Waikato Business News April/May 2021

34 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS April/May 2021
VIBRANT CAMBRIDGE
Rocketspark’s Launch draws a crowd
AWARD WINNERS
Tonia Hill-Greenhouse Creative.
Partner of the Year Winner
Website of the Year:
Razor Sharp Knives by LW Creative
Best Branding Package:
Riverside Escapes by Magic Fingers Graphics
Best Client Impact:
Magic Fingers Graphics
Community Good Award:
Quick Brown Fox
Fastest Growing Partner:
Kaz Design. Brand. Web.
Best Ecommerce Website:
Honest Kitchen by Repeatable Design
New Partner of the Year:
Frank Communication
Partner of the Year - Grand Award:
Greenhouse Creative
Cambridge-based website builder
Rocketspark drew a crowd of over 100
people from all around New Zealand for
its annual awards dinner.
Rocketspark has a network
of design partners
who create websites for
people all around the globe.
To give back, Rocketspark’s
CEO Grant Johnson,
after speaking on the company's
2021 vision which aimed
to make the world a better
place, announced they would
be giving each Design Partner
a free not-for-profit website -
for life - voucher.
The partners would be able
to choose who they designed
and gave the website to.
“With over 750 registered
partners, we expect this to
have a big impact. If only
500 of those partners use
this voucher, that would be
$650,000 worth of value each
year. We can’t wait to see what
kind of impact that can have
on the world,” Johnson said.
Rocketspark’s design conference,
Launch, held for
the first time in 2018, spans
two ac-tion packed days
of inspiration.
One of the biggest highlights
of the event is the
Rocketspark Partner Awards,
which saw eight designers
recognised for their work in
different areas.
Partner of the Year
went to Tonia Hill of
Greenhouse Creative.
Head of partnerships Jason
Tiller presented the award
saying Greenhouse Creative
was a standout because of
their incredible efforts over
the year.
“What I love about Tonia,
is that the way she works represents
what we stand for in
the wider world. Her level of
business and design excellence
is fantastic and I couldn’t be
prouder to call her one of our
partners,” Tiller said.
Hill said she was incredibly
humbled by the award.
“Thank you so much, it
means a lot to me. In the same
way I’m invested in seeing
my clients succeed, I feel that
Rocketspark is invested in seeing
me succeed,” she said.
For more information about
Rocketspark and Launch, see
launch.rocketspark.com.
Airport sees record
passenger numbers
Mark Morgan at Hamilton Airport as a new
Origin Air service begins to Palmerston North.
Hamilton Airport is
racking up records as
it rebounds from the
onslaught of Covid-19, though
chief executive Mark Morgan
says they remain cautious
about the future.
In March, the airport had
a record 38,000 passengers,
the most it has ever seen for
a month including when there
were flights to Auckland
and Australia. The previous
record of about 37,000 was in
November 2019.
While Air New Zealand’s
domestic market has
rebounded to the same level
as pre-Covid, Waikato has
exceeded that, at about 120
percent of pre-Covid volumes.
Capacity has also
increased, with Christchurch
up 24 percent and Wellington
14 percent as the airport hosts
more flights than ever before.
“Wellington and Christchurch
are very good routes
for Air New Zealand out of
Hamilton, because of a good
blend of corporate business
and leisure travel,” Morgan
says.
He says his sense is the
previous 55:45 mix in favour
of business travel is likely
to have been reversed post-
Covid, though no survey has
yet been undertaken.
In May, Originair’s Palmerston
North route was
boosted by the addition of
morning and evening flights
meaning business travellers
can fly out and back on the
same day. Regular flights
are also departing for Nelson,
leaving on Friday and returning
on Sunday for travellers
wanting a weekend getaway.
All in all, confidence
levels are high.
Hamilton has been
quite unique in that
we’ve benefited
strongly from
national lockdowns,
border restrictions
and Auckland’s
periodic lockdowns.
“All in all, confidence
levels are high. Hamilton
has been quite unique in that
we’ve benefited strongly
from national lockdowns,
border restrictions and Auckland’s
periodic lockdowns,”
Morgan says.
He gives the example of
Waikato people planning a
holiday in Queenstown who
may decide to fly out of Hamilton,
rather than risk Auckland
being in lockdown.
Passenger volumes are up
so much that an overflow car
park has been built, and the
long-term intention is to shift
the car rental companies into
a separate area on the left as
people leave the airport. That
would free up about 100 further
public car parks.
Nevertheless, the leadership
team is taking a cautious
approach to its forecasting
and is budgeting only for a
near recovery to pre-Covid
levels for the period from
July 1 this year to next June
30. The airport delivered a
profit in June 2020 and is on
track for a record profit in
June 2021.
Morgan says cash flow
was strong right through
Covid because of their existing
diversification strategy,
including property development
in Titanium Park, ownership
of the Jet Park Hotel,
and ownership of the farm
north of the runway.
Jet Park, with about 60
rooms, is operating as an
MIQ facility and is likely
to remain so until at least
April next year. Debt levels
declined during Covid
following successful land
sales. Stage four of the Central
Precinct is sold out, and
development is due to start in
spring on stage five, with two
lots already pre-sold. Morgan
expects they will begin issuing
titles in about 12 months.
Morgan says they are
working closely with Waka
Kotahi NZTA and Waipā
District Council on the farm,
with a private plan change
to rezone the area industrial-commercial.
He hopes
they will be lodging a consent
application towards the
end of the year.
“There is still demand for
larger blocks, and there’s a
shortage of industrial land
in the region. And we are
more affordable than north Te
Rapa.”
That area is, he says, a 15
to 20 year project with major
infrastructure work required.