Waikato Business News May/June 2021

16 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS May/June 2021
Jean McKenzie says adults
are increasingly realising the
importance of education.
Tutoring business
sees stellar growth
A Te Awamutu tutoring business is seeing huge growth because
of Covid, with an increasing number of adult students looking to
their future.
While much of the
Covid recovery talk
has been around
industries such as construction
and primary production,
Impact Tutoring founder Jean
McKenzie says in the calendar
year to January 2021
her business has more than
doubled in size, with a significant
boost from an online
offering.
Adult students in some
cases have been made redundant,
but also include those
still in work and seeking to
broaden their options.
“A lot of adults are realising
how important education
is - that education is king,
basically,” McKenzie says.
“So they are wanting
to protect themselves by
gaining more knowledge
and more qualifications.
“The interesting thing
I find is it doesn't matter
whether they're in Taupō,
it doesn't matter whether
they're in Canterbury, it
doesn't matter whether
they're in Dunedin, the conversations
are still the same.”
Often the adult learners
need to refresh their memory
in things like how to write an
essay.
“For example, a month or
so ago, I had a guy call us
from the outskirts of Canterbury.
He lives in a rural
area. He's doing online university
work, but he had a
compulsory maths paper that
for him was really difficult
to manage.
“So he contacted us and I
was able to put him in touch
with my tutor in Kerikeri.”
Impact Tutoring now has
five online tutors as well as
those teaching face to face in
its Te Awamutu hub, four of
whom also tutor online.
Covid has also shown
many parents the advantages
of online learning.
“The kids themselves
have always been comfortable
with technology.
And parents were forced
to step aside, because that
was the only way forward.
And so what they've found is
that it's actually a really good
way to learn, that online
learning is actually accessible,
and a way around lots of
obstacles that were in place
before.”
In some cases students in
Te Awamutu are choosing
to do their learning online
because of the convenience.
The change, accelerated
by Covid, has also
seen the business growth
model change, with a shift
from setting up branches
KNOWLEDGE CAN
BE TAUGHT, BUT
VALUES CAN’T BE
SO THAT’S WHAT
I’M ALWAYS ON THE
LOOKOUT FOR.
outside Te Awamutu to
recruiting “outstanding”
online tutors.
McKenzie has a range of
tutors, from university students
to qualified teachers
and says the key when she is
employing is the applicant’s
values.
“Knowledge can be
taught, but values can’t be so
that's what I'm always on the
lookout for.”
Impact Tutoring is also
developing online modules
for families that may struggle
to pay the cost of the face-toface
learning.
“Education just opens
doors for people. That's our
focus all the time.”
• Impact Tutoring was
a finalist in the Innovation
and Adaptation
category of the
Waipā Networks Business
Awards.
Climate-related disclosures,
are you ready to report?
Late last year the Government
announced
its intent to make climate-related
financial disclosures
mandatory for all
publicly listed companies
and large financial services
organisations.
PEOPLE AND CULTURE
> BY VICTORIA ASHPLANT
Victoria Ashplant is a PwC Director based in the Waikato office
Email: victoria.j.ashplant@pwc.com
This includes large insurers,
banks, non-bank deposit
takers and investment managers.
According to the Ministry
for the Environment the
purpose of mandatory climate-related
disclosures is to:
• ensure that the effects of
climate change are routinely
considered in business,
investment, lending
and insurance underwriting
decisions;
• help climate reporting
entities better demonstrate
responsibility and foresight
in their consideration
of climate issues; and
• lead to more efficient allocation
of capital, and help
smooth the transition to
a more sustainable, low
emissions economy.
What will be required?
The Bill is currently before
Parliament but impacted
organisations could be
required to make disclosures
as early as 2023.
The External Reporting
Board (XRB) is responsible
for developing the reporting
standards which are
expected to closely align with
the recommendations from
the Task Force on Climate-related
Financial Disclosures
(TCFD).
In order to meet the disclosure
requirements being
proposed, businesses will
have to demonstrate how they
embed environmental and
social practices through their
strategies and risk frameworks
into the core of board
level decision making.
These disclosure requirements
are likely to change
the way companies evaluate
business decisions, including
the way they gather information
and present business
cases or investment returns.
What can be done now?
Even as the proposed disclosure
requirements are developed,
there is still an obligation
for businesses to think
about this now.
Organisations must still
meet requirements under
existing NZ IFRS standards
(such as the impact of
environmental risk on your
impairment testing under NZ
IAS 36, provisions NZ IAS
37, such as cost of remediating
environmental damage
and if your business model
presents risk of being unsustainable,
going concern).
What will the proposed
changes mean?
When they come into force,
these reporting requirements
will drive greater transparency
around climate change
related risks and opportunities,
helping markets to more
accurately value climate
risk, and supporting New
Zealand’s transition to a low
emissions future.
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Procuta Associates
Urban + Architecture
Contact us 07 839 6521
www.pauaarchitects.co.nz