Waikato Business News October/November 2019

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER VOLUME 27: ISSUE 10 2019 WWW.WBN.CO.NZ FACEBOOK.COM/WAIKATOBUSINESSNEWS 

Time to give back 

The business people 

who give a damn P6 

100 years and counting 

Law firm McCaw Lewis celebrates 

an impressive milestone P13, 14, 15 

Billion dollar challenge 

What would you do for the city? 

Leonard Gardner has an answer P17 

Community key 

for new mayor 

By RICHARD WALKER 

Expect rates rises no greater than 3.8 

percent, a renewed focus on turning 

Hamilton to the river and boosted 

community involvement under new 

mayor Paula Southgate. 

Paula Southgate sees 

a mood for increased 

community engagement 

and community-led 

development. 

The possible sale of the 

buildings the council 

controversially bought 

south of Victoria on the River 

is also likely to be on the table 

sooner rather than later. 

Southgate points out she 

did not vote for the purchase, 

and says if she doesn’t float the 

idea of their resale, someone 

else will. 

“I’m going to say we should 

look at whether we should be 

keeping these or selling them. 

“I want to see that discussion 

had in terms of the CBD 

river plan discussions, and I’m 

putting together a working 

group around that.” 

Her first action in the new 

job was to create what she 

describes as a flatter structure, 

with more committees, in turn 

giving more councillors roles 

to play, with new deputy mayor 

Geoff Taylor charged with 

CBD and river rejuvenation. 

That came after a series of 

one-on-ones with councillors, 

which Southgate says shaped 

her decision around the committee 

structure and their 

makeup. She sounds happy 

with the council voters delivered, 

saying it’s good to have 

continuity along with some 

fresh thinking and greater 

diversity. 

Southgate takes on the job 

after a convincing victory over 

incumbent Andrew King by 

more than 3000 votes and following 

a lengthy career in local 

body politics that included 

chairing the Waikato Regional 

Council. 

She thinks the profile she 

had built up contributed to 

her win, while also pointing 

out she was the highest polling 

Hamilton East councillor 

last term, when she famously 

missed out on the mayoralty by 

six votes. 

This time she put all her 

eggs in the mayoral basket, 

choosing not to also run as 

a councillor, and reaped the 

rewards. 

King may have also paid 

a price for the 9.7 percent 

rates rise during his term, and 

Southgate is not anticipating a 

repeat. 

“I don’t think there is 

any appetite for future rates 

increases. And I have made it 

quite clear that we will not go 

over the 3.8 percent that was 

forecast.” 

What perhaps gets her 

most animated is her desire for 

greater community involvement 

feeding into council decision 

making. 

“I think there is a mood 

for increased community 

engagement and community-led 

development,” she says. 

“People want to be engaged in 

the decisions that shape their 

lives.” 

She points to the Rototuna 

village hub, with a consultation 

process which she says she and 

councillor Ryan Hamilton set 

up. 

The northeast community 

hub took over and largely ran 

the public consultation process, 

she says, with Summerset 

Village involved in senior 

consultation and Rototuna 

High School playing its part 

with youth engagement. She 

says that is reflected in the 

draft plan. 

“It looks quite different 

from the standard approach 

of, ‘here’s a lovely drawing of 

what we intend to do. What do 

you think? And here are your 

tick boxes for your submissions.’ 

And a little paragraph 

at the end for ‘anything other’. 

“It’s a completely different 

model.” 

She says the Rototuna process 

took about six months. 

“I think we’ll have avoided 

a lot of issues when it comes to 

the consenting and works on 

that site, because people have 

bought in to what’s going on. 

They’ve shaped it.” 

When it comes specifically 

to the business community, 

Southgate says it is important 

that she has close relationships 

with organisations supporting 

business. She lists the Chamber 

of Commerce, EMA, regional 

economic development agency 

Te Waka, Innovation Park and 

the airport. “We’ve got to work 

with them to say, well how do 

we support the work you’re 

doing rather than how do we 

do the work you’re doing?” 

Southgate has established 

Continued on page 3 

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WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS October/November 2019 

3 

Community key for new mayor 

From page 1 

an economic development 

committee and suggests all 

councillors need access to the 

thinking of the business community. 

“We haven’t all had the 

same access to our conversations 

with the business community,” 

she says. 

“Out on the election trail, I 

became aware of some working 

groups and some alliances 

or conversations going on 

where I was unaware of the 

detail that was coming out of 

that.” 

She says that included one 

developer referring to a five 

point plan they had been devising 

to make it easier for council 

to work with business. “I was 

unaware of it. And I worked 

very hard to be aware of what’s 

going on, But I hadn’t seen it.” 

That plan has some good 

ideas, she says. “Some of it 

has got to do with streamlining 

some parts of the district plan.” 

She also wants the council 

to look at automating aspects 

of consent processes. “We 

need to crank it up a little bit 

and get on with some of those 

changes. But obviously with 

a new council and even some 

of the other councillors who 

didn’t know the detail like me, 

we need to sit down and have a 

good look at that now. 

“We don’t want to be waiting 

for three years and then 

rolling something out - what 

can we get doing now? What is 

the easiest, most cost-effective 

way to change the way we do 

business?” 

She says chief executive 

Richard Briggs has ideas about 

trying to position Hamilton in 

the medium term as the best 

council in New Zealand to do 

business with. “So the conversations 

are going to be like, 

‘Well, what does that look like? 

What can we do now? How do 

we start rolling this out’? 

On the much contested 

issue of developer contributions, 

Southgate says she wants 

council to have a fresh look. 

“We have been told that DCs 

are at the level that they need 

to be. I have raised the question 

as to whether there are some 

barriers to development partly 

caused by the DCs. What’s the 

tipping point?” 

When it comes to pressure 

on city boundaries, Southgate 

sees the logical limit as the 

expressway while pointing out 

any changes would need to be 

negotiated with neighbouring 

councils 

“But remember that Hamilton 

is also about innovation, 

and not just the big footprint, 

industrial activities or manufacturing, 

but niche business 

and that’s where we can be 

focusing to add value. 

“I think we need to make it 

clear we are a town with that 

whole live, work and play attitude, 

as I said on the campaign. 

Why come to Hamilton? Well, 

because we can create an environment 

in which you want to 

establish business.” 

As for challenges for the 

incoming council, Southgate 

says growth is a big one. 

“You’ve got to have datadriven 

response to growth 

because this is ratepayers’ 

money. We cannot speculate 

in the way that private 

businesses can.” 

Does the council have 

enough data? 

“I think we’re getting the 

data, and we need to keep 

reviewing the data because the 

world keeps changing. 

“That’s the nature of cities 

and that’s the nature of New 

Zealand at the moment, we’re 

on the cusp of growth and 

change. And we need to make 

sure that we have the population 

data correct. We need to 

make sure our business projections 

are correct as well.” 

The other challenge is the 

need to look after existing 

assets and facilities in established 

areas of the city. It’s 

a fine balancing act between 

raising acceptable levels of 

debt and finding new forms of 

funding, and Southgate says 

the council will be looking 

for financial efficiencies. “The 

financial efficiencies would be 

there for two reasons, not just 

one. Firstly, to make sure that 

potentially we could reduce 

the rates, but secondly, there’s 

debt, we still have to pay debt.” 

Southgate doesn’t want to 

get rid of council assets, including 

“fabulous” Claudelands 

Event Centre, but would like 

to see the re-establishment of 

gully restoration funding and is 

enthusiastic about the possibility 

of opening the museum to 

the river. 

“I’m a fan of the museum. 

I think it’s a treasure that some 

people aren’t aware of. What I 

want to do - and I didn’t quite 

get there with the LTP last time 

- is to open up the back of the 

museum towards the river with 

a terraced platform leading 

down to the jetty, 

“Imagine that - you are 

coming along the river the river 

boat, you get to an attractive 

jetty, there are the beautiful art 

pieces, the Ripples and Tōia 

River rejuvenation is a major part of 

Paula Southgate’s plan for the city. 

Photo: Barker Photography 

Mai, and you can wander up 

the path and big open expansive 

entry to the museum. 

You can wander through the 

museum, connect with Victoria 

Street and go and have something 

really lovely to eat at one 

of the fine eateries.” 

And looking ahead three 

years? 

“Public transport would be 

on the rise again and more efficient 

and effective and in fact 

I think we’ll see some more 

models of transport come in 

like rideshare and others,” she 

says. 

“Community engagement 

will be far better than it is 

presently. I want to lift public 

confidence, public participation 

and community engagement. 

The other part of that is 

I would like to think in three 

years time the CBD would be 

more vibrant with more people 

living, working and playing 

here.” 

Company-X wins 

A hands-free auditing application 

developed by software specialist 

Company-X has won a Reseller 

News Innovation Award. 

Company-X won the Independent 

Software Vendor award for the 

voice-activated food safety 

auditing application developed 

for food safety and biosecurity 

services provider AsureQuality. 

The application runs on the 

RealWear HMT-1 head-mounted 

tablet and enables AsureQuality’s 

inspectors to comment, take 

photographs and capture video 

during an inspection by voice 

alone. Company-X augmented 

and virtual reality specialist 

Lance Bauerfeind said he was 

“exceptionally happy” with the 

win. “It shows that Company-X 

is out there, on the edge, when 

it comes to developing new 

solutions,” Bauerfeind said. 

Life Unlimited 

appoints CEO 

Megan Thomas has been 

appointed chief executive of Life 

Unlimited, a Hamilton-based 

charitable trust which nationally 

provides health and disability 

advice and equipment. Thomas’ 

career in the health, disability 

and social service sectors over 

the last 12 years has been in 

developing the leadership and 

skills of organisations committed 

to social justice and to bringing 

commercial skills to bear 

effectively in social enterprises. 

She has held senior management 

roles in the not for profit sector, 

including Birthright New Zealand 

and CCS Disability Action. In 

recent years Thomas has been 

on Oranga Tamariki’s Workforce 

Working Group and the External 

Reporting Advisory Panel. 

AGRI Business Arrives in the Waikato 

ABC Waikato owners Greg and Scott are pleased to announce that Geoff Pridham will be joining their team of experienced 

business brokers in the Waikato region. He will head up the new Agri Business Sales division. 

Geoff has a long history in the Agricultural sector. He grew up on a deer and cattle farm, and worked on high country 

stations in the South Island. He studied a Bachelor of Commerce (Farm Management) at Lincoln University, and worked 

in the export trade industry from Australia to the Middle East and South East Asia as well as completing a long stint as 

Waikato Regional Manager for the Commercial and Agri Banking sector for 12 years. For the last 5 years he has been 

managing his own very successful manufacturing and distribution business. 

The Agricultural sector continues and will always be a major industry within New Zealand. Agriculture, Forestry, and 

Fishing are the biggest contributors to Waikato’s economic growth, bringing in $400 million to Waikato’s GDP growth of 

$3,295 million. It also is the biggest proportion of all industries in the Waikato, making up 12.7% of Waikato’s GDP and is 

the second biggest employer in the region. 

Given that the yield return on property and bank term deposits are all at historical lows (2%-6%), the expected/potential 

yield return on cash invested in a business seems to be a value proposition worth considering. Buying a business comes 

with its own challenges and for most, a high level of personal satisfaction. It also has a risk and reward factor, but when 

considered against an ROI (pre-tax Return on Investment) that can be anywhere from 18% to 35%, then why wouldn’t you? 

Geoff is hard at work, connecting with the farming community, rural based advisors and agri business owners. If you are 

thinking of investing in an agri business or are currently in business and are considering retirement or other options, then 

give Geoff a call. He will be able to provide you with guidance on value, current market conditions and best of all, he can 

don his gumboots and chat to you about all things agri! Get in touch with Geoff today. 

Geoff Pridham 027 232 1516 

e 

geoffp@abcbusiness.co.nz 

AUCKLAND WAIKATO BAY OF PLENTY ROTORUA - TAUPO HAWKES BAY MANAWATU WELLINGTON CANTERBURY OTAGO 

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Licensed REAA 2008

4 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS October/November 2019 

Hamilton will replace 

Wellington as the 

third largest city of NZ 

But strong growth means you 

have to think smarter! 

Did you know Wellington and the 

Waikato have the same amount of 

businesses in number? But, here’s 

the opportunity: according to our latest 

census, there are 161,000 Hamiltonians 

now compared to 129,000 in 2006 (approx 

32,000 more people). Basically, that 

is massive growth. The growth for Tauranga 

was 103,000 to 136,000 and our 

neighbour north of the Bombays, Auckland, 

went from 1.3m to 1.6m people. So, 

in the Golden Triangle we have grown by 

nearly 370,000 people. Or 420,000 extra 

people if you take in the whole of the 

Waikato and the BOP. 

And Wellington city itself, well it has 

only grown by about 20,000 people to 

202,000 people since 2006. 

So, what does this mean for you in 

your business? 

Well, approximately 40 percent of 

New Zealand’s $300 billion economy 

happens in this area. And that means opportunity. 

But what does opportunity look 

like? Well, you must understand where 

the consumer is heading and what they 

are wanting and how they want it. The 

old adage of giving the customer what 

they want, so you get paid, is always 

changing. However, this is where stats 

and observations about people are your 

friend. So let’s look at the census data for 

Hamilton. 

Hamilton is about an $8 billion economy 

with approximately 93,000 people 

working in the city. This is becoming a 

sizeable economy. And, the point is that it 

is a city, not a rural economy. But what do 

I mean by that? Well, Hamilton is becoming 

less reliant on its rural hinterland and 

more reliant on what city people want. 

Here’s an example: healthcare, science, 

wholesale trade and education 

make up the top four aspects of the comparative 

advantage of Hamilton’s economy 

– basically what we are good at. Yet, 

when you compare that to South Waikato, 

its comparative advantage is in dairy 

farming, dairy manufacturing, logging 

Chris Simpson 

and education. 

The point is that Hamilton is decoupling 

from the region. And if you have 

your HQ in Hamilton, but offices in the 

region, you’ll start to see the disconnect 

more and more as our economy keeps 

growing and intensifying along the relevant 

competitive advantages. Again, the 

old days of one size fits all won’t work for 

your staff over the next 10 years. What 

it’s going to take is a better understanding 

of what the region and city is doing, combined 

with an eye on the opportunity of 

what Auckland and Tauranga offer. 

Add a bit of hard work, thinking and 

good old elbow grease, and you’ll be 

ahead of your competition who may be 

relying on the old “Yeah, I know what’s 

happening and not much really changes”. 

Well, now you know things are changing. 

And you may (read that as should) be 

all over this opportunity. 

Business Floor, Wintec House Cnr Nisbet and Anglesea Street, HAMILTON 

07 839 5895 | help@waikatochamber.co.nz 

www.waikatochamber.co.nz 

Karen May, Kelly Bouzaid and Aroha 

Croft want locals to play their part. 

Spend $10, help 

build a thriving town 


Cambridge retailers are getting some timely 

TLC courtesy of a programme launched to 

encourage residents to spend locally. 

The initiative, Totally 

Locally Cambridge, 

aims to get Cambridge 

and Leamington people spending 

more in their own town, 

to the tune of $10 weekly on 

independent retailers. 

Organisers see a potential 

$6 million benefit to the town, 

with a boost to jobs as well as 

to community. 

The programme is the 

brainchild of Cambridge 

Chamber of Commerce chief 

executive Kelly Bouzaid, and 

comes after a slow winter for 

retailers. 

She has done 

calculations that 

show $10 extra 

weekly to local 

retailers, instead 

of online, at 

supermarkets or in 

Hamilton, would give 

the town’s economy a 

$6 million lift - along 

with a boost to a 

sense of community. 

“It was a tough few months 

for these guys,” Bouzaid said. 

“They were significantly 

down in all sectors including 

hospitality. 

“Everybody talks about the 

bubble of growth that Cambridge 

is in, but we are SMEsville 

and they're working so 

bloody hard. So what we try 

to do is give them the tools to 

survive.” 

The marketing toolkit is 

being made available free 

to Chamber members and 

non-members, totalling about 

180 retailers in Cambridge 

and Leamington. “To make it 

successful, we wanted to be 

completely inclusive,” Bouzaid 

said. 

Launched at the start of 

October with a $10 town 

campaign, including a range 

of offers, Totally Locally 

Cambridge (with the apt 

initials TLC) is being kept in 

the public eye through active 

use of social media, as well as 

signage, and has been boosted 

with a “Did you know?” 

campaign in stores. 

Business and professional 

services have also been 

included. “There's not a lot 

you can't get here in Cambridge,” 

Bouzaid said. 

Chamber membership 

coordinator Aroha Croft 

devoted two months to setting 

up the initiative, with funding 

from the Cambridge Community 

Board. 

The Totally Locally concept 

comes from the UK, 

where Bouzaid says it was 

started in response to the 

impact of big box retailing on 

smaller towns. She introduced 

the scheme to New Zealand in 

Waiheke six years ago. Cambridge 

is bound to draw attention 

as the first major town to 

run the initiative since Geraldine 

followed in Waiheke’s 

footsteps. It comes at a time of 

heightened awareness of the 

impact of online spending. 

The threat is significant, 

according to new research 

from Xero, which it says 

show most Kiwis are sending 

money offshore with their 

spending habits, rather than 

buying local. 

Xero said the research 

found more than half of all 

Kiwis (53.5 percent) would 

prefer to buy locally from 

New Zealand stores. But only 

a third are actually shopping 

locally more than half the 

time. 

Cost seems to be the biggest 

factor, it said - more than 

two thirds of New Zealanders 

(69 percent) aren’t willing to 

pay more than five percent 

extra to support New Zealand-owned 

retailers over an 

international online store. 

Bouzaid points to figures 

showing Cambridge 

locals spending 54 percent 

of their money in their own 

town, and 46 percent outside, 

based on annual spend by 

BNZ cardholders. 

She has done calculations 

that show $10 extra weekly 

to local retailers, instead of 

online, at supermarkets or 

in Hamilton, would give the 

town’s economy a $6 million 

lift - along with a boost to a 

sense of community. 

“You know, there's been a 

question, are we anti-supermarket? 

No, we're not, we are 

just suggesting $10 comes out 

of a supermarket and maybe 

goes to the fruit and vege shop 

or the wine shop to the butcher 

or whatever. 

“And it's interesting 

because you have Auntie Joan 

pick up with Mavis, who she 

hasn't seen for ages, and you 

start to get back to that community-based 

retail environment.” 

Karen May, from Caz 

Design in Cambridge, echoes 

Bouzaid’s comments about 

retailers doing it hard. “When 

you talk to some of the retailers, 

there's been some really 

hard months.” 

Younger people tend to be 

more driven by price rather 

than loyalty, she said. “So 

they'll flit to Hamilton to buy 

cheaper.” 

The challenge is to get 

them to see that their actions 

may affect local retailers. 

“If we're supporting local, 

the town thrives, which then 

makes it a vibrant place. It is 

time to bring it back here.” 

Like May, Debbie Simes 

from Footloose, was involved 

in a similar campaign, Love 

Cambridge, initiated when 

the expressway bypassed the 

town. She says retailers like 

herself could see the benefit of 

Totally Locally. 

“I was all for it,” she said. 

“I think people are probably 

not aware of how much they 

can impact on the local economy 

by just being conscious 

of making their first initial 

spend in their local town. And 

they get that service from 

town. They are supporting 

jobs, they are supporting the 

local economy to grow, the 

flow-on is huge.”


5 

B URNING 

NEWS 

BCD Group acquires PCD Fire Design 

We are excited to announce that 

as of Monday 11th November, 

the team at PCD Fire Designs 

will join BCD Group. 

These two companies have a long and 

successful working relationship having 

worked together for almost ten years on 

plenty of landmark buildings throughout 

New Zealand. The companies have also 

been founded on the very similar core 

values and already share a lot of 

common clients. 

The acquisition means that BCD Group 

will now be able to offer full fire design 

solutions to their clients and allow for a 

seamless management of these services 

into their existing engineering and 

planning offering. 

Peter Dunkin has formally joined 

BCD Group as their Fire Engineering 

Manager and brings with him a wealth 

of experience and practical knowledge. 

After operating PCD Fire Designs for 

over 25 years’, Peter said 

“closing the doors to PCD 

Fire Designs wasn’t an 

easy decision, but the 

opportunity to allow for a 

succession plan and still 

be leading my core service 

within a larger company, 

is something I am very 

excited about”. 

Blair Currie, Managing Director of BCD 

Group, saw this as “the next logical step 

in the evolution of BCD Group. The 

benefit for clients of having fire engineers 

working alongside structural engineers 

as development designs evolve is huge, 

and all disciplines will benefit greatly 

from having this resource in house”. 

For all Fire Engineering queries 

please contact BCD Group where 

you will find it is business as usual. 

(07) 839 9107 

Level 1, Parkhaven, 

220 Tristram Street, Hamilton


Business people 

who give a damn 

An enterprising group of north Hamilton 

business people have started a radically 

simple initiative to give back to the community. 

100 

Locals Who 

Give a Damn 

is a membership-based 

“giving circle” 

inspired by the success of 

groups around the world. 

The concept is simple: 100 

people each give $100 at an 

Impact Donation meeting, 

three local groups/charities 

have the opportunity to pitch 

for the donation at the meeting, 

then and there everyone votes 

and the group that has the most 

votes walks away with $10,000 

to put to incredible use in their 

organisation. 

Their first meeting is on 

November 20, thanks to the 

organising committee of 

Melissa Renwick and Andrew 

Pietersz from The Eatery & 

The Keg Room, and Joanna 

Purdie from Learning Links 

Childcare. 

Waikato Business News 

asked Renwick about the initiative. 

What a great idea. Tell us about 

its genesis - when and how did 

you come up with it? 

Thank you, this is an initiative 

that is run widely in America 

and Canada. A friend of ours 

introduced it to us several years 

ago and as our involvement in 

the community has grown we 

felt that this was an appropriate 

time to launch the group. There 

are so many smaller groups and 

charities out there doing fabulous 

work that just can't get 

their hands on funding, this is 

a way of allowing a group of 

locals to have a direct impact 

on a group in their community 

and really understand how the 

money is going to be used. 

Do you already have 100 

people on board? How did 

you go about spreading the 

word? 

We are at half way with committed, 

signed-up members, 

we've had an enormous amount 

of great feedback and people 

expressing their intentions to 

join, now it's just about getting 

them to commit. 

What about the people who 

are giving - what sort of 

backgrounds do they have? 

Are they local? 

All the people are local, a lot 

from the Hamilton north community; 

however, we are open 

to people from all over our area 

joining us. They are all predominantly 

business owners. 

For a lot of SMEs, we want 

to be able to have an impact 

on someone/something but in 

our small capacity can't quite 

make a difference of any note. 

However, when we all join 

together, then we can have a 

huge impact. 

And what about the groups/ 

charities - how do you select 

the three who will pitch? 

We are asking for groups and 

charities to come forward and 

nominate themselves, or have 

someone nominate them on 

their behalf. As an organising 

committee we will sit down 

and review the nominations; 

we have criteria that we will 

review them against and assess 

the strength of their nomination. 

The meeting looks like a good 

networking opportunity as 

well. Is that part of the idea? 

Absolutely, this is about putting 

100 similar people in a 

room together, allowing them 

to meet and share ideas, potentially 

widen their networks for 

use in their own business. But 

it's also about providing a takeaway 

for these businesses, a 

photograph of the 100 Locals 

that each person can showcase 

their involvement in and a 

story that we can feed back to 

them about the impact they're 

having. 

It looks like similar organisations 

overseas tend to do this 

quarterly. Is that your intention? 

Initially we're going for twice a 

year, but the aim is to get it up 

to quarterly once we have widened 

our network and established 

ourselves. 

Andrew Pietersz and Melissa Renwick. 

Are you aware of any others 

in New Zealand doing 

the same thing? Have you 

been in touch with others to 

spread the word? 

From the editor 

Kia ora 

Community is to the 

fore in this issue of 

Waikato Business News. New 

Hamilton Mayor Paula Soutgate 

wants to see a stronger 

connection between the council 

and community, and cites 

the Rototuna village hub as 

the way forward, with extensive 

engagement. A thriving 

CBD and revitalised river connection 

are also high on her 

agenda, and when it comes 

to dealings with the business 

community, she thinks it’s time 

to have another look at the 

level of developer contribu- 

We're not currently; however, 

we hope there are others out 

there and we would love to 

meet with them to hear how 

it's been working for them in 

tions and wants to see elements 

of the consenting process automated. 

Community is also important 

to another leader we profile 

this month: Leonard Gardner 

of Foster Group. His strong 

Christian ethic underlies his 

approach to leadership, for 

which he won a major property 

award in October, and that 

applies to both business and the 

not-for-profit sector. The key, 

he says, is to put people first. 

And on this page you can read 

about a group of north Hamilton 

business people who have 

started their own initiative to 

their community. 

• See www.theeatery. 

co.nz/100-locals-who-givea-damn/ 

to find out more. 

give back to the community. 

Happy reading. 

Ngā mihi 

Richard Walker 

Editor 

Mental wellbeing programme provides 

healthy tools for support workers 

Hamilton-based social enterprise PressGo 

has launched a mental wellbeing and 

positive communication programme for 

care workers and the people they support. 

The Empowering Positive 

Behaviour programme 

uses effective communication 

techniques and a 

strengths-based approach to 

achieve positive outcomes. 

“We know that when we connect 

with people in the way 

they prefer, we build trust and 

see results.” Chief Executive, 

Karen Covell says. 

PressGo is the social 

enterprise arm of community-based 

organisation Progress 

to Health, and the new programme 

draws upon the organisation’s 

experience supporting 

people with mental health or 

disabilities, as well as practical 

tools from PressGo’s popular 

Mental Health First Aid workshop. 

“Maintaining your own 

wellbeing as a support worker 

is crucial, and the Empowering 

Positive Behaviour programme 

helps care workers to ‘top up 

their tank’.” Mrs Covell says. 

“We developed the programme 

at the request of the sector to 

provide practical tools to help 

manage stress levels and build 

resilience. We’re pleased that 

feedback from attendees shows 

they also use these tools outside 

of work, applying them to 

everyday situations.” 

The importance of a supportive 

team and healthy workplace 

dynamics is another key 

part of the programme and is 

especially important for roles 

in the busy social sector. Personality 

communication styles 

and a self-reflection tool for 

people to understand their role 

within their team is explored, 

along with reflective listening, 

maintaining professionalism in 

difficult situations and healthy 

‘unpacking.’ 

The Empowering Positive 

Behaviour programme is delivered 

either in the workplace or 

off-site for groups of up to 15 

and is run nationwide. 

PressGo offers a range of 

practical and accessible workshops 

and seminars that teach 

healthy ways to deal with 

a range of issues including 

stress, anxiety and workplace 

bullying. 

Mental wellbeing at work 

PressGo is a little social enterprise helping Kiwis navigate the big stuff. 

We run practical mental wellbeing workshops - at our place or yours. 

• Mental Health First Aid workshop. 

• Empowering Positive Behaviour programme. 

• Bullyproof your Business workshop. 

• Frontline - for retail teams (coming soon). 

Talk to us 07 829 4822 

email admin@pressgo.co.nz 

or visit www.pressgo.co.nz


7 

Virtual tour has minister thinking of future 

A government delegation toured a state 

of the art dairy shed, mainline gas valve, 

packhouse and cool store, all in the 

Hamilton office of virtual reality software 

specialist Company-X. 

Minister for Local Government 

and Associate 

Minister Trade 

and Export Growth Nanaia 

Mahuta donned a virtual reality 

headset on October 7 to try 

the latest technology developed 

by the Company-X team. 

“This is very cool,” Mahuta 

said as she approached the 

milking cluster in the simulated 

dairy shed. 

The minister’s experience 

was broadcast to a high definition 

screen watched by list 

MPs Jamie Strange and Angie 

Warren-Clark with the Company-X 

augmented and virtual 

reality team. 

The simulation 

provides fun and 

engaging risk-free 

training for high-risk 

activities.” 

Mahuta punctuated her tour 

of the virtual dairy shed that 

Company-X developed for 

AsureQuality with comments 

such as: “What am I touching?” 

and “Hang on, what is 

that?” 

As Mahuta left the virtual 

dairy shed she said, “Well, that 

WIRED: Minister for Local Government and Associate Minister Trade and Export 

Growth Nanaia Mahuta visits a virtual dairy shed at Company-X in Hamilton. 

was amazing!” 

Mahuta was then transported 

to a virtual model of the 

Te Kowhai Main Line Valve 

developed for natural gas 

transmission and distribution 

network owner First Gas. 

The simulation provides 

fun and engaging risk-free 

training for high-risk activities, 

such as mainline venting, in 

the real world. 

“Oh my gosh,” was 

Mahuta’s response as she 

walked around the virtual environment 

and climbed a virtual 

platform overlooking the gas 

pipes. 

“Far out,” she said. “You 

know what?” 

“It feels like you’re really 

up there,” Warren-Clark 

answered. 

“Yes, it does. It’s unreal,” 

Mahuta replied. 

“I have to say getting up on 

the platform and down again 

was great. Angie, you missed 

out here.” 

Company-X designed and 

developed a virtual shipping 

container for biosecurity clearance 

systems specialist Independent 

Verification Services 

(IVS). IVS is approved by the 

Ministry for Primary Industries 

to complete container biosecurity 

inspections and provide 

national biosecurity training. 

“Imagine training,” said 

Company-X director David 

Hallett. “You can’t just hide 

snakes in containers, it’s illegal. 

At the same time, you need 

to be trained on how to respond 

to a snake in a container.” 

A wireless virtual reality 

headset allows the trainee 

inspector to walk around inside 

the simulated container, in the 

same way, that they would in 

the real world. 

The simulation can recreate 

any biosecurity scenario, from 

minor to major, with no risk 

to the trainee inspector or the 

environment. 

“We randomise all the different 

things that can happen, 

like poisonous spiders,” said 

Company-X augmented and 

virtual reality specialist Lance 

Bauerfeind. 

“We can track head movements 

so we know where they 

are looking.” 

Strange, a former teacher, 

said learning in a virtual environment 

was a more authentic 

learning experience than a 

textbook for most people. 

Mahuta’s delegation also 

saw a virtual packhouse and 

cool store containing thousands 

of pallets of avocado 

and kiwifruit Company-X was 

building for EastPack. 

“What you see in the system 

is what you see in real 

life,” said Hallett. 

The virtual packhouse and 

cool store is millimetre accurate. 

“This gives me a whole new 

appreciation for Minecraft,” 

Mahuta said. 

“When you look across the 

group of ASEAN countries 

and their demographic profile 

they are a younger population, 

digitally-led, and that’s what’s 

going to drive their economy, 

we’ve got to kind of figure 

out how we can impact in the 

knowledge space. 

“More Minecraft then, I 

won’t ever doubt my son.” 

Mahuta suggested Company-X 

develop a virtual model 

of parliament which members 

could attend from anywhere. 

“We can debate from 

home,” she said. 

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CONVERSATIONS WITH 

MIKE NEALE OF NAI 

HARCOURTS HAMILTON 

Suggestions for our new 

council 

The results are out and Hamilton City 

has a new Council that includes five 

new councillors and a new mayor - 

congratulations to all of them for putting 

themselves forward and into public office 

(and the spotlight). Before I get started, 

it’s also likely that I may offend someone 

through this article - so apologies up front 

to those concerned. 

When there is change and a new council 

or government is elected, we seem to 

run the risk of stalling progress, all in the 

name of reviewing “what does the public 

want and what is best for the people?”. 

There has been a lot of progress in 

Hamilton over the last few years. Some of 

it has been due to Hamilton City Council 

policies and actions, other progress has 

been in spite of policies and more the general 

economic effect that many other cities 

and towns have also been fortunate enough 

to experience. 

My concern is that through the consultative 

processes, the new council will 

decide to review all over again almost 

every aspect of the decisions made by the 

previous council. The reason we vote is to 

elect the people who we believe will make 

the right decisions on our behalf, for ourselves 

and our city. Sometimes hard decisions 

need to be made, rightly or wrongly, 

because as a wise man once said, you are 

never going to keep all of the people happy 

all of the time. Potentially we may undo a 

lot of the good work that has taken place, 

such as the two-hour free car parking trial 

in the CBD, which was hard fought and 

viewed positively by retailers - who are the 

ones facing more challenges than most. 

“You can please some of the people all 

of the time, you can please all of the people 

some of the time, but you can’t please 

all of the people all of the time.” - John 

Lydgate 

Some of the important HCC challenges 

that do need to be addressed: 

• Remission on CBD development contributions 

(it’s just too early to remove 

them). 

• Current development contributions 

policy needs to be reviewed and made 

more transparent (anecdotally, it is having 

a negative effect on potential development). 

• Funding of infrastructure. Development 

contributions are a blunt instrument for 

funding infrastructure, which appears 

to be the single biggest issue facing not 

only Hamilton City Council, but most 

councils across the country (alternative 

options need to be considered). 

• Creating a culture of enabling and removing 

red tape (don’t get me started 

on this). 

Let’s also be clear, balancing the books 

with a 9.3 percent rates increase in 2018 

and 3.8 percent increase annually from 

2019 needed to happen. 

“If we don’t make tough decisions 

today, our children are going to have to 

make much, much tougher decisions tomorrow.” 

- Paul Ryan 

Last week it was reported that for the 

first time in 20 years Hamilton City Council 

decided to hold an all-staff meeting, attended 

by approximately 1,200 people at 

Claudelands Event Centre – I have to say 

that was a staggering admission and possibly 

highlights the reason why the public 

and its customers receive inconsistent messages. 

There have been and still are some 

fantastic people within council, from the 

customer service people on the front desk 

Mike Neale - Managing Director, 

NAI Harcourts Hamilton. 

to the elected members, but it’s important 

in any organisation to have everyone singing 

from the same song sheet and receiving 

a clear and consistent message from 

the leadership team. Successful business 

cultures are created when organisations 

are clear on where they are heading and 

acknowledging that each and every person 

has a responsibility in this. Without this, 

silos are created, leading to everyone not 

necessarily pulling the boat in the same 

direction. 

“Leaders need to provide strategy and 

direction and to give employees the tools 

that enable them to gather information 

and insight from around the world. Leaders 

shouldn’t try to make every decision.” 

- Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft 

I would urge the new councilors in 

particular to get up to speed as quickly as 

possible, to be able to make informed decisions 

– council’s role is my view is around 

providing and maintaining infrastructure, 

responsibility for streetscapes and being an 

enabler for business and development. We 

need to continue to see tangible outcomes 

for a growing city, not just reports, reviews 

and “lip service” consultation. 

My last piece of friendly advice? Do 

not be afraid to consult with the likes of 

the Property Council and Hamilton Central 

Business Association - they are full 

of passionate people, with a broad array 

of skills and knowledge from the private 

sector, who not only want to provide input 

and perspectives on what they believe 

is best for the city, but do so without any 

financial reward. These organisations with 

their extensive memberships have integral 

businesses looking to provide a collective 

voice for the betterment of our city. 

Little known fact: 

Enough drinking water for a whole country 

- from one spring! 

The Te Waikoropupu Springs in Golden 

Bay are record breakers. They push out 

more fresh water than any other springs in 

the world, producing one to two billion litres 

of water a day. If required, the springs 

could provide enough drinking water to 

supply the entire population of New Zealand. 

As if that wasn’t enough, the spring 

waters are the clearest natural water in the 

world outside of Antarctica. You can see an 

average of 63 metres when you look down 

through the water. 

NAI Harcourts Hamilton 

Monarch Commercial Ltd MREINZ Licensed 

Agent REAA 2008 

Cnr Victoria & London Streets, HAMILTON 

07 850 5252 | hamilton@naiharcourts.co.nz 

www.naiharcourts.co.nz 

201961AH 

Jono Gibson says they are 

getting increased interest from 

organisations seeking funding. 

Pride in giving 

back to community 

When Jono Gibson moved from Auckland 

to take on the role of funeral director and 

manager at Cambridge Funerals he fulfilled 

half of his career game plan. 

Whanganui-born Gibson 

had always 

intended to return to 

the provinces as a partner in a 

funeral business – but not as 

an employee. 

But then Gibson had not 

encountered the Legacy Trust 

business model before. 

The Trust, which owns 

Cambridge Funerals, was 

established to plough profits 

back into the community and 

recently donated $1000 to the 

Cambridge Autumn Festival. 

The donation comes on top 

of the $24,000 returned to the 

community in the last year 

through grants to Cambridge 

Primary School PTA, Cambridge 

High School Rowing 

Club, Cambridge Golf Club, 

Cambridge Tree Trust, Resthaven, 

and Wheels in Motion 

at Home of Cycling. 

Gibson says he and his 

wife Ashleigh were keen to 

get involved in a community 

minded business. 

“My dream was provincial 

New Zealand and starting a 

funeral home, but this opportunity 

came up and that’s all 

changed. I was quite keen to 

work for a company that gave 

back to the community. 

“This position gives me a 

huge amount of pride, rather 

than working in the corporate 

We have copped 

some flak as people 

don’t understand the 

concept or simply 

don’t believe it. The 

Trust is operated 

with complete 

transparency 

adhering to the strict 

rules regarding trusts 

and all donations are 

public. 

model of a funeral home. I 

really enjoy my role here as 

it gives me the opportunity 

to care for families but also 

knowing that in doing so we 

are helping our local community.” 

The business model was 

set up in 2007 by Tauranga 

identity Greg Brownless, who 

accepted $1 from the newly 

minted Trust for his two businesses, 

the Woodhill and Tauranga 

Park funeral homes, 

which had an estimated value 

of $1.2-million. 

Stuart Houchen, who ran 

Cambridge Funerals for 13 

years, sold to the Legacy 

Trust in August last year. In 

Tauranga, where the philanthropic 

business model has 

been in place around 12 years, 

in excess of $3-million has 

been put back into the local 

community through more than 

400 local organisations who 

have received grants ranging 

anywhere from $100 to well 

over $250,000. 

Brownless set up the 

Trust after working in Thailand 

helping repatriate bodies 

following the 2004 tsunami 

which killed more than 

200,000 people in a number of 

countries. 

“While he was there, he 

had an epiphany, and decided 

to make the Legacy Trust 

business model a reality in his 

lifetime,” Gibson said. 

In Cambridge, Houchen 

has stayed on as the Trust’s 

area ambassador and helps 

decide on the twice-yearly 

selection of local charities earmarked 

for donations. 

Gibson says people are 

sometimes suspicious of the 

business model at first but 

they are getting increased 

interest from organisations 

seeking funding. 

“We have copped some 

flak as people don’t understand 

the concept or simply 

don’t believe it. The Trust is 

operated with complete transparency 

adhering to the strict 

rules regarding trusts and all 

donations are public.”


9 

Images courtesy of Momentum Waikato. 

Regional theatre 

wins crucial backing 

The long-awaited Waikato Regional 

Theatre has landed. 

The region will soon be 

home to a world-class 

1300-seat theatre, providing 

more local jobs and a 

boost for tourism thanks to a 

$12 million investment from 

the Government’s Provincial 

Growth Fund. 

Prime Minister Jacinda 

Ardern made the announcement 

during a visit to Hamilton. 

The investment will see: 

• The new 1300-seat theatre 

built on the former Hamilton 

Hotel site, overlooking 

Waikato River. 

• A large stage, orchestra pit, 

and public foyer. 

• $12 million from the PGF 

towards the $73.9 million 

project. 

• A private project triggered 

by this investment – the 

$32 million Victoria Property 

Hotel. 

• 300 jobs in total from both 

the theatre and hotel construction 

and operation. 

The funding structure 

is a mix between Government, 

Hamilton City Council, 

Waikato Regional Council, 

and various trusts and philanthropic 

investors. 

“The Government is making 

good progress on strengthening 

regional economies 

through building new infrastructure 

that boosts regional 

wellbeing,” Ardern said. 

“Like many locals I have 

great memories of performances 

at the Founders Theatre. 

While it’s sad to have lost 

this venue, it’s fantastic to see 

a new plan developed.” 

Hamilton-based Labour 

MP Jamie Strange said the 

Waikato Regional Theatre was 

part of the region coming of 

age. 

He said the Provincial 

Growth Fund pitch had been a 

team effort, and said Momentum 

Waikato chief executive 

Kelvyn Eglinton deserved 

special praise for his strong 

advocacy. 

Strange expected the theatre 

would encourage more 

hotels to open in the CBD. 

“The economic flow-on 

benefits to businesses and 

accommodation providers will 

provide uplift for our whole 

region,” he said. 

“This is part of a wider 

project to turn Hamilton city to 

face the river. It will complement 

the work already done, 

and inspire and encourage further 

development.” 

Construction of the theatre 

is expected to begin in early 

2020 and take two years. 

Experience care as it 

should be, experience 

the Braemar way. 

Braemar Hospital is one of the largest 

private surgical hospitals in New Zealand, 

and it’s here in Hamilton. 

With more than 100 world class specialists, 

10 state-of-the-art operating rooms, 84 beds 

including 32 private rooms, at Braemar 

you’ll receive the highest level of care. 

Choose the very best. 

Choose Braemar. 

braemarhospital.co.nz 

Waikato Branch – Upcoming events/courses 

At the Institute of Directors we’re 

on the pulse of governance. 

Connecting, equipping and 

inspiring directors through thought 

leadership and our extensive 

network, professional governance 

courses, events and resources. 

NFP Summit 

6 November, 4.00pm – 6.00pm, FMG Stadium 

Speakers: Craig Fisher and Henri Eliot plus panel Q&A 

The 4 Day Week: A simple idea on a global stage 

14 November, 12.00pm – 2.00pm 

Speakers: Andrew Barnes, Coultard Barnes 

To register, please contact 

Megan Beveridge 

Branch Manager 

Waikato.branch@iod.org.nz 

021 358772 

www.iod.org.nz 

Waikato branch is kindly sponsored by: 

J1121P

- 


Chamber board 

members elected 

Three new board members 

were elected to the Waikato 

Chamber of Commerce at 

its AGM. Philip Monahan is a 

senior lawyer at Tompkins Wake 

and is the lead on AdviSME, 

which aims to help small 

business by providing legal 

advice at a cheaper price point. 

Peter Nation is chief executive 

of NZ National Fieldays Society, 

with a career in commercial 

business, sales management, 

manufacturing, finance and 

governance. Emily Zhang, of 

Trustco Ltd, recently started 

her own businesses in financing 

and entertainment after a 12 

year banking career. They join 

Don Good, Jason Cargo, Riki 

Manarangi, Senga Allen, Tracey 

Clark and Zhu Xi 

Tradies flock to 

new units 

Award-winning Hamilton 

developers Black & Orange 

have had good uptake of the 19 

trade units they are building at 

Bristol Place in Te Rapa. With 

the build set to finish in March, 

13 are already under contract. 

“We knew that the market was 

screaming out for units in a 

great location,” director Mitch 

Mace said. The company, which 

developed Parkhaven (see story, 

page 16) is working on a similar 

build in Tauranga, and hoping 

to start construction in April. It 

will have two levels of basement 

carparking, a single level of 

commercial, and four levels of 

residential with 33 penthouses 

and apartments. 

Wellbeing 

feedback sought 

Waikato people are being 

asked what they think of a 

set of 17 wellbeing goals. The 

Waikato Wellbeing Project will 

identify specific targets that 

are relevant to the Waikato 

context based on the UN’s 

Sustainable Development Goals. 

Community conversations are 

being held during November, 

and people are also encouraged 

to use the website - www. 

waikatowellbeingproject.co.nz 

- to provide their feedback if 

they can’t make a session. 

“There is an online voting tool 

and people can also access 

information about how they can 

host their own conversations 

about the goals if they want to,” 

said Waikato Plan Leadership 

Committee project sponsor 

Eugene Berryman-Kamp. 

Recognition for outstanding 

business alumni 

Key business people, stakeholders and 

university leaders gathered to celebrate the 

achievements of three alumni in October 

at the University of Waikato Distinguished 

Alumni Awards. 

The gala dinner takes 

place each year to celebrate 

and honour graduates 

who have made outstanding 

contributions to their 

professions and fields. 

ASB CEO Vittoria Shortt, 

SweeneyVesty chairman Brian 

Sweeney, and Prolife Foods 

CEO Andrew Smith were all 

recipients of the award, alongside 

former All Black and All 

Blacks coach Wayne Smith who 

received his award in a separate 

ceremony in September. 

Shortt, Sweeney and Smith 

all spoke at events for Hamilton 

and Tauranga communities 

in the leadup to the awards dinner, 

which gave staff, students 

and members of the public an 

opportunity to engage with the 

awardees. 

Shortt left the University 

of Waikato with a Bachelor 

of Management Studies and 

quickly found her niche in the 

corporate finance sector, first 

Jon Tanner from Craigs Investment Partners, 

and Andrew Flexman from Forsyth Barr. 

Former All Black and All 

Blacks coach Wayne Smith. 

working with Deloitte and Carter 

Holt Harvey before moving 

into banking in Australia. 

She returned to New Zealand 

in 2018 to become CEO 

of ASB. Shortt is a member of 

Global Women New Zealand 

and Chief Executive Women 

Australia, an organisation representing 

senior women leaders 

from corporate, public service, 

academic and not-for-profit 

sectors working to remove barriers 

to women’s progression in 

the financial sector. 

Sweeney, BA graduate, is 

co-founder of international 

business strategy and communications 

agency SweeneyVesty. 

He set up the agency with 

Jane Vesty in Wellington in 

1987 and is now chairman of 

the company that has its head 

office in New York with clients 

all over the world. 

He is co-founder of the website 

NZEDGE.COM, dedicated 

to strengthening the identity 

Dr Andrew Smith, 

CEO of Prolife Foods. 

David Hallett from Company-X, former University Chancellor Rt Hon Sir James 

Bolger, University Professor Frank Scrimgeour, National MP and University 

alumnus Tim Macindoe and Vijay Kumar from the University of Waikato. 

of New Zealanders around the 

world by celebrating their stories 

and successes. He is also 

co-founder of 7 x 7, an ideas 

and networking forum to spark 

innovative global change from 

within New Zealand. 

Dr Andrew Smith studied 

physics at Waikato, graduating 

with a Master of Science. 

He was the university’s first 

Rhodes Scholar, which saw 

him going to Oxford University 

to complete a PhD. 

He is CEO of Hamilton-based 

Prolife Foods, 

known for such brands as 

Mother Earth, Alison’s Pantry 

and Donovans Chocolates. 

On his watch the company 

has grown from principally a 

domestic business to an international 

one, selling into Australia, 

Asia, the United States 

and Middle East and becoming 

one of Waikato’s largest and 

most successful family-owned 

business. 

Wayne Smith graduated 

with a Bachelor of Social Sciences 

with Honours in 1979 

when rugby was still an amateur 

game. He made a very successful 

transition to coaching at 

the conclusion of his playing 

career and peers dubbed him 

University of Waikato Vice-Chancellor 

Professor Neil Quigley and Chairman of 

SweeneyVesty Brian Sweeney. 

Chairperson of Mesh Sculpture Hamilton, Nancy 

Caiger, Hamilton Mayor Paula Southgate, and Chief 

Executive of Waikato-Tainui, Parekawhia McLean. 

Ian Jackson from Prolife Foods, Peter Sun from 

the University of Waikato, Sharon Dunford, Howie 

King and Sean Lambly from Prolife Foods. 

“the professor” for his skill as 

tactician and outstanding command 

of defence and counter 

attack. He joined Graham 

Henry in the All Blacks coaching 

team in 2004 and the pair 

worked together to change the 

culture of the national side. 

University of Waikato Vice- 

Chancellor Professor Neil Quigley 

and CEO of ASB Vittoria Shortt. 

-


11 

One Team Approach Shapes the Future 

for Innovative Waikato Manufacturer 

Always looking forward and seeking opportunities to improve, 

company growth has been a key factor in the success of 

Waikato based Manufacturing company TRT (Tidd Ross Todd 

Limited), leaders in truck and trailer parts and service, crane sales 

and service, and heavy transport manufacturing. 

In 2017, and employing 160 

people at their 44,000sqm 

site at Te Rapa, TRT has 

built a reputation for its unparalleled 

innovation, expertise 

and reliability. Today with sites 

in Hamilton, Auckland, Christchurch 

and Brisbane, TRT 

boasts 265 employees across 

its four locations. 

Growth has been built on 

the innovation of its manufactured 

product, rapid expansion 

of its transport parts operation 

and becoming the New Zealand 

distributor for Hiab and 

Zepro. However, through this 

success TRT has not lost sight 

of its most important asset – 

people. 

Dave Carden, TRT’s 

founder and director explains, 

“People are everything. It’s so 

easy to go and buy million-dollar 

tools to do something – 

which we’ve done repeatedly 

- but it’s bloody hard to get 

people to drive it. You’ve got 

to treat the people in such a 

way that they want to come 

and drive it.” 

Chief operations officer 

Lawrence Baker, who joined 

TRT two years ago as part of 

the company’s 10-year strategy, 

is driving this new ‘One 

Team’ approach within the 

business. 

“This approach is a tangible 

recognition that our success 

is grounded in our people. 

Therefore, the team’s ability to 

grow and adapt as we continue 

on our journey is very important 

to us. It’s about ensuring 

everyone feels valued and recognised 

as a key member of 

the team, from encouraging 

collaboration, providing development 

opportunities, through 

to celebrating success, recognition 

and developing strong 

leadership across all parts of 

our business.” 

It’s about ensuring 

everyone feels valued 

and recognised as a 

key member of the 

team.” 

Lawrence continues, 

“A strong family ethic runs 

through the company, with the 

people a key focus of all major 

business decisions, including 

the decision to keep all manufacturing 

in New Zealand and 

minimising outsourcing within 

the manufacturing process, all 

to retain roles in-house. Developing 

career and future pathways 

is a critical part of the 

One Team programme,” 

“Our ‘One Team’ approach 

is simple, but it is a journey for 

the team. The team has identified 

mentoring as a key component 

to achieve our ‘One Team’ 

goals. So, we have called upon 

the skills coach and mentor 

Ricki Herbert to help guide 

this development internally,” 

says Lawrence. 

Ricki Herbert is the founder 

and managing director of The 

Ricki Herbert Football Academy. 

Now based in Cambridge, 

he is a former New Zealand 

international, professional 

footballer and renowned coach 

- including both the All Whites 

and Wellington Phoenix. 

“Pulling in such a wellknown 

sporting personality 

who has the experience of 

having coached and managed 

national football teams at 

sports’ top levels, has a special 

synergy for us. It’s a practical 

hands on approach to mentoring 

our senior team as they 

develop their careers with 

TRT,” says Lawrence. 

Ricki adds “I have worked 

with Lawrence to develop a 

programme that is specifically 

Lawrence Baker and Ricki Herbert Promote One Team at TRT 

designed to meet the ‘One 

Team’ goals. Leaders need to 

bring their teams on a journey, 

especially in periods of 

growth like that which TRT is 

experiencing. The programme 

includes group mentoring 

workshop sessions and one 

on one mentoring sessions for 

developing individual leadership 

skills.” 

This philosophy is now 

being realised within the business 

in a number of practical 

ways. Lawrence explains, “In 

May, the TIDD Pick and Carry 

Crane was launched into the 

Australian market, going headto-head 

with a competitor that 

claimed 96% market share. It 

was a brave move, but we had 

the distinct advantage of being 

the only company in New Zealand 

and Australia that manufactures 

locally. We could 

completely control the output”. 

TRT’s ‘One Team’ approach 

is also exemplified with individual 

commitment. Lawrence 

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who have been with the company 

longer than 10 years, and 

some as long as 40 years. This 

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floor and up through the ranks. 

It is testament to the visionary 

leadership of the Carden family 

for more than 52 years.” 

The “10 Year” awards were 

celebrated by TRT at the Wintec 

Atrium in Hamilton with a 

dinner on Thursday, 25 October 

2019 with around 90 staff 

and partners, shareholders, 

directors and the TRT Board in 

attendance. Ricki Herbert was 

also the guest speaker. 

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13 

New book marks 

Waikato law firm’s 

100th year 

Waikato law firm McCaw Lewis launched 

its centennial book in style in October. 

The book, written by 

well-known author and 

journalist Kingsley 

Field, tells the story of the 

firm and its people, many who 

have gone on to hold prominent 

roles in the judiciary, 

Waitangi Tribunal, Parliament 

and local politics. 

Founded in 1919, McCaw 

Lewis has grown to become 

one of the Waikato’s leading 

law firms, specialising in commercial 

and property law, with 

a particular focus on Māori 

law and tikanga. 

McCaw Lewis director 

and history aficionado Brendan 

Cullen, who has driven 

the project over the past 18 

months, understands the 

importance of telling the firm’s 

story. “The story, of course, is 

not just that of a law firm. We 

have grown with Hamilton 

and the wider Waikato, so the 

book is littered with history of 

the region,” he says. 

The book is based on interviews 

with current and former 

staff, along with a manuscript 

which was drafted in the early 

1990s by historian Cheryl 

Simes. 

Senior solicitor Charlotte 

Muggeridge notes that “it’s 

Wally King started a sole 

practice in 1919. 

crazy to think that Hamilton’s 

population was only 9000 

people 100 years ago. The 

firm has grown with the city 

and with the clients.” 

She says she enjoyed being 

part of the project, and sees 

the importance of recording 

the past. “The people who 

have walked before us here 

at McCaw Lewis were huge 

community contributors and 

it’s important to recognise 

their work and the foundations 

they laid - both for McCaw 

Senior solicitor Charlotte Muggeridge says the 

firm has grown with the city and with the clients. 

Lewis, and Hamilton.” 

The firm, which would 

ultimately lead to the McCaw 

Lewis of today, was started by 

Wally King, a decorated World 

War I Captain who started 

a sole practice on Victoria 

Street in 1919. He was soon 

joined by Ronald “Punch” 

McCaw, a man who gave so 

much time and expertise to the 

city in 1958 he was awarded 

an MBE for his services to the 

Hamilton community. 

There were several other 

partners through to the 1940s 

when property and commercial 

lawyer Don Arcus joined, 

to be followed by his son 

Doug in the mid-1960s. Hamilton’s 

first female lawyer, 

Kath Coup, was employed by 

the firm in 1943. 

The firm evolved through 

name changes to become 

McCaw Smith and Arcus, 

before being joined by the 

long-standing Cambridge/ 

Hamilton firms of Lewis Jecks 

and Co in 1982 and Chapman 

Cartwright and Co in 

1984 to form the partnership 

of McCaw Lewis Chapman. 

Other notable members have 

included Don Shirley, whose 

career with the firm spanned 

45 years, and Steve Brooker 

who was there for 49 years. 

Sir Ronald Young, who was a 

partner until the late 80s, went 

on to become New Zealand’s 

longest-serving judge. Later 

there was Julie Hardaker, who 

became Hamilton mayor. 

Privileged to supply furniture for 

McCaw Lewis 

“We had the pleasure of working with Crestline over what was a relatively 

rushed office move. What set Crestline apart was firstly their desire to 

understand how we work, and then their willingness to get things done and 

solve whatever challenges we threw at them. Their friendly and accessible 

team went over and above to ensure they delivered what was promised, 

despite the challenges of tight time-frames and moving targets.” 

Daniel Shore – Director, McCaw Lewis Lawyers 

Want to find out how we can 

help you create an inspiring and 

uplifting workspace? 

Get in touch with us today 

crestline.co.nz 0508 993 993

Directors Thomas Gibbons and Renika Siciliano, Professor 

Margaret Wilson and McCaw Lewis Board Chair Brendan Cullen. 

McCaw Lewis 

celebrates proud 

milestone 

Waikato law firm McCaw Lewis has 

celebrated its centennial year with a special 

function at Zealong Estate, honouring 

those who have contributed to the firm’s 

success over the past 100 years. 

Current and past partners 

and directors were 

joined by descendants 

of the firm’s founding partners 

for the black-tie event. 

The Hamilton firm was 

started by Wally King, a decorated 

World War I Captain who 

started a sole practice on Victoria 

Street in 1919. He was soon 

joined by Ronald “Punch” 

McCaw, a man who gave so 

much time and expertise to the 

city he was awarded an MBE 

in 1958 for his services to the 

Hamilton community. 

Today McCaw Lewis has 

grown to become one of the 

Waikato’s leading law firms, 

specialising in commercial and 

property law, with a focus on 

Māori law and tikanga. Many 

former members have gone on 

to hold prominent roles in the 

judiciary, Waitangi Tribunal, 

Parliament and local politics. 

Highlights of the evening 

included speeches from former 

Managing Partners Doug 

Arcus and Don Shirley, former 

Partner Melanie Harland 

and current Director Renika 

Siciliano. Guests were also 

treated to a special performance 

from Te Kapa o Koiora 

- the firm’s own kapa haka 

rōpū (group), including waiata 

written to celebrate McCaw 

Lewis’ past leaders and the 

pursuit of law. 

Fifteen past leaders were 

also honoured as members 

of the McCaw Lewis Hall of 

Fame. The criteria to become 

a “Hall of Famer” included 

being a former partner or 

director for more than 20 

years, holding a judicial office 

appointment, being an MP, or 

being appointed as a Queen’s 

Counsel or other appointment 

of note. Those honoured were: 

Wally J King, Ronald 

“Punch” McCaw, Noel Smith, 

Don Arcus, Steve Brooker, 

Bill Dillion, Doug Arcus, 

David Wilson Q.C., Don 

Shirley, Jeremy Doogue, Sir 

Ronald Young, Justice David 

Gendall, Judge Melanie 

Harland, Judge Stephen Clark 

and Julie Hardaker. 

Former Managing Partner Don Shirley and 

current Managing Director Aidan Warren. 

Sir Ron Young and Renika Siciliano. 

Te Kapa o Koiora - 

the firm’s own kapa 

haka rōpū.

Former Managing Partner Doug Arcus. 

Jamie Strange, Director Thomas Gibbons and Angela Strange. 

McCaw Lewis has 

grown to become 

one of the Waikato’s 

leading law firms, 

specialising in 

commercial and 

property law, with a 

focus on Māori law 

and tikanga." 

Bruce and Sally Wilson, 

David Wilson QC and Dianne Cameron. 

Long-serving Partner Steve 

Brooker and Rae Brooker. 

Carolyn and Noel Edwards, daughter and 

son-in-law of former Partner Noel Smith. 

Photographer - Anita Pitu


PROPERTY PEOPLE AWARDS 

Hamilton’s $14.5 

million Parkhaven 

wins supreme award 

A landmark mixed-use building in 

Hamilton’s CBD has taken out the top 

honour at Waikato’s major property awards. 

Hamilton’s $14.5 

million mixed-use 

Parkhaven development 

won the Baker Tilly 

Staples Rodway Supreme 

Excellence Award at the We 

Are Waikato Property People 

Awards, run by the Property 

Council. 

The complex, which 

overlooks the cityscape and 

Hamilton’s green belt, also 

won the Boffa Miskell Urban 

Design Award. 

The 2300 square metre 

development by Black & 

Orange was completed in 

January and includes a café, 

high-end residential apartments 

and penthouses. 

“Parkhaven has added 

to the rejuvenation of the 

northern end of the city and 

serves as an inspiration to the 

wider property industry for 

future mixed-use developments,” 

said the judges. “The 

Parkhaven Team followed 

urban design best practice and 

principles when crafting this 

project, as they transformed 

a group of dated single level 

buildings into a premium 

five-story complex.” 

Black & Orange director 

Mitch Mace says it was very 

much a team effort, including 


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17 

Leonard Gardner and 

the Fosters team. 

People first, says 

leadership winner 


People matter most and teamwork is key 

to business success, says Foster Group 

director and shareholder Leonard Gardner. 

That approach sees Fosters 

in “fantastic” shape 

and also sees Gardner 

contributing to the wider 

community, notably as chair 

of philanthropic organisation 

Momentum Waikato. 

It has also seen him take out 

the Foster Construction Outstanding 

Leadership Award at 

the We Are Waikato Property 

People Awards. 

He is modest about the win, 

saying any such recognition 

really comes from the privilege 

of fronting a wider team. 

“When people are the most 

important thing, you work out 

it's not about how smart you 

are. It's actually about how 

engaged the people are you're 

dealing with.” 

That means it’s not about 

having a hard and fast way of 

doing things but about meeting 

people where they are at and 

then journeying with them. 

In Gardner’s case, he is 

describing an approach both 

to business and to community, 

which looms large for him. He 

brings a strong Christian faith 

to both. 

Gardner says he understands 

it was people from 

the community, rather than 

from Fosters, who nominated 

him for the award, which he 

describes as humbling. 

“Momentum Waikato is 

very much about creating better 

community. And that obviously 

aligns with the Fosters 

purpose of great communities 

through strong foundations, 

and aligns with my personal 

values which are biblically 

based around ‘love your 

neighbour as yourself’. 

That ethos guides an 

approach that sees generosity 

as an important part of leadership. 

“You can't do that [love 

your neighbour] by being selfish. 

You know, it's actually a 

generous act,” he says. “Servant 

leadership is actually all 

about serving others. It’s about 

giving of yourself to others in 

order to lead and guide. 

“I think the leadership 

award was recognition of the 

ability to have a vision. And to 

carry a vision and draw people 

around the vision and move 

forward.” 

The focus on people has 

helped put Foster Construction 

in “fantastic” shape, says 

Gardner who started there as 

company accountant in 2003 

and bought into the firm three 

years later. 

“In an industry that really 

struggles, we've built an 

amazing team. We've got a 

sustainable business, because 

we invest in people at all levels. 

We've got an amazing client 

base who just trust us and 

we honour that trust. And all 

those things mean we're really 

well placed moving forward.” 

I think generally 

people believe we’ve 

got a very livable 

city and we’ve got 

a fantastic place to 

bring up families and 

a fantastic community 

to be a part of, as a 

general rule. 

A key upcoming project is 

Union Square, the major CBD 

office development planned 

for the site bounded by Anglesea, 

Hood and Alexandra 

Streets. As Ebbett Holden 

moves out, the 10,000 square 

metre site will become a mixed 

use development including six 

landmark buildings enveloping 

a central plaza. Gardner 

says they are hoping to get 

underway early in the second 

quarter of next year, with some 

significant tenants lined up. 

Looking back over the past 

year, he singles out the APL 

development at Hautapu. The 

relationship has been long 

term, with Fosters also responsible 

for the company’s earlier 

Hamilton buildings going 

back 25 years. “We've always 

worked for them and it's been 

a high trust relationship.” 

But Gardner also says a 

highlight of the year would be 

dealing with small to medium 

businesses around the Waikato 

to help them grow. 

Looking at the broader picture 

of Hamilton and Waikato, 

Gardner is positive despite the 

high cost of growth. 

“I see a number of leaders 

coming through in different 

sectors of the community, for 

profit and not for profit, who 

are passionate about Waikato 

and Hamilton as their space 

and home. 

“I think generally people 

believe we've got a very livable 

city and we've got a fantastic 

place to bring up families 

and a fantastic community 

to be a part of, as a general 

rule. And people want to continue 

to see it become better 

and are prepared to invest.” 

It comes back to vision 

for Gardner. “I think the city 

in particular has got more of 

a vision now about where it 

wants to be than it did 10 years 

ago, even five years ago.” 

When it comes to vision, 

Gardner asked an intriguing 

question at a mayoral forum 

during the election campaign. 

Imagine a benefactor who gave 

the city $1 billion to spend as 

they wished but not on debt 

reduction. What what they do? 

The answers were varied, with 

Andrew King perhaps stealing 

the show by saying he would 

build a subway. 

What would Gardner 

himself do? The answer 

starts in Munich earlier this 

year, when Gardner saw how 

well their light rail system 

worked. Given the talk about 

how Hamilton could become 

New Zealand’s second largest 

FOSTER CONSTRUCTION 

OUTSTANDING LEADERSHIP AWARD 

Leonard Gardner 

city, he thinks now would 

be the time to build our own 

light rail system. It could use 

the Wairere Drive corridor as 

part of a ring route while also 

connecting into the centre of 

town as well as pushing out 

into surrounding towns. “If 

there was a light rail system 

within the city that connected 

up with those things, then 

we're poised for managed 

growth.”



Award caps remarkable career 


Being prepared to take on challenges has 

seen Hamilton engineering geologist Emily 

Cleland forge a remarkable career, which 

was recognised at the annual We Are 

Waikato Property People Awards. 

Taking out the Rider Levett 

Bucknall Young Achiever 

of the Year Award came 

five years almost to the month 

after she co-founded HD Geo 

and in the same week she was 

accepted onto a national leadership 

programme. 

It follows five years 

of growth for the firm she 

founded as a 28-year-old with 

geotech engineer Andrew Holland 

in November 2014. Eighteen 

months ago they shifted 

from Te Rapa to premises on 

London Street, bringing them 

DP MEDIA WOULD LIKE TO 

CONGRATULATE 

ALL WINNERS OF THE PROPERTY COUNCIL 'WE ARE 

WAIKATO PROPERTY PEOPLE AWARDS' 2019 

closer to other consulting firms 

in the CBD. 

She says she is fortunate to 

have always had people who 

encouraged and challenged her 

to push harder 

“I have always tried to be 

prepared for those opportunities 

when they have arisen.” 

That certainly applies to 

the formation of HD Geo. At 

the time she and Holland both 

worked for Aecom. 

“Andrew approached me 

one day and said, ‘What do 

you think about starting our 

own business?’ I was like, ‘let's 

do it.’ It was probably a two 

minute conversation.” 

About 18 months ago, Terre 

Nicholson joined the firm, 

with a focus on working with 

contaminated land. That sees 

them in a good position in the 

industry, one of very few of the 

smaller consultancies to offer 

the specialty service. 

Major projects they have 

worked on include Rotokauri 

Rise and Visy. They work at 

building partner relationships 

with other firms and that has 

borne fruit most notably as part 

of a group of smaller firms that 

won the geotech consultants 

contract for Thames Coromandel 

District Council. 

“We've deliberately chosen 

not to go into other fields 

because those partnerships 

with other consultants are 

really important to us.” 

Their staffing sits at about 

17, rising to 20 when they take 

on university students during 

the summer months. They 

established an Auckland office 

late last year when one of their 

consultants shifted there. 

Cleland enjoys building 

the business, and that sees her 

preparing for succession as she 

takes on the advanced leadership 

programme with Leadership 

in Women NZ, a 12-month 

course. 

Cleland said she has always 

had mentors who have pushed 

her, and she is now playing a 

similar role herself within the 

firm. She has a clear view of 

her own approach and that of 

the firm. 

“I think I've worked really 

hard to get to where I am but 

it hasn't been at the expense of 

other people, or the team or the 

culture. [It comes from] being 

RIDER LEVETT BUCKNALL YOUNG 

ACHIEVER OF THE YEAR AWARD 

Emily Cleland 

really deliberate about the type 

of person I want to be and the 

people that we want on the 

team and the type of business 

that we want to come across as 

- and that's being good people 

who work with good people. 

“And I think because it's an 

area that I'm passionate about, 

and because we have such great 

people here who do technically 

fantastic work, by trying to pull 

together all those elements it's 

created a good service.” 

The firm has a strong 

female presence, which Cleland 

welcomes as contributing 

to its diversity. 

These days she gets out in 

the field less often as she concentrates 

on developing the 

business. “I love being out in 

the field. And so occasionally it 

will happen. But I also love the 

opportunity to just create this 

really great business. 

“I see my future as trying 

to build up other people in 

the team to bring them in and 

replace me so that I can step 

away from the business and 

go help other businesses succeed 

and also to mentor other 

people.” 

Emily Cleland in the field. 

GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING 

ENVIRONMENTAL - CONTAMINATION 

OBSERVATIONAL - DRONES 

hdgeo.co.nz 

Hamilton 07 957 2727 | Auckland 022 155 8308 

203350AC

Form Building and 

Developments were proud 

to be part of the winning 

project team alongside Black 

and Orange Property who 

were recognised recently at 

the 2019 Property Council 

NZ - Property People Awards, 

taking out the Boffa Miskell 

Urban Design Award and the 

Bakertilly Staples Rodway 

Supreme Excellence Award 

for the Parkhaven Luxury 

Apartments. 

Designed by Edwards White 

Architects, this development 

offers 21 luxury apartments 

including 5 large light-filled 

penthouses on levels 2 - 4 along 

with retail and commercial 

space on the ground and first 

floors. It showcases a new 

definition of fashionable innercity 

living for Hamilton’s CBD 

and is a first for this segment of 

the market which is set to grow 

as demand for apartment living 

increases in the Hamilton area. 

Also underway by Form in the 

region is a new 4-storey/40 

guest room extension to 

the Novotel Tainui building; 

the new Rototuna Town 

Centre commercial and retail 

development; design and 

build of a large warehouse and 

office space for Northpower’s 

Waikato team and the London 

Central residential development 

comprising 18 apartments and 11 

townhouses. 

These are busy times for 

Form with the company 

now servicing many sectors 

including commercial, largescale 

residential and remedial, 

industrial, education, fitout and 

retail projects. With a growing 

team of 200 spread across 

Hamilton, Auckland and the Bay 

of Plenty Form has recruited 

some of the best in the industry. 

The company works hard to 

protect their great reputation 

and strong team culture which 

is built around accountability, 

teamwork, collaboration, 

continual improvement and a 

passion for excellence. 

A project like Parkhaven enables 

Form to build strong client and 

business partner relationships 

which are an integral part of 

Form’s winning strategy. 

27 The Boulevard, Te Rapa Park, Hamilton | www.formnz.co.nz | info@formnz.co.nz 

Commercial Residential Industrial Remediation Education Fitout Retail



Parkhaven wins 

supreme award 

From page 16 

construction company Form 

Building and Developments, 

Edwards White Architects, 

and engineers and planners 

BCD Group, who are also 

the anchor tenant and have 

the same owners as Black & 

Orange,. “We brought a lot 

of local talent together and 

we saw it as a team exercise. 

There’s a whole lot of small 

things that makes this thing 

what it is.” 

Fellow director Jonathan 

Brown particularly acknowledged 

the role of the architects. 

“Quite a lot of kudos 

goes to Edwards White Architects 

in terms of their vision 

for the site and their attention 

the whole way through.” 

Parkhaven has won several 

awards during 2019, and 

Mace says the Property Council 

awards, coming from people 

they work with regularly, 

were “one of the bigger ones 

for us, to be recognised within 

the industry”. 

He thinks the building 

probably stood out for its 

commitment to mixed use, 

which is not a new concept 

but is still relatively rare in 

Hamilton, and for its quality. 

“I don’t think anything 

of this sort of overall quality 

between all the uses has been 

done [in Hamilton].” 

The final tenant, RPS 

BECA WOMEN IN PROPERTY AWARD 

Dr Joan Forret 

HOLMES CONSULTING BEST TEAM AWARD 

Otorohanga Medical Project Team 

Homes, will move in to the 

ground floor by the end of 

the year, and Mace, who is 

also a director of BCD Group, 

says tenants are enjoying the 

building. “Obviously we’re 

in the building and it’s going 

great for us.” 

The awards, in their ninth 

year, recognise excellence 

in leadership and innovation 

in the property industry. 

Entry is open to members 

and non-members of Property 

Council New Zealand who are 

based in Waikato. This year 

21 nominations were received 

across nine categories, with 

more than 300 people attending 

the awards dinner at Wintec’s 

Atrium on October 17. 

Property Council’s Hamilton 

branch president Brian 

Squair said it’s fantastic to 

see the Waikato transforming 

through new innovative 

developments. “The awards 

also celebrate the outstanding 

contributions of the many 

individuals and teams that put 

their heart and soul into the 

region’s property industry.” 

Partner at law firm Harkness 

Henry, Dr Joan Forret, 

won the Beca Women 

in Property Award. As a 

specialist in property and 

environmental law, she currently 

leads the Resource 

Management Team. “It was 

Continued on page 21



21 

CKL PROPERTY PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR AWARD 

Professor Alister Jones 

From page 20 

Joan’s overall achievements, 

work ethic, leadership and 

contribution that shone 

through, making her a role 

model to other women in the 

industry,” said the judges. 

The Rider Levett Bucknall 

Young Achiever of the 

Year Award went to senior 

engineering geologist and 

co-founder of HD Geo, 

Emily Cleland. From a successful 

career working in 

the geotechnical industry, to 

co-founding a geotechnical 

consultancy in 2014, judges 

cited her as a future leader 

who has made a considerable 

contribution to the Waikato 

property industry. 

The Holmes Consulting 

Best Team Award went to 

Otorohanga’s Medical Project 

Team for the development 


VEROS PROPERTY SERVICES JUDGES’ CHOICE AWARD 

The Ingham’s Breeder Project Team – Te Mawhai 

HAWKINS LONG SERVICE AWARD 

Les Matthews 

We are 

Waikato 

Property People Awards ‘19 

Women in Property Award 

Congratulations Dr Joan Forret - Harkness Henry 

Judges’ Choice Award 

Congratulations Ingham’s Breeder Project Team 

www.beca.com 

Partnership | Tenacity | Enjoyment | Care 

#ProudSponsor 

Ingham’s Enterprises NZ (PTY) Ltd, Kirkham Group, Pembertons Civil, Novasteel & Beca



Parkhaven wins 

supreme award 

From page 21 

of the town’s new medical 

centre. “The obvious camaraderie 

and commitment 

from this team to achieve the 

desired outcome is a credit 

to all those involved in the 

project,” said the judges. “An 

entire community will benefit 

from having better outcomes 

for their healthcare.” 

University of Waikato Professor 

Alister Jones won The 

CKL Property Professional of 

the Year Award for his leadership 

of major university property 

projects. He was noted 

by judges as “being committed 

to working in partnership 

with stakeholders and going 

the extra mile.” 

Some of the key projects 

led by Professor Jones 

include Te Piringa – Faculty 

of Law, and the Tauranga 

CBD campus. 

The Foster Construction 

Outstanding Leadership 

Award went to fellow 

chartered accountant Leonard 

Gardner who joined the 

Foster Construction Group 

in 2003. Now a director 

and shareholder in the company, 

he has played a key 

role in the community and 

property industry by leading 

many projects throughout 

the region, said the judges. 

“It was Leonard’s leadership, 

commitment and contribution 

to many successful projects 

in Waikato that cemented his 

place as this year’s winner.” 

Waikato property industry 

stalwart Les Matthews 

was presented with the Hawkins 

Long Service Award, 

for more than 40 years as “a 

champion of quality architecture 

and urban design”. 

Judges cited his involvement 

in award-winning local projects, 

his exemplary standard 

of professional service, mentorship, 

and leadership of 

project teams. 

The Veros Property Services 

Judges’ Choice Award 

went to the Ingham’s Breeder 

Project Team - Te Mawhai, 

for the development of a parcel 

of land wedged between 

the North Island main trunk 

railway line and Te Mawhai 

Road. “The development 

builds on the region’s talent 

in the production of primary 

sector goods and strengthens 

the resilience of a growing 

poultry market,” said judges. 

HOLMES CONSULTING BEST TEAM AWARD 

Otorohanga Medical Project Team 

Livingstone’s team ethos shines through with win 

Livingstone Building 

were delighted to be 

in the team nominated 

for the Best Team Award and 

announced the winners against 

some very tough competition 

at the annual Property Council 

Waikato branch awards. 

“We have a strong team 

ethos and history, both internally 

and externally,” said 

Myles Whitcher, CEO of Livingstone 

Building. “Our directors 

have always had a strong 

team focus and the longevity 

of many of our long serving 

team at Livingstone are 

testament to that along with 

how we engage with clients 

and consultants to get the job 

done.” 

On the Otorohanga Medical 

building, Livingstone's 

provided a high calibre 

contribution of team members 

including Luke Fraser, 

Cameron Williams and Greg 

McAllister. It was a community-based 

project with hard 

earned funds from many 

sources being contributed, and 

it was important to work as 

efficiently and effectively as 

possible to ensure the project 

was a success. 

“That said, sometimes 

you are only as good as the 

people around you and we 

were thankful to the high 

level of professionalism of 

the other consultants and 

stake holders involved including 

Otorohanga Chartiable 

Trust, Chibnall Buckell Team 

Architects, BTW Company, 

Livingstone Building NZ, 

Innerscape, Terra Group, PCD 

Fire Designs and Otorohanga 

Medical Centre management,” 

Whitcher said. 

“The judges’ comments 

were particularly pleasing, 

and I was delighted for both 

my guys and the wider project 

delivery team to see their 

effort recognised.” 

Judges’ comments: “The 

Otorohanga Project Team 

impressed our judging panel 

with their overall Project 

Control Group collectively 

bringing their specific expertise 

to each part of the design 

and construction to ultimately 

produce a cost effective, 

finely tuned, on-time delivery 

of a people’s project that 

is a brand new medical centre 

thanks to the generosity 

of its local community. The 

obvious camaraderie and 

commitment to achieve the 

desired outcome is a credit 

to all those involved in the 

project. An entire community 

will benefit from having better 

outcomes for their healthcare, 

and will be supported 

by a financially strong Trust, 

and the entire community. 

This team put their hearts and 

souls into the project, despite 

the many challenges along 

the way. To achieve what this 

team has done and provided 

for the community - is simply 

amazing.” 

- Supplied copy



23 

Kate Rodger – MC. 

Dick Tayler – Guest Speaker. 

Hundreds of people mixed and 

mingled at the We are Waikato 

Property People Awards. 

Photos: Barker Photography 

Ross Pacey, Leonard 

Gardner and Mark Jewkes. 

Dick Tayler and 

Ross Hargood. 

Jo McIntyre, Tania Bryant and Tine Ulrich. 

Bevin Coley and Phil Hyde. 

Alastair Druett, Chris Steffert and Andrew Marty. 

Jen Baird, Leonie Freeman and Paula Southgate. 

Sarah Rundstrom, Brian Squair and Vicky Williamson. 

Sarah Rundstrom, Vicky Williamson, Nikki Wood, Nadine Lazzara, 

Chris and Lucy Dinan, Carl Rix, Carl Rohrbeck and Kerryn Williams. 

Jason Cargo, Jose Cerezo and Grant Aitken. Nadine Lazzara and Leon da Silva. Musician: Damo Innes.


Taku Wairua 

goes digital 

It’s important for people to know where 

they have come from, to imagine a future, 

and know they have choices. 

But sometimes it’s difficult 

to make good 

choices, perhaps 

through lack of finance or 

resources, or through a lack of 

family support. That’s where 

The Waterboy comes in. 

The Waikato-wide programme 

developed by Thomas 

Nabbs has a core focus on 

sport, taking children, often 

from tough backgrounds, and 

giving them a leg-up to participate 

in a sport of their choice. 

Several prominent Waikato 

businesses and individuals 

support The Waterboy, keen to 

be involved in the programme 

that is clearly making a difference 

to individuals and their 

families, showing them what’s 

possible and giving them goals 

and aspirations. 

As The Waterboy has developed 

over four years, so too 

has its offerings. Nabbs realised 

that, in addition to sport, 

there had to be other ways to 

support teenagers searching 

for direction. After some careful 

consideration and planning, 

As you set goals, 

whether you achieve 

them or not, you must 

never forget your 

roots. I really believe 

that.” 

the personal development 

programme Taku Wairua was 

born. 

“With limited resources, 

we’ve offered Taku Wairua for 

more than a year,” Nabbs says, 

“but now we’re going digital, 

because we can see how online 

delivery will help improve 

retention and outreach.” 

Particpants on Taku Wairua 

are teamed with a mentor and 

together they work through the 

Taku Wairua handbook that’s 

divided into four main sections: 

belonging, self-discovery, 

goal setting and citizenship. 

But Nabbs says it hasn’t 

always been easy for mentor 

and teen to stay in touch or 

meet regularly. 

“What we’ve found is that 

mentors’ circumstances often 

change, and when that happens 

it can become difficult for 

the young people on the programme 

to maintain consistent 

contact, and so their enthusiasm 

and participation can drop 

off. And sometimes they’ll lose 

their work books and engagement 

decreases.” 

Despite that, in 2019 alone 

Taku Wairua notched up some 

pleasing results, Nabbs says. 

“Seven disadvantaged youth 

got jobs, for example, and 

another 13 completed work 

experience. Ten are volunteering, 

others have connected to 

their roots after completing 

their pepeha and whakapapa, 

and 27 have set goals for the 

first time in their lives. Another 

scripted a movie and raised 

funding to make it.” 

Taku Wairua receives financial 

support from SKYCITY, 

Chartwell Shopping Centre, 

WEL Energy Trust, DV Bryant 

Trust and Rotary. And now the 

Len Reynolds Trust and Company-X 

are on board to support 

the programme’s digitisation. 

The Len Reynolds Trust is a 

community based education 

trust, and Company-X is a 

software developer and content 

creative company based in 

Hamilton. 

“We’re currently developing 

the first stage of the digital 

program,” Nabbs says. “The 

format will be slightly different 

online but follows the same 

guiding principles as the original 

programme. Having a sense 

of belonging is so important, so 

whether they have Māori heritage 

or not, we require each 

person to complete a pepeha in 

stage one.” (Pepeha is a way of 

introducing yourself in Māori, 

sharing your connections with 

the people and places that are 

important to you.) 

“Belonging is about finding 

those roots. It’s an acknowledgement 

that their history 

has significance and they are 

not on this earth alone. As 

you set goals, whether you 

achieve them or not, you must 

never forget your roots. I really 

believe that,” Nabbs says. 

Once they’ve completed 

their pepeha, the teens are 

asked to set significant and 

achievable goals. “Ones that 

they can achieve ‘bite by bite’ 

doing something towards their 

goal every day. Then we move 

on to whakapapa, work experience, 

and self-discovery.” 

Self-discovery asks the participants 

to look inwards, to 

answer questions they perhaps 

have never considered before: 

What are they most proud of? 

What are they good at? What 

would they like to be better 

at? What would they like to 

change? 

Citizenship requires participants 

to look outside themselves, 

to make a positive contribution 

to the world around 

them. 

“We ask them to visit and 

learn about important places 

in the pepeha; their mountain, 

their river for example, 

or a place that is special to 

them, where they feel safe and 

secure. We get them to write 

down what they’ve learnt. And 

we get them to volunteer at 

least three times a year for an 

organisation that is doing good 

in their community.” 

Nabbs says even though 

Taku Wairua will be offered 

online, they don’t want to 

take away the person-to-person 

contact altogether. “Going 

digital will make it easier for 

participants and their mentors 

to stay in touch and on target. 

It’ll involve participants and 

mentors downloading an app, 

and we’ll also have an online 

portal to bring in organisations 

and businesses that offer work 

experience and job opportunities, 

to give feedback and other 

recommendations.” 

Just as the current delivery 

of Taku Wairua has had its 

challenges, Nabbs imagines 

the online version will also 

need refining once it’s up and 

running. 

“What’s exciting is that 

we’ll be able to introduce so 

many more teenagers to Taku 

Wairua. It increases our ability 

to influence positive change 

and direction, building on 

our vision of stronger people, 

stronger communities. 

“And we’re always looking 

for mentors and sponsors. 

That’s an ongoing part of our 

work. We need more businesses 

to offer entry-level jobs, 

who are willing to give kids a 

go. We love it when sponsors 

approach us. We’re building a 

community of sponsors for our 

sporting programme and Taku 

Wairua.” 

For more stories and more 

information on how you can 

sponsor Kiwi kids through participating 

in sport or supporting 

Taku Wairua, visit www. 

thewaterboy.org.nz/.


25 

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A home built around you


Population grows 

Hamilton’s population is 

growing faster than the New 

Zealand average, with data 

released this month by Stats NZ 

showing the city’s population 

to June this year is estimated 

at 169,500, an increase of 

around 3600 people from the 

same time in 2018. The city’s 

population grew 2.2 percent, 

against a national average of 

1.6 percent. Hamilton’s Gross 

Domestic Product (GDP) was 

up 2.6 percent on the year 

earlier. Residential consents 

in Hamilton were 36 percent 

higher over the June 2019 

year, with 397 consents in the 

last quarter alone. The Stats 

NZ data also shows Hamilton 

remains the youngest of 

New Zealand’s 67 territorial 

authorities by median age, with 

an average age of 32.3 years. 

Waikato was the second fastest 

growing region at 2.1 percent 

growth, behind Northland at 2.3 

percent. 

Cannasouth 

expands 

Hamilton-based Cannasouth 

has entered into an 

agreement to acquire a 60 

percent shareholding in 

Hawke’s Bay-based Midwest 

Pharmaceutics NZ Limited 

for a purchase price of $1.32 

million. The acquisition will 

accelerate Cannasouth’s 

development of its medicinal 

cannabis business in New 

Zealand and will provide 

immediate revenues from 

the date of acquisition. The 

company says the acquisition 

significantly progresses its 

vertical integration strategy, 

“from seed to sale”. 

Waikato’s reputation continues to rise 

The reputation of the Waikato region as a 

significant visitor destination is continuing 

to grow domestically and internationally. 

For many years, Hamilton 

and Waikato was not 

recognised as a major 

tourism hub for our country. 

This always surprised me 

given that for 130 years, visitors 

have been guided through 

the underground wonders of 

the Waitomo Caves, and the 

mineral spas of Te Aroha have 

always attracted visitors to 

heal and restore their health. 

However, since guided tours 

started at Hobbiton Movie Set 

in 2002 and Hamilton Gardens 

reached one million visitors 

a few years back, the region 

began to emerge from the 

shadows. 

As the spiritual birthplace 

of surfing at Raglan, the successful 

home of high-performance 

sport and world cups, 

hosting some of the country’s 

most significant events like 

Fieldays, building the world’s 

largest mainland predator-free 

sanctuary at Maungatautari, 

developing New Zealand’s 

only tea plantation at Zealong 

Tea Estate, plus our emerging 

Māori cultural experiences 

anchored around the Kiingitanga, 

Waikato River and the 

land wars, Waikato is starting 

to be noticed. 

Last month, ‘The Mighty 

Waikato’ was named in the 

Forbes top 50 bucket-list destinations. 

This list was compiled 

by Big 7 Travel which 

surveyed its 1.5 million-strong 

social audience in order to 

determine the best bucket-list 

places around the world. 

Earlier this year, Hamilton 

was named as the ‘number 

one summer destination’ by 

Book-a-Bach users, much to 

the chagrin of other traditional 

summer hot spots. A lot of this 

change has been due to the 

significant number of worldclass 

events we are attracting 

to the region during our peak 

summer period. Our goal is to 

grow our current event portfolio, 

while attracting new major 

events, during our shoulder 

seasons. 

Hamilton & Waikato Tourism 

this year won ‘Best Airport 

Collaboration’ at the 2019 

Regional Tourism NZ Awards 

for its Alibaba partnership 

with Christchurch Airport. 

This follows last year’s success 

at the same awards where 

the region won ‘Best Domestic 

Performance’ which was 

independently assessed by AA 

Traveller. 

Finally, to top-off the success 

of 2019, Hamilton & 

Waikato Tourism was named 

as a finalist in the New Zealand 

Tourism Awards for its 

work on developing ‘The 

Mighty Waikato’ regional visitor 

brand and as an emerging 

leader. Although we didn’t 

manage to win these two particular 

awards, it is the exceptional 

economic performance 

and results which show clear 

evidence we are now a major 

tourism powerhouse. 

The region is the fifth largest 

visitor economy in New 

Zealand behind Auckland, 

Wellington, Christchurch and 

Queenstown – fifth for international 

visitor expenditure 

and fourth for domestic spend. 

Tourism is now injecting 

$1.562 billion per annum into 

the regional economy with an 

estimated $366 million coming 

from international visitors, 

while domestic holds significant 

spend by contributing 

$1.196 billion. These are significant 

figures and it’s not just 

TELLING WAIKATO’S STORY 

> BY JASON DAWSON 

Chief Executive, 


tourism which benefits from 

the growth in visitor expenditure. 

The latest Monthly 

Regional Tourism Estimates 

for the year ending August 

2019, show that visitors love 

to shop (retail spend $844 

million), experience our fine 

Waikato hospitality (food and 

beverage spend $238 million), 

get around our region (transport 

$93 million) and stay in 

quality commercial accommodation 

($87 million). Other 

beneficiaries include the arts 

and recreation sector where 

visitors spend on average $300 

million. 


is the regional tourism organisation 

charged with increasing 

international and domestic 

visitor numbers, expenditure 

and stay. The organisation 

is funded through a public/ 

private partnership and covers 

the heartland Waikato 

areas of Hamilton City, Matamata-Piako, 

Otorohanga, 

Waikato, Waipa, South Waikato 

and Waitomo Districts. Find 

out more: www.waikatonz.com 

Sleep Apnoea 

Awareness Sleep Apnoea Day 

Awareness Day 

Snoring? 

Snoring? 

Tiredness, 

Tiredness, 

morning 

headaches? 

Did Did you you know that 

80% of of people 

with sleep apnoea 

are undiagnosed? 

Don't be one of them, 

come into store today 

to to find out more. 

Do you feel sleepy 

Do you feel sleepy 

during the day 

during the day 

and have poor 

and have poor 

concentration? 

concentration? 

Nearly half a million kiwis have the same problem, 

Nearly half a million kiwis have the same problem, 

which may be caused by a condition called 

which may be caused by a condition called 

Obstructive Sleep Apnoea. 

Obstructive Sleep Apnoea. 

is a condition that are high risk, you can then under- 

a condition that are high risk, you can then undertake 

an 

can 

can 

cause 

cause 

snoring, 

snoring, 

restlesless 

sleep sleep or early or early morn- 

morn-home. home. The results The results are analysed are analysed by by 

resttake 

overnight 

an overnight 

test in 

test 

your 

in 

own 

your own 

“This 

ing ing headaches,” headaches,” says says pharmacist pharmacist medical medical sleep sleep specialists. specialists. Just walk Just walk 

Ian Ian McMichael of Pharmacy of Pharmacy 547. 547. in, no in, appointment no appointment necessary.” necessary.” 

“It “It means means that that you you stop stop breathining 

for for 10 10 seconds seconds or more more while while pens pens when when a person’s a person’s upper airway upper airway 

sleeping.” 

repeatedly repeatedly collapses collapses during during sleep sleep 

breath- 

Obstructive Obstructive Sleep Sleep Apnoea Apnoea hap- 

hap- 

Other Other symptoms are are feeling feeling causing causing then then to stop breathing. stop breathing. 

tired tired while while driving, driving, frequent frequent night night Mild Mild Apnoea Apnoea means means this happens this happens 5 5 

time time visits visits to to the the bathroom bathroom and and to 15 to times 15 times per hours, per hours, while severe while severe 

falling falling asleep asleep during during routine routine tasks, tasks, Apnoea Apnoea can mean can mean more than more 30 than 30 

such such as as watching watching TV TV or reading. or reading. times times per hour. per hour. While While those who those who 

“An 

“An 

estimated 

estimated 

80% 

80% 

of people 

of people 

are overweight 

are overweight 

are more 

are 

susceptible 

to Sleep Apnoea, as are males 

more susceptible 

to Sleep Apnoea, as are males 

with Sleep Apnoea are undiagnosed,” 

adds McMichael. “And and those over 40, it is not confined 

with Sleep Apnoea are undiagnosed,” 

apart from 

adds 

the obvious 

McMichael. 

issues of 

“And 

to this 

and 

group 

those 

at all. 

over 40, it is not confined 

always apart feeling from the tired, obvious it can be issues the of If to you this or group someone at all. you know 

cause always of too feeling high tired, blood it pressure, can be the suffers from If you any or of someone the symptoms you know 

Type cause 2 diabetes, of too high depression blood and pressure, in discussed suffers above, from pharmacies any of the offering 

this discussed service above, are Pharmacy pharmacies 547 offer- 

symptoms 

extreme Type 2 cases, diabetes, strokes depression and heart and in 

attacks.” extreme cases, strokes and heart in Grey ing Street, this service Anglesea are Pharmacy 547 

attacks.” But there is good news. “There in the in Anglesea Grey Street, Medical Anglesea complex, Pharmacy 

is a free But initial there screening is good that news. can “There be Neville in Kane the Anglesea Pharmacy Medical at the north complex, 

performed is a free initial at one screening of four Waikato that can be end of Neville Victoria Kane Street Pharmacy and Huntly at the north 

pharmacies, performed and at if one this of shows four Waikato you West end Pharmacy. of Victoria Call in Street and ask. and Huntly 

pharmacies, and if this shows you West Pharmacy. Call in and ask.

LIFT OUT 

AGRICULTURE, 

COMMERCIAL 

& lifestyle living 

A WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS SUPPLEMENT 

WBN.CO.NZ • OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2019

2 AGRICULTURE, COMMERCIAL & LIFESTYLE LIVING - WAIKATO 2019 

YOUR WAIKATO 

PROPERTY SPECIALISTS 

Talk to us today and speak with one of the most experienced 

professional teams in the business. After 30 years locally and 

nationwide we have what it takes to get the job done. 

0800 922 122 www.fla.co.nz hamilton.fla.co.nz 

Hamilton Office Level 2, 28 Liverpool St Hamilton 07 838 3248

Customers 

inspire Waikato 

tech company’s 

innovation 

Gallagher is one of the Waikato’s most 

iconic businesses. Its eye-catching 

orange branding is part of its DNA and is 

synonymous with innovation and quality 

that has earned Gallagher the respect of 

its customers both in New Zealand and 

around the globe. 

AGRICULTURE, COMMERCIAL & LIFESTYLE LIVING - WAIKATO 2019 

3 

“Our customers are our 

inspiration and the focus 

of all our decisions and 

actions. Our goal is to provide 

them with the best products, 

service and profitability. 

After 80 years, that still hasn’t 

changed,” says Darrell Jones, 

Gallagher Animal Management’s 

general manager for 

New Zealand, South America 

and Asia. 

Today, the Gallagher Group 

spends about 10 per cent of its 

revenue each year on research 

and development – more than 

double the typical annual 

spend of a New Zealand manufacturer. 

Gallagher’s research and 

development executive Rob 

Heebink says most of that 

work happens in Waikato. 

“We have more than 160 

people dedicated to researching 

and developing clever, 

Rob Heebink farm testing 

one of Gallagher’s products. 

practical solutions that deliver 

value to customers. At any 

given time, we can have up to 

25 projects in the pipeline for 

our company’s animal management 

and security businesses.” 

The company’s customer-centric 

innovation all started 

back in the early 1930s when 

Bill Gallagher Senior devised 

a cunning electrical circuit that 

delivered a warning shock to 

a pesky horse using a car as a 

scratching post. It also sparked 

the idea for his pioneering 

electric fence invention. 

In 1962, Bill Senior’s son 

Bill Junior, now Sir William 

Gallagher, joined the team. 

Sir William was instrumental 

in growing the business from 

an electric fence company into 

one renowned for technologically 

superior, highly intelligent 

and fully integrated animal 

management systems. 

There are more than 1,200 

Gallagher staff globally, with 

most based at the company’s 

head office in Hamilton. 

It is not well known that 

more than 95 percent of Gallagher’s 

products are manufactured 

in New Zealand, 

enabling Gallagher to have 

complete control at every 

step and guarantee the highest 

quality. 

The company’s animal 

management business unit 

offers farmers around the 

world a suite of products such 

as electric fencing, weighing 

and electronic identification 

(EID), data collection and 

wireless water monitoring systems. 

“Our solutions are all about 

making farm life easier and 

more profitable,” says Jones. 

“Even though Gallagher is a 

global company, our Waikato 

roots are at our core. We’re a 

global leader, but after more 

than 80 years in business, we 

never lose sight of our local 

customers and their needs. 

“Our team enjoys working 

closely with farmers at every 

step of the new product development 

process to ensure we 

come up with brilliantly simple 

solutions that improve their 

practices and profitability. 

“We are customer-inspired, 

working with farmers 

to develop clever solutions to 

their problems.” 

Gallagher’s commitment to 

quality means it subjects all its 

products to rigid testing. 

Products undergo extensive 

lab and farm testing where 

they are exposed to extreme 

temperatures, dropping, being 

drenched with water and even 

driven over by a ute. 

Darrell Jones says Gallagher’s 

products must be able 

to withstand the toughest conditions 

and give farmers confidence 

they will perform day 

in, day out – no matter where 

they are. 

“If we want to satisfy our 

customers, we know we need 

quality, innovative products 

that are fit for purpose and will 

last the distance.”


WEL Networks launches ‘Down 

means danger’ public safety campaign 

WEL Networks’ latest public safety 

campaign highlights the potentially deadly 

outcome of not treating all fallen power 

lines as live. 

The local lines company 

is educating the public 

on the correct action to 

take in the event of a fallen 

power line - particularly as a 

result of a car accident. 

WEL’s First Response 

Faults and LV Lines Supervisor 

Hamish Thomson said the 

campaign centres on the slogan, 

‘Down means danger’. 

“All fallen lines need to be 

treated as live as electricity 

is likely still flowing through 

those cables. 

“In recent weeks we have 

had some instances of people 

trying to go into the car/leave 

the car before it is safe to do 

so - we want to stress that the 

consequence of this can be 

deadly.” 

The correct action to take if 

the lines come down on your 

vehicle is to remain inside until 

you are rescued or it could be 

fatal. If you must leave the 

vehicle because of fire or other 

immediate danger, jump away 

from the vehicle keeping your 

feet together when you land. 

Vice versa, if you come 

across a vehicle involved in 

an accident where power lines 

have fallen, do not touch the 

vehicle, the lines or drive over 

the fallen lines, call 111. 

WEL Networks provides 

specialised training to emergency 

services on what to do 

when the lines are down. 

All fallen lines need to 

be treated as live as 

electricity is likely still 

flowing through those 

cables.” 

DOWN MEANS 

DANGER 

• Stay put – If the lines come down on or near your vehicle, stay inside until 

you are rescued or it could be fatal. If you must leave the vehicle because 

of fire or other danger, jump away from the vehicle keeping your feet 

together when you land. 

• Stay clear – If you come across a vehicle involved in an accident where 

power lines have fallen, do not touch the vehicle, the lines or drive over 

the fallen lines, call 111. 

• Stay alive - ALWAYS treat fallen power lines as live. 

Find out what to do if the lines come down 

wel.co.nz/every-day-home-safe


5 

The Smart Home Revolution 

The start of the computer revolution was back in the 1950’s where 

big and bulky mainframe computers took up a whole room and 

had to be programmed with a punch card. They were used to 

automate Accounts and Payrolls. 

Then by the 1980’s to 

2000 the second revolution 

started when we 

began to have desktop computers 

in the office, and then came 

the home PC. 

The third revolution was 

the mobile one which reduced 

them in size to be able to fit in 

our pockets, so we could take 

them anywhere and use them 

on the go. 

Now the next shift has 

started and in our homes, smart 

assistants like Google Home 

or Amazon Echo are steadily 

colonising our personal spaces, 

along with home automation 

for smart lighting and security 

systems. There were over 640 

million of these units sold last 

year and the market will be 

doing twice that by 2023. 

By that time we can expect 

something like a 50% growth 

in sales of wearable devices 

like smart clothing and fitness 

trackers- a huge market that 

Apple is looking to – where it 

will be approaching 300 million 

units a year. 

As for the workplace AI is 

starting to take hold where it 

is transforming factories and 

production lines. Sometimes 

referred to as the forth revolution 

or industry 4, this sector is 

forecast to double to over 150 

billion by 2023 and over a Trillion 

dollars by the early 2030’s. 

Tech companies will increasingly 

seek to improve our lives 

with this explosion of smart 

devices that will be crunching 

the sensor data from all this hardware, 

as well as all the activities 

that we do on our smart phones. 

There are also plenty of start-ups 

staking out their territory in this 

new frontier. 

When it comes to your home 

it is important to know what 

you want and when you “don’t 

know what you don’t know” 

the best thing is to talk to a 

company that is experienced 

in security systems before you 

build and not settle for a one 

size fits all approach that some 

builders and electricians install 

as a part of a package. 

Your Security System is a 

personal thing and needs to be 

researched correctly to make 

sure you know what you want 

and how you are going to use 

it - because it’s no good having 

one installed if it’s too hard to 

use, that would just be a waste 

of money. 

Smartway Security and 

Technology have been installing 

CCTV for over 19 years 

and Monitored Security 

Alarms for longer than that. 

Why don’t you give them a 

call and let them help you to 

understand how you can protect 

what is important to you. 

Remember “Experience the 

Difference because the Difference 

is Experience. 

Call and speak to the 

team at Smartway today on 

0800 93 63 63 

Smart Homes are here! 

How connected are you? No matter what you think you want to automate now, 

there is always more that you will find you want to add on later, 

so at least plan now with the ability to add more when it becomes available 

Smartway Security & Technologies are 

able to help you design and install your 

security and surveillance requirements in 

to your home or office. 

Operate it on your smart devices from 

anywhere in the world. 

Check your cameras from Cambodia 

Arm your Alarm from Armenia or 

Monitor your Alarm from Mongolia! 

Smartway can help you stay connected. 

We are your one stop Shop for all 

your Technology and Security Requirements: 

• Security Alarms 

• 24/7 Monitoring 

• Access Control 

• Gate Alerts 

• CCTV Surveillance Systems 

• Data & Fibre Networks 

• Local & Long Range Wi-Fi 

& Wireless Data Networks 

Plus many other types of Electronic Surveillance 

products! 

Experience the Difference - because the Difference is Experience 

Call the Team at Smartway today 

and see how we can help YOU? 

Hop into our Demo Truck and see the cameras in action 

0800 93 6363 

Sales@smartway.co.nz


Beat the SH1 rush at new space 

for lease in Te Rapa Gateway 

A new industrial facility at 600 Arthur Porter 

Drive in Te Rapa Gateway, one of Waikato’s 

fastest growing industrial precincts, is 

available for lease ahead of the opening of 

the next section of the Waikato Expressway. 

With the four-lane 

Huntly section of 

the State Highway 

1 upgrade project due to cut 

down travel times to Auckland 

when it opens in February 

2020, the already-tight Hamilton 

industrial market is likely 

to see another rush of occupier 

interest, says Aaron Donaldson 

of NAI Harcourts in Hamilton. 

“If you are in the market to 

change or move to new industrial 

premises, and you’d like 

to beat the rush, now is a very 

good time to do so,” he says. 

“Industrial vacancy is already 

well under 1 percent in our 

market; there is not a lot of 

choice at present, so leasing 

options are very tight across 

the city. 

“Moreover, there will be 

plenty of people looking to 

change and move in the run-up 

to Christmas. This pressure is 

only going to increase further 

in the New Year as the next 

wave of people discover that 

it takes less time to transport 

themselves - and their goods 

and services - to and from 

Auckland.” 

Arriving into this building 

market is the new industrial 

facility at 600 Arthur Porter 

Drive. Described by Donaldson 

as “absolutely right for 

the market”, the new 1558sqm 

facility is being created by 

Chalmers Properties to offer 

249sqm of office, 1060sqm 

warehouse and 249sqm canopy. 

The facility, which is ready 

for occupation from November 

14, offers the same design 

and features as its neighbours, 

which won recognition at the 

recent Property Council New 

Zealand’s Property Industry 

Awards. Michael Clark, sales 

and development manager for 

Te Rapa Gateway, says that 

the new facility will feature 

ultra-fast broadband, on-site 

parking, nine-metre high stud 

warehousing, roller doors, tilt 

slab construction, and appealing 

office layouts with air-conditioning. 

“Furthermore, it will have 

drive-through capability onto 

a joint right of way that will 

effectively provide a multi-directional 

route that allows 

trucks to pass each other. This 

creates more options and flexibility 

for occupiers and eliminates 

the need for yard-consuming 

turning circles.” 

The new facility’s neighbours 

have already attracted 

high quality tenants Prochem 

Group and Metropolitan Glass 

& Glazing Ltd on long-term 

leases, says Clark. “This project 

is filling a hole in Hamilton’s 

tight industrial leasing 

market. With industrial 

vacancy rates at all-time lows, 

the market has been waiting for 

a new industrial offering in Te 

Rapa, and builders are struggling 

to keep up with demand. 

“The new premises will 

appeal to a wide range of tenants 

looking to get a foothold 

in the rapidly growing Hamilton 

market. We recommend 

that if you’re interested you 

come and have a look before 

the next wave comes through 

before Christmas.” 

Anyone interested in learning 

more about the new premises 

and/or Te Rapa Gateway 

should contact Michael Clark 

on 0800 GATEWAY | 0800 

428 392. 

- Supplied copy 

HAMILTON’S PRIME 

INDUSTRIAL PARK 

The sites at Te Rapa Gateway appeal to a diverse range 

of businesses. Offering fully serviced sites with a variety 

of products to choose from. 

Spec-build options comprise of a clear span warehouse 

with office, and ample yard with canopies. The units are 

a smaller version of these if you don’t need so much 

space, or design-build-lease gives you a custom 

designed premises to suit your every business need. 

All benefiting from this ideal location with great 

transport connections. 

0800 GATEWAY 

TERAPAGATEWAY.COM


7 

Dedicated Employment Relations Advice - for Employers Only 

As a business we only provide advice to 

Employers, meaning that you know that 

we are entirely dedicated to supporting 

you in resolving any employment related 

situation within your business. 

This dedicated Employer only focus, has enabled us to 

develop a suite of services designed to support business 

owners and managers in the areas of the business that 

often cause them the greatest anxiety, and increasingly can 

incur significant liability if wrong decisions are made, or poor 

processes are engaged. 

As your dedicated Employment Relations Specialists, we can 

assist you in the following areas: 

• Defending Personal Grievance claims within Mediation 

or The Employment Relations Authority 

• Facilitating Disciplinary or Performance Management 

meetings 

• Implementing Restructure Consultation processes 

• Acting as the Employer Advocate in Collective 

Bargaining 

• Undertaking independent Workplace Investigations into 

workplace complaints 

If you are seeking great staff, we can also assist through our 

recruitment practice Fegans Recruitment - specialising in 

Rural & Agribusiness recruitments. 

Call the RDC Team if you have a situation you want to discuss. 

Contact us 

RDC 07 838 0018 or email info@russelldrakeconsulting.co.nz 

Fegans Recruitment 07 823 0105 or email office@fegan.co.nz 

203332AB 

Bayleys Launches Property Valuation Division in Waikato 

In an effort to extend the coverage of one of the largest 

property valuation teams in New Zealand with offices 

already in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, 

Bayleys established a valuations division in Hamilton in 

December 2018. 

Spearheaded by Director and Registered Valuer 

Matt Straka, the local team now includes Valuer Joe 

Healy, who was welcomed on board last month and 

brings valuable additional resources and capacity to the 

valuations team in the Waikato. 

Domiciled within the Bayleys Real Estate offices 

in Hamilton and backed by a team of 16 valuers in 

Auckland, the Hamilton valuations team are already 

servicing clients south of the Bombay's, from Hawkes 

Bay to Taranaki. 

Having practiced as a Registered Valuer for nearly 

a decade, Matt's portfolio of valuation and commercial 

consultancy experience is extensive. It includes the 

valuation of large scale and high density residential and 

commercial developments, assessment of Ownership 

and Utility Interests for new and existing Unit Titled 

developments, New Zealand-wide health and aged-care 

asset valuation, insurance valuation for a wide range of 

asset classes, and compensation valuations for extensive 

public works. 

Matt holds a Bachelor of Business Studies in Financial 

Economics and Valuation and is a Member of the 

Property Institute of New Zealand and also the New 

Zealand Institute of Valuers, where he formally sat on the 

Auckland Branch committees for over five years. Matt 

was awarded the PINZ Young Property Professional of 

the Year in 2011 and merits his success to his "eye for 

detail" which he jokes, can be a curse at times. 

Bayleys Valuations welcomes the opportunity to meet 

you and assist with your commercial and residential 

development valuation requirements. 

Servicing your commercial 

property and residential 

development valuation 

requirements throughout 

the Waikato Region.


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203416AA 

of homes 

Empowering property buyers to purchase 

with peace of mind is all in a day’s work 

for Waikato-based Corrective Building 

Surveyors (CBS). 

Principal assessor Mike 

Gilling has inspected 

hundreds of homes, 

schools and businesses in the 

last 25 years, discovering at 

least 30 percent of those have 

“significant” weathertightness 

issues. 

“It’s hard to see a young 

family buying their first home, 

freshly painted and looking 

neat, only to later discover rotten 

timber and moisture issues. 

Investing in a thorough building 

inspection always pays off. 

I see it in my work every day,” 

Gilling said. 

A CBS client recently 

bought a home in a high-end 

Hamilton suburb only to discover 

rotting timber that would 

cost about $300,000 to remedy. 

“She thought she’d done all 

the right things. She asked the 

estate agent if there were leaky 

issues and she even paid for a 

pre-purchase inspection from 

another assessor. Of course, 

this wasn’t thorough enough by 

any means and now she is left 

with a hefty repair bill,” Gilling 

said. 

CBS is a building and 

property consultancy offering 

specialist services for both residential 

and commercial property 

owners. 

A comprehensive CBS 

building report will reveal what 

condition the property is in and 

what you will committing to in 

terms of repair work and ongoing 

maintenance. 

Gilling, a builder with 

advanced trade and weathertightness 

qualifications, is 

joined by building education 

facilitator Paul Maniapoto, 

office manager Marlene Williams 

and his wife Ruth Gilling, 

a director of the business. 

“We’re all driven to help 

families either get into a healthy 

home or work with them to 

remedy the home they have as 

painlessly as possible. We also 

offer commercial clients and 

education facilities transparency 

when it comes to the condition 

of their buildings.” 

The CBS team has helped 

hundreds of clients throughout 

the North Island by providing 

sound, unbiased building 

inspections, project management 

and advice. 

They specialise in assessing 

leaky homes and undertaking 

building inspections to verify 

the cladding integrity and 

weathertightness of the home. 

“We have a thorough understanding 

of both current and 

historical building regulations 

and will help make sure a 

property is structurally sound, 

weathertight and compliant 

with building regulations. We 

can project manage your renovations 

and remedial work and 

advise on what your building 

options are under the New Zealand 

building code,” Gilling 

said. 

CBS recently teamed up 

with Smith & Sons, builders 

and renovation specialists in 

Waikato, with an awareness 

campaign offering a one-stop 

service for property inspections 

and any required remedial 

work. 

Smith & Sons has renovated 

thousands of homes throughout 

New Zealand over the years, 

often referring their clients to 

CBS for thorough inspections. 

Meanwhile CBS often referred 

clients to Smith & Sons for 

remedial work. 

“We are working together 

to take what can be a stressful 

experience to make it as simple 

as possible. We’re both experienced 

and trusted professionals 

in the construction industry, 

and we’re ready to give peaceof-mind 

to all property buyers, 

investors and owners.” 

www.correctivebuilding.co.nz 

www.smithandsons.co.nz 


Does your home leak? Buildings built 

between the late 1980s and mid-2000s using 

plaster-style cladding are at high risk of 

leaking, but other homes may also be at risk. 

A leaky home may make your family sick. 

MORE THAN 30% 

of homes in Waikato we’ve inspected have 

“LEAKY” ISSUES 

Residential > Commercial > Educational 

WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR: 

• Leaking, mould and musty smells 

• Damp or cracked cladding 

• Warped flooring or rotten carpet 

• Cracks in joinery 

• Sagging ceiling lining 

• Rusty nails or screws 

Corrective Building Services 

(07) 929 4614 

correctivebuilding.co.nz 

If you notice any signs you 

should have the house or 

building thoroughly inspected. 

203053AA

Professional & 

Considerate 

Rodney Stirling 

Congratulations 



to the winners and finalists of the 

2019 Waikato Property People Awards! 

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201865AA


203020AA 

For all your hydroseeding, 

lawn & turf requirements 

Proud to be one of the leading 

lawn and turf companies and 

servicing the great Waikato 

027 823 6214 | office@lawnandturf.co.nz 

www.lawnandturf.co.nz 

Offering the complete 

lawn package 

Lawn & Turf Contracting are civil and 

domestic lawn and turf specialists 

servicing the Waikato area. 

We offer a complete 

lawn service package, 

from preparation 

and installation through 

to irrigation and aftercare. The 

directors are Mike and Debbie 

Glasson. Mike is a qualified 

golf course greenkeeper with 

25 years’ experience. Our 

business has grown over the 

last 10 years to be one of the 

leading lawn and turf companies 

in the Waikato. This is 

achieved by always completing 

the job to the highest standard, 

and this is guaranteed 

by world quality knowledge, 

followed through by expert 

application of the job. 

Your new lawn 

Hydroseeding 

Keep the hydromulch/seed 

damp to ensure good germination. 

Mulch should be watered 

2-3 times a day during hot 

conditions. Please ensure that 

the water does not pond in 

any areas as this can cause the 

seed to move. 

Turf 

Water to saturation point once 

laid. Thereafter water 2-3 

times a day during hot conditions. 

During hot dry periods, 

when your grass is under 

stress from lack of moisture, 

mow your lawn in the cool of 

the day and less often to avoid 

stress on the plant. It is also 

advisable to mow after the 

lawn has been well watered, 

during the summer.The lawn 

should be first mown once the 

grass reaches 60–70mm. 

Mowing height: 

Summer: 75-90 mm 

Winter: 50-60 mm 

Ensure lawn mower blades 

are sharp, this will make a 

nicer cut and reduce risk of 

disease. Mow at least weekly 

and maybe even every five 

days or so during high growth 

seasons, such as autumn and 

spring. Weed spraying is 

important to maintain a weed 

free lawn. Spraying in autumn 

and spring is the best time 

to control weeds. Broadleaf 

weeds can be sprayed once 

the lawn has been mown 

3-4 times. Insecticide may 

be required to be sprayed in 

spring to early summer to control 

insects if damage starts to 

occur. 

Watering 

Once your new lawn is established, 

water less frequently 

and more heavily to encourage 

roots to grow deep. It is 

essential to continue to regularly 

water your new lawn 

even after initial establishment 

when evapotranspiration 

levels are high during the 

summer months. 

Fertilising 

Fertiliser should be applied at 

least every two months during 

the first year of establishment. 

We can offer an annual maintenance 

service of spraying 

and fertiliser or one-off lawn 

treatments. 


BRANDERSON HOMES LTD 

PRE BUILT HOMES 

OFFICE LOCATED AT: 37 HAUTAPU RD, CAMBRIDGE TELEPHONE: 07 827 3901 

Email: branderson.homes@xtra.co.nz ------------------- Web: www.brandersonhomes.co.nz 

Please send us an information pack about your Transportable Pre-Built Homes 

Name 

Address 

Phone 

Style/Size 

Please mail to: Branderson Homes Ltd, PO Box 434, Cambridge, 3450


11 

LEADERS IN 

BOAT TRAILER DESIGN & PERFORMANCE 

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Call us direct or available from marine dealers throughout New Zealand 

43 OLD RUFFELL ROAD, TE RAPA PARK, HAMILTON – P 64 7 849 3158 – www.voyagertrailers.co.nz 

70417 

Commercial Property 

Management & Valuation 

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 

Expert valuation advice 

A business partner that understands your views and goals 

Mike Gascoigne 

Branch Manager 

P 07 834 6690 M 027 430 8311 

mike.gascoigne@bayleys.co.nz 

Curtis Bones 

Senior Commercial Property Manager 

P 07 834 3826 M 027 231 3401 

curtis.bones@bayleys.co.nz 

James Harvey 

Commercial Facilities Manager 

P 07 839 0700 M 027 425 4231 

james.harvey@bayleys.co.nz 

Matt Straka 

Registered Valuer 

P 07 834 3232 M 021 112 4778 

matt.straka@bayleys.co.nz 

SUCCESS REALTY LTD, BAYLEYS, LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008 

ALTOGETHER BETTER 

Residential / Commercial / Rural / Property Services

LINDA JONES RETIREMENT VILLAGE 

Show apartments opening soon 

Our brand new two and three bedroom 

independent apartments are selling now, 

with show apartments opening to the 

public on 23 November. 

Our apartments are modern, spacious and 

feature designer kitchens and bathrooms. 

We have refined our kitchen designs to 

include flat bench tops with waterfall edges, 

creating a breakfast bar that becomes the 

social hub of the kitchen. 

Priced from $515,000 for a two bedroom, 

you can secure your new home today. 

Photos are indicative 

To find out more or to arrange a viewing of our show 

apartments please phone David or Sharon on 07 853 3382 

Sales Office: 1775 River Road, Flagstaff, Hamilton 

2064


27 

Dick Breukink getting into the spirit of things. 

Hospo master steps back 

from landmark city hotels 

By MIKE BLAKE 

“Slowing down a bit”… semi-retirement… 

call it what you will, but it doesn’t ring true 

of this tireless man of Hamilton. 

General manager of 

Hamilton’s Novotel 

Tainui and Ibis Tainui 

Hotels, Dick Breukink, would 

have us believe he’s about to 

take his foot off the accelerator. 

This ‘’almost 64-year-old”, 

born in the Netherlands, came 

to New Zealand about 12 

years ago. 

Breukink has experienced 

the hospitality industry from 

many angles while working 

29 years for the internationally 

acclaimed Accor Group. 

For quite some years Accor 

had this master-of-hospitality 

and all that goes with it 

overseeing hotels in Thailand, 

PEOPLE AND CULTURE 

> BY SENGA ALLEN 

Managing Director, Everest – All about people TM 

www.everestpeople.co.nz 

Malaysia, The Philippines, 

Netherlands and finally New 

Zealand. 

“I am very fond of this part 

of Asia and their enormous 

sense of what the hospitality 

sector is all about,” said Breukink. 

His first local posting was 

to Christchurch where, as general 

manager, he opened the 

Ibis Hotel. 

Next Accor had Breukink 

take over as general manager 

of the Novotel Tainui, a position 

from which he could oversee 

the birth in 2007 of the Ibis 

Tainui on land directly across 

From negative to positive 

the street. 

“Novotel Tainui, the only 

four-star hotel in Hamilton, is 

about to post its best financial 

result in its 20-year history,” 

he said. 

“Since I have been here we 

have hosted kings and queens, 

prime ministers, cabinet ministers, 

top teams in rugby, 

soccer, rowing and cycling, to 

name but a few.” 

As to his own sports 

achievements, tennis was one 

game he favoured but reckoned 

he was never going to be 

a star. 

Running came into the 

frame and in the past 10 years 

Breukink has completed 111 

half marathons and is about 

to take on his 16th full marathon 

in New York in a couple 

of weeks. 

When quizzed about slowing 

down a bit, he said he 

would still be in the market for 

other work as he feels he needs 

new challenges. 

“I will be available to consult 

on hospitality if someone 

needs a hand,” he said. “And I 

would consider directorships.” 

Breukink already has a fair 

portion of his time taken up 

with charity work. 

“I am a member of Rotary 

and will continue because of 

all the good work they do as 

an organisation.” 

He feels that the two 

hotels under his wing have an 

important role to play in local 

society. 

“It’s not just accommodation, 

restaurant and bars,” he 

said. “Sure, it is important as 

a hotel but it must stand up 

within the community. 

“This is something I have 

always enjoyed and endeavoured 

to promote.” 

Slowing down will give 

Dick the ability to take off 

where he wants and when he 

wants. 

“My son (24) and daughter 

(22) are both living in Auckland 

and enjoying great jobs 

after completing their studies 

at the University of Auckland. 

“I also have two brothers in 

Holland who I will be able to 

visit more often. 

“But most important is 

my 94-year-old mum, who 

also lives in Holland. She 

is feeling her age nowadays 

and deserves a visit from the 

‘travelling’ son.” 

Human beings are wired 

with a negativity bias. 

Yep… we are hard 

wired to react in the world 

far more negatively than positively. 

But why is that? 

Simply put, as our brains 

evolved over time, it has been 

critically important to learn 

from negative experiences – 

to survive. Your brain’s most 

important function is to keep 

you alive. It does so by regulating 

your heart rate, body 

temperature and a host of other 

physiological functions but 

also by constantly scanning 

the environment for possible 

threats and rewards. 

When you master an 

attitude of optimism, 

you understand that 

good things are 

coming, and that 

the bad things pass 

quickly and can be 

ignored. 

What is negativity bias? 

Our ancestors could make 

two kinds of mistakes – one, 

thinking there was a lion in the 

bushes when there wasn’t one, 

or two, thinking everything 

was fine but actually the lion 

was about to pounce. The cost 

of the first mistake was needless 

anxiety, but the cost of 

the second mistake meant you 

never needed to worry about 

lions ever again. Our brain 

prioritises negative experiences 

from memory – as they 

say – once burned, twice shy. 

How do we shift our negative 

bias? According to Sarah 

McKay (PhD neuroscientist) 

“the best way to shift your 

bias is to practise experiencing 

positive emotions. If you 

savour positivity, you’ll be 

practised at experiencing positive 

emotions in the future”. 

Effectively this means, to be 

more positive, you must teach 

your brain to do so! Unfortunately, 

it’s not a quick fix 

either – due to our determined 

negative bias we get caught in 

that Chicken Little trap routinely. 

Our brain is a bit like 

Velcro for bad experiences 

and Teflon from the good 

stuff. Bugger. 

Okay, so how do we practise 

experiencing positive 

emotions? Crikey! Where do 

we start? Do things that make 

you happy or make others 

happy – simple and random 

acts of kindness for starters, 

volunteering, making a 

lovely meal for a significant 

someone. Stopping and taking 

a minute to really enjoy 

your surroundings – how does 

the sun make you feel? Take 

a minute to appreciate the 

colour of the sky. Take five 

minutes at the end of the day 

to write down the positive 

things or experiences you’ve 

had during the day that you’re 

grateful for – it doesn’t have 

to be a long list. Savouring a 

new flavour that you haven’t 

experienced before, taking 

a long walk, cuddling your 

furry friend etc. Practise ways 

to bounce back from negative 

events – how bad was it really? 

What could you have done 

differently? When you master 

an attitude of optimism, you 

understand that good things 

are coming, and that the bad 

things pass quickly and can 

be ignored. There are literally 

thousands of ways to help 

your brain learn new positive 

signals. Check out Dr Google 

for heaps more ideas. Dan 

Siegel, Clinical Professor of 

Psychiatry at UCLA School 

of Medicine, advises “intentionally 

focusing on a positive 

aspect of an experience, and 

holding that perspective in 

mind for at least three or four 

breaths (about 20 seconds) 

can let the positive have more 

of a change to stick and shape 

our frame of mind.” 

Lastly, deliberately creating 

positive emotions about 

situations can have a huge 

impact on how your day pans 

out. Sue Langley, master 

trainer and global business 

consultant in emotional intelligence, 

once told the Everest 

team that she spends the first 

10 minutes of her day purposefully 

smiling. Now this 

might sound like Sue could 

have lost her marbles, but 

this simple physical technique 

helps the brain re-wire its 

negative bias. If you’re stuck 

in a rut of negativity – firstly 

don’t be surprised. It’s human 

nature. But you can change 

your negative bias to a positive 

outlook by having a go 

at some of the ideas above. 

Be persistent. Keep going. 

You will notice a difference 

in time.

Brave enough to go with the flow? 

Now I’m finding that 

in-depth marketing 

plans, detailed to the 

minutia, end up being limiting, 

restrictive and creatively 

stifling. Effectively, the plan 

gets ripped up. 

I’m suggesting not that we 

ditch the high-level plans, but 

that we structure them in a way 

that allows us to be nimble for 

ever-changing demands and 

opportunities. 

As the pace of change 

gets faster, customers’ expectations 

get higher and their 

attention spans shorter. They 

are exposed to more messages 

through so many more 

options, and the media landscape 

shifts every day. 

More than ever, we can 

monitor and learn from our 

marketing, on the fly and pretty 

TELLING YOUR STORY 

> BY VICKI JONES 

Vicki Jones is director of Dugmore Jones, Hamilton-based brand 

management consultancy. Email vicki@dugmorejones.co.nz 

I’ve always liked the Benjamin Franklin 

quote “If you fail to plan, you are planning 

to fail”, but I’m starting to feel strangely 

relaxed these days. 

much in real time. Thanks to 

the tendency of social media 

users to be willing to voice 

opinions, it’s likely you’ll 

find out soon enough if your 

marketing message or creative 

approach are really off the 

mark. Or our analytics tell us 

exactly how they interacted 

with any online marketing. 

Developments in digital 

marketing allow us to try different 

ideas without the huge 

financial risks we endured 

before social media and online 

marketing were integral to our 

toolkit. 

It isn’t so long ago that, 

to reach a particular audience 

group our marketing 

would have been dominated 

by ‘offline’ options which 

limited our willingness to 

take risks with our marketing 

budgets. For example, before 

the 40-something mums 

were glued to Facebook, we 

might have tried to reach 

them through a combination 

of radio advertising (as they 

dropped the kids at school), 

ads in the lifestyle sections of 

their daily paper and perhaps 

some direct marketing if we 

had a decent database. 

With the level of investment 

needed, unless you were 

blasé with your budgets or 

prepared to risk your brand’s 

reputation, a huge amount 

of planning and consultation 

would go into making sure 

the message was right, the 

look was appropriate and the 

media choices relevant. (And, 

of course, it still should.) 

It took longer to put a 

campaign together. Approvals 

and sign off on details 

would go higher up the decision-making 

chain for even 

the slightest nuance. The time 

between conception and delivery 

would be lengthy, with all 

the risks of changing priorities 

that that entailed. 

As digital emerged, we got 

braver. Now, we try a tester 

idea, to see what people think. 

We play with variations in 

wording and see what people 

click on. 

Couldn’t do that with the 

back cover of Tempo, could 

we! 

I’m starting to investigate 

more about ‘agile marketing’. 

I was cynical about ‘agile’ as a 

concept but am seeing it used 

positively by a client in the 

tech space, where the philosophy 

has its foundation. I can 

see how the agile methodologies 

would give those who 

may be risk averse confidence 

to try a more flexible approach 

in their marketing. 

The basic premise seems 

to be that there are benefits 

in using short, finite periods 

of activity. After each burst 

of activity, measure impact 

and outcomes then incrementally 

adapt the approaches to 

improve the results continuously 

over time. If it doesn’t 

go to plan, the damage is less 

than with long-term exposure. 

Being prepared to ‘fail’ 

is perhaps one of the biggest 

barriers to this approach in the 

marketing sector, and among 

fragile creative teams. No-one 

wants to be responsible for a 

campaign that doesn’t work. 

They are our babies, born out 

of heartfelt creative deliberation, 

emotional connections 

built with the brand we’re 

marketing and a growing relationship 

with the audience 

we’re trying to reach. 

From what I can see, ‘agile’ 

isn’t an excuse to change your 

mind about the fundamentals 

or to bounce through your 

marketing daydreams being 

purely reactive to what’s happening 

around you. It’s just 

about being prepared to adapt. 

There’s not much that’s 

new in the world and, in many 

ways, the agile marketing 

approach seems quite recognisable. 

We have always had 

flexibility to do some kind 

of testing and segmentation. 

Marketers have tried campaign 

ideas in short bursts 

before, or offered up different 

approaches and compared the 

results. 

Like all marketing and 

communications, it’s about 

understanding what you ultimately 

want to achieve, who 

you’re talking to and why 

– this is always at heart of 

the matter. Know your voice 

before you speak, but perhaps 

be open to variations in tone. 

Know who you are talking to, 

but perhaps offer up differing 

metaphorical conversations. 

Consider the impact of 

getting it wrong if you take 

a more iteratively staged 

approach and be comfortable 

with your level of risk. But if 

you’re clear about your brand, 

I can’t see failure as part of the 

plan. 

BEWARE OF FOREIGN IMITATIONS. 

There’s no shortage of great ideas in New Zealand. 

But for an innovative bunch, we’re not the best at 

realising the full potential of our innovations, particularly 

when exporting them. 

At James & Wells, we can identify your competitive 

edge, offer business strategies for specific markets and 

help you own and leverage your intellectual property to 

ensure no one steals the fruit of your labour. 

www.jaws.co.nz | +64 7 957 5660


29 

Job ads grow 

in Waikato 

MC Lisa Manning. 

Momentum Waikato Showcase 

highlights community work 

The October event was 

titled ‘Proof Points’ to 

reflect the important 

announcements it featured. 

The 180 attendees at 

Claudelands Event Centre 

enjoyed an engaging evening 

of presentations, including a 

delightful performance by the 

Waikato Diocesan School for 

Girls’ Kapa Haka group. 

Chief executive Kelvyn 

Eglinton says Momentum 

Waikato’s core role is to grow 

a regional endowment fund 

that generates perpetual returns 

for granting to change agents 

in communities. 

“Our long-term goal is to 

build a fund of $300 million in 

30 years; our current strategic 

goal is to have a fund of $25 

million by 2020,” said Eglinton. 

“A key means for achieving 

this is inviting existing trusts 

struggling with compliance 

and growth to transfer their 

Momentum Waikato Chief 

Executive Kelvyn Eglinton. 

Momentum Waikato had some points to 

prove at its recent annual Showcase. 

Piripi Matika (Ngati Wairere), Rawiri Bidois 

(THaWK manager), Sonny Matenga (Tamainupo). 

assets to Momentum Waikato’s 

care, so their mandated 

missions can continue with 

the leverage our larger scale 

allows.” 

Two such transfers were 

profiled at the showcase. 

Donny Trust chair Bill 

Ritchie announced the trust 

will be moving its $11 million 

of capital across and outlined 

its history of development 

work in Chartwell. 

Barry Paterson, chair of the 

Houchen Trust, told its tale 

and detailed the reasoning for 

transferring its land and assets 

at its Glenview Retreat to 

Momentum Waikato. 

Then it was time to give out 

some funding. The first grant 

from the new Hamilton CBD 

Development Fund, seeded 

by Foster Construction, is 

$10,000 to the Beyond Tomorrow 

Trust the new mural on the 

Te Koopuu Mania o Kirikiriroa 

wall, commonly known as 

Momentum Waikato Bequest 

Patron Ken Williamson. 

'Wintec Wall'. 

Presentations were also 

made by Waikato Women’s 

Fund chair Pam Roa and 

Momentum Waikato bequest 

patron Ken Williamson. 

The final reveal was a 

preview of the upcoming 

marketing campaign for the 

final fundraising push for the 

Waikato Regional Theatre. 

For more information visit 

www.momentumwaikato.nz. 

Waikato Women’s 

Fund Chair Pam Roa. 

The first grant from the Hamilton CBD Development Fund is toward the new mural 

on the Te Koopuu Mania o Kirikiriroa wall, AKA the ‘Wintec Wall’. Ryan Hamilton of 

the Beyond Tomorrow Trust receives the ‘giant phone’ from Leonard Gardner. 

Atutahi Riki (Ngati MahangaHaua), Rangiuia Tai Rakena 

(Ngati Mahanga), Rangitionga Kaukau (Ngati Haua), 

Parekawhia McLean, Te Raumako Karena (Ngati Haua). 

Te Haa o Whenua o Kirikiriroa (THaWK) - Rawiri Bidois 

(THaWK manager), Sonny Matenga (Tamainupo), Te 

Raumako Karena (Ngati Haua), Parekawhia Mclean, Piripi 

Matika (Ngati Wairere), Rangitionga Kaukau (Ngati Haua), 

Sonny Karena (Chair - Ngati Haua). 

Momentum Waikato Chair Leonard 

Gardner and Dame Malvina Major. 

The latest Seek New Zealand 

Employment Report identifies 

moderate growth in job 

ads in comparison with the 

same period in 2018 with 

an increase of 0.9 percent in 

jobs advertised year on year 

for quarter three. Waikato is 

among key regional areas to 

fare well with 6.6 percent job 

ad growth, while Bay of Plenty 

saw 8.4 percent growth and 

Manawatu 6 percent. Seek New 

Zealand general manager Janet 

Faulding said: “While there is 

much conversation occurring 

about business and employer 

confidence being reported as 

low and employment intentions 

anything but booming, job 

ad volumes reflect moderate 

growth on the same period 

from last year. This is great 

news particularly for our regions 

where we know there has been 

population growth. If we look 

at Waikato for example, we are 

seeing more roles contributing 

to growth, including Information 

and Communication Technology, 

Retail, Construction and Trades 

and Services.” 

Waipā appoints 

engineer 

Dawn Inglis and Barry Bergin. 

Waipā District Council has 

appointed chartered engineer 

Dawn Inglis as a new group 

manager in charge of water 

services, major capital works, 

asset management planning and 

transportation. Inglis has worked 

at Waipā for nine years, originally 

as road corridor manager and 

more recently as the manager of 

RATA (Regional Asset Technical 

Accord). In her role with RATA, 

Inglis was responsible for 

growing, developing and driving 

a successful new roading 

business model throughout 

the Waikato region. Inglis will 

replace current group manager 

– service delivery Barry Bergin 

who will become council’s 

principal engineer, focusing on 

project engineering and contract 

management. Inglis and 

Bergin begin their new roles on 

November 11. 

Council strategy 

pays off 

Wanda and Glyn Pemberton with 

Diana Clausen, from the Houchen 

Retreat & Conference Centre. 

Edgar Wilson, Chair of Trust Waikato; Paula Southgate, 

the new Mayor of Hamilton; and Neil Richardson, 

Deputy Chair of Momentum Waikato. 

Nick Johnston, Rongo 

Kirkwood and Jenny Nand. 

Charlie Young with Jennifer and 

Murray Allen, from the Kimihia Lakes 

Restoration and Development project. Kieran Jeffares and Jon Tanner. David Sidwell and Nancy Caiger. 

A short-term borrowing 

strategy implemented over 

the past three years will have 

earned Waipā District Council 

more than $1 million additional 

cash by early 2020. Since 

2016, the council has taken 

advantage of a favourable 

difference in borrowing and 

investment interest rates to 

borrow at low risk through 

the Local Government 

Funding Agency. In its latest 

arrangement, the council 

borrowed and invested $35 

million with banks at fixed 

interest rates. The excess 

interest earned from the 

investment ($132,759) will 

go back to the council. Chief 

financial officer Ken Morris 

said Waipā District Council 

has entered into several similar 

financial arrangements over 

the past three years, securing 

more than $900,000 in 

additional interest revenue.


Communications 

momentum 

creates change 

PR AND COMMUNICATIONS 

> BY HEATHER CLAYCOMB 

Heather Claycomb is director of HMC Communications, a 

Hamilton-based, award-winning public relations agencys. 

Momentum. While it’s a physics term, its 

principles have everything to do with good 

communication. And if you are trying to 

spark a change in your organisation, you 

won’t get far without it. 

American business 

leader and author, 

Farshad Asl, wrote, 

“Momentum is the bridge 

between a vision and its 

results.” 

So, what exactly is momentum? 

One of the simplest definitions 

I found is, “Momentum 

is a measure of an object’s 

tendency to move in a straight 

line with constant speed.” 

And the key point about 

momentum is that once it is 

created, the object becomes 

very difficult to stop or change 

course. 

When it comes to effective 

corporate communication, 

in most instances your goal 

should be to achieve momentum. 

That means keeping your 

brand in front of your audiences 

in a consistent way so 

that you can continually gain 

recognition and create impact. 

In a competitive market, a 

brand with positive momentum 

is difficult to beat. 

Many organisations make 

the mistake of expending 

their communications energy 

in quick bursts. An example 

might be a product launch or 

a major company announcement. 

What many fail to do 

well is harness the fanfare 

around a big announcement 

and devise PR tactics to maintain 

that same level of ‘buzz’ 

in the market. 

Without momentum, your 

communications energy 

expended on one announcement 

or one event is largely 

wasted. In our busy, noisy 

world, people will forget 

about you and your big 

announcement quickly if you 

don’t keep reminding them 

that you’re there. 

You’ll only achieve longterm, 

measurable reputational 

gain when your communications 

efforts continually build 

upon one another to achieve 

a positive, forward motion. 

Thus, momentum. 

There are four essentials 

for creating communications 

momentum in your organisation: 

Create a plan 

The road to hell is paved with 

good intentions, right? You 

may have good intentions 

to keep proactive communications 

going after a major 

announcement or event. But 

the truth is that it won’t happen 

if you don’t have a plan. 

Write it down, create a tactical 

timeline and stick to it no matter 

what. 

Appoint a leader 

I’ve experienced many a 

well-intentioned plan developed 

and then dropped 

because no one was appointed 

responsible for making it happen. 

Get someone to lead your 

communications plan. If you 

don’t have a communications 

professional in-house, bring in 

a contractor to be the nag that 

keeps things rolling along. 

Momentum falters when no 

one leads the charge. 

Select a kick-off date 

If your communications has 

been lacklustre or non-existent, 

pick a date when you’re 

going to start doing things differently. 

This might be on the 

back of an announcement or 

event. Or it just might be the 

start of a new year. Put a date 

in the calendar and then don’t 

let up until you feel that reputational 

momentum is gaining. 

Think ahead 

To keep communications 

momentum, you always need 

to be looking ahead at potential 

obstacles in your business, 

with competitors or in 

the environment you operate 

which could derail you. 

Watch out for risks and mitigate 

them so they don’t create 

a hiccup. 

Likewise, to maintain 

momentum you need to keep 

your communications fresh. 

Research new tactics and 

try some new approaches to 

keep your reputational energy 

moving forward. 

An evening of decadent fun and frivolity 

Supplied copy 

The Riverlea Theatre 

end-of-year Christmas 

dinner and show returns 

November 16-December 14 

with Michael Switzer’s Cowboy 

Christmas, directed by 

Mel Martin, with musical 

director Vasa Faaosofia and 

choreographer Lily Empson. 

“We’re lucky to have some 

stunning singers, actors, and 

dancers in our cast,” says 

director Mel Martin. “The 

show is really high energy, it’s 

always moving, and something 

is always happening.” 

Riverlea Theatre is proud to 

present an evening of decadent 

fun, frivolity, and naughtiness. 

This hilarious production is 

packed with chart-topping 

country hits and is ideal for 

work functions, social clubs, 

or a group of friends wanting 

a great night out. The show is 

accompanied by a delicious 

two-course dinner including 

traditional ham on the bone. 

The show begins with the 

evil Colonel Clayton (Duncan 

Bouwer) putting in his bid to 

become mayor and control 

the rates, roles, and finances 

of the residents of Buzzard 

Spit. His niece Alice (Ruby 

Brett) quickly concocts a dastardly 

plan to level the balance 

between good and evil, and 

singing, dancing, and hilarity 

ensue. 

Producer Maureen Cruickshank 

describes this year's 

show as “perfect for anyone 

who enjoys a fun-filled evening 

of great food and outlandish 

entertainment”. 

Tickets are $79 for dinner 

and the show and are on sale at 

www.iticket.co.nz 

The limited season serves 

as Riverlea Theatre’s top fundraiser 

for the year, and all proceeds 

go towards continuing 

the rebuild of the current theatre 

and facilities. 

For more information on the 

Riverlea Theatre rebuild, 

please visit www.givealittle. 

co.nz/org/riverlea 

Riverlea Theatre's 

Nov 16 - Dec 14 

www.iticket.co.nz 

Dinner and show. Doors open at 6pm, the bar will be open, 

and there will be prizes for Best Dressed.


31 

What to do when your employee 

is banned from a client’s site 

A determination from the Employment Relations Authority last 

month highlighted a particularly tricky situation, not uncommonly 

encountered by employers, namely: What to do with an employee 

when a third party client refuses to have them on their premises, 

and there is no other available work for that employee to do. 

In the case of Siale v Professional 

Property and 

Cleaning Services Limited 

(‘PPL’), the employer operates 

a cleaning company that 

was subcontracted to provide 

cleaning services to a client, 

referred to in the determination 

as DPR. 

Mr Siale had worked as 

a cleaner for PPL for five 

years, the last two and a half 

years of his employment were 

solely at DPR sites. In August 

2015, Siale assaulted a cleaner 

from another company. PPL 

accepted Siale’s claims that 

he had been provoked, but 

issued him with a final written 

warning. Unbeknown to either 

PPL or DPR, Siale was subsequently 

convicted for assault 

with intent to injure in May 

2016 as a result of this incident, 

and was given a community-based 

sentence. 

In August 2017, PPL was 

awarded a service contract 

with DPR (previously they had 

only been subcontractors) and 

a requirement of this new contract 

was that all PPL employees 

needed to be checked by the 

Ministry of Justice (‘MOJ’) for 

past convictions. It was at this 

point that Siale’s May 2016 

conviction became apparent, in 

addition to a 2001 conviction 

for assault and wilful damage. 

The latter conviction had been 

previously unknown due to the 

Clean Slate Act, but this protection 

was removed as a result 

of the second conviction. 

DPR were concerned about 

Siale’s two assault convictions, 

and asked PPL to provide 

them with a psychological risk 

assessment. Siale was reluctant 

to participate in this but eventually 

agreed. There was no evidence 

that PPL’s referral to a 

psychological service provider 

had contained the MOJ report. 

The risk assessment report that 

resulted held that Siale posed 

no risk, but only referred to the 

single event in 2015. 

DPR would not accept 

this risk assessment given it 

only referred to the one incident, 

and wanted a second 

risk assessment done which 

included the MOJ report with 

the referral. PPL contacted the 

service provider stating that the 

report was inaccurate, and that 

since the assessment, another 

incident had occurred which 

also needed to be included. 

The provider said that was outside 

of the parameters of what 

had been agreed to. PPL were 

reluctant to ask Siale to submit 

to a second assessment given 

his resistance to participating 

in the first assessment. 

In April 2018, PPL met with 

DPR and the latter demanded 

that Siale no longer attend DPR 

sites. PPL agreed to this. Siale 

was subsequently dismissed 

from PPL as the MOJ report 

meant there were no other sites 

that he could be employed on 

either, hence, there was no 

work for him. 

While the Authority sympathised 

with PPL on the 

difficult situation it found 

itself in, Siale’s dismissal was 

still found to be unjustified 

in breach of the fair process 

requirements of s 103A of the 

Employment Relations Act 

2000 (‘Act’). 

The Authority held that a 

fair and reasonable employer 

in PPL’s situation would have 

tried to persuade DPR to at 

least give PPL sufficient time to 

put DPR’s comments to Siale 

for his comment and carry out 

a fair process. PPL should also 

have informed Siale that DPR 

had not accepted the psychological 

risk assessment and that 

failure to participate in second 

assessment could cost him his 

job. There was no indication 

that Siale had been aware of 

the request for a second assessment, 

and it is likely that had 

he been fully appraised of the 

situation he would have participated, 

albeit reluctantly. 

The Authority awarded 

Siale $9454.31 in lost remuneration 

and $12,000 compensation 

for hurt and humiliation. 

The Authority declined Siale’s 

reinstatement application and 

costs were reserved. 

Where an employee successfully 

pursues a claim in 

the Authority and remedies are 

awarded, the Authority must 

also consider to what extent the 

employee’s conduct contributed 

to the dismissal, usually 

expressed as a percentage. If 

the Authority finds, for example, 

that contributory conduct 

amounts to 30 percent, then the 

remedies ordered are reduced 

by that percent. 

In this case, PPL argued 

that Siale’s contribution to his 

dismissal was high, given his 

conduct that had led to the convictions. 

However, the Authority 

did not accept this as it was 

not the convictions themselves 

that led to DPR banning Siale 

New first-home buyer loan scheme 

fuels influx into Hamilton market 

The Government’s First 

Home Grant coupled 

with new first home loan 

criteria available from October 

1 has sparked a mass influx of 

buyers into the market, says 

Lodge Real Estate managing 

director Jeremy O’Rourke. 

“The government’s new 

scheme which lowered firsthome 

loan deposit requirements 

to five percent kicked in from 

October 1 and has had a great 

uptake in Hamilton. The result 

is that we’ve seen a mass influx 

of first-home buyers coming 

into the lower end of the city’s 

market,” O’Rourke said. 

“This heightened first-home 

buyer activity has sent ripples 

through other segments of the 

residential market. Home owners 

in lower brackets are seeing 

this as an opportunity to sell 

and trade up.” 

Hamilton mortgage broker 

Jordan Cameron of Total Mortgages 

said he has also seen a 

major impact on the market as 

a result of the government’s 

new scheme. 

“Before October 1, the average 

time to turn around a home 

valuation as part of a bank loan 

process was four days. We’ve 

seen that timeframe blown out 

to two weeks,” Cameron said. 

“We’re pinning this change 

squarely on the increased firsthome 

buyer activity in the 

market due to the sheer volume 

of new valuations being 

requested.” 

O’Rourke said the heightened 

buyer activity in Hamilton’s 

residential housing market 

means there continues to be a 

shortage of homes available for 

sale. 

“While the Hamilton market 

is experiencing this increase in 

demand, there’s a lack of quality 

homes being listed. If this 

continues into late spring and 

early summer we will certainly 

see home prices hold steady and 

possibly increase over coming 

months. 

“Hamilton’s median is nearing 

the $600,000 mark and I 

EMPLOYMENT LAW 

> BY ERIN BURKE 

Employment lawyer and director at Practica Legal 

Email: erin@practicalegal.co.nz phone: 027 459 3375 

from the premises, given he 

had continued to work on DPR 

sites from the discovery of the 

convictions in October 2017 

through to April 2018. Rather, 

it was the lack of an acceptable 

second risk assessment that 

included knowledge of both 

convictions that finally led to 

DPR’s demands, and this may 

have been avoided if Siale had 

known about the request for a 

second assessment and participated 

in one. 

The take-home tip for 

employers in this situation is 

to explain to a third party who 

wants to ban an employee from 

their site, that the employer 

needs the concerns from the 

third party in writing, so they 

wouldn’t be surprised if we see 

that record broken soon,” he 

said. 

According to listings on realeststate.co.nz 

there were only 

638 homes available for sale in 

Hamilton at the start of October. 

This compares with 662 at the 

start of August. 

Hamilton’s median 

increased to a record $597,000 

in September from $575,000 

in August, according to Real 

Estate Institute of NZ figures. 

A total of 245 homes were 

sold in Hamilton during September, 

compared with 284 in 

August and 248 in September 

2018. 

Waikato food producers come together to flourish 

Fostering business capability 

and community are the 

focus of Waikato Food 

Inc’s recently launched Producers 

Collective. 

Waikato Food Inc, comprised 

of a network of hospitality 

and food businesses, has 

set up the collective to help new 

and existing food producers 

thrive. 

The hope is that the collective, 

which was launched in 

October, will allow businesses 

to pool their resources in a competitive 

marketplace. 

“Waikato is home to an 

array of food producers, growers 

and manufacturers who 

face the danger of operating in 

isolation. It’s tough starting a 

business alone without shared 

resources to fast track growth. 

This is an opportunity to gain 

insight through sharing knowledge 

and experiences,” says 

spokesperson Esther Burnett. 

Hannah O’Brien from Hunt 

and Gather Honey and Jan 

Dolan from Bellefield Butter, 

also members of Waikato 

Food Inc, spearheaded the idea. 

Both know the extensive time, 

energy and passion required to 

start and grow a business. The 

idea came about as a solution 

to shared issues arising in their 

networks. 

“Businesses all essentially 

go through the same things at 

different times. We all have a 

lot in common but don’t have 

a forum to talk through issues 

with each other. The Producers 

Collective offers a place where 

people can come together, get 

help and support and build a 

really strong community,” says 

O’Brien. 

“At every level in our business 

there’s been times we 

could have really used people’s 

advice on things as simple as 

pricing and packaging, retail 

tips, filing tax returns or how 

to get into supermarkets. We’ve 

done it all by ourselves, it would 

have been easier to have had a 

network to know these things.” 

The collective will host 

events throughout 2020 including 

workshops, guest speakers 

and social get togethers. 

can be put to the employee, and 

that the employer needs sufficient 

time to carry out a fair 

process. The good faith obligations 

the employer owes to 

the employee, also require the 

employer to make some effort 

to dissuade the third party 

from insisting on the ban and 

to find out what, if anything, 

the employer/employee could 

do to assuage the third party’s 

concerns so the employee can 

be allowed back on site. 

If the employee remains 

banned from the site and 

this results in dismissal, the 

employer will still be able to 

demonstrate that it had tried 

its best to avoid the resulting 

dismissal. 

Jeremy O’Rourke 

For the latest REINZ market 

data for Hamilton, visit www. 

reinz.co.nz.


Are you cyber resilient? 

How long would your business survive if 

your IT systems were incapacitated from a 

cyberattack? It is now an accepted maxim 

that cyber breaches will happen. Many 

businesses are therefore focusing on how 

they could be resilient to the outcomes of a 

cyberattack and minimising the impact. 

Cyber resilience includes 

the agility of both 

defence and recovery 

capabilities. Resilient systems 

help companies reduce 

the likelihood of a successful 

attack, sustain operations 

when possible amid cyberattacks, 

and rapidly recover in 

the event of disruption. From 

our Digital Trust Insights 2018 

survey we found that globally 

only about half of medium and 

large businesses in key sectors 

say they are building resilience 

to cyberattacks and other 

disruptive events to a large 

extent. And fewer than half of 

them say they are comfortable 

their company has adequately 

tested its resilience to cyberattacks. 

New Zealand small and 

medium enterprises (SMEs) 

often assume they are safe 

from cyber breaches as they 

don’t have the appeal of larger 

organisations to attackers. 

However, cyberattacks are 

often unsophisticated, indiscriminate 

and untargeted, 

searching widely in the hope 

of finding systems or a device 

with a recognised vulnerabil- 

ity to exploit. 

According to New Zealand’s 

National Cyber Security 

Centre, common attack 

tools include phishing emails 

(to deliver malware or to dupe 

the user into making a payment), 

spoofed (fake) websites 

(where users enter their 

login details, which are then 

captured) and the exploitation 

of network device vulnerabilities. 

Our survey showed that 

the cyber threats New Zealand 

respondents were most concerned 

about related to suppliers, 

staff, competitors, mobile 

devices and ransomware. 

You only have to look at 

recent news stories about 

health records for potentially a 

million patients being hacked, 

or a Commerce Commission 

contractor’s computer being 

stolen with sensitive information 

on it (with no password 

protection), or the stories of 

businesses losing all their data 

due to a ransomware attack 

and then finding they cannot 

recover their backups, to see 

the implications of not getting 

the basics right. 

Contemporary NZ art works for hire 

in workplaces & private homes. 

FrEE consultation & installation 

Consultancy services available. 

Portfolio Art Hire 

Janet Knighton 

P 021 059 0028 E art.hire@xtra.co.nz 

Readiness 

Our survey showed that New 

Zealand respondents lagged 

behind other territories when it 

comes to having programmes 

in place to address security, 

privacy and testing their resistance 

to a cyberattack. 

Globally, only 34 percent 

of our survey respondents 

said their company has an 

employee security awareness 

training programme. 

Have you considered the 

risks of not having your technology 

infrastructure (hardware/software/data) 

available? 

Do you have plans for what to 

do in case of an attack? 

While compliance with 

good practice is important, the 

real cyber security challenges 

are to make business and technology 

choices that reduce 

exposure and minimise opportunity 

for attackers. 

Increasing business 

resilience 

Conventional approaches to 

technology resilience focus on 

enabling continued operation 

in the event of physical disasters, 

but these can be inadequate 

in the face of cyberattacks 

where all connected 

systems are rendered inoperable. 

The consequence is a need 

for different thinking around 

what is required to construct a 

resilient business. 

These include, for example, 

understanding and minimising 

single points of failure due to 

reliance on a single technology 

or provider, holding more 

stock through a distribution 

channel, moving critical functions 

and data to one or more 

cloud service providers, and 

having a separate technology 

environment for the most critical 

functions to be invoked in 

a worst-case scenario of total 

technology outage. 

The decisions need to be 

based around business structure, 

rather than just purely 

security controls, and rely 

on an understanding of your 

particular risks and critical 

processes and how they could 

continue to operate or be 

recovered in the event of technology 

failure. 

Adopting a risk mindset, 

focusing on the potential threats 

and your exposure to them will 

put your business on a better 

footing and reduce the opportunity 

for attackers to interfere 

with your business operations. 

The following nine areas should 

be key focus areas: 

1. Authenticating people – a 

common feature of almost 

every cyber security attack 

is exploitation of static 

passwords. Multi-factor 

and biometric authentication 

are becoming standard 

for remote access and 

privileged access (for both 

applications and data). 

2. The security basics – many 

security breaches are made 

possible by one of a small 

number of basic security 

failures. Examples of these 

‘basic’ security measures 

include: patching applications 

and operating systems, 

what systems and 

applications can connect 

to a network (application 

whitelisting), who has 

access to what systems and 

data, application configuration 

to block common 

settings/features/applications 

that are popular methods 

of delivering/executing 

malware, and backups. 

The Australian Signals 

Directorate provides 

advice on the essential 

eight strategies that are the 

starting points to improve 

an organisation’s cyber 

resilience (www.cyber. 

gov.au/publications/essential-eight-explained). 

3. Protecting data – in today’s 

world data can flow across 

TECHNOLOGY SECURITY 

> BY AARON STEELE 

Aaron Steele is a senior manager at PwC Waikato. 

Email: aaron.steele@pwc.com 

many systems (some may 

be outside of your control – 

eg, cloud service provider). 

Data encryption allows the 

owner of the data to retain 

control of who has access 

to their data. 

4. Validating inputs – innovative 

attackers targeting 

a particular process or 

system may not attack that 

system directly, but may 

instead seek to corrupt the 

inputs (e.g. altering/spoofing 

the fingerprint scanner 

on your phone). 

5. Anomaly detection – conventional 

approaches to 

security monitoring focus 

on finding known, identifiable 

threats (e.g. anti-virus 

software). To enable new 

attack types to be blocked 

in real-time, your security 

monitoring should also be 

capable of identifying patterns 

of activity that deviate 

from the norm. 

6. Culture – empower your 

staff to protect the business 

through awareness 

and knowledge. Attackers 

use social engineering as a 

common attack avenue to 

comprise your systems. 

7. Third party oversight – 

there are countless examples 

of attackers breaching 

a supplier in order to leverage 

its position in the supply 

chain of the eventual 

target. Ways to mitigate 

this risk include, simplifying 

the supply chain, audit 

and review suppliers and 

asking suppliers to attest to 

the security measures they 

have in place. 

8. Untrusted apps – often the 

risks presented by applications 

are a result of 

errors in coding and poor 

software development 

processes. Organisations 

need to ensure that any 

applications they create, 

especially those used by 

customers and/or capture 

personal information are 

developed with security in 

mind from the outset and 

are rigorously tested. 

9. Resilient business – in 

today’s world organisations 

rely on their technology 

systems being available 

24/7. Therefore, the 

focus has to be on how an 

organisation can minimise 

the impact of a cyberattack. 

This starts with 

assessing the risk and not 

making yourself an ‘easy’ 

target. 

The comments in this article 

of a general nature and should 

not be relied on for specific 

cases. Taxpayers should seek 

specific advice.

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Escape from it all 

Pam Ariestia and Geoff Carr combined their favourite things 

when they created their business Escapist in central Hamilton. 

It has state of the art escape 

rooms which they designed 

and built themselves, an 

extensive selection of board 

games to play and a cafe, making 

it a great venue for team 

building and special occasions. 

All were on show at a Hamilton 

Central Business Association 

social evening on October 

17. 

Guests were given a tour of 

the escape rooms, with three 

already completed and three 

more in the pipeline. 

Their central location at 

level 1, 36 Bryce Street, is 

a site that has recently been 

transformed with a re-development 

creating a shared tenancy 

space in Bryce Street. 

1 

1. Graham Roberts, 

Geoff Carr and 

Bever-Leigh Maximo 

in an escape room. 

2. Rachel Bish and 

Rebecca Evans. 

3. Colin Hancock and 

Caryn Leitgeb. 

4. Diane Harvey and 

Typhany Meredith. 

Scott Campbell Glass and Pam Ariestia. 

2 3 4 

A one day 

programme 

designed to inspire, 

connect, share 

knowledge and 

build capacity. 

INSPIRE 

CONNECT 

To register your interest in exhibiting or 

partnering to showcase technology and 

innovation get in touch on info@techfest.nz 

SHARE 

KNOWLEDGE 

Download the Prospectus at techfest.nz 

BUILD 

CAPACITY 

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35 

Secrets to ecommerce success 

THE DIGITAL WORLD 

> BY JOSH MOORE 

Josh Moore is the head marketing fanatic at Duoplus, a 

Hamilton-based digital marketing agency that helps clients 

across NZ grow faster. www.duoplus.nz 

Have you noticed how fast ecommerce 

has been growing in recent years? It’s not 

showing any signs of slowing down. 

After months of work, 

we recently enjoyed 

going live on a large 

ecommerce project for Hamilton-based 

Mobility Centre. 

The project had the added 

complexity of merging two 

existing ecommerce sites, 

under two different brands, 

into a single new site. Out of 

the approximately 2000 products 

on the two sites, several 

hundred products were double-ups, 

listed on both sites. 

Added to this, their existing 

site received a lot of organic 

search engine traffic, which 

produced the majority of their 

sales. Replacing a large ecommerce 

website with a completely 

new site means all the 

product URLs would change. 

If this wasn’t done carefully, 

visitors clicking on Google 

search results for either of the 

previous websites would end 

up on a “Page not found” error 

message, which would kill 

their business overnight. 

So, what are the secrets to 

executing a project like this in 

order to achieve ecommerce 

success? 

The first step with a major 

ecommerce upgrade is to 

review the navigation experience 

you want visitors to have, 

and especially the category 

structure of your products. It is 

very hard to make large category 

structure changes to a live 

site, so during a major upgrade 

is the perfect time. It’s important 

to decide on any category 

changes or major navigation 

changes before you prepare the 

product data for the new site. 

Mobility Centre wanted 

visitors to be able to navigate 

by either product category or 

disability/condition. Deciding 

on this in advance meant we 

could plan how the product 

data needed to be structured. 

Once you’ve confirmed 

your navigation and category 

structure, the next big focus 

needs to be getting the product 

data right. The old adage 

“garbage in, garbage out” is 

never truer than when you’re 

handing large amounts of data 

to a computer. Taking the time 

to get the product data right is 

time well spent. 

When merging data 

exported from two different 

sites, one of secrets that helped 

this project was to make sure 

that every product had a correct 

and unique SKU number. This 

enabled cross-over products 

that were listed on both sites 

to be quickly identified and 

deduplicated. Another lesson 

is to draw on staff expertise – 

Mobility Centre used a person 

from the accounts department 

to give correct SKUs to every 

product in the exports because 

they were very familiar with 

the SKUs. Another staff member 

reviewed the entire catalogue 

to identify products 

that were no longer available 

but had still been listed on 

the sites. You should also run 

checks on your data to make 

sure no SKU is used twice. 

Additionally, in the world 

of ecommerce, detailed 

descriptions on product listings 

help increase sales. For 

the cross-over products that 

were listed on both sites, we 

used formulas to compare the 

product descriptions between 

the two sites and automatically 

pick the longest description to 

use on the new site. 

But the most important 

secret when replacing an 

ecommerce site is to apply 

“301 redirects”. 301 redirects 

do two important things – 

firstly, when visitors try to visit 

one of the old product URLs 

from the old site structure they 

will be redirected automatically 

to the new URL for that 

same product. The user doesn’t 

even notice the change – they 

simply click the (old) link in 

Google and they land on the 

right page. But without the 

redirect in place they would 

have landed on an error page 

that said, “Page not found”, 

because the URL of the product 

changes with the new site. 

Secondly, a 301 redirect 

tells Google, and other search 

engines, “The page URL has 

changed. The new URL is 

over here – please update your 

search results to show the 

new URL”. By doing this any 

search rankings that the previous 

page had earned should 

now be attributed to the new 

URL. This way, the new site 

keeps all the rankings that the 

last site had, which is critical. 

Every page that has 

changed URL needs to have 

a redirect. This means every 

product, every product category, 

every product tag, every 

information page – all of these 

need to have redirects put in 

place. For Mobility Centre, 

we created 1751 redirects to 

make sure that search engine 

rankings didn’t drop and users 

ended up on the right pages. 

These are just some of the 

secrets to ecommerce success. 

Building a large ecommerce 

website requires hundreds of 

details to be done well, including 

site structure, mobile optimisation, 

product schema, and 

hundreds of other aspects. 

The end result for Mobility 

Centre was that since launching 

their new website at mobilitycentre.co.nz 

their organic 

traffic from search engines has 

doubled! Sales have skyrocketed. 

Foot traffic through their 

local stores has also increased. 

So, if you’re considering 

launching or revamping 

your ecommerce site, even 

though taking the time to get 

the details right can feel painful, 

the benefits can be well 

worth it. 

Time to steady 

the IP ship 

There seems little doubt 

that the New Zealand 

economy is heading for 

stormy seas. 

Headlines like “Slip sliding 

away” (ANZ New Zealand 

Business Outlook, September 

30), “Business confidence 

at lowest level since 2009: 

NZIER” (Stuff, October 1) 

and “World economy signals 

mounting crisis in manufacturing” 

(NZ Herald, October 

2) tend to support this view. 

So, what, as a business 

owner, can you – and should 

you – do to steady your IP ship 

for the choppy seas ahead? 

You might think that the 

best thing to do is cut spending 

and not invest in registering 

your trade mark, applying 

for that patent or plant variety 

right, or sending that cease 

and desist letter to your competitor. 

I would urge you to think 

otherwise. After all, you can’t 

expect a ship to survive a 

storm without robust protection 

from the elements. 

With this in mind, here 

are my 5 IP-focused 

recommendations: 

1. Conduct an intellectual 

property audit. Identify 

your IP assets and prioritise 

them in order of 

importance to the ongoing 

survival and profitability 

of your business. 

2. Identify if your IP assets 

are protected or not. For 

example, are your trade 

marks registered in all the 

countries you need them 

to be? Have you applied 

for that patent to protect 

your new invention, or 

that plant variety right on 

which a substantial part of 

the future of your business 

depends? 

3. Identify if your IP assets 

can be protected, and 

what you need to do to 

protect them. For example, 

contact a trade mark or 

patent attorney (if you haven’t 

already) to lodge any 

applications; organise the 

catalogue of drawings for 

your latest product design 

to facilitate enforcement; 

put confidentiality agreements 

in place to guard 

your trade secrets. 

4. Identify if anyone is 

infringing your IP rights 

and stop them. It’s common 

knowledge that 

dispute resolution and 

litigation can be costly; 

however, the cost of not 

enforcing your IP rights 

can be much greater in the 

long term. Enforcing your 

rights prevents erosion of 

those rights. 

5. Be vigilant. Keep your 

eyes open for new opportunities, 

and new threats. 

One day the storm will 

clear, the seas will calm, 

and you will be ready to 

take advantage of sunnier 

conditions. 

Some businesses may 

choose to implement the 

above recommendations 

themselves; some may not. 

For those who are unsure or 

need any kind of guidance, I 

urge you to contact a competent 

IP attorney. 

With a good tail wind, New 

Zealand will hopefully be 

through the worst of the storm 

in the next 12-18 months. A 

lot will likely depend, however, 

on what happens with 

the Impeachment in the West, 

the Trade War in the East, the 

Brexit nonsense in the North 

and the votes of the New Zealand 

public in the South come 

September 2020. 

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ISSUES 

> BY BEN CAIN 

Ben Cain is a Senior Associate at James & Wells and a Resolution 

Institute-accredited mediator. He can be contacted at 07 957 5660 

(Hamilton), 07 928 4470 (Tauranga) and benc@jaws.co.nz.

FROM ROWENA

CHILD FOCUS - MONTESSORI ON TAWA 


37 

A reputation for quality 

Last year’s winners of the Supreme 

Award in the Waikato Registered Master 

Builders House of the Year competition, 

Holah Homes, won the contract to 

build the new Montessori pre-school in 

Hamilton’s Tawa Street. 

With the initial concept 

by Auckland 

architects, the new 

building is nearly 700 square 

metres and can accommodate 

110 children. Holah Homes 

managing director Phil Holah 

says within that space they 

had to create distinct areas to 

cater for babies, toddlers and 

older pre-schoolers up to six 

years. “They all have different 

needs and that was something 

we were conscious of, making 

each space work for the 

intended groups, and keeping 

them separate. Five-year-olds 

play very differently from 

crawling babies! 

“We made ourselves aware 

of the Montessori philosophy, 

conscious of it while we were 

building the pre-school,” says 

Holah. “And that included 

how we constructed the outdoor 

play areas, understanding 

the role that outside play has 

in child development; that it’s 

more than running round having 

fun or letting off steam. 

“Situated within an industrial 

zone, the outdoor areas are 

designed to protect the children 

from most of the industrial 

noise and provide shelter from 

the prevailing weather. Working 

with the client and landscaper 

we were able to create 

separate outdoor spaces for all 

ages”. 

Holah Homes have built 

school classrooms and resource 

rooms in the past, but this was 

the first pre-school building 

for the company. Incorporated 

into the build are many child 

focused features like level 

entry concrete patios to prevent 

tripping hazards, and varied 

height cabinetry to cater for the 

different age groups. The hot 

water system was specifically 

designed to cater to lower hot 

water temperatures at particular 

fixtures to prevent injuries. 

Much of the building is 

brick veneer cladding, a solid, 

low maintenance choice able 

to withstand everyday knocks. 

The cladding transitions 

to fibre cement board with 

express joints to give some 

visual detail. The form and 

function of the bi-fold doors 

are a great transition between 

the indoor and outdoor learning 

areas. 

Technology has changed the 

way plans are used and altered 

by Holah builders. They seldom 

use paper plans on a job 

now; they can get wet, dirty, 

or torn in the wind. Builders 

on site use an interactive PDF 

of plans and documentation, 

and any changes to the plans 

are done in the company office 

and pushed out to the builders’ 

iPads. “It’s an efficient system, 

it’s much quicker, and I can see 

computer technology becoming 

much more integrated in 

the building process as time 

goes on,” Holah says. 

“At Holah its our focus 

to deliver high-quality purpose-built 

buildings that cater 

for the requirements of our clients 

and the Montessori Daycare 

is another great example.” 

Longer 

opening 

hours! 

6.30am 

- 6pm for 

working 

families 

Our NEW Tawa Street daycare is 

opening in December! 

We are the second Fountain City Montessori site - a family orientated, nurturing, calm and respectful 

environment for 0-6 year olds near the hospital. Come and visit our sister-site on Brooklyn Road to get a feel for 

what we do and how great we are with our children. Or visit us in November! You will feel the difference. 

Open 6.30am - 6pm 07-855 2696 www.fcm.nz 

103 Tawa Street, 3206 Hamilton, New Zealand



Location, location, location 

There is nothing like being Starbucks on 

a busy corner, unless of course there is 

no foot traffic and no handy carparking. 

Fountain City Montessori began looking 

for a sister location a couple of years ago 

and there were a number of considerations 

when we were looking. 

Great sites like the one 

we found, owned by 

John and Glenice Gallagher’s 

family partnership don’t 

come up every day within the 

existing city parameters. Hav- 

ing a good relationship with 

the local NAI Harcourts office 

(Brad Chibnall) who knew of 

this location and the Gallagher 

family’s desire to support the 

community with their foundation, 

was an essential part of 

finding our site. 

To properly discuss the 

strategy of our location with 

you, we should start at our 

initial site on Brooklyn Road. 

We positioned it opposite the 

Claudelands Event Centre 

which was strategically chosen 

around the location of other 

Montessori childcare centres 

in Hamilton, despite being next 

door and within birds-eye view 

of at least six daycare centres. 

We all go to food courts and 

down Avalon Drive to grab a 

burger, right? Not everyone 

wants a burger. 

Traffic flow was also important 

to us for our first location – 

to identify logical traffic routes 

into the city where our parents 

work. To be handy enough to 

town, but also have enough 

parking for ease of access. 

Brooklyn Road in Claudelands 

(the old orange Hire Pool building) 

was fantastic for that, picking 

up traffic going into the city 

from Gordonton, Chartwell, 

Morrinsville and, with the new 

bypasses, as far as Cambridge 

and Tamahere. 

When presented with the 

Tawa Street option, we considered 

that there were no 

Montessori preschools that 

link easily into the Ohaupo 

/ Te Awamutu gateway into 

Hamilton. Secondly, with the 

proposed development of Peacocke, 

there will be a lot of 

reasonably informed people 

building homes who might be 

interested in an informed childcare 

methodology. (Dr Maria 

Montessori was an internationally 

recognised psychologist, 

scientist, author, child development 

expert and a recipient of 

the Nobel Peace Prize. I feel it 

is fair to say she knew what she 

was talking about!) 

With the nearby location 

of the District Health Board 

and the development of the 


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Location, location, location 

From page 38 

multiple large businesses on 

Kahikatea Drive, as well as 

reports of a need from Brooklyn 

Road parents from that side 

of town, it became obvious that 

more choice was in demand 

near the hospital, with the number 

of employees in the area 

in the thousands. There are a 

few day-care options nearby, 

but nothing that offers an educational 

philosophy like Montessori. 

Because Dr Montessori 

actively set schools up in India, 

US, Holland and China among 

other countries, many of DHB 

employees are already familiar 

with the Montessori philosophy 

because it is so popular in their 

home countries. Additionally, 

many of the parents working 

at the hospital start their shifts 

at 7am, finishing at 3pm. It is 

therefore essential for many of 

them to have a drop-off earlier 

than 7am, rather than having 

to rely on extended family to 

drop their children off, which 

many do. Ministry of Education 

licence pending, our client 

need is therefore to have opening 

hours of 6.30am-6pm to 

cater to this demand, and that is 

what we hope to deliver. 

We aren’t based on a corner, 

we are on Tawa St behind the 

Gallagher building, off a side 

road. So where will we get 

our clients from? So far, we 

have around five or six children 

who will come straight over to 

the new location on day one. 

Our existing families also have 

friends who are excited to have 

a location that is closer to their 

workplaces / homes. Word of 

mouth is our biggest form of 

advertisement. 

Aside from having satisfied 

clients, our focus is therefore 

on new families, and we are 

finding that we are getting a 

lot of success by using social 

media and Google because this 

is where new parents are spending 

their relaxation time. We 

also participated in the Waikato 

Baby Expo which gave us a 

very keen half a dozen families 

who we have been communicating 

with to keep them 

informed of our progress. 

As we haven’t been able to 

access the building until after 

Labour Weekend, we haven’t 

yet been open to view, nor 

have we had any open days. 

Yet despite being away from 

the main road, we have a good 

dozen serious prospects who 

are now starting to send in their 

formal enrolment paperwork. 

Our last centre grew from one 

child to the need for 18 staff in 

one year, but on Tawa St we will 

likely be at 15-20 enrolments in 

the first two months, and that 

will be through the Christmas 

period too. I think it’s fair to 

say that we are excited, but also 

a tiny bit terrified! 

What is very clear in our 

experience here in selecting a 

location, is that it is so important 

to know what your customers 

need, know where they are 

coming from and travelling to, 

and know where you will find 

them to make contact with 

them. Informing smart business 

people about your strategy 

and slipping in some information 

about your product in 

Waikato Business News would 

not be a silly thing to do, either. 

Some of them may even have 

read about Pikler – and those 

business people would definitely 

love Montessori. 

Our formal advertising will 

commence over the next couple 

of weeks, predominantly with 

open days, a new website, and 

a whole heap of online presence 

while we pack in and tick 

off our health department, council 

and Ministry of Education 

licensing requirements. 

We expect to be open to 

view from mid-November – so 

please tell your friends to “like” 

our Tawa St page on Facebook 

to find out more, and then come 

and visit to see how quiet childcare 

can be. 

Rowena Harper 

Managing director 

Fountain City Montessori 

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CHILD FOCUS 

Rotokauri Early 

Education Centre 

made for quality 

Children are loving the new Rotokauri Early 

Education Centre, in Arthur Porter Drive, 

which opened in January to extend Early 

Education Waikato’s top quality childcare 

options for families living and working in 

Hamilton’s northwestern suburbs. 

You are welcome to enrol for 

Term 4 2019 and for Term 1 2020 

Spaces may be limited. 

Please pre-register by email 

With plenty of offstreet 

parking, and 

recent roadworks on 

Arthur Porter Drive now completed, 

drop-offs and pick-ups 

are a breeze for busy parents. 

Like all Early Education 

Waikato centres, the outdoor 

areas have been carefully 

Jazz Unlimited Dance Studio: Hip Hop, 

Contemporary, Classical ballet, American Jazz and Tap, 

Musical Theatre, and Acting. Ages 3 years to adult 

Email: jazzunlimited@xtra.co.nz 

Phone: 838 0096. 

The timetable is on www.jazzunlimited.co.nz. 

We are at 188 Kent Street, Frankton (Norton Road end). 

Visitors are welcome. 

Planet Dance: Ballroom, Latin, Salsa, Argentine 

Tango, Modern Jive. 12 years to adult. We are also 

wedding dance specialists. 

Email: planetdance@xtra.co.nz 

Phone: 838-0096. 

planned and professionally 

landscaped to provide a variety 

of fun learning activities with 

plenty of space. Water play, a 

large sandpit, and undulating 

bike track frame an area with 

plenty of grass areas and room 

to explore. 

Inside the centre, individualised 

areas for babies, toddlers 

and pre-schoolers have 

age-appropriate resources and 

activities available to provide 

a real home-away-from-home 

feel, along with meals prepared 

to NZ Healthy Heart standards. 

We ‘re very proud of the latest 

addition to the Early Education 

Waikato family of centres 

and are taking enrolments now. 

You can view a video walkthrough 

of the new centre – 

search Rotokauri Early Education 

Centre on YouTube — or 

drop in, look around and meet 

the team. 

Rotokauri joins the other 

popular Early Education 

Waikato childcare centres – 

Claudelands, Cumberland, 

Fairfield on Bankwood, Rototuna, 

Te Rapa and The Park – 

to give parents more options 

for top quality childcare, wherever 

in the city you may live. 

While each centre is unique, 

they all share characteristics 

like the Healthy Heart Award 

meals, Enviroschools, Under5 

Energize, and the popular Cool 

4 School transition programme 

which prepares four-year-olds 

for the next stage of their journey 

to school. 

For enrolment details contact 

Early Education Waikato 

for more information on 0800 

CHILDREN (244 537) or 

rotokauri@kindergarten.org. 

nz. More information on Rotokauri 

Early Education Centre 

and the other Early Education 

Waikato centres in Hamilton 

please visit www.kindergarten. 

org.nz. 

- Supplied copy


43 

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Virtual reality breaking boundaries 

There are many preconceptions about 

virtual reality (VR) technology. 

Our thoughts about the 

capability of VR technology 

are informed 

by examples seen in everyday 

life, such as the popularity 

of the simple but extremely 

addictive world-building 

computer game Minecraft. 

The members of a recent government 

delegation who visited 

Company-X led by Minister 

for Local Government 

and Associate Minister Trade 

and Export Growth Nanaia 

Mahuta mentioned the game 

two or three times during their 

hour at Company-X. 

But VR technology can 

do so much more than create 

three-dimensional computer 

models of the real world to 

keep the Minecraft-playing 

kids happy for a couple of 

hours. Its capabilities are now 

much closer to those imagined 

in the 1980s by Star Trek creator 

Gene Roddenberry and 

his team when they created 

the Starship Enterprise’s holodecks 

in Star Trek: The Next 

Generation. 

The Star Trek team envisaged 

virtual reality technology 

that simulated three-dimensional 

environments that 

users could interact with. 

Using the holodeck, the crew 

and the passengers of the 

Enterprise could step into 

three-dimensional recreations 

of times and places for recreational 

purposes, or simulate 

any training scenario. The sky 

and the writers’ imaginations 

were the limits. 

We don’t quite have holodecks 

today, but Nvidia Corporation, 

best known for its 

personal computer graphics 

processing units, is pretty 

close to Roddenberry’s dream 

in this space. Nvidia has 

developed NVIDIA Holodeck 

to bring designers, peers, and 

stakeholders from around the 

world together in a virtual 

environment to explore creations 

in a highly realistic, 

collaborative, and physically 

simulated environment. Look 

up the demo video on You- 

Tube. 

A Star Trek level experience 

is delivered through specially 

designed VR headgear. 

Nearly all of Company-X’s 

virtual reality projects require 

such headgear, although there 

are some exceptions. Sensor-encrusted 

gloves are available 

to inform the virtual environment 

projected to the eyes 

of those wearing the headgear. 

This is still an emerging technology. 

We’ve tested some 

gloves at Company-X and 

found that the gloves’ capabilities 

are not quite refined 

enough for our purposes and 

the return on investment in the 

enterprise environment. 

The VR of today is a lot 

closer to holodeck technology 

than Minecraft. 

Augmented reality (AR) 

technology capability goes 

hand in hand with virtual reality. 

AR reality technology provides 

a computer-enhanced 

view of the real world. 

A great example is a 

heads-up display (HUDS) in 

a fighter jet projecting instrument 

readings onto a transparent 

viewscreen in front 

of the pilot. HUDS removes 

the need for the pilot to look 

down to physical instruments, 

enabling them to keep their 

eyes on the sky. 

The same is true, the sky is 

the limit, with augmented and 

virtual reality projects we, at 

Company-X, are working on 

with clients. 

With the augmented and 

virtual reality technology 

available today, scenarios 

far too dangerous or costly 

to recreate in the real world 

can be simulated time and 

again. Best of all, the reactions 

of those being trained or 

refreshed can be recorded so 

that everyone can learn from 

the scenario. 

TECH TALK 

> BY DAVID HALLETT 

David Hallett is a director of Hamilton software specialist Company-X. 

It was clear the government 

delegation who visited 

could see a real-world application 

for AR and VR technology 

as they left the Company-X 

office in excitement. 

“You must really love coming 

to work,” our team was told. 

And we do. 

If a use case can be imagined 

it can be applied to a 

business, programmed and 

deployed to the workforce to 

help that business see itself in 

a new way. It’s all about making 

dreams a virtual reality. 

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45 

Waikato tech 

sector - no signs 

of slowing down 

DRIVING DEVELOPMENT 

> BY MICHAEL BASSETT-FOSS 

Chief executive, Te Waka: Waikato’s economic development agency 

Waikato is home to the fastest growing 

technology sector in the country and there 

is no sign of it slowing down. 

For the last two years, the 

TIN (Technology Investment 

Network) report 

has identified our region’s tech 

sector as leading the way in 

revenue growth and investment 

in technology companies. 

It showed that during 2018, 

while growth in the tech sector 

is evident across every New 

Zealand region, Waikato’s 

tech sector grew by 16.3 per 

cent or $199 million, with revenue 

of $854 million. In 2017, 

we also led the way with 21.7 

percent year-on-year growth. 

As this article went to 

print, the 2019 TIN Report 

was about to be released. The 

highlights of this report will 

be presented by TIN founder 

Greg Shanahan at the IoT 

Waikato Event hosted by 

Wintec on November 18. 

We are excited to learn 

more about our tech sector’s 

progress over the last 12 

months and identify opportunities 

for Te Waka to help keep 

the momentum going. 

Waikato’s agritech sector 

continues to capture the attention 

of investors as it demonstrates 

innovation, diversity 

and growth. 

Over the years, our region 

has produced globally successful 

companies like Gallagher 

Group, Waikato Milking 

Systems, NDA and Simcro. 

More recently, global tech 

company Hindustan Computers 

Limited (HCL) opened 

offices in Hamilton, which is 

expected to create 60 new jobs 

in the city. 

With our region’s existing 

strengths and emerging sectors, 

there are a number of 

opportunities for high-calibre 

technology solutions and service 

organisations like HCL to 

join Waikato’s emerging tech 

cluster. 

Te Waka is working alongside 

the region’s tech cluster, 

CultivateIT, to connect both 

embedded and new IT companies 

to the wider Waikato 

tech ecosystem and encourage 

collaboration on initiatives to 

drive our region forward. 

Inspire, connect and share 

knowledge 

The growth of the annual 

Waikato TechFest is a reflection 

of just how much our tech 

sector is thriving. 

Driven by CultivateIT in 

partnership with Te Waka, 

TechFest kicks off its fifth 

year in March 2020 at the 

Claudelands Event Centre. 

The event brings together 

hundreds of technology leaders, 

business and the wider 

community from around 

Waikato. It is an opportunity 

for them to see, touch and 

experience innovative technology 

solutions, as well as 

network and showcase products. 

We welcome the involvement 

of exhibitors and sponsors 

so get in touch with us if 

you would like to be part of 

our upcoming event. 

Creating a digitally 

connected region 

The release of this year’s TIN 

Report will coincide with the 

launch of the Digital Waikato 

2025 Strategy. 

This is a strategy developed 

by CultivateIT in collaboration 

with industry, schools, 

tertiary institutes and our 

local technology sector. The 

first stage of the programme 

of work is embedded in the 

Waikato regional economic 

development plan produced 

by Te Waka. 

The strategy’s vision is to 

create a digitally well-connected 

region, with CultivateIT 

and digital stakeholders 

fostering collaboration to 

build Waikato’s knowledge, 

skills and infrastructure in this 

industry sector. 

CultivateIT, in partnership 

with Te Waka, is working to 

identify where we have gaps 

and how we can work together 

with local companies to 

develop solutions to fill them. 

Use of technology by businesses 

improves productivity. 

CultivateIT is already working 

with key partners to support 

the uptake of digital technologies 

by businesses in the 

region. It is also leading the 

development of the ICT sector’s 

labour market strategy, 

looking at ideas for building 

and retaining tech talent in 

Waikato. 

At the end of the day, Te 

Waka and CultivateIT want to 

help facilitate the use of technology 

resources, skills and 

initiatives to support economic 

development and improve our 

community’s well-being. 

The end goal is to empower 

our region and its people to 

prosper today and tomorrow. 

And a big driver of our 

region’s future economic success 

will come down to how 

well we harness the power of 

our technology businesses.


EDUCATION = OPPORTUNITY 

University of Waikato creating the ‘workforce 

of the future’ with new MBA programme 

The University of Waikato is launching New 

Zealand’s first-ever cross disciplined approach 

to a Master of Business Administration (MBA) 

programme in March 2020. 

While traditionally 

MBAs are taught 

in a linear fashion, 

based on individual disciplines 

such as marketing, 

strategy, accounting and economics, 

the university has 

identified a need to evolve its 

current offering to better meet 

the ‘workforce of the future’. 

The result is a revised 

MBA programme which will 

create experienced, confident 

graduates who have the skills 

and knowledge to help shape 

the future of business in New 

Zealand. 

“Globally, a number of 

universities are exploring 

how they can make their 

MBAs more relevant to the 

business market of today,” 

explains Academic Director 

of Executive Education Dr 

Heather Connolly. 

“Our new MBA structure 

will help managers and leaders 

solve problems that they 

are faced with every day in the 

real world. For example, one 

of the papers explores how 

we can better manage people’s 

productivity – not just by 

looking at human resources, 

but the effect of an organisation’s 

structure and the impact 

of digital technology for better 

ways of working.” 

Heather says this exciting 

new programme is highly 

responsive to external conditions, 

with course content 

being regularly reviewed and 

refreshed. 

“It’s important we have the 

ability to be agile and that our 

graduates are the same. If we 

don’t understand the workforce 

of tomorrow we can’t 

instigate change for better 

business. 

“We want to create graduates 

who have insight and 

curiosity, to develop values-led, 

innovative ideas for 

the advancement of all New 

Zealand businesses.” 

Designed to fit around students’ 

full-time work, the twoyear 

degree is offered across 

the university’s Tauranga and 

Hamilton campuses, and is 

structured to allow for better 

networking and collaboration 

across both locations. 

As well as being increasingly 

tailored for real-world 

conditions the programme is 

also highly personalised to 

ensure students understand 

how to put their theory into 

practice, for both their own 

work environment and also 

other businesses. 

One of the highlights of 

the programme is a two-day 

residency, held after the first 

four papers, where students 

are assigned a business challenge 

and have 24 hours to 

develop a comprehensive 

solution. 

Heather says, “the ability 

to put into practice their 

learnings, outside of their 

industry, is challenging if 

they have only ever worked in 

one particular business sector, 

but through this experience 

we will create comprehensive 

graduates who have skills to 

move into any business – here 

and internationally.” 

The 2020 intake for the University 

of Waikato’s progressive 

MBA begins in March. 

For more information, visit 

execed.ac.nz/mba 

- Supplied copy

New in 2020 

The new Waikato MBA 

Positively disruptive 

To allow you to create positive disruption in 

your career, we’ve made disruptive changes to 

our Master of Business Administration (MBA) to 

reflect the changing workplace. 

As the first of its kind in New Zealand, our 

2020 MBA programme makes the change 

from taking a standard linear viewpoint, 

to viewing organisational challenges with 

a cross-disciplined approach - with less 

papers required overall. 

networking opportunities through alignment 

with our Waikato and Tauranga campuses. 

Create positive disruption in your career by 

registering for our information sessions or a 

one-on-one consultation. 

With Triple Crown accreditation, the 

Waikato Management School’s new MBA 

will provide you with a globally-recognised 

qualification; and the credibility, leadership 

and management skills to grow and change 

your career - while extending your business 

Register Now 

execed.ac.nz/mba


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Cambridge 

wins accolade 

Cambridge has been crowned the Most 

Beautiful Large Town in New Zealand. 


49 

The Waipā town took the 

honours in the Keep 

New Zealand Beautiful 

(KNZB) annual awards at the 

Toitū Otago Settlers Museum 

in October. 

The annual competition 

recognises the environmental 

excellence of individuals, 

groups, businesses and 

schools. 

Cambridge, which won 

over runner-up Pukekohe, was 

described by judges as having 

“world-class beauty” and 

strong community spirit. 

Our parks and 

reserves team take 

pride in their work 

maintaining the 

town’s gardens and 

open spaces so this 

is a great award to 

receive. 

Destination Cambridge 

chief executive Miff Macdiarmid 

and chair Philip Coles 

entered the awards, with 

the application funded by 

the Cambridge Community 

Board. Coles has recently been 

elected Waipā district councillor 

for Cambridge Ward. 

“We are super proud to 

receive the award and honoured 

to represent Cambridge,” 

Coles said. 

“As they say, true beauty 

comes from within, and it's 

our community which is the 

true champion. We always 

knew we were the most beautiful 

town in New Zealand, 

and now it’s official.” 

Coles thanked Cambridge’s 

Michael Jeans and Josh Easby, 

who were instrumental in putting 

the application together. 

The finalists were judged 

by celebrity chef Michael Van 

de Elzen and KNZB CEO 

Heather Saunderson. 

Van de Elzen said Cambridge 

had an understated 

world-class beauty. 

“What stood out was how 

much people would give back 

to the area and invest in the 

future, from the tree planting 

schemes through to the community 

gardens.” 

Each finalist had to 

demonstrate sustainable and 

environmentally conscious 

behaviours across four key 

areas: litter prevention and 

waste minimisation, community 

beautification, recycling 

projects and sustainable tourism. 

Judges were impressed 

Photo: Michael Jeans. 

with the warm welcome from 

locals and environmental and 

community achievements 

such as Plastic Bag Free Cambridge, 

Boomerang Bags, the 

Cambridge Tree Trust - planting 

10,000 trees a year and 

developing community parks 

- and the Cambridge Community 

Garden which provides 

fruit and vegetables to more 

than 500 people per month. 

They also had a taste of 

Cambridge’s culinary scene, 

visiting local retailers and 

eateries such as Wholly Cow 


Judges Heather Saunderson and Michael Van de Elzen. 

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Cambridge wins accolade 

From page 49 

butchery, Over the Moon Deli, 

Alpha Street Kitchen & Bar 

and Paddock cafe. 

Destination Cambridge 

chief executive Miff Macdiarmid 

said the win reflected the 

efforts of many – from council 

and the Cambridge Community 

Board to committed 

locals who give their time and 

skills to enhance Cambridge. 

Council community services 

manager Sally Sheedy 

said she was excited that Cambridge 

had won the award. 

“Our parks and reserves 

team take pride in their work 

maintaining the town’s gardens 

and open spaces so this 

is a great award to receive,” 

she said. 

KNZB CEO Heather Saunderson 

said the finalists each 

demonstrated bold leadership 

in implementing innovative 

sustainable projects that help 

reduce their environmental 

footprint and build resilient 

towns and cities. 

“These towns and cities are 

truly leading the way in tackling 

a variety of environmental 

issues, and we believe that 

their call to action will inspire 

others to create change.” 

Cambridge stands in good 

company, with Whanganui 

crowned the Most Beautiful 

City and Waihī named Most 

Beautiful Small Town. Eleven 

other awards were presented 

at the ceremony to individuals, 

businesses, communities 

and places to celebrate their 

environmental excellence 

across New Zealand. Head 

to www.knzb.org.nz/beautiful-awards-2019-winners 

to 

view all award recipients. 

Photo: Michael Jeans. 

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51 

Business owner – 

thinking of selling? 

Strong Security Business 

$550,000 

Novus Auto Glass For Sale! 

$265,000 


Here we have a wellstructured 

security business 

based in the Waikato, 

coming to market for the 

first time. 

This business has excellent 

procedures in place to 

support their large client list. 

• Well-structured security 

business 

• 20 years of developing local 

relationships 

• Specialists in alarm monitoring, 

CCTV, etc. 

• Sign-written vehicles included 

linkbusiness.co.nz/WK00040 

Therese Bailey 021 707 641 

therese.bailey@linkbusiness.co.nz co.nz 


This Novus Auto Glass 

business is in an iconic New 

Zealand town and good 

quality service businesses 

do not come up very often. 

Especially businesses 

that enjoy strong regular 

cashflow and support from 

a respected franchise 

operation. 

Awwww NOVUS! 

• Regular cashflow from 

insurance and company 

referrals 

• Great support 

• Highly recognised and 

respected brand 

• Training 

• Flexibility to market your own 

way in your community 

linkbusiness.co.nz/WK00041 

Andrew Whyte 022 097 0065 

andrew.whyte@linkbusiness.co.nz 

Dog Kennel Manufacturing 

$220,000 

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• This business is relocatable 

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Camella Anselmi 0274 454 121 

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LEONARD GARDNER 

CEO & Director of Foster Construction 

LEONARD GARDNER, CEO and Director of Foster 

Construction recently won the Outstanding 

Leadership Award at the Property Council ‘We Are 

Waikato’ Awards. He’s an astute and successful 

businessman, yet a softly spoken and humble person 

who leads with purpose, gratitude and a desire to 

serve others. 

Asked what leadership means to him, Leonard 

says it’s “taking responsibility in leading others with 

purpose and direction for the greater good. 

“One’s decisions start and end with people, so it’s 

about considering the impact of your decisions and 

being able to make the right decisions, even when 

traversing uncertainty. 

“Leaders have the privilege of seeing the whole, 

not just the part, therefore a leader’s purpose 

is to communicate to their team how their part 

contributes to the whole organisation.” 

At the centre of the Fosters values is their tagline 

“Great Communities through Strong Foundations” 

and Leonard’s leadership embodies this. Since he 

has been at the helm, Fosters has not only continued 

sustainable growth as a leading construction firm but 

diversified into a multi-disciplinary customer-centric 

property services business. 

Within Fosters there are multiple opportunities for 

staff to upskill with pathways to management, 

including apprenticeships and leadership programmes. 

There’s also a Foster Group Custodians Trust, which 

re-distributes a portion of Fosters profits out to the 

community. In fact, each of Fosters’ 175 staff can 

donate to a cause important to them through this 

Trust. 

“When we ‘have’, we have a responsibility to 

invest in our community” continues Leonard. “Ken 

Williamson, a Waikato man I respect, often quotes 

Winston Churchill who said: “We make a living by 

what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” 

“As part of Fosters, I’m blessed with the resources, 

skills and ability to contribute to the community and 

this gives me a personal purpose.” 

Leonard is and has been involved in countless 

community initiatives including Momentum Waikato 

Community Foundation, the Hamilton Gardens 

Development Trust and the Waikato Regional 

Theatre. 

Naturally, Leonard takes little credit for winning the 

Outstanding Leadership Award saying “The award 

recognises a high performing team of leaders that 

leads itself. My purpose is to provide the long-term 

vision, direction and clarity of purpose.” 

FOSTERS.CO.NZ . 07 849 3849

Waikato Business News October/November 2019

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