Waikato Business News October/November 2020

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER VOLUME 28: ISSUE 10 2020 WWW.WBN.CO.NZ FACEBOOK.COM/WAIKATOBUSINESSNEWS 

TIRAU CALLING 

Small town just the ticket 

for food manufacturer Page 4 

BOARDROOM IN THE BUSH 

Vision takes shape in special 

piece of Waikato nature Page 6 

‘ALL ABOUT JOB SATISFACTION’ 

Jack Ninnes has spent his entire working 

life - 50 years - at WEL Networks Page 15 

Māori 

MADE 

Designer Nichola Te Kiri at her Casabella Lane store. 

By RICHARD WALKER 

Eight years after she started selling jewellery, 

Hamilton woman Nichola Te Kiri is eyeing 

the overseas market for her clothing and 

jewellery lines. 

She has four employees, 

including herself, 

and four contractors 

for the business she runs 

out of a home studio, and is 

set to open a pop-up store in 

central Hamilton. 

Te Kiri had to press pause 

during the Covid-19 lockdown, 

and some aspects of the 

business have changed since, 

but demand shows no signs of 

diminishing. 

“I want to go international 

and I’m definitely in a 

growth phase.” 

She is part of the Kāhui 

collective, who are working 

on expanding their brands 

overseas, focusing on Asia. 

They are talking to NZTE and 

MFAT, and last year Te Kiri 

was part of a group that visited 

major centres in China and 

met with manufacturers and 

others including retail giants 

Lane Crawford. 

Covid-19 currently means 

almost 90 percent of her sales 

are online, some overseas. 

Previously, 60 percent of sales 

were at events and in her Casabella 

Lane retail store. 

Continued on page 8

2 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS October/November 2020 

TIME TO 

ALIGN 

BCD Group Merges with Align Surveyors 

We are excited to announce that 

as of Monday 2nd November, 

the team at Align Surveyors will 

merge with BCD Group. 

BCD Group are thrilled to welcome Ted, Kath 

Letford and their team at Align Surveyors. 

These two companies have a long and 

successful working relationship having 

worked together for almost ten years in the 

land development sector. The companies 

have also been founded on very similar core 

values and already share many common 

clients. The addition of such a wellrespected 

business strengthens BCD Group’s 

already strong commitment and involvement 

in the development and construction sector. 

BCD Group is currently a leading force in 

consulting engineering and planning. The 

addition of Align’s surveying services and 

expertise means a more seamless, multidisciplinary 

approach, enabling projects to 

be managed efficiently, all under one roof. 

Ted and Kath, currently directors and owners 

of Align Surveyors, are delighted to be joining 

BCD Group as the Surveying Managers and 

shareholders of BCD Group. 

“For over 19 years the Align 

Surveying team has been 

proudly serving the wider 

Waikato. Over that time, we 

have built a solid reputation 

based on quality workmanship 

and strong customer service. 

As we continue this journey 

with BCD Group, we will 

continue to play a vital part in 

looking after clients and their 

projects.” 

Blair Currie, Managing Director of BCD 

Group saw this as “the next logical step in 

the evolution of BCD Group. The ability to 

manage multi-disciplinary projects from 

start to finish, will be beneficial for everyone, 

especially our clients, and all disciplines will 

benefit greatly from having this resource in 

house”. 

For all Surveying queries please 

contact BCD Group where you will 

find it is business as usual. 

(07) 839 9107 

Level 1, Parkhaven, 

220 Tristram Street, Hamilton

WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS October/November 2020 

3 

From the editor 

Kia ora. 

At the start of 

October I viewed via 

Facebook a Waikato Māori 

economic summit. It included 

economist Ganesh Nana 

talking like I’ve never heard 

an economist before - about 

how comprehensively the 

system has failed Māori over 

the past four decades, and 

how it is time to hand control 

back to Māori. 

“You couldn’t do any 

worse than us,” Nana said. 

This was chiefly in reference 

to training, but with 

resonance across a wider 

economic range. I was particularly 

taken by his suggestion 

to the Reserve Bank 

about what it could do with 

the money it is splashing 

around in an attempt to keep 

the economy on its feet: Stop 

baling out investors, and start 

buying housing stock in order 

to rent it out at reasonable 

prices. 

This month, using the economic 

summit as a springboard, 

I have talked to Māori 

business owners about their 

approach. 

Designer Nichola Te Kiri 

has built a healthy business 

by meshing her love of being 

creative with a single minded 

focus on putting the right 

building blocks in place. 

Mike Jenkins from The 

Instillery, meanwhile, has 

been racing ahead full steam 

growing his Māori tech company 

and this year making it 

onto the prestigious TIN 100 

as well as being identified as 

one to watch. 

I also talked to Craig 

Barrett from Te Waka, who 

stressed the long-term, intergenerational 

view taken by 

Māori in their approach to 

business. The figures suggest 

the Māori economy in the 

Waikato region has ground to 

make up, and it was great to 

talk to some of those who are 

bringing the kind of approach 

Barrett suggests. 

“We are resilient. And we 

have the concept of mana 

motuhake and rangatiratanga 

- that we will determine our 

own future,” he said. 

As Nichola Te Kiri said 

of her cooperative approach 

to doing business: “There’s 

enough of the cake for all of 

us to eat.” 

This month I am also 

delighted to introduce a new 

column, The Business Edge 

by business adviser Brenda 

Williamson, who will be 

sharing tips for small 

and medium enterprises. 

I asked her 

to share a little 

about herself for 

this issue: 

“I have had a very long 

association with the Waikato 

and I am so proud to be part 

of the team of 400,000! I 

enjoy the best of both worlds 

as I live on a hill country 

farm situated between Hamilton 

and Raglan and work 

in my business advisory 

practice, based in Hamilton. 

I sidestep academic theory 

and corporate speak wherever 

possible, instead focusing 

on practical solutions 

for small and medium sized 

businesses. As a co-driver 

for a NZ rally team, I know 

how important teamwork 

is, how to manage 

stress and how to 

get results.” 

Brenda’s first 

column is on 

page 5. 

PUBLISHER 

Deidre Morris 

Ph: (07) 838 1333 

Mob: 027 228 8442 

Email: deidre@dpmedia.co.nz 

EDITOR 

Richard Walker 

Ph: (07) 838 1333 

Mob: 027 814 2914 

Email: richard@dpmedia.co.nz 

PRODUCTION MANAGER 

Kelly Gillespie 

Ph: (07) 838 1333 

Email: kelly@dpmedia.co.nz 

Graphic designer 

Olivia McGovern 

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Email: olivia@dpmedia.co.nz 

ADVERTISING INQUIRIES 

Please contact: 

ADVERTISING ACCOUNT 

MANAGERS 

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Mob: (021) 507 991 

Email: joanne@dpmedia.co.nz 

ELECTRONIC FORWARDING 

“We often think online buyers have a linear 

journey – they search, click and buy. But the 

reality is there are often many more touch 

points in the journey. This journey, between 

when someone is first 

triggered to start looking 

for a solution and when 

they order a product, is 

affectionately called 

‘The Messy Middle’.” 

- What happens when 

columnist Josh Moore 

buys a new tripod 

- Jack Ninnes on his 50 year career 

My days at WEL 

are almost 

finished but 

it’s been good 

fun - seriously 

good fun. For me 

it’s all about job 

satisfaction. It’s what 

you make of it. 

EDITORIAL: 

News releases/Photos/Letters: 

richard@dpmedia.co.nz 

PRODUCTION: 

Copy/Proofs: 

production@dpmedia.co.nz 

SUBSCRIPTIONS: 

accounts@dpmedia.co.nz 

25 Ward Street, Hamilton 

PO Box 1425, Hamilton, 3240. 

Ph: (07) 838 1333 | Fax: (07) 838 2807 

www.wbn.co.nz 

When its time to sell your business, or invest into a business, 

talk to the people who get results 

Scott Laurence 

027 473 5425 

Greg Dunn 

027 293 0377 

Tony Begbie 

029 200 6515 

Craig Paul 

021 786 496 

Graeme Finch 

027 495 3413 

Geoff Pridham 

027 232 1516 

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Pathways 

forms alliance 

Hamilton-based 

immigration experts 

Pathways to New Zealand 

has formed an alliance 

with Auckland law firm K3 

Legal to provide additional 

services to benefit both 

of their client lists. K3 

Legal director Edwin 

Morrison said K3 has a 

lot of international clients, 

so if anyone needs expert 

immigration advice they 

will now be referring them 

to Pathways. “And if any 

of their clients need legal 

support, we’ll be ready to 

help.” The two companies 

have been working 

together loosely for about 

a year but this has been 

increasing due to demand. 

Spring Sheep 

opens China office 

Decisions, decisions… 

Tirau tops for food manufacturer 

Scottie Chapman 

Waikato-based milk 

business Spring Sheep Milk 

Co has opened an office in 

China as it marks five years 

in business. Following in 

the footsteps of other New 

Zealand companies looking 

to increase sales in China, 

Spring Sheep Milk has 

become a client of Primary 

Collaboration New Zealand 

(PCNZ) Shanghai. Spring 

Sheep Milk has seven 

commercial-scale farms 

and chief executive Scottie 

Chapman says given the 

amount of demand, it 

is actively recruiting new 

farmers. 

Food winners 

announced 

Mr Pickles won the Bidfood 

Best Restaurant at the 

Waikato Food Inc Awards 

in an event held at Sky City 

Hamilton. Best restaurant 

finalists were Palate, 

Smith & McKenzie and 

Hayes Common. There 

were 11 categories, and 

other winners included 

Camarosa’s Andrew Clarke 

being named top chef, 

Grey Street Kitchen taking 

out best casual eatery and 

The Chilli House for best 

cheap eats. 

City keeps 

credit rating 

Hamilton City Council’s 

positive credit rating 

has been reaffirmed by 

international agency 

Standard & Poor’s. 

Council has maintained 

its AA- long-term credit 

rating, which indicates the 

organisation is in a ‘very 

strong’ position to be 

able to meet its financial 

commitments. 


Meet the future of manufacturing: 

independent, agile, consumer-focused, and 

coming soon to a small town near you. 

That’s certainly the 

experience of health 

food manufacturer 

Nothing Naughty. The company 

built a factory in Tirau 

18 months ago, when business 

was going well and it 

was looking to consolidate 

its Tauranga operations. 

The factory on SH27 cost 

less than the price of a section 

alone in Tauranga, says 

director Peter McKee who 

lives in nearby Okoroire. 

“So it makes absolute 

sense from a manufacturing 

point of view,” he says, 

describing the shift as the 

best thing that’s happened to 

them. 

He says the costs are 

important, but they also have 

a ready and willing workforce 

in the town. “They live 

here and they don’t want to 

travel. If they can get work 

here, they will.” 

McKee pays tribute to 

the South Waikato District 

Council which he says bent 

over backwards to help 

them. “It's a lovely little 

Nothing Naughty is perfectly situated 

near the corner of SH27 and SH1. 

town, nice community spirit.” 

Shifting to Tirau was one 

important decision for Nothing 

Naughty; another earlier 

one was for the co-owners to 

get out of contract manufacturing 

and go it alone. 

Contract manufacturing 

is a way to go broke “real 

quickly”, McKee says. 

“There's a lot of people in 

the middle that want to make 

their share. You're the one on 

the bottom so you're the one 

that always gets squeezed.” 

He gives the example of 

one overseas company they 

were manufacturing bars for. 

His firm was charging 53 

cents for bars that were selling 

wholesale in the UK for 

five pounds - about $10. Even 

then, he says, they were being 

pressured to drop their prices. 

They also decided to stay 

out of supermarkets. “As contract 

manufacturers, we saw 

the way that the supply chain 

to the supermarkets worked, 

and it doesn't work for a manufacturer. 

“The way it's structured 

with just the duopoly, it's 

very hard for anyone to make 

money. 

“Our business plan was to 

offer the end consumer the 

margin that a supermarket 

would have got. What they 

pay for is good ingredients at 

a price that's reasonable.” 

The switch to becoming 

independent sees them making 

a wide range of products, 

from protein bars to collagen 

powder, from almond butter 

to chia seeds - and a whole lot 

in between. All are gluten-free 

and they have designed the 

factory so they can be manufacturing 

five products 

simultaneously. These days 

only about 10 percent of their 

production is contracted, and 

they sell to a diverse range 

of outlets, including healthfood 

stores and gyms. About 

60-70 percent of their sales 

are online, while they also 

have a shop at their factory, 

near the intersection of SH1 

and SH27. 

With 12-14 staff, they 

have the capacity to make 

economies of scale work, but 

are small enough to be agile, 

and McKee says they are 

constantly trying new products, 

recently adding a pea 

protein-based meat alternative, 

while vegan cheeses are 

coming soon. “If you don't 

keep making new interesting 

Peter McKee thinks manufacturing 

has to get out of the big cities. 

things, you become bloody 

boring really quickly, especially 

online - your audience 

isn't like a supermarket, your 

audience is connected or finished.” 

New products are sent free 

to regular customers with their 

orders. That helps customers 

feel connected, but also gives 

the company good feedback. 

In further innovation to move 

with the times, they are shifting 

from plastic containers to 

reusable glass jars, and the 

sustainability push also sees 

them replacing polystyrene 

with “dry” popcorn packing 

or wool wrapping. 

As for the company’s 

name, that comes from McKee’s 

mother, who he says 

was prone to saying “nothing 

naughty” when offered food - 

and then eating it anyway. 

“The whole point of it is 

everyone has their own version 

of what's right and what's 

wrong. So we've got a bit of 

everything.” 

McKee sees smaller towns 

like Tirau, with their cheaper 

setup costs, as the future of 

manufacturing in New Zealand. 

“I think for manufacturing 

to exist, it has to get out 

of the cities. Because whether 

the staff are renting or own 

a house those costs are so 

huge.” 

He cites the example of 

nearby Putaruru. “All the 

infrastructure’s there, everything's 

there, except industry. 

“They don't have to build 

more roads, they don't have 

to build more schools, it's all 

there.” 

Meet the future of manufacturing, 

coming soon to a 

small town near you.


5 

Checklists and controls can help you 

manage your business, minimise fraud 

and reduce stress 

There is absolutely nothing to be gained from putting blood, 

sweat and tears into building a successful business and 

then having all that hard work go down the drain. 

THE BUSINESS EDGE 

> BY BRENDA WILLIAMSON 

Brenda Williamson runs business advisory service 

Brenda Williams and Associates www.bwa.net.nz 

Businesses go ‘down the 

drain’ because there 

are inadequate or no 

controls in place and a lack of 

process. 

You need to develop processes 

for your team to follow. 

This ensures you have consistency 

across the business and 

gives you some certainty that 

the work is being completed 

to your satisfaction. New staff 

members have something to 

follow, and when a team member 

is away, other staff can 

cover by following the documented 

processes. 

You need to document processes 

- what, how and when 

things are done in the business. 

Controls are a series of checks 

and balances to ensure processes 

are being followed. 

Implementing monthly 

checklists is an easy way of 

checking that everything is 

being managed correctly and 

that timely checks and balances 

are taking place. Different 

team members may be 

responsible for checking certain 

things but at the end of 

each month, you as the business 

owner will have confidence 

that the team (and business) 

are under control. This 

will give you great visibility 

and helps to reduce stress. 

Once the monthly checklist is 

in place, it needs to be completed 

by say the second day of 

each month and this should be 

non-negotiable, no excuses. 

Develop your checklists 

so they are relevant to your 

particular business. You will 

have different categories or 

mini checklists within your 

overall checklist, with various 

team members responsible 

for signing off. Some 

very general categories within 

your checklist could be: 

• Communications (website, 

phones, backups) 

• Accounts (debtors, bank 

reconciliations, cashbook, 

KPIs, end of month reports, 

creditors) 

• Staff (organisation chart, 

credit cards, performance 

reviews) 

• Accreditations and licences 

• Premises (first aid kit, fire 

systems and alarms) 

• Health and safety (meetings, 

incident reports, documentation) 

• Stock systems (pricing, 

expired stock, levels) 

• IRD (returns and payments) 

You may just start off with a 

few items and build it up over 

time. You will be amazed that 

as the list increases, your stress 

levels reduce! 

In addition to having clear 

processes and systems, robust 

controls help to minimise 

fraud. Small businesses can sit 

on increased risk around fraud 

due to a lack of separation of 

duties. You may only have 

one administration person who 

is responsible for everything; 

however, good practice means 

the same person should not be 

entering, authorising and making 

payments. If this is the case 

in your business, think about 

what you can do to minimise 

risk. Never use the excuse 

of being too busy to review 

documents and authorise. 

Fraudsters are not always obvious 

- they move around and are 

devious, cunning and make the 

most of opportunities as they 

present themselves. It is quite 

common for small business 

owners to have little appetite 

for wading through creditors 

and authorising payments, but 

this can be an easy area for 

fraudsters to target. Credit 

cards, stock and cash are also 

obvious areas to watch. Fraud 

can be external or internal to 

your business. 

In addition to fraud, there 

is always the risk that 

errors (lack of training and/ 

or incompetence) could be 

affecting your business so 

by implementing processes, 

checks and controls, you will 

minimise your business risk 

and stress at the same time. 

Specialist property lawyer Thomas 

Gibbons sets up sole practice 

Experienced Hamilton property 

and resource management 

lawyer Thomas Gibbons 

has set up in sole practice 

to further develop his specialist 

work. 

His practice, established on 

October 1, sees him dealing with 

complex issues in subdivisions, 

unit titles, land development, and 

infrastructure. 

He works with a range of clients, 

including developers, local 

authorities, landowners, body 

corporates, iwi groups, and many 

others. 

“The idea is to have very specialised 

areas of focus and to do 

work in those areas, often for 

other lawyers, but also for members 

of the public and my existing 

clients as well,” says Thomas, 

formerly a partner and director at 

McCaw Lewis. 

One of a handful of lawyers 

across New Zealand with 

his degree of specialisation, he 

is often called upon to provide 

expert opinions for other lawyers, 

and has given expert evidence in 

the High Court on a number of 

occasions. 

One particular specialisation 

is in the area of unit titles, 

which is the form of ownership 

for most apartments and townhouses. 

Thomas has written an 

authoritative book on the subject, 

and provides advice around both 

development and governance 

issues for a range of clients from 

individuals to the largest body 

corporates across New Zealand. 

Another key specialist area is 

resource management and infrastructure 

law. When it comes to 

major development projects, his 

role focuses on end-to-end land 

development, and includes working 

through the challenges of the 

Resource Management Act, Public 

Works Act, and Local Government 

Act. 

“Sometimes it’s about working 

out – and working through – what 

road blocks there might be, and 

helping identify the most efficient 

process for getting a development 

done. At other times, it’s about 

making sure that the development 

will stand the test of time.” 

Thomas has worked on some 

of the region’s biggest development 

projects, including on plan 

changes, infrastructure delivery 

contracts, and large subdivisions 

– often when there is complexity 

and different interests are at play. 

At the other end of the scale, 

he cites occasions when people 

receive a notice out of the blue 

that the council wants to put a pipe 

through their land, or acquire land 

from them under the Public Works 

Act. In such cases, his role lies in 

keeping the council accountable 

to correct process and making 

sure the landowner understands 

what's going on. 

“There's a very human side to 

the process. From a council perspective, 

it may be a big project, 

but from a landowner perspective, 

it's their land and their home. 

Working through that and understanding 

that it's a unique and oneoff 

situation for the landowner is 

very important.” 

Now based at Panama Square 

in central Hamilton, Thomas 

Gibbons has more than 17 years 

of legal experience, with qualifications 

in law and resource management. 

He writes extensively 

and has lectured at a range of 

tertiary institutions. He is a member 

of the Waikato Regional 

Housing Initiative and a former 

president of the Waikato branch 

of Property Council NZ. 

thomas@gibbonslaw.co.nz | thomasgibbonslaw.co.nz


A boardroom 

in the bush 


An open-air boardroom in a sanctuary 

surrounded by native birds: that’s the 

vision taking shape in a special piece of 

Waikato nature. 

The brainchild of Nature 

and Nosh’s Kylie Rae, 

the offering sees corporates 

taking a guided mindful 

hike on the slopes of Sanctuary 

Mountain Maungatautari 

before knuckling down to 

work at a boardroom table constructed 

from native timber. 

It’s entirely possible the 

distractions will consist of 

birdsong from the likes of saddlebacks 

or tui, rather than the 

hum of an overactive airconditioning 

unit or the bleeping of 

cellphones. 

“The bird song on Maungatautari 

is pretty special,” Rae 

says. “You can go for a meeting 

in a regular room with four 

walls, or you can come into the 

middle of the bush with us.” 

The full experience can also 

include a foraging workshop, 

mind set coaching, facilitated 

leadership training and glowworm 

kayaking. 

The corporate package is 

the latest addition to an offering 

Rae and her husband hit 

upon in South America. They 

wanted to set up a business on 

their return to New Zealand, 

they enjoyed walking, they 

knew that was a great way to 

solve problems - and the idea 

came to them while they were 

out hiking. 

“I've since done a lot of 

research, and there's a heap 

of science behind it. There 

are proven psychological and 

physiological benefits from 

taking the outdoors and a bit of 

exercise,” Rae says. 

The couple would also 

spend on good local food and 

lodgings during their hikes, 

rather than camping. At the 

end of 2017, they put it all 

together by setting up Nature 

and Nosh, originally focusing 

on the leisure market and offering 

a range of tours from one 

to seven days, across Waikato 

and Coromandel. 

Even during that time, Rae 

says, the idea for a boardroom 

table in the bush was on her 

mind though it was hard to see 

how it could be achievable. 

“It seemed impossible to 

me because, obviously, getting 

a huge table in the middle of a 

bush mountain is quite difficult.” 

The impossible became 

possible when, like so many 

other businesses, Nature and 

Nosh had to adjust quickly as 

Cambridge firm Rocketspark take a 

guided mindful walk on Maungatautari. 

Covid-19 struck. Until then, 

they had been marketing their 

offerings to the overseas leisure 

market, particularly the 

east coast of Australia. The 

firm was just over two years 

old, and was seeing good 

uptake. 

With borders closed Nature 

and Nosh went from having 

revenue to refunding customers 

to having "really tough 

conversations about, is this 

viable?” 

“And we just thought, 

well this is our passion and 

it's worthwhile. We know that 

eventually we're all going to 

be able to travel again. Can we 

just be really creative and try 

and tide it over?” 

They were helped by the 

fact Kylie Rae’s accountant 

husband, Steve, has a separate 

job. 

They switched leisure focus 

Mamaku forms part of a 

nourishing foraged meal. 

to the domestic market, using 

social media and word of 

mouth to attract Kiwis to see 

their own backyard. About half 

come from Auckland but Rae 

is pleased that there is also a 

sizable contingent from the 

greater Waikato. 

They also kickstarted the 

corporate packages on Maungatautari, 

where native species 

are thriving thanks to the 

pest-proof fence encircling the 

mountain. 

“This idea of walking meetings, 

or bush boardroom table, 

wasn't something I came up 

with magically because of 

Covid, it was more like, well 

now it's time to see if we can 

access the corporate market.” 

She quickly realised a site 

would need to be found within 

the more accessible southern 

enclosure - a fenced-off area 

within the larger fence - and 

they needed a clearing that was 

readily accessible but secluded 

enough not to be interrupted 

by anyone walking past. They 

found it in a clearing close to 

the event centre. The nearby 

centre is covered, meaning 

meetings can go ahead there in 

the event of rain. 

A handsome table, 3.5m 

by 1.2m, made to seat 12-14 

people and constructed from 

locally and sustainably sourced 

tawa and rata, now takes pride 

of place in the clearing, and the 

first corporate meetings have 

been held. 

It is an offering that may 

be unique worldwide. Rae has 

“googled and googled” and 

Kylie Rae 

found nowhere else offering a 

bush boardroom table for corporates. 

The package always starts 

with a mindful hike, guided 

by Rae, in which participants 

walk in silence to start with. 

Other parts of the package are 

led by experts in their area, 

and firms can turn it into a 

two-day retreat if they choose, 

with accommodation at nearby 

Sanctuary Lodge Maungatautari, 

formerly Out in the Styx. 

The corporate packages can 

incorporate activities outside 

Maungatautari, but Nature 

and Nosh is contracting to 

the Maungatautari Ecological 

Island Trust to offer the guided 

mindful hikes, foraging workshops 

and the bush boardroom 

table on the maunga. 

A percentage of the fees for 

the corporate team and leadership 

packages goes back to the 

mountain. 

“This is a great way that 

they [companies] can actually 

also support local, and get back 

to conservation at the same 

time.” 

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


7 

Innovative text-tovoice 

software wins 

innovation award 

State of the art software that turns text into humanlike audio files 

at a fraction of the cost of booking a voice artist, recording studio 

and sound engineer has won Waikato Agile software development 

specialist Company-X its third innovation award. 

Company-X won the 

Independent Software 

Vendor category in the 

Homegrown Innovators section 

of IDG’s Reseller News 

Innovation Awards in Auckland 

on October 21st, where 

Company-X co-founder and 

director David Hallett and 

senior executive Ben Judge 

were presented with the 

award. 

“Company-X wins this 

award for designing and 

deploying a platform with 

a Speech Synthesis Markup 

Language (SSML) editor to 

automate a labour-intensive 

manual process for its client, 

introducing automated workflow 

technology to transform 

the process for users,” 

said Reseller News editor 

Leon Spencer. 

“I’m absolutely thrilled 

that Company-X has won the 

Independent Software Vendor 

award for the third time,” 

Hallett said. 

Company-X won the 


award in 2019 and 2017 

and was a category finalist in 

2018. 

“This is the pick of IDG’s 

Innovation Awards for innovative 

software development, 

and is the trophy we absolutely 

love to take home!“ 

The Company-X textto-voice 

editor also allows 

SSML tags to control 

emphasis, pitch, speed and 

tone. Software users can 

edit and resynthesise the 

result at any time using 

SSML tags. 

Company-X clients, 

Stockholm-based multinationals 

CBG and DeLaval, 

use the text-to-voice editor to 

transform the manual voice 

translation process essential 

to global operations. 

“I am really proud that 

Company-X has won the 


Award recognising such 

a great team of software specialists 

at Company-X again,” 

said Company-X co-founder 

and director Jeremy Hughes. 

“I am also really grateful 

for the trust and confidence 

clients put in the Company-X 

team to innovate for them 

and create innovative and 

award-winning software.” 

CBG key account manager 

Paul Jacobsen congratulated 

Company-X for a well-deserved 

award win. 

“Since we first turned to 

Company-X for assistance 

with our synthetic audio 

needs, they have been very 

flexible and accommodating,” 

Jacobsen said. 

This innovative 

software is intuitive 

and easy to use and 

answered our need 

to provide a budgetfriendly 

alternative 

to professional voice 

recordings. 

“They managed to adapt 

their SSML tool to give even 

more adjustment options to 

reach better audio results. 

“This innovative software 

is intuitive and easy to 

use and answered our need 

to provide a budget-friendly 

alternative to professional 

voice recordings.” 

DeLaval milk quality and 

on-farm service solutions 

technical development manager 

Mario Lopez Benavides 

said Company-X’s SSML 

editor had proved to be pivotal 

in making good progress 

in his projects. 

“The flexibility of the tool 

allows the project team to 

make sure that voice quality 

meets the requirements that 

any user of the final product 

would expect. Project time 

is shortened without compromising 

quality, and that is 

something we value greatly. 

The 

innovation 

award in the Independent 

Software Vendor is a 

well-deserved win for Company-X. 

Congratulations.” 

DeLaval farm supplies 

training and assortment 

administrator Stefanie Goodhew 

said: “Before I was 

assigned the task of translating 

and coordinating global 

e-learning within our company, 

I honestly hadn’t given 

any thought at all to how an 

automatic translation of text 

into spoken word could work, 

let alone how it would sound. 

“While working with 

the recording tool, it is all 

the more amazing to me 

how natural the final result 

sounds and how easily you 

can change the sound of the 

words with tiny changes and 

adjustments. 

“Very impressive and congratulations 

to Company-X!” 

Company-X was also a 

finalist in the Digital Transformation 

and Internet of 

Things (IoT) award categories. 

TracPlus, which offers 

real-time tracking, event 

reporting and messaging for 

aircraft, vehicles, vessels and 

personnel, asked Company-X 

to build a mobile app that 

enabled satellite communication 

when cell coverage or 

internet was not available. 

Company-X built a messaging 

platform that works 

over web, cellular, satellite, 

and radio. 

Company-X has won many 

other awards: 

• The Service Excellence 

and Global Operator 

awards at the 

Westpac Waikato Business 

Awards in 2018. 

• Services Exporter of 

the Year category at the 

Air New Zealand Cargo 

ExportNZ Awards 2017. 

• The Roading Asset Management 

Innovation Award 

at the Road Infrastructure 

Management Forum 

in 2017 for the One Network 

Road Classification 

Performance Measures 

Reporting Tool. 

INNOVATION: Company-X senior executive Ben Judge 

receives the Independent Software Vendor award. 

Innovation 

that works 

Companies across the globe save 

time and money using the latest 

award-winning technology from 

Company-X. 

Make our award-winning innovative 

thinking work for you too. 

HOW IT WORKS: A screenshot, below, of the Company-X text-to-voice editor.


CONVERSATIONS WITH MIKE NEALE 

OF NAI HARCOURTS HAMILTON 

Low interest rates = 

the great opportunity 

for commercial owner 

occupiers 

First home buyers, residential investors 

and commercial investors are 

already taking advantage of the low 

interest rate environment – but what about 

commercial and industrial owner occupiers? 

At this stage we have only witnessed 

fleeting interest from those owner occupiers, 

which is probably a reflection of the 

lumpy or uncertain business environment 

as a result of Covid-19. At least now with 

the election out of the way, we should have 

greater certainty and with housing interest 

rates predicted to head towards 1.5 

percent, it’s a compelling story for small 

and medium sized businesses. Commercial 

property has traditionally been a solid 

investment performer; however, for some it 

can be perceived as a hard market to enter, 

with shorter repayment terms than residential, 

higher interest rates and a greater 

deposit required for borrowing – hence if 

you are able to borrow against the house, 

that just got a whole lot cheaper and easier. 

Business owners have a unique 

opportunity when it comes to 

commercial property and should 

look no further than their own 

premises requirements. 

Purchasing a commercial property that 

your business can operate from can be a 

great initial investment. 

- You are in a position to control your 

own destiny – you can tailor the 

property to function for your business’s 

requirements, as well having 

security and longevity by controlling 

the lease (in light of Covid-19, there 

are some very obvious benefits). 

- You also have flexibility, as if or 

when you go to sell the business, 

you can hold on to the property as a 

passive investment for income (providing 

a far better return on your 

money than a term deposit). 

- If you outgrow the property at some 

stage, you have the ability to consider 

selling, or lease it to retain the 

income (but at least you are on the 

commercial property ladder). 

- Generally speaking, and depending 

on how long you hold the property 

for, you can assume that the property 

will increase in value over time, 

therefore benefiting from future capital 

gains (unless the Green Party 

have a say with their Wealth Tax). 

Another advantage is that you are exchanging 

rent payments for loan repayments and 

while interest payments can be claimed 

as an expense, your money is being put 

towards an asset. Due to Covid-19 and the 

economic situation, the Official Cash Rate 

(OCR) has been cut to its lowest level in 

recorded history, at 0.25 percent. Trading 

Mike Neale - Managing Director, 

NAI Harcourts Hamilton. 

banks have subsequently cut their lending 

rates, so why not take advantage of this and 

own your own premises? At the time of 

writing, there are: 

- Retail premises available from 

$199,000 plus GST (if any) 

- Office premises available from 


- Industrial units available from 


An example 

Below is a simplified example of the numbers 

based on an $800,000 purchase of a 

commercial property for a well trading 

business, if there was borrowing of 50 

percent. Based on borrowing of $400,000 

over a 10-year repayment term and assuming 

an interest rate of 3.5 percent: this 

would equate to total principal and interest 

repayments of around $48,000 per annum 

- cheaper than paying rental. 

It is fair to assume that in the current 

market, a landlord is probably getting 

around a 5.0-6.0 percent return on their 

tenanted investment. If you compare the 

above scenario, then there are clear advantages 

for an owner-occupier, which will 

only improve over time as the loan balance 

decreases. It is not uncommon for commercial 

loans to be interest only, which 

could be an option should the business 

require additional operating capital for a 

period of time. 

A plea to office developers: 

While we have seen fairly extensive development 

of industrial units and suburban 

retail units for owner occupiers, there has 

been a distinct shortage of quality stock 

available for smaller office owner occupiers, 

particularly in and around the CBD – 

unfortunately many of the options that do 

come up from time to time were created 

in the 1970s, 80s, 90s and are generally of 

a pretty poor quality, both in terms of the 

building itself and the fitouts. 

I have said for some time and also 

talked to a number of developers about 

this market and suggested that if we are 

to increase the occupier mix and diversity 

within the CBD, then this would be a good 

place to start, particularly in the 50sqm- 

250sqm occupancy range. 

There is a niche here that has not been 

filled, either by existing developers or 

someone looking to start down the development 

path. My advice on this, get some 

good advice as to what occupiers are now 

looking for – shared toilet facilities are 

generally fine, shared kitchen areas not 

so, while natural light, access to CBD 

amenities and car parking are also items 

for consideration. 

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 

204369AC 

Ma - ori made 


From page 1 friend’s prompting in 2012 

that encouraged her to start 

She has not renewed the 

Casabella Lane lease, but 

she continues to use pop-ups, 

including in Wellington, and 

is set to open one in Hamilton’s 

Ward Street in the leadup 

to Christmas. 

Te Kiri is part of a Māori 

economy thought to have an 

asset base of about $50 billion 

nationally and contributing 

$12 billion to national GDP. 

In the Waikato region, 

Māori-owned assets were 

worth approximately $6.2 billion 

in 2012. Almost half were 

collectively owned, while 54 

percent were owned by Māori 

entrepreneurs and employers. 

In GDP terms, Māori 

contribute $1.82 billion out 

of a total $22.8 billion in 

the Waikato region - about 

8 percent. 

The variety of the Māori 

economy is on display through 

the hugely successful Buy 

Māori Made platform founded 

by Michelle Paki during 

Covid-19 lockdown. 

Craig Barrett, board member 

of regional development 

agency Te Waka, says it is 

exciting to see the range. “It’s 

been really exciting to see 

how many products and services 

that we are involved in,” 

he says, citing professional 

and IT services as well as 

trade - along with the typical 

primary produce base. 

Waikato region Māori are 

asset rich in agriculture, forestry 

and fishing, property and 

business services, and manufacturing, 

according to a 2019 

report. 

Taking the plunge 

Nichola Te Kiri has always 

been creative, and it was a 

Māori artists have been 

given a boost with a 

new standalone shop 

in Hamilton. 

Te Kōhao Health Whare 

Taonga, which has been part of 

Te Kōhao Health since 2009, 

was shifted into a bigger space 

at the end of September, boosting 

the amount of product on 

sale. 

“The idea is to make it 

viable and sustainable,” says 

Lady Tureiti Moxon, managing 

director of Te Kōhao 

Health. 

Moxon says the idea has 

always been to have a place 

for Māori-made items readily 

accessible to the public. 

The whare taonga provides 

a space for artists, many of 

them local, to showcase their 

creations and the store’s offerings 

are also made available 

online. 

Any profit goes back to the 

community, Moxon says. “It's 

not us lining our pockets with 

it, it's more around developing 

opportunities for our budding 

artists, as I see it, to have a 

place where they can sell their 

things and be valued.” 

She says it is also about 

providing a place where the 

artist can have the story of 

selling what she was making. 

The friend, Tracey Whitiora, 

started a Facebook page for 

her. Te Kiri provided the product, 

Whitiora photographed, 

uploaded and promoted. 

Things evolved and in 

2016 Te Kiri took the plunge 

and went full time on the business, 

now called NTK Made 

Ltd. Family played a big 

role, with her mother doing 

the books and sisters helping 

make jewellery. Te Kiri also 

soaked up all the learning she 

could, attending courses and 

making a decision to be GST 

registered. “I wanted to get 

into those good habits.” 

From the start, she had a 

strong understanding of who 

her customer was - Māori 

wahine aged 25-45 - and 

she went to conferences and 

markets, from Wellington to 

Whangarei, where she knew 

her customer would be. 

Ever the goal setter, in 

2016 Te Kiri challenged herself 

that the following year 

she would enter a competition 

for Māori designers that 

would potentially open the 

door to NZ Fashion Week. She 

finished second in the emerging 

category first time round, 

first in avant garde the next 

year, and second last year. 

That has seen her present 

at Fashion Week. “I was 

a bit starstruck the first time 

because there’s so many 

celebrities there. I was like, 

wow, this is what fashion is 

like - and it was the first time 

I’d ever done a collection. It 

was pretty awesome.” 

But there was also business 

to be done. Her mentor Kim 

Hill had told her beforehand 

she needed to leverage off the 

experience. 

“Normally you’d go to a 

their journey told. “And that's 

what we want. We want those 

stories.” 

She says Covid has 

prompted people to think differently 

about how they do 

things and how they reach 

fashion show to pick up buyers 

of your garments. I went 

there to network. I went there 

to get my name out. I went 

there to learn.” 

She also got onto the Fashion 

Week database, and invitations 

followed for her to attend 

shows around the world, 

which has seen her travel 

to Hong Kong. 

Boost for Māori artists 

people. “And I think that's a 

good thing. That means we've 

had a lot of businesses, Māori 

businesses in particular, starting 

up here, there and everywhere. 

And I think it's just 

wonderful.” 

Kirikiriroa Marae chairman Raymond Mihaere at 

the opening of Te Kōhao Health Whare Taonga.


9 

A model shows one of Nichola Te Kiri’s designs at New 

Zealand Fashion Week. Jewellery by Nichola Te Kiri. 

To come up with her 

designs, Te Kiri says she 

draws on her heritage, culture 

and environment. 

This year, coming out of 

lockdown around the time of 

Matariki, she created a design 

focused on a star, Hiwa-i-terangi. 

“She’s like the one that 

you wish upon your hopes and 

dreams for the new year. And 

I felt that really pivotal at that 

time.” 

She has also done more 

designs based on the stars, 

including the male star 

Tupuārangi, which relates to 

food gathered from the trees. 

For summer, she is doing one 

based on the summer maiden, 

Hineraumati. 

“So I use a lot of my culture 

and the stories that we 

tell. I use those traditional 

passed-down narratives, but 

I interpret them into my own 

korero, I suppose.” 

Mana motuhake 

Te Waka is seeing the huge 

variety of local Māori businesses 

not only through platforms 

like Buy Māori Made 

but also through a database 

it is building of Māori businesses. 

Craig Barrett gives 

the example of Māori farriers 

shoeing horses. “We’re actually 

involved in a whole range 

of different things, we’re not 

just working on the farm, 

we’re actually providing a lot 

of services and products to the 

farmer as well - we just didn’t 

know.” 

Barrett acknowledges that 

downturns like that caused by 

Covid-19 disproportionately 

affect Māori. 

“But we are resilient. And 

we have the concept of mana 

motuhake and rangatiratanga 

- that we will determine our 

own future,” he says. 

At the Tainui Economic 

Business Summit, held in 

Hamilton at the start of October, 

economist Ganesh Nana 

said while New Zealand was 

blessed compared to other 

parts of the world in terms of 

the impact of Covid-19, the 

outlook was gloomy. 

He told those at the summit, 

hosted by Te Kōhao Health, 

the Whānau Ora collective and 

Tainui Raupatu Lands Trust, 

that Treasury had forecast a 

further 70,000 would become 

jobless. Nana predicted the 

recovery would take longer 

than the Treasury forecast. 

“We have to look at who’s 

the most vulnerable, who are 

the least resilient, and make 

sure that we are putting the 

supports around them.” 

Nana said it was a sense of 

community that had got the 

country through the past few 

months, and that sense of connection 

would remain important 

into the future. 

“Because make no mistake, 

this is going to be a 

marathon effort.” 

The power of procurement 

One area where the Government 

can play an important 

part is in its procurement practices 

- and in the tech sector 

the impact could be immense. 

Mike Jenkins, chief executive 

of Waikato-headquartered 

tech firm The Instillery, sees 

current practice as a major barrier 

to new companies such as 

his, and one which is changing 

only slowly. 

With procurement panels 

created before firms such as 

The Instillery existed, startups 

including Māori businesses 

find it hard to compete for 

government agency ICT contracts. 

“If the government truly is 

motivated to support not just 

the Kiwi economy but Kiwi 

community and family, our 

big challenge to them is that 

they’ve got to embrace social 

procurement,” Jenkins says. 

“Social procurement is a 

lever that they can pull - and 

it’s in a Cabinet paper that’s 

already in front of them. And 

even if they said they would do 

2 percent of government ICT 

procurement to New Zealand 

Māori-registered businesses, 

that’s 2 percent of $1.8 billion. 

That is a huge injection to 

those communities.” 

Despite the barriers, The 

Instillery has continued its 

meteoric rise as the fastest 

growing Māori ICT company 

in the country. 

It has cracked this year’s 

TIN100, making it one of the 

country’s 100 largest tech 

We are resilient. 

And we have the 

concept of mana 

motuhake and 

rangatiratanga - 

that we will 

determine our own 

future. 

exporting firms. The Instillery 

has come in at number 68, 

and has been identified by the 

industry-leading report as one 

of 10 to watch in 2021. 

In a year of notable achievements, 

The Instillery also won 

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. 

Microsoft Cloud Partner of 

the Year and the ARN reseller 

Innovation Awards Cloud 

Partner of the Year for 2020. 

But the seven-year-old firm 

also faced challenges, including 

bringing together two 

companies after its acquisition 

of Origin last year, which 

added cyber-security capability 

to its existing cloud-based 

offering. 

“This year hasn’t been 

without its challenges,” Jenkins 

says. “Probably professionally, 

I’d say for us as a 

leadership team, it’s been our 

most challenging, with Covid 

and really refocusing on our 

people, what we stand for, and 

who we are. 

“I think, culturally, it was 

a really testing time. That’s 

something I’m really proud of 

- that we’ve come out the other 

side where we are.” 

The Instillery has more 

than 180 staff in offices around 

New Zealand and 200-plus clients, 

including some offshore. 

As with social procurement, 

Jenkins is frustrated by 

inaction over access to digital 

opportunities for Maori and 

Pasifika people, despite endless 

well-meaning talk about 

the digital divide. 

That has seen Jenkins and 

product and marketing manager 

Ryan Joe involved in 

the creation of the Elevation 

Aotearoa’s Future (EAF.Kiwi) 

initiative. 

“The reality is, you’ve 

got to put indigenous and 

Continued on page 10 

braemarhospital.co.nz


Ma - ori made 


From page 9 

particularly Māori mentors up 

in lights,” Jenkins says. 

“You need a platform to be 

able to put up people that look 

and sound and have the same 

background as you, and have 

the same challenges, and show 

them that it’s viable, it is possible 

- and it’s more than those 

two things, it’s exciting and it’s 

actually going to lead the Kiwi 

economy out of here [post- 

Covid]. 

“It’s not perfect but it’s a 

start and we’re seeing epic 

support from businesses across 

New Zealand.” 

Economic strategy 

The Instillery independent director Bill 

English and chief executive Mike Jenkins. 

Te Waka’s Craig Barrett says 

social procurement is a key 

component of Te Waka’s Māori 

economic strategy. 

He says for every social 

procurement dollar that’s 

invested, there’s a $7 return. 

“And so it’s actually a really 

powerful mechanism to use 

to help empower a local 

economy.” 

Māori businesses are more 

likely to employ Māori, and 

access to contracts means the 

money will flow through to 

their people. If central and 

local government take the lead, 

the private sector is likely to 

follow. He says some PGF 

funding and national projects 

are starting to include social 

procurement targets that put 

the onus on the head contractor 

to source appropriate subcontractors, 

while Te Waka and 

other organisations like MBIE 

have a role in supporting businesses 

to get into a position to 

access contracts. 

Another component in Te 

Waka’s Māori economic strategy 

is engagement with iwi and 

understanding how Te Waka 

can help connect them through 

its own relationships. 

Barrett points to the influence 

of Tainui Group Holdings’ 

role in the Waikato economy 

in providing infrastructure for 

others in the Māori economy to 

build on. 

Buy Māori Made founder 

and Hamilton-based MBIE 

principal regional advisor 

Michelle Paki is also providing 

infrastructure - in her case, 

digital. 

“She saw a gap in the market 

where we had our people, 

and we had skills, expertise 

and access to resource, but we 

didn’t have access to market. 

If you look at iwi, that’s really 

where we’re starting to develop 

in our own economy - access to 

market. 

“She’s made it essentially 

frictionless and seamless to go 

through that process. So she’s 

bringing the buyer and the 

seller together.” 

Barrett says post-Treaty 

settlement investment in people 

is starting to bear fruit. “If 

we continue to invest in our 

people, that’s what will pull 

us through, and assets come 

from there. But it is a challenge 

because we started further back. 

So we really need to work and 

we continue to encounter challenges 

across all levels because 

of that marginalisation. But you 

know, our people are resilient 

as well.” 

The bigger picture, despite 

the impact of Covid, is positive, 

according to Barrett. 

“I think this is a really 

exciting time for the Māori 

Govt funding helps 

fast-track Ruakura 

Ruakura inland port is 

set to open by mid 

2022 after a $40 million 

Government investment 

in shovel-ready projects to 

help fast-track development 

of the Ruakura Superhub, 

comprising the port and 

surrounding logistics and 

industrial precinct. 

“With this funding confirmed 

we are now, jointly 

with HCC, moving ahead 

to finalise contracts and 

invite tenders from qualified 

contractors for construction 

work on these upcoming 

projects in the current 

earthworks season,” Tainui 

Group Holdings chief executive 

Chris Joblin says. 

The port development 

joins others by 

TGH, the investment 

arm of Waikato-Tainui. 

economy. We’ve always had 

people, now we’ve got access 

to capital and access to assets, 

which is providing more access 

to influence. 

“This is where the exciting 

opportunities are coming 

in. Because we need to take it 

from a generational approach 

- the decisions I make here 

are not just for me. And when 

Māoridom take that approach, 

which we do, we’re not looking 

to just do the next quickest 

deal to try and trade our way 

through, we’re looking to set 

things up for future generations.” 

Nichola Te Kiri says she 

Work has begun on the $50 

million ACC build on the 

corner of Collingwood and 

Tristram Streets in the city 

centre, while TGH is also set 

to build on the corner of Victoria 

and Ward Streets. Earlier 

this year a 40 room extension 

of Tainui Novotel was also 

opened. 

The October announcement 

of shovel-ready funding follows 

June’s PGF announcement 

of $16.8 million for the 

port development. Together, 

they unlock $151 million of 

development projects by TGH, 

its Ruakura development partners 

and Hamilton City Council. 

Ruakura is one of New 

Zealand’s largest developments, 

spanning industrial, 

commercial, retail and residential 

development areas. It will 

takes a collective approach to 

her business. On a recent trip to 

a Wellington popup, she invited 

two other Māori creative business 

owners along with her. She 

could have gone on her own 

because she’s done Wellington 

before, but offered to introduce 

them to others, help them build 

networks and get the connection 

to the people whose space 

she was using. 

“I think we get better growth 

if we go together, we feed back, 

we debrief together. And I was 

brought up that way, you know, 

you travel as a group. I see them 

as friends, and there’s enough 

of the cake for all of us to eat.” 

be anchored by a 30-hectare 

inland port. The Government’s 

investment will partially fund 

the critical transportation, bulk 

infrastructure and environmental 

protection works such as the 

Mangaonua Watercourse and a 

10-hectare wetland. 

Parekawhia McLean, 

chair of Te Whakaakitenga o 

Waikato, the tribal governance 

entity for Waikato-Tainui, 

thanked the Government for its 

decision to invest in the shovel 

ready projects. 

“This investment is a major 

statement of confidence. We 

thank the Government, as this 

confidence will rapidly flow 

through to our business community, 

wider community and 

our iwi. It also mirrors the 

significant investment from 

Waikato-Tainui in realising the 

vision for Ruakura.” 

Stuart Gordon says the response to the new building has been pleasing. 

Interest high in new 

Innovation Park building 

The expansion of Waikato 

Innovation Park is 

on track for completion 

in April next year, 

with two thirds of the new 

building already signed up. 

Just 1000 sq m is still available, 

with the majority of interest 

coming from existing Innovation 

Park tenants scaling up, 

says chief executive Stuart 

Gordon. 

Gordon says the new building 

is aimed at mid-sized companies, 

and he expects it will 

have six or seven tenants and a 

100 seat conference centre. 

“We've been really pleased 

with the response. Most of 

the growth is coming out of 

tenants in our existing premises 

because they're grown so 

much.” 

It will feature an improved 

cafeteria with its own kitchen, 

capable of catering for conferences, 

and the design by local 

architects Edwards White will 

see the creation of an open, 

park-like area encircled on 

three sides by the existing and 

new buildings. 

“The design we think is 

really good, and will create 

something of real interest,” 

Gordon says. 

He says Innovation Park 

businesses continue to revolve 

around agritech, food and 

information technology. 

“I would say information 

technology has grown quicker 

over the last three years, 

maybe four years. We've seen 

a real growth in those sorts 

of businesses and they are 

growing faster than the agritech 

businesses, which is fantastic 

for the Waikato. 

“A lot of our IT companies 

actually come out of agritech, 

they're software development 

for agritech, but then they've 

grown up and are going 

into other areas, or alternatively 

that expertise that has 

come from an agritech background 

has now gone into 

some other area.” 

As firms shift across, that 

will free up space in the existing 

building, which is aimed at 

smaller companies, and Gordon 

says they will increase 

the co-working space and start 

advertising its availability in 

the new year. 

“We find that really invigorating 

for the park, having new 

entrepreneurs coming in.” 

The push is also on to attract 

businesses from out of town, 

particularly Auckland and Tauranga, 

and Gordon stresses the 

need for a collective effort to 

achieve that. 

Accessibility will be 

enhanced by recently 

announced central Government 

funding initiatives that 

will see lights installed at the 

Melody Lane-Ruakura Road 

intersection, while further 

along Ruakura Road there will 

be a diamond connection to the 

Waikato Expressway. 

Meanwhile, the new milk 

dryer factory on the site is up 

and running three days a week 

and will switch to five or six 

days a week once further product 

validations are complete, 

including from food giant 

Danone after delays caused by 

Covid-19. 

Gordon is confident the 

plant, currently being used by 

Maui Milk and Spring Sheep 

Milk two days a week, will be 

fully utilised by November. 

Gordon describes it as a real 

opportunity for the region, with 

the sheep milk industry growing 

rapidly. He says the factory 

took on 20 more employees 

about two months ago, bringing 

the total to about 40, while 

eight farms are using the plant, 

each of them employing about 

a further five staff.


11 

Team approach key to success 

On March 7 this year, Joe Bradford signed a deal for $100,000 

worth of road cases for the events industry in the US. 

“I was stoked.” 

His Cambridge firm 

Fiasco had been building 

up a head of steam in the sector 

making the road cases. That 

was about to change. 

On March 10, the same guy 

he had signed the deal with 

called him and said “hey, can I 

put a hold on that order?” 

Bradford had little choice 

but to agree - Covid-19 had 

shut down that corner of the 

US. The events industry had 

tanked virtually overnight, and 

it left Fiasco with a mountain 

to climb - in double quick time. 

Around March 12 they 

started writing ideas on a 

whiteboard. By March 15, they 

had a new product to develop, 

a flatpack desk for workers 

at home. 

It would be made from 

birch plywood, would go in 

a courier box, and would be 

ergonomic. 

They knew most workers 

would take their computer 

and possibly office chair home 

with them for lockdown, 

but they wouldn’t be taking 

their desk. 

“So we wanted to solve 

that problem and by the 

time we got to lockdown, 

that's what we had done, we 

had prototyped about eight 

desks, we had started to order 

some boxes.” 

The solution flew. They 

have now sold about 1500 

desks in New Zealand, and 

counting, and have sold them 

to every state in the US. 

Their US contact had lost 

his job within days of cancelling 

the road case order; 

Fiasco, on the other hand, has 

boosted staff numbers from 

12 to 25. 

Joe Bradford used the 

analogy of a mountain when 

he talked about his firm’s 

response to the pandemic at a 

LinkedIn Local event, organised 

by Daniel Hopper and 

held at The Instillery’s office in 

Hamilton. 

Bradford said firms faced 

with the pandemic have either 

invested in their staff and said, 

“we're going to be stronger 

when we come out with this”, 

or they've said, “it's too hard”. 

“And I would say to you 

that that all comes down to 

what mountain they painted for 

themselves. If you paint yourself 

a mountain and look at that 

mountain and go, ‘that's too 

daunting, I can't do it’. you're 

not going to do it. If you look 

at the mountain and go, ‘I'm 

going to train mountain guides, 

and we're going to get to the 

top’, you'll get there. 

Briana Christey and Ryan Joe 

Luciane Calabrese and Ashmita Nagpal 

“That mountain analogy is 

something that we used with 

our team right through this. 

It's something I encourage you 

guys to do. 

“Paint yourself a picture, 

talk to your team and believe in 

that team and resources around 

you.” 

That focus on the team 

approach was core to the message 

of the two other speakers 

on the night: Shelley Campbell, 

Waikato/Bay of Plenty 

Cancer Society chief executive, 

and Ryan Joe, general 

manager - Product & Marketing 

at The Instillery. 

Joe said during lockdown, 

the Instillery leadership team 

realised they needed to double 

down on communication. 

Keeping people connected was 

a priority. 

That saw them start up new 

communication channels, and 

run online sessions for staff to 

connect and learn. 

The communications were 

not only around training and 

work, but also around how 

people were feeling. “And 

it was okay for them to show 

vulnerability which was a 

really massive thing for us 

and helped us connect as an 

organisation. 

“We developed an app 

which allowed people to anonymously 

check in, talk to us 

and tell us if they were okay, 

tell us if they needed help. We 

had a massive uptake, even 

just the fact that we had it there 

Harkness Henry welcomes 

Charlotte Muggeridge, Associate, 

into their Resource Management 

team. 

Charlotte has a specialised 

skill range across resource 

management, property 

development and subdivisions, 

local government and unit titles. 

Charlotte is a board member of 

the international World YWCA 

Board, a committee member 

of the Waikato Plan Leadership 

Committee, Past President and 

current board member of the 

Hamilton YWCA and member of 

National Council of Women. 

made a massive difference for 

people was the feedback we 

got.” 

The Instillery released 

the app free for other 

organisations to use. 

“Even though it's a small 

thing it felt like something 

that made a difference for 

us, it was a really important 

project for us.” 

Campbell said when lockdown 

hit, her team rolled 

up their sleeves and did 

whatever was needed. “I 

had health providers driving 

the shuttle to get people 

up to the hospital treatment. 

I had receptionists doing 

house cleaning, cleaning 

the cancer lodge, I had 

Richie Jenkins and Tony Oxley 

Charlotte Muggeridge 

Associate 

fundraisers delivering meals 

to our patients at home.” 

She also said she saw a 

huge amount of collaboration 

between health providers, 

offering the kind of support 

that previously would 

have taken months or years 

to negotiate. But the stresses 

on staff have also been evident. 

“And it's uncertain times 

that we live in. So last week we 

started a campaign that we've 

called ‘Nobody's smarter than 

all of us’. The idea is that you 

don't have to rely just on your 

own resilience and your own 

strength to get you through the 

next few months - rely on your 

colleagues, rely on our combined 

strengths that we have to 

get us through. 

“I really encourage 

you in the workplaces to 

think about what that looks 

like for you and how you 

make that happen.” 

Lorraine Bright and Michelle Baillie 

Harkness Henry specialists advise on a full range of resource 

management law. 

Our Resource Management team headed by Dr Joan Forret 

provides constructive advice on all aspects of resource 

management and Public Works Act law and how it relates to 

your business or property, including: 

• Plan changes and designations 

• Resource consenting issues 

• Assistance and advice for negotiations 

• Representation at local authority hearings, and the 

Environment Court 

Phone (07) 838 2399 

Address Level 8, KPMG Centre, 85 Alexandra Street, Hamilton 3204 

www.harknesshenry.co.nz 

a member of 

Reuben Haddon-Silby and Joe Bradford


Seat belts on - the 

immigration landscape 

is changing 

Quite rightly the Government’s 

immigration 

focus over the 

past seven months has been 

on “border control” and with 

the myriad of challenges this 

has delivered, particularly in 

regard to who is able to cross 

the border and why. During 

this period Immigration policy 

settings changed frequently, 

and sometimes several times a 

week, in response to what this 

dynamic situation demanded. 

Now that we have more 

visibility regarding COVID 

and border management, and a 

Government with a clear 3 year 

mandate, what can employers 

expect in the immigration 

space moving forward? 

Firstly, COVID has presented 

a unique opportunity 

for an “across-the-board” 

immigration reset. New visa 

applications from offshore 

have largely been suspended, 

as has (effectively) the main 

skilled migrant residence category, 

and many existing visa 

holders have not been able to 

re-enter New Zealand. Large 

numbers of temporary visa 

holders have left New Zealand 

and returned to their home 

counties. As a consequence we 

now have a situation where the 

Government is much more “in 

control” of the immigration 

space and, with ongoing border 

restrictions being the norm 

for the foreseeable future, the 

Government can take its time 

to formulate a range of new 

policy settings which it considers 

will best “strike the right 

balance to support our recovery, 

fairness and opportunity”. 

We expect this to translate 

to higher thresholds for the 

skilled migrant, work-to-residence 

and partnership residence 

categories sometime in 

the next 6 months. 

We do know is that work 

has continued on the work 

visa changes the Government 

signalled over a year ago. 

These changes will see all 

the employer-assisted work 

visa categories rolled up into 

one visa category and will 

require every employer who is 

employing such migrant workers 

to be formally accredited 

with Immigration New Zealand. 

To gain such accreditation 

a business must (among 

other things) be in a sound 

financial position, have compliant 

workplace practices 

and be prepared to assist and 

support their migrant workers 

to settle into the community. 

Employers who employ 5 or 

more migrant workers are 

required to have a higher level 

of accreditation which will 

additionally require them to 

commit to improving work pay 

and conditions and to training 

and upskilling New Zealanders. 

These changes, which are 

expected to be introduced mid- 

2021, will markedly change 

the work visa landscape and 

Richard Howard 

require all employers to take 

much greater responsibility 

for all aspects of their migrant 

workforce, including management 

of the visa process. 

New Zealand was already 

facing a skills shortage when 

COVID hit and this situation 

has not gone away. Many of 

our client companies are desperately 

short of the skills they 

need to grow their businesses 

and to respond to current 

demand, and while we are able 

to get some workers across the 

border the threshold is currently 

set very high. This “ balancing 

act” of what visa holders 

take priority over others, 

given the available quarantine 

capacity, will be employers 

main challenge for some time. 

The only certainty is 

change, and we have experienced 

plenty of change in the 

immigration space in 2020 – 

and 2021 will be no different! 

Tania Witheford, David McKenzie, Karen May and Shirley Haycock 

Cambridge property 

market booming 

Cambridge’s popularity as a place to live and invest has scarcely 

been dented by Covid-19, and the property market is booming 

post-lockdown. 

That was the message 

given to the audience 

at a Cambridge 

Chamber of Commerce 

Leaders Lunch held at Henley 

Hotel on 29 September. 

Cambridge Real Estate 

has seen numbers rise in 

the town’s residential market 

since the lockdown, 

both in number of sales and 

average prices, while properties 

are selling quickly, 

said residential property 

consultant Greg Price. 

Price said some of that 

came down to the appeal 

of Cambridge as a place 

to own, while it was also 

affected by “bricks and 

mortar” being seen as a safe 

place to invest money. 

Lime Group managing 

director Phil Caldwell said 

they had similarly been seeing 

an upsurge in business 

post-lockdown. 

He was critical of the 

risk-averse approach of the 

four main banks given the 

low-interest regime, which is 

set to stay for the next two to 

three years. That conservatism 

is making it more difficult particularly 

for younger people 

to raise mortgages, he said, 

and comes despite the government’s 

moves to free up liquidity. 

Like the other presenters, 

Antanas Procuta, principal 

architect of PAUA Architects, 

has seen a surprisingly buoyant 

market in the past two or three 

months. 

He said during lockdown he 

soaked up as much as he could 

from the experts, including 

economists and health specialists, 

and is applying that to the 

firm’s response. 

“When Covid-19 happened 

I was determined that we 

weren’t going to lay anyone 

off. Keeping the hope going, 

that was really important,” 

he said. 

When it comes to planning, 

he said he is looking 18 to 24 

months ahead. He also stressed 

the importance of marketing. 

“If you take your eye off marketing, 

your business suffers.” 

But in the last two months, 

he said things have changed 

remarkably. “I think people 

have been saying ‘if we do 

nothing, nothing’s going to 

happen’ so we’ve seen a lot 

of activation, a lot of people 

have been coming to us saying 

‘right, we want to be doing 

these things’.” 

He also told the audience 

that Cambridge Chamber chair 

Phil Mackay, who has a background 

in hospitality, was to 

join PAUA Architects as business 

development manager. 

“We’re very delighted and 

proud to have Phil joining us 

after Labour Weekend.” 

The event concluded with a 

presentation to Procuta, marking 

his 25 year involvement 

with the Chamber. 

Nadia Haua, Steffan Haua, Phil Mackay and LesleyAnn Thomas 

Level 2 

586 Victoria Street 

Hamilton 3204 

Level 3 

50 Manners Street 

Wellington 6011 

07 834 9222 

enquiries@pathwaysnz.com 

pathwaysnz.com 

David Natzke, Mark Morgan and Peter Nation


13 

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Funding for circular 

economy research 

Kim Pickering 

Waikato University 

Engineering Professor 

Kim Pickering has been 

awarded $10.9m in Ministry 

of Business, Innovation 

and Employment (MBIE) 

Endeavour funding 

to explore a circular 

economy concept for the 

Aotearoa New Zealand 

context, shaped by the 

philosophies and values 

of both founding cultures, 

Māori and European. The 

five-year project aims to 

bring together a wide 

range of expertise to 

support circular economy 

success in New Zealand. 

A circular economy 

aims to reduce waste 

by seeking a sustainable 

model of production and 

consumption of goods and 

services 

Distinguished 

alumni named 

Tania Te Rangingangana 

Simpson, who runs Māori 

policy advisory firm, Kowhai 

Consulting in Hamilton 

and is a director for Tainui 

Group Holdings among 

other companies, is one 

of four Waikato University 

distinguished alumni for 

2020, along with My Food 

Bag CEO Kevin Bowler, 

professional director Liz 

Coutts and Māori Land 

Court Judge and Chief 

Justice of Niue Craig 

Coxhead. 

Vocational training gathers pace 

with naming 

The 35th largest tertiary organisation 

in the world was officially named in 

Hamilton on 29 September. 

Te Pūkenga was 

announced as the name 

for the newly formed 

national vocational training 

institute by Education 

Minister Chris Hipkins on 

29 September. 

The name refers to the 

gaining and mastery of 

valuable skills through 

passing knowledge down from 

person to person. 

Speaking at an event later 

the same day, institute chair 

Murray Strong said the organisation, 

which is based at Wintec 

House, will have a lean HQ. 

“But the scale and scope 

of this organisation is probably 

not visible to most,” he 

said at the gathering hosted 

by Waikato Chamber of Commerce. 

“There will be 240,000 

learners for Te Pūkenga around 

the country, there will be 10½ 

to 11½ thousand staff around 

the country and it will be the 

35th largest tertiary organisation 

on the planet.” 

Welcoming the development, 

Hamilton Mayor Paula 

Southgate said the pitch made 

for Te Pūkenga to be headquartered 

in the city was a team 

effort. 

“Hamilton City Council, 

Te Waka, the Chamber of 

Commerce, Waikato-Tainui, 

Wintec, and many other stakeholders 

- we did do something, 

Education Minister Chris Hipkins at the unveiling of the new name. 

we made a conscious and 

deliberate decision to make 

sure Te Pūkenga came here. 

We worked on behalf of our 

city to make it happen. And 

that's something that Hamilton 

does very well.” 

She expected Te Pūkenga 

to quickly become well known 

as change came at pace. “And 

I think that's good for the 

community, because the sooner 

that we adjust to the new 

model, and the sooner people 

have certainty and can get 

stuck into building themselves 

careers, the better in my view.” 

The institute’s full name is 

Te Pūkenga - NZ Institute of 

Skills and Technology. 

Phil Taylor and Kiri Goulter 

LeadSocial acquired 

Waikato social media 

firm LeadSocial has been 

acquired by Taurangabased 

agency Likeable 

Lab, resulting in increased 

capabilities and a 

combined staff of 15 across 

Waikato and the Bay of 

Plenty. Steve Carpenter, 

who founded LeadSocial 

six years ago, says he’s 

“excited to watch the 

growth continue at a faster 

pace than ever before”. 

Kahl Betham, Gina Woodfield, Shelley Slade-Gully and Denise Mackay 

David Hallett and Merran Davis 

Milestone for 

Waikeria project 

A milestone for Waipā 

District Council’s Waikeria 

wastewater pipeline project 

has been reached with 

the completion of the 

Waikeria to Kihikihi section. 

The infrastructure project, 

which will bring Waikeria’s 

wastewater through to Te 

Awamutu for treatment to 

modern standards, began 

12 months ago and will 

be the longest wastewater 

pressure pipeline in the 

Waipā network. 

Chris Williams and Steve Atkinson 

Chris McLay and Stephen Town

Jack Ninnes 

‘For me it’s all about job satisfaction’ 

WEL Networks business development manager Jack Ninnes has 

spent his entire working life - 50 years - at WEL Networks. Ninnes 

started as an electrical apprentice at the Central Waikato Electric 

Power Board in 1970. He talks about his 50 year tenure at WEL 

Networks, where he’s held a variety of roles. 

“In those days, the power 

board did everything. It 

was like a manufacturing 

site that built things from the 

ground up, right through to the 

end product. We’d build the 

cross arms, drill them all, make 

the brackets that held the transformers 

on the poles - we had a 

complete operational setup. 

The CWEPB had a head 

office in town that housed the 

administration, engineering 

and customer service teams. 

Our customers would come 

into the office to pay their 

power accounts and we sold 

a variety of products including 

electric ranges. Customers 

would put the price of the 

products onto their power bill 

and as part of the service we’d 

deliver and install them. It 

really was a one-stop shop. 

Once I’d finished my 

apprenticeship I elected to 

stay in the office. I ended up 

in the advisory and development 

department, initially 

designing heating systems for 

houses and small commercial 

buildings. I enjoyed looking at 

new technologies, particularly 

We’ve seen a lot 

of change. That’s 

why I’ve stayed. It’s 

been a never-ending 

conversion of new 

technology into real 

time applications. 

the effects these were going to 

have on our future. As part of 

this, we were heavily involved 

in demonstrating these new 

technologies to the public so 

we’d have large stands at the 

Winter Shows and the Fieldays. 

We’ve seen a lot of change. 

That’s why I’ve stayed. It’s 

been a never-ending conversion 

of new technology into 

real time applications. It’s 

given me great opportunities 

to grow with the new technologies, 

experience them and sell 

the concept to the marketplace. 

WEL has always been 

nationally recognised as an 

innovative power company 

who were always on the leading 

edge of technology - the 

trendsetters. The projects we 

were involved with were years 

ahead of their time in terms of 

being rolled out commercially. 

My days at WEL are almost 

finished but it’s been good fun 

- seriously good fun. For me 

it’s all about job satisfaction. 

It’s what you make of it. The 

company had a policy that supported 

you to do other things, 

particularly in the sporting 

environment. 

I was fortunate enough to 

be able to pursue my passion 

of sailing and became part 

of the New Zealand Sailing 

team. I attended international 

events. They really supported 

people well including their 

apprentices which they still 

do today.” 

The messy middle of online buyer journeys 

The journey people take 

when researching and 

buying products online 

is growing increasingly complex. 

New research from Google 

sheds light on what businesses 

can do to reach these 

customers. 

A few months ago, I 

bought a new tripod online for 

my DSLR camera. It’s likely 

you can relate to the journey 

I went on to research and purchase 

the tripod. 

Often when looking for a 

product we start with a Google 

search. On this occasion 

though, I headed straight to 

a specialist e-commerce website 

that has great deals on 

photography gear. 

I navigated to their tripods 

section and filtered the products 

to suit my price range. 

There were lots of different 

products to choose from. I 

explored a number of the 

THE DIGITAL WORLD 

> BY JOSH MOORE 

Josh Moore runs Duoplus, a Hamilton-based digital marketing 

agency that helps businesses get better results through highly 

measurable online marketing. www.duoplus.nz 

options and then went to Google 

to research more about the 

specific models that looked 

appealing. I found the manufacturers’ 

websites and read 

more information about their 

range of models and the specific 

features of each. From 

there I headed back to Google 

to research the differences 

between a few of the models 

I was considering. I narrowed 

down my options to two 

models and then did another 

Google search to find reviews 

for those. This led me to You- 

Tube where I watched some 

unboxing videos of those tripods 

followed by a handful of 

YouTube reviews. Finally, I 

decided which tripod I wanted 

to select. But the process 

wasn’t over. 

Now I searched for that 

specific tripod model to see 

price comparisons from online 

stores. I looked at both NZ and 

international stores. I found a 

couple of websites that were 

fractionally cheaper than my 

original website; however, 

one of them didn’t ship to 

NZ, and the other didn’t seem 

quite as reputable as the store 

I had already visited, who I 

knew provided outstanding 

service and fast shipping. So, 

after this winding journey, 

I placed the order with the 

original store. 

Can you relate to this 

journey? 

We often think online 

buyers have a linear journey 

– they search, click and 

buy. But the reality is there 

are often many more touch 

points in the journey. This 

journey, between when someone 

is first triggered to start 

looking for a solution and 

when they order a product, 

is affectionately called “The 

Messy Middle”. 

For the past two years, 

Google has studied over 

250,000 online shopping 

journeys across 25 categories. 

They drew on decades 

of behavioural science 

research and have shared 

some surprising findings in 

their report “Decoding Decisions 

- Making sense of the 

messy middle”. 

One of the key findings is 

that, for many product categories, 

the buying journey 

contains an increasingly large 

number of touch points in no 

clearly defined order. There 

are no typical journeys. Buyers 

go back and forth between 

many sites in their journey 

including search engines, 

review sites, online videos, 

social media, comparison 

sites, forums, retailer sites, 

brand sites, voucher/coupon 

sites, aggregators and more! 

This behaviour often occurs 

across multiple tabs and multiple 

devices. 

In one example, an anonymised 

shopper’s journey for 

buying headphones took 375 

touch points before purchasing! 

Another shopper looking 

for a kitchen table took 85 

touch points to buy. 

If you’re a retailer or 

manufacturer, this new way of 

shopping has big implications 

for your marketing. 

For product brands you’ll 

want to show up early in the 

shopper’s journey for your 

product to be considered. 

This can include running 

Google Ads for the initial 

search terms that are early in 

the buying journey – such as 

“best tripods” or “best tripods 

under $500” for the tripod 

example. You can send your 

products to YouTube channels 

for unboxings and reviews. It 

is also important to be responsive 

to complaints or negative 

reviews on third-party review 

websites because consumers 

search for reviews before purchasing 

your product. You’ll 

also want to find ways to 

connect with the purchasers 

of your products and encourage 

happy customers to write 

reviews. You want to look 

across the messy middle of 

the buyer journey and aim to 

show up multiple times along 

the way. 

If you’re an online retailer 

you can benefit from the 

research-based exploratory 

questions people search for. 

Sticking with the tripods 

example, your site can have 

content like, “3 Best Tripods 

Under $500”, “Photography 

vs Video Tripods – Key Differences 

to Consider”, and 

comparison articles. You can 

create YouTube videos of 

reviews and unboxing for top 

selling products – or provide 

an affiliate programme where 

you pay a commission to You- 

Tubers who send buyers your 

way, after watching their You- 

Tube review (Amazon do this 

very well). 

Once you have a potential 

buyer on your site, remember 

that they have lots of questions 

in their shopping journey, 

so think about how you 

can answer as many questions 

as possible while they’re on 

your site. If you can provide 

answers to their questions, 

you can decrease their need to 

look elsewhere and increase 

the likelihood they buy from 

you. Google’s research also 

found that well-crafted product 

pages including the use of 

easily digestible key features, 

testimonials from perceived 

experts, reviews and more, 

significantly influenced buyer 

behaviour. 

So, if you sell consumer-facing 

products, embrace 

the messy middle with your 

marketing and make sure you 

show up multiple times along 

their journey.


CANTEC 

Cantec opens new Hamilton HQ 

Waikato and Bay of Plenty company 

Cantec Services Ltd which, in Managing 

Director Brendon McLean’s words, “paints 

anything that does not move”, opened its 

new fit-for-purpose building and Hamilton 

HQ at the end of October. 

Situated on the corner of 

Tahi Street and Norton 

Road, the multi-million-dollar 

long-run steel 

and cedar structure is a 

huge step up from the “tiny 

lockup” near the Frankton 

Saleyards that Cantec used 

when the company first 

expanded into Hamilton from 

Rotorua in 1989. 

Cantec was established 

the previous year in Rotorua 

by two Waikato men, journeyman 

Claude Lundeberg 

and quantity surveyor Neil 

Waites, right after the financial 

crash. However, despite 

the timing, within a year they 

had expanded their business 

into Hamilton. 

The Hamilton business 

started to become an established 

presence in the Waikato 

construction industry when 

joined by now senior quantity 

surveyor Tony Keown in 

1990. Tony’s input over the 

last 30 years has been a major 

contributor to the company’s 

growth. 

Nowadays Hamilton is 

the busiest of Cantec’s three 

branches (the third is in Tauranga) 

and has 40 staff in the 

field (30 full-time painters 

and 10 full-time roofers). 

Brendon who, as a newly 

minted tradesman, started 

sweeping floors with the 

company in Rotorua 28 years 

ago, has been able to watch 

the progress of the new 

build from Cantec’s cramped 

temporary accommodation 

directly across the road. 

But his workspace 

changed not long after 6am 

on Friday, October 30, when a 

work gang, taking advantage 

of a quietish Norton Road 

pre-rush hour, moved the 

final stock and office equipment 

across the road into the 

new building. 

Cantec’s 1300-square 

metre tilt-panel building, 

which Brendon describes as 

“future proofing the business”, 

took Wayne Beasley of 

Hamilton-based Commercial 

Construction nine months to 

complete. 

The new build is nearly 

three times the size of the 

old 118 Norton Road premises 

which, at just 500 square 

metres, had Cantec’s five 

20 year Team Members: - Paul McLeod, Brendon McLean, 

Richard Leeman, Brian Lundburg, Phil Marr, Neil Waites. 

Hamilton management and 

administrative staff crammed 

into two offices and a repurposed 

flat. 

Brendon, who has worked 

alongside Wayne on many 

projects through the years, 

says the “contract” for the 

building, designed by Nick 

Crossfield at Studio4architecture, 

was sealed on a handshake. 

The signatures only 

appeared some time later 

when the banks got involved. 

The new building is 

designed with 5-metre-high 

roller doors on both Tahi 

Street and Norton Road which 

are designed to allow delivery 

vehicles drive-through access 


Solutions for every surface 

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RCIAL / INDUSTRIAL / RESIDENTIAL PAINTING 

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• TANKING hamilton@cantecservices.co.nz 

• JOINTING • INJECTION GROUTING 

118 Norton Rd • Hamilton 

Tel 07 846 7166 Mob 027 220 8969 

hamilton@cantecservices.co.nz 

118 Norton Rd • Hamilton 

COMMERCIAL / INDUSTRIAL / 

Tel 07 

RESIDENTIAL 

846 7166 

PAINTING 

Mob 027 220 8969 

www.cantecservices.co.nz 

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team are proud 

to be the chosen 

contractor with 

the Cantec new 

build 

800mm 

• COMMERCIAL • INDUSTRIAL 

• EDUCATION SHOP & OFFICE FITOUTS 

• PRESTIGIOUS HOUSING 

• BUILDING MAINTENANCE 

• DESIGN & BUILD 

Commerical Construction Limited 

PO Box 15310, Dinsdale Hamilton 3243, Suite 7, 

3rd Floor Seddon Park, 50 Seddon Road Hamilton 

P/ 07 834 0955 M/ 027 247 2016 

E/ wayne@commercialconstruction.co.nz


CANTEC 

Cantec opens new Hamilton HQ 

From page 16 

on an otherwise busy corner. 

Cantec’s new build has 

five offices for two full-time 

quantity surveyors, two project 

managers and Brendon. 

In addition, there is a large 

office where plans can be 

laid out for discussion and 

planning meetings. A boardroom 

with deck, a lunchroom, 

and a reception area 

complete the set-up. 

In line with council specifications 

the new build has 10 

percent of the land area designated 

as green space which 

has been professionally 

landscaped. 

While many companies 

would not get directly 

involved in the construction 

of their own premises 

once the contract had been 

signed, Cantec did have 

their own staff involved in 

the new build. 

After all, who better to 

trust with the painting of the 

building, the membrane to 

the roof gutter, jointing to 

the concrete panels and specialist 

coatings to the floors? 

On top of a full order book, 

Cantec management juggled 

six crews working two-day 

stints for a month to complete 

the painting, finishes, and 

sealing. 

Brendon notes the building 

will be largely maintenance-free. 

“The beauty of the design 

is the only element we have 

to reach is the 2.8 metre vertical 

cedar strips, and these can 

be maintained using a ladder 

with no need for scaffolding. 

The cedar is painted in 

a wood stain, and the storeroom 

floor is coated with 

Sikafloor-264 – a light grey 

two-part epoxy industrial 

floor coating, while the concrete 

walls have had a clear 

water repellent treatment.” 

However, working on 

their own building did not 

mean the Cantec teams could 

drop their standards. A fresh 

pair of eyes, in the form of 

recently retired Neil Waites, 

who is Brendon’s partner in 

the building, was called in to 

inspect the job – it passed, but 

only once Neil’s notebook 

of points had been worked 

through to his satisfaction. 

The building was opened 

for business early on Friday, 

October 30 with a blessing by 

a local kaumātua and opened 

by a local MP. The staff and 

guests gathered for a drink to 

celebrate at 2pm that afternoon. 

Work shouts at Cantec 

are unusual – six of the staff 

have been with the company 

for more than 20 years 

and 80 percent of the staff 

have stayed loyal for more 

than 10 years. 

Cantec is busy as 

usual and their new 

building will be a 

great asset and a 

lively place in the 

years to come. 

This makes for a company 

whose staff are family, and 

Brendon notes he has experienced 

all the highs (such 

as watching staff member’s 

children grow) and the lows 

(such as marriage breakups). 

Cantec values Fonterra, 

Wintec, Waikato Kindergarten 

Association and both 

Waikato and Braemar hospitals 

as regular clients. Their 

respective complexes are 

quite large and provide a 

great variety of interesting 

and sometimes challenging 

projects for the Cantec staff. 

“Some of the guys are on 

those sites permanently and 

haven’t seen their workmates 

since our last workshout,” 

Brendon notes. 

One good example of the 

variety and scope of some of 

projects they encounter on 

these sites was the Waikato 

Hospital’s emergency wing, a 

job in which Cantec covered 

the full building envelope 

in carrying out membrane 

roofing, painting works and 

below ground “tanking”, 

the specialist laying of a 

non-porous membrane to 

ensure water-tightness of a 

building. So sure are they of 

their work, Cantec has given 

the hospital a 50-year warranty 

for the tanking works. 

Currently Cantec is completing 

the main building at 

Rototuna North for Summerset 

retirement homes. 

When finished the new 

village will include 264 

homes, a village centre with 

recreational facilities, a care 

centre offering rest home 

and hospital-level care, and a 

state-of-the-art memory care 

centre. 

It has been, says Brendon 

in an understated manner, a 

major job but then the company 

is accustomed to those. 

Cantec is busy as usual 

and their new building will 

be a great asset and a lively 

place in the years to come. 

Proud to be the 

flooring supplier 

for Cantec Services 

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19 

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18A Sunshine Avenue, P.O Box 10117, Te Rapa, Hamilton 

David Bennett and Tony Keown cutting the 

ribbon. Tony is a 30 year team member. 

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Joe Calkin from FB Hall and Co, left, with award winner, Malone Harris 

Hamilton apprentice wins top national award 

Malone Harris, a plumbing and gas-fitting apprentice at FB 

Hall and Co, has won the Dux Personal Growth and 

Development Award in the national awards held by the 

Apprenticeship Training Trust (ATT), one of the country’s largest 

apprentice training organisations. 

Harris was awarded 

alongside 88 other 

apprentice plumbers, 

gasfitters, drainlayers and 

electricians. 

He started his apprenticeship 

in 2016 and will 

graduate in a few months. 

The Personal Growth and 

Development Award recognises 

exceptional talent 

among ATT’s 345 apprentices 

who are part of its managed 

apprenticeship scheme that 

recruits, employs and places 

apprentices with host businesses 

who help them learn 

their trade. 

ATT chief executive Helen 

Stephens says Harris’s work 

has been awarded at a time 

when the spotlight is shining 

on apprenticeships and trade 

careers. 

“Apprentices are now 

needed more than ever - while 

we’ve all experienced major 

disruptions this year it hasn’t 

dented the long term need to 

grow trade skills.” 

Joe Calkin, from FB Hall 

and Co, a Waikato plumbing, 

gas-fitting and drain laying 

company, says Harris is a 

stand-out performer and natural 

leader: 

“He’s becoming a highly 

skilled plumber and gasfitter 

and has a very bright future. 

He recently passed his registration 

in plumbing after setting 

up a study group to help 

others, as well as himself. 

“After just 3.5 years on 

the tools he’s shown he has 

the right approach and is 

developing his trade quickly. 

He’s a great member of our 

team, is very well-liked by 

clients and has a strong sense 

of community. His award is 

well-deserved.” 

Outside work Harris is 

involved in many different 

things. He and his wife are 

care-givers for Oranga Tamariki, 

he’s a volunteer for a 

local charity doing odd-jobs, 

he’s very involved in his local 

church and he’s helped set 

up a national iwi basketball 

organisation, Rongomaiwahine 

Basketball. He says he 

has a genuine desire to support 

the lives of others as well 

as himself and his family. 

The Dux Personal Growth 

and Development Award is 

sponsored by Dux Industries, 

a distributor of hot and cold 

plumbing systems. 

Jeff La Haye, General 

Manager at Dux Industries, 

says the award recognises 

one apprentice who is excelling 

in developing trade skills 

and knowledge. 

“This is the ninth year of 

this award and is part of our 

commitment to developing 

apprentice plumbers, gasfitters 

and drainlayers, who 

are vitally needed in a trade 

with great long term future 

prospects. Malone stood out 

as a performer at work and 

in his community and we are 

delighted to give him this 

year’s award.” 

ATT is the largest employer 

of plumbing apprentices in 

the country and works in 

partnership with around 200 

host businesses in the plumbing, 

electrical, gas-fitting and 

drain-laying trades. 

Apprentices are 

now needed 

more than ever 

- while we’ve all 

experienced major 

disruptions this 

year it hasn’t 

dented the long 

term need to grow 

trade skills. 

Sam Williams 

027 446 3544 

samw@lodge.co.nz 

Leasing and Sales 

Dean Abraham 

027 333 3822 

deana@lodge.co.nz 


Nigel Corkill 

021938 605 

nigelc@lodge.co.nz 


Vaughan Heslop 

021 400 515 

vaughanh@lodge.co.nz 

Leasing and Sales, Multi-unit Sales 

Rob Owens 

021 843 087 

robo@lodge.co.nz 

Body Corporate Management 

www.lodgecommercial.co.nz

Presenting 

a brand 

consistently 

across all 

platforms can 

increase revenue 

by up to 23% 

Enquire about our 

design services today 

info@dpmedia.co.nz 

*Source: Forbes 

Publishers of Waikato Business News, 

Waikato AgriBusiness News and Showcase Magazine


Waikato scoops national and 

international awards 

October has been an award-winning month for the Waikato with the 

region scooping national awards for its people, places and events. 

2020 Beautiful Awards 

The Waikato region scooped 

three awards in the Keep 

New Zealand Beautiful 2020 

“Beautiful Awards”. 

Hamilton was named Most 

Beautiful Large City, Victoria 

Street in Cambridge won Best 

Street and the iconic Ruakuri 

Bush Walk received the 

Kiwi’s Choice Place Award 

“Kudos goes to local hapu 

Ngaati Wairere, Hamilton 

City Council, and present 

and past Hamiltonians who 

always knew that Kirikiriroa 

was a beautiful city, helping 

shape the city over the many 

years,” said Hamilton & 

Waikato Tourism chief executive 

Jason Dawson. 

“Hamilton has developed 

into a progressive city with 

plenty of green space, restored 

gully systems, the award-winning 

visitor attraction Hamilton 

Gardens, Waiwhakareke 

Natural Heritage Park and 

the Waikato River and Lake 

Rotoroa (Hamilton Lake) at 

the city’s heart. 

“Cambridge residents, 

Destination Cambridge and 

Waipa District Council also 

should be chuffed with Victoria 

Street being named Best 

Street, following Cambridge’s 

win of Most Beautiful Town 

in the 2019 Beautiful Awards. 

“It was also pleasing to see 

the iconic Ruakuri Bush Walk 

named as Kiwi’s Choice Place 

as it is one of our region’s 

most popular short walks in 

Waitomo. 

“Over many years, numerous 

volunteers, organisations 

and local businesses have 

contributed to the biodiversity 

restoration, tree planting 

and pest eradication in 

Ruakuri Bush.” 

2020 World Spa Awards 

The 2020 World Spa Awards 

named Resolution Retreats, a 

women’s-only resort based on 

the banks of Lake Karapiro, 

as ‘New Zealand’s Best Wellness 

Retreat’. 

The health retreat offers 

health and wellness lifestyle 

programmes from three days 

to three weeks. 

Resolution Retreats 

founder Joelene Ranby was 

excited with the recognition 

from the World Spa Awards 

and is pleased to be in a position 

to support local people 

through bringing women 

from all over New Zealand 

to the area and showing them 

some of what Waikato has to 

offer. Hamilton & Waikato 

Tourism Chief Executive, 

Jason Dawson, was proud 

of the acknowledgement for 

Resolution Retreats and the 

Waikato region in the World 

Spa Awards. 

“The establishment of 

Resolution Retreat in the 

Waikato is aligned to our 

2016 Tourism Opportunities 

Plan, where we identified 

the opportunity to establish 

well-being experiences in the 

region,” he says. 

2019 New Zealand Event 

Awards 

The 2019 HSBC New Zealand 

Sevens won Best International 

Event at the NZ Event 

Association’s annual Event 

Awards. This successful 

event has been delivered by 

New Zealand Rugby and 37 

South Events, hosted by H3 

and Hamilton City Council at 

FMG Stadium Waikato. 

The tournament was moved 

to Hamilton in 2018. 

2020 Merlin Awards 

Zirka Circus owner Jeni Hou 

from Gordonton received the 

Merlin Award for Outstanding 

Contribution to Magic 2020 

from the International Magicians 

Society. 

Central North Island alliance 

to attract domestic visitors 

Wintec women in engineering are making a stand 

Wintec’s women 

engineers featured 

in an image 

on social media recently 

with the words “We are a 

diverse engineering team” 

and were surprised at the 

attention they got. The post 

was so popular, it generated 

a notification from 

LinkedIn they were trending 

on #engineering. 

Engineering may often 

be considered a man’s 

world but Wintec engineering 

teachers Dr Maryam 

Moridnejad, Sarla Kumari, 

Josy Cooper, Elena Eskandarymalayery 

and their manager Dr 

Trudy Harris don’t agree. They 

want to see more diversity in 

their engineering classes, and 

they are on a mission to change 

up the ratio. 

The five women have a mix 

of mechanical, civil and electrical 

qualifications. 

Wintec Group Director, 

Trades and Engineering 

and Industrial Design, Dr 

Shelley Wilson says women 

make up 5-10 percent of 

Joelene Ranby 

engineering students at Wintec 

and the future is looking bright 

for graduates who can expect 

diverse opportunities. 

Wintec’s female engineers, from left, Sarla Kumari, Trudy 

Harris, Maryam Moridnejad, Elena Eskandarymalayery and 

Josy Cooper want to see more diversity in their classes. 

The Mighty Waikato 

region has partnered 

with five other regions 

from the Central North Island 

to entice New Zealand travellers 

to visit our part of the 

world. The new campaign entitled 

‘Get Out More NZ’ showcases 

the big adventures that 

can be had within a short travelling 

distance, with a humorous 

twist. 

The campaign pokes fun at 

some of the family lockdown 

experiences that we all shared 

and encourages Kiwis to ‘Get 

Out More’ now that we can 

travel safely again. 

We’ve got granddads knitting, 

kids driving parents crazy 

and bored couples stuck inside 

watching the same TV shows 

– experiences that our target 

markets can relate to. The 

campaign offers an alternative 

adventure to these markets by 

showcasing the unique experiences 

on offer in our regions. 

The Coastal Bay of Plenty, 

Rotorua, Hamilton & Waikato, 

Tairāwhiti Gisborne, Ruapehu 

and Taupō regions are 

TELLING WAIKATO’S STORY 

> BY JASON DAWSON 

Chief Executive, 

Hamilton & Waikato Tourism 

inviting Kiwis to take a road 

trip through the diverse landscapes 

in the central North 

Island. From weekend roadies 

to longer drive holidays, there 

are plenty of suggested itineraries 

on offer for the adventure 

seekers, beach lovers, cultural 

explorers or those looking 

for family fun on the Get Out 

More NZ website. 

With more than 2.6 million 

people living within a threehour 

radius of Hamilton & 

the Waikato, the drive market 

is key to travelling within the 

Central North Island. 

Our regions normally collectively 

work together in our 

long-haul international markets, 

so with borders closed 

and the battle for the domestic 

visitor dollar underway, we 

thought it was best to collaborate 

to target the domestic 

drive market. 

While the rest of the country’s 

regional tourism organisations 

vie for a share of the 

New Zealand travel market, 

this collective decided to take 

a different approach and work 

together. In the wake of Covid- 

19, this shift in strategy is 

“what we call in the tourism 

industry a ‘pivot’ to the domestic 

market”. 

The latest stats from the 

Ministry for Business, Innovation 

and Employment showed 

that our collective regions 

normally attract domestic visitors 

who inject $3.175 billion 

in our regional economies 

(year ending August 2020). 

Pre-Covid, New Zealanders 

would normally spend around 

$18 billion on domestic travel, 

so we are hoping to collaboratively 

capture a significant 

piece of that pie. 

The Get Out More NZ 

campaign will run until Christmas 

and will appear across 

Google advertising, Facebook, 

and print advertising. 

The campaign is targeting 

retirees, young families, and 

couples in the North Island. 

It offers an extensive collection 

of ready-made itineraries 

on the newly built website 

www.getoutmorenz.com. 

It’s a great tool for 

travellers seeking ideas for 

a short break away or even a 

roadie. Users can either coordinate 

their travel themselves or 

seek help to book through the 

regions i-SITE visitor information 

centres. 

So much of the tourism 

landscape has changed and all 

our organisations have certainly 

had to think outside the 

box to help our industry as 

much as we can. As regions, 

our collaborative approach to 

solutions and cohesive marketing 

hasn’t changed – we 

are just talking to an audience 

much closer to home. 

To find out more visit 

www.getoutmorenz.com


23 

Interactionz Ed 

19.1x6 

Interactionz boosts visual offering 

With a bright new website and a rebrand, social impact 

organisation Interactionz have launched into a new era. 

They are promoting their 

visualisation and facilitating 

service through 

visually.co.nz, which showcases 

their impressive graphic capabilities. 

The Visually team bring 

ideas to life in a visually memorable 

way and, in doing so, 

they enable their charity partner, 

Interactionz, to make an impact 

in our communities. 

Interactionz’ purpose 

remains the same – to facilitate 

opportunities for people experiencing 

barriers to inclusion to 

become more independent and 

active members of the community; 

and to provide learning 

opportunities that will contribute 

to eliminating societal barriers 

for people experiencing exclusion 

in their communities – but 

the new website means they can 

more easily distinguish the different 

arms of their offerings, 

and pitch the distinctive service 

to businesses and community 

organisations. 

Visually by Interactionz offer 

facilitation methods that extract 

the critical elements of your 

strategic plan, presentation or 

conversation – with the visual 

output proving an invaluable 

memory aid for participants 

afterwards. 

Visually provides an innovative 

alternative to presenting 

information. The team help to 

communicate complex information 

in a creative way that distils 

key elements and ensures the 

longevity of your message. 

The change in online presence 

coincides with an upcoming 

shift to new premises in 

Rototuna Town Centre off Borman 

Road and a change of leadership 

as the organisation goes 

full steam ahead in the era of 

Covid-19. 

Incoming Executive Leader 

Jennifer Calley brings a wealth 

of knowledge with a background 

in accountancy, having 

been with the organisation for 10 

years as the Operations Leader, 

and earlier involved in numerous 

businesses outside of the not 

for profit sector. 

She describes her shift to the 

social impact space as a blessing. 

“It was an opportunity that 

gave me scope to do a role that 

had more meaning to it. I had a 

lot more purpose and I've had so 

much variety.” 

Interactionz provides mentoring 

services with individuals 

and training services to build 

capacity and capability within 

community organisations, while 

its commercial visualisation services 

supports businesses with 

its range of services. 

The new website enables 

clear engagement with potential 

customers who understand how 

it will meet their needs. 

Visually uses the power of 

images and pictures to tell your 

story in a way that resonates 

with your team, stakeholders 

and wider community. 

Visually captures conversations, 

deciphers documents, 

and portrays plans in a way 

that is clear, concise and easy to 

understand. What’s more, their 

approach of visual representation 

helps make information 

stick! 

Ninety percent of information 

sent to the brain is visual 

so the best way to communicate 

important information is visually. 

The graphic outputs organisations 

are left with are bright 

and colourful representations of 

what’s been said at their event – 

ready to display proudly on their 

walls. 

They also get a digital version 

which they can distribute. 

Visually by Interactionz 

also facilitates business teams 

to identify and articulate vision 

and values; plan and illustrate 

business direction - again with 

a visual output. From working 

to unify teams through to wellness 

plans and more, their visual 

planning tools have been used 

by small businesses as well as 

Fortune 500 companies. 

Some of their clients include 

Ministry of Health, NZ Post and 

WorkSafe. Locally, they have 

also assisted Te Waka and Waipā 

District Council. In the private 

sector, they have done work with 

boards and executive teams, and 

are getting repeat business. 

Business Development 

Leader Ann-Marie Davis says as 

part of their social impact they 

can offer community organisations 

a discounted rate for their 

training and visualisation services. 

Let’s work on 

revitalisation, by 

aiming high to bring 

big, meaningful 

change to our 

community where we 

are strong together! 

That means corporates 

and government agencies 

using their service have the 

extra benefit of knowing they 

are contributing back to the 

community via the Ākina-certified 

social organisation. 

Visually by Interactionz has 

also been approved as a supplier 

under the regional business partner 

scheme which means some 

businesses may be able to tap 

into government funding to use 

its services. 

“Some organisations might 

want to go through a well-being 

facilitated plan post-Covid,” 

says Ann-Marie Davis. “We 

will facilitate a planning session 

based on an organisation’s 

requirements, at the end of the 

session there will be a visual outcome, 

that is always our point of 

difference.” 

Jennifer Calley says in the 

Covid-19 era, they have also 

adapted to enable the team to 

do some of the visual work 

remotely using technology. “We 

are really aware that we're going 

to need to continue to adapt 

because the lessons of Covid 

are part of our new normal,” she 

says. 

“As a community we need to 

be intentional and work together, 

by engaging and seizing the 

opportunities that Covid-19 has 

placed upon us all. Let’s work 

on revitalisation, by aiming high 

to bring big, meaningful change 

to our community where we are 

strong together!” 

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 

James Harvey 

Commercial Facilities Manager 

P 07 839 0700 M 027 425 4231 

james.harvey@bayleys.co.nz 

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 

Matt Straka 

Registered Valuer 

P 07 834 3232 M 021 112 4778 

matt.straka@bayleys.co.nz 

Joe Healy 

Valuer 

P 07 834 3232 M 027 

223 8069 

joe.healy@bayleys.co.nz 

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

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N 

The Boulevard 

Te Rapa Road 

Te Kowhai Road 

Turn to page 3 

Arblaster. 


Gardens 

director retiring 

The mastermind behind the 

world-class Hamilton Gardens, 

Dr Peter Sergel, is retiring at 

the end of this year. Sergel has 

been a driving force behind the 

Hamilton Gardens since 1979 

when he was asked to develop 

a concept plan for the park. He 

was appointed director of the 

Hamilton Gardens in 1995. 

Law firm 

names partner 

Establishing credibility: 

Why and how to do it 

PR AND COMMUNICATIONS 

> BY HEATHER CLAYCOMB 

Heather Claycomb is director of HMC Communications, a 

Hamilton-based, award-winning public relations agencys. 

Sam Douglas 

Hamilton law firm iCLAW, 

has named Sam Douglas as 

partner. Douglas, who has 

been with the firm for three 

years, joins co-founders Owen 

Culliney and Aasha Foley in 

leading the growing iCLAW 

team. Olivia Day and Simmi 

Singh have also been promoted 

to senior solicitor roles. Day 

specialises in employment 

matters while Singh has a focus 

on dispute resolution. 

Waikato firm wins 

A Waikato firm won a 

commercial painting category 

at the New Zealand Master 

Painter Awards in Rotorua. 

Mike Stent Decorators won the 

New Interior Large Residential 

award for its work at the Te 

Awa Lifecare Retirement Village 

in Cambridge. 

A 

common 

reputational 

goal my team is often 

asked to help achieve 

for clients is to establish them 

and their business as a thought 

leader in their field. Recently, 

Rosie Harris on my team 

put together some thoughts 

about how our team goes 

about making this happen so 

I thought I would share this 

with Waikato Business News 

readers this month. 

We always say that becoming 

a thought leader is not 

something that happens overnight; 

it most often takes years 

of sustained effort to position a 

business as an eminent voice. 

To do so, businesses need 

to establish credibility, defined 

as the quality of being believable 

or worthy of trust. Achieving 

credibility can be done by 

the organisation itself, but it 

really requires the involvement 

of third-party opinions 

and backing. 

After all, what is more 

believable – a business tooting 

its own horn, or a story 

on the organisation from a 

reputable source (such as the 

media, their customers or partners 

in business)? 

The following are three 

essentials for building your business’ 

trustworthiness. 

The media 

A key channel through which to 

build trust is through traditional 

media. Why? Because media 

outlets have large audiences 

and those we work with have 

established public trust. When 

you read an article in Waikato 

Business News, Stuff or NZ 

Herald you trust that the journalists 

have done their research and 

applied rigour to whatever they 

may be printing. In fact, an AUT 

report published earlier this year 

showed that 53 percent of New 

Zealanders trust the news most 

of the time. As we always say 

when working with the media, 

this channel will only work to 

establish credibility if you have 

a great story to tell. 

More than likely you do, 

so the goal is to craft a story 

so it has a strong news angle 

that appeals to the media 

gatekeepers. 

The dream situation is when 

you have the media coming to 

you for comment; this is what 

can take years to establish. If 

you’re a honey company and 

a journalist is doing a story on 

the effects of Covid-19 on the 

industry, you want that journalist 

coming to you. That’s when 

you’ll know they see you as a 

credible and leading entity. 

Your customers 

If you offer an outstanding product 

or service, surely your customers 

should be your biggest 

advocates. 

The key benefit of using 

customers in your communications 

is that they have first-hand 

experience of your business, 

and likely have similar characteristics 

to your potential future 

customers. People like to hear 

from others like themselves – 

if I see an older man dressed 

for the beef farm spouting how 

amazing a vegan handbag is, 

I would question whether the 

handbag is really one I want or 

should buy (and might just be 

generally confused!). 

A great way to get customer 

endorsement is through testimonials, 

so others can read about 

their experiences of the product 

or service. A testimonial is one 

of the most important pieces of 

copy you can put on your website, 

social media or any other 

marketing communication. It 

shows customers that someone 

else has tried this, and liked it, 

reassuring them that your product 

is tested and a safe investment. 

When you’ve found 

customers happy to provide a 

testimonial, follow this formula: 

the before stage, when the customer 

has an issue or problem, 

the after stage sharing the results 

and the overall experience; how 

did they feel after interacting 

with the business? 

Even better than a written 

testimonial? Get visual with 

it and make video content of 

customers using your product 

or service. This can be far 

more engaging for those you’re 

trying to reach, and works 

well in digital advertising. 

Provide the evidence 

It’s something you learn at 

school; you can’t make a statement 

without having the evidence 

to back it up. You can 

say that your vitamin range will 

prevent aches and pains, but you 

need statistics to sit behind that 

charge. 

If it’s research, it should be 

conducted by an independent 

entity, or if it’s a survey it should 

have a wide enough sample so it 

is an accurate representation of 

a particular population. 

People respond to stats, and 

if you’re writing a media release 

or statement the journalist will 

need the evidence for their story 

– you can’t just say that 50 percent 

of New Zealanders love 

camembert cheese without citing 

a source. 

Establishing credibility 

and becoming respected as a 

thought leader takes time and 

purposeful perseverance. Using 

these three pieces of advice 

will get you started. 

4 The WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS October 15 – November 15, 2009 

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U G U S T / S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 6 V O L U M E 2 4 : I S S U E 8 W W W . W B N . C O . N Z F A C E B O O K . C O M / W A I K A T O B U S I N E S S N E W S 

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Waikato University’s Management School. 

T H E R E G I O N ’ S B U S I N E S S V O I C E 

CREATING 

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LEADERS 

A unique partnership between business 

and the University of Waikato is creating 

leaders across both business and 

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T 

By GEOFF TAYLOR 

he Community 

and Enterprise and 

Leadership Foundation 

(CELF) programme at Waikato 

University’s Management 

School is a co laboration 

between the university and 

Community and Enterprise 

Leadership Foundation - a 

Waikato-based trust - which 

has the aim of producing great 

and connected leaders for 

the region. 

The nine month course, 

convened by associate professor 

- management communication, 

Dr Peter Sun has turned 

out its first 21 graduates and a 

second cohort began the second 

course last month. 

A fundamental point of difference 

with the programme is 

that it combines an equal number 

of representatives from 

both business and not for profit 


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I 

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$20m expansion 

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October 15 – November 15, 2009 Volume 17: issue 10 

Kudos Awards 

special 

Pages,16 and 17 

Employment 

Law 

with 

Anne 

Aitken 

Page 10 

Investment 

with 

Stuart 

Anderson 

Page 14 

Export Feature 

Pages 20 – 22 

Tax Law 

With 

PwC 

Page 12 

www.wbn.co.nz 

Reading market 

needs nationaly 

and around the 

globe sets the 

team at Sealed 

Air, Te Rapa 

ahead of the field. 

By Mike Blake 

n an exciting expansion 

move, costing in 

excess of $20 million 

and involving planning and 

designing a new plant as 

we l as upgrading existing 

buildings, the company has 

responded to the needs of 

its customers in the growing 

global dairying market. 

Sector manager-ANZ 

dairy John Dawson said: 

“We saw the need for customer 

security/retention and 

realised that investment in 

new technology would a low 

Sealed Air to support clients’ 

growth, many of whom are 

involved with dairy in the 

local and more particularly 

the international marketplace. 

“And being in a very competitive 

global market, this 

investment gives us an edge,” 

he said. 

“While our research 

and development team and 

designers on site are thinking 

globa ly and loca ly, a focus 

has been on how to play to 

New Zealand’s strengths in 

the international dairy space.” 

“With this investment we 

have advanced our ability to 

the standard is set 

Manuka honey is one of the world’s great 

health honeys and has become a well known 

food icon of New Zealand. Now the scientist 

who discovered the original manuka activity 

has put his name to a Gold Standard that 

defines the unique bioactivities identified in his 

research and will give customers confidence in 

the honey product they are purchasing. 

Read ‘Manuka honey’s medical and health 

marvels’ on Page 5. 

ON OFFICIAL opening day, visitors walk down the driveway in front of the new Sealed Air 

multiwa l paper sack production facility at Te Rapa with renowned plastics man Bi l Foreman 

centre front. – photo courtesy Rhys Palmer 

Sourcing food and 

beverage for your business 

is easy with Gilmours. 

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tailor-make solutions for that 

market.” 

“And our solutions fit 

we l,” said John. 

“Our expansion project 

is one of the largest capital 

investments undertaken globa 

ly by Sealed Air for 2013. 

“New equipment brought in 

from Germany enables us to 

produce 25kg multi-wal bags 

for packaging export milk 

powder far more accurately 

and efficiently than we currently 

do. 

“These are high performance 

bags made to the 

strictest hygiene demands of 

our dairy export sector,” said 

John. “We make and deliver 

and the client fi ls and 

exports.” 

There is enough demand 

for the 25kg bags in the New 

Zealand market alone to keep 

the new production line ro l- 

ing 24/7, according to John. 

The project began back 

in 2011 under the expert 

supervision of manufacturing 

director, Hamilton-Rotorua, 

John Ha l. 

OUR 

YOUR 

INSIDE 

Torpedo 7 has 

Raynes Precinct 

on the move at 

Titanium Park 

R 

“Planning began in earnest 

and in 2011 with conceptual 

designs drawn up and 

requests for proposals advertised 

for the manufacture of 

the facility. 

“By the end of 2011 contracts 

were in place and 

groundwork had begun,” he 

said. “Building progressed 

through 2012 and was completed 

in November, about six 

months ahead of projections.” 

“And it needed to be, 

considering the volumes 


(centre pages) 

Frustrated TGH 

boss says: 

“Consider the 

big picture” 

By Mike Blake 

ecent claims that there 

has not been enough 

consultation on Tainui 

Group Holdings’ proposed 

development at Ruakura 

seem to have lost sight of 

the bigger picture and TGH 

CEO Mike Pohio is encouraging 

people to take a step 

back and consider the project 

in its entirety. 

More than half of a l freight 

in New Zealand is today transported 

between Hamilton, 

Tauranga and Auckland. 

“Current volumes wi l 

double over the next 20 years 

and the real issue is understanding 

that there are significant 

value-add opportunities 

for Waikato in what is 

being carried in trucks and 

on trains,” said Mike. “There 

is also the issue about how 

we most e ficiently deal with 

what is coming at us.” 

Ruakura has direct access 

to the existing East Coast main 

trunk railway which connects 

Waikato and Bay of Plenty to 

We lington and Auckland. 

If you’re a business owner, club o represent an association you could 

HAMILTON become a Gilmours member, it’s FREE! 

The 

Simsey 

TGH CEO Mike Pohio 

The Waikato Expressway 

wi l run alongside it which wi l 

give a direct motorway link 

into Auckland. 

“That means Ruakura wi l 

take a lot of that freight o f 

local roads,” said Mike. 

“Value-add benefits from 

the proposed Ruakura development 

wi l be shared by many 

people and organisations in 

Waikato,” he said. “This project 

has strong elements of 

national benefit and it is certainly 

hugely important regiona 

ly.” 

In total, the development is 

estimated to a tract more than 

$3 bi lion of direct investment, 



Church Road 


GILMOURS HAMILTON 

Ph 07 849 4945 • 13 Simsey Place 

Monday: 8am-8pm 

Tuesday to Friday: 8am-6pm 

Saturday: 8am-4pm 

JAnuary 15, 2010 – February 15, 2010 Volume 18: issue 1 

www.wbn.co.nz 

Selling 

tips 

with 

Roger 

Brooksbank 

- Page 23 

Performance 

Management 

Employment 

Law 

with 

Anne 

Aitken 

- Page 8 

Investment 

with 

Stuart 

Anderson 

- Page 8 

Busi ess 

INSIDE 

Thewaikato 

ews 

VOLUME 16: ISSUE 7 www.wbn.co.nz 

Hamilton company cracks 

human waste problem 

Disposing of human waste is 

a global po lution problem to 

which a Hamilton company 

has come up with a revolutionary 

answer. 

Enviro Energy Ltd’s groundbreaking 

sludge elimination 

system, ca led the STERM, 

was o ficia ly launched by the 

Minister of Trade, Hon Phil 

Goff, at Hamilton’s Wastewater 

Treatment Plant recently. 

The STERM eliminates 

sludge – the end product of 

sewage treatment plants – 

which is traditiona ly either, 

loaded into trucks an dumped 

in landfi ls, applied to land as 

fertiliser, or composted. 

The proce s incorporates a 

unique proprietary drying proce 

s, converting the dewatered 

sludge into a sterile fuel which 

is then recycled to provide 

energy for the system, leaving 

only an inert sand/ash as the 

end product. 

By MIKE BLAKE 

July 15 – August 15, 2008 

WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS 

25 YEAR EDITION 

COMING SOON 

By MIKE BLAKE 

Dealer Principal 

Ingham 

Motor 

Group 

with 

Pam 

Roa 

- Page 6 

JULY 

PROFILE 

JOHN INGHAM 

Page 2 

The sand/ash that remains, 

represents a 93 percent reduction 

of the wet sludge proce 

sed and can be used commercially, 

for example as road 

aggregate. 

Rob Arblaster, managing 

director of Hamilton-based 

Enviro Energy, says: “The 

STERM is unique. We have 

been developing it for 16 years 

and are now at the point where 

it is ready to be used in a commercial 

environment. 

“It’s safe and offers triple 

bo tom line advantages. For 

example, there are huge carbon 

fuel savings, local communities 

benefit because there’s no 

odour and there are significant 

environmental benefits.” 

The STERM has already 

a tracted international a tention. 

Enviro Energy took part in 

a high-tech sector trade mission 

to the United States and 

Canada last November organised 

by New Zealand Trade 

and Enterprise and led by Hon 

Phil Go f. 

But Putaruru Blue Spring is world class 

A desire to ‘make something good for people’ saw property man Ian Riley 

dip his toe into the water. .literally. 

Jus three years ago he invested in a Putaruru company, New Zealand Quality 

Waters Ltd, that was bottling natural spring water to world class standards. 

Ian also reckons that 20 years in project management with major oil companies, 

developing major petroleum industry infrastructure throughout Australasia and 

South East Asia has given him an excellent grounding for this type of business. 

Importan to the company’s success is the source of water .the famous Blue 

Spring from which water of the utmost purity has flowed for thousands of years. 

Continued on Page 5 

During the mi sion, the 

company visited several cities 

and counties to meet with 

o ficials and, as a result, the 

STERM is being considered 

by at least one major North 

American city. 

In addition, with the support 

of New Zealand Trade 

and Enterprise, Enviro Energy 

won a coveted place on the 

Global Acce s Program run by 

the University of California, 

Los Angeles (UCLA). With a 

JUST checking . Phil Go f checks what goes in, before checking what comes out. Or could that be checking 

what has already come out before it goes in (to the plant) and comes out again? Anyway, he took a 

few bold steps up the ladder, where others feared to tread, and confirmed it was definitely ‘sludge.’ 

view to developing business and competitor analysis, and the STERM. 

strategies, the Global Acce s developed a busine s plan. “With the STERM’s triple 

bo tom line advantages, it 

Program links international In the early research and 

technology companies with development stages, the represents an exciting alternative 

for cities. A real plus is 

exceptionally high-calibre students 

participating in UCLA’s a grant from New Zealand’s that it has a footprint of only 

company was supported by 

prestigious Fu ly Employed Foundation for Research, 20 x 18 metres and can easily 

be integrated into existing 

MBA Programme. As a result Science and Technology. 

Mr Arblaster says the challenge 

now for Enviro Energy is significantly reduce future land 

treatment facilities. It can also 

to find worldwide markets for use requirements.” 

of its relationship with this programme, 

Enviro Energy benefited 

from exceptional research 

Trade Minister Phil Go f congratulated 

Hamilton-based company Enviro-Energy for 

its perseverance when he o ficia ly opened its 

By MIKE BLAKE 

new pilot proce sing plant at the Hamilton 

Wastewater Treatment Plant recently. 

“This clean technology, which was developed 

by the company over 16 years, represents a real 

the company’s export potential. 

Enviro-Energy takes a bow 

Past winners of the Westpac 

Waikato Busine s Exce lence 

Awards exto led the benefits 

to their companies at the 

launch of the 2008 Chamber 

of Commerce Awards. 

Addre sing the many 

invited busine s people from 

throughout the Waikato, 

Stainle s Design managing 

director John Cook, winner 

of the Waikato Management 

School Leader of the Year 

Award in 2007 said: “Winning 

the Award is not the end of 

the proce s, for us it’s just the 

beginning. It has been inspirational 

an driven us to extend 

ourselves further. 

“The Awards are a tribute 

t our sta f who took up the 

cha lenge and showed their 

commitmen to the company’s 

ongoing succe s." 

Stainle s Design also 

won the Sta ford Engineering 

Manufacturing Exce lence 

Award and topped that o f with 

the Westpac Waikato Busine s 

of the Year Award. 

Waikato Chamber of 

Commerce CEO Wayne 

Walford said: “The Busine s 

Exce lence Awards are a l 

about holding up our heroes. 

“They support our ta l 

poppies and those busine ses 

prepared to take a risk – especia 

ly in the cu rent economic 

climate.” 

“The Awards are a proven 

medium for benchmarking 

Business 

Awards 

launch 

info@dpmedia.co.nz 

07 838 1333 | dpmedia.co.nz 

breakthrough and could have big implications for 

the way sludge from waste water is treated and for 

leadership models,” he said. 

“And for new busine ses 

they o fer strong networking 

opportunities with companies 

already succe sful."Entering 

the Awards is a simple proce 

s. Ca l the Chamber 839 

5895 and an entry pack wi l 

A HAPPY DUO . Labour minister Phil Goff with Rob 

be sent to you. Or enter on 

line at www.beawards.co.nz. 

Entries close at 4pm, Friday, 

October 3. 

The whole proce s from 

nomination to judging to selection 

of winners culminates in 

a fabulous black tie Awards 

Dinner at Mystery Creek on 

Friday, November 14. 

Employment 

How chopsticks 

and forks can 

her 

Photograph by Edward Aish (Pro-Vision) 

Emissions 

Trading 

The cost of 

rogress 

Investment 

Getting an 

edge on the 

market 

Page 9 

UK business 

migrants 

Show interest 

in Hamilton 

Page 16


25 

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No longer on the fringe - is your 

business ready for ESG? 

It is part of a growing acceptance 

that society has a new 

attitude towards corporate 

accountability. This ranges 

from environmental issues like 

climate change and resource 

scarcity, to social issues like 

a company’s labour practices, 

gender pay gap, product safety, 

data security. It also includes 

governance matters like board 

and executive diversity, ethics 

and corporate values. 

What does ESG really 

mean? Think about the current 

situation in Auckland for 

example, where businesses 

and households have had 

water restrictions in place for 

a number of months. Many 

companies, particularly industrial 

ones, need plentiful water 

at adequate temperatures to 

TECHNOLOGY SECURITY 

> BY AARON STEELE 

Aaron Steele is a PwC Senior Manager based in the Waikato office. 

Email: aaron.e.steele@pwc.com 

Corporate sustainability or environmental, 

social and governance (ESG) is not a new 

concept, yet it is a topic that is increasingly 

shaping today’s business world. 

operate. How robust were their 

plans to confront possible water 

scarcity now and in the future? 

Financial institutions such 

as banks are starting to perform 

risk assessments on the ways 

in which businesses depend 

on the environment, how these 

dependencies are threatened by 

environmental change, and the 

resulting risks for the financial 

institution on lending, insuring 

or investing in the business. 

Investors, customers, suppliers 

and employees are calling 

on companies to do more 

around key sustainability 

issues and opportunities and to 

be more transparent about their 

efforts. 

A number of large corporates 

now voluntarily produce 

corporate sustainability reports 

Triple the 

expertise 

and there is a growing focus 

from regulators on extended 

external reporting/integrated 

reporting, which refers to 

reporting beyond information 

presented in the financial statements. 

The Government also 

intends to make climate-related 

financial disclosures mandatory 

for public listed companies 

and large financial sector 

organisations in the near future. 

Increasingly, investors want 

to know about ESG factors 

when making investment decisions 

as responsible investment 

is becoming a mainstream 

concern for the investment 

industry, as evidenced by the 

dramatic growth in the number 

of investors adopting the Principles 

for Responsible Investment 

(PRI). Investors want to 

understand a company's longterm 

value creation plans, yet 

many companies are not giving 

investors the right information 

in the right format. 

Two commonly used sustainability 

disclosure frameworks 

are the Task Force on 

Climate-related Financial 

Disclosures (TCFD) and Sustainability 

Accounting Standards 

Board (SASB) standards. 

Using these frameworks is a 

great place to start as this will 

enable companies to disclose 

their material sustainability and 

climate change risk information 

in a standardised manner, 

providing investors with the 

information they want. 

At a consumer level, there 

is an increasing focus on driving 

broader social, cultural 

and environmental outcomes. 

A 2020 study by the National 

Retail Federation across 28 

countries showed that 57 percent 

of consumers are willing 

to change their purchasing 

habits to help reduce negative 

environmental impact, and 

among those who say sustainability 

is important to them, 

this increases to 77 percent. 

Brand trust, convenience and 

sustainability were all of high 

importance. Seven out of 10 

consumers are willing to pay 

a premium for brands that support 

recycling, practice sustainability 

and are environmentally 

responsible. 

Companies must maintain 

consumer trust in their brand 

and this must be constantly and 

consistently reinforced through 

multiple channels, as consumers 

say they conduct substantial 

amounts of research before 

making purchases. And these 

days, that power is at their fingertips. 

On a business to business 

level, suppliers are seeing the 

rise in sustainable or social 

procurement. Organisations 

procuring goods or services are 

now assessing suppliers not just 

on price, quality and risk, but 

also considering the broader 

social and environmental outcomes. 

Potential suppliers must 

be able to demonstrate that they 

‘walk the talk’ in sustainability 

and align with buyer ESG values 

and expectations in order 

to protect their brand. Organisations 

are looking across 

their supply chain to ensure 

that labour and human rights 

conditions are met, products 

and raw materials are sourced 

sustainably and that their supply 

chain’s environmental and 

carbon footprint is minimised. 

Does your business understand 

its ESG risks and have 

plans to address these? Is 

ESG a part of your strategic 

thinking? Are you measuring 

your business's ESG impact? 

If your answer to the above 

questions is no, then you need 

to start addressing them, as 

action on ESG has moved 

from the realm of activists to 

the mainstream and is now 

viewed as a business issue with 

material financial and viability 

impacts. 

Understanding ESG risks 

and having plans in place to 

address them is a significant 

opportunity to engage with 

your investors, customers and 

suppliers to demonstrate your 

value to them. 

The comments in this article 

are of a general nature and 

should not be relied on for specific 

cases. Taxpayers should 

seek advice. 

Augmented and virtual 

reality on a budget 

TECH TALK 

> BY DAVID HALLETT 

David Hallett is a co-founder and director of Hamilton software 

specialist Company-X. 

Mark Ewing, Catherine Carleton & Andrew Quick 

07 839 5870 / 17 Pembroke St / hamiltonorthodontics.co.nz 

Cutting edge augmented 

and virtual reality technology 

does not have to 

be expensive. 

For less than a couple of 

hundred dollars you can get 

your hands on world-leading 

hand tracking technology. 

The inexpensive Leap 

Motion Controller enables 

users to interact naturally 

with computer-generated augmented 

and virtual reality 

content through intricate hand 

gestures. 

The Leap Motion Controller 

is a neat, chocolate bar-sized, 

box of tricks with a powerful 

interaction engine that can discern 

27 distinct hand elements, 

including bones and joints, and 

track them even when they 

are obscured by other parts of 

the hand. It has an interactive 

tracking range of up to 60cm. 

The Leap Motion Controller 

is extremely useful for 

interacting with real-worldlike 

simulations in augmented 

reality (AR) and virtual reality 

(VR) environments. The Leap 

VR Developer Mount enabled 

the motion controller to attach 

to VR headsets like the Oculus 

Rift and HTC Vive. 

Both AR and VR forms 

of technology are perfect for 

creating simulations that can 

be used in the work place for 

assessment and training purposes, 

particularly where the 

real-world alternative is either 

dangerous or expensive. 

The first iteration of the 

Leap Motion Controller was 

originally manufactured 

and marketed by US-based 

Leap Motion in 2012. More 

advanced optical hand tracking 

capability in virtual 

reality environments was 

added in 2016 before the sensor 

was sold to Ultrahaptics in 

the UK last year. 

As well as its use in controlling 

augmented and virtual 

reality environments, the 

Leap Motion Controller can 

also be used hands free with 

productivity software on personal 

computers, integrated 

into enterprise-grade hardware 

solutions or video displays. 

The controller can also be 

used to create touchless public 

interfaces for interactive 

kiosks and even to control elevators, 

making it increasingly 

popular in the Covid-19 world. 

In healthcare, it can be used 

for stroke rehabilitation, training 

and medical imaging, and 

in therapy and education, it is 

a great for anatomic visualizations 

and hands-on learning.


27 

Illegal workplace investigations 

coming to an end 

In the October 2018 edition of the Waikato Business News, 

I wrote a piece on the disturbing rise in a cottage industry of 

“experts” involved in workplace investigations. 

EMPLOYMENT LAW 

> BY ERIN BURKE 

Employment lawyer and director at Practica Legal 

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

On the ground, I was 

increasingly encountering 

these people, regularly 

promoting the need for a 

workplace-wide investigation 

(often where no such action 

was required) and many of 

these investigations were coming 

with a five-figure price tag 

attached. The quality of some 

of these investigations was 

dubious, and particularly when 

the investigator was being 

engaged by a large employer, 

where there was the potential 

for future work, the impartiality 

of the investigator was also 

questionable. 

While there are circumstance 

where a workplace-wide 

investigation might be appropriate, 

they were increasingly 

being advocated for in cases 

where there were complaints 

only involving one or two 

employees, and the benefits 

of any investigation needs to 

be carefully weighed against 

the disruption and disharmony 

such investigations can invoke. 

In June 2020, a rather interesting 

determination was published 

by the Private Security 

Personnel Licensing Authority 

(‘PSPLA’): Re D, E & C 

Limited [2020] NZPSLA007. 

The issue for determination 

by the PSPLA, was whether 

workplace investigations came 

under the Private Security Personnel 

and Private Investigations 

Act 2010 (‘PSPPI Act’), 

and whether those carrying 

out these investigations fitted 

within the s 5 definition of the 

PSPPI Act of “private investigators”. 

Spoiler alert – turns 

out they do. 

Section 5 of the PSPPI Act 

defines a private investigator 

as “a person who, for valuable 

consideration, either by 

himself or herself or in partnership 

with any other person, 

carries on a business seeking 

or obtaining for any person or 

supplying to any person any 

information described in subsection 

(2).” The latter defines 

information as that relating to 

the personal character, actions, 

behaviour, financial, occupation 

or business, location or 

identity of any person. 

Persons captured by the s 

5 definition are required to be 

licensed as private investigators. 

Ms D and Ms E were 

both directors of company 

C Limited, which was in 

the business of carrying out 

workplace investigations. Following 

one such investigation, 

an employee, Ms A, complained 

to the PSPLA about the 

quality of the investigation and 

argued that Mss D and E were 

private investigators covered 

by the Act. 

C Limited argued that Parliament 

had never intended 

for the PSPPI Act to cover 

employment consultants and 

workplace investigations. 

Whilst acknowledging Parliament 

had not expressly 

included workplace investigations, 

the PSPLA stated that 

this was because it was a relatively 

new phenomenon, but 

that the actions involved in 

these investigations were still 

captured by s 5. 

C Limited also argued that 

the word “private” in the term 

private investigator implied 

covert surveillance or an 

invasion of privacy, and that 

workplace investigations do 

not involve these actions. This 

was rejected by the PSPLA, 

who noted that the s 5 definition 

of private investigator 

did not include reference to 

covert or privacy invasion 

issues, and held that the word 

private merely distinguished 

private investigators from public 

investigators, such as the 

police or inland revenue. 

Finally, the PSPLA investigated 

whether Mss D, E 

and C Limited were covered 

by any of the exemptions 

set out in ss 5(4) or 22 of the 

PSPPI Act. Section 22 allows 

exemptions from holding a 

licence if an investigator holds 

a practising certificate required 

by any other enactment. This 

would, for example, cover lawyers 

and chartered accountants 

when engaged in workplace 

investigations or financial 

investigations, respectively. 

The rationale behind this 

exemption is that the training 

for such persons is significantly 

more than that required 

by private investigators, and 

the regulatory regime/disciplinary 

processes in place are 

stricter, meaning the public are 

protected. At the time of the 

complained-about investigation, 

neither Mss D or E held 

a practicing certificate, but 

following the investigation, 

they both started their own law 

firm and did hold practicing 

certificates. The PSPLA held 

that Mss D and E had breached 

the PSPPI Act at the time of 

Ms A’s investigation, but as 

they did not hold any licence 

as required by the PSPPI Act, 

then no action could be taken 

against them for this breach. 

As registered lawyers, they are 

now able to carry out workplace 

investigations and will 

be covered by the New Zealand 

Law Society regulatory 

and disciplinary framework. 

Since this case came out 

in June 2020, there appears to 

have been a flurry of applications 

to the PSPLA for licences, 

to enable non-lawyer investigators 

to continue to carry 

out workplace investigations. 

While it is not anticipated that 

this will either increase the 

quality of these investigations, 

or decrease the fees being 

charged, clients will at least 

have a regulatory body to complain 

to where the conduct or 

competency of the investigator 

comes into question. 

505 Grey Street 

Office 

space for 

Lease 

High profile city fringe 

modern office building 

on Bridge St corner site 

over 3 levels 

Ground floor Office: 

278m2 at $55.6k rent pa + opex 

1st floor Office: 

290m2 at $58k rent pa + opex 

Basement Carparking: 

9 parks + 3 on site at $35 pw 

Ring your local agent or 

owner on 0274742326


IP and social media - mind your 

T’s, C’s, P’s and Q’s 

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. 

Social media is a powerful marketing tool. Just ask all those small 

businesses who have signed up this year to Facebook groups like 

Chooice (originally called New Zealand Made Products). 

If used and managed properly, 

platforms like Facebook 

can significantly 

contribute to brand growth. 

If not used and managed 

properly though, they can 

impede growth. 

From an IP perspective, 

managing social media is just 

as important as using social 

media. 

Here then are a few things 

I recommend businesses do. 

1. Mind your T’s 

Your principal trade marks 

– be they names or logos – 

should be registered. They 

should be registered not just 

because registration of a trade 

mark provides the best protection 

against infringers, but 

because registration is very 

important when it comes to 

enforcing trade mark rights 

on social media. 

Registration is very 

important because the online 

complaint forms used by 

Facebook, Instagram, and 

Twitter, for example, all 

request registration details. 

If your trade mark is 

not registered, you risk any 

complaint you make against 

unauthorised use of your 

trade mark – by a competitor 

or influencer, for example 

– not being upheld and the 

unauthorised use continuing. 

2. Mind your C’s 

Copyright works include 

logos and photos, as well as 

sound recordings and films. 

Logos, photos, music and 

videos are all used extensively 

on social media – sometimes, 

however, without the copyright 

owner’s permission. 

When this happens, it 

is important for copyright 

owners to assert 

their rights. 

The requirements for 

enforcing copyright rights on 

social media are very similar 

to the requirements for 

enforcing trade mark rights: 

you must provide details of 

your copyright work and an 

authorised example of your 

copyright work in action. 

If you can’t readily provide 

these, as with unregistered 

trade marks you risk your 

complaint not being upheld 

and the unauthorised use of 

your copyright works continuing. 

3. Mind your P’s 

You should get permission if 

you want to use another company’s 

logo or products in your 

social media content. If you 

don’t get permission, you will 

infringe copyright in that company’s 

logo and could be in 

breach of the Fair Trading Act 

for giving a false or misleading 

impression that the brand 

owner has approved 

your use of their product. 

4. Mind your Q’s 

New Zealand is a liberal, 

multi-cultural country, with 

many different ethnicities. 

Businesses should give 

plenty of quarter then to Principle 

1 of the Advertising Standards 

Code: “Advertisements 

must be prepared and placed 

with a due sense of social 

responsibility to consumers 

and to society”. 

Businesses who don’t give 

any quarter to this principle 

could find themselves not only 

on the end of a complaint to the 

ASA, but also at risk of losing 

customers. And which business 

at this moment in time 

wants that? Finally, I would 

like to wish all readers a safe 

and happy Christmas, and a 

healthy 2021 

Premier offering in premier location 

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East 

• 655sqm of modern 

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• On-site car parking 

• Available early 2021 

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Price by Negotiation 

Rebecca Bruce 

021 063 5165 

rebecca.bruce@bayleys.co.nz 

Jordan Metcalfe 

021 0847 8920 

jordan.metcalfe@bayleys.co.nz 

SUCCESS REALTY LIMITED, BAYLEYS, 

LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008

CORPORATE GIFTING 

Waikato eatery 

celebrates 10 years 

In a year that has rocked the hospitality industry, 

Tamahere’s Punnet Eatery has something to celebrate. 


29 

Haley Bicknell, owner/operator 

This year marks 10 years 

in business for the popular 

eatery - a feat for 

any business, let alone one 

in the midst of a global pandemic. 

Set in the surrounds of 

the Newell Road Strawberry 

Farm on the outskirts of Hamilton, 

the eatery is known for 

its family-friendly fare and 

fresh, seasonal menu. 

Owner-operator Haley 

Bicknell says she’s proud to 

be celebrating a decade of 

Punnet and is looking forward 

to formally recognising 

the occasion in November. 

“We have created something 

really special here and 

in turn cemented ourselves 

within the Tamahere community 

and wider Waikato. Ten 

years reflects a great deal of 

effort, passion and contribution 

from many people as 

well as the support of our 

incredible customers.” 

Bicknell took the helm 

back in 2013, taking over 

from her parents, Gary and 

Pam McMahon, who run the 

strawberry farm. She saw it 

as her opportunity to join the 

family business. 

During her time as owner-operator 

she’s focused on 

refining Punnet’s offering 

and pays credit to head chef 

Sophie Beck. 

“Sophie’s cuisine is something 

really unique – it’s both 

homely and refined. Sophie’s 

expertise and leadership in 

the kitchen have been a real 

asset to the business for the 

past two years.” 

Bicknell says staffing is 

the key ingredient to any successful 

hospitality. 

“It’s really rewarding to 

continually be able to celebrate 

the teams ‘punniversaries’ 

– with members passing 

two, three and four years 

here – which anyone in the 

hospitality industry would 

know is rare.” 

Bicknell moved from 

Hamilton into the Tamahere 

community a few years ago 

and says that has been a highlight 

of her time at Punnet. 

“Joining the community 

that I have worked so hard to 

serve and contribute to for the 

past seven years was really 

poignant for me. It’s a special 

place to be and I find it really 

motivating to be able to add 

value to my community.” 

She is also thankful to be 

working alongside her family, 

with not only the Strawberry 

Farm a family business, 

but the store next door 

- Country Providore - owned 

and operated by her sisters, 

Emma and Kate. 

From left, Emma Gethen, Gary McMahon, Pam McMahon, 

Haley Bicknell, Kate McMahon and all of their respective children 

“We Do It All Instore - Retail, Repairs, 

Remodelling, CAD & Hand-made 

Jewellery Manufacturing” 

Come and see us at our new premises at 

427 Victoria Street, Just 2 doors 

down from our previous Victoria Street 

store! We now have a bigger brighter, 

more inviting store for a better 

viewing experience! With the same 

great service, friendly advice, high 

quality jewellery, repairs and 

manufacturing instore, as always. 

Visit us in our two locations: 

427 Victoria Street, Hamilton | 07 838 3418 

Chartwell Shopping Centre | 07 852 5341 

www.goldsmithsgallery.co.nz


CONFERENCE, EVENTS AND VENUES 

Hobbits to raise funds 

for mental health with the 

help of Sir John Kirwan 

Sir John Kirwan – a household name known for his legendary All Black career, 

and passionate ambassador for mental health in New Zealand – is visiting The Shire 

this November for a special event to support mental wellbeing in schools and the 

rural community in the mighty Waikato. 

Since retiring from professional 

sport, Sir John 

Kirwan, or JK as he is 

best known, has opened up 

and shared his personal story 

of depression, resilience and 

hope, now dedicating his time 

to removing the stigma that 

surrounds mental health in 

New Zealand. His journey has 

led him to an active involvement 

with mental health 

awareness campaigns where 

he speaks openly about his 

battle. 

The event will be held on 

Thursday 19 November kicking 

off in the newly completed 

conference facility The Hub, 

located at The Shire’s Rest. JK 

will share his inspiring story 

through a keynote in the new 

facility, followed by a guided 

tour of the Movie Set, and an 

evening at The Green Dragon 

Inn and Party Marquee full of 

food and merriment in support 

of this very worthy cause. 

All profits from the oneoff 

fundraiser event will be 

donated to the Sir John Kirwan 

Foundation and will go 

towards supporting mental 

health in schools and the 

wider rural community in the 

Waikato region. 

Tickets are $240 each, 

with group discounts for 10 

or more, and are available 

now from Hobbiton 

Movie Set’s website, 

www.hobbitontours.com. 

John Kirwan 

Planning a conference 

or business event in 

the Waikato region? 

We offer free, impartial advice to assist with 

your planning. From venue recommendations to 

sourcing quotes and organising familiarisation 

visits, or just point you in the right direction. 

Contact us for free expert advice. 

P: 07 843 1853 

E: businessevents@waikatonz.com 

www.meetwaikato.com



31 

Lots of choices offered 

for fun teambuilding 

Looking for a Christmas 

Work function with a 

difference? Then Confinement 

Escape rooms could 

have exactly what you are 

looking for. 

Located on Level 2 of 

Skycity Hamilton on Victoria 

Street, Confinement Escape 

Rooms have joint together 

with the SkyCity Team and 

can offer a range of options for 

teams looking to fully inclusive 

packages with either a 

Christmas Buffet or more bar 

styled platters, you will find 

a package to suit your budget 

and your team dynamics. 

Being located in Skycity, 

the one stop location makes 

organising an event super easy 

parking, dining and entertainment 

makes a hassle free 

event, all achieved with one 

phone call. 

Confinement offers four 

themed Escape Rooms and 

can cater for 32 across the 

four rooms. Larger groups 

can be catered for by rotating 

between a game of Bowling 

at Bowl & Social, the Zone 

bar and the Escape Rooms. 

Alternatively, you can set 

your teams off on Confinements 

Scavenger Hunt around 

the central city, making them 

appreciate the meal and drinks 

on their return. 

Escape Rooms have 

become extremely popular 

over the last two to three years 

and even more since the Covid 

19 outbreak. Confinement 

Escape Rooms have seen significant 

increase in patronage 

with record attendances being 

experienced consequently 

for the past 3 months. “I 

believe this growth has been 

attributed to people wanting 

to do something unique 

as a group and Confinement 

offers a fun experience for all 

ages,” says Operation Manager 

Serenity Zillwood. “A lot 

of people think that an escape 

room is scary but its not about 

scariness at all, its all about 

problem solving, with teams 

pondering over cryptic clues, 

random codes, and challenging 

your lateral thinking. Its 

more an escape from Reality” 

says Director Alanah Bunyard 

“the door that you enter is 

always unlocked, but you need 

to solve your mission and find 

your escape. 

Confinement Escape 

Rooms have also joint forces 

with the Woodlands Estate to 

offer “The Woodlands Escape 

evenings”, in the old Gordonton 

Homestead. With either a 

full buffet dinner or sharing 

platters this option can also 

provide a Christmas function 

with a difference. 

- Supplied copy 

*Prices subject to change and are based on a minimum of 10 players 

HAVE YOU SORTED YOUR 

CHRISTMAS FUNCTION? 

Confinement Escape Rooms offer events with a difference! 

Get the team actively involved in escaping from our 4 themed rooms! 

Escape room packages are available, such as: 

A savoury grazing platter and 1 hour excape room from as little as $48pp* 

OR Christmas Feast menu from $58pp* 

Discounts available for larger groups 

Plus, add in bowling for even more fun! 

After something a little different? 

Get your team outside - send them on our scavenger hunt followed by a feed 

from Zone Bar or how about one of our Woodlands Mystery Dinner nights? 

There are plenty of options at Confinement! 

BOOKINGS ESSENTIAL! 

CONTACT US TODAY AND 

SEE HOW WE CAN HELP 

PROVIDE THE PERFECT 

CHRISTMAS DO! 

) 

* 

07 838 0058 

events@confinement.co.nz 

WWW.CONFINEMENT.CO.NZ - LEVEL 2, SKYCITY HAMILTON - 346 VICTORIA STREET 

Christmas Carols & Supper by 

Candlelight 

2 nd , 3 rd & 4 th December 

A festive evening of Carol 

9 th , 10singing th & 11 th in December our Historical – 6:45-10pm 

Church and candlelight 

supper with entertainment 

by Violinist with a varied 

repertoire 

A Complimentary Cocktail 

with your ticket 

$75 per person - select 

your date and book online 

at gailstamahere.co.nz 

Christmas Carols & Supper by Candlelight 

2nd, 3rd & 4th, 9th, 10th & 11th December – 6:45-10pm 

Bookings Essential 

stive evening of Carol singing in our 

cal Church and candlelight supper with 

ertainment by Violinist with a varied 

repertoire 

28 Devine Road, R D 3, Tamahere, Hamilton 

Phone +64 7 856 6609 • Email: gailjones@gails.co.nz 

omplimentary Cocktail with your ticket 

75per person - select your date and book 

online at gailstamahere.co.nz 

www.gailstamahere.co.nz



Location is important to the success of your business 

event, but it’s our people that make all the difference. 

Bringing together three of the very best venues in Hamilton combined with experienced and 

passionate staff provides you with unrivalled service every step of the way. 

Whether you are planning a small, intimate business meeting or a large-scale conference, 

our people are here to help you find the perfect space and ensure you have everything you 

need for a successful event. 

Contact us today on 07 929 3000 or businessevents@h3group.co.nz to talk to the team 

who specialise in bringing people together. 

h3group.co.nz 

CLAUDELANDS 

A spacious venue with on-site parking, 

award-winning catering and spaces to 

suit all events. 

FMG STADIUM WAIKATO 

An inspiring location offering spaces with 

impressive views across the field. 

SEDDON PARK 

Tucked away in the CBD, this venue offers 

affordable spaces overlooking the grounds. 

B&H3G0225



33 

Claudelands 

expertly adapting to 

a new normal 

Since reopening their doors in early June, 

the Claudelands team have been hard at 

work adapting to their new normal and way 

of working. 

Staff members from 

around the business have 

taken it upon themselves 

to become experts in something 

entirely unexpected. On 

the back of the Covid-19 pandemic 

the delegate experience 

was rigorously tested, and the 

team determined a range of 

optimal room layouts, alongside 

developing clear hygiene 

and cleaning systems. 

H3 Conference and Functions 

Manager Linda Kelly 

has seen her team step up and 

quickly adapt to these new 

challenges. 

“We are lucky to have an 

incredibly skilled and experienced 

team at H3, who have 

worked together to reshape 

how we operate – all while 

staying positive and continuing 

to provide a seamless 

experience for our clients,” 

says Linda. 

While restrictions at Level 

2 caused some limitations, 

Claudelands have been able 

to continue hosting multiple 

business events on site 

at once, making good use of 

their space and venue size 

which ensures there is no 

crossover in shared areas and 

allowing easy flow for delegates 

around the venue. 

They have also worked 

together with external suppliers, 

such as audio-visual 

specialists Vidcom, to provide 

fresh technology options 

which will enable online video-conferencing 

capability, 

should this be needed to allow 

for further flexibility. 

Knowing event organisers 

are dealing with increased 

pressures during these uncertain 

times, the team have put 

transparent steps in place to 

support them. This includes 

allowing for postponements 

up to six weeks before their 

event, incentives for multiple 

bookings and providing financial 

options if required. 

Melissa Williams, H3 

Business Development Manager, 

believes providing this 

flexibility is key – “these reassurances 

allow our clients to 

confidently return to business 

with a clear understanding 

and knowledge that an expert 

team is supporting them”. 

Now that we are at Alert 

We are lucky to have 

an incredibly skilled 

and experienced 

team at H3, who 

have worked together 

to reshape how we 

operate – all while 

staying positive 

and continuing to 

provide a seamless 

experience for our 

clients. 

Level 1 the team are thrilled 

to continue doing what they 

are all so passionate about 

- delivering amazing events 

and making an impact on our 

thriving city. 

Claudelands is ready to 

host your next business event 

in the safest and smartest 

way possible. 

With expert staff and 

additional measures in place 

you can be assured that 

you can continue to meet 

in confidence. 

BOOK 

NOW! 

Christmas Parties 

WEDDINGS | CONFERENCES | SUNDAY LUNCHES | TOUR & TASTINGS | VINE CAFE 

Christmas Parties 7pm-midnight 

FRI 20TH & SAT 21ST NOVEMBER | FRI 27TH & SAT 28TH NOVEMBER 

FRI 4 TH & 11 TH DECEMBER | SAT 5 TH & 12 TH DECEMBER 

Includes a 4 course Mediterranean banquet 

Dance the night away to live music. 

Multi-award winning winery and restaurant . Full bar facilities available. 

Accommodation on-site. 

Corporate Lunches 12pm-4pm 

FRIDAY 27 TH NOVEMBER | FRIDAY 4 TH & 11 TH DECEMBER 

Have a relaxing lunch at Vilagrad Winery and enjoy our Mediterranean 

banquet under the vines while listening to live easy listening music. 

EVENTS THAT GO THE EXTRA MILE 

We have a variety of indoor and outdoor spaces for weddings, birthdays, 

trade shows, conferences & everything in between 

10-500 

guests 

air con & 

heating 

audio visual bar facilities free 

parking 

W: www.cambridgeraceway.co.nz P: 07 827 5506 E: events@cambridgeraceway.co.nz



H A M I LTO N ’S BEST 

S T E A K H O U S E 

1 5 0 V I CTO R IA STREET FURNAC E R E STAU RANT.CO. N Z


35 

Which national law firm is 

uniquely positioned to cover 

New Zealand’s economic and 

commercial heartland? 

We are. 

P 07 839 4771 

Hamilton 

Auckland Rotorua Tauranga tompkinswake.co.nz 

22 Naylor Street 

Hamilton 

0800 225 999 

LINKBUSINESS.CO.NZ 

Dairy Industry Knowledge? 

$250,000 

Eastern Waikato 

· Specialised scanning & related farm services 

· Strong franchise, full training & support 

· Earning potential of $100K+ pa. 

· Excellent reputation, loyal customers 

· Flexibility in work hours 

linkbusiness.co.nz/WK00123 

Rick Johnson 021 991 485 

rick.johnson@linkbusiness.co.nz 

Beautiful Hair Salon $60,000 

Hamilton 

· High quality t out 

· Two staff and great lease in place 

· Large space approx 75sqm 

· Great central city location, easy parking 

· Walk-in and start trading! 


Alanah Eagle 021 606 345 

alanah.eagle@linkbusiness.co.nz 

Transport Engineering $580,000 


· Excellent reputation specialising in designing & 

manufacturing light transport bodies & trailers 

· Forward workload is strong (approx $400K) 

· Returned in excess of $200K to working owner 

in 2020 

· Continued growth opportunies 



rick.johnson@linkbusiness.co.nz 

Eatery Great Location $495,000 


· Fully licensed eatery 

· Main street location, easy free parking 

· Earning $200K+ one working owner 

· Great team of staff 

· Open 7 days per week 


Therese Bailey 021 707 641 

therese.bailey@linkbusiness.co.nz 

Property Administration $115,000 


· Short & long term rental market 

· Work form home, be your own boss 

· Earn a good income 

· Great customer base 

· Do you have strong people and admin skills? 


Andrew Whyte 022 097 0065 

andrew.whyte@linkbusiness.co.nz 

Electrical Contractor $650,000 


· Excellent reputation 

· Residential and light commercial market 

· Specialists in renewable energy 

· Impressive sales and prots 

· Turnkey operation 


Reuben Haddon-Silby 021 133 0624 


reuben.haddonsilby@linkbusiness.co.nz 

Laundromat Service $350,000 

Your 


business sales 

specialists 

Hamilton 

· Consistent prot for 18yrs 

· Fantastic location, good parking 

· Operating 5 days per week 

· Great assets: 14 laundromat machines, 10 

commerical machines, two vehicles 




Reuben Haddon-Silby 

Proven Protability Record $480,000 

Hamilton 

· Consistent performance record 

· Multiple revenue streams 

· Low stock requirements 

· Continued growth opportunities 

· Full training and vendor support on offer 


Atul Gupta 021 190 6052 

atul.gupta@linkbusiness.co.nz 

Fantastic Business & Land $1,650,000 

Pirongia 

· Performing well at steady pre-covid levels 

· Multi-income, working owner earns $300K+ 

· Afuent area attracts a strong local trade with 

golf, moutain biking and tramping. 

· Family friendly accommodation, bar & eatery 

· Land 4047sqm 

linkbusiness.co.nz/BPW00692 



Alanah Eagle Rick Johnson Andrew Whyte Therese Bailey Atul Gupta 

All LINK NZ ofces are licensed REAA08

(From L-R) X-Site Group’s Hamish Lamb and Donna Allen with Property Developer Douglas Kemsley 

Event management group X-Site recently 

moved into new premises at 5 Sharpe Road, 

Rukuhia. The brand-new warehouse and 

office space was built and then custom-fitted 

by Foster Construction. 

Developer Douglas Kemsley’s objective was 

to construct a quality building that would 

attract a single tenant. 

“I took people’s advice to choose a builder 

first and get them to work with the designer, 

rather than go to tender with a design” says 

Douglas. 

“That turned out to be good advice. I chose 

Foster Construction based on their good 

reputation and the whole process was made 

easy. They worked in with the designer to 

keep costs down, they also managed all the 

contractors and took every challenge head 

on.” 

When X-Site owner Hamish Lamb took 

on the lease, the build was 99 per cent 

complete. 

“We needed a considerable fitout completed 

before we moved in” explains Hamish. 

“Being a fairly visual person, I designed the 

layout. The Foster team took those ideas and 

created exactly what we required.” 

The original design was for a warehouse 

with an attached office. When X-site came in, 

they required a clear span space within the 

warehouse, plus an additional locker room, 

operations office and a specialised clean 

room for crockery and cutlery. A mezzanine 

floor was added for extra storage too. The 

property design was changed too, with a ring 

fence added and the entire yard asphalted. 

“Foster’s accommodated every change we 

asked for, they were so easy to deal with and 

quick to respond to any questions - nothing 

was too much trouble. We’re really pleased 

with the outcome.” 

Douglas agrees, “I’m really happy I went with 

Foster Construction” he concludes. “They did 

a great job and I would happily work with 

Fosters again, no question.” 

FOSTERS.CO.NZ . 07 849 3849

Waikato Business News October/November 2020

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