Bay of Plenty Business News June/July 2019

BAY OF PLENTY BUSINESS NEWS June/July 2019
7
Sir Paul Adams’ contribution
to community recognised
Paul Adams - the founder of the city’s
biggest land developer Carrus Corp
- has been knighted in the Queen’s
Birthday Honours List for his services to
philanthropy.
By DAVID PORTER
Sir Paul has played an
influential role in the city
for decades and is seen
by the business community as
a major driving force behind
the city’s growth, and in particular
for his role in helping
bring the new University of
Waikato campus to Tauranga’s
downtown.
University of Waikato
senior deputy vice chancellor
Alister Jones told Bay of
Plenty Business News that Sir
Paul had been “a passionate
advocate” for both the University
of Waikato and Tauranga.
“He has been extremely
supportive of the university’s
developments in Tauranga and
he is constantly engaged in
enhancing the way the university
can make a positive contribution
to this rapidly advancing
city,” said Professor Jones.
Until a year ago Sir Paul
was a member of the University
Council and he is the
current Chair of the Campus
Development Committee.
“His time, guidance and
advice through the campus
development period was
highly valued, as are his
on-going direct contributions
to the wider university expansion.
Paul and his wife Cheryl
provided a very timely and
generous gift to establish and
accelerate the development
of a high performance sports
research institute, and to facilitate
the development of sport
and health interdisciplinary
teaching and research programmes.
He also facilitated
links between the University
of Waikato and the University
of California.”
Among his other charitable
and business roles, Sir Paul also
served as chair of Accessible
Properties from its establishment
as a wholly owned subsidiary
of IHC New Zealand in
2010 until last year. Accessible
Properties is now the largest
non-government social housing
provider in New Zealand.
Accessible Properties chief
executive Greg Orchard said
Sir Paul’s commitment to providing
good quality housing
and tenancy services to people
in need had been unwavering.
“Sir Paul has long been a
force in the housing space and
is particularly well-known for
developments in the Bay of
Plenty and beyond to Wellington,”
says Greg.
“But his influence reaches
far beyond his business interests
- he has generously given
his time and energy to social
support organisations and
Accessible Properties.”
Sir Paul and his older
brother were brought up by his
mother, a tailoress, in a state
house in the Hutt Valley after
his parents split up when he
was 11. He has noted in past
interviews that while there was
generally enough food to put
on the table, there were few
extras for solo mothers then.
After going to Naenae College
he worked as an engineering
cadet with the Wellington
Harbour Board, and qualified
as a civil engineer, as well as
gaining qualifications in business
management and dispute
resolution.
After 10 years in the construction
industry, he became
the biggest player in the Bay of
Plenty kiwifruit industry, owning
or managing 45 orchards
and 10 packhouses and coolstores,
and employing 200
people. From that he moved
into property development
with Carrus Corp, and went
on to become the largest land
developer in the Bay of Plenty,
later expanding the business to
Hamilton, Rotorua, Taupo and
Wellington.
Sir Paul said in a recent
news report on his knighthood
that “sooner or later, socialists
run out of other people’s
money”, but that being recognised
for his philanthropy
was humbling.
“I’m a capitalist and a private
enterprise person, but
I have a social conscience,”
he said, adding that capitalism
worked best when it
was combined with a social
conscience.
In recent years his social
endeavours have taken priority
over his business activity. as
well as his role until recently in
chairing Accessible Properties,
and the Campus Development
Committee, he made major
contributions to revamping the
Bay Oval cricket ground, and
the Adams High Performance
Sports Centre.
He also served on the governing
bodies of organisations
including state-owned enterprise
Kordia, Te Kura Correspondence
School, Tauranga
Boys’ College and the Elms
Foundation.
He is chair of Tauranga’s
Civic Amenities Group, which
is seeking to provide civic
amenities lacking in Tauranga’s
CBD, including a new
civic centre, performing arts
centre, museum, hotel and
a sports/entertainment stadium.
Sir Paul is a patron of
Waipuna Hospice and Te Tuinga
Whanau Support Trust.
He was also a founding
director of Tauranga’s economic
development agency
Priority One.
Sir Paul would like to see
more successful people turning
their hands to philanthropy.
Accessible Properties Greg
Orchard said that in Tauranga
particularly, Sir Paul was
involved in a network of social
and iwi groups determined to
end homelessness in the city.
“He knows what a difference
a good home makes and
he won’t sit by and watch
people suffer.”
Sir Paul Adams acknowledging Carrus Corp’s corporate sponsorship win at last year’s
Westpac Awards. Photo/Courtesy Tauranga Chamber of Commerce.
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