Bay of Plenty Business News July/August 2018

Bay of plenty 

JULY/AUGUST 2018 VOLUME 3: ISSUE 6 WWW.BOPBUSINESSNEWS.CO.NZ FACEBOOK.COM/BOPBUSINESSNEWS 

The 

Groundswell 

effect 

Enthusiastic participants at the Start-up Weekend event during 

last year’s inaugural Groundswell Festival of Innovation. 

Photo/Richard Robinson Photography. 

Leading technology and business experts 

will illuminate the key challenges of digital 

transition during Tauranga’s second annual 

week-long festival of innovation. 

By DAVID PORTER 

The inaugural Groundswell 

Festival of Innovation 

in 2017 proved there 

are hundreds of innovators in 

Tauranga and the Bay creating 

remarkable products and services. 

And that they are more 

than willing to share their 

knowledge. 

This year’s festival - which 

will run from 27 August-2 

September - is poised to build 

on that momentum, say the 

organisers and innovators taking 

part in what many believe 

will become an even bigger 

regular event on the city’s calendar. 

“What’s really special 

about Groundswell is the 

incredibly positive and collaborative 

atmosphere you 

experience at each event,” said 

Nigel Tutt, chief executive of 

Priority One, which initiated 

Groundswell. 

“Everyone who attends 

is genuinely interested and 

engaged, and it’s really 

encouraging to hear so many 

stories of innovation taking 

place across a diverse range 

of contexts. Not all businesses 

are innovation-led, nor do 

they have to be. But change is 

inevitable, and it never hurts 

to listen to others and hear 

thought-provoking stories 

of what is happening right 

now - and what is possible in 

the future.” 

Groundswell features a 

range of events from digital 

technology and clean tech, to 

fashion and textiles, to social 

and educational innovation, all 

featuring leading tech innovators. 

All events sold out last 

year, with attendance across 

Isuru Fernando, IBM NZ 

the week reaching 5000, and 

the organisers are expecting an 

even bigger turnout this year. 

(see pages 8-9 for full details 

of what’s on). 

Jodie Tipping, the chair 

and founder of co-sponsor 

Cucumber, who is on the 

Groundswell organising committee, 

told Bay of Plenty 

Business News there were 

many exciting things happening 

on the innovation front. 

“But it was getting to a 

point a couple of years ago that 

you just weren’t hearing about 

them and that’s why we developed 

Groundswell,” she said. 

Russell Craig, Microsoft NZ 

“My personal ultimate goal 

would be to see Groundswell 

become a movement of its own 

and not just a one-off festival, 

because innovation touches so 

many different organisations. 

“It’s not just tech or whatever, 

it’s very broad. The more 

we can create a community 

and awareness of things that 

are happening, the better it will 

be for our community.” 

Managing digital 

transformation 

One of the key challenges - 

especially for many of the 

small-to-medium enterprises 

(SMEs) that make up the great 

majority of business activity 

in New Zealand - is the sheer 

pace and scale of the digital 

transformation that has taken 

Groundswell 

Check out the full 

programme of events. 

P9 

New fund 

Enterprise Angels plan to 

enter impact investing sector. 

P10 

special feature 

Workplace Health & Safety of 

increasing concern. 

P19 

place in recent years. 

Liz Maguire, head of digital 

transformation for ANZ, 

who will be speaking at 

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The Groundswell effect 

From page 1 

Groundswell, said that companies 

had to be across new technologies 

and work out whether 

they were going to be valuable 

to them. 

“One of the big quandaries 

we have in our world is how do 

you tell if something is a trend 

or a fad,” she said. 

“The fundamental reality 

is that people do not change 

their behaviour and adopt new 

technology unless there is 

something better about it for 

them. For the vast majority of 

people, there has to be a reason 

why you are going to use it.” 

As Isuru Fernando, IBM 

New Zealand analytics & AI 

leader, told Bay of Plenty 

Business News: “Disruption is 

all around us – with examples 

like Uber and Airbnb – companies 

that have reinvented business 

models.” 

Liz Maguire 

One of the big 

quandaries we have 

in our world is how do 

you tell if something is 

a trend or a fad. 

– Liz Maguire, ANZ 

The challenge that 

people - particularly 

in smaller businesses 

or non-commercial 

organisations - face 

at the moment is how 

to make the right 

choices. 

– Russell Craig, 

Microsoft NZ 

Disruptive technologies such 

as Artificial Intelligence (AI), 

Internet of Things (IoT), or 

Blockchain were no longer the 

sole domain of large companies 

with big budgets, he added. 

“We are seeing many 

small-to-medium organisations 

right here in New 

Zealand making use of these 

technologies to power their 

ideas. They are able to start 

small, experiment and then 

build out the ideas that work, 

quickly and easily.” 

Fernando said IBM NZ 

was partnering with great local 

organisations and startups that 

were exporting their products 

and services all over the world. 

“And what is also interesting 

is that the large incumbent 

organisations in New Zealand 

are thinking like startups,” 

he said. 

“They are structuring their 

innovation teams to resemble 

those of small organisations 

and making a comeback by 

building platform business 

models using all of the data 

available to them, and turning 

it into insight. And they’re 

adopting Agile methodologies, 

using it as an innovation 

engine for business transformation 

and employing new 

ways of working to foster 

speed-to-market and competitive 

advantage.” 

Russell Craig, Microsoft 

NZ’s national technology 

officer, said that globally there 

was an incredible phenomenon 

of acceleration in the tech 

sector. 

“It’s very hard for everyone 

to keep up,” said Craig. 

“The challenge that people 

- particularly in smaller 

businesses - or non-commercial 

organisations, face at the 

moment is how to make the 

right choices. 

“The first challenge is trying 

to wrap your head as an 

organisation around what’s 

actually happening in this 

area of digital transformation, 

because in many ways it’s 

quite an abstract concept. 

“At the same time, most 

people are alert to some of the 

more obvious sweeping changes 

that are taking place. Look 

at the retail shelf space and 

the phenomenon of Amazon 

there.” 

Retailers were already facing 

the challenge with online 

shopping, and the media had 

been dealing with it, he said. 

“That’s going to extend 

to all our businesses in New 

Zealand eventually, no matter 

what industry they are in.” 

First find the relevance 

Craig said technology came 

second in terms of making the 

right choices. 

BAY OF PLENTY BUSINESS NEWS July/August 2018 3 

“First you need to understand 

how technology could 

be relevant to your business 

to help you change for the 

future,” he said. 

“It’s important to try and 

make things real at the local 

level. For example, with 

Airbnb, local businesses need 

to ask themselves what it is 

that consumers like about it. 

It’s the flexibility and convenience. 

If you’re a local motelier, 

how can you use digital to 

somehow match that customer 

experience of finding somewhere 

to stay? That’s all it’s 

really about.” 

Craig said one of the 

things he’d be talking about 

at Groundswell was trying to 

frame up the idea of digital 

transformation. 

“What does it mean from 

a global perspective? What’s 

happening in the technology 

sector, with particular relevance 

on the impact of technologies 

such as AI, machine learning, 

big data and analytics? 

“And obviously cloud 

computing, the technology 

platform that can enable any 

business from a local plumber 

We are seeing many 

small-to-medium 

organisations right 

here in New Zealand 

making use of these 

[disruptive new] 

technologies to power 

their ideas. 

– Isuru Fernando, 

IBM NZ 

The more we can 

create a community 

and awareness 

of things that are 

happening, the better 

it will be for our 

community. 

– Jodie Tipping, 

Cucumber 

Jodie Tipping 

through to Microsoft’s justannounced 

strategic deal with 

Walmart. Why did they partner 

with us? Because they need to 

compete against Amazon.” 

ANZ’s Liz Maguire said 

everybody was looking at how 

to handle the impact of digital 

transformation. She noted that 

the scale of change could be 

easily seen in the banking sector, 

with less than two percent 

of payments now happening in 

a bank branch these days. 

“There are amazing pockets 

of innovation in the country,” 

she said. 

“But my sense of it is that 

there’s a worrying amount of 

companies that haven’t done 

as much as they should have. 

I think there’s much more that 

could be done.” 

Maguire said there was a 

need to address the practical 

issues. 

“There’s lots of theory, 

there are lots of academic 

models. But the thing for 

many companies is, ‘where do 

I start? How do I get my board 

across this? How do I really 

understand whether what I’m 

doing is good for our customers? 

I’ve got 101 things to do, 

so how do I really know which 

ones are important’.” 

Cucumber’s Jodie Tipping 

said that in both larger and 

smaller business there were 

people who are scared of technology. 

“They don’t really know 

what to do and what not to do, 

and I don’t think it’s just in the 

small business space,” she said. 

“We advocate ‘little and 

often’ - don’t be scared to try 

things. We work with organisations 

to understand what their 

customers are doing, to make 

sure they’re applying the right 

technology for the business 

they’re in. 

“Groundswell is an opportunity 

for the community to 

actually create what they want 

Tauranga and the region to be, 

rather than waiting for things 

to happen. I really hope it 

gains momentum.” 

Priority One’s Nigel Tutt 

said the organisers were excited 

about the breadth and depth 

that had emerged for this 

year’s event. 

“The Tauranga Art Gallery 

and Toi Ohomai School 

of Creative Industries will 

be alongside the likes of 

PowerSmart, Cucumber and 

Google’s leading education 

expert,” he said. 

“Bringing people together 

to create unexpected connections 

and have meaningful 

conversations is a big part of 

the festival - it’s how ideas like 

Groundswell came about and 

who knows what will come out 

of this year’s festival?”


CONTACT 

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From the editor 

This month Bay of Plenty 

Business News is giving 

a major heads-up to 

the Groundswell Festival of 

Innovation. The enthusiasm 

for the concept was evident 

at the inaugural festival last 

year, which sold out, with total 

attendance at events across the 

week reaching well into the 

thousands. 

Groundswell this year will 

feature an even more diverse 

range of events from digital 

technology and clean tech, to 

fashion and textiles, to social 

and educational innovation, all 

featuring leading tech innovators 

from the Bay and across 

the country. 

As anybody involved with 

the Bay’s business community 

knows, this is a highly 

innovative and collaborative 

community that is willing to 

share and encourage ideas. 

This year’s festival - which 

will run from 27 August-2 

September - is poised to build 

on the momentum that’s been 

built up. And, as is made clear 

in our cover story, innovation 

isn’t just for the tech minded 

- new technologies such as 

Artificial Intelligence, Internet 

of Things and cloud computing 

- touch all of our lives and 

continue to expand their reach 

into the lives of consumers 

and businesses. Make sure you 

take advantage of the range of 

Groundswell events that will 

be on offer. 

In another new development, 

early stage funding 

group Enterprise Angels has 

given Bay of Plenty Business 

News insights into its plans to 

launch an approximately $15- 

$20 million fund that will be 

the region’s first example of 

impact investing. The group is 

in talks with major trusts and 

commercial investors across 

the Bay of Plenty and Waikato 

to support the initiative and 

hopes to get it up and running 

by early next year. 

Impact investing refers 

to investments aimed at generating 

a measurable, beneficial 

social or environmental impact 

Writer Richard Rennie interviewing Apofruit technical 

manager Marco Mastroleo in Lazio, Italy. Photo/Supplied. 

David Porter 

alongside a financial return 

and is attracting significant 

growth in the philanthropic 

sectors worldwide. Enterprise 

Angels has been talking to the 

managers of the major regional 

trusts over the past six months 

and has also begun briefing 

some of the trustees and has 

already secured a seed funding 

commitment from Waikato’s 

WEL Energy Trust to prepare 

the fund. 

Meanwhile, kiwifruit 

remains the region’s biggest 

export earner, and Zespri is 

placing an increasing focus on 

ramping up its ability to supply 

markets outside the New 

Zealand season. The 6000 ha 

of SunGold in New Zealand 

is rapidly being followed by 

supply out of Japan, South 

Korea, and particularly France 

and Italy. Italy is on track to 

reach 2880 ha of SunGold, 

with 2277 ha in the ground, 

and 1700 in production, producing 

about 8 million trays 

in 2018. 

This month Richard Rennie 

visited a key growing area in 

Italy to see how the Bay’s 

northern hemisphere equivalents 

are managing their growing 

and marketing. 

Join the Ingham Mora team 

and guest speaker Mark Jenkins for: 

7 WAYS TO 

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The many faces of Ingham Mora 

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• Learn how to set a roadmap and 

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• Discover how to measure and 

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When: 29 August 2018 

Where: Tauranga Yacht Club 

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Register: eventspronto.co.nz/7ways 

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Closing the circle 

The innovative thinking highlighted at Groundswell will include new 

ideas being implemented in the Bay on the circular economy. This 

is the phrase coined to describe the aim of redefining products 

and services at the design stage to reduce waste and minimise 

negative environmental impacts. 

Daniel Faris, chief executive 

of Locus Research, 

and Emily Townsend, 

sustainability engineer for 

ThinkStep Australasia, will 

co-present the “Think circular 

to spark innovation and 

collaboration” session at 

the RHUBARB Innovation 

Summit. Locus Research 

and ThinkStep have recently 

formed a new partnership. 

“A lot of people assume that 

if you recycle something like 

a plastic bottle, it will come 

back around as a new plastic 

water bottle,” said Faris. 

“But it doesn’t - it comes 

around as a lower grade hard 

plastic that maybe can be recycled 

a few times, but ultimately 

it will end up in landfill. It 

doesn’t fix the problem. The 

only way to really do that is to 

design products and systems 

that don’t create waste in the 

first place.” 

Locus Research has built 

expertise on how to undertake 

the challenge of designing 

products for sustainability. The 

company’s founder Tim Allan 

- now focused on his role as 

chief executive of electric bike 

company Ubco - embraced 

the concept of so-called Life 

Cycle thinking a decade or so 

ago, said Faris. 

That was when he first 

began working with people 

developing smart thinking 

about the issues, including 

Barbara Nebel, a former Scion 

scientist, who founded Life 

Cycle Assessment NZ, and 

is now the managing director 

of the Australasian arm of 

ThinkStep, a German business 

with offices throughout 

the world, focused on circular 

economy issues. 

“Barbara and her team have 

always brought a scientific 

approach to how you measure 

your environmental impact,” 

said Faris. 

ThinkStep had always 

done LCAs (Life Cycle 

Assessments), which looked 

at all the components of a 

given product or service, how 

sustainably they had been 

sourced, how it was manufactured, 

and the carbon footprint 

and the product’s end of life. 

“That’s really useful,” said 

Faris. “What we’ve always 

wanted to do is learn how we 

can apply that creatively into 

the design of the product in the 

first place.” 

The new Locus Research/ 

ThinkStep partnership strengthens 

their relationship. 

“We’ve got a really good 

meeting of the minds. They 

have fresh, sharp scientific 

thinking and an incredible database 

to benchmark products 

and materials. They are capable 

of making very effective judgments 

about how something is 

expected to perform. We bring 

the more creative and innovative 

side to that equation. 

“By partnering with these 

guys, we can not only come up 

Rhubarb is a community 

of organisations 

championing the Bay 

of Plenty as a destination at 

the forefront of innovation, 

technology and talent development. 

Rhubarb stands for 

Resource HUB Assistance 

Reaps Benefits. 

With members from various 

organisations across 

the Bay of Plenty, there’s a 

cross-section of talents and 

points of view making up this 

vital community. Their objective 

is to make the Bay of 

Plenty a sought-after location 

where technology minded 

people want to live, work, 

study and play. Rhubarb 

encourages an environment 

that fosters collaboration and 

challenges thinking in the collective 

network. 

The group want to provide 

a positive avenue for strategic 

Emily Townsend 

with an effective way of building 

or redesigning a product 

to be sustainable, but build it 

with proof that it will deliver 

the outcomes we have set up 

to achieve. And obviously all 

of this is really focused on 

pushing really hard towards 

the concept of a circular 

economy.” 

Rhubarb encourages positive 

collaboration in the Bay 

Ian Gray 

executive engagement that 

drives business performance 

in the region, and connect the 

agencies that drive business 

engagement in the Bay. 

Ian Gray, Rhubarb’s 

Secretary and Cucumber’s 

Business Manager, says the 

organisations is about organisations 

collaborating, learning 

and enabling their teams 

Dan Faris 

to thrive and grow. 

“We encourage members 

to work together, think differently, 

share ideas and explore 

their talents. Rhubarb facilitates 

this through local events 

and forums with speakers 

from far and wide. It’s been 

a passion of mine for over 

eight years and the Innovation 

Summit will be a terrific 

opportunity for members and 

non-members in the region to 

get together, share experiences 

and learn something new from 

some amazing speakers.” 

Rhubarb is holding a 

one-day Innovation Summit 

on 29 August as part of 

Groundswell, with the 

theme of “Transformational 

Technologies.” The summit 

aims to challenge thinking, 

create curiosity and engage 

regional leaders in how to 

transform through digital 

Faris said the circular economy 

concept had been around 

for some time, but had been 

difficult for people to conceptualise. 

However, the Sustainable 

Business Network has recently 

announced the first New 

Zealand circular economy conference 

for later this year. 

“It’s becoming more in the 

public eye. Some people will 

tell you that recycling is circular, 

but it’s not, it’s ultimately 

linear. The goal is to 

design products and services 

that don’t need recycling, 

and that requires some clever 

thinking.” 

technology and manage an 

increasingly fast-paced environment. 

With something for everyone, 

the event will covers 

a business and technology 

stream, and explore topics 

ranging from customer experience, 

the circular economy 

and the future of work, to 

cyber security, the Internet 

of Things, and augmented 

reality. 

Key speakers include 

Simon Kennedy, Air New 

Zealand’s CIO, Russell Craig, 

National Technology Officer 

for Microsoft NZ, and Liz 

Maguire, ANZ’s Head of 

Digital and Transformation. 

With demonstrations of leading-edge 

technology on the 

day as well, this promises 

to be a compelling event for 

anyone involved in innovation, 

technology or the future 

of business. 

For more information 

and tickets for the Rhubarb 

Innovation Summit, please 

visit: https://groundswellfestival.nz/rhubarb/. 

THANK 

YOU 

The Bay of Plenty Business News team would like 

to thank its readers and advertisers for the strong 

support we’ve received since we launched just over 

two years ago. Our circulation and reach across the 

region have grown significantly. 

Bay of Plenty Business News is the only publication 

focused on providing relevant business content 

and context for one of New Zealand’s most vibrant 

economic regions. We are delighted with the 

response and are committed to continue fulfilling 

our mission as the Voice of Business in the Bay. 

Bay of plenty


Artificial Intelligence is already here 

New technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) have advanced 

to the point where non-technical people are able to create 

systems with ease, says Isuru Fernando, IBM New Zealand 

analytics and AI leader. 


“We are seeing AI 

being used right 

here in New 

Zealand, by businesses large 

and small in many varied industries,” 

he said. “What is fascinating 

to me is that here in New 

Zealand, it has arrived - it is not 

a ‘future’ technology, it’s here.” 

Fernando emphasised that 

in IBM’s experience, customers 

wanted simple and personalised 

experiences, no matter how 

they interacted with a business. 

“We think that a great 

customer experience is about 

a deep engagement and 

increased conversions by 

capitalising on the right data 

to fine-tune and personalise 

THE RISE OF AI 

What is fascinating to 

me is that here in New 

Zealand, it has arrived 

- it is not a ‘future’ 

technology, it’s here. 

– Isuru Fernando, 

IBM NZ 

offers and messages at every 

customer touchpoint,” he said. 

And he’s a strong believer 

that AI allows people to augment 

their own human capabilities 

to achieve this. 

The market for AI is growing fast. 

• Worldwide spending on AI systems was forecast to reach 

$12.5 billion by the end of 2017. 

• By the end of this year, up to 75% of all consumers will 

interact with AI services on a regular basis. 

• 75% of developer teams will include AI functionality in 

one or more of their applications. 

• 81% of companies believed they had complete views 

of their customer, but 63% of consumers disagreed - a 

significant disconnect. 

• In the future, 100% of jobs will need to collaborate with 

an AI system. 

Source: IBM NZ 

“It’s about providing personalised 

services to meet 

changing consumer expectations,” 

he said. 

By 2021, “conversational 

AI-first” would be adopted by 

the majority of organisations 

as the most important new 

platform,” he said. 

Most consumers had already 

experienced AI through their 

mobile devices in the form of 

chatbots and customer service 

agents or “digital humans”. 

IBM’s AI platform Watson 

(named after IBM’s first CEO 

Thomas J.Watson), was being 

used for everything from helping 

doctors diagnose or find 

new ways to treat cancer, to 

helping meteorologists predict 

the weather, and businesses 

serve their customers better, 

he said. 

“For businesses, the real 

potential of AI is being able to 

analyse much more information 

than we ever could before 

to create insight and knowledge,” 

he said. 

But he added that it was 

important when building AI 

systems to use an ethical 

framework to safeguard data 

responsibility and transparency, 

and minimise bias. 

“This is one of the biggest 

challenges for businesses getting 

started with AI.” 

Regions in focus 

Regions like the Bay of 

Plenty are very much 

part of the focus for 

major technology companies, 

says Russell Craig, 

Microsoft NZ’s national 

technology officer. 

“We’re significantly interested 

in the opportunities that 

clearly exist and lie ahead for 

utilisation of digital technologies 

in the regions of New 

Zealand, for both economic 

and social development,” 

he said. 

“We have a strong and 

abiding interest in showing 

up in these regional communities 

talking to existing partners 

and stakeholders on the 

big questions of digital transformation 

- what does that 

represent to New Zealand 

and what does that represent 

for the regions? 

“We do a huge amount of 

existing business in regions 

such as the BOP. There’s a 

great deal of opportunity in 

areas such as agritech, precision 

agriculture and horticulture 

in terms of ways they 

can enhance their productivity, 

their economic performance 

and their environmental 

performance by using 

technology.” 

With the rising tide of 

disruption in New Zealand’s 

global markets, some of the 

key questions technology 

was trying to answer were 

around how to successfully 

address that and preserve and 

enhance the primary industries, 

said Craig. 

“Everybody’s starting to 

get their head around this idea 

that we are in a post-industrial 

revolution era and these 

industries have to change.” 

– By DAVID PORTER 

We have a strong and abiding interest in 

showing up in these regional communities 

talking to existing partners and 

stakeholders on the big questions of digital 

transformation. 

– Russell Craig, Microsoft NZ 

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For more details & to sign up visit www.tauranga.org.nz


Designing the City 

This year’s Design the City Experiment will be an 

“amplified step on” after some amazing ideas 

in the inaugural Groundswell, says Blythe Rees- 

Jones, one of the event’s design coaches. 


The entrepreneur and creative 

director at Virtuo, 

who will be working with 

Bluelab’s head of innovation 

Jono Jones, said the experiment 

was a very successful 

part of last year’s Groundswell. 

“We’re still working 

through the details of this 

year’s challenge and it will 

only be announced on opening 

day,” said Rees-Jones. 

The experiment provides an 

opportunity for participants to 

learn and practise their innovation 

skills in a real world environment, 

and benefit the local 

community, through a series of 

design challenges. They will 

start on Monday morning, and 

culminate with a public presentation 

on Friday night. 

A group of people from 

companies and organisations 

across the Western Bay will 

come together to take on a 

challenge aimed at building 

their capability in Design 

Thinking. The methodology 

uses insight, human-centred 

design, product design, social 

initiatives, business design and 

other practices to find solutions 

to complicated problems. 

Social development and progress 

is a key context for the 

experiment, which is expected 

to produce usable ideas to help 

develop the city. 

Over the course of the 

Groundswell festival, participants 

will be split into groups 

and meet every day to learn 

about design thinking, in order 

to accelerate the challenge 

through learning about the 

design process. 

A team of local and national 

design thinking gurus will 

provide coaching, training and 

support throughout. 

Last year’s challenge was 

focused around ideas on how 

best to welcome visitors into a 

specific part of the downtown 

area. 

“There were some awesome 

ideas, from enhancing 

what was already there, to 

some really new innovative 

one,” said Rees-Jones. 

“The participants went out 

and built a lot of empathy with 

people and got different perspectives 

and insight on how 

they thought about the challenge, 

and then amplified what 

was really important about 

what we learnt, and defined 

and built some low-fi products 

to present.” 

Rees-Jones said the experiment 

was partly about doing 

some good for Tauranga, and 

was also a career capability 

development exercise. 

This year the organisers plan 

to include stakeholders who 

would feel incumbent to follow 

through on some of the experiment’s 

key outcomes, he said. 

A 

number of local innovators, 

designers and entrepreneurs 

were fired up 

by the inaugural Groundswell 

last year and have lent their 

skills to this year’s event. And 

like most of the key drivers 

behind Groundswell, their 

efforts are a pro bono effort to 

ensure Groundswell continues 

to build momentum. 

Carl Menary, based in Waihi 

Beach, is a good example. The 

senior industrial designer at 

Te Puna-based Robotics Plus 

was so enthused by last year’s 

Groundswell that he put his 

hand up to take part this year. 

“I got in touch with Priority 

Blythe Rees-Jones (inset) was so energised by the inaugural Groundswell, 

he was inspired to inscribe it on a local beach. 

Expanding the boundaries 

Carl Menary 

One because I thought it was a 

cool initiative and asked how I 

could help out,” said Menary. 

Drawing on his experience 

as a product designer and innovation 

facilitator, as well as 

the network of contacts he’s 

developed in the Western 

Bay, Menary will be leading 

the Kickstart Your Business 

Workshop at the Waihi Beach 

Hotel, near Katikati. 

The workshop is aimed at 

early-stage entrepreneurs and 

businesses looking to gain 

clarity and support to take 

action, and the connections 

and confidence to turn their 

business ideas into a reality. 

“I got to know a lot of people 

in the area and it became 

apparent that there were many 

who were starting their own 

businesses,” he said. 

“It quickly turned into a 

more entrepreneurial meetup 

and I started the Waihi Beach 

Creatives network. We know 

there’s a pretty huge community 

in the Katikati, Waihi 

Beach, Western Bay areas that 

are already on that journey. 

We’re helping those who want 

to take the first step through 

that process.” 

Menary said he was keen 

to help draw attention to the 

capabilities of the Waihi Beach 

and the Western Bay/Katikati 

area as an innovation hub. 

“It’s not that well-known 

as a hi-tech and design area 

and a place for startups to 

come. We want to get it out 

that we have a network of 

people here who are capable 

of collaborating and helping 

to get things happening.” 

– By DAVID PORTER 

This winter, no 

- 

one should 

be forced to choose. 

Imagine being forced to choose between providing food, 

warmth and shelter for you and your family. 

Sadly, this is a decision that thousands of Kiwi families living in 

poverty are forced to make each winter—whether to feed their 

children at the expense of paying a power bill, or to miss a rent 

payment—falling further into crippling debt so a family member 

can visit a doctor. 

Winter is one of the busiest times of the year for The Salvation 

Army, with more people seeking emergency support with the 

basics of survival—food, warmth and shelter—as well as longterm 

care such as budgeting, counselling and life skills. 

The Salvation Army wants every Kiwi to have enough to make it 

through winter, and the cold winters beyond. Because no-one 

should have to choose. 

Last year we helped thousands of families and individuals in need 

over the cold winter months, with all signs this winter pointing to 

an even busier time of year for those in poverty. 

Supporting the Winter Appeal can be as easy as giving a gift to a 

family when they need it most; from an emergency food parcel 

or practical aid package of bedding and clothing, to long-term 

support such as budgeting sessions, counselling support and 

expert social care. 

Please support our Winter Appeal today and help ensure that 

those in need can get the basics of food, warmth and shelter. 

Donate now at salvationarmy.org.nz/winterappeal 

Winter Appeal

Just beginning to learn 

about innovation? 

These events will help 

you gain a greater 

understanding of the 

‘i’ word. 

Keen to get more 

involved in the space? 

Improve your skills 

with one of our 

hands-on experiences. 

Are you an experienced 

innovator? 

Upskill at one of our 

industry-specific 

events.


Enterprise Angels 

looks to make impact 

in social sectors 

Funding group Enterprise Angels plans to 

launch an approximately $15-$20 million 

fund that will be the region’s first example 

of impact investing. The group is in talks 

with major trusts and commercial investors 

across the Bay of Plenty and Waikato to 

support the initiative and hopes to get it up 

and running by early next year. 


Enterprise Angels - which 

is the country’s biggest 

member-driven angel 

group - has been talking to the 

managers of the major regional 

trusts over the past six months 

and has also begun briefing 

some of the trustees. 

Waikato’s WEL Energy 

Trust has already committed 

seed funding in the form of 

a grant to support the angels 

group in preparing for the fund 

launch, said Kristen Joiner, 

director of impact investment 

for Enterprise Angels. 

“We’ve been talking to all of 

the major regional funds to get 

a feel for their thinking about 

this, and their response has 

been very positive,” she said. 

Joiner said other trusts 

that had expressed interest 

in further discussion and/ 

or information included 

Bay Trust, TECT, ACORN 

Community Foundation, 

RECT, Momentum Waikato, 

Trust Waikato and Eastland 

Community Trust. 

We envisage that 

the new impact fund 

will be supported 

by a combination 

of the commercial 

and philanthropic 

sectors.” 

- Bill Murphy 

Impact investing refers 

to investments aimed at generating 

a measurable, beneficial 

social or environmental impact 

alongside a financial return. 

New Zealand currently has 

two recently created funds, the 

Impact Enterprise Fund, and 

Soul Capital. 

One of the issues facing 

charitable trusts is that, despite 

sometimes having significant 

capital bases, the investment 

return they generate for distribution 

to their beneficiaries 

can often be relatively small. 

More to the point, their distributions 

are generally made in 

the form of grants. 

Enterprise Angels’ executive 

director Bill Murphy said 

there had been a major shift in 

the philanthropic sector globally 

towards impact investing. 

“If the main reason for the 

trusts is to provide community 

benefits of one form or another, 

and they are only doing that 

with a tiny percentage of their 

funds base, we are suggesting 

to them that they consider allocating 

a portion of their capital 

base to impact investing,” he 

said. 

“There has been a huge 

movement around the world, 

with the philanthropic sector 

realising they need and want 

to provide more than just 

Ian Greaves wins in 

top category at Angels 

Group’s inaugural awards 

Enterprise Angels recently 

held its inaugural 

angel awards, recognising 

four members for their 

outstanding input. 

The overall winner for 

the Angel of the Year award 

was Ian Greaves. The award 

covers all engagement from 

members including mentoring, 

committee involvement, 

due diligence, education and 

events participation and investments. 

Executive director Bill 

Murphy said the group had 

many smart and experienced 

members that were passionate 

about making a difference. 

“We wanted to do something 

special to recognise all 

of their efforts.” 

Greaves has a background 

predominantly in kiwifruit. 

“I really love getting involved 

and being enthusiastic 

in places where I am appreciated 

and where skill, commitment 

and passion is highly 

valued,” he said. 

“The ethos of EA seems 

to resonate with the idea that 

anyone may have the aptitude 

and implementation ability required 

to succeed. I love what 

EA has created.” 

Alan Dick took out the Due 

Diligence Master of the Year. 

Due diligence is crucial with 

early stage investing and a 

team of angel investors looks 

at the key parts of a potential 

investee. The time commitment 

could be anywhere from 

five to 20-plus hours. Dick is 

a retired IT consultant with 

a broad range of experience 

ranging from IT management 

Bill Murphy: Global move in philanthropic sector 

towards impact investing. Photo/Supplied. 

grants to the non-profit sector 

in order for their beneficiary 

groups to advance their respective 

missions. They want to 

ensure their beneficiaries can 

become more self-sustaining.” 

Murphy said it would take 

up until the end of the year to 

complete preparations to get 

its new fund up and running, 

and that it was aiming for a 

fund size of approximately 

$15-$20 million. 

Enterprise Angels chair James Beale with 

award winner Ian Greaves. Photo/Supplied. 

and project management to 

product development and 

systems to support manufacturing. 

The other finalists 

were Nelson Walker and 

Tim Uckun. 

The EA Investor Director 

Murphy said the investment 

niche for the new fund would 

not solely be startups - the target 

of Enterprises Angels - but 

could be wider. 

“The focus will include 

social enterprises, but it could 

also include appropriate infrastructure, 

such as environmental 

improvement projects, 

social housing and community 

amenities.” 

And Enterprise Angels 

wasn’t just looking to trusts 

for investors, he added. 

“There’s been a lot of 

interest from the commercial 

sector, from high net worth 

individuals and our own members. 

We envisage that the new 

impact fund will be supported 

by a combination of the commercial 

and philanthropic sectors. 

We’re aiming to establish 

a model so that other regional 

impact funds can be created.” 

of the Year went to two members, 

Sam Kidd and Karl Gradon. 

Kidd sits on the board of 

Beany, an online accountancy 

firm based in Taupo that has 

grown significantly since investment 

by Enterprise Angels 

members back in 2015. 

Gradon is on the board of 

Heilala Vanilla, a Tauranga 

company that grows vanilla in 

Tonga, locally processes the 

products and markets globally. 

TAURANGA CITY COUNCIL 

Long Term Plan 

2018-2028 

As part of our Long Term Plan 2018-2028, Tauranga City Council has made some 

changes to the way we collect our rates and fund the services we provide to people 

in our city. 

These changes took effect from 1 July this year. 

Through our consultation process, we heard what the business community 

had to say about the proposed rating structure and the rating differential 

ratio. 

Council decided on a different option to those proposed in the consultation 

document, shifting the financial burden over time by: 

• lowering the uniform annual general charge from the current maximum 

30 percent to 15 percent, to be phased in over three years: 25 percent 

on 1 July 2018, 20 percent on 1 July 2019 and 15 percent on 1 July 2020 

• introducing a differential ratio of 1:1.2 to be phased in over the next three 

years, with a ratio of 1:1.067 on 1 July 2018, 1:1.134 on 1 July 2019 and 

1:1.2 on 1 July 2020. 

This means the commercial and residential 

sectors will pay a proportionally equal share 

of the general rate. 

Council decided against introducing a 

targeted rate for residential and commercial 

properties in the city centre to provide 

streetscaping and open space improvements, 

instead choosing to fund this through the 

general rate. 

Council decided to fund new resilience 

projects through a targeted rate 

rather than the general rate. 

For more information on the Long Term Plan, including a summary of key decisions, visit www.tauranga.govt.nz/longtermplan

E-VEHICLES 

BAY OF PLENTY BUSINESS NEWS July/August 2018 

11 

Pacific Auto Traders 

Specialists in Electric Vehicles 

Pacific Auto Traders is an established auto retailer that has been 

specialising in the Electric Vehicle (EV) sector for more than two years. 

“We only recommend 

EVs when we’re 

assured their 

advantages will suit our customers’ 

budgets, aspirations 

and lifestyles,” says owner 

Kevin Cooper. 

Pacific Auto Traders has 

invested time and money into 

developing a sound knowledge 

of the rapidly growing 

EV sector. 

“Our extensive understanding 

of EVs is crucial and gives 

great confidence to our customers. 

EVs are revolutionising 

the auto sector and we’re 

delighted to share what we’ve 

learned with people thinking 

of making an investment in the 

future of transport.” 

Kevin at is a qualified Auto 

Electrician and understands 

the EV concept better than 

most. You can be assured of 

practical sound advice that you 

can rely on. 

He has staff in Japan who 

ensure all the EV vehicles are 

individually inspected before 

they are even considered 

being purchased for sale in 

New Zealand. 

“We take our time to understand 

your exact needs so the 

correct vehicle is matched to 

your requirements and unique 

situation. If we haven’t got 

what you’re looking for, we 

provide a buy to order service 

to ensure to get exactly what 

you require,” says Kevin 

“And it doesn’t stop there - 

when you take delivery of your 

EV, we make sure you have 

the correct charging cables, an 

English Operating manual, and 

that the dash display is converted 

to English.” 

Feel free to call or visit 

our dealership to discuss your 

requirements or to learn more, 

see our Frequently asked questions 

pacificautotraders.co.nz 

Save money for your business 

And stop the wife nagging about that assistant 

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for the teenager 

Or just keep it for yourself 

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Or just a sure fire way to make her want to leave 

For electric cars so good... You can be a little bad 

107 Hewletts Road, Mt Maunganui 

07 574 2943 

pacificautotraders.co.nz 

Commercial 

Property 

Management 

At Bayleys, we believe relationships are 

what businesses are built on and how 

they succeed. 

We understand that to maximise the 

return on your property you need: 

Professional property management 

A business partner that understands 

your views and goals 

Speak to your Bayleys team today 

SUCCESS REALTY LTD, BAYLEYS, 

LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008 

Jan Cooney 

Senior Commercial Property Manager 

P 07 579 0609 M 027 408 9339 

jan.cooney@bayleys.co.nz 

Brodie Thomas 

Commercial Property Manager 

P 07 579 0608 M 027 746 9218 

brodie.thomas@bayleys.co.nz


Italian growers key 

element in Zespri 

12 month supply 

Even though they are at opposite ends of the globe, kiwifruit 

growers in Italy and New Zealand are enjoying the benefits 

of Zespri’s efforts to keep the shelves full all year round with 

SunGold kiwifruit. Richard Rennie visited Italy to see how 

the Bay of Plenty’s northern hemisphere equivalents are 

managing their growing and marketing. 

Zespri and grower team in Lazio: (from left) Zespri marketing officer Matteo 

Lorenti, Apofruit technical manager Mareo Mastroleo, grower Aldo Sciotti 

and Zespri supply chain manager Dario Vegetti. Photo/Richard Rennie. 

By RICHARD RENNIE 

IN LAZIO, ITALY 

The Lazio district about 50 

minutes south of Rome 

by train is playing a key 

part in efforts to ensure the sun 

never sets on Zespri’s efforts to 

keep the fruit stocked in valuable 

produce shelves across 

Asia and Europe. 

The China and Japan markets 

now account for about 16 

and 12 million trays of Sun- 

Gold fruit from New Zealand 

respectively a year. Growth in 

China in 2016 alone was 40 

percent, and expectations remain 

high as penetration into 

the - relatively - smaller Tier 2 

cities continues. 

Writer Richard Rennie interviewing Apofruit technical 

manager Marco Mastroleo in Lazio, Italy. Photo/Supplied. 

LATINA, LAZIO 

- ITALY’S TE PUKE. 

Where: 40km south of Rome 

Area in SunGold kiwifruit: 1597ha 

Mussolini succeeded where dozens of emperors and 

leaders before him had failed. In the 1930s he had 

the swampy district drained for it to become a fruit 

and vegetable basket for Rome. Today kiwifruit a key 

crop in the district. 

But the sweet-tart taste of 

SunGold has also found favour 

in the European market, 

one that has traditionally favoured 

the tarter taste of green 

kiwifruit. 

Dario Vegetti, Zespri’s European 

supply chain manager, 

said the fruit’s popularity 

means filling in seasonal gaps 

within the supply calendar, 

something that New Zealand 

simply can’t achieve in one 

hemisphere. 

The 6000 ha of SunGold in 

New Zealand is rapidly being 

followed by supply out of Japan, 

South Korea, and particularly 

France and Italy. Italy is 

on track to reach 2880 ha of 

SunGold, with 2277 ha in the 

ground, and 1700 in production, 

producing about 8 million 

trays in 2018. 

Vegetti said the challenge 

for Zespri marketers in Italy 

and France is to also keep 

up its supply lines through to 

Asia. Shipping times from 

Asia to Europe of about six 

weeks are similar to the time 

it takes to ship from New Zealand 

to Europe. 

Last season’s Italian harvest 

had 4.7 million SunGold trays 

grown in Italy and 400,000 in 

France, with about half meeting 

domestic demand, and half 

going overseas - with half of 

that ending up in China. 

Growth curve 

As has been the case with New 

Zealand SunGold growers, it 

has been a rapid growth curve 

for Italian growers, with the 

area under cultivation more 

than doubling in only three 

years 

For Italian kiwifruit growers, 

there is no Zespri single 

desk seller model. Rather 

most generally supply one 

of four large fruit suppliers, 

some which are themselves 

grower co-operatives. 

Zespri has long-standing 

relationships in Italy, having 

worked with the co-ops for the 

past 17 years, building grower 

ties and growing the supplying 

area. 

One of the largest co-ops, 

Apofruit, processes a variety of 

fruits including pomegranates, 

plums and blackberries. Kiwifruit 

forms about one-third of 

its business. ApoFruit processes 

350,000 tonnes of fruit a 

year, turning over almost Euro 

300 million a year. 

Marco Mastroleo, Apofruit’s 

technical grower manager, 

told Bay of Plenty Business 

News there was no problem 

finding potential growers. 

“There are many wanting to 

grow SunGold, it is a high margin, 

attractive fruit,” he said. 

“The challenge for us is to get 

the best growers growing it.” 

Unlike in NZ, growers do 

not pay a licence fee to grow 

the fruit, but they are required 

to meet Zespri fruit standards 

if they wish to supply through 

one of the fruit companies. 

With about 25,000 ha of kiwifruit 

in the ground throughout 

Italy, experience is not 

scarce and Mastroleo says 

growers of both hemispheres 

are united by their common 

experiences with Psa. Italian 

growers have tended to manage 

the disease better than 

their French counterparts. Responses 

to the disease have 

been similar to New Zealand, 

with all the Psa-afflicted Hort 

16a Gold variety cut out, and 

regular copper applications to 

keep the disease at bay. 

The nightmare of New Zealand 

horticulture, the Brown 

Marmorated stink bug, has 

already established itself in 

the northern growing regions 

around Bologna, and growers 

in Latina, Lazio’s state capital, 

are bracing themselves for incursions 

closer to home. 

“In the north the bug has a 

fruit for every stage of its lifecycle, 

which fortunately is not 

so much the case here,” says 

Mastroleo. 

Labour demands 

Italian growers share the same 

headache as Kiwi growers in 

finding suitable staff to complete 

demanding orchard work, 

despite Italy’s massive migrant 

issue. One grower said unless 

the government recognised the 

lack of workers, and invested 

in training up the pool of migrants, 

there would be no improvement 

in the situation. 

And crop volumes are looking 

to grow. 

GROWING ASPECTS 

• Good quality water supply for irrigation. 

• Well-established, skilled growing community. 

• Manageable soil type. 

• Reasonably affordable land (about Euro 100,000 

per ha for SunGold orchards) 

• Close technical liaison between growers and 

processing companies. 

• Lengthy relationship of 17 years between Zespri, 

growers and groups. 

• Strong and ongoing IP transfer between growers in 

both hemispheres, particularly on Psa control. 

• 10,000 trays per ha common, 15,000 trays per ha 

achievable for good growers. 

Zespri’s established reputation 

in Italy and now Sun- 

Gold’s proven track record 

for generating good consistent 

returns, is helping companies 

like Apofruit achieve some big 

growth targets. 

“Planting SunGold is also 

seeing growers move away 

from quantity to quality, with 

bigger, better fruit required 

as Zespri standard, with incentives 

to motivate them to 

achieve that,” said Mastroleo. 

Lazio orchard netting: Protection from frequent 

hailstorms, and diffuses UV light to aid ripening 

and prevent sunburn to fruit. Photo/Richard Rennie. 

V8963L

NEW FACES 


Welcome Nico Wamsteker 

ABC Business Sales welcomes 

Nico Wamsteker to ABC 

Business Sales Bay of Plenty 

Office. 

Ben Cain 

James & Wells lawyer Ben Cain 

now based in the firm’s 

growing Bay office 

Ben Cain, a Senior Associate with 

intellectual property law firm James 

& Wells, has recently made the move 

from Hamilton to Tauranga where he will 

help spearhead growth in the firm’s Bay of 

Plenty practice. 

Professional marketer and brand manager 

turned lawyer, Ben combines his passion 

for both disciplines to help his clients protect 

and enforce their intellectual property, 

including brands, designs, plant variety 

rights and domain names. 

With over 25 years’ commercial experience, 

Ben works with clients large and 

small, local and international, across a wide 

range of industrial and service sectors, including 

automotive, creative, fashion, food 

and beverage, events and tourism. 

He’s particularly experienced in helping 

resolve disputes involving trade marks, 

designs, copyright, fair trading and confidential 

information. He is also experienced 

in domain name dispute resolution both in 

New Zealand and overseas. 

A relative newcomer to the Bay, but no 

stranger to the sea having been raised on 

the Isle of Man, Ben is looking forward to 

connecting with the business community, 

meeting new clients and exploring the region 

with his family. 

If you need assistance or advice regarding 

your intellectual property assets, drop 

Ben a line or give him a call. He’ll be only 

too happy to help. 

benc@jaws.co.nz | +64 7 928 4470 

www.jaws.co.nz 

Newly arrived in the Bay, Nico brings 

years of experience in establishing, 

developing, nurturing and expanding 

business enterprises. As a corporate he 

has bought, sold and merged businesses to 

achieve maximum results for shareholders. 

In golf, pulling off the perfect shot is 

a combination of having the right equipment, 

mastering your swing, and keeping a 

clear head. 

With the right tools and professional 

guidance, you can learn to perfect your shot 

and turn those bogies into holes in one! 

Selling your business has the same 

principles and don’t forget the 3 P’s to 

selling your business, PREPARATION, 

PRESENTATION and PROMOTION. 

To sell it right you’ve got to ask yourself: 

Why am I selling? When you have a good 

reason to sell, you’ll be more focused and 

more likely to get a sale. 

Am I willing to use the help of an expert? 

It’s well worth considering, as when you 

think about it, you’ll probably only sell a 

business once or twice in your lifetime, 

but as Business Brokers, it’s what we do 

every day. 

NICO WAMSTEKER 

Business Broker 

Mobile: (021) 933313 

Email: nicow@abcbusiness.co.nz 

ABC Business Sales Ltd 

- MREINZ - LIC REAA 2008, 

Central Shopping Centre, 

65 Chapel St, Tauranga 3110 

Why Nico? “Nico specialises in helping people 

sell their businesses for the best possible 

outcome.” 

So, if you are thinking of selling, a merger, 

or expanding your business give Nico a 

call today, as he will guide you through the 

process to achieve a positive outcome in the 

sale of your business. 

“We’ll take you there.” 

P5741Y 

Meet New Faces, Connect your 

business with Tauranga’s most 

connected networking group 

Design & build engineering 

business supports growth 

with latest appointment 

Bringing a finely-honed 

skill for creative problem 

solving, Michael Macgregor 

is enjoying the challenging 

projects local engineering 

company FABWORX LTD, 

sees on a daily basis. 

Nicolette Aldridge - Area Manager, TNG Tauranga. 

“ The Networking Group is committed to connecting, 

improving and growing New Zealand businesses in a 

structured networking environment.” 

TNG is different to other networking 

groups in the sense that we create a 

relaxed atmosphere for you to network 

and grow your businesses through 

word of mouth marketing. 

Our meetings allow you to feel comfortable 

and enjoy yourself whilst investing time 

to work on your business. 

2 FREE VISITS 

Flexible pricing structure 

- $50 +GST per month* 

Meetings are held fortnightly on Wednesday's 

and the following Thursday's at 9am - 10am, 

The Raft Cafe, Bay Central Tauranga. 

Nicolette Aldridge Tel: 027 579 2122 

nicolette.aldridge@raywhite.com 

Melanie Budden Tel: 021 209 3210 

e: sales@tng.org.nz 

www.tng.org.nz 

* Disclaimer: Membership is for 1 year. Full year memberships can be bought 

for $475 +GST paid upfront. Joining fee of $99 +GST applies 

As Engineering Support, Michael uses 

CAD software to deliver architectural 

and structural metalwork solutions 

for residential and commercial construction 

projects. 

“Most clients only bring us a general 

concept of what they require, we then 

consult with the customer to produce a 

viable and economical solution,” explains 

Michael who holds a Level 6 Diploma in 

Mechanical Engineering. 

One such project is an architectural feature 

known as “Diagrid” which the team 

are producing for The Crossings Shopping 

Centre. The resulting 2.6km of custom 

made aluminium extrusion will be seen as 

the main ceiling feature in the mall. 

Managing director, Jason Carter, explains 

further, “Hawkins approached us 

with the design feature specified by the 

architect which they needed help with producing. 

We came up with the design con- 

Michael Macgregor 

cepts based on the architect’s intent then 

developed the tool, extrusions and prototypes 

to develop the final product which we 

are also installing.” 

Having outgrown their facility in Pyes 

Pa, Fabworx will soon be moving into a 

brand new, 700sqm premises in The Lakes, 

allowing the business to not only maximise 

their growth opportunities but also increase 

their capacity for such projects in future. 

Ph. 021-762-773 

Email. info@fabworx.co.nz 

www.fabworx.co.nz


Bay’s Pilot 

Digital Project a 

huge success 

Last January, Tauranga 

City Council and Western 

Bay of Plenty District 

Council tasked Venture Centre 

with designing, then rolling 

out the Digital Enablement 

Project - a series of projects 

designed to support the development 

of digital and innovation 

skills. 

Digital enablement is a 

multi-dimensional, dynamic 

concept which evolves as 

technological advances are 

made. This pilot project has 

laid the foundations for community-led 

digital enablement, 

by delivering branded 

programmes for three tightly 

related segments - youth, 

small business owners, and 

founders (or entrepreneurs), 

Venture Centre co-founder Jo 

Allum said. 

“The social and economic 

benefits of implementing a 

full-blown DEP are becoming 

clearer as the project progresses,” 

Ms Allum said. “The 

willingness of locals to step 

forward to help others succeed 

has been evident, especially 

once the means to make their 

talents, products and services 

easily accessible is provided.” 

Co-founder Pascale Hyboud-Peron 

says the team’s 

focus on fostering an entrepreneurial 

ecosystem for the 

community has been the key 

to the pilot’s success. “This 

Venture Centre’s delivery of an 18-month 

digital enablement project pilot is coming to 

a close. It has been so successful and has 

garnered interest from across the country, 

including from Callaghan Innovation and the 

Minister of Broadcasting, Communications 

and Digital Media and Government Digital 

Services, Clare Curran. 

approach has encouraged locals 

to step up and lead others, 

digital service providers to 

become trainers, mature entrepreneurs 

to support new ones, 

young people to join in, enabling 

new skills and the discovery 

of new opportunities 

using digital.” 

In the first nine months of 

the pilot Venture Centre held 

204 events, engaging more 

than 1700 locals who took advantage 

of the opportunities 

digital technology provides. 

The team created a digital 

journey assessment tool and a 

directory of local digital service 

providers as well as Business 

Axis - a one-stop-shop for 

events which support entrepreneurs 

at all stages of their 

business journey, whether 

they’re youth, startups founders 

or SME owners. 

“Starters, and SMW owners 

sometimes struggle to 

know what the best options for 

their circumstances are,” Ms 

Allum said. “And youth are 

not tooled with the sufficient 

or appropriate skills or understanding 

of business goals to 

be of value to owners. Venture 

Centre has provided these 

business owners with a ‘third 

party’ community-led platform 

– a community network 

or ecosystem – to connect 

specific needs with specific 

digital or professional skills or 

services, and to provide youth 

with learn-by-doing opportunities 

to get experience under 

real-life business conditions.” 

The Digital 

Enablement Project 

pilot, designed and 

implemented by 

Venture Centre, has 

laid a solid foundation 

in our community. 

The team also created three 

websites as gateways for each 

segment - youth, SMEs and 

founders - to easily access the 

information and experts they 

need. 

As part of the programme, 

Venture Centre also led the 

region’s involvement in Techweek, 

an annual national festival 

of all things tech. “Being 

involved in Techweek has 

placed Tauranga fourth in the 

country, after Auckland, Wellington 

and Christchurch, on 

the scale of cities actively supporting 

their business and tech 

communities,” Pascale says. 

“It has put the Bay of Plenty 

on an international map for investors 

and startups and places 

our region firmly in the lead as 

a place which encourages the 

entrepreneurial spirit.” 

The team has also fielded 

enquiries from people wanting 

to create similar schemes 

as far afield as Queenstown, 

Greymouth, Hawke’s Bay and 

Taranaki. They’ve also been 

contacted by the Department 

of Internal Affairs Service Design 

Department, and Minister 

of Broadcasting, Communications 

and Digital Media and 

Government Digital Services 

Clare Curran’s office. Service 

Design leads in Wellington 

City Council and Auckland 

City Council are also now exploring 

Bay of Plenty’s DEP as 

a means to meet the needs of 

citizens at foundational stages 

of their digital and entrepreneurial 

journey and SME 

owners to upskill and reap the 

benefits of digital enablement. 

Rural Connectivity Group’s 

engagement manager Caitlin 

Metz is also an advocate 

of what Venture Centre has 

achieved. “There are so many 

tangible projects that Jo, Pascale 

and their team have been 

responsible in kick-starting,” 

she says. “I do not come across 

many Digital Enablement 

Plans that have been ‘enabled’ 

and that are so active in the 

community and producing 

such excellent results.” 

Ms Metz says Minister Curran 

recently spoke about the 

many Digital Divides in New 

Zealand and the Government’s 

goal to digitally educate New 

Zealanders to maximise the 

opportunities provided by connectivity 

– “Venture Centre’s 

work is already a successful 

model of this goal.” 

Callaghan Innovation have 

also expressed interest in the 

DEP as a model which will 

allow them to understand the 

earliest stages of development 

of entrepreneurs. 

All of this has led to great 

outcomes, including a student 

who used DEP-supported initiatives 

to reach the national 

finals of Young Enterprise 

Awards and last month visited 

the United States as part of 

Crimson Education’s Future 

Financier’s Delegation, and 

a founder accelerating from 

concept to the point that they 

have been accepted, by a panel 

of business, banking, and 

startup experts, into incubator 

SODA LIFT run in partnership 

with SODA inc, in less than 

six months. 

“The Digital Enablement 

Project pilot, designed and implemented 

by Venture Centre, 

has laid a solid foundation in 

our community,” Ms Allum 

said. 

“Now the decision sits 

with councils to provide the 

resource to build it out for the 

future of work and to continue 

to develop the capability and 

capacity of its citizens and to 

grow the local economy.” 

Young people play key role 

in developing ecosystem 

For the past 18 months 

local youth have been 

gaining invaluable real 

world experience through the 

Digital Enablement Project. 

The youth-focused segment 

of this programme, 

called MADVentures (where 

the MAD stands for Make-A- 

Dent), has helped hundred of 

local youth experience a wide 

range of entrepreneurial adventures 

- from coding classes 

in their local libraries to 

learn-by-doing events, such as 

Mashup. 

Venture Centre co-founder 

Pascale Hyboud-Peron says 

youth play a key role in building 

a successful local ecosystem 

for businesses and entrepreneurs. 

“We’ve seen time 

and again that youth are often 

not tooled with the sufficient 

or appropriate skills or understanding 

of business goals to 

be of value to owners, which 

is why we host learn-by-doing 

opportunities, so they can 

get experience under real-life 

business conditions.” 

One group of local teens 

who really benefited from 

this are known as BriteNZ. 

The Tauranga Girls’ College 

students harnessed many of 

the programmes on offer both 

through Venture Centre and in 

the region. It got them to the 

national finals of the Young 

Enterprise Scheme last year. 

But their YES success was just 

one of their wins throughout 

their business journey. 

Venture Centre has 

allowed us to build a 

network with people 

from not only the Bay 

of Plenty but around 

the world. 

The team, made up of CJ 

Dobbs, Gabriella Eaton, Madison 

Sykes, Ashley Cundy 

and Abbey Herbison, worked 

for months, through multiple 

Venture Centre organised experiences, 

to test and refine 

their idea. “We started off by 

entering our first Mashup with 

no clue as to what our product/ 

service should be for this competitive 

hands-on prototyping 

weekend, so I pitched my idea 

for the iBrite,” Madison, who 

has Irlen syndrome, says. 

“The iBrite uses colour-changing 

LED technology 

to cast a colored light onto 

your workspace The colour 

relaxes the brain, which allows 

those with Irlen syndrome 

(commonly associated with 

dyslexia) to read and write 

with ease.” 

The iBrite can be recharged 

via USB and is portable so can 

be packed away in a school 

bag. “Our team has taken this 

idea to the next step. We have 

now created a product which is 

effective and efficient,” Madison 

says. 

“During Mashup, we 

worked to develop the roots 

of it. We were so excited 

when we were announced supreme 

winner. From there we 

were pumped and decided to 

enter the Young Enterprise 

Scheme.” 

They went on to launch 

their business to the public in 

August last year at Basestation. 

And then to win the regional 

Young Enterprise Scheme 

dragon’s den. Subsequently 

buoyed by their success, they 

also entered their product as a 

contender for the Young Innovator 

Awards (YIA) last year, 

where they took out the top 

senior prize. 

Madison says Venture Centre 

has been an important part 

of their entire journey. “The 

team at Venture Centre are 

an inspiration! Being able to 

work alongside them has been 

an amazing opportunity. They 

are all extremely knowledgeable 

and genuinely want to see 

you succeed. They are able to 

point you in the right direction 

when you are lost, push you 

forward when you are stuck 

and celebrate your successes,” 

she says. 

“Venture Centre has allowed 

us to build a network 

with people from not only 

the Bay of Plenty but around 

the world. I have also learned 

many key skills which I can 

apply not only to my business 

but personal life. They have 

inspired me and shown me a 

world of opportunities is open 

to me.” 

Several of the team have 

headed off to university this 

year while others are pursuing 

their startup opportunity. 

To learn more about the opportunities 

available to youth 

through Venture Centre, head 

to www.madventures.co.nz


A fair share of success 

A key part of Venture Centre’s Digital 

Enablement Project is its support of 

founders at the earliest stages of their 

entrepreneurship journey, through its 

Instigator framework. 

One of the main aspects 

of Instigator is the provision 

of the nine-week 

CO.STARTERS course - where 

anyone with a great idea can 

test and validate it with the 

help of experienced founders 

who’ve already traversed the 

startup path. 

Local founder and entrepreneur 

Natashia Lucas used 

CO.STARTERS to work on her 

new idea, born from her experiences 

running the Tauranga 

Community co-op, which is an 

organised group of people who 

use collective buying power to 

access wholesale rates for organic 

wholefoods. 

SMEs are Powering On in our region 

Local SMEs have been one 

of the main beneficiaries 

of Venture Centre’s work 

delivering the region’s Digital 

Enablement Project over the 

past 18 months. One of the key 

parts of the DEP has been to 

help create a connected community 

of SME owners and 

experts, where they can easily 

access the help they need, 

when they need it. 

Venture Centre co-founder 

Pascale Hyboud-Peron said 

the team set up the framework 

through its Powering On website, 

which includes a digital 

assessment survey, a directory 

of local digital experts and a 

series of events and workshops 

for SMEs and locals who need 

help or training in order to 

meet their business goals. 

Nearly 100 local business 

owners have contributed to 

the region’s digital enablement 

“As awesome as co-ops 

are, they’re a pain in the butt to 

run,” Natashia says. “Timing 

issues, spreadsheet nightmares, 

reconciliation, it’s a long list of 

disasters-in-waiting. I used to 

use the best software out there 

for co-ops, but it wasn’t working 

the way we needed it to.” 

Her startup idea was to create 

FareShare - an online platform 

that supports co-ops of 

all descriptions. “It's an online 

shop for co-op members, but 

the real value lies in its ability 

to automate most of the admin 

and operational requirements 

of running a co-op. It's both the 

soulmate and super executive 

WHAT IS A CO-OP? 

According to Natashia Lucas co-ops generally start when 

a group of friends decide that they want to have access 

to wholesale pricing (mostly around organics). They buy in 

bulk and divide it among themselves. This simple model 

can quickly morph into an organisation involving hundreds 

of families. “It's about building community, making fresh 

food accessible at close to wholesale prices, and taking 

power back from large corporates!” 

goals, through sponsorship, 

pro-bono support and services 

to help other locals succeed. 

One such business is Ace 

the Gram, a local company 

specialising in building a dedicated 

Instagram following 

for your business (or personal 

brand) so you can make the 

most of the opportunities for 

business growth, sales and traffic 

that come from that following, 

along with the close relationships 

you can build with 

your community/target market. 

Tasha Meys and Vivien 

Conway, the two social media 

powerhouses behind Ace the 

Gram, used the connections, 

venue and ticketing system 

available through PoweringON 

to host a workshop teaching local 

business owners, marketers 

and educators about growth 

and engagement strategies for 

Instagram. 

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

assistant to busy co-ops!” 

Throughout the nine-week 

CO.STARTERS programme, 

Natashia thoroughly tested her 

idea to offer a complete order 

and processing service online. 

She worked on the development 

of the business model and 

the software itself. 

FareShare will be available 

at three subscription levels. 

The business model offers different 

levels of service which 

are charged as a percentages 

of co-op turnover. “It’s about 

saving customers’ time to focus 

on doing what their hearts beat 

about.” 

Natashia says CO.START- 

ERS was incredibly helpful. 

“If I didn’t stumble across it, I 

would have landed in 100 pitfalls 

already, so I’m incredibly 

grateful for the theory, the practical 

nature, the support to go 

out and do the work and learning 

from experienced entrepreneurs,” 

she says. 

“I got so much out of it that 

I don’t feel the amount I paid is 

justified. I feel like I’ve stolen 

some information! I cannot recommend 

it highly enough.” 

Since CO.STARTERS, 

FareShare has been taking part 

in the SODA LIFT programme, 

where Natashia is being mentored 

by EcoStore founder and 

Fairground Foundation chairperson 

Malcolm Rands over a 

four month period. 

“The SODA LIFT programme 

has really propelled 

us forward, fast! It's helped us 

Vivien said the workshop 

was a great success. “The PoweringON 

workshops at Basestation 

were awesome! We had 

great feedback from participants,” 

she says. 

“We would absolutely recommend 

anyone wanting to 

hold workshops, and share 

their knowledge, work with the 

From left, EcoStore founder Malcolm Rands, 

with Tauranga Community Co-op’s Natashia 

and Michael Lucas. Photo/SUPPLIED 

Venture Centre team. Tash and 

I are big believers in playing to 

our strengths, so handing off 

the organisation of the workshops 

worked so well for us!” 

Pascale said the DEP’s success 

is proof that the region is 

full of passionate experts and 

residents who want to upskill. 

“Within their own community, 

see holes and gaps we never 

even knew existed. The same 

with opportunities and potential 

growth, which now seem viable, 

and also way grander than 

we ever imagined,” Natashia 

says. 

“It's also practical. The hard 

groundwork gets done, no stone 

left unturned. It's intense, asks 

questions of everything and 

can be brutally honest. Which 

is exactly what you need when 

you're building a business from 

the ground up. If everything 

doesn't get tested now, your 

customers will test it, and then 

you'll be trying to figure out 

how to fix things in retrospect!” 

She says the work Venture 

Centre does in the Bay of 

Plenty community is essential 

to support new businesses. “I 

wouldn’t have even known 

about the SODA LIFT programme 

without Venture Centre's 

invaluable connections and 

partnership with business incubator 

SODA Inc.” 

Callaghan Innovation is 

now also looking at Venture 

Centre’s Instigator framework 

as a model which will allow 

them to understand the earliest 

stages of development of entrepreneurs. 

To find out more about the 

Instigator programmes, go 

https://instigator.nz. 

Bay of Plenty residents have 

gained access to the specific 

knowledge they need, at the 

right time found the right tools 

to work on their goals and purposes,” 

she said. 

To access PoweringON’s directory 

and events listings, 

head to www.poweringon.nz 

MADVentures – events for youth 

Codebrite Term Time After School 

31 July to 18 September (weekly) 

3:00pm to 5:00pm 

PoweringON – events for 

business owners 

Office Hours Financials with Crowe 

Horwath 

6 August 2018, 11:00am to 12:00pm 

Office Hours Business Buying Success 

with Ingham Mora 


Office Hours Marketing Strategy and 

Planning with Marketing on Demand 

9 August 2018, 3:00pm to 5:00pm 

Office Hours Legal with Mackenzie Elvin 


Office Hours Sales and Marketing with 

Bravesight 


Xero Meetup - Job Management 

Software 

16 July 2018, 11:00am to 1:00pm 

Digital Marketing Channels 101 

28 August 2018, 9:30am to 10:30am 

The Pitches - Tauranga Startup 

Weekend 

2 September 2018, 5:00pm to 8:30pm 

Instigator – events for founders 

Entrepreneurs Everywhere – Your 

Startup Weekend Toolkit 


Angelic Drop-In Clinic 


The Social Innovation Opportunity for 

Tauranga 


Tauranga Startup Weekend 

31 August - 2 September 2018 

Workshops/Events in our wider 

community 

Tauranga Social Enterprise Meetup 

21 August 2018 

Plug-in & power up 

C 

M 

Y 

CM 

MY 

CY 

CMY 

K 

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!


FOSTERS – 

Making it happen 

The Foster Construction Group is an iconic construction 

company based in the Waikato. 

Started in 1973, the company 

has successfully 

completed major construction 

projects throughout 

the Waikato and BOP regions, 

including Claudelands Events 

Centre in Hamilton, Te Whare 

Wānanga o Awanuiārangi 

Campus redevelopment in 

Whakatane, Kmart development 

in Rotorua and the 

Oceans Resort complex in 

Whitianga. 

Foster Construction, a subsidiary 

of the Foster Group, 

is currently working on the 

Bayfair Shopping Centre 

expansion. 

This project includes a new 

Countdown supermarket, a 

reconfigured food precinct, six 

movie theatres, and an additional 

9,000 square metres of 

retail space. 

The Foster Group, having 

recently completed projects in 

Tauriko, has decided to set up 

a permanent base in Tauranga. 

Allan Bradshaw, Foster 

The Foster Group 

way is to make it 

easy, make it happen 

and make it right. 

Team Leader for the Bay of 

Plenty, said that “the timing 

could not be better”. 

Allan went on to say: “As 

a result of the Bayfair Project, 

we have been working our way 

towards providing a full service 

offering in the Bay of 

Plenty.” 

The Foster Group operates 

in the commercial construction 

sector, which includes mixed 

use residential developments, 

healthcare, and retirement 

villages. 

Complementing Foster 

Construction is Foster 

Maintain, another Foster Group 

Company, which specialises in 

repurposing buildings through 

fitouts, recladding, earthquake 

strengthening and planned 

and responsive maintenance. 

Collectively, these two companies 

offer a complete property 

service, which supports 

the Foster Group’s purpose of 

“great communities through 

strong foundations”. 

“The Foster Group way is 

to make it easy, make it happen 

and make it right,” says Allan. 

“We are focused on creating 

value for our clients, by 

understanding their goals and 

working with them to achieve 

them. 

“We are a well-established 

and a very reliable company. 

We’re very client-orientated 

In a relativity short 

space of time we 

have built a very 

capable, Tauranga 

based full time team. 

We have made a 

financial commitment. 

The goal for us is to 

ensure sustainable 

employment for our 

Tauranga-based 

team. 

and we work with them to 

achieve their goals, and we 

deliver on that”. 

Fosters have recently 

secured an office / warehouse 

space in Mt Maunganui. 

“In a relativity short space 

of time we have built a very 

capable, Tauranga based full 

time team, says Allan. He 

adds: “We have made a financial 

commitment. The goal 

for us is to ensure sustainable 

employment for our Taurangabased 

team.” 

Allan Bradshaw, Foster Team Leader for the Bay of Plenty. 

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

BAY OF PLENTY BUSINESS NEWS July/August 2018 17


Tax enhancements on the way 

A new Bill introduced into Parliament 

proposes to make tax easier and simpler 

for individuals as well as including a raft of 

business-friendly changes. 

The headline-grabbing 

change is that the new 

legislation will mean automatic 

tax refunds for around 

750,000 New Zealanders, 

according to the Minister of 

Revenue, Stuart Nash. 

Under the proposed change, 

wage and salary earners will not 

be required to request a Personal 

Tax Summary (PTS) or file a 

tax return – as they currently do 

– in order to get a refund from 

the IRD. 

Not mentioned in the Minister’s 

media statement is that the 

change will also mean automatic 

tax to pay where a taxpayer 

hasn’t paid enough. The government 

is acutely aware of taxpayers 

being able to work out 

whether they have paid enough 

tax or not before requesting a 

PTS, and so being able to cherry-pick 

tax refunds. 

The system will work by 

the IRD making available to a 

taxpayer at the end of the year a 

pre-populated account that sets 

out the wage/salary and passive 

investment income (eg. interest, 

dividends) the taxpayer has 

received during the year. The 

IRD will have details of this 

information having received it 

directly from the employer and 

investments entities. 

If the IRD is satisfied that 

the information is complete and 

represents all the taxpayer’s income, 

or where a taxpayer confirms 

this to be the case, the IRD 

will automatically calculate the 

refund or amount of tax to pay 

without the taxpayer needing to 

provide additional information. 

If a taxpayer has more than 

$200 of other types of income, 

or the IRD suspects they have, 

they will be required to provide 

details to the IRD either electronically 

or manually. The tax 

assessment will occur when the 

taxpayer has confirmed the information 

is complete, or when 

IRD is satisfied the information 

is complete. 

Taxpayers will be able to 

provide the IRD with details 

of deductions and tax credits, 

including credits for donations 

so this can be factored into the 

IRD’s calculation of income. 

These changes will apply in 

respect of the tax year ended 31 

March, 2019 and future years. 

Other key changes included 

in the Bill include: 

Correct tax rates – The IRD 

will proactively notify taxpayers 

and their investment providers 

of their correct or optimal 

tax rates and codes where their 

current ones are wrong or not 

suitable. 

Donation tax credits –Taxpayers 

will be able to submit 

donation receipts electronically 

to IRD during the year and 

have the refund issued without 

the need to submit a tax credit 

claim request. 

Correcting tax errors – Errors 

from previous tax return 

periods will be able to be corrected 

in subsequent years’ 

income tax and GST returns 

where the total error is less than 

both $10,000 and two percent 

of the taxpayer’s taxable income 

or GST output liability. 

IRD advice - A simplified 

and cheaper binding ruling 

system for smaller taxpayers 

seeking IRD’s written view and 

advice on their tax positions. 

The Bill also includes enhancements 

to KiwiSaver 

based on the Retirement Commissioner’s 

recommendations 

from the last review in December 

2016. 

The Bill proposes that over 

65-year-olds will be able to join 

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 

KiwiSaver; they are currently 

not permitted to. The benefit is 

that it would give over 65s access 

to KiwiSaver as a provider 

of low-cost managed funds. 

Further, six percent and 10 

percent employee KiwiSaver 

contribution rates will be added 

to the existing three, four and 

eight percent rates. These will 

give members more flexibility 

to self-select a contribution rate 

more aligned with their financial 

circumstances and the retirement 

savings outcomes they 

want to achieve. 

As well, the maximum fiveyear 

contribution holiday that 

members can elect to take will 

be reduced to a maximum period 

of one year. The rationale 

being that a period of five years 

is often a lot longer than necessary 

for a member’s financial 

position to improve to the point 

where they could resume KiwiSaver 

contributions. A fiveyear 

holiday can have a significant 

impact on a member’s 

long-term savings. 

Overall the proposed 

changes in the Bill are taxpayer-friendly 

and further support 

the gradual move by the government 

to a more modern and 

simplified tax system. 

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. 

Seminar - 7 Ways to 

Grow your Business 

Stick to your knitting 

or pass on the needles 

There are many important learnings 

you’ll take out of Ingham Mora’s 7 

Ways to Grow your Business seminar. 

One is that if we fail to plan, we plan to fail! 

Ingham Mora provided us with 

some excellent guidance and 

fresh perspective on different 

matters, overall it's given us a 

much-needed boost! 

If you already have a plan for your business 

that’s great. If we asked you to describe 

your key goals for the year and how you 

will achieve them could you? Or would you 

start to get a bit hazy? What about last year’s 

goals? 

There’s a big difference between having 

a plan in your head and making one with a 

business partner who will keep you accountable 

and on track. Pressing repeat on last 

TAURANGA OFFICE 

07 927 1200 | info@inghammora.co.nz 

Level 2, 60 Durham Street 

PO Box 222, TAURANGA 3140 

www.inghammora.co.nz 

year is not a plan – it won’t help you improve 

the business. It won’t give you more 

money, more time or less stress. 

A proper business plan will ensure you 

put steps in place to make real changes. 

Some feedback from a recent business planning 

session we ran with a client: 

“After 11 years in business taking a few 

hours out of the business, to work on the 

business, with the Business Planning Session 

has been a valuable, and rewarding 

experience for us. It's helped us to refocus 

ourselves and given us tangible goals and 

timeframes to work towards. Ingham Mora 

provided us with some excellent guidance 

and fresh perspective on different matters, 

overall it's given us a much-needed boost!” 

If your business could use some new direction 

come along to our 7 Ways to Grow 

your Business Seminar on Wednesday 29 

August at Tauranga Yacht Club. Register at 

eventspronto.co.nz/7ways. 

I’ve recently seen a few things that 

other advisors could really learn from. 

I 

have learned that in 11 

years of providing debt collection 

and debt prevention 

systems to my clients in the 

Bay of Plenty, I’ve become 

very good at it. The value 

I can bring to my clients in 

this area is, by my estimation, 

unparalleled. Over the 

past decade or so, I’ve met 

with on average three businesses 

a day, each with their 

own struggles, USPs, niches, 

styles and approaches. 

That means I have listened 

to more than 11,000 scenarios 

from nearly every industry. A 

typical daily snapshot looks 

like this: In the early morning 

I met with a $600 per hour 

commercial lawyer in a plush 

CBD office , mid-morning I 

was in a kohanga reo school 

discussing their errant accounts, 

and in the afternoon I 

was in a dairy shed with a man 

who makes synthetic cow 

parts for the artificial insemination 

Industry, discussing 

how to create terms of trade to 

CREDIT MANAGEMENT 

> BY NICK KERR 

Nick Kerr is Area Manager BOP for EC Credit Control NZ Ltd. 

He can be reached at nick.kerr@eccreditcontrol.co.nz 

protect his business. 

For each industry that 

I work with, I research the 

transactional nature of the industry, 

the legislative requirements, 

and the most common 

points of contention that occur 

in those industries. If I’m 

to be trusted by these clients 

to protect them, then I make 

sure that I do just that. 

There is no shame in 

putting your client’s 

wellbeing above your 

own pride. 

But my real point here is 

that the amount of work I put 

in to become an expert in my 

field has given me enormous 

respect for other professionals 

that do the same. 

We are often asked by cli- 

ents to weigh in with our opinions 

on a variety of other business 

issues. We can’t be expert 

on all of them. Yet I’ve heard 

so many advisors bluff and 

blunder their way through giving 

advice they have no place 

giving, simply because they 

feel saying they don’t know 

will cause them to lose face. 

In fact, deferring to the 

correct subject matter expert 

actually shows the ultimate 

respect for your client and also 

for the expert that you refer 

them to, strengthening both 

relationships. 

Areas where we know that 

we lack expert knowledge 

give us an opportunity to show 

professional courtesy to our 

fellow advisors. We should 

say: “Unfortunately, I’m not 

an expert on that issue, but I 

know just the right person, and 

I’m sure they would be happy 

to discuss that with you.” 

There is no shame in putting 

your client’s wellbeing 

above your own pride. It’s the 

difference between being a 

mere functionary and a trusted 

advisor. I know which one I 

would rather be.

WORKPLACE HEALTH AND SAFETY 

19 

Post-harvest 

company report looks 

at worker satisfaction 

Bay of Plenty post-harvest operator 

Trevelyan’s Pack and Cool is taking worker 

wellbeing seriously. The company recently 

released a detailed report on how it is 

caring for its seasonal workers, in response 

to reports that workers are being exploited 

in the wider kiwifruit sector. 


The spotlight has been 

on packhouse pay and 

conditions amid a seasonal 

labour shortage. But 

Trevelyan’s executive director 

Alister Hawkey says the industry 

has been mis-represented. 

We want to share our 

successes, but we 

also want to share 

our challenges. 

Some of our biggest 

challenges are 

industry-shared 

opportunities that 

we need to start 

working on. 

He cited information in the 

fourth of the annual Sustainability 

Report the company 

commissions, released in June. 

“The report is an in-depth 

look at our economic, social 

and environmental performance 

in 2017 and a huge part 

of that is detailing the steps we 

take to respect and look after 

our people,” said Hawkey. 

Trevelyan’s annual staff 

satisfaction survey showed 98 

percent of permanent staff reported 

either medium or high 

job satisfaction – a trend that 

has been steadily rising over 

the past four years. 

The report outlines Trevelyan’s 

efforts to promote staff 

wellness, which includes running 

“The Front Row” programme 

in association with 

All Blacks’ strength and conditioning 

coach, Nic Gill. 

Healthy eating is also a 

priority and Trevelyan’s has 

introduced a nutritious salad 

and vegetable bar at their onsite 

café to benefit employees, 

and regularly organise fun run/ 

walks and wellness information 

sessions to help care for 

staff. 

“The recent media reports 

have presented a very narrow 

view of the kiwifruit industry,” 

he said. “The fact is, our 

packhouses are a nice place 

to work. The staff facilities 

are excellent. Our staff have 

a great time here and many 

don’t want the packing season 

to come to an end.” 

Hawkey says there are 

huge career opportunities in 

the industry across many areas 

like HR, accountancy, engineering, 

plus science roles in 

laboratory and mapping teams 

and IT roles including data 

analysis and programming. 

“Our seasonal roles are 

also many and varied – packing, 

stacking, grading, strapping, 

forklifts, logistics, data 

management, sampling and 

other quality roles. 

“This enables us to place 

people where we feel they 

will do well or give them 

some variety. We have a 

whole lot of things going on 

in our company to help people 

achieve whatever they want to 

achieve.” 

The kiwifruit and avocado 

industries are undergoing 

remarkable growth, with new 

orchard developments and 

great financial returns. 

Reporting on progress: Trevelyan’s Alister Hawkey and Rachel Brodie. Photo/Supplied. 

Trevelyan’s says its average 

Orchard Gate Return 

(OGR) per hectare is 12 percent 

above the industry average 

for its growers for both 

Hayward and SunGold conventional 

kiwifruit. 

Zespri chief grower and alliances 

officer Dave Courtney 

says the report is a welcome 

window into the kiwifruit industry. 

“We’re really pleased to 

see some of the excellent employment 

and sustainability 

initiatives underway at Trevelyan’s 

highlighted and quantified 

here.” 

The report also looks at 

the company’s sustainability 

outcomes. Trevelyan’s sustainability 

co-ordinator Rachel 

Brodie says the concept 

of sustainability is now mainstream 

and the annual report 

was a great way for people to 

get to know the company better. 

She says Trevelyan’s has 

now achieved a 62 percent 

reduction of greenhouse gas 

emissions compared to its base 

levels recorded in 2010, with 

new technology and refrigerant 

gasses promising to drop 

that level even further. 

“We want to share our successes, 

but we also want to 

share our challenges. Some 

of our biggest challenges are 

industry-shared opportunities 

that we need to start working 

on. This report is a great way 

of starting a conversation with 

our growers and suppliers.” 

Imagine leaving work 

healthier than when 

you arrived... 

By LARA STANCICH 

CREATING WORKPLACE 

DESIGN BRILLIANCE 

FOR TWENTY YEARS 

STACK Workplace Strategy 

and Design Specialist 

Imagine at the end of the 

workday that you feel 

calm and on top of things, 

mentally clear and ready for 

everything you want to do 

after work. You feel physically 

energised, relaxed, and 

healthy because your physical 

work environment and culture 

actively supports your health 

and wellbeing. 

That’s the goal we’re helping 

achieve for the growing 

numbers of businesses in New 

Zealand that are now placing 

high importance on the health 

and wellbeing of their staff. 

Many more of the workplace 

design briefs coming 

across our desks are now 

requesting this as a priority. 

Healthy workplaces are not 

being pursued just because 

it’s a good perk, but rather 

because improved staff health 

and wellbeing impact the bottom 

line. 

Companies can help support 

and sustain the wellbeing 

of their staff by encouraging 

healthy habit-building – both 

physically and culturally. 

Creating space for their staff 

to discuss and support each 

other, for example through 

facilitated workshops that give 

people the freedom to talk 

about wellness, explore new 

ideas and take action together 

on wellness objectives, should 

be continued until people have 

developed a “wellbeing habit”. 

Alongside a culture of wellness, 

companies are realising 

that the right physical environment 

is paramount with light, 

nature, air quality and ergonomic 

comfort as key factors. 

These concepts are echoed 

by The Well Institute, whose 

research has revealed that the 

physical workspace is one of 

the top three factors affecting 

performance and job satisfaction. 

They advocate a holistic 

approach to staff wellbeing, 

considering the factors of air, 

water, nourishment, light, fitness, 

comfort and mind. 

When embarking on a 

workplace strategy or workspace 

design, the STACK team 

are highly motivated to create 

healthier work environments 

that support staff wellbeing. 

Maximising the penetration 

of natural light into the space, 

careful attention to lighting, 

and the incorporation of 

plants are part of our standard 

approach. Encouraging people 

to change posture and move 

around throughout the day, 

rather than sitting hunched at 

their desk, is one of the many 

benefits of our Reality Based 

Work approach. 

We also understand the 

importance of social interaction 

and connectedness, ensuring 

that the spaces we design 

respond to the different ways 

of working that people require. 

Every business benefits from a well-designed workspace - where the needs of 

your team, your customers and other visitors are thoughtfully accommodated 

to maximise productivity and bring your brand to life. 

For 20 years STACK Interiors have designed business and office interiors that 

delight and inspire - where people love to work and where functionality is never 

compromised. Whatever the size of your business we deliver on time and on 

budget. Every time. 

We offer services at each stage of the process: 

• Property Options Analysis 

• Workplace Strategy 

• Design from concept to construction 

• Quantity Surveying 

• Project Management 

• Relocation Management 

• We also provide services for landlords and property managers 

Get in touch for a chat about how we can design your new workplace, 

futureproof your current space or help you attract tenants. 

Call Annmaree Kane on 

+64 21 193 8416 

or David Maurice on 

+64 21 231 9015 

E annmaree@stack.co.nz 

Ground Floor, 29 Grey Street, Tauranga 

V4980L


Meet your business 

safety obligations with 

WorksafeReps training 

WorksafeReps has 

been successfully 

delivering workplace 

health and safety training 

since 2003. 

Our courses are designed 

to ensure that business owners 

and employees understand 

their responsibilities, either 

as a H&S Representative and/ 

or as a manager/supervisor, 

under the current health and 

safety legislation (Health and 

Safety at Work Act 2015). 

The courses start with an 

initial training in the basic 

knowledge requirement for 

H&S representatives in the 

workplace. 

Participants are awarded 

the unit standard 29315 – 

Describe the role and functions 

of the health and safety representative 

in a New Zealand 

workplace - after successfully 

completing the course. 

Our Stage 2 course focuses 

on managing risks, building 

knowledge and skills 

in hazard and risk management, 

and injury and accident 

investigation. 

The course covers important 

concepts, legal requirements 

and practical skills 

in hazard and risk management, 

and injury and accident 

investigation. 

The Stage 3 course 

(Advanced Training) extends 

participants’ skills so they can 

take an active part in injury 

management and continuous 

improvement of health and 

safety practice, to increase 

productivity and ensure that 

all workers can go home safely 

after work. 

The Manager course is 

designed for managers, supervisors, 

team leaders, and 

board members. 

This makes them aware of 

the health and safety legislation 

so that they understand 

the legislative responsibilities 

of a person conducting a business 

or undertaking (PCBU). 

The courses can be completed 

either face-to-face over 

two days, online or through a 

blended learning of one day in 

the classroom plus an online 

assessment. 

The courses are run in a 

friendly, non-threatening 

environment with the aim of 

informing workers, managers 

and those in a governance 

role, of their rights and obligations 

under the 2015 legislation. 

For further information 

please contact us on 0800 336 

966 or visit our website www. 

worksafereps.org.nz of email 

us at info@worksafereps. 

org.nz 


Ergonomics - more than 

just office furniture… 

Human Habitats is a 

single source provider 

for creating holistic 

and thoughtful office work 

environments based on the 

discipline of ergonomics and 

design as a catalyst for positive 

and healthy change. 

A new chair is not always 

the cause of a sore back or 

shoulder. 

How you are working at 

your desk can have just as 

much impact on how you feel 

at the end of the day. 

And one size doesn’t fit all 

- purchasing the right equipment 

is important to help 

prevent injury and assist any 

recovery. 

Amazing team 

of professionals 

with an in-depth 

understanding of 

our business, its 

office needs, and 

our client’s interiors, 

- Sue is great to 

work with! 

– Lionel Taylor, 

Designer 

After 25 years of experience 

in the industry, Human 

Habitat’s owner Sue Boyne 

delivers a sound knowledge 

and understanding of ergonomics 

in the workplace and 

the benefits it can bring to 

people’s overall health and 

wellbeing. 

She is passionate about 

creating environments with 

the human user in mind and 

recognises the individual differences 

in people’s capacity. 

There are some simple 

formulas that can be 

applied to help to alleviate 

you or your staff’s pain and 

discomfort: 

PROCESS: 

1. Survey all staff to gauge 

current levels of discomfort 

and interest 

2. Organise Group 

Awareness Meeting – ½ hour 

mini seminar 

3. Identify those at risk ie. 

Currently experiencing some 

level of discomfort 

4. Individual assessments for 

those that need help, now! 

5. Include workstation 

assessment for new staff as 

part of orientation 

6. Introduce regular site visits 

– arranged with HR by 

department 

Sue’s assessment 

of my workspace 

was excellent. I 

was surprised at 

how some minor 

changes have made 

such a difference. 

I thoroughly 

recommend her 

services. 

– Sue Hawkins, 

Programme Manager 

OUTCOME: 

1. Reduce current levels of 

discomfort 

2. Educate for ‘Prevention 

rather than Cure’ 

3. Understand what products 

to purchase and why 

Human Habitats offers 

multi faceted office environment 

solutions to organisations 

of all sizes, with a strong focus 

on space planning, furniture 

procurement, ergonomics, 

health & safety, ongoing support 

and education 

Why Use 

WorksafeReps? 

• We are NZ’s Best Health & Safety Training 

Organisation 

• Because you know a safe workplace creates a 

happier more productive workforce 

• You want your HSRs to help you to create a 

Health and Safety system for your business 

• Having Unit Standard qualification is 

important to You 

• Because you believe Health & Safety is about 

education, not dictation 

Check out our upcoming health and 

safety courses in your area at 

www.worksafereps.co.nz 

or call us 0800 336 966


21 

The living wage 

and its alternatives 

The Living Wage is calculated independently each year by the 

New Zealand Family Centre Social Policy Unit. It’s based around 

the concept of establishing the income necessary to provide 

workers and their families with the necessities of life, such as 

food, transport, housing and childcare, enabling them to live 

with dignity and actively participate in society. In other words, it’s 

based on having enough money to not merely live hand-to-mouth. 

But setting wages is 

always a balancing act 

between attracting and 

keeping skilled workers, and 

what the company can afford 

to pay. 

The Living Wage is a voluntary 

movement that has been 

gaining traction in New Zealand 

over the past few years, 

with now close to 100 employers 

committing to being Living 

Wage employers and treating 

this as their minimum rate, 

within their respective businesses. 

In New Zealand, nearly 

683,000 workers earn less 

than a Living Wage. For 2018, 

the “new” living wage has 

been calculated to be $20.55 

per hour, $4.05 more than 

the minimum wage set by the 

government. This represents a 

fairly small increase of only 35 

cents more than the 2017 rate 

and the smallest increase since 

the concept was first launched 

back in 2013. 

Previously the annual rate 

has been set according to wage 

inflation. This year the rate 

was calculated after a review 

of the goods and services on 

which the calculation is based, 

to ensure it remained realistic 

and robust. The review utilised 

data from the Household 

Economic Survey, as well as 

new data sources that detail 

essential family needs, as well 

as expenses including energy, 

health, communication and education 

costs. This calculation 

is deemed to be more closely 

reflective of a true living wage 

within New Zealand. 

This new rate also takes 

account of the significant increases 

for families with dependent 

children because of 

the Government’s Families 

Package, which is deemed to 

have softened the impact on 

households. Without the package, 

the rate would have been 

$22.45 – a difference of almost 

$2.00 an hour. 

I’m in full agreement that 

we need to raise the wage rates 

in New Zealand, particularly 

those for low-income earners. 

However, a balance is needed. 

For some businesses, especially 

the small businesses that 

predominate in New Zealand, 

simply offering an increase in 

wages does not always represent 

a sound business proposition.Each 

employment case is 

stand-alone when it comes to 

setting a wage – whether for 

differing skill levels and experience, 

the role itself, time 

in the industry or company 

tenure. 

What it often comes down 

to is your employer brand and 

principles – that is, your reputation 

as an employer and 

your value proposition to your 

employees. Have you ever sat 

down and thought about what 

that is exactly? How do you 

think your company is perceived 

by your current and 

prospective future employees? 

It’s not always about the 

money. Yes, paying a fair and 

equitable hourly rate that takes 

into account today’s cost of 

living is necessary. But if a 

company cannot afford to offer 

higher wages, there are other 

benefits that can be considered 

and are seen as of value by employees 

in today’s employment 

market. For example, it’s important 

to establish what drives 

your employees – would they 

value flexible working hours 

to fit around family or sport? 

Would it be meaningful for 

someone in your team to work 

from home one day a week? 

Be aware of what drives and 

HUMAN RESOURCES 

> BY KELLIE HAMLETT 

Director, Recruitment & HR Specialist, Talent ID Recruitment Ltd 

motivates them to be successful. 

Remuneration doesn’t always 

need to be in the form of 

money and indeed can often 

be more valuable in the form 

of enhancing their work-life 

balance, with the added contribution 

for the employer of 

increasing your brand among 

potential employees, productivity, 

staff retention rates – 

and more often than not, the 

bottom line. 

Bay of Plenty 

businesses welcome 

new mobile health clinic 

Bay of Plenty businesses 

are embracing a 

new way of providing 

health services to their staff – a 

mobile Fit For Work clinic. 

One of the country’s leading 

providers of occupational 

health services, Fit For 

Work has recently launched 

the clinic, which will travel to 

workplaces. The clinic has an 

occupational health doctor and 

three highly experienced occupational 

health nurses. 

KiwiRail Bay of Plenty 

Area Operations Manager 

Simon Prevett says KiwiRail 

has used the services of Fit 

For Work doctor Ian Gourlay* 

for many years, and has been 

looking forward to the mobile 

clinic starting. 

“The value of having a 

mobile service in the Bay of 

Plenty means that we can have 

medical professionals come to 

us when we need them, rather 

than having to disrupt staff to 

get them to a medical centre,” 

he said. 

The Bay of Plenty is the 

first region to have one of the 

clinics. 

“We are really excited to be 

offering this service in the Bay 

of Plenty,” says Fit For Work 

Director Lenny O’Connell. 

“We know many local businesses 

require staff to have 

checks to make sure they are 

safe and healthy in the workplace. 

Our mobile service 

means that these can now be 

Everyone benefits 

from a healthy 

workforce and our 

service is about 

making people fit for 

life as well as fit for 

work. 

done easily and to a high standard, 

without people having to 

go off-site. The service integrates 

the collective expertise 

of occupational health nursing 

and occupational medicine.” 

If staff are unable to visit 

the mobile clinic on the day 

that it is at their workplace, 

they will be able to attend 

Fit For Work’s clinic at 26 

College Road, Riverslea Mall, 

Edgecumbe. 

Services offered through the 

mobile clinic and Edgecumbe 

clinic will include pre-employment 

health assessments; 

health monitoring (hearing, 

vision and lung function tests); 

occupational health advice; 

specialty medical assessments 

(heat stress, breathing apparatus, 

pilot and Maritime NZ 

medicals); injury management; 

alcohol and drug testing; and 

vaccinations. 

“Everyone benefits from a 

healthy workforce and our service 

is about making people fit 

for life as well as fit for work,” 

says Mr O’Connell. 

For more information about 

the Bay of Plenty mobile clinic 

and new Edgecumbe clinic, 

visit fitforwork.co.nz. 

* (occupational medicine 

associate) 

Fit For Work, Fit For Life 

Now bringing Occupational Health 

services direct to businesses in the 

Bay of Plenty region. 

Serviced by an occupational health 

doctor and three occupational 

health nurses. 

• Mobile Clinic 

• Workplace Health 

Monitoring 

(Hearing, vision and lung 

function testing) 

• Pre Employment Health 

Assessments 

• Specialty Medical 

Assessments 

(Heat stress, breathing 

apparatus, asbestos, pilot 

and maritime medicals) 

For enquiries, contact: 

0800 FIT FOR WORK 

enquiries@fitforwork.co.nz 

www.fitforwork.co.nz 

• Drug and Alcohol Testing 

• Injury Management 

Workplace Assessments 

• Flu Vaccinations 

• Occupational Health 

Advice


Bay Venues offers fine food, fun and 

drift-triking fun for Christmas celebrations 

It’s that time of year again when social 

clubs around the country sit down and 

start to brainstorm how to make their 

Christmas party better than the last. Sure 

you could have a BBQ, invite everyone to 

the conference room for drinks, or even 

meet at the local park. 

But that’s all been done 

before. Why not celebrate 

the festive season 

at Baypark this year 

and indulge in a delicious 

Christmas feast created by our 

award-winning executive chef 

for just $45 + GST per person. 

The Christmas menu 

includes a sumptuous three 

course buffet served direct to 

your table. If you’re looking 

for a specially designed menu 

for your end-of-year celebration, 

our head chef is happy to 

sit down with you and create 

a menu that is suited to your 

tastes. 

At Baypark we offer a range 

of different-sized rooms and 

free parking, with onsite audio 

visual and catering services. 

If you’re looking for that 

unique point of difference for 

your Christmas celebration, 

why not visit BayStation where 

you and your party can try your 

hand at Drift-triking. These 

three-wheeled trikes, powered 

by an electric front wheel with 

unique drifting rear wheels, are 

guaranteed to thrill. 

And they are another invention 

from right here in the 

Bay of Plenty as are Blokarts, 

which we’re also excited 

to launch at Baypark. Blokarts 

are a fun, fast, compact 

wind-powered go-kart, sailing 

is very easy and can be done by 

pretty much everyone. Impress 

your colleagues with a unique, 

exciting and truly home-grown 

invention. 

If you’re into comedy we’re 

guaranteed to tickle your funny 

bone at Baypark. Come on 

down and check out the Laugh 

Club, the perfect opportunity 

to whet your appetite for international 

comedy superstar Bill 

Bailey. 

After the 2016 sell-out tour, 

Larks in Transit, the UK’s very 

own straggle-haired polymath, 

returns to New Zealand with 

his new comedy and music extravaganza, 

Earl of Whimsy. 

It has Bailey’s trademark 

blend of satire and surrealism, 

stories and dismantled jokes, 

crowd sing-alongs, weird instruments 

and musical showstoppers. 

But there’s a distinctly historical 

feel to this show. With 

its tales of Britain’s fortunes 

past and present, of ancient Viking 

battles, of Shakespeare’s 

contribution to comedy, and 

Bill’s own ancestry, this is both 

a mockery and a celebration of 

national identity. 

Tickets can be purchased at 

Ticketek for $89.90. 

And Laugh Club Mount 

Maunganui is back. Join us 

for two hours of comedy genius, 

featuring some of New 

Zealand’s best talent from 7 

Days, Jono & Ben & Aotearoha, 

for a special up close and 

personal show. If you enjoy a 

good laugh, this is a must attend 

event. Catch it from 8pm 

– 10pm, Saturday 28, July. 

Tickets only $30.00 available 

from Eventfinda. 

The Women’s Lifestyle 

Expo 2018 if you’ve been 

searching for the ultimate occasion 

for you and your girlfriends 

to get together, then this 

is it. With over 150 companies 

Blokarts (pictured) and Drift Trikes are among the new attractions at Baypark. 

involved in the two day event 

and thousands of visitors over 

the two days it will be a huge 

event for the community. From 

jewellery to health products, 

crafts, fitness, beauty, food, 

wine sampling and business 

products, home wares, cosmetics, 

fashion and so much more. 

This Expo is one event you 

don’t want to miss so mark 

the date in your diary now and 

book your girlfriends, Mum, 

daughters and loved ones in 

for the day. The Women’s 

Lifestyle Expo 2018 returns to 

Tauranga 25th & 26th August 

at ASB Baypark. Door Sales 

available 10am-5pm both days. 

For more information on 

any events, enquires for Baypark 

venues, BayStation and 

other activities or services 

on/off site from BayCatering, 

Bay Audio Visual visit 

www.asbbaypark.co.nz, email 

events@bayvenues.co.nz or 

call 07 577 8560. 

Business Expo to 

focus on regional 

growth opportunities 

Sharon Giblett, a director 

of event organisers 

Jigsaw Solutions Group, 

said the Business Expo was 

looking to grow and keep innovating 

following the success 

of its inaugural event earlier 

this year. The second Business 

Expo has been scheduled for 

6 March, 2019 at the ASB 

Baypark Arena. 

Showcased as “where business 

gets done”, the inaugural 

event was on track to generate 

more than $1 million 

in business. 

Five months on the organisers 

were still hearing of success 

stories, new collaborations 

and business being done, 

she said. 

“And we’re just getting 

started. We attracted businesses 

and visitors from across the 

Bay of Plenty and Waikato, as 

well as others from throughout 

the North Island. 

“And we already have 

bookings coming through 

from returning exhibitors and a 

strong flow of inquiries about 

the next Expo.” 

The region has been 

enjoying strong growth. Last 

year the Bay of Plenty had 

the country’s largest annual 

percentage increase in GDP 

at 9 percent. 

Giblett said there was some 

uncertainty about the future 

direction of the economy next 

year and despite the surge in 

online marketing, the Expo 

was proof that face-to-face 

engagement with potential clients 

and partners remains one 

of the strongest ways to build 

THE BUSINESS EXPO 

FEATURES 

• Seminars and master classes throughout the day. 

• An exclusive VIP Expo Opening event with a special 

guest. 

• An Expo After 5 Networking Event for sponsors and 

exhibitors. 

• Earlybird pricing is $1,999 plus gst till the end of 

October. 

• The official launch will take place on 21st August 2018 

5pm – 6.30pm at CBK, Spring Street, Tauranga. 

www.cbk.nz/tauranga 

KPMG’s Angela Thomas at the inaugural Business Expo. Photo/Supplied 

new business. 

The Business Expo has 

been strategically timed as a 

regular March event, allowing 

businesses to get some quick 

wins to end the financial year 

and to kickstart opportunities 

for the year ahead at this supercharged 

one day event. 

“Our goal is to become a 

key driver and platform for 

fostering growth in the regional 

economies and to be a 

must-attend event in the business 

calendar.” 

The exhibitors will each be 

able to invite guests, providing 

a sizeable number of business 

connections to be made from 

the wider Bay of Plenty region 

and beyond. 

The 2019 Expo will again 

be a one-day event where 

businesses can showcase 

their products and services 

in a vibrant, fun environment 

designed specifically for the 

business-to-business sector. 

“Attendees at our inaugural 

event describe it as a great 

platform to keep building and 

developing professional and 

personal relationships,” says 

Giblett. 

Tauranga Chamber chief 

Stan Gregec said the expo 

was “a fantastic opportunity to 

make new connections and be 

seen as a regional player.”

6 MARCH 2019 

BAYPARK ARENA, TAURANGA 

The premier business to business expo is coming soon... 

Early Bird Offer 

$1,999 +GST 

$2,299 +GST After 31st October 2018 

More than one million 

dollars of business 

generated from the 

2018 Business Expo 

WHERE BUSINESS GETS DONE 

• Supercharged one day event 

• Kick-start your year 

• Showcase your business 

• Seminars and masterclasses to grow your business 

• Network with leading edge businesses 

• Create opportunites and uncover solutions 

• Amazing Expo only offers and prizes 

• Free entry for visitors (9.30am - 4pm) 

Visit www.businessexpo.biz to book now 

Organisers 

Sponsors 

Supporting Partners


The Holy Grail of marketing is within reach 

TELLING YOUR STORY 

> BY JAMES HEFFIELD 

Director of Bay of Plenty marketing and PR consultancy Last 

Word. To find out more visit lastwordmedia.co.nz or email 

james@lastwordmedia.co.nz. 

The ability to reach the right people, at 

the right time, with the right message 

has long been considered the Holy Grail 

of marketing. Unfortunately, the ability of 

businesses to achieve this has been largely 

hit and miss. Until now. 

The rise of digital media 

and the power of data 

mining to provide businesses 

with more, and more 

useful, customer information 

has made it easier than ever 

before to ensure their marketing 

efforts hit all three ideals. 

There is now a wide range 

of marketing targeting services 

that make it possible to identify 

potential customers with incredible 

precision, including by 

individual household if desired. 

The Google Marketing Platform 

promises to “reach your 

audience, wherever they are in 

the moment”, while information 

services company Experian 

says it has the ability to use 

demographic and other indicators 

to predict the life-stage of 

a household’s occupants or the 

likelihood of children at a specific 

address. 

Even small businesses are 

sitting on a treasure trove of 

customer information that can 

be used to target their messaging. 

This might include postal 

and email addresses of customers 

and people who have 

made inquiries, the purchase 

history of people who have 

previously bought products or 

services, and even their age 

and gender (depending on what 

questions are asked at the time 

of purchase). 

It’s also common for businesses 

to use tracking pixels 

on their websites so they can 

re-target people who have visited 

their website in the past via 

other channels, such as Facebook, 

Youtube, or Google’s 

Display Network. 

Tools like these make it easy 

for marketers to reach those 

who are likely to be genuinely 

interested in your product or 

service. They enable businesses 

to target current and former 

customers based on their interests 

and what they have been 

looking at recently online. It’s 

easy to see how a retailer that 

gathers information about its 

customers' dates of birth could, 

for example, send promotions 

to customers a week before 

their birthdays. 

Digital marketing techniques 

can also be used to reach 

out to people who have never 

bought from you in the past 

or even visited your website. 

Google and Facebook enable 

businesses to deliver digital 

advertising and promotions to 

people based on where they live 

and what they are browsing online 

at the time. For example, a 

confectionary company could 

use information like that to target 

people in a specific country 

searching for Valentine’s 

Day gift ideas. This would be 

an easy way to reach potential 

buyers at “the right time” – they 

are already actively looking to 

buy a product or service of a 

kind you offer. 

Of course, the third part 

of the well-known mantra involves 

reaching people “with 

the right message”. Again, digital 

marketing and data mining 

can help. Google AdWords allows 

people to create multiple 

variations of advertisements 

and then to measure their success 

and tailor them based on 

which ones have the most impact. 

The same is true of email 

marketing programmes like 

MailChimp. By following a 

process known as A/B testing, 

marketers can send variations 

of a marketing message to randomly 

selected members of 

the same target audience and 

evaluate which messages are 

resonating the most. Over time, 

this enables marketers to hone 

the perfect message to engage a 

specific audience segment. 

The benefit of targeting your 

marketing in this way is a greater 

return on your investment. 

Reaching the right people ensures 

you aren’t wasting money 

on marketing to people who 

MARKETING 

are unlikely to have an interest 

in your product or service. 

Reaching them at the right time 

improves the chances they will 

be susceptible to your message. 

And reaching them with the 

right message makes it more 

likely that they will sit up and 

take notice, whether you are 

selling a product or service for 

profit, or running a public education 

campaign. 

Half-year financial report card 

The New Zealand sharemarket 

has ended the 

first half of the year on a 

good note, with the S&P/NZX 

50 index, a measure of the 

performance of the 50 largest 

companies by market capitalisation, 

reaching its highest 

ever level of 8943. For the 

quarter ended 30 June, the 

index return was a very strong 

7.5 percent. However, there 

are signs that this level of 

return should not be expected 

in the second-half of the year. 

Valuations of companies 

are above historical averages, 

and corporate earnings growth 

is moderating. High company 

valuations can be justified 

if earnings growth is strong. 

However economic growth 

in New Zealand appears to be 

slowing on the back of constraints 

in some sectors of the 

economy (such as a shortage 

of skills in the construction 

sector), higher oil prices, immigration 

having peaked, 

and a reduction in business 

confidence. Whilst econom- 

ic growth is still positive, the 

rate of growth is less than it 

was 12 months ago. 

Interest rates continue to 

remain low with recent new 

corporate bond issues taking 

advantage of an imbalance of 

demand for this type of investment, 

relative to the level of 

available good quality bonds. 

Five-year terms have been 

priced generally in the fourto-five 

percent per annum 

mark, giving those corporates 

raising capital a cheaper cost 

US interest rates 

have started to 

increase, with the 

Federal Funds Rate, 

equivalent to our 

Official Cash Rate, 

now at two percent. 

of debt than their banks are 

prepared to offer. 

Much of the money raised 

by these corporates, such as 

electricity generators and 

commercial property owners, 

has been used to repay shorter-term 

bank debt. 

The Reserve Bank of New 

Zealand has indicated interest 

rates are remaining unchanged 

for the time being and, depending 

on economic conditions, 

could either be raised 

or lowered in the future. The 

consensus view of market 

commentators is that rates 

may start to rise slightly by the 

end of 2019, but that is too far 

out to be definite. 

This time last year, the 

world economy was seen to 

be in “synchronised growth”, 

for the first time since before 

the Global Financial Crisis 

in 2008. All major economic 

regions (Americas, Europe 

and Asia) were experiencing 

stronger growth rates, interest 

rates were low, inflation 

was low, unemployment was 

reducing and trade was expanding. 

Today, Asia, and in 

particular China, is slowing, 

as is Europe. Oil prices have 

climbed to more than US$70 

per barrel, compared to $40 

per barrel over 12 months 

ago, and fears of a trade war 

between the US and its trading 

partners is affecting markets, 

after recent threats of trade 

tariffs by President Trump. 

Conversely, the US economy 

is full-steam ahead, with 

record low unemployment 

and strong economic growth 

boosted by tax cuts and increased 

government spending. 

The US has less to fear from 

a trade war, as imports comprise 

only 16 percent of its 

WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR MONEY 

> BY BRETT BELL-BOOTH 

Investment Adviser with Forsyth Barr Limited in Tauranga, and an 

Authorised Financial Adviser. Phone (07) 577 5725 or 

email brett.bell-booth@forsythbarr.co.nz. 

economy. Corporate earnings 

are growing strongly, underpinning 

sharemarket valuations 

which appear to provide 

more attractive investment opportunities 

than Australasian 

companies. 

US interest rates have 

started to increase, with the 

Federal Funds Rate, equivalent 

to our Official Cash Rate, 

now at two percent. Usually, 

increasing interest rates indicates 

a tightening of credit and 

a looming economic downturn 

because of lower profits. 

But at the moment, higher 

corporate earnings are more 

than offsetting higher interest 

costs. 

However, the world economy 

is no longer in synchronicity. 

A stronger US Dollar and 

higher interest rates, which 

tend to have a flow-through 

effect on the rest of the world, 

together with slowing economies 

globally, indicates a 

more cautious approach to investment 

is warranted for the 

second half of the year. 

This column is general in 

nature and is not personalised 

investment advice. It has been 

prepared in good faith based 

on information obtained from 

sources believed to be reliable 

and accurate. Disclosure 

Statements for Forsyth Barr 

Authorised Financial Advisers 

are available on request and 

free of charge. 

If you are considering your current 

investment arrangements, perhaps 

it’s time to get a complimentary review 

Forsyth Barr is a New Zealand owned firm with 20 offices nationwide 

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

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

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

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

To make an obligation free appointment to discuss your investment 

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

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

TAU5162-02 – © Forsyth Barr Limited January 2017 

Disclosure Statements are available on request and free of charge. 

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

Bay of plenty 

First on the scene 

Photos from the recent Regional Business Market at Elizabeth Café, Tauranga. 

Photos: Sue Wilson/Out and About 

CONNECTING 

BUYERS AND 

SELLERS OF 

QUALITY 

BUSINESSES 

When is the right time to sell 

your business? Right now. 

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At TABAK, we promise to guide 

you through the sales process 

with focus, integrity and 

complete confidentiality. 

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Chamber of Commerce and Tami Hansen, Flowers By Tami. 5 Mike Everard, Giggle TV and Steve Munford, Brandlike. 

FOCUS • INTEGRITY 

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INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE 

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6 Angela Gray, Design One; Tony Snow, Stratus Blue; Michelle Beaumont, Nettl; and Tim Rooney, Homeplus. 

7 Dion Gerrans and Diane Kordas with Jason Cook, Signature Homes (centre). 

TEAM APPROACH 

PRE-QUALIFIED BUYERS 

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8 Gary Dos Santos, Share; and Ian McLelland, GroupPro. 9 Marco Vianello and Darin Friis, Legacy Funeral Service. 

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147 Cameron Road 

p. 07 578 6329 

e. tauranga@tabak.co.nz 

w. tabak.co.nz 

P5177Y


Judge rules for growers 

on multi-million dollar 

kiwifruit claim 

The High Court has ruled in favour of kiwifruit growers in a landmark 

decision that upholds kiwifruit growers’ claims that Crown negligence 

caused their losses resulting from the 2010 Psa outbreak. 

By RICHARD RENNIE 

& DAVID PORTER 

The decision could leave 

the government exposed 

to a massive compensation 

payment, with growers 

who subscribed to the 

Kiwifruit Claim seeking $400 

million when the case went 

to court last year. Most significantly, 

the decision could 

set a new precedent for 

Crown liability on biosecurity 

incursions. 

Determining the exact level 

of any compensation payment 

promises to be a drawn-out 

affair, and subject to any 

appeals that may be lodged. 

When Bay of Plenty Business 

News went to press this month, 

it was unclear whether either 

of the plaintiffs would appeal. 

The judgement comes after 

a marathon multi-million dollar 

litigation process, with 

Justice Jillian Mallon determining 

the 212 growers were 

owed a duty of care by the 

then Ministry of Agriculture 

and Forestry (now MPI) for 

controlling what products 

This action is about 

seeking accountability 

for the incursion 

that devastated the 

industry. MPI knew for 

many years Psa was a 

significant risk. 

– Grant Enyon 

could be legally imported into 

New Zealand. LPF Litigation 

Funding were engaged to provide 

the plaintiffs with funding 

for the claim. 

The judge determined the 

risks associated with contamination 

of the pollen products 

bringing in the disease should 

have been obvious to the agency. 

The Psa strain was Chinese 

sourced. 

The judge’s ruling did 

not extend to Seeka, the only 

post-harvest company to support 

the court action. The judge 

determined that post-harvest 

operators were one step 

removed from the direct harm 

suffered by growers, so were 

less closely linked to any consequences 

of ministry failure. 

However, Seeka was also 

a party to the action as a significant 

grower, and the company 

would still benefit from 

the success of the claim, chief 

executive Michael Franks told 

Bay of Plenty Business News. 

Any payment from the 

appeal process will only be paid 

to the growers who signed up. 

Franks said he had mixed 

emotions following the decision. 

“I am of course pleased 

on behalf of growers that the 

judge has ruled the way she 

has, but disappointed to not 

be included as a post-harvest 

processor.” 

Kiwifruit claim representative 

Grant Enyon said the 

decision drew a line in the 

sand after a long and difficult 

eight years for growers in the 

industry. 

“This action is about seeking 

accountability for the 

incursion that devastated the 

industry. MPI knew for many 

years Psa was a significant 

risk. We hope the government 

accepts the court’s decision.” 

MPI said in a statement it 

was carefully considering the 

findings, and implications for 

current and future biosecurity 

activities. 

“Once we have completed 

consideration of the judgement, 

a decision will be made 

on whether to appeal. That 

decision must be made by the 

Solicitor General, not MPI.” 

Kiwifruit Claim spokesman 

John Cameron said the duty of 

care was going to be a difficult 

one to prove, but in realty 

the judge realised no one else 

could provide it. 

“Most importantly, the NZ 

primary sector now has a very 

clear mandate that if they can 

prove the Ministry of Primary 

Industries is responsible for any 

incursion, there is the ability 

Michael Franks: 

Disappointed post-harvest 

sector excluded. Photo/ 

Supplied 

there to exercise this process.” 

Enyon said the compensation 

group was open to any 

early settlements that could be 

proposed. 

Seeka’s Michael Franks said 

the decision did not necessarily 

open the door to other claims of 

biosecurity incursions. 

“Not every case of a bio-security 

incursion happens the 

way Psa happened,” he said. 

“I’m comforted that the new 

government has invested more 

in biosecurity controls.” 

Both the NZ Kiwifruit 

Growers Incorporated and predominant 

export marketing entity 

Zespri strongly discouraged 

growers from joining the claim. 

KGI said it was not appropriate 

for the body to comment 

until it was known whether 

either party would appeal. 

Chairman Peter McBride 

said that Zespri acknowledged 

the judge’s decision and would 

take some time to consider the 

implications for industry. 

“We expressed our concerns 

about the claim at the 

time, as our preference was 

and is to strengthen our biosecurity 

systems together with 

the government,” he said. 

Independent advice is useful 

for all sizes of business 

MONEY MATTERS 

> BY STEPHEN GRAHAM 

Stephen Graham is a Director and Managing Partner at BDO 

Rotorua, Chartered Accountants and Advisers. To find out more 

visit bdorotorua.co.nz or email rotorua@bdo.co.nz 

Many small business 

owners assume that 

company boards are 

for the big boys. Yet the benefits 

of independent directors 

or advisors apply to all businesses, 

irrespective of size or 

structure. 

Owner-run businesses can 

be averse to appointing outside 

directors or advisors, which 

can stall business and growth 

potential. This can be driven 

by a mix of the she’ll be right 

mentality, a desire to keep 

everything in the family, or 

simply putting change in the 

too hard basket. 

This mindset is likely to 

be holding back many owner-run 

businesses. Looking at 

family businesses run in New 

Zealand, many only have one 

or two directors who only meet 

formally to sign the annual 

report. 

If you’re a business owner, 

have a look at your board minutes. 

When did your board last 

meet to plan strategically? 

Even where an owner/operator 

believes they have the 

skills required to implement 

these strategies, an external, 

non-family and non-executive 

director or advisor will provide 

access to a broader base of 

skills and experience. 

And they also become 

an ambassador for the business 

across new networks of 

influence. 

There is concern that there 

are major structural weaknesses 

relating to the governance 

of private and family owned 

businesses in New Zealand. 

Daily operations tend to 

take over at the expense of 

important strategic decisions 

that set the course for the business’s 

future and protect the 

margins under which most 

industries operate. 

Business owners are commonly 

guilty of working too 

hard “in” instead of “on” the 

business. This constant daily 

juggling act with a multitude 

of warring priorities can keep 

you from these important strategic 

tasks. 

An essential responsibility 

of any director is to ensure the 

sustainable future of the business 

enterprise. 

It is not feasible for the 

directors of a family business 

to do that without taking time 

out to consider the economic 

environment, the competition, 

the threats and the opportunities 

that are unique to their 

business. 

An external advisor can 

often provide the prompt 

needed to ensure you allocate 

the necessary time to focus on 

the big picture aspects of your 

business. 

A good external director 

or advisor will start thinking 

and planning in a multitude of 

areas you had not previously 

considered. 

Because they are external 

to the daily operations of the 

business, they will be particularly 

useful in the identification 

of risks to your business, 

then assisting to devise appropriate 

strategies to deal with 

them. 

The risks of being a director 

may be high due to potential 

personal liability. Where that is 

the case, it is still worthwhile 

having an external advisor. 

That person can be an advisor 

to the board and still participate 

in discussions, but will 

not be a formal director. 

They will carefully define 

the boundaries so that they do 

not become deemed to be a 

director. 

External advisors are able 

to provide support and guidance 

to business owners and 

even valuable mentoring to 

possible successors. 

The objectivity and professionalism 

they bring can also 

enhance family or shareholder 

harmony. 

Most business owners have 

technical skills and qualifications 

in their particular area, 

but often lack formal training 

or strong skills in all aspects 

of managing and growing their 

business. 

Sometimes the missing skill 

sets are covered by employees, 

but at a governance level, the 

right person will bring a further 

range of skills and experience. 

In the current competitive 

environment, businesses 

need to take extra steps to 

gain market share or improved 

margin. 

A person from a different 

background will bring a fresh 

perspective as well as objectively 

challenge the status quo. 

How do you find the 

right person to serve on your 

board of directors? Your 

local Institute of Directors 

can assist. Look for someone 

whose personality, values and 

culture you respect and believe 

will be a good fit. 

Speak to your business 

advisors, who are likely to 

have people in their network 

who might be a good fit for 

your business. 

Once you have found the 

appropriate person, they need 

to be properly briefed and 

given sufficient material to 

properly understand your business, 

your part of the industry 

and the market environment. 

They need to know what 

the problems and challenges 

are so that these matters can be 

addressed rather than ignored 

and allowed to fester. 

A good person will add 

structure and rigor to directors 

meetings and will challenge 

you. 

This is likely to be a significant 

change from the way you 

have previously operated and 

should result in a significant 

improvement to the way the 

business operates.


What to do if a Trust is no longer needed 

Asset protection is one of the most 

common reasons to set up a trust, but at 

some stage, the trust may no longer be 

relevant. This could be due to changes 

in the law, or changes in your individual 

circumstances. 

Paula Lines, Commercial Lawyer at The Law Shop. 

Winding up a trust can 

be relatively straightforward, 

but it is most 

important that trustees get 

legal and accounting advice 

about distributing trust assets, 

to make sure that they don’t 

incur liabilities. 

“If it becomes clear that a 

trust is no longer needed or desirable, 

the trust can be wound 

up. For instance when administration 

costs are too high 

in relation to the recognised 

benefits. Also, if the purpose 

of setting up a trust in the first 

place was to protect assets 

from creditor claims, and the 

apparent risk no longer exists, 

it makes sense to wind it up,” 

says Paula Lines from The 

Law Shop. 

“In a legal sense there are 

different ways to initiate the windup, but most often it will 

be done by the trustees deciding 

to bring forward the vesting 

date. Legal advice will be 

required as to how to distribute 

the assets, especially when 

trustees are also beneficiaries 

as it may represent a conflict of 

interest,” she explains. 

Whether the trust is wound 

up early or has come to the end 

after 80 years, there are certain 

formalities required to record 

the end of a trust. Although 

there are limited legal formalities, 

there are practical matters 

that will need attention, to do 

with banking and the IRD. 

“Whatever the reason for 

maintaining a trust or winding 

it up, it’s important to keep 

asset protection arrangements 

under review and to update 

them when significant changes 

happen in your life such 

as marriage, having children, 

or getting divorced. This will 

ensure that your arrangements 

stay fit for their purpose,” Paula 

says. 

Winding up a trust is not 

a difficult process, but you 

may encounter some hurdles 

along the way. The team at 

The Law Shop can assist you 

and provide you with professional 

and friendly advice. If 

you are thinking about setting 

up or winding up a trust, call 

The Law Shop on 07-572 5272 

(Tauranga) or 07 349 2924 

(Rotorua), or email team@ 

thelawshop.co.nz to get the 

ball rolling. 

STEPHANIE NORTHEY 

LL.B | Director 

PAULA LINES 


SARSHA TYRRELL 


ROTORUA 

1268 Arawa St 

Rotorua 

TAURANGA 

1239 Cameron Rd 

Greerton

618a Te Matai 

Road 

LISTED 

353 

Minden Road 

LISTED 

My name is Cameron Macneil. I have eight years experience selling high-end properties and I have 

recently started my own agency servicing the entire Bay of Plenty. 

Oliver Road Estate Agents is unique in that we exclusively sell luxury and lifestyle properties - no standard 

residential or commercial. In doing this, we’re making a commitment to the owners of these properties to 

spend all of our time working in this often challenging segment of the market, and ensuring each 

property gets the specialist attention it deserves. 

Are you considering selling your luxury or lifestyle property in the next six months? 

Have you previously been on the market with another agency and are ready for a fresh approach? 

Do you have no intention of selling, but would be interested to know what your property is worth? 

Are you considering renovating or subdividing, and would like an idea of the value that will be added? 

Cameron Macneil 

Director | Licensed Real Estate Agent 

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, give me a call anytime. I believe you’ll find my approach to 

be relaxed and professional. 

Oliver Road Estate Agents Limited 

Licensed REAA 2008 

021 800 889 

cameron@oliverroad.co.nz 

www.oliverroad.co.nz 

82 

Gilbert Road 

SOLD

Bay of Plenty Business News July/August 2018

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