Waikato Business News October/November 2018

18 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS October/November 2018
WESTPAC BUSINESS AWARDS
Laureates
named in
Waikato Hall
of Fame
A prominent Waikato business family
which has established a global toy
company and a former doyenne of the
brewing scene were named Laureates of
the Waikato Business Hall of Fame during
the Westpac Waikato Business Awards
on November 2.
Nick Mowbray,
co-founder and
co-CEO of toy company
Zuru, accepted their
award on behalf of the family,
parents Harry and Linda, and
siblings Andrew, Anna and
Matt.
Mary Jane
Innes was given
the honour
posthumously in the
year marking 125
years of Women's
Suffrage.
Zuru, which started in
New Zealand, now employs
more than 4000 staff across 18
offices, produces 400,000 toys
a day and distributes to most
major retailers in more than
120 countries.
Nick paid tribute to their
parents, saying they instilled
in their children a set of values
and beliefs that made them
believe they could achieve
anything they set their minds
to.
“This is where it all began
for us so it's a huge honour to
be here tonight to be able to
accept this award on behalf of
the whole family,” he said.
“To mum and dad, obviously
they are a huge reason
for our success. We really were
given a great sense of confidence
from a young age that
The Mowbray family, from left, Andrew,
mum Linda , Nick and dad Harry.
we could go and take on the
world and win.”
He also referred to the calibre
of students the company
was able to hire from Waikato,
saying in the last three months
alone they had employed
nearly 20 from Waikato University.
“I'm working with a number
of universities through
New Zealand, but it's ended
up that we're hiring mostly
students out of Waikato and it
just seems they're a better fit,
they're well rounded.
“It's really neat to be able
to connect back to Waikato as
well in that way.”
Mary Jane Innes was given
the honour posthumously in
the year marking 125 years of
Women's Suffrage. The formidable
one-time Hamilton business
woman, who died in 1941,
owned and developed Waikato
Brewery in the late 19th and
early 20th centuries, as well as
building up a soft drinks company
trading as CL Innes and
Company from 1900.
The soda bottling company
later occupied the building
where the Meteor now stands,
and which business incubator
Soda Inc drew its name
from after setting up there in
2009 before shifting to Wintec
House. The Innes 48 Hour
Challenge is named after Mary.
Chamber of Commerce
chief executive Chris Simpson
said: “We felt that it was more
than appropriate to recognise
the significant contribution
that Mary Jane Innes and Zuru
have played in establishing
businesses that have not only
been commercially successful,
but also have equally recognised
the importance of giving
back to their community.”
Company-X’s software superheroes are proud winners
of the Service Excellence & Global Operator Awards
Congratulations to all the other finalists and winners at the 2018 Westpac Waikato Business Awards.
A special congratulations to Montana Group for winning the Company-X sponsored Innovation Award.
0800 552 551 hello@companyx.nz www.companyx.nz
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