

towards a destination management 

approach to the sector. 

That is the coordinated management 

of all the elements 

that make up a region, she said. 

“It is the key to controlling 

tourism’s environmental 

impacts and preserving the 

region’s unique identity.” 

Tauranga City Councillor 

Max Mason says that Tourism 

BOP’s new approach was 

aimed at getting insights on 

how to get more international 

visitors who spend more and 

stay longer. 

“We need to work with 

[other agencies] on targeting 

tourism-related businesses 

from around the country to set 

up here and work on how we 

can differentiate ourselves.” 

The cruise ship market 

accounts for a relatively small 

portion of Tauranga’s visitors. 

But it is certainly the case that 

a number of them take trips 

Michelle Templer. Photo/Discovery Rotorua 

to other destinations, including 

Hobbiton in Matamata, and 

to the various attractions of 

Rotorua. 

Tom Worsp, consumer marketing 

manager for Destination 

Continued on page 22 

A place to relax and focus on innovation + success. 

With its serene coastal location and magnificent beach views, Papamoa is 

the perfect place to work, stay and play. Hold your meetings, conferences or 

team-building exercises by the beach, and then relax or unwind afterwards 

on-site in one of our luxury beachfront or garden Villas. 

Small meetings • Large conferences • Great catering options 

Phone 0800 232 243 | Email experience@papamoabeach.co.nz 

www.papamoabeachconferences.co.nz 

Keeping your 

business moving 

SPECIAL FOCUS: 

Commercial and 

business vehicles 

Book your spot in 

this feature today. 

For more information contact: 

Pete Wales:022 495 9248 Vanessa Lee:021 715 225 

pete@nmmedia.co.nz vanessa@nmmedia.co.nz 

www.bopbusinessnews.co.nz 

Specialists in bespoke gourmet 

hampers to suit any budget 

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Conference Management. Client Functions. Leadership Meetings. 

Product Launches. Staff Functions. Team Building. Charity Events. 

“ Events play an instrumental role in 

boosting team culture, building & 

maintaining strong customer relationships, 

assisting with training & education and 

bringing industries together. 

So it’s critical you get it right. 

We’re here to ensure you nail it!” 

Contact us 

for a free 

consultation 

Claudia West 

Director/Event Manager 

022 430 1435 

claudia@theprojectcollective.nz 

www.theprojectcollective.nz 

Zeepra Lemoto 

for City Council 

For a city to live, work and enjoy. 

From page 21 

Rotorua, said that from a Bay 

of Plenty perspective, for the 

year ending June 2017 the 

region received 147,000 cruise 

ship passengers who had an 

average spend of approximately 

$400. They a total of $59 

million to the Bay, up from 

$42 million for the year end 

June 2015. 

“This is due to the great 

work that Tourism BOP, Port 

of Tauranga, and our operators 

do to show our visitors 

an amazing time from the 

moment they disembark the 

vessel,” he said. 

“As far as Rotorua is concerned, 

roughly 35-40 percent 

of passengers choose a shore 

excursion that involves a whole 

or part trip to Rotorua helping 

to contribute to an annual visitor 

economy in Rotorua of 

$814 million. And apart from 

the economic contribution, 

there are other benefits that 

cruise offers. The majority of 

CONFERENCE, EVENTS AND VENUES 

Events and business 

innovations like 

these not only attract 

visitors, but have a 

positive effect on the 

vibrancy and people’s 

perception of the 

destination.” 

– Michelle Templer 

port calls are mid-week. And 

research tells us that cruise 

passengers have a high propensity 

for return visits by air.” 

Rotorua Economic 

Development chief executive 

Michelle Templer says that 

the city has worked hard to 

become an attractive destina- 

tion for visitors. 

“Over the past three years 

it’s fantastic to see new events 

like Crankworx, the Ocean 

Swim Series, Summer Seafood 

Festival and Flochella come to 

Rotorua and fit into the events 

calendar, alongside already 

well established and successful 

events like the Tarawera Ultra, 

Rotorua Marathon, Rotorua 

Bike Festival and Okere Falls 

Beer Fest to name just a few. 

Alongside this had been the 

continued innovation from the 

activities and attractions sector 

with new products being introduced 

such as the Redwoods 

Treewalk, Canopy Tours and 

Motion Entertainment, with 

more on the horizon. 

“Events and business innovations 

like these not only 

attract visitors, but have a positive 

effect on the vibrancy 

and people’s perception of the 

destination.” 


I SUPPORT 

A Museum to be a place of learning. 

Council kerbside glass collection, keep Tauranga tidy. 

Increased transport choices for everyone. 

Authorised by Zeepra Lemoto 20a Merivale Road Tauranga 

V5871L 

On the edge: White Island tourists. Photo/Denise Siviter, Tourism BOP 

Events Pronto 

WINNER OF THE NZ 

WEDDING INDUSTRY AWARDS 

‘OUTSTANDING CATERER 2015’ 

Events Pronto founder Moira Moroney 

with lead developer Brendon Ryniker. 

NEED YOUR NEXT 

CORPORATE 

FUNCTION 

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VENUE? 

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cuisine offer catering 

and venue solutions for 

corporate functions, events, 

tradeshows, breakfast or 

small day meetings. 

07 571 8068 or check out our website 

www.classiccuisine.co.nz 

V5289L 

The Events Pronto platform was featured 

in the August/September issue 

of the Bay of Plenty Business News. 

In this conference and event feature we ask 

co-founder Moira Moroney how the business 

is progressing. 

Q: Hi Moira, how has Events Pronto 

been going since your last article? 

It has really taken off. We have developed 

a strong following here in Tauranga 

and grown beyond expectation, expanding 

throughout the country. It is true what they 

say, hard work really does pay off and we 

can’t wait to see what the future has in 

store. 

Q: Congratulations on your success this 

far. Who is Events Pronto for and why 

would they need it? 

Events Pronto is for people who run workshops, 

conferences, classes, fundraisers, 

shows and gigs. Small businesses and 

charities are able to make light work of 

promoting events, managing bookings and 

engaging people. The booking platform 

is more than meets the eye with built in 

member management, administration and 

marketing tools too. Corporates and larger 

training businesses often go that one step 

further with our premium Booking Rooster 

product. 

Q: Rumour around town is you offer 

your services and support to charities 

for free. Is this true? 

We offer full use of the complete Events 

Pronto platform free for 90 days. This 

includes unlimited support to help charities 

achieve time savings, increased bookings 

and greater community engagement. We 

strongly believe charities are the hearts in 

all of our communities and it is a real honour 

to work alongside so many great New 

Zealand Charities. 

P5992Y


Latest Business Monitor survey reflects 

reduced SME confidence 

Confidence in the economy has fallen to its lowest level in three 

years amongst New Zealand’s small-to-medium sized enterprises 

(SMEs), according to the latest MYOB Business Monitor survey of 

more than 1,000 business operators around the country. 


Expectations for the economy 

fell from an overall 

net positive 21 percent 

in the March 2017 Monitor, 

to a net negative 14 percent 

in the latest survey. This is 

despite businesses continuing 

to report strong levels of revenue 

growth over the last 12 

months and positive earnings 

expectations for the coming 

year. 

But Steven Farrant, chair 

of the Tauranga Chamber of 

Commerce’s Small Business 

Tauranga group, said he 

wouldn’t equate a drop in confidence 

to a risk. 

“As we know there has 

been significant change in the 

country recently, and change 

often creates uncertainty, 

which can lead to owners taking 

a more cautious approach 

to business,” he said. 

“Although SME owners 

and operators are very mindful 

and acutely aware of the economic 

climate, there is a danger 

that a pessimistic outlook 

isn’t healthy or helpful. As a 

result, from my experience, 

SME owners/operators focus 

their energy on the day job of 

running their business.” 

The survey said businesses 

in the primary sector were most 

likely to predict the economy 

to decline, with over half of the 

operators in the industry (52 

percent) pessimistic about the 

coming year. Manufacturing 

and wholesale business operators 

were also concerned about 

a fall-off in the economy, with 

41 percent expecting a decline. 

Construction and trades business 

operators are only slightly 

more optimistic, with 38 percent 

expecting the economy 

to decline, while 26 percent 

predict it will improve. 

However, despite expressing 

a significant level of concern 

over the future of the 

economy, 36 percent of businesses 

reported an improvement 

in revenue in the last 

12 months, the same level as 

2017. And there was only a 

slight decline from the highest 

level recorded in the Monitor 

survey in 2016 (37 percent). 

One fifth (20 percent) reported 

a fall in revenue levels in the 

last 12 months. 

Most business operators 

were also forecasting their revenue 

would improve or remain 

at current levels over the next 

12 months, with 38 percent 

expecting revenue to rise (the 

same proportion as in 2017) 

and 41 percent predicting their 

income will remain the same. 

MYOB general manager 

Carolyn Luey said that 

while businesses were right to 

express some caution, as the 

international situation in particular 

is increasingly uncertain, 

there was a risk that the 

growing levels of pessimism 

could affect the economy. 

“The report … points 

out the underlying 

performance and 

revenue expectations 

within the SME sector 

remain strong.” 

– Steven Farrant 

“The fundamentals of the 

SME economy at present are 

strong – businesses in general 

are doing very well, and 

most expect that performance 

to continue over the next 12 

months,” she said. 

Steven Farrant: Change can 

create uncertainty. Photo/Supplied 

“While there are some areas 

to watch – such as the decline 

in manufacturing sector earnings 

and lower levels of revenue 

growth for the primary 

sector – the overall sector is in 

good shape.” 

Luey said the level of 

uncertainty around the policies 

and direction of the new government 

had been well canvassed 

in recent surveys. 

“But other concerns, such 

as a looming international trade 

war, global instability and, closer 

to home, the range of new 

taxes being mooted by the tax 

working group – all of which 

were covered during the survey 

period – are likely to be factoring 

into how well business operators 

believe the New Zealand 

economy will perform.” 

Small Business Taranga’s 

Farrant said it was worth 

noting that SMEs could and 

did adjust and adapt to market 

changes quickly and often 

effectively. 

“The report also points out 

the underlying performance 

and revenue expectations 

within the SME sector remain 

strong,” he said. “I believe 

the survey reflects a period of 

change and the air of caution 

that brings, but I expect our 

sector to continue to perform 

well over the next 12 months.” 

Waikato 

AgriBusinessNews 

MAY ISSUE OUT FOR 

NATIONAL 

AGRICULTURAL 

FIELDAYS 

BOOK NOW 

Call the team on 07 838 1333 or 

email info@wbn.co.nz

24 

Bay of plenty 

THANK YOU TO 

THE SPONSORS, 

EXHIBITORS AND 

VISITORS OF THE 

INAUGURAL BAY OF 

PLENTY/WAIKATO 

BUSINESS EXPO 

First on the scene 

Pictures from the inaugural Bay of Plenty/Waikato Business Expo, 

which was successfully launched at ASB Arena in March. 

Congratulations 

for embracing and supporting 

this new and exciting event and a huge 

thank you for your contribution in helping to 

make the Business Expo a great success. 

1 

2 

1 Tim van de Molen, MP Waikato, with Nigel Murphy and Cathy Hendry, Strategic Pay 2 Taite Smith and River Jermyn, NOW. 

The purpose of the Business Expo is 

to provide a platform for businesses 

to showcase their offering, to enhance 

and create business opportunities and 

connections, and to bring additional growth to 

the regions. 

The energy and enthusiasm at this year’s 

Expo and the positive feedback received 

indicates that the Business Expo is now a 

“Must Do” event in the region’s business 

calendar. 

We look forward to seeing you at the 

next Business Expo, 

Sharon Giblett and Barry Brown 

Jigsaw Solutions Group Limited 

3 4 

3 Pete Wales, David Porter and Vanessa Lee, Bay of Plenty Business News. 4 Nick Osborne and Michelle Beaumont, Nettl. 

5 6 

5 Angela Thomas, KPMG. 6 Jazz Kiihfuss and Mike Everard, Giggle TV, with Nic Tarrant, Katie Baker and Amanda Fraser-Jones, 

Corporate Traveller. 

For sponsorship and exhibitor enquiries for 

upcoming Business Expo’s, please contact 

Sharon Giblett on 021 566 869 or 

info@businessexpo.biz 

www.businessexpo.biz 

Sponsors 

Supporting Partners 

7 8 

7 Adam Hughes and Mike Bell, Think. 8 Sharon Giblett and Barry Brown, Business Expo and Jigsaw Solutions Group, 

with Tauranga Mayor Greg Brownless (centre).


Wealth Taxes 

The Tax Working Group - established by the government to 

examine improvements to the fairness, structure and balance of 

the tax system - has released its background paper summarising 

the current system and calling for submissions. 

REGULATORY MATTERS 

> BY GRANT NEAGLE 

Grant Neagle, a director at Ingham Mora Chartered Accountants 

in Tauranga, is a business advisor and tax specialist. He can be 

contacted on 07- 927- 1225 or grant@inghammora.co.nz 

The group, chaired by former 

Minister of Finance 

and Deputy Prime 

Minister Sir Michael Cullen, 

has excluded from its terms of 

reference increasing the income 

tax and GST rate, inheritance 

taxes or taxing the family home 

or the land under it. 

But it has included consideration 

of whether a more 

comprehensive system of taxing 

capital gains on property 

(excluding the family home) 

would improve the tax system. 

And one tax not specifically 

referred to in the terms of reference, 

but one which Cullen 

has nonetheless signalled is on 

the table for consideration, is a 

“wealth tax.” 

Wealth taxes generally tax 

the net wealth - ie assets less 

liabilities - of a taxpayer on an 

annual basis. 

The attractiveness of such a 

tax for the government is that 

tax revenue from the tax could 

start from day-one as it taxes 

what a taxpayer already has. 

By comparison, comprehensive 

capital gains tax systems 

tend to only generate tax 

revenue when a taxpayer disposes 

of what they have for 

more than it cost them. 

So it seems that, while the 

government has ruled out a 

capital gains tax on a person’s 

home, it has not excluded the 

possibility of a wealth tax 

that could in fact, in principle, 

include taxing the wealth represented 

in a person’s home. 

Internationally, wealth 

taxes have lost favour over 

the last 20-30 years. In 1990, 

12 countries had a wealth tax; 

today only five major countries 

have one. 

A number of those that 

still do, have signalled their 

intention to get rid of them or 

reduce their scope. 

Against this backdrop have 

come renewed calls from pundits 

for the adoption of wealth 

taxes to address increasing 

income and wealth inequality 

in developed countries. 

The French experience 

serves as a good case study. 

Introduced in 1981 by François 

Mitterrand’s Socialist Party, 

the French wealth tax known 

as ISF or the “solidarity tax on 

wealth” has been anything but 

an exercise in solidarity. 

The net asset threshold at 

which wealth taxes apply are 

typically high to catch the supposed 

“wealthy”. 

The French ISF as it currently 

stands is an annual levy 

of up to 1.5 percent on the 

wealth of French residents 

whose net worth exceeds 

1.3million euros (approximately 

NZ$2.2 million). 

The French experience is 

that it is often the income and 

cash-poor middle-class – who 

find themselves in the “wealthy” 

category due to rising property 

values – who are affected. 

The imposition of the tax 

leads to tax planning, including 

making temporary gifts 

and donations, and in so doing 

taxpayers running the gauntlet 

between the wealth tax and 

France’s Gift tax. 

Moreover, the tax is estimated 

to have promoted the 

flight of some 60,000 millionaires 

from France since the 

year 2000. 

However, reform of the 

French ISF is on the cards 

So it seems that, while the government 

has ruled out a capital gain tax on a 

person’s home, it has not excluded the 

possibility of a wealth tax that could in 

fact, in principle, include taxing the wealth 

represented in a person’s home. 

with the current government 

looking to reduce the ambit of 

the tax and have it apply only 

to tax real estate assets. 

Given the Tax Working 

Group’s intention to garner 

submissions from a broadcross 

section of New Zealand 

society, Cullen’s reference to a 

wealth tax may just be a ploy 

to stoke the fervour of the New 

Zealand public and so encourage 

submissions. 

Cullen has mooted that a 

capital gains tax and wealth 

tax could be the alternatives. 

The cynic in me would say 

that mention of a wealth tax 

could just be a softener that 

would make the bitter pill of 

the alternative comprehensive 

capital gain tax easier to swallow. 

Time will tell. 

The comments in this article 

are of a general nature 

and should not be relied on 

for specific cases, where readers 

should seek professional 

advice. 

Staying the course 

I 

recently came across an article 

written by one of my 

colleagues for a local newspaper 

in January 2008 that still 

has lessons for us today. 

It read: “The recent share 

market sell-off will have a 

number of investors questioning 

their investment strategy 

and whether they should be 

investing in the share market 

at all. Now is not the time to 

be selling good quality compa- 

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 

nies. In fact this may be a great 

buying opportunity. 

“While lecturing as a 

21-year-old at Columbia 

University the world’s greatest 

investor, Warren Buffett, 

quipped: “I will tell you how to 

become rich. Close the doors. 

Be fearful when others are 

greedy. Be greedy when others 

are fearful” 

“The simple concept that 

Buffett was alluding to was 

that when the majority of 

investors are driven by fear 

and selling their holdings, this 

is the best time to buy. Often in 

fear driven markets, most businesses 

are being sold at cheap 

prices, even great companies. 

“It was then that the true 

investor was able to get a 

bargain price and therefore 

increase the potential for capital 

gain. The lower share price 

also results in a higher dividend 

yield for those investors 

seeking income. 

“So, while the perceived 

risk for investors often feels 

greater because of the doom 

and gloom being felt and falling 

share prices, the risk is in 

fact lower as the return to the 

investor will be higher once 

the market recovers… Good 

companies will continue to 

produce goods and services, 

generate earnings, pay dividends 

and prosper.” 

Although the comments 

were penned 10 years ago, 

they are still relevant. In 

February this year, when a 

market sell-off occurred, markets 

were driven by sentiment. 

Conditions conducive to share 

price growth (i.e. positive economic 

growth, increasing corporate 

profitability, low inflation, 

low interest rates, low 

unemployment), were present, 

yet newspaper headlines were 

full of doomsayers predicting 

a sharemarket crash. 

The doomsayers were basing 

their predictions on how 

high share prices were relative 

to historical valuations, and 

the length of time the current 

bull market has run relative to 

historical bull markets. 

The markets were almost 

looking for a reason to take 

a breather, and the catalyst 

appeared to be the fear of rising 

interest rates in the United 

States. The US market fell 

almost 10 percent in a very 

short time. 

While it is true that many 

market valuations are higher 

than historical averages, and 

the bull market is much longer 

than in past cycles, conditions 

conducive to market growth 

are still intact. 

Many investors realised 

this, with the markets subsequently 

recovering from the 

February sell-off. 

Markets do move in cycles, 

and history can offer a guide 

to future events, but the fundamentals 

of investing remain 

the same. 

Be wary of comments of 

“this time it’s different.” As 

my colleague wrote a decade 

ago, regardless of market conditions, 

companies will continue 

to produce goods and 

services and generate earnings, 

with the goal of creating future 

growth for shareholders. 

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. 

Vote 

Anne Pankhurst 

Who stands for: 

• Better transport solutions 

• Investment into the city 

• Unlocking the huge 

investment potential 

• Experience in governance 

and leadership 

Authorised by Anne Pankhurst, 

37 Monmouth Street, Tauranga


Financing the growth 

of your business 

How much and what type of finance a company needs to survive 

is unquestionably one of the most important aspects of business 

management. It is also, in our experience, the least understood. 

MONEY MATTERS 

> BY MICHELLE HILL 

Director and Partner at BDO Rotorua, Chartered Accountants 

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

rotorua@bdo.co.nz 

As a business grows it 

requires more resources, 

unless, of course, it 

grows by means of a more 

effective allocation of its existing 

resources. 

However, even if this is the 

case, further growth will ultimately 

require more resources. 

The money used to finance 

a business comes from two 

sources, generally referred to 

as equity and debt. 

Equity is the capital injected 

into the business by its 

owners and consists not only 

of the initial and any subsequent 

capital invested, but also 

retained profits — that is, profits 

earned by the business and 

reinvested in it, rather than 

being withdrawn. 

Debt capital refers to borrowings 

made by the business 

and includes not only long and 

short-term cash loans obtained 

from banks or finance compa- 

nies, but also short-term credit 

provided by suppliers of goods 

and services to the business. 

Debt also includes finance 

provided by the way of leases 

or hire purchase to acquire 

plant and equipment. 

While it is possible for a 

business to be financed totally 

by means of debt, this is an 

extremely risky structure. 

Unless the business enjoys 

very high margins and has 

excellent cash flow, any 

decline in sales could mean 

an inability to service the debt 

and therefore, the end of the 

business. 

At the other extreme, a 

business could be financed 

totally by equity. 

While this eliminates financial 

risk, it also reduces the 

return that the owners of the 

business receive from their 

investment. 

So we have established that 

It is also important 

to understand that the 

majority of businesses 

that experience 

rapid growth can 

find themselves 

confronted by a cash 

crisis. 

as a business grows, it needs 

more resources and therefore, 

more capital. 

But it’s important to understand 

that the availability of 

capital for any business is limited, 

and it therefore follows 

that the growth rate a business 

can sustain and still survive is 

also limited. 

In other words, a business 

that grows too quickly will 

fail, and a business that grows 

too slowly will deny its owners 

of potential returns. 

When it comes to business 

growth, the fundamental issues 

that determine how quickly a 

business can grow are: 

• The extent of its net profit 

and hence, market demand 

and cost structure. 

• The willingness of the 

owners of the business 

to reinvest after tax profit 

to finance the additional 

resources. 

• The availability of debt 

finance, which depends on 

the capacity of the business 

to service the debt, and the 

security that can be offered 

to lenders. 

Many small to medium-sized 

business owners believe that 

banks have an obligation to 

lend them unlimited amounts 

of money - simply because they 

have excellent profit potential. 

However, banks are often 

reluctant to make unlimited 

funds available. In some cases, 

this is actually a blessing in 

disguise. 

Unfortunately, this reluctance 

can also mean that some 

extremely well-managed businesses, 

which have excellent 

potential, are denied access to 

much needed funds. 

It is also important to understand 

that the majority of businesses 

that experience rapid 

growth can find themselves 

confronted by a cash crisis. 

It is essential when you are 

planning a high growth strategy 

to ensure you have control 

over your finances, including 

receivables, stock, work in 

progress and margins. 

Additionally, you should 

give careful consideration to 

monitoring your cash requirements, 

and take action to 

restrain your growth rate the 

moment you see signs that 

your cash flow is tightening. 

In order to determine how 

fast you can grow your business, 

you need to look at your 

projected cash flow. 

You can only grow your 

business as fast as your cash 

flow allows. 

Once a business has 

reached a level of sales where 

good profits are being made 

and its rate of growth slows 

down, then comes the time to 

harvest the cash flow. 

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

Meet the lawyers who do things differently 

It’s been a year since The Law Shop 

took over Stratagem Lawyers in Mount 

Maunganui and opened their Tauranga 

office in Greerton. It’s been a fantastic 

twelve months for The Law Shop’s Partners 

Paula Lines, Stephanie Northey, and 

Sarsha Tyrrell, as their business continues 

to thrive. They now have a team of 15, 

working in both Rotorua and Tauranga. 

Their office on 1262 

Cameron Road in 

Greerton is getting too 

small for the team, so they are 

in the process of moving again. 

Although the old building has 

character, it’s too hot in summer 

and hard to keep warm in 

the winter months. 

We’re down to earth 

and informal, and 

we genuinely care 

about our clients. We 

pride ourselves on 

delivering on time, 

every time, and it’s 

important to us to 

provide legal advice 

without the jargon, 

and we do it at a fair 

price 

“We are getting ready to 

move across the road to a larger 

and more comfortable office 

space. All our Tauranga business 

will be done from there 

when we move. This means 

we’ll close our small office 

at the Mount as well, but the 

Rotorua office stays as is,” 

Paula says. 

The Law Shop’s all-female 

team is big on offering personable 

advice and legal support 

to their clients, and they make 

sure to talk to people in everyday 

terms. The three Directors 

work extremely well together, 

and they have their individual 

strengths and expertise. 

Paula’s areas of work 

include the formation of and 

administration of trusts, relationship 

property agreements, 

commercial and business 

law, subdivisions and general 

law. Stephanie, who runs the 

Rotorua office, specialises in 

family law, mental health and 

employment law. Sarsha is an 

expert at helping families with 

legal issues including domestic 

violence, childcare arrangements 

and Child Youth & 

From left to right: Sarsha Tyrrell, Stephanie Northey and Paula Lines. 

Family matters (now Oranga 

Tamariki). 

“We’re down to earth and 

informal, and we genuinely 

care about our clients. We 

pride ourselves on delivering 

on time, every time, and it’s 

important to us to provide legal 

advice without the jargon, 

and we do it at a fair price,” 

Paula says. She explains that 

the team is approachable and 

flexible and that they are not 

nine-to-five people. 

“We don’t apply a one size 

fits all approach to our work, 

and we encourage our clients 

to communicate with us in a 

way that works best for them. 

We also know that being able 

to see us close to your home or 

workplace is important, so we 

are happy to travel and come 

to you, even outside “normal” 

working hours if that fits better 

with your timeframes,” 

she says. 

If you are buying or selling 

a property, setting up a 

business or if you need a Will, 

a prenup, or legal assistance 

around other matters, get in 

touch with the friendly team 

at The Law Shop. They will 

talk you through all the details 

in normal English and will 

give you expert advice that fits 

you and your unique situation. 

Feel free to contact them anytime, 

and start with an email to 

team@thelawshop.co.nz 

Our branches include: 

Rotorua - 1268 Arawa Street, 

Rotorua. 

Tauranga - 1262 Cameron 

Road, Greerton. 

STEPHANIE NORTHEY 

LL.B | Director 

Friendly legal advice 

that won’t leave you 

drowning in jargon 

PAULA LINES 


SARSHA TYRRELL 


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. 

Proudly serving our community from our offices 

in Rotorua and Tauranga. 

Call us on 0800 LAW SHOP 

or visit www.thelawshop.co.nz 

ROTORUA 

1268 Arawa St 

Rotorua 

TAURANGA 

1262 Cameron Rd 

Greerton 

Lawyers for everyday people

Bay of Plenty Business News March/April 2018

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