Waikato Business News December Recap 2021
Waikato Business News has for a quarter of a century been the voice of the region’s business community, a business community with a very real commitment to innovation and an ethos of co-operation.
Waikato Business News has for a quarter of a century been the voice of the region’s business community, a business community with a very real commitment to innovation and an ethos of co-operation.
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RECAP<br />
<strong>2021</strong><br />
A wrap up of the year's stories in<br />
the <strong>Waikato</strong> business community.
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2 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP <strong>December</strong> <strong>2021</strong>
oard.”<br />
FROM THE EDITOR<br />
PUBLISHER<br />
Deidre Morris<br />
Ph: (07) 838 1333<br />
Mob: 027 228 8442<br />
Email: deidre@dpmedia.co.nz<br />
Like many businesses across the country, it’s been a<br />
tumultuous year for the <strong>Waikato</strong> <strong>Business</strong> <strong>News</strong>.<br />
We farewelled our editor Richard Walker after three<br />
years at the helm and his departure in July was a huge<br />
loss to the publication.<br />
His steady writing hand has helped provide a strength<br />
of stories that celebrated the successes of the <strong>Waikato</strong>.<br />
Most of what we look back on in this recap issue are<br />
stories of Richard’s telling.<br />
The business news hasn’t been immune to the impacts<br />
of Covid, and our sales team of<br />
Deidre Morris (owner), Joanne<br />
Poole and Penny McNicol have<br />
worked hard to maintain longstanding<br />
relationships and build new ones.<br />
Every month, production manager<br />
Olivia McGovern weaves together<br />
the articles and adverts, and creates a<br />
stunning magazine that we are all very<br />
proud of.<br />
While the stories we tell are the strength<br />
of the <strong>Waikato</strong> <strong>Business</strong> <strong>News</strong>, our<br />
advertisers provide the backbone to our<br />
monthly publication.<br />
JANUARY/FEBRUARY VOLUME 29: ISSUE 1 <strong>2021</strong> WWW.WBN.CO.NZ FACEBOOK.COM/WAIKATOBUSINESSNEWS<br />
Labour in<br />
charge<br />
By RICHARD WALKER<br />
T<br />
This electoral term<br />
marks the first time since<br />
2005 that a Labour<br />
Government has held<br />
both Hamilton seats.<br />
What can <strong>Waikato</strong><br />
business people<br />
expect? At the start of<br />
a new term and a new<br />
year, Hamilton East<br />
MP Jamie Strange<br />
and Hamilton West’s<br />
Gaurav Sharma<br />
talk to <strong>Waikato</strong><br />
<strong>Business</strong> <strong>News</strong>.<br />
he train link to Auckland<br />
is top of mind for Hamilton’s<br />
two Labour MPs,<br />
with a crucial report due this<br />
term into the viability of fast<br />
rail. The result of the Ministry<br />
of Transport detailed business<br />
case study is due in 18 months,<br />
and an initial business case<br />
study is also being conducted<br />
into rapid rail from Hamilton<br />
to Tauranga, says Hamilton<br />
East MP Jamie Strange.<br />
Meanwhile, both Strange<br />
and newly elected Hamilton<br />
West MP Gaurav Sharma are<br />
touting the value of the delayed<br />
Te Huia rail service once it is<br />
running.<br />
“Getting that train to Auckland<br />
is one of the biggest<br />
things on ou radar. It's a promise<br />
that we’ve made in the past,<br />
and we're hoping to deliver on<br />
it soon,” Sharma says.<br />
Strange says the key is productivity.<br />
“Being able to get<br />
on the train, open the laptop,<br />
We can’t thank you enough for your continued support<br />
and can’t wait to catch up with you all in the new<br />
year.<br />
The various Hamilton businesses who write monthly<br />
columns provide a viewpoint to the business news<br />
from their world of business, as well as sharing some<br />
of their wisdom for our readers. Whether it be legal,<br />
recruitment, PR, IT, architectural and more, we thank<br />
you for your contributions.<br />
work a l the way up, work all<br />
the way back, there’s a cafe on<br />
But the game changer<br />
would be a rapid link, one<br />
which Strange says would<br />
effectively unite the cities’<br />
labour markets.<br />
“For some, it might sound<br />
like a pipe dream, but I<br />
wouldn't necessarily put it in<br />
that category,” Strange says.<br />
He sees potential for a<br />
public-private partnership,<br />
with the government partnering<br />
with iwi and business,<br />
and points to the possibilities<br />
around ACC, Super Fund and<br />
Kiwisaver as investment funds<br />
tota ling $120 billion. “A lot of<br />
them invest in overseas infrastructure,<br />
so it's encouraging to<br />
see ongoing discussions with<br />
the managers of those funds<br />
to see what their appetite is for<br />
investment in New Zealand.”<br />
Such a link would be a<br />
multi billion do lar investment,<br />
Jamie Strange and Gaurav Sharma,<br />
MPs for Hamilton East and Hamilton West.<br />
with tilt trains potentia ly travelling<br />
th existing gauge track<br />
at 160 km/h, but a train on<br />
wider gauge track able to clock<br />
250 km/hr.<br />
The “gold plated” version<br />
would involve building new<br />
tracks, which for the Auckland<br />
section could utilise th existing<br />
rail co ridor.<br />
“I always say the problem<br />
in New Zealand has<br />
always been that short-sightedness,”<br />
Sharma says. “If we<br />
had invested $2 billion in the<br />
1960s, we wouldn't be putting<br />
in $30 million for an upgrade<br />
now. The problem is, every<br />
time the government looks at<br />
it, and it says, ‘We l, it's a $10<br />
billion investmen that we don't<br />
want to do now’, it just means<br />
that in 2040, we'll sti l be having<br />
the same conversation, in<br />
2080, we' l sti l be having the<br />
same conversation.<br />
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER VOLUME 29: ISSUE 11 <strong>2021</strong> WWW.WBN.CO.NZ FACEBOOK.COM/WAIKATOBUSINESSNEWS<br />
Holi Boli<br />
meets Covid<br />
challenges<br />
with style<br />
Challenges of the global pandemic, a three-month<br />
lockdown in India and repatriation to New Zealand<br />
has resulted in opportunities for Hamilton-based<br />
entrepreneur Ana Wilkinson-Gee.<br />
Continued on page 2<br />
Continued on page 10<br />
One of the North<br />
Island’s most opulent<br />
properties, owned<br />
by a prominent Kiwi<br />
golfer, is up for sale.<br />
SEE PAGE 21<br />
In between there has been a celebration of <strong>Waikato</strong> in<br />
architecture, real estate, building, start-ups, education,<br />
technology, agriculture and more. And despite the<br />
sojourn we enjoyed from lockdowns at the beginning<br />
of the year, Covid continued to feature strongly in our<br />
stories with businesses and organisations adapting<br />
to the new landscape and many <strong>Waikato</strong> businesses<br />
developing innovative solutions to the pandemic.<br />
PRODUCTION MANAGER<br />
Olivia McGovern<br />
Ph: (07) 838 1333<br />
Email: olivia@dpmedia.co.nz<br />
ADVERTISING INQUIRIES<br />
Please contact:<br />
ADVERTISING ACCOUNT<br />
MANAGERS<br />
Joanne Poole<br />
Ph: (07) 838 1333<br />
Mob: (021) 507 991<br />
Email: joanne@dpmedia.co.nz<br />
Penny McNicol<br />
Ph: (07) 838 1333<br />
Mob: (021) 090 52601<br />
Email: penny@dpmedia.co.nz<br />
ELECTRONIC FORWARDING<br />
EDITORIAL:<br />
<strong>News</strong> releases/Photos/Letters:<br />
editor@dpmedia.co.nz<br />
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Copy/Proofs:<br />
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As we look back over the year, which started so promisingly<br />
after Covid had messed with our 2020 summer,<br />
there was much to celebrate in the <strong>Waikato</strong>.<br />
We started the year talking to Hamilton’s Labour MPs<br />
Jamie Strange (Hamilton East) and Gaurav Sharma<br />
(Hamilton West) for our front page story and ended it<br />
with a feel-good story about ethical fashion label<br />
Holi Boli.<br />
Lastly, I should introduce myself - I joined the team in<br />
October and am looking forward to sharing the stories<br />
that make the <strong>Waikato</strong> a thriving hub of business,<br />
innovation and creativity. I am lucky to call Raglan/<br />
Whaingaroa home and have lived in the <strong>Waikato</strong> for<br />
over 20 years. To share your feedback, thoughts and<br />
stories contact editor@dpmedia.co.nz.<br />
Janine Jackson<br />
131 Victoria Street, Hamilton<br />
Ph: (07) 838 1333 | Fax: (07) 838 2807<br />
www.wbn.co.nz<br />
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WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP <strong>December</strong> <strong>2021</strong><br />
3
MUROKI<br />
BALLET NOIR<br />
HAMILTON GARDENS<br />
ARTS FESTIVAL<br />
TEEKS<br />
hit the Hamilton Gardens Arts Festival 2022.<br />
THE STORY THEN<br />
The Hamilton Gardens Arts Festival faced<br />
an uncertain future after the sudden loss of<br />
$150,000 from multiple funding sources.<br />
A crowdfunding campaign was launched in<br />
October to help it bounce back from Covid-19<br />
related setbacks.<br />
Festival director Geoff Turkington said planning<br />
for the festival, was well underway when they<br />
found out about the drop in funding.<br />
A last minute boost to the tune of $100,000<br />
by WEL Energy Trust, Brian Perry Foundation,<br />
Grassroots Foundation and Hamilton City<br />
Council helped bring the festival back from the<br />
brink but a shortfall of $20,000 was needed to<br />
keep the 2022 festival on track.<br />
As a charitable trust, the festival, <strong>Waikato</strong>'s<br />
premiere arts event for over 20 years, relies on<br />
the support of local businesses and funders<br />
each year.<br />
Turkington was quick to point out the benefits<br />
of the festival to not only boost people’s spirits,<br />
especially in times of continual Covid upheavals,<br />
but it also contributes to the Hamilton<br />
economy.<br />
“Research undertaken by the Ministry of Culture<br />
and Heritage in 2019 identified that the arts<br />
and creative sector contributes $10.8 billion<br />
to New Zealand’s GDP and creates over 92,00<br />
jobs<br />
“It’s a huge industry, but also you can’t put a<br />
price on the wellness of the community.”<br />
REB FOUNTAIN<br />
THE STORY NOW<br />
The show will go on thanks to the success of<br />
the crowdfunding which raised over $25,000 in<br />
four weeks from nearly 250 donors.<br />
Turkington says the team is thrilled to have such<br />
phenomenal support from people who recognise<br />
the value of the festival.<br />
“The money is definitely important but I think<br />
at that stage in a very, very long year for myself<br />
and the team, the messages and encouragement<br />
from all the 247 donors meant a lot to<br />
us and that really give us the strength to keep<br />
going.”<br />
While the rest of us might be getting ready to<br />
go on holiday, there’s still a lot of hard work for<br />
the HGAF team; from artist’s contracts, collating<br />
technical information and learning how to<br />
navigate the Covid traffic lights will keep them<br />
busy.<br />
Being a larger event they will be operating<br />
under the vaccine pass system and that means<br />
they can go ahead at full capacity in green or<br />
orange.<br />
“When you are dealing with the sheer number<br />
of staff, volunteers, audience and performers<br />
safety is paramount so we will be doing full<br />
contact tracing,” Turkington says.<br />
The line-up<br />
TEEKS, Ballet Noir, Haus of YOLO, Reb Fountain,<br />
Muroki, Soundtracks from Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction<br />
and Reservoir Dogs, Sunset Symphony are<br />
some of the biggest and boldest shows to ever<br />
Featuring everything from classical music to<br />
drag, ballet to theatre, comedy to children’s<br />
shows, the 2022 festival programme is positively<br />
brimming with world class arts experiences.<br />
The musical programme showcases a diverse<br />
mix of musical stylings including flamenco, soul,<br />
folk, percussion and classical.<br />
Experience Northland soul sensation TEEKS’ life<br />
affirming live show with support from rising<br />
Raglan star Muroki.<br />
Also, on the Rhododendron Lawn - the spellbinding<br />
Reb Fountain will premiere her highly<br />
anticipated new album Iris alongside fan favourites<br />
from her Taite Prize-winning self-titled<br />
album, and The Auckland Jazz Orchestra team<br />
up with the fabulous Caitlin Smith for a night of<br />
big band jazz!<br />
A star studded band of Kiwi music icons will<br />
rock’n roll through the soundtracks from<br />
Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs.<br />
Performed live in concert - starring Tami Neilson,<br />
Laughton Kora, Milan Borich and Booga<br />
Beazley, backed by the phenomenal Big Band<br />
Royale.<br />
Haus of YOLO is a party of a show, jam-packed<br />
with extraordinary circus skills and sewing<br />
chaos. Truly a feast for the senses, this multidisciplinary<br />
show from The Dust Palace (PULP, Top<br />
of the Heap) explores the modern middle class<br />
slavery of fast fashion.<br />
Theatre lovers are spoiled for choice with five<br />
solo theatrical works exploring a diverse range<br />
of topics including conservation, the joys of<br />
reading, satire, and Aotearoa history.<br />
Lovers of poetry and music can join some of<br />
the country’s best and brightest songwriters,<br />
including Anna Coddington, Lawrence Arabia<br />
and Julia Deans as they perform original music<br />
inspired by the poems of iconic writer Katherine<br />
Mansfield.<br />
Mansfield in Her Own Words: Unplugged is an<br />
intimate coupling of poetry and music taking<br />
place in the charming Mansfield Garden.<br />
There’ll also be world-class homegrown ballet!<br />
Contemporary but elegant, Ballet Noir is ballet<br />
seen through the stylish, cryptic lens of film<br />
noir.<br />
Head to hgaf.co.nz to check out the full Hamilton<br />
Gardens Arts Festival 2022 programme. Early<br />
bird discounts are available on most ticketed<br />
events until Christmas eve.<br />
The Hamilton Gardens Arts Festival is made<br />
possible by our generous funders: Hamilton<br />
City Council, WEL Energy Trust, Grassroots<br />
Festival Trust, Trust <strong>Waikato</strong>, Perry Foundation,<br />
Hamilton Gardens, King St Advertising, ACLX,<br />
University of <strong>Waikato</strong>, Harkness Henry, Ministry<br />
Culture & Heritage, Longveld, Norah Howell<br />
Charitable Trust, CBD Association, <strong>Waikato</strong><br />
Times, The Hits, Go Media, Cleland Hancox and<br />
Friends of Hamilton Gardens.<br />
HAUS OF YOLO<br />
4 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP <strong>December</strong> <strong>2021</strong>
Product development leads<br />
to scheduling calendar<br />
USER INTERFACE: Company-X senior software architect Luke McGregor, left,<br />
discusses user interfaces with professional services manager Michael Hamid.<br />
Magnetize job management app users got what<br />
they needed, rather than what they wanted.<br />
When users of the<br />
Magnetize job management<br />
app asked<br />
for a scheduling calendar<br />
showing a month’s jobs at a<br />
glance developer Company-X<br />
didn’t stop there.<br />
Company-X senior software<br />
architect Luke McGregor<br />
questioned users of Magnetize’s<br />
job management app<br />
why they wanted a month view<br />
and what they got from it.<br />
“The big problem with a<br />
month view is information<br />
density,” McGregor said. “If<br />
you have all your jobs showing<br />
it’s too high and you can’t<br />
see what’s going on. You<br />
can’t see the forest for the<br />
trees. There are a million<br />
things on the screen. That’s<br />
what I pushed back on, and<br />
it pushed us back towards a<br />
better solution.”<br />
When McGregor and the<br />
software development team<br />
dug deeper with users they<br />
discovered they wanted both<br />
high-level visibility of scheduling<br />
capacity of equipment<br />
and people and to drill down<br />
into specific jobs.<br />
Company-X build a<br />
It solves their pain<br />
point. We’re having<br />
quite a few eureka<br />
moments. It’s<br />
satisfying. It’s all<br />
credit to the company<br />
and its culture.<br />
scheduling calendar that<br />
gives a month view, to give<br />
users the high-level visibility<br />
of resource allocation they<br />
requested, but also drill down<br />
into the schedule with views<br />
for two weeks, one week and<br />
three days. User experience<br />
and user interface designer<br />
Briana Christey said the<br />
development of the resource<br />
calculator was “a good example<br />
of why Company-X is so<br />
good at what they do”.<br />
“We’re excited because<br />
it’s a really good example<br />
of how we dove deep to get<br />
to the core of what users<br />
need,” Christey said.<br />
“It’s a good example of<br />
thinking back to why this is<br />
important, rather than ‘we<br />
know we want to look at this<br />
at a month level’,” McGregor<br />
said.<br />
“The questions we are<br />
answering at a month level<br />
are not the same questions we<br />
are answering at a week level.<br />
What’s hard to do in software<br />
is to take those steps back,<br />
but I think they are important<br />
steps to take.”<br />
Magnetize chief executive<br />
Paul Lyons described the<br />
Company-X approach as a<br />
marvellous solution.<br />
“It solves their pain point.<br />
We’re having quite a few<br />
eureka moments. It’s satisfying.<br />
It’s all credit to the company<br />
and its culture,” Lyons<br />
said. “It’s about filling gaps<br />
when you’re running a business.<br />
Where are the gaps?<br />
Where can I put people? It’s a<br />
calendar that tells you what’s<br />
available and you can click in<br />
and go to the action.”<br />
Another challenge was<br />
finding the best way for users<br />
to quickly and easily log their<br />
time on jobs as other options<br />
are cumbersome.<br />
“We needed a fresh<br />
approach,” Christey said.<br />
The Magnetize<br />
scheduling<br />
calendar enables<br />
users to:<br />
• Schedule jobs<br />
• Assign people and<br />
equipment<br />
• Drag and drop to<br />
reschedule jobs<br />
• Click and drag to<br />
extend jobs across<br />
multiple days<br />
• Book out staff on<br />
leave, and equipment<br />
out of action<br />
It gives visibility as to:<br />
• What jobs are<br />
scheduled and when<br />
(including the ability<br />
to filter by teams, or<br />
by job status)<br />
• See who's on leave,<br />
and what equipment<br />
is out of action<br />
• What jobs people<br />
and equipment are<br />
assigned to (in the<br />
"Resource View").<br />
• Workload for the<br />
month ("Month View")<br />
“One evening, as I opened<br />
my iOS alarm clock app to<br />
set my waking time, I realised<br />
there was the inspiration for<br />
our solution: a simple spinner<br />
for workers to set their start<br />
and end time.”<br />
SIMPLE: Magnetize's scheduling calendar makes things simple.<br />
Gamification<br />
Gamification is being<br />
used to motivate<br />
and engage users of<br />
Magnetize’s new business<br />
management app.<br />
Gamification is about<br />
motivating users' behaviour<br />
with game elements, such as<br />
challenges and rewards.<br />
“Building the application<br />
from scratch, we were<br />
presented with an exciting<br />
opportunity to rethink how<br />
the user interface (UI) could<br />
motivate workers to log their<br />
time,” said user experience<br />
and user interface designer<br />
Briana Christey.<br />
“We had a lightbulb<br />
moment - that if we enable<br />
Jase the worker to see<br />
who else has logged time<br />
on a job, we could appeal<br />
to his sense of competition,<br />
and motivate him to<br />
do the same.”<br />
Company-X took an iterative<br />
approach to the project as<br />
it collaborated with Magnetize,<br />
industry subject matter<br />
experts and Magnetize clients<br />
and potential end-users.<br />
“I have been in business<br />
in a variety of roles<br />
and Industries for 35 years.<br />
Partnering with Company-X<br />
and Briana Christy<br />
combined with a relentless<br />
focus on our clients and<br />
potential clients, I can honestly<br />
say this is the first<br />
time that I can say I have<br />
worked on a project that<br />
has been truly driven by<br />
the focus on its clients<br />
and their needs and solutions<br />
to their pain points”<br />
Magnetize chief executive<br />
Paul Lyons said.<br />
Navigate the<br />
digital landscape<br />
with us<br />
WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP <strong>December</strong> <strong>2021</strong><br />
5
AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY<br />
OFF-ROAD ADVENTURE FIRST FOR THE SHIRE<br />
A brand new event that plans to highlight and<br />
promote the unique and bucolic landscapes of the<br />
Matamata-Piako District has arrived unexpectantly<br />
in the Shire.<br />
The inaugural Middle-earth Halfling Marathon<br />
will offer an immersive and unique themed<br />
event for runners and walkers of all levels<br />
through Hobbiton Movie Set and the surrounding<br />
picturesque rolling green hills of the<br />
<strong>Waikato</strong> farmland.<br />
The event is the first of it’s kind for Hobbiton<br />
Movie Set, who are best known for their tours<br />
of the 12-acre movie set location as seen in The<br />
Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit Trilogies, but<br />
has been in the works for some time.<br />
“It’s been about five years since the concept<br />
was originally discussed,” Hobbiton movie set<br />
deputy CEO Shayne Forrest says. “It’s something<br />
we have wanted to do for a long time but the<br />
moment never felt quite right. We’re excited<br />
to launch the Middle-earth Halfling Marathon<br />
today, as a way for people to get out and do<br />
something new, explore some beautiful and<br />
never-before-traversed landscapes, and focus<br />
on their health and fitness at the same time.<br />
It will be an event that blends together the<br />
world of off-road running with the world of<br />
Middle-earth – something we’re sure must be<br />
pretty unique as far as running events go!”<br />
The Middle-earth Halfling Marathon is a joint<br />
venture between Hobbiton Movie Set and The<br />
Events Agency, an Auckland-based event and<br />
expo support agency with over 20 years of<br />
event expertise and experience, managed by<br />
Matt Reilly. The event has been made possible<br />
with the support of the Thermal Explorer Regional<br />
Events Fund after being presented to the<br />
Event Investment Panel earlier this year.<br />
“The Event Investment Panel are thrilled to<br />
support the development of this exciting new<br />
event,” Thermal Explorer Regional Events Fund<br />
lead entity and panel representative Nicola<br />
Greenwell says. “The Halfling is such a unique<br />
sporting event that we have no doubt it will<br />
attract a large number of runners and walkers,<br />
and their supporters, to the <strong>Waikato</strong> from all<br />
around the country, bringing significant economic<br />
benefit to the district and wider region.”<br />
The inaugural Middle-earth Halfling Marathon<br />
event is to be held on Saturday 2 April, 2022 and<br />
will feature two distances, the Halfling Marathon<br />
21.1km, and the Eleventyfirst 11.1km. Both<br />
courses will begin at the starting line at Buckland<br />
Landing, just across from The Shire’s Rest where<br />
Hobbiton Movie Set’s home base is, with<br />
breathtaking views across the valley and the<br />
mighty Kaimai ranges towering in the distance.<br />
With staggered start times, the Halfling Marathon<br />
and the Eleventy-first will journey through<br />
the farmland, twist and turn around the track<br />
on their own adventures before arriving into<br />
Hobbiton and following the meandering pathways<br />
of the village. Each distance will get to visit<br />
areas on the Alexander Farm that were used for<br />
filming but not otherwise accessible on tours,<br />
including the original Gandalf’s Cutting as seen<br />
in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the<br />
Ring. After a dash through The Green Dragon<br />
Inn, where the thirstiest of halflings can stop for<br />
a quick tipple to quench their thirst, runners will<br />
continue on to the finish line where their fellowship<br />
of supporters will be waiting.<br />
The Halfling Event Village will be set up at<br />
The Shire’s Rest ready for refreshments, food,<br />
entertainment and prizegiving as all finishers<br />
will receive a specially designed medal with<br />
prizes for both event distances.<br />
Entries before 31 January go into the draw to<br />
win a <strong>Waikato</strong> weekend in partnership with<br />
Hamilton & <strong>Waikato</strong> Tourism. The prize pack will<br />
include two nights accommodation and a range<br />
of activities for two, plus the value of their event<br />
registration.<br />
Entries are open now at<br />
www.halflingmarathon.com<br />
BEWARE OF FOREIGN IMITATIONS.<br />
There’s no shortage of great ideas in New Zealand.<br />
But for an innovative bunch, we’re not the best at<br />
realising the full potential of our innovations, particularly<br />
when exporting them.<br />
At James & Wells, we can identify your competitive<br />
edge, offer business strategies for specific markets and<br />
help you own and leverage your intellectual property to<br />
ensure no one steals the fruit of your labour.<br />
www.jaws.co.nz | +64 7 957 5660<br />
6 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP <strong>December</strong> <strong>2021</strong>
A YEAR IN<br />
REVIEW<br />
FOR LABOUR MPS<br />
THE STORY THEN<br />
Our very first front page story for <strong>2021</strong> featured<br />
Labour MPs Jamie Strange (Hamilton<br />
East) and Gaurav Sharma (Hamilton West).<br />
This electoral term marked the first time<br />
since 2005 that a Labour Government has<br />
held both Hamilton seats. We asked the pair<br />
what can <strong>Waikato</strong> business people expect?<br />
The train link to Auckland was top of mind,<br />
but they also talked about goals to invest in<br />
transport, housing, and health.<br />
THE STORY NOW<br />
It’s been a big year – and a challenging one<br />
for many. Across <strong>2021</strong>, the Government has<br />
focused on protecting lives and livelihoods<br />
as the pandemic has evolved, while also<br />
making progress on some of the long-term<br />
issues facing New Zealand. We’ve been<br />
working hard to ensure that the everyday<br />
concerns of Hamiltonians are part of the<br />
conversation.<br />
In January, we spoke with the <strong>Waikato</strong> <strong>Business</strong><br />
<strong>News</strong> about our goals to deliver a more<br />
liveable Hamilton – by investing in transport,<br />
housing, and health. Since then, progress<br />
has been made across each of these areas.<br />
There’s more work to do, but it’s great to see<br />
initiatives underway to keep our beautiful<br />
city a wonderful place to live.<br />
At the start of the year, getting the new<br />
commuter rail service to Auckland up and<br />
running was one of the biggest things on<br />
our radar. So, we were really stoked when<br />
Te Huia – which has the potential to replace<br />
up to 73,000 return car trips each year –<br />
launched in March, with further changes to<br />
the service announced recently.<br />
We’ve also made progress in housing. New<br />
Zealand’s housing crisis has been decades<br />
in the making, and it will take time to turn<br />
around – but our Government has taken<br />
steps this year to ease pressures in our market<br />
and tilt the balance in favour of whānau<br />
and first home buyers. We’ve extended<br />
the bright-line test and we are phasing<br />
out a long-standing loophole that benefits<br />
property speculators over first home buyers.<br />
We’re funding infrastructure like pipes and<br />
roads to get housing developments built<br />
faster through our Housing Acceleration<br />
Fund, and we’re cutting red tape so more<br />
homes can be built, faster.<br />
We’re also building a record number of public<br />
and transitional houses. Hamilton is set to<br />
get up to 640 new public homes and up to<br />
320 transitional housing places, which will<br />
ensure more people have a safe, dry place<br />
to call home, and will also create local jobs.<br />
Youth mental health support in the region<br />
PICTURED: LABOUR LAUNCHES TE HUIA TRAIN - JAMIE STRANGE (MP HAMILTON EAST),<br />
HON NANAIA MAHUTA (WAIKATO-TAINUI), DR GAURAV SHARMA (MP HAMILTON WEST),<br />
PRIME MINISTER JACINDA ARDERN AND HON MICHAEL WOOD.<br />
has received a boost, and the health reforms<br />
the Government has kicked off will enable<br />
more Hamiltonians to access the care they<br />
need, when and where they need it. Te<br />
Whare Whakapiki Wairua, a new alcohol and<br />
drug treatment court, has opened in the<br />
city, and is providing wraparound services to<br />
address the reasons for offending.<br />
COVID-19 has made <strong>2021</strong> a difficult year for<br />
many in Hamilton, but the Government has<br />
worked hard to provide wage subsidies and<br />
other business support to protect jobs and<br />
boost our economic resilience. We heard<br />
a lot of positive feedback on the COVID<br />
response at the roundtable with businesses<br />
that the Prime Minister attended recently.<br />
Thank you to everyone who have done their<br />
bit to keep everyone safe. We have worked<br />
closely with organisations in Hamilton to<br />
help with Super Saturday and the ongoing<br />
vaccination efforts.<br />
It’s awesome that <strong>Waikato</strong> DHB has flown<br />
past the 90 percent first dose milestone,<br />
and that our community has transitioned so<br />
seamlessly into the traffic light system. This<br />
new way of managing COVID-19 allows us to<br />
look forward to a summer with fewer disruptions,<br />
and to look ahead to a new year with<br />
greater opportunities.<br />
by Labour MPs Jamie Strange (Hamilton<br />
East) and Gaurav Sharma (Hamilton West)<br />
2022…NEW YEAR…<br />
NEW IDEA? NEW IP?<br />
“There is one thing stronger than all the armies<br />
in the world, and that is an idea whose time has<br />
come.” (Victor Hugo)<br />
It might be a glorious afternoon. The sun<br />
might be shining, and a gentle breeze might<br />
be blowing across the sea as you enjoy a fine<br />
Pinot Gris. Then it hits you…bam! The idea for<br />
the new product you’ve been searching for!<br />
Or perhaps it is morning, and while tucking<br />
into your scrambled eggs and sipping your<br />
steaming Americano it comes to you…wham!<br />
The idea for a new service that will really see<br />
your business take off!<br />
Whatever the circumstances, if you are<br />
inspired over the Christmas and New Year<br />
break to do something new I strongly urge<br />
you on your return from holiday to undertake<br />
some IP due diligence before investing<br />
further time and money in your idea.<br />
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ISSUES<br />
> BY BEN CAIN<br />
Ben Cain is a Senior Associate at James & Wells and a Resolution<br />
Institute-accredited mediator. He can be contacted at 07 957 5660<br />
(Hamilton), 07 928 4470 (Tauranga) and benc@jaws.co.nz.<br />
If your idea is for a new product, then here<br />
are some issues you might need to consider:<br />
• Do you know if your product exists already?<br />
Have you conducted any Internet<br />
searches, for example, to see if it does?<br />
Have you searched the patents, designs<br />
and trade mark databases of the<br />
Intellectual Property Office of New<br />
Zealand to see if the way your product<br />
works, or your product appears, is already<br />
protected?<br />
• If your product does exist already, at<br />
least in general terms, what makes your<br />
product ‘new’? Does it involve a new way<br />
of making or doing something, or does it<br />
just look different to the competition?<br />
• If your product doesn’t exist already, have<br />
you told anyone about it? If you have, did<br />
you get/need them to sign a non-disclosure<br />
agreement before telling them?<br />
If you have involved any third parties in<br />
the development process so far, have you<br />
signed non-disclosure agreements with<br />
them?<br />
• Have you made any drawings for your<br />
new product? If you have, then have<br />
you kept them somewhere safe? It might<br />
be early days, but have you made any<br />
prototypes and shown or tested them in<br />
public as yet?<br />
• Are you planning on making the product<br />
yourself, or sub-contracting manufacture?<br />
If the latter, are you planning to make<br />
your product in New Zealand or overseas<br />
– perhaps in China?<br />
If your idea is for a new service, then issues<br />
you might want to consider are:<br />
• Do you know if anyone else is offering<br />
the same or similar service to your existing<br />
and potential customers?<br />
• If someone is already offering a similar<br />
service, what makes your service different?<br />
Is it underpinned by revolutionary<br />
software, or does it involve a new model<br />
of delivery?<br />
• If your service doesn’t exist already, have<br />
you told anyone about it? Did you get/<br />
need them to sign a non-disclosure<br />
agreement before telling them? If your<br />
new service involves a third party developing<br />
software for you, for example, do<br />
you know who owns the software code?<br />
Whether your idea relates to a product or<br />
a service, another issue you might need to<br />
consider is the name of your new product or<br />
service and the corresponding domain name<br />
(if applicable).<br />
If you have some name options in mind,<br />
have you conducted any domain name or<br />
Internet searches to see if someone else if<br />
using an identical or similar name?<br />
Have you searched the trade marks<br />
database of the Intellectual Property Office<br />
of New Zealand, and perhaps the New<br />
Zealand Companies Register, too, for identical<br />
or similar trade marks and company<br />
names?<br />
If you are thinking you will want to export<br />
your product or service in the future, have<br />
you also searched the trade marks databases<br />
of the overseas countries you might want to<br />
sell into?<br />
As you can see from the questions I’ve<br />
posed, having an idea is just the start of<br />
your IP journey. Do not be deterred, however,<br />
because if your idea is one whose time<br />
has truly come, we at James & Wells will<br />
do everything we can to help you on your<br />
journey.<br />
WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP <strong>December</strong> <strong>2021</strong><br />
7
CONVERSATIONS WITH MIKE NEALE<br />
OF NAI HARCOURTS HAMILTON<br />
How was <strong>2021</strong> ?<br />
– and for 2022 ?<br />
Sharon Zollner, chief economist for<br />
ANZ, earlier in the year suggested<br />
that an economist’s job in 2020 was<br />
to make the weather forecasters look good<br />
– and so they did.<br />
<strong>2021</strong><br />
We saw the continuation of asset price<br />
inflation, driven by low interest rates and<br />
the simple supply and demand equation.<br />
Uncertainty around Covid lockdowns has<br />
remained, which in turn has continued to<br />
apply pressure on businesses, particularly<br />
within the retail, hospitality, events and<br />
tourism sectors.<br />
Industrial land prices went to $500/sqm<br />
and then $600/sqm – with a recent auction<br />
Mike Neale - Managing Director,<br />
NAI Harcourts Hamilton.<br />
of 1,000sqm at 48 Foreman Road, Te Rapa<br />
seeing $780/sqm achieved due to healthy<br />
competition. Industrial vacancy rates hover<br />
around 1% and land remains in short supply,<br />
with Hamilton City Council having an<br />
issue it needs to address promptly. <strong>Waikato</strong><br />
and Waipa District Councils have similar<br />
issues, as business and migration flows<br />
into the <strong>Waikato</strong> continue to see demand<br />
out stripping current supply.<br />
LEARNING<br />
IN THE WORKPLACE<br />
Yields for commercial and industrial<br />
investment properties have increasingly<br />
been below 5%, with lease terms seemingly<br />
irrelevant to industrial investors,<br />
paying almost anything to get their foot in<br />
the door. Quality commercial investments<br />
generally remain in the 5%-6% range for<br />
all but premium offerings, while unit titles<br />
can sometimes provide a value proposition<br />
when it comes to seeking a more<br />
attractive return.<br />
Commercial owner occupiers continue<br />
to seek opportunities, but with vacancy<br />
rates generally between 6%-8%, the options<br />
remain limited. Industrial owner occupiers<br />
increasingly compete for land to develop<br />
for their own purpose-built requirements.<br />
The Covid response has unfortunately<br />
created uncertainty and the government<br />
has done little to assist small and medium<br />
enterprises needing to plan to keep afloat.<br />
Retail, particularly hospitality and eventbased<br />
businesses, have struggled through<br />
continued lockdowns, restrictions and<br />
inconsistent policy decisions. Many I talk<br />
to feel beaten up, that those in the Beehive<br />
are not listening to their predicaments or<br />
understand their situations. Will we see<br />
greater certainty through the traffic light<br />
system (Covid Protection Framework) ? -<br />
one would hope so, but ……<br />
In many ways <strong>2021</strong> was far more disruptive<br />
than 2020 – and one would expect<br />
that supply chain issues will continue, or<br />
possibly deteriorate further, as the rest of<br />
the world opens up and chases economic<br />
growth.<br />
However, there are some key<br />
changes afoot<br />
2022 ?<br />
• Interest rates are starting to rise. This<br />
will impact on development margins,<br />
rental rates tenants pay and put further<br />
pressure on those businesses that are<br />
struggling<br />
• Access to capital will become<br />
more difficult, with quantitative<br />
easing being reduced. These factors<br />
will start to bite, so finance for<br />
48 Foreman Road, Te Rapa<br />
many will become harder to obtain<br />
• We are likely to see a gap open up<br />
between yields for blue chip investments<br />
and the rest. Assets with risk<br />
or uncertainty associated to them will<br />
become harder to finance<br />
• More property is likely to come to<br />
the market, as owner occupiers look<br />
to free up capital and investors consider<br />
disposing of assets where risk or<br />
future capital expenditure is likely to be<br />
required<br />
Cash could become king again. We are<br />
already seeing vendors preferring to deal<br />
with cash and unconditional offers, as<br />
opposed to those that may be at a higher<br />
level, but with the risk of the deal failing to<br />
proceed. Government, corporate and larger<br />
organisations generally appear to be better<br />
placed to withstand the issues that Covid<br />
has brought up. They often have greater<br />
resources, capital reserves or access to capital<br />
and the extensive networks required<br />
when things get tough. Small and medium<br />
sized enterprises (SME’s) however are the<br />
ones likely to suffer most and are less likely<br />
to have the resources to bounce back.<br />
Continued staff shortages are apparent<br />
within every sector. This is being exacerbated<br />
due to non-vaccinated workers leaving<br />
the workforce and the ongoing issue<br />
with immigration for skilled migrants into<br />
New Zealand – just ask licensed immigration<br />
adviser Katy Armstrong of ‘Into<br />
NZ’. This along with housing affordability<br />
and an increasing number of people reassessing<br />
their lives, will see a continued<br />
exodus of people and their families from<br />
Auckland, to the likes of Hamilton and the<br />
<strong>Waikato</strong> in 2022.<br />
All in all, there are going to be continued<br />
issues through 2022, so don’t expect<br />
an easy ride – but there will be opportunities<br />
for those who have positioned themselves<br />
for this.<br />
To everyone, have a good break over<br />
Christmas and New Years, enjoy the time<br />
with your friends and families - it’s been a<br />
turbulent year, so take the time to consider<br />
what decisions you need to make in 2022<br />
and then get on with making them happen.<br />
NAI Harcourts Hamilton<br />
Monarch Commercial Ltd MREINZ Licensed<br />
Agent REAA 2008<br />
Cnr Victoria & London Streets, HAMILTON<br />
07 850 5252 | hamilton@naiharcourts.co.nz<br />
www.naiharcourts.co.nz<br />
PEOPLE AND CULTURE<br />
> BY SENGA ALLEN<br />
Managing Director, Everest – All about people TM<br />
www.everestpeople.co.nz<br />
We have all heard the cliché that ‘the greatest asset a<br />
company has is its employees.’ If that’s the case, then<br />
there is a good argument to look after your employees<br />
by providing them with professional development<br />
opportunities.<br />
The ability to learn and grow not only<br />
benefits the individual, but it can also have<br />
a positive effect on staff morale, customer<br />
satisfaction and the professional standing of<br />
your business.<br />
A formalised training and development<br />
programme is designed to assist employees<br />
to gain knowledge to do their job better by<br />
increasing skills, knowledge and expertise<br />
with the programme aligned to the business<br />
needs currently and in the future.<br />
It may include learning a new skill, increasing<br />
knowledge in an area of expertise or in some<br />
cases meeting regulatory or legal requirements.<br />
So, what are the elements you should consider<br />
when developing a learning plan for your<br />
business, and for individuals?<br />
• What is the intended purpose of the training?<br />
Be clear about the strategic purpose<br />
of the training and how the training will<br />
benefit not only the individual but your<br />
also your business<br />
• What is the best way of delivering the<br />
training? There are many ways to deliver<br />
training and training doesn’t necessarily<br />
have to be delivered in a classroom situation.<br />
It may be the employee is responsible<br />
for their own learning through an<br />
extra mural programme, the training may<br />
be computer based or it may be knowledge<br />
gained through a family.<br />
Think about the individual when you are<br />
developing their professional development<br />
programme and consider how they<br />
learn best and how you can tailor the<br />
training to accommodate the learning<br />
style.<br />
• What outcomes am I looking for from<br />
the training? You need to determine the<br />
outcomes you are looking for, for example<br />
may you want a better customer service<br />
experience for your clients, or you may<br />
want to build a stronger team culture.<br />
Consider the outcomes and develop measures<br />
so you can assess the effectiveness<br />
of the training.<br />
• Are there alternatives to ‘traditional’ training?<br />
It may be that mentoring with another<br />
manager will provide the professional<br />
development an employee needs, so<br />
developing a structured mentoring programme<br />
may be a cost effective solution.<br />
You could also consider job rotation which<br />
creates a more flexible workforce capable<br />
of performing a variety of tasks, which not<br />
only benefits the employee but also benefits<br />
the business.<br />
• What measure will you use to evaluate the<br />
training? There are a number of measures<br />
that can assist with the evaluation of training.<br />
These include customer satisfaction,<br />
productivity per transaction, reduction in<br />
error rates, fewer customer complaints,<br />
reduction in overtime and processing time<br />
averages reduced. It can be difficult to<br />
evaluate the non-tangibles such as work<br />
habits, attitudes, and behaviours; however,<br />
these can be measured thought staff<br />
surveys.<br />
<strong>Business</strong> that offers learning opportunities<br />
to their employees are more likely to have a<br />
higher workplace morale and increased<br />
loyalty which translates into increased<br />
productivity and customer satisfaction.<br />
So, what professional development have you<br />
identified for you and your employees in<br />
2022?<br />
8 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP <strong>December</strong> <strong>2021</strong>
UNIVERSITY ENDS YEAR WITH<br />
NEW QUALIFICATION<br />
THE STORY THEN<br />
<strong>Waikato</strong> University featured in several editions of<br />
the <strong>Waikato</strong> <strong>Business</strong> <strong>News</strong>.<br />
In September, an $11-million University of<br />
<strong>Waikato</strong>-led research project Go Circular 2025<br />
was launched to develop New Zealand’s circular<br />
economy partnered with the Sustainable <strong>Business</strong><br />
Network, Government agencies, and materials<br />
recovery, recycling and waste management<br />
provider, Waste Management.<br />
University of <strong>Waikato</strong> researchers also received<br />
funding of over $12 million from the Ministry of<br />
<strong>Business</strong> Innovation and Employment’s Endeavour<br />
Fund to advance projects to model the ecosystems<br />
of New Zealand’s 3820 lakes, seek keys to<br />
climate change in our deepest caves and bring<br />
nature back to our cities and towns.<br />
In the 2022 Times Higher Education World University<br />
rankings released in mid-October, the University<br />
of <strong>Waikato</strong> was ranked in the top 101-125<br />
universities in the world in the subject category<br />
of <strong>Business</strong> and Economics, the only university in<br />
New Zealand to reach this ranking.<br />
over $US1 billion this year and the world’s fastest<br />
growing sport.<br />
Tom Featonby, Esports coordinator at the University,<br />
says the minor builds on the University’s<br />
OMEN Esport Area, launched in 2019, and positioning<br />
the university as an Esport industry leader.<br />
“It is such an exciting and rapidly growing<br />
industry. We also know it is where most of our<br />
secondary students are, so it’s helping to bring a<br />
connection between something they are passionate<br />
about and higher learning.”<br />
The minor, made up of four papers, covers<br />
topics from the training and performance of<br />
elite gamers through to Esports production and<br />
broadcasting and will enable students to bring<br />
that understanding to their chosen profession.<br />
There are three pathways for studying Esports<br />
including, ‘Athletes and Coaching’, ‘Industry,<br />
Events and Management’, and ‘Design, Media,<br />
and Production’. Students can take the minor to<br />
explore innovations in the Esports industry and<br />
learn how they can take these innovations into<br />
their chosen career.<br />
“The research tells us three out of every four New<br />
Zealanders are now involved in video gaming<br />
and Esports is a version of that. We already have<br />
huge national Esports events being run by the<br />
University for secondary students. Offering the<br />
minor is the next evolution of that,” Professor<br />
Thorpe says.<br />
She says the stereotypes of teenagers locked<br />
away in darkened rooms were outdated and<br />
instead it was time to recognise the incredible skill<br />
and talent needed to succeed in Esports, with<br />
professional athletes bringing in millions of dollars.<br />
The minor was designed to give students a good<br />
overview of the industry and students taking it<br />
would be able to implement the learnings into<br />
their careers in a variety of ways.<br />
“A student might be taking a Bachelor of Teaching<br />
so it might help them think about how they can<br />
implement Esports into the classroom through<br />
the gamification of learning or how they can use<br />
digital games to get kids excited about physical<br />
education again. The possibilities to take learnings<br />
and innovation from the Esports industry to other<br />
sectors are endless.”<br />
The University would eventually like to develop<br />
the subject into a major, but for now Professor<br />
Thorpe says it is exciting to be the first in New<br />
Zealand to offer students the chance to study the<br />
subject.<br />
“We know this is their domain and their language<br />
and if we can meet our secondary students in this<br />
space, it’s a place for really constructive dialogue.<br />
Learning from a place of passion and exploring<br />
interdisciplinary innovations in Esports, our<br />
students can go on to be real leaders and change<br />
makers in their chosen careers”.<br />
THE STORY NOW<br />
University of <strong>Waikato</strong> ended the year with the<br />
launch of New Zealand’s first Esports minor qualification<br />
for 2022. <strong>Waikato</strong> is one of only a handful<br />
of universities around the world offering the<br />
minor that will provide students an overview of<br />
the Esports industry, a business expected to turn<br />
Professor Holly Thorpe, a sociologist in Te Huataki<br />
Waiora School of Health at the University, and<br />
Associate Professor Gareth Schott, a media psychologist<br />
and digital gaming expert, have been<br />
instrumental in helping to develop the qualification.<br />
Professor Thorpe says the Covid-19 pandemic<br />
has changed the role of digital technology in<br />
people’s lives and as a result gaming has soared.<br />
CELEBRATING<br />
PROMOTIONS<br />
AT DTI LAWYERS<br />
Experience care as it<br />
should be, experience<br />
the Braemar way.<br />
DTI Lawyers are excited to announce the promotion of Cassie Death and<br />
Jack Sullivan to the role of Senior Solicitor, reflecting their expertise and<br />
experience in commercial and property law.<br />
CASSIE DEATH is an experienced property law specialist, with a focus on<br />
commercial and residential conveyancing. That work is complimented by her<br />
problem solving skills developed through employment law and privacy work.<br />
You can reach Cassie at cassie@dtilawyers.co.nz<br />
JACK SULLIVAN is an experienced solicitor in all aspects of commercial law,<br />
property law and financing, together with a specialty in trusts.<br />
You can reach Jack at jack@dtilawyers.co.nz<br />
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SPECIALIST LAWYERS WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP <strong>December</strong> <strong>2021</strong> 9
<strong>Business</strong> Awards<br />
have the green light!<br />
A turbulent <strong>2021</strong> has the <strong>Waikato</strong><br />
business community eager for<br />
a chance to socialise with their<br />
peers in person at the <strong>Waikato</strong><br />
Chamber <strong>Business</strong> Awards.<br />
Virtual events serve a purpose, but<br />
nothing beats stepping out, meeting<br />
up and celebrating success<br />
with your colleagues.<br />
The Gala event was moved from its<br />
traditional November date to the 9th of<br />
February 2022 as a result of Covid, fortunately<br />
the Traffic Light system gives us<br />
the green light to go ahead, and we can<br />
finally celebrate our finalists in person.<br />
This year we will be inducting two<br />
extraordinary business leaders into the<br />
Hall of Fame, Sir Robert Mahuta and Sir<br />
Dryden Spring. Both of whom have overcome<br />
adversity and whose transformative<br />
leadership has impacted our country substantially.<br />
The <strong>Waikato</strong> is blessed with<br />
quietly spectacular leaders whose vision,<br />
influence, and achievements should not be<br />
forgotten.<br />
The finalists have been announced<br />
and they will find out on the night how<br />
they fared. Win, lose or draw, the Awards<br />
process gives entrants the opportunity to<br />
be confidentially reviewed by a group of<br />
our <strong>Waikato</strong> business leaders. We appreciate<br />
the time and energy that our judges<br />
put into the Awards process with the aim<br />
to improve the level of entrepreneurship<br />
across the <strong>Waikato</strong>. We also want to thank<br />
Foster Construction Group for becoming<br />
the primary sponsor for the Awards.<br />
We had a record number of entries this<br />
year which is a testament to the thriving<br />
business community we have here in the<br />
<strong>Waikato</strong>.<br />
This year’s finalists include Balloons<br />
over <strong>Waikato</strong>, Beca, Body Fit Training<br />
Hamilton CBD, Clean Boss, Creative<br />
<strong>Waikato</strong>, DEC Pharmaceutical, Designwell,<br />
Discover Waitomo, Fish City Hamilton,<br />
Hamilton Airport, Jet Park Hotel<br />
Hamilton Airport, Mighty Local, Momentum<br />
<strong>Waikato</strong>, Noke, Old MacDonald’s<br />
Rural Education and Care Centre, Room-<br />
Mate Cabins, Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari,<br />
Shift72, Spring Sheep Milk Co.,<br />
SWIFT, The Instillery, <strong>Waikato</strong> Hauraki<br />
Coromandel Rural Support Trust.<br />
By Don Good, CEO of <strong>Waikato</strong><br />
Chamber of Commerce.<br />
The Awards cover the following<br />
categories.<br />
• Micro <strong>Business</strong>, sponsored by<br />
Sleepyhead.<br />
• Not for Profit, sponsored by Trust<br />
<strong>Waikato</strong>.<br />
• Innovation, sponsored by Company-X.<br />
• Marketing & Social Media, sponsored<br />
by ChowHill Architects.<br />
• <strong>Business</strong> Growth & Strategy, sponsored<br />
by Deloitte.<br />
• Service Excellence, sponsored by<br />
Tompkins Wake.<br />
• Community Contribution sponsored<br />
by Montana Food & Events.<br />
• International Trade, sponsored by<br />
Fairview Ford.<br />
• Social & Environmental Sustainability,<br />
sponsored by Wintec.<br />
• People’s Choice, sponsored by Air<br />
New Zealand.<br />
• The Supreme Award, sponsored by<br />
Foster Construction Group.<br />
To celebrate individual leadership success<br />
stories in our community we have two individual<br />
awards, the Emerging Leader of<br />
the Year sponsored by Mitre10 MEGA and<br />
highly prestigious CEO of the Year award<br />
sponsored by the University of <strong>Waikato</strong><br />
We can’t wait to celebrate with<br />
our finalists and their supporters on<br />
the 9th of February. There are a limited<br />
number of tickets still available<br />
through our website or by contacting<br />
help@waikatochamber.co.nz You don’t<br />
want to miss out on the opportunity to meet<br />
and network with the high achievers of our<br />
business community!<br />
<strong>2021</strong><br />
WAIKATO CHAMBER<br />
OF COMMERCE<br />
BUSINESS<br />
AWARDS<br />
PROUDLY<br />
SUPPORTED BY<br />
PICTURE: CAMBRIDGE WEBSITE BUILDER ROCKETSPARK TOOK OUT THE SUPREME AWARD<br />
AT THE WAIPĀ NETWORKS BUSINESS AWARDS. PHOTO: CORNEGEPHOTOGRAPHY<br />
ROCKETSPARK<br />
ON AN UPWARD TRAJECTORY<br />
THE STORY THEN<br />
Following their Supreme award at the Waipa<br />
<strong>Business</strong> Awards earlier this year, Cambridge-based<br />
software company Rocketspark<br />
have not rested on their laurels.<br />
In April this year, Rocketspark hosted over 100<br />
of their design partners from around New Zealand<br />
at their design conference called Launch<br />
<strong>2021</strong>.<br />
THE STORY NOW<br />
Head of Product Jeremy Johnson says their<br />
partner community has been a strong source of<br />
growth for Rocketspark, as graphic designers<br />
and other service businesses add web design<br />
to their offering using the Rocketspark website<br />
builder.<br />
“With the introduction of Rocketspark Academy<br />
training programmes, we’ve been able to<br />
go beyond providing software and support<br />
and truly invest in the success of our partners'<br />
businesses.”<br />
Rocketspark Academy’s inaugural Professor and<br />
Partner of the Year Tonia Reid from Greenhouse<br />
Creative, is now reinvesting her knowledge into<br />
other design businesses.<br />
Rocketspark’s design partners are a key source<br />
of inspiration for new design and website<br />
functionality with its code-free web design<br />
platform. To meet that demand they’ve hired<br />
two new University of <strong>Waikato</strong> graduates into<br />
development roles in November, as well as a<br />
UI/UX designer and another senior developer<br />
earlier in the year.<br />
Rocketspark also created a new integration<br />
with New Zealand shipping software provider<br />
Starshipit, who have white labeled their<br />
software for New Zealand Post as their eShip<br />
product. The new integration with Rocketspark<br />
Ecommerce streamlines the processing, labeling<br />
and dispatching of orders for merchants<br />
and gives them the option of using either<br />
Starshipit or eShip with Rocketspark.<br />
In <strong>2021</strong>, Rocketspark announced ‘Gift-itforward’,<br />
an initiative equipping each of its<br />
existing design partners with a lifetime website<br />
subscription to give to a deserving non-profit<br />
of their choice.<br />
Rocketspark CEO Grant Johnson says by providing<br />
Rocketspark’s high performing website<br />
platform at no cost they can help non-profits<br />
make a true impact.<br />
“So many non-profits work hard for their worthy<br />
communities and causes, and yet many don’t<br />
have a great online presence and are often not<br />
collecting precious recurring donations online,<br />
or generating revenue with an online store.”<br />
In November this year, Rocketspark purchased<br />
the other tenancy on their floor and are creating<br />
a new co-working space in downtown<br />
Cambridge, appropriately called Launchpad<br />
Cambridge. Launchpad is for creative and<br />
digital businesses looking for some freedom<br />
from the home office either full time or maybe<br />
a few days a week.<br />
With a great team in place and international<br />
growth fund market validation grant from NZTE<br />
Rocketspark are looking forward to ramping up<br />
their offshore activity in 2022.<br />
/<br />
<strong>2021</strong><br />
WAIKATO CHAMBER<br />
OF COMMERCE<br />
BUSINESS<br />
AWARDS<br />
PROUDLY<br />
SUPPORTED BY<br />
07 839 5895<br />
Everest<br />
PROPERTY<br />
• Commercial Property Investment & Finance<br />
• <strong>Business</strong> Investment & Finance<br />
• Residential Property Investment & Finance<br />
25 Ward Street, Hamilton everestproperty@xtra.co.nz 0274 742 326<br />
10 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP <strong>December</strong> <strong>2021</strong>
ENLIGHTEN DESIGNS<br />
CONTINUES TO RESPOND TO THE CHANGING ENVIRONMENT<br />
THE STORY THEN<br />
Earlier this year, Hamilton-based website<br />
design and software development company<br />
Enlighten Designs was shortlisted in the Best<br />
Emerging <strong>Business</strong> category for the prestigious<br />
New Zealand International <strong>Business</strong> Awards.<br />
Enlighten Designs has been recognised for<br />
bringing New Zealand innovation to the global<br />
stage.<br />
At the time, founder and CEO of Enlighten,<br />
Damon Kelly, said he was immensely proud that<br />
the business had been recognised as a finalist<br />
after an intensive judging process, and that the<br />
accolade comes at a time of real growth.<br />
THE STORY NOW<br />
Enlighten Designs are yet to find out if they<br />
have won any awards as the Covid lockdowns<br />
forced the postponement NZIBA awards, and<br />
the NZ Resellers Award in which Enlighten are<br />
also finalists.<br />
The <strong>Waikato</strong> <strong>Business</strong> <strong>News</strong> caught up with<br />
Damon to see how the year has progressed for<br />
the Enlighten team.<br />
Enlighten Designs has been working on some<br />
interesting projects recently - can you tell us a<br />
bit more about them?<br />
One interesting project that we’ve got on<br />
the go is working with Google engineers to<br />
improve our client’s Core Web Vitals -<br />
these are the metrics used by Google to<br />
score a user’s experience loading a webpage.<br />
Through this workstream, we had the challenge<br />
to firstly understand and then develop a<br />
strategy around these metrics, with the goal of<br />
lifting our client’s performance in very new area<br />
of search engine optimisation. This has been<br />
an exciting project for us because it’s a great<br />
reflection of what Enlighten Designs is all about<br />
– innovation, cutting-edge technology and an<br />
eagerness to learn.<br />
We were also shoulder-tapped by Microsoft<br />
to promote our world-class consulting services<br />
around using Power BI for data storytelling.<br />
Enlighten was one of around 100 partners<br />
to feature in the inaugural # BuildFor2030<br />
campaign - an initiative with Microsoft and its<br />
partners to encourage action on the United<br />
Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. It’s a<br />
great project because it resonates with our goal<br />
of using technology to make a difference.<br />
What has been the biggest business challenge<br />
for Enlighten Designs as a result of the COVID<br />
pandemic over the last 18 months?<br />
Like many other businesses, the pandemic was<br />
initially a shock for our team, as we sustained<br />
an immediate drop in demand locally. The real<br />
challenge was trying to determine the best way<br />
to respond to the changing environment, with<br />
the hope that the approach we took would be<br />
beneficial long-term.<br />
Rather than opting for the risk-averse route,<br />
we saw the pandemic as an opportunity for<br />
growth. At a time when many businesses were<br />
letting go of staff, we doubled down and<br />
redeployed our team to focus on international<br />
expansion.<br />
The pandemic transformed the way people do<br />
business, so location and in-person meetings<br />
were no longer important when onboarding<br />
new clients. Combined with our already seamless<br />
remote-working abilities, this has proven to<br />
be a huge advantage for Enlighten. Evidence<br />
of this can be seen through the strong international<br />
and domestic presence we’ve secured<br />
over the last 18 months.<br />
How have these challenges impacted you<br />
personally and do you have any techniques or<br />
strategies to share with other entrepreneurs in<br />
regards to dealing with unforeseen crises?<br />
Over the years, I’ve learnt that when it comes to<br />
dealing with any unforeseen challenge – it’s all<br />
about mindset! As CEO though, I went back to<br />
our company values, and these really guided<br />
my response in this, as with other challenges.<br />
One strategy I would recommend is to view<br />
any challenge as an opportunity, rather than<br />
a crisis. As tempting as it was to pull-back and<br />
avoid any risks, Enlighten battled the pandemic<br />
head on by pushing into the international<br />
market.<br />
As an entrepreneur and business leader,<br />
maintaining a positive mindset is a crucial<br />
strategy which allows you to stay motivated and<br />
confident when dealing with difficult situations.<br />
The continued success of Enlighten over the<br />
last 18 months has validated our gut feeling that<br />
persevering during uncertainty and making big<br />
moves, was the right thing to do.<br />
The pandemic has noticeably changed the<br />
way people use technology in the business<br />
world. What are your thoughts on how remote<br />
working might affect staff mental health and<br />
wellbeing in the long term?<br />
The pandemic has redefined the way people<br />
do businesses, with remote working now an intrinsic<br />
part of our everyday lives. This has been<br />
great for Enlighten because there’s been hot<br />
demand for digital transformations across many<br />
different sectors and business types. But although<br />
working from home may have its perks,<br />
only being able to connect with colleagues<br />
through webcam or email, definitely starts to<br />
take its toll.<br />
What I’m beginning to notice is that many Kiwis<br />
are struggling to overcome their Covid-fatigue<br />
and are increasingly becoming overwhelmed<br />
with exhaustion and lack of motivation. New<br />
Zealand’s constant string of lockdowns can also<br />
leave people feeling isolated and disconnected,<br />
which as we know, can cause a strain on<br />
mental health.<br />
I’m aware of how crucial it is to uphold the<br />
wellbeing of my team. Even though we have<br />
somewhat mastered the art of working from<br />
home, I always encourage the team to stay<br />
DAMON KELLY, FOUNDER AND<br />
CEO OF ENLIGHTEN DESIGNS<br />
connected and get some fresh air during their<br />
downtime.<br />
In your opinion, what’s the most important<br />
skill for entrepreneurs to develop?<br />
Being great at recruitment! As an entrepreneur,<br />
it’s crucial to remember that you can’t do it<br />
alone. I’ve learned that a business is only as<br />
good as its team. When you’re hiring new employees,<br />
you shouldn’t just consider how skilled<br />
they are in their profession, you should also ask<br />
yourself if they will embody the core values<br />
of your business. At Enlighten, we’ve always<br />
hired people that reflect our values of learning,<br />
creativity and integrity.<br />
Above all else, fostering new and existing relationships<br />
with your colleagues is essential. You<br />
don’t just need to recruit great people - you<br />
need to connect with them. Having an awesome<br />
workplace culture with a connected team<br />
is crucial for driving productivity and success<br />
+++++++<br />
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Get in touch today, to find out more about<br />
BUILDING SUSTAINABLY<br />
WITH PAUA.<br />
Procuta Associates<br />
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Contact us 07 839 6521<br />
www.pauaarchitects.co.nz<br />
WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP <strong>December</strong> <strong>2021</strong><br />
11
Wishing you a<br />
happy and healthy<br />
holiday from your<br />
local experts<br />
The team at <strong>Waikato</strong> <strong>Business</strong><br />
<strong>News</strong> wishes you all a safe and<br />
happy festive season.<br />
<strong>Waikato</strong> <strong>Business</strong> <strong>News</strong> office<br />
will be closed from:<br />
Wednesday <strong>December</strong> 22, <strong>2021</strong><br />
until Monday January 10, 2022<br />
Bowen Therapy<br />
HOLISTIC HEALTH THERAPIES<br />
Wishing you a safe and happy Christmas<br />
and a prosperous New Year.<br />
Wishing you all a safe festive<br />
season and looking forward to 2022<br />
Jocelyne at Holistic Health Therapies<br />
Temporary<br />
Recruitment<br />
Permanent<br />
Recruitment<br />
Executive<br />
Recruitment<br />
07 839 3685 | www.assetrec.co.nz<br />
Industrial<br />
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Holisticfrench@gmail.com | www.holistictherapies.co.nz<br />
12 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP <strong>December</strong> <strong>2021</strong>
Our wish for you this<br />
Christmas, is that your hearts<br />
and homes will be filled with<br />
peace and happiness<br />
Email: ana@ana-maria.nz<br />
www.ana-maria.nz<br />
Address: 82 Grey Street, Hamilton East<br />
Mobile: 021 881 229 Ph: 07 211 4654<br />
Merry Christmas<br />
From the team at<br />
<strong>Waikato</strong> <strong>Business</strong> <strong>News</strong><br />
info@wbn.co.nz | 07 838 1333<br />
Wishing you a happy and safe holiday<br />
season from the teams at Hamilton<br />
Radiology and Midland MRI<br />
Offering unparalleled care and expertise<br />
0800 426 723 hamiltonradiology.co.nz<br />
0800 687 674 midlandmri.co.nz<br />
WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP <strong>December</strong> <strong>2021</strong><br />
13
REGIONAL ROUND UP<br />
Allan Sanson<br />
WAIKATO DISTRICT COUNCIL<br />
After a rough 2020 thanks to the arrival of<br />
COVID-19, this time last year we all were all<br />
hopeful for a better <strong>2021</strong>. Things didn’t quite go<br />
according to plan and this year has presented a<br />
whole set of new challenges with the northern<br />
part of our district spending months in lockdown.<br />
As we emerge under the COVID-19 Protection<br />
Framework, life is returning to our “new normal”.<br />
With the recent adjustments to our national<br />
approach to the pandemic, council has had to<br />
reposition, reconsider and at times adapt our<br />
services to comply with changing requirements.<br />
This challenge is not unique within the <strong>Waikato</strong><br />
District and many of our neighbouring councils<br />
and others have been grappling with what the<br />
future may look like, and how we can best put in<br />
place controls to ensure we keep our communities<br />
safe and well.<br />
Reflecting on other events this year, we have<br />
again seen large growth in many of our towns<br />
and villages across the district. As a fast growth<br />
area council, balancing growth with affordability<br />
will prove to be a huge challenge for us and our<br />
community in the coming years. We outlined<br />
many of these challenges in our Long-Term Plan<br />
which we adopted in June.<br />
A success of the past 12 months has been the<br />
way the District Plan Review team and the independent<br />
commissioners adapted the hearings<br />
to keep this process on track despite the upsets<br />
of COVID-19. The team were able to host these<br />
hearings virtually on Zoom, which was a New<br />
Zealand first. We are expecting the outcome<br />
of the review to be released in January 2022.<br />
And perhaps our greatest success this year was<br />
getting confirmation from our independent<br />
commissioners for the approval of a land use<br />
change for Sleepyhead at Ohinewai. This project<br />
is of scale that will be talked about in the <strong>Waikato</strong><br />
for many years to come.<br />
We have a lot coming down the pipeline from<br />
central government that we all need to get our<br />
heads around including, legislative reform in the<br />
three waters area (drinking water, wastewater,<br />
and stormwater) and National Policy Statements<br />
that relate to urban development (the growth in<br />
and around towns) and freshwater management.<br />
Considering all this, we are facing an enormous<br />
task. Our district is growing rapidly, and we need<br />
to keep up with this growth, while making sure<br />
our community is a desirable place to live, work<br />
and play. We need to balance the services we<br />
provide with what our community can afford.<br />
While our response to COVID-19 has been<br />
strong as a country, and our district’s consistent<br />
presence in the productive sector has placed us<br />
well to recover from any global recession, we<br />
also know that there are certain sectors and parts<br />
of our community that are struggling. Many in<br />
our communities will need our support if they are<br />
to recover from the current economic hardship<br />
and keep socially strong. Our vision of liveable,<br />
thriving and connected communities demands<br />
that we deliver this balance.<br />
Moving into 2022, we will continue to respond to<br />
the needs of the district, balancing affordability<br />
with adding value and enhancing community<br />
wellbeing – so we can all work towards a better,<br />
and more resilient, future together.<br />
Finally, it’s been a big year that has seen many of<br />
us separated from our whānau. This festive season<br />
I will be spending time with my family at the<br />
beach. I look forward to seeing many of you next<br />
year and wish you a happy and safe holiday.<br />
Paula Southgate<br />
HAMILTON CITY COUNCIL<br />
Many in the business community will be pleased<br />
to turn the page on <strong>2021</strong>, hoping for more positive<br />
times ahead.<br />
Covid-19 continued to throw curve balls and<br />
for business, it has been exceptionally tough. I<br />
acknowledge that and thank those who, despite<br />
everything, have kept people in jobs, and our<br />
local economy turning. At council we have<br />
been running to keep up with a year of change,<br />
much of it driven by central Government. We<br />
have been in the thick of, and often leading,<br />
discussions about a raft of reform proposals and<br />
far-reaching legislation.<br />
The most divisive issue has been the Three Waters<br />
Reform to better manage water, wastewater<br />
and stormwater. Council’s decision in November<br />
clearly confirms our opposition to the reforms as<br />
currently proposed. No councillor supports the<br />
current asset transfer model proposed and we<br />
are all concerned around local representation.<br />
Water reform will happen in some form; that is<br />
very clear. As I write this our council continues to<br />
push back on Government to get the best outcome<br />
for our city and ensure we have a strong<br />
voice in future decision-making. On <strong>December</strong> 9<br />
Government announced more time will be taken<br />
to consider such feedback.<br />
Our council has also been concerned with the<br />
bi-partisan announcement about housing. We<br />
considered the proposed law changes, which<br />
sought to allow three-storey homes to be built in<br />
most parts of the city without a resource consent,<br />
as fundamentally flawed. We sent a hard-hitting<br />
submission and directly addressed the select<br />
committee. It was pleasing to get some wins<br />
from our push-back, including the acknowledgement<br />
that existing, well-progressed notified<br />
plan changes (like Peacocke) should continue.<br />
Hamilton has a housing crisis; we need more<br />
homes. It is as simple as that. But trying to impose<br />
a blanket solution, without taking note of the<br />
extensive planning work we have already done<br />
to enable more housing, is not the answer. At<br />
the time of writing however, there had been<br />
little movement on how our city can finance<br />
infrastructure that new housing will demand. In<br />
Hamilton we have $1.07 billion worth of ‘unfunded’<br />
infrastructure included within our 10-Year<br />
Plan….a mammoth amount we cannot hope to<br />
fund alone. This is an issue we are continuing to<br />
press government on.<br />
There are two other pieces of other reform on<br />
the table, including changes to local government<br />
itself. The other is reform of the RMA which<br />
I support. We will always need environmental<br />
protections, but the RMA is an outdated piece<br />
of legislation which is hindering, not helping our<br />
efforts to build New Zealand. It is doing nothing<br />
to help us address the country’s housing crisis.<br />
Given what remains on our plate, 2022 promises<br />
to be just as busy as this year. As this year draws<br />
to a close, I thank our business community again<br />
for continuing to operate in challenging circumstances.<br />
I wish you well over the busy summer<br />
period and sincere hope you can enjoy some<br />
time with family and friends.<br />
14 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP <strong>December</strong> <strong>2021</strong>
Jim Mylchreest<br />
WAIPĀ DISTRICT COUNCIL<br />
While we all headed into <strong>2021</strong> with renewed<br />
hope from a tough 2020, we can certainly say<br />
that this year has thrown a few challenges in our<br />
path again, but we are emerging with a positive<br />
mindset and looking forward to the promise of a<br />
new year, and what 2022 may bring for us.<br />
You can never give up hope – you always have<br />
to look forward! Even in another tough year, we<br />
have persevered and gained some great results.<br />
We started off strong in <strong>2021</strong>, with some outstanding<br />
events in Waipā – the Home of Champions,<br />
signing off our ‘What’s Next, Waipā’ <strong>2021</strong>-<br />
31 Long Term Plan. The culmination of 18-months<br />
hard work by a great team produced a plan for<br />
the next ten years that we can be proud of – it’s<br />
so good, it even took out the Taituara Great CD<br />
Competition recently! We were thrilled.<br />
We also opened the new pool facility in Cambridge,<br />
Perry Aquatic Centre Puna Kaukau o<br />
Te Oko Horoi. Visitors to the centre can enjoy a<br />
variety of options for all the family, including the<br />
outside 50m pool which received an upgrade.<br />
COVID-19 re-emerged in the community once<br />
again. Waipā was proudly the first district within<br />
the <strong>Waikato</strong> to reach over 90 percent double<br />
vaccinated. COVID-19 has caused a lot of<br />
paigns, encouraging people to support local<br />
and purchase what they can from retailers near<br />
them instead of online. Every small purchase<br />
helps!<br />
From my perspective, this year in local government<br />
has been a challenging one with three<br />
waters reforms, future for local government reforms,<br />
and an updated National Policy Statement<br />
for Urban Development with many changes that<br />
are not in the best interests of our residents, and<br />
our wider community. Council has continued<br />
to challenge these decisions on behalf of our<br />
district and will continue to do so, to gain better<br />
outcomes for all of Waipā.<br />
This holiday season, be kind, take a moment to<br />
reflect on the year that has been and the great<br />
memories we have created amongst tough<br />
times. We all hope for an amazing and prosperous<br />
2022 – Merry Christmas!<br />
Jenny Shattock<br />
SOUTH WAIKATO DISTRICT COUNCIL<br />
South <strong>Waikato</strong> District Council has had a busy<br />
year. We continue to support and plan for the<br />
growth we are experiencing across the district,<br />
alongside business as usual services and<br />
activities. For many years South <strong>Waikato</strong> faced<br />
a declining population and the challenges that<br />
went with that. Now we have large new housing<br />
developments underway and these will deliver<br />
much needed housing to support our population<br />
growth. Council is working closely with private<br />
developers, iwi, Kainga Ora and Momentum<br />
<strong>Waikato</strong> to catalyse new supply across the entire<br />
housing spectrum.<br />
Our SW Space to Grow brand provides a strong<br />
value proposition to investors, new residents and<br />
visitors. In partnership with Te Waka, we promote<br />
the strengths of the <strong>Waikato</strong> region to international<br />
investors and together with the South<br />
<strong>Waikato</strong> Investment Fund Trust (SWIFT), we have<br />
facilitated noteworthy developments that will<br />
deliver jobs to our community, like the proposed<br />
new dairy factory and the South <strong>Waikato</strong> Trade<br />
Training Centre development. Investing in job<br />
creation and developing the skills and capability<br />
of our people through investments into Impact<br />
Hub, Tokoroa and the WorkIT programme, is<br />
producing positive employment outcomes for<br />
our young people and entrepreneurs.<br />
Our Long-Term Plan <strong>2021</strong>-31 signalled that one of<br />
the priorities for our council was to increase our<br />
investment in community facilities with a focus on<br />
a new recreational development in Tīrau, a new<br />
skatepark for our Putāruru community and new<br />
or upgraded library and pool facilities in Tokoroa.<br />
Developing and strengthening key partner and<br />
stakeholder relationships has been important<br />
over the past year and working with our partners<br />
has ensured that together we can deliver the<br />
necessary support for our community.<br />
All of this takes place within the context of significant<br />
change to our operating environment.<br />
The three waters reform, alongside inter-related<br />
reforms to the Resource Management Act<br />
and the Future of Local Government, presents<br />
opportunities and challenges to communities<br />
across New Zealand. Our council is disappointed<br />
the Government will mandate the reform of<br />
three waters service delivery, given the absence<br />
cancellations of events, and businesses have had<br />
tough times. Waipā has worked hard to support<br />
the business community with ‘buy local’ camof<br />
community input and consultation to date.<br />
Information in the public area has been inconsistent,<br />
poorly understood and inaccurate, and to<br />
that effect councillors decided to be part of the<br />
Communities4Local Democracy group seeking<br />
to convince the Government to alter its intention<br />
to proceed with legislation. We want a reform<br />
package that can appropriately meet everyone’s<br />
objectives. Our council will communicate the<br />
case for better engagement with our community<br />
during 2022 to central Government.<br />
COVID-19 continues to challenge us both in<br />
business and in our personal lives. We all have<br />
whānau, friends and colleagues spread around<br />
the country. COVID-19 has frustrated supplies<br />
of almost everything which has had a significant<br />
flow on effect to our project delivery and<br />
business success. I want to acknowledge the<br />
community groups that have tirelessly delivered<br />
testing and vaccination opportunities. And I want<br />
to applaud the business sector that has navigated<br />
these challenges over the past year.<br />
Looking forward to 2022, we will continue to<br />
navigate through COVID-19. Our strength and<br />
resilience fills me with hope for the future. Our<br />
relationships with partners and stakeholders are<br />
critical to our district’s continued success. We<br />
need to grow and nurture these relationships in<br />
the knowledge that we share a common goal -<br />
building a successful community.<br />
I am proud to be Mayor of such a multicultural<br />
community and believe that strength comes from<br />
diversity and overcoming challenges.<br />
On a final note, the local government elections<br />
coming up next year. If you relish a challenge<br />
and want to give back, then now is the time<br />
to starting seriously considering standing for<br />
council. You have just over six months to cement<br />
your thoughts one way or the other. Working for<br />
council can be challenging, but as I prepare to<br />
retire after 24 years of community service, I can<br />
confirm it is also extremely rewarding.<br />
Ash Tanner<br />
MATAMATA-PIAKO DISTRICT COUNCIL<br />
As we come up to Christmas and a good Kiwi<br />
summer, it’s a good chance to reflect on the<br />
year that’s been and to come. COVID threw us<br />
some curve balls and we’ve had to do things<br />
a little differently this year, with online council<br />
and committee meetings and a bigger focus on<br />
digital consultation, but I’m proud of how my<br />
colleagues, staff and communities have responded,<br />
and the resilience and innovation shown in<br />
the face of uncertainty.<br />
We made some big decisions on what our priorities<br />
are over the next few years for the <strong>2021</strong>-2031<br />
Long Term Plan and started work on the few big<br />
projects to help our district grow, thrive and be<br />
an even better place for future generations.<br />
We received strong community support to work<br />
towards developing a destination spa in Te Aroha<br />
and we agreed that if we’re going to do it, it<br />
needs to be done properly. Once the Project<br />
Governance Group is confident the business<br />
case stacks up and a larger spa operation is possible<br />
(after analysing land stability and whether<br />
there’s enough geothermal water available), we’ll<br />
focus on developing concept plans next year for<br />
the community to consider.<br />
We’re still working through the details of achieving<br />
zero waste by 2038, signalled in the Waste<br />
Minimisation and Management Plan. As part of<br />
this ambitious goal, there’ll be two purpose-built<br />
resource recovery centres established in Matamata<br />
and Morrinsville, with the Waihou Transfer<br />
Station getting an upgrade to bring it up to<br />
health and safety standards.<br />
Making our main streets somewhere people<br />
want to stay, enjoy and spend money is also high<br />
on our list. We’ll be asking people for their ideas<br />
on revitalising our town centres and launching an<br />
innovative way of interacting and talking with our<br />
communities in the new year – all I’ll say now is<br />
‘Nancy’ is nearing - watch this space.<br />
We’re also looking into slowly but steadily<br />
improving the walking and cycling connections<br />
across our district, including Matamata, Morrinsville<br />
and Waharoa, and making some good<br />
progress in extending the Morrinville river walk<br />
track. Morrinsville will also receive two additional<br />
water sources to meet growing demand, and<br />
ensure there is enough water for essential use<br />
(like drinking and hygiene) all year round. We’re<br />
making some headway with the Lockerbie bore<br />
and design of the new treatment plant.<br />
After receiving multiple requests for more dog<br />
exercise areas in Matamata and Te Aroha, we’re<br />
pleased some new areas are now up-andrunning.<br />
We look forward to working with<br />
community groups in the new year to improve<br />
them further. It’s also great to see Headon Events<br />
Centre in Matamata back in action after a bit of a<br />
spruce up and new flooring.<br />
It’s been a good year; we’ve made some steady<br />
progress and have some solid plans for next<br />
year. We have a great district that’s growing,<br />
thriving and full of good, hard-working people<br />
who make this district what it is. We look forward<br />
to 2022 and making our district an even greater<br />
place to live, work and play.<br />
WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP <strong>December</strong> <strong>2021</strong><br />
15
TOUGH TIMES BUT WAIKATO TOURISM’S<br />
FIT FOR THE<br />
CHALLENGE<br />
TELLING WAIKATO’S STORY<br />
> BY JASON DAWSON<br />
Chief Executive, Hamilton & <strong>Waikato</strong> Tourism<br />
The mighty <strong>Waikato</strong> tourism sector is living up to<br />
its moniker despite having experienced a second<br />
tough year, says Hamilton & <strong>Waikato</strong> Tourism’s chief<br />
executive, Jason Dawson.<br />
As one of two regions in the country to record<br />
the largest market share increase for visitors over<br />
the past 12 months, the <strong>Waikato</strong> has so far come<br />
through the lockdowns and border closures<br />
resulting from COVID-19 in reasonable shape,<br />
he says.<br />
“This is fantastic for the region overall – and<br />
it’s real-time confirmation the <strong>Waikato</strong> is just as<br />
sought-after by domestic visitors as it is international.<br />
“It’s also validation that campaigns like ‘Mighty<br />
Local’ that we re-launched in September to get<br />
locals supporting local businesses do work.”<br />
However, Jason says, it has not been easy,<br />
and the cold reality is there are pockets of the<br />
<strong>Waikato</strong> region where tourism businesses are<br />
really hurting, and jobs lost, because of the<br />
border closures as well as the months-long lack<br />
of domestic visitors.<br />
“The most impacted are our businesses that<br />
have traditionally drawn much of their custom<br />
from international markets – but mighty locals<br />
that they are, our operators have stepped up,<br />
showing great agility with re-gearing the experiences<br />
they offer and vigorously marketing to<br />
Kiwis, knowing that in time international visitors<br />
will be able to be here too.”<br />
He says there has, however, been quite a level<br />
of frustration amongst tourism businesses that<br />
the Government had not provided greater<br />
clarity around the timing of border re-opening<br />
and the process that would ensure everyone is<br />
kept as safe as possible.<br />
“Having time to plan and prepare for guests<br />
is a very important part of the hospitality, the<br />
manaakitanga, we here in tourism in the <strong>Waikato</strong><br />
always want to extend to those who visit us.<br />
“Despite the lack of surety, though, Hamilton &<br />
<strong>Waikato</strong> Tourism and our operators are working<br />
to ensure we are primed to take the best advantage<br />
of border re-opening.<br />
“We are working with Tourism New Zealand and<br />
our neighbours like the Bay of Plenty, Rotorua<br />
and Taupō planning initiatives to inspire and<br />
draw visitors back into the region and encourage<br />
them to spend more while they are here.”<br />
Jason adds that pre-COVID, the <strong>Waikato</strong> drew<br />
30 per cent of its visitors from Auckland, and<br />
that the re-opening of this important market is ‘a<br />
blessing and warmly welcomed’ by the <strong>Waikato</strong><br />
tourism sector.<br />
“In 2019 visiting Aucklanders generated $206<br />
million for the <strong>Waikato</strong> economy in tourism<br />
earnings and, despite the lockdowns, this<br />
important market delivered $199 million to our<br />
economy in the 12 months ending in October.<br />
“We continue to promote the many reasons why<br />
Aucklanders will enjoy visiting the <strong>Waikato</strong>, either<br />
as a day trip or to stay with us for a while,” he says.<br />
“Amongst our ongoing promotion is working<br />
with the media that infiltrates Aucklanders’ lives,<br />
newspaper, radio and, of course, social media,<br />
to tell our stories.<br />
“One of our pre-Christmas efforts has been<br />
partnering with the Stuff media group to produce<br />
a spectacular 48-page colour supplement<br />
with stories and images. This has gone into<br />
the Sunday Star-Times newspaper, which has<br />
high Auckland weekend readership plus good<br />
national exposure.<br />
“To keep our very supportive local market up<br />
with the best things to see and do in their home<br />
region, this informative supplement has also<br />
appeared in the <strong>Waikato</strong> Times.”<br />
With the new year, Jason says there are some<br />
key <strong>Waikato</strong> events coming, with several bound<br />
to attract national and international attention.<br />
“In March, matches for one of the hottest<br />
events of the year will happen at Seddon Park<br />
in Hamilton – the ICC Women’s Cricket World<br />
Cup – where there will be teams from Australia,<br />
England, India and South Africa, as well as our<br />
own national team.<br />
“Then in April there’s a sports event of an entirely<br />
different stature – The Middle-earth Halfling<br />
Marathon TM . This is an off-road adventure<br />
unlike any other where runners and walkers can<br />
explore the bucolic landscape of the Shire, as<br />
seen in the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit<br />
trilogies.<br />
“Getting up to speed for this very special event<br />
has to be a New Year’s resolution for a lot of<br />
people.”<br />
Jason says the <strong>Waikato</strong> region is an ever-popular<br />
destination for a wide range of events with<br />
some of the fun this summer including the<br />
Hamilton Gardens Arts Festival (18-27 February),<br />
Balloons over <strong>Waikato</strong> (15-19 March), the Great<br />
New Zealand Muster in Te Kuiti, regarded by<br />
many as the sheep shearing capital of the world<br />
(2 April), and Raglan Arts Weekend (16-18 April).<br />
The new year is also a busy one on the business<br />
events calendar with some of the key events<br />
over the next six months including the likes of<br />
the Water New Zealand Conference and Expo<br />
(22-25 February), the Kudos Awards honouring<br />
scientists (3 March) and the WasteMINZ Conference<br />
(10-12 May).<br />
He says now that Kiwis can get out and explore<br />
their own country, tourism operators in the<br />
<strong>Waikato</strong> were looking forward to an exciting,<br />
successful summer.<br />
“We’re also cautiously optimistic we’ll soon be<br />
able to welcome international visitors again,<br />
with everyone’s safety assured. I was interested<br />
to see recent projections estimate that very few<br />
people arriving here from overseas will carry<br />
any risk – in fact, only three in 10,000 passengers,<br />
or 0.03 per cent.<br />
“I want to give a special shout out to our three<br />
MIQ hotels here in the <strong>Waikato</strong> and their staff<br />
who have done an exceptional job helping to<br />
ensure people’s safety over the past 18 months.<br />
“As a country – and as a region – we can be<br />
very proud. We have done the hard yards<br />
and now we deserve fun times ahead. Merry<br />
Christmas and may we all get what we wish for<br />
in 2022!”<br />
16 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP <strong>December</strong> <strong>2021</strong>
WE’RE LOOKING FOR<br />
TRAINEES NOW!<br />
SEE CAREERS.WEL.CO.NZ FOR VACANCIES<br />
WEL WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?<br />
Merry Christmas and<br />
a Happy New Year from<br />
WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP <strong>December</strong> <strong>2021</strong><br />
17
THE FUTURE FOR<br />
HANSA PRODUCTS<br />
When <strong>Waikato</strong>-based business Hansa relocated and<br />
built at a brand new site in Hamilton’s Northgate<br />
<strong>Business</strong> Park in 2019, they didn’t expect their fiveyear<br />
plan to come to fruition in just three years.<br />
Martin says keeping production in New Zealand<br />
is beneficial on two fronts; supporting<br />
local employment and maintaining quality<br />
control.<br />
When the new space officially opened at the<br />
beginning of 2019, the Hansa team numbered<br />
around 30, three years on and there<br />
are now over 50 staff.<br />
At the time Hansa managing director Martin<br />
Vogel knew the building was an investment<br />
into the long-term future of the company.<br />
While the land at the time seemed much<br />
bigger than what they needed, he could see<br />
the future for expanding and doubling the<br />
production space.<br />
This year, Hansa added 2500 square metres<br />
to the new building and more than doubled<br />
their manufacturing space.<br />
“This was planned for five years after we<br />
moved in and we’ve been here for three<br />
years now. This is a result of demand since<br />
COVID,” Martin says.<br />
Unlike many businesses, COVID-19 resulted in<br />
a huge increase in demand for Hansa.<br />
“People are spending more time at home, in<br />
their own backyards and that creates a demand<br />
for the product. When you spending more time<br />
in the garden trimming trees you realise that a<br />
wood chipper would be a useful tool.”.<br />
Hansa products, high quality chipping and<br />
shredding equipment, have been in high<br />
demand for more than 40 years.<br />
aging director Steve Milburn based in Germany<br />
was critical to driving growth in Europe.<br />
“Steve plays a pivotal role in the European<br />
markets, building the Benelux presence and<br />
achieving the right cultural alignment when<br />
onboarding new distributors,” Vogel says.<br />
For us, it’s about<br />
breaking and<br />
expanding into those<br />
new export markets<br />
and we’ve put a lot of<br />
energy into meeting the<br />
market regulations and<br />
adapting our product<br />
to fit the need of our<br />
international customers<br />
While it has its challenges, including recruiting<br />
good quality, skilled staff, Martin is proud<br />
that Hansa supports local.<br />
“The overarching benefit is that we’re creating<br />
jobs for the community. That’s definitely a<br />
driver of it.”<br />
And, Vogel says, sending production to China<br />
would take all the satisfaction out of what they<br />
do and impede their ability to continually<br />
improve their products.<br />
“From a manufacturing perspective, having<br />
production in New Zealand allows us to make<br />
continuous rapid improvement. We have<br />
our process set up to give us an edge on<br />
the competitive market. And being able to<br />
maintain quality control in-house, you can’t<br />
achieve that offshore.”<br />
As part of the factory expansion, 290 solar<br />
panels have been added to the roof of the<br />
extension to provide 100kW of power, and<br />
concepts are underway for a semi-automated<br />
powder coating line. Once implemented, the<br />
new semi-automatic line will complement the<br />
existing 3D Solidworks design, robot welding,<br />
and powder-coating facilities to efficient production<br />
system for single piece flow.<br />
Hansa manufacture a range of wood chippers<br />
for home gardeners, lifestyle blocks, orchards,<br />
hire centres and commercial arborists<br />
in engine-powered or PTO driven configurations.<br />
Their number one design priority is efficient<br />
product performance to make the experience<br />
Hansa’s overall strategy is to take their worldclass<br />
products to the world.<br />
“For us, it’s about breaking and expanding<br />
into those new export markets and we’ve put<br />
a lot of energy into meeting the market regulations<br />
and adapting our product to fit the<br />
need of our international customers.”<br />
Throughout the pandemic, Hansa also experienced<br />
rapid growth into Australia, Germany,<br />
United Kingdom, and the Benelux region<br />
(Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg).<br />
Vogel says Hansa are now moving their focus<br />
towards the French market.<br />
Having Hansa Products Europe GmbH man-<br />
They’ve taken back over their distribution in<br />
Australia, which is their biggest export with 60<br />
percent of their products ending up across<br />
the ditch and have continued growth plans<br />
for Australia, in both the lifestyle and commercial<br />
market segments.<br />
Vogel recognises the value in digital channels<br />
in conjunction with traditional distributor networks,<br />
therefore will be growing eCommerce<br />
as it is a great channel to market.<br />
The market growth and increased production<br />
Hansa is experiencing has meant an increase<br />
in production staff back home in New Zealand.<br />
18 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP <strong>December</strong> <strong>2021</strong>
of using each machine enjoyable.<br />
They also meet or exceed the market’s regulatory<br />
safety standards and the machines are<br />
designed for ease of servicing and maintenance.<br />
The overarching benefit<br />
is that we’re creating<br />
jobs for the community.<br />
That’s definitely a driver<br />
of it.<br />
into those new export markets and we’ve<br />
put a lot of energy into meeting the market<br />
regulations and adapting our product to fit<br />
the need of our international customers,”<br />
Vogel says.<br />
It’s a far cry from its humble beginnings on<br />
Ryburn Rd, in a honey shed in Ohaupo.<br />
Vogel’s father, Manfred Vogel, a design<br />
engineer, started making chippers from his<br />
mother-in-law’s honey shed in the 1980s.<br />
Martin says his father saw the opportunity in<br />
the market and on a shoestring budget, he<br />
began making them in his own time,<br />
and never looked back.<br />
In 2004, Martin joined the family business<br />
and it was just the two of them for a while,<br />
but Martin has since taken it from strength to<br />
strength.<br />
“When I joined the company, we were able<br />
to leverage off the reputation that my father<br />
had built 20 years before,” Martin says.<br />
The name, Hansa, was created by Manfred,<br />
who is originally from Germany. He moved<br />
here in 1977 and when he started the business<br />
he didn’t want to use the family name, so it<br />
was Martin’s mother who came up with the<br />
name. They wanted to include some of his European<br />
heritage and Hansa is an old trading<br />
name from the Viking times and is common<br />
especially in Northern Germany.<br />
Looking ahead into the future, the team at<br />
Hansa are committed to an ongoing evolution<br />
of sustainable manufacturing processes.<br />
Along with long product lifespan through<br />
the design and production of top-quality<br />
product, and lean manufacturing to minimise<br />
waste through all areas of the business, the<br />
expansion is another continuous improvement<br />
towards actualising their sustainable initiatives<br />
on premises.<br />
In recent years, Hansa undertook the SIRI<br />
assessment as part of the Callaghan Innovation<br />
Industry 4.0 Demonstration Network<br />
programme which resulted in Hansa being<br />
ranked highly in enterprise automatisation.<br />
As a result of increased manufacturing costs<br />
Hansa has recognised industry 4.0 as being<br />
pivotal for their future success.<br />
Hansa is now working through a 10-year automation<br />
piece which will result in increased<br />
automation, profit margins, and being able to<br />
supply their increasing demand confidently.<br />
“For us, it’s about breaking and expanding<br />
WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP <strong>December</strong> <strong>2021</strong><br />
19
Putting a little more goodness into my life<br />
It took some convincing before I committed to spend three days at Resolution Retreats. It wasn’t that I doubted the quality or<br />
worthiness of the gorgeous Karapiro spa, but simply that my business took all the time and energy I had. Stepping out of that constant<br />
drive for results felt self-indulgent and wasteful.<br />
If my attitude feels familiar<br />
to you, I have things you<br />
need to know.<br />
Investing those first three<br />
days was among the best business<br />
and personal decisions I<br />
have ever made. I followed<br />
it with another three day programme<br />
and together they<br />
have been transformational.<br />
Resolution Retreats is neither<br />
a holiday nor a bootcamp.<br />
It is a genuine wellness retreat<br />
run by highly skilled people<br />
who understand exactly what<br />
burnout, inability to relax,<br />
overcommitment, and putting-yourself-last<br />
looks like<br />
and they are driven to giving<br />
clients the tools and support<br />
to refocus into a healthier,<br />
more successful approach to<br />
life. No judgement, no finger<br />
wagging.<br />
The first programme I did<br />
was a Kick Start; the second<br />
was a Resilience programme,<br />
aimed squarely at business<br />
people. Although the experience<br />
of each was very similar,<br />
the coaching and learning<br />
sessions in the Resilience<br />
programme included knowl-<br />
edge and tools for addressing<br />
burnout, prioritising, dealing<br />
with people, communication<br />
strategies, workplace dynamics<br />
and other typical business<br />
issues. Oh, and to illustrate<br />
how well they understand<br />
their clients, the Resilience<br />
programme provided coffee,<br />
tea and sugar as well as the<br />
standard incredibly healthy<br />
and delicious five meals a day.<br />
The programme was<br />
highly organised<br />
and structured with<br />
a nice balance of<br />
free time.<br />
As a broad overview, Resolution<br />
Retreats packages<br />
combine seriously good and<br />
healthy food that catered for<br />
individual preferences (eggs<br />
poached, not runny, please);<br />
physical movement that was<br />
equally comfortable for teens<br />
or 80-year-olds plus the option<br />
of personal trainer sessions;<br />
classic spa treatments<br />
such as massage and beauty<br />
therapies; outstanding learning<br />
sessions led by specialists<br />
on diverse subjects such as<br />
tools for mental wellbeing,<br />
or the effects of hormones<br />
and tools for monitoring our<br />
health, and those work and<br />
business-related subjects.<br />
All set in beautiful grounds<br />
with superb private chalets<br />
and amenities including spa,<br />
indoor pool and tennis court.<br />
And with impeccable professionalism<br />
and service.<br />
The programme was highly<br />
organised and structured<br />
with a nice balance of free<br />
time. But nothing was compulsory,<br />
so if I chose to opt<br />
out of something and instead<br />
going for a swim or a walk,<br />
that was perfectly fine. Someone<br />
might check in to see that<br />
I was okay but that felt nurturing<br />
and responsive.<br />
But parts of the experience<br />
I most valued were the human<br />
elements: the opportunity to<br />
share experiences with others<br />
from all over the country who<br />
were each on their own interesting<br />
journey and to have<br />
time to build real connections,<br />
the incredible responsiveness<br />
and nurturing by the Resolution<br />
Retreats team, the space<br />
to use the time I was there to<br />
focus on what was most important<br />
to me. It felt like a<br />
rare privilege.<br />
My experience was prob-<br />
ably absolutely typical. I arrived<br />
feeling exhausted and<br />
a bit unsociable. I left feeling<br />
energised, refocused, back in<br />
control of my life and wellbeing,<br />
and with all the knowledge<br />
and tools I needed to<br />
make these a lasting change.<br />
They gave me the tools to<br />
take back control of my life;<br />
it felt so powerful.<br />
From a business perspective,<br />
the value was obvious.<br />
I returned to work with more<br />
energy to give to my team and<br />
with better skills to lead and<br />
coach. I can see the potential<br />
for my team to also benefit<br />
from a Resolution Retreats<br />
programme and that’s an investment<br />
I will be making.<br />
By DEIDRE MORRIS (DIRECTOR DP MEDIA LTD.)<br />
20 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP <strong>December</strong> <strong>2021</strong>
Putting yourself,<br />
your health and<br />
your happiness first<br />
Having never been on a retreat, I was both excited and nervous<br />
entering Resolution Retreats. On arrival we were greeted by<br />
lovely staff members and shown to our villa. Almost immediately<br />
you enter into a world of relaxation. They have worked hard to<br />
ensure every part of the retreat is up to the highest standard<br />
including facilities, food, staff and even how lovely everything<br />
smells! No detail is left out.<br />
The multiple workshops<br />
covering everything<br />
health-related ensure<br />
you leave with a better understanding<br />
of how everything<br />
such as food, exercise and<br />
sleep affects our quality of life.<br />
Carly took out first health<br />
workshop, which covered mental<br />
health. She didn’t linger on<br />
negative topics but she spoke<br />
matter-of-factly. She talked<br />
about mental health as a positive<br />
and important part of life.<br />
It shouldn’t have negative connotations<br />
surrounding it and this<br />
is something that we all need to<br />
continue to work on.<br />
With our mental wellbeing<br />
taken care of, the next two workshops<br />
with Jo and Tiffany were<br />
based around nutrition. The information<br />
we learnt was easy to<br />
process and you could easily implement<br />
it in your everyday life.<br />
The workshops were equally as<br />
interesting as they were educational.<br />
Being the youngest woman<br />
at the retreat I wasn’t sure how<br />
I would fit in, I soon discovered<br />
that what we learnt was for<br />
women of all ages. I felt at ease<br />
right away and I want to encourage<br />
other young people to take<br />
part in experiences like Resolution<br />
Retreats.<br />
Spa treatments are offered<br />
to make you feel pampered and<br />
help you unwind fully. I went<br />
for a facial and full body massage<br />
leaving me recharged and<br />
glowing.<br />
Fresh and healthy meals<br />
are provided every day, which<br />
are all prepared by the women<br />
running the retreat. They aren’t<br />
chefs but the food was delicious<br />
with ingredients purchased locally<br />
from the supermarket. This<br />
shows everyone that once you<br />
leave the retreat, making meals<br />
like that at home is definitely<br />
doable.<br />
Being the youngest<br />
woman at the<br />
retreat I wasn’t<br />
sure how I would<br />
fit in, I soon<br />
discovered that<br />
what we learnt was<br />
for women of all<br />
ages.<br />
There are fitness classes every<br />
day, which I wasn’t looking<br />
forward to as much as spa<br />
treatments but I really ended up<br />
enjoying the exercise. Tiffany,<br />
who took fitness, showed us that<br />
exercise comes in many different<br />
forms. You just have to find<br />
one that works for you. We did<br />
a few different activities such as<br />
pool fitness, dance, different circuits<br />
and walks around the lovely<br />
grounds. As well as fitness,<br />
we did yoga and meditation. I<br />
was very excited about this form<br />
of wellness as I have been trying<br />
to get into it before I went<br />
on retreat. Tiffany made sure<br />
everyone’s abilities were catered<br />
for in the yoga classes. I spoke<br />
to a few ladies before who were<br />
a little nervous but managed to<br />
enjoy it and relax once they got<br />
into it.<br />
You are also given time to<br />
yourself to unwind, they call<br />
this ‘bliss time’ and it’s a great<br />
way to enjoy the retreat facilities<br />
such as the pool, spa, sauna,<br />
steam room and gym. You can<br />
also use this time to sit in your<br />
villa and read a book or even<br />
just mingle with the other ladies.<br />
As this retreat focuses largely on<br />
being a place for anyone who is<br />
feeling burnt out to recharge and<br />
reset, ‘bliss time’ is an important<br />
part of this experience. They do<br />
a great job at balancing time to<br />
relax and time for activities/<br />
workshops.<br />
Throughout the retreat you<br />
are encouraged to step out of<br />
your comfort zone. Whether it<br />
be in fitness class, eating food<br />
you usually wouldn’t at home,<br />
and even cutting out coffee and<br />
alcohol, which for a lot of people<br />
can be a challenge in itself.<br />
All injuries, allergies and ailments<br />
were taken into account<br />
and this meant everyone could<br />
participate in all activities to the<br />
best of their ability, enjoy all the<br />
food, and no one is made to feel<br />
left out.<br />
There were women of all<br />
ages, shapes, sizes and everyone<br />
was there for different reasons.<br />
But at the end of the day everyone<br />
was there to better their lives<br />
in one way or another, which<br />
gave me a sense of unity. I left<br />
with the understanding that putting<br />
yourself, your health and<br />
By BETH NEBEN<br />
your happiness first is so important.<br />
It’s okay to take a break,<br />
to recharge and to always keep<br />
learning how to be the best version<br />
of you!<br />
WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP <strong>December</strong> <strong>2021</strong><br />
21
What a Year!<br />
After 30 years in business <strong>2021</strong> has<br />
been our most challenging year ever.<br />
When you begin your business, as<br />
we did in early 1992, there was<br />
a sense of excitement and apprehension<br />
of the unknown. Every business<br />
opportunity was seized upon and every $<br />
was precious, and there was always that<br />
feeling that everyone else knew more<br />
than you did. <strong>Business</strong> success also has<br />
an element of timing and good luck, and<br />
ours came in the form or a small news<br />
article about Wilson & Horton winning<br />
a court ruling that an advert placed by<br />
an overseas advertiser in NZ should be<br />
zero-rated for GST.<br />
As our immigration and education business<br />
at the time was almost exclusively<br />
providing services to overseas clients we<br />
approached the IRD who, to their credit,<br />
promptly undertook an audit of our business<br />
and a substantial refund of the all the<br />
GST we had paid to date was duly made!<br />
Looking back, these early challenges<br />
pale into insignificance compared with<br />
the challenges of these past two years.<br />
Last year we were all presented with the<br />
unknown, both in our business and in our<br />
personal lives. But once the “unknown”<br />
became “known” we all pivoted and<br />
adjusted our business operations and personal<br />
lives to the new world and got on<br />
with life – thinking that <strong>2021</strong> would be<br />
better. However, for many businesses,<br />
including our immigration business, <strong>2021</strong><br />
has proved even more challenging.<br />
We provide a service to migrants, and<br />
employers who employ migrants, and<br />
advise, assist and manage the various visa<br />
and regulatory requirements to enable<br />
migrants to enter, study, work, invest and<br />
live in New Zealand. It was not so much<br />
the border closure that impacted on our<br />
business but the very frequent and significant<br />
legislation changes that happened on<br />
Richard Howard<br />
an almost daily basis. Having instructed<br />
clients on the basis of the relevant legislation<br />
one day the Government decided<br />
to issue everyone free visas the next day.<br />
Having geared up employers for the new<br />
accreditation regime (after 3 years of planning)<br />
and then have a last-minute deferral<br />
until sometime next year. Having to<br />
deal with all our visa holders and investor<br />
migrants who have completed all their<br />
visa requirements but who are not able to<br />
actually enter New Zealand and more. And<br />
then the introduction of the <strong>2021</strong> Resident<br />
Visa and the Immigration New Zealand<br />
website immediately crashing…<br />
Our learnings from <strong>2021</strong> are to expect<br />
the unexpected, to embrace flexible working<br />
arrangements as these are here to stay,<br />
utilise technology to its potential, and to<br />
make the most of any opportunities for the<br />
team to come together – our people are our<br />
greatest asset and we need to explore all<br />
options to really look after them.<br />
Looking forward we now have more<br />
legislative certainty (we hope!) for immigration<br />
in the coming year and can plan<br />
forward with some confidence for another<br />
busy and successful year - and one which<br />
we very much intend to be more enjoyable<br />
than the year we are now leaving behind!<br />
STILL TIME TO<br />
GROW UP,<br />
NOT OUT<br />
THE STORY THEN<br />
In June, <strong>Waikato</strong> <strong>Business</strong> <strong>News</strong> spoke to Thomas<br />
Gibbons, who is on the Property Council<br />
<strong>Waikato</strong> regional executive, about Hamilton<br />
City Council’s boost for urban design and he<br />
warned developer discontent was likely to<br />
persist.<br />
As part of its 10-year plan, the council had overhauled<br />
its developer contribution (DC) settings<br />
while also proposing an average 8.9 percent<br />
rates rise.<br />
Among a raft of changes, builds in the CBD<br />
of six storeys and higher are set to gain a full<br />
contribution remission, dropping to 50 percent<br />
for other buildings. The remissions depend<br />
on engagement with the urban design panel.<br />
He emphasised the city had engaged with<br />
his membership-based organisation over the<br />
changes.<br />
Despite robust discussions about the changes<br />
there remained a view that the city’s DCs were<br />
still too high.<br />
Gibbons said the Property Council supported<br />
remissions as a way of encouraging further<br />
development and was also supportive of the<br />
boosted role for the urban design panel.<br />
THOMAS GIBBONS<br />
areas like Hamilton, <strong>Waikato</strong>, and Waipa.<br />
Local government was almost universally opposed<br />
to the reforms, with Hamilton City and<br />
FutureProof raising forceful concerns about the<br />
impacts on existing infrastructure, and on the<br />
well-being of the <strong>Waikato</strong> River.<br />
Conversely, those who believe supply is an<br />
important part of the affordability puzzle have<br />
been more welcoming of the reforms.<br />
Others have accepted the idea that something<br />
needed to be done – which is perhaps an<br />
acceptance that the current planning system<br />
isn’t delivering the houses it needs to - though<br />
have seen the proposed reforms as a relatively<br />
blunt instrument.<br />
There remains a critical problem of how our<br />
communities pay for growth. The <strong>Waikato</strong><br />
remains a desirable place to live, and as we<br />
can’t stop babies being born, or people moving<br />
here, our housing needs will continue to<br />
increase.<br />
So, there is a need for more infrastructure to<br />
service growth, while at the same time, there<br />
is limited appetite for rates increases or higher<br />
development contributions. Indeed, higher<br />
development contributions can worsen the<br />
affordability issues that already arise.<br />
Level 2<br />
586 Victoria Street<br />
Hamilton 3204<br />
Level 3<br />
50 Manners Street<br />
Wellington 6011<br />
07 834 9222<br />
enquiries@pathwaysnz.com<br />
pathwaysnz.com<br />
Regional sprawl could also become an issue<br />
as DC costs are passed on to home buyers,<br />
he said, raising house prices in the city and<br />
potentially driving drift to smaller towns, in turn<br />
putting pressure on the roading system and<br />
commuter times.<br />
THE STORY NOW<br />
A lot has been happening in the development<br />
world. At a policy level, RMA reform continues<br />
to emerge, with the National and Built<br />
Environments Bill being reported back from<br />
select committee. Hamilton City Council started<br />
consultation on a plan change that would allow<br />
for more intensification, as a way of meeting<br />
its NPS-UD responsibility to provide for more<br />
developable land.<br />
Into this process came the hurricane of bipartisan<br />
RMA reforms around enabling more<br />
housing. The soundbite was that an existing<br />
section could allow three dwellings of three<br />
storeys each, which would seem a dramatic step<br />
towards greater intensification of high-growth<br />
Some would say the basic answer is more central<br />
government spending on local infrastructure.<br />
Our local authorities and communities<br />
simply aren’t geared up to fund their growth<br />
needs.<br />
Absent this kind of intervention, we need to be<br />
more innovative about how we approach infrastructure,<br />
with a closer look at targeted rates,<br />
Special Purpose Vehicles, and other tools.<br />
Meanwhile, great developments continue to be<br />
done in Hamilton and across the region. We<br />
are seeing some great new apartment developments<br />
come onto the market. Greenfields<br />
development remains a challenge, because<br />
of the infrastructure issues highlighted above.<br />
Commercial development too seems to be<br />
coming on well, with premium new buildings<br />
going up, often with national tenants who are<br />
attracted to Hamilton for its centrality and safety.<br />
Union Square and the new ACC premises are<br />
leading the way here.”<br />
Contributed by Thomas Gibbons<br />
22 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP <strong>December</strong> <strong>2021</strong>
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WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP <strong>December</strong> <strong>2021</strong><br />
23
THE PLUMBER’S<br />
LEAKY TAP<br />
When you’re self-employed or lead a small business,<br />
taking care of your brand and taking care of yourself<br />
go hand in hand. And it’s not always easy.<br />
on your skills and expertise, you are your brand.<br />
The two are intrinsically linked, unless you’re<br />
being totally inauthentic or fabricating a different<br />
persona… good luck with that if you are.<br />
I realised this year how underplaying my own<br />
abilities could be damaging to my business. If<br />
someone asks you if you can do something and<br />
you answer ‘yes, I think so’ or ‘I’ll give it a go’, it<br />
obviously gives them less confidence in you than<br />
if they hear an emphatic ‘yes’.<br />
I once heard someone described as FIGJAM –<br />
where the last five letters stood for ‘I’m great, just<br />
ask me’. This person was the epitome of blowing<br />
their own trumpet, allergic to humility whilst<br />
over-estimating their own ability. As a client, that’s<br />
not the attitude I’d want to see from a supplier of<br />
mine, so that level of overt self-belief isn’t something<br />
I aspire to personally. But, like everything,<br />
there’s a healthy middle ground that will be<br />
authentic for me and the right fit for the types of<br />
clients that I want my brand to aspire to.<br />
Many people have felt that the <strong>2021</strong> lockdowns<br />
were harder than 2020 and for me, the enforced<br />
period of semi-isolation led to introspection.<br />
However, we increasingly also seem to be more<br />
open to sharing our mental health battles, even<br />
just a small blip like mine.<br />
So, with the help of the wonderful Jean at Everest<br />
People, I’ve been focusing on taking care of<br />
my own brand through getting to understand<br />
my own brain. And life is already so much better<br />
for it.<br />
For the job at Verdict Communications, the<br />
advertisement’s headline read ‘Brilliant Account<br />
Manager required’. My covering letter pretty<br />
much just had a single sentence about how my<br />
typical English modesty prevented me from calling<br />
myself brilliant but that I hoped my CV would<br />
be of interest.<br />
It’s taken me 20 years to finally realise that what I<br />
always classify as modesty is actually something<br />
quite different, and not always constructive. It’s<br />
a kind of imposter syndrome that, at its worst, is<br />
suffocating.<br />
It’s a common feeling that most of you will have<br />
experienced at least once, that sense of not<br />
being worthy of someone’s belief, of irrationally<br />
feeling out of your depth when you’re actually<br />
TELLING YOUR STORY<br />
> BY VICKI JONES<br />
only up to your ankles. It’s a fear of stuffing up,<br />
even while doing something you’ve done perfectly<br />
well many times before.<br />
It never affects my family relationships, and rarely<br />
shows itself to my friends. Until recently, it had<br />
only popped into my work life a handful of times.<br />
But, this year, it turned up at my door, let itself in<br />
and made itself at home for a while.<br />
In agency days, I was surrounded by supportive<br />
colleagues, able to keep feelings of self-doubt<br />
at bay. I was driven to not let the team down or,<br />
more honestly, not look a fool. As a consultant<br />
or contractor, smart clients and motivated teams<br />
focus me, even if they don’t realise the positive<br />
impact they have.<br />
When your business is built around you, based<br />
Vicki Jones is director of Dugmore Jones, Hamilton-based brand<br />
management consultancy. Email vicki@dugmorejones.co.nz<br />
Many of us live with the fear of over-promising<br />
and under-delivering. But the risk in leading<br />
your customers to have low expectations is that<br />
they have a poor understanding of what you’re<br />
genuinely capable of.<br />
I now understand that an outright ‘yes’ doesn’t<br />
seem arrogant and big-headed, which was always<br />
my fear. It doesn’t push you into the dreaded<br />
‘fake it till you make it’ zone, worrying if you<br />
can deliver on what you promised. It shows that<br />
you’re more than ready to rise to the challenge.<br />
It wasn’t until a client called me out that it really<br />
struck home. He literally told me off for selling<br />
myself short – “you’re better at this stuff than<br />
you give yourself credit”. During that thankfully<br />
honest conversation, I finally realised that I might<br />
send my business into a downward spiral if I<br />
wasn’t careful about how I articulate my own<br />
knowledge and experience. If I didn’t remove<br />
the filter of insecurity, I’d be limiting the kind of<br />
work I could be getting in the future.<br />
Marketers are often neglectful of their own<br />
brand story, like the plumber with the leaky tap.<br />
But now I have insights into what makes me tick<br />
(or rather, what makes me stop ticking) I have a<br />
much clearer focus on what my own brand is all<br />
about.<br />
I’ll be following my own advice, at last, and<br />
will nurture my own brand with more care and<br />
attention in 2022. Because…I can.<br />
Many of us live with the<br />
fear of over-promising<br />
and under-delivering.<br />
But the risk in leading<br />
your customers to have<br />
low expectations is<br />
that they have a poor<br />
understanding of<br />
what you’re genuinely<br />
capable of.<br />
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24 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP <strong>December</strong> <strong>2021</strong>
A NEW APPROACH NEEDED TO SOLVE<br />
TECH TALENT SHORTAGE<br />
TAXATION AND THE LAW<br />
> BY ROB FISHER<br />
Rob Fisher, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairoa, Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Whakaue,<br />
is Technology Consulting Lead Partner at PwC New Zealand. For<br />
more information please contact Elsa Wrathall 0274 595 540.<br />
With an estimated 10,000 open jobs in the tech<br />
sector, Aotearoa is at real risk of being unable to<br />
deliver its digital ambitions.<br />
start walking the talk and focus efforts into the<br />
right stage. We need to shift effort and resources<br />
towards initiatives that engage and inspire<br />
tamariki and rangatahi, rather than waiting for<br />
graduates with whakapapa to roll out of tertiary<br />
training institutions.<br />
Our approach to training also needs to be<br />
re-thought. Currently there is a high burden on<br />
employers to make heavy investments (time<br />
and money) in graduates to become ‘project’<br />
or ‘client’ ready, productive team members.<br />
The general feeling in the industry is that while<br />
graduates come with enthusiasm, critical-thinking<br />
and a level of industry awareness, we effectively<br />
give them all of their work-experience. This bites<br />
particularly hard for the small and medium parts<br />
of the tech sector.<br />
In August, NZ Tech published a report on the<br />
skills crisis the sector faces, which shows the<br />
combined impact of huge industry growth and<br />
COVID-related border closures. In the last few<br />
years the sector has focused on filling mid-senior<br />
tech positions by reaching into the global pool<br />
of talented individuals and selling them on the<br />
Kiwi lifestyle.<br />
This approach makes technology an exclusive<br />
club that doesn’t really look like our community -<br />
Māori are significantly underrepresented at only<br />
4% of the industry’s workforce. If you believe in<br />
the power of diverse thinking and perspectives,<br />
it’s a missed opportunity to add more horsepower<br />
into an industry that thrives on creativity and<br />
innovation.<br />
If we don’t fix this, the equity gap between<br />
Māori and non-Māori will continue to grow. Tech<br />
salaries are increasing - the median salary is over<br />
$95k - and Aotearoa is producing more start-up<br />
success on the local and global stage. Lack of<br />
Māori participation means money and opportunities<br />
bypassing Māori households and communities,<br />
which has intergenerational consequences.<br />
There needs to be targeted investment by Government<br />
and industry to ensure equitable digital<br />
access for tamariki and rangatahi. It’s no longer<br />
acceptable that young Māori don’t have the<br />
opportunity to explore, develop and learn digital<br />
skills. Collectively, we need to create the environment<br />
for all young people to engage confidently<br />
with technology and to shift their mindset from<br />
consumers to digital innovation creators.<br />
If the tech industry is serious about creating a<br />
workforce that’s more diverse, then it needs to<br />
Cataract<br />
One solution is to learn from other industries<br />
and shift away from multi-year courses that don’t<br />
reflect how the industry works. Technology skills<br />
development is much better suited to vocational<br />
education where tauira (students) can learn<br />
the craft and specific skills industry needs from<br />
a blend of classroom/virtual in an actual work<br />
environment. That’s the approach we’ve taken<br />
with our Ignite programme, which provides onthe-job<br />
learning for participants, while they work<br />
towards technology certification through one of<br />
our alliance partners.<br />
This approach removes another barrier for Māori<br />
- the cost of tertiary education. That’s both the<br />
cost of tuition and the unseen cost of sacrificing<br />
wages and income to support themselves and<br />
whānau. Shifting to a vocational training model,<br />
in a partnership between Government, industry<br />
and training institutions, would provide a significantly<br />
higher quality of education that meets<br />
industry demands and allows people to earn<br />
while they learn. Government will need to offer<br />
incentives to support organisations making this<br />
investment in our future generations.<br />
The tech industry is known for its ability to meet<br />
complex challenges with innovative solutions. In<br />
the case of addressing the talent shortage, it will<br />
take a sector-wide collaboration and an openness<br />
to new ways of doing things to solve it.<br />
Cataract<br />
Surgery<br />
Cataract Surgery<br />
Surgery<br />
Cataract<br />
A CATARACT IS A GRADUAL CLOUDING<br />
OF THE LENS INSIDE THE EYE. HAVING A<br />
CATARACT CAN BE LIKE LOOKING THROUGH<br />
A CLOUDY WINDOW AND MAY TAKE YOU<br />
Surgery<br />
AWAY FROM DOING YOUR USUAL DAY-TO-<br />
A CATARACT IS A GRADUAL CLOUDING<br />
OF THE LENS INSIDE<br />
A<br />
THE<br />
CATARACT<br />
EYE. HAVING<br />
IS<br />
A<br />
A GRADUAL A CATARACT Merry CLOUDING<br />
IS A GRADUAL DAY Christmas<br />
ACTIVITIES. CLOUDING<br />
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A CLOUDY WINDOW AND MAY TAKE YOU<br />
ery<br />
CATARACT CAN BE LIKE LOOKING THROUGH<br />
CATARACT CAN BE LIKE LOOKING from THROUGH<br />
Cataract the development team is a normal process<br />
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A CATARACT IS A GRADUAL<br />
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at Hamilton medications or long-term<br />
DAY-TO-<br />
Eye exposure to<br />
CATARACT CAN BE LIKE LOOKING THROUGH<br />
sunlight.<br />
A CLOUDY WINDOW AND MAY TAKE YOU<br />
AWAY FROM DOING YOUR USUAL DAY DAY-TO- ACTIVITIES.<br />
As scary as cataracts might sound, modern<br />
DAY Cataract ACTIVITIES. development is a normal process<br />
Clinic<br />
cataract surgery can usually restore vision<br />
of aging. Cataracts can also be present at Cataract development lost is a to normal cataracts process — and can often reduce your<br />
birth, develop from injuries, certain diseases, of aging. Cataracts can dependence also be present on glasses at as well.<br />
Cataract medications development or is long-term a normal process exposure to birth, develop from injuries, certain diseases,<br />
of aging. sunlight. Cataracts can also Cataract be present development is a normal process<br />
medications or long-term When exposure you are no to longer able to see well enough to do the things you like to do,<br />
birth, develop from injuries, certain diseases,<br />
of aging. Cataracts sunlight. can also be present cataract at surgery should be considered. Thankfully cataract surgery is one of the safest<br />
medications or long-term exposure to<br />
As scary as cataracts might sound, modern<br />
and most effective surgical procedures performed today. Surgery involves removing the<br />
sunlight.<br />
birth, develop from injuries, certain diseases,<br />
cataract and replacing it with an artificial lens. The procedure typically is performed on<br />
cataract surgery can usually restore vision<br />
As scary as cataracts might an outpatient sound, basis modern and does not require an overnight stay care facility. Recovery time is<br />
As scary lost to as cataracts might — and medications sound, can modern often reduce or long-term your exposure to<br />
cataract surgery can usually quick, and restore vision can vision start to return to the affected eye within a few hours of surgery.<br />
cataract surgery can usually restore vision<br />
dependence on glasses as well.<br />
lost to cataracts — and can often sunlight. reduce your<br />
lost to cataracts — and can often reduce your<br />
dependence on glasses as well.<br />
dependence on glasses as well.<br />
When you are no longer able to see well enough to do the things you like to do,<br />
When As scary as cataracts might sound, modern<br />
cataract you are surgery no longer able should to see be well considered. enough to do Thankfully the things you cataract like to do, Hamilton Eye Clinic have a team of highly qualified and experienced<br />
surgery is one of the safest<br />
cataract surgery should be considered. Thankfully cataract surgery<br />
and most effective surgical cataract procedures surgery performed can When is<br />
usually today. you one of are the<br />
Surgery restore no safest longer Ophthalmologists,<br />
involves vision able removing to see well with<br />
the enough fellowship to training do the things various you subspecialities, like to do, providing<br />
and most effective surgical procedures performed today. Surgery involves removing the<br />
cataract and replacing it with an artificial lens. cataract The procedure surgery typically should an<br />
is be Ophthalmic<br />
performed considered. service Thankfully of excellence. cataract surgery is one of the safest<br />
cataract and replacing it with lost an artificial to cataracts lens. The procedure — and typically can is performed often on reduce your<br />
an outpatient an outpatient basis and basis does and not require does not an overnight require stay an overnight care and facility. most stay Recovery effective care time facility. surgical is Recovery procedures time is performed today. Surgery involves removing the<br />
We offer a comprehensive range of diagnostic and treatment services, including<br />
quick, quick, and vision and vision can start can to dependence return start to to the return affected to<br />
on eye the<br />
glasses within affected cataract a few eye hours as and within<br />
well. of surgery. replacing a few hours surgery it with of in surgery. an our artificial adjoining lens. purpose-build The procedure facility Bridgewater typically is Day performed Surgery. on<br />
an outpatient basis and does not require an overnight stay care facility. Recovery time is<br />
quick, and vision can start to return to the affected eye within a few hours of surgery.<br />
When you are no longer able to see well enough to do the things you like to do,<br />
Hamilton Eye Clinic have a team of highly qualified and experienced<br />
To book an appointment email:<br />
Ophthalmologists,<br />
Hamilton Eye<br />
with<br />
Clinic<br />
fellowship cataract have<br />
training<br />
a team surgery in<br />
of<br />
various<br />
highly should subspecialities,<br />
qualified be and<br />
providing considered. appointments@hamiltoneyeclinic.co.nz<br />
experienced Thankfully cataract surgery is one of the safest<br />
an Ophthalmic service of excellence.<br />
or phone us directly.<br />
Ophthalmologists, and with most fellowship effective training surgical in various subspecialities, procedures performed providing today. Surgery involves removing the<br />
We an offer Ophthalmic a comprehensive service cataract range of of excellence.<br />
diagnostic and replacing and treatment Hamilton services, it with Eye including an Clinic artificial have 130 Grantham a lens. team Street, of The highly Hamilton procedure qualified typically and experienced is performed on<br />
surgery in our adjoining purpose-build facility Bridgewater Ophthalmologists, Day Surgery. with www.hamiltoneyeclinic.co.nz<br />
fellowship training in various subspecialities, providing<br />
an outpatient basis and does not require an overnight stay care facility. Recovery time is<br />
We offer a comprehensive range of diagnostic an Ophthalmic and treatment service services, of excellence. including<br />
surgery in our adjoining quick, purpose-build and vision facility can start Bridgewater to return Day to Surgery. the affected eye within a few hours of surgery.<br />
To book an appointment email:<br />
WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP <strong>December</strong> <strong>2021</strong><br />
appointments@hamiltoneyeclinic.co.nz<br />
We offer a comprehensive range of diagnostic and treatment services, including<br />
or phone us directly.<br />
surgery in our adjoining purpose-build facility Bridgewater Day Surgery.<br />
To book an appointment email:<br />
Cataract<br />
Surgery<br />
DUAL CLOUDING<br />
THE EYE. HAVING A<br />
KE LOOKING THROUGH<br />
AND ATARACT MAY TAKE IS A GRADUAL YOU CLOUDING<br />
THE OUR LENS USUAL INSIDE DAY-TO-<br />
THE EYE. HAVING A<br />
ARACT CAN BE LIKE LOOKING THROUGH<br />
25
COMMUNICATION<br />
TACTICS FOR THE HOLIDAYS<br />
PR AND COMMUNICATIONS<br />
> BY HEATHER CLAYCOMB<br />
Heather Claycomb is director of HMC, a Hamilton-based,<br />
award-winning public relations agency.<br />
Play a game that doesn’t involve a device<br />
Board games get people laughing and talking.<br />
The energy in the room can rev up the happy<br />
endorphins, which helps to build relationship<br />
bonds. Dust off your favourite one and give<br />
it a go.<br />
Ask questions<br />
and conversations. What was your favourite<br />
Christmas gift as a kid? What’s the naughtiest<br />
thing you did as a teenager? What would be<br />
your ultimate holiday destination and what would<br />
you do? If you were in prison, what would you<br />
eat for your last meal?<br />
Use social to document family moments<br />
Many of us are used to creating ‘stories’ on Facebook,<br />
Instagram or even LinkedIn these days. Try<br />
creating a digital ‘story’ to document and save<br />
memories of a special day with friends or family.<br />
Tell a good joke<br />
If you are gifted with the special communication<br />
talent of joviality and clever timing, deliver a<br />
clean joke or two. There’s nothing like a good<br />
laugh to bring people together!<br />
Say I love you<br />
Every month I try to bring <strong>Waikato</strong> <strong>Business</strong> <strong>News</strong><br />
readers some seriously good communications<br />
tips you can use in your work life. Once in awhile<br />
someone even tells me they put my pontifications<br />
into practise. It’s always nice to hear that<br />
someone out there is reading and implementing<br />
these things – good on you.<br />
But as I sat down to write this last column of the<br />
year, I felt like ditching the business talk and<br />
doing something a bit lighter – but equally as<br />
important.<br />
For many of us, Christmas, New Year’s and the<br />
summer holidays are a time to connect – or<br />
reconnect – with friends and family. So, how<br />
about trying out one of these communications-related<br />
activities to build relationships,<br />
create memories and have some fun?<br />
Video Nana spinning a good yarn<br />
cuzzies roll their eyes and leave the room. Well,<br />
believe it or not one day you’ll miss it. You swear<br />
you won’t forget it because you’ve heard it so<br />
many times, but you’d be surprised how fast<br />
details fade away. Take a moment to write down<br />
family stories – you’ll be glad you did.<br />
Finally print your family pics<br />
You’ve been promising to print your photos since<br />
the dawn of the digital camera in the early 2000s.<br />
Yet, the latest snaps you have on your walls are<br />
the kids’ school photos from 1995. Make 2022<br />
the year!<br />
Find pride of place for handwritten items<br />
This is my personal project for 2022. I have letters,<br />
cards, recipes and notes from older relatives<br />
that I want to get out of my closet and onto my<br />
walls.<br />
Ask the people you are hanging with over the<br />
holidays a random question that spark memories<br />
It’s the most important message you’ll ever<br />
communicate.<br />
Nana – or Grandad or Cousin Lou – won’t be<br />
around forever. Why not ask them to talk about<br />
a favourite memory from their childhood and<br />
video it for posterity?<br />
Write down Uncle Joe’s annoying story<br />
You know that story – that one that makes all the<br />
Have a digital free dinner<br />
Whether it’s with your friends, kids or wider<br />
family, set aside a dinner or two when everyone<br />
puts their phones on silent - maybe even locks<br />
them away - and talks to one another over a long<br />
dinner. You may have to bribe the kids, but it will<br />
be worth it.<br />
COMPANY-X CLIENTS WILL BENEFIT FROM<br />
NEW ZEALAND CLOUD<br />
COMPUTING SERVICES<br />
TECH TALK<br />
> BY DAVID HALLETT<br />
David Hallett is a co-founder and director of New Zealand<br />
software specialist Company-X.<br />
Company-X clients stand to benefit from a series<br />
of data centres being built in Auckland by big tech<br />
players Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft.<br />
Amazon and Microsoft are bringing the very latest<br />
in cloud computing services to the doorsteps of<br />
Kiwi companies by building data centres here in<br />
New Zealand.<br />
Once built and operational, clients will be able to<br />
shift from data centres overseas to New Zealand<br />
data centres closer to home.<br />
Company-X builds interactive augmented reality<br />
(AR) and virtual reality (VR) solutions using Amazon<br />
Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure.<br />
When Amazon and Microsoft’s data centres are<br />
operational, we can deploy in New Zealand using<br />
the same infrastructure that we deploy into the US<br />
and Europe. It’s a much better outcome for our<br />
clients.<br />
Amazon and Microsoft stored data in New<br />
Zealand instead of Australia or other parts of the<br />
world will have a far shorter distance to travel<br />
over the internet, improving latency.<br />
Communication between devices and New<br />
Zealand data centres will be faster than communication<br />
with data centres overseas.<br />
That’s great news for anyone using cloud services,<br />
and extra special news for those using them for<br />
resource-heavy AR and VR applications. Suddenly<br />
the time it takes to update a screen or provide<br />
information will become far more instantaneous.<br />
There’s nothing worse than tapping buttons and<br />
having to wait for half a second for something to<br />
happen. If it’s using cloud services based here in<br />
New Zealand you will tap and it should react in<br />
milliseconds.<br />
Many organisations require their data to be stored<br />
onshore. So the building of New Zealand data<br />
centres means they can take advantage of the latest<br />
and greatest technology under New Zealand<br />
law and jurisdiction. When data is stored offshore<br />
many governments have the right to intercept and<br />
look at it. I’d rather it was here in New Zealand.<br />
There’s also benefits around geographical availability.<br />
If a high-speed fibre cable gets broken<br />
between New Zealand and an overseas data<br />
centre the provider can switch to New Zealand<br />
infrastructure.<br />
Artificial Intelligence (AI) intellectual property (IP)<br />
in New Zealand manufacturing will also be able to<br />
be stored in New Zealand servers, with reduced<br />
latency for data queries. New Zealand’s data<br />
centres will be environmentally sustainable, completely<br />
powered by renewable geothermal and<br />
hydroelectricity sources, rather than fossil fuels.<br />
Switching from hosting on-premise servers to<br />
AWS or Azure, and using serverless architecture,<br />
will substantially reduce our carbon footprint while<br />
providing businesses more flexibility. Both AWS<br />
and Azure can scale up and down based on the<br />
data needs of clients. In the long run, this flexibility<br />
leads to a lower cost for technology start-ups.<br />
If you were providing software as a service 20<br />
years ago you generally needed large capital<br />
investments in standing up and growing your<br />
servers. Now, thanks to Amazon and Microsoft’s<br />
elastic model, the entry barrier is much lower. You<br />
can build software and scale up based on your<br />
client’s needs.<br />
This batch of data centres is being built in Auckland,<br />
closest to the biggest population centre, but<br />
If I was Amazon or Microsoft, I would still be looking<br />
at building my next lot of data centres down<br />
near Lake Manapouri in Fiordland. The location<br />
provides ample renewable electricity production,<br />
and the climate is cooler meaning lower costs for<br />
cooling the facilities during the summer.<br />
Google has announced its first New Zealand-based<br />
privacy and artificial intelligence (AI)<br />
With their tech, Amazon,<br />
Google and Microsoft<br />
also bring worldleading<br />
brains to New<br />
Zealand, which can only<br />
be good news for New<br />
Zealand Inc.<br />
engineering team presence in July. This, with<br />
Amazon and Microsoft’s plans, are exciting for us<br />
because agriculture has been number one in the<br />
economy for so long.<br />
Apart from the obvious benefits to consumers<br />
for having cloud computing services closer to<br />
them, there are also other benefits. With their<br />
tech, Amazon, Google and Microsoft also bring<br />
world-leading brains to New Zealand, which can<br />
only be good news for New Zealand Inc.<br />
Amazon Web Services, Google and Microsoft are<br />
contributing to the rising technology tide, lifting<br />
the technology industry and its clients. With a<br />
rising tide, all waka will float.<br />
26 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP <strong>December</strong> <strong>2021</strong>
HOW FOSTERS ARE MAKING<br />
SUSTAINABLE<br />
BUILDING A REALITY<br />
The Foster Group is the only construction company<br />
in New Zealand to hold both of Toitū’s top<br />
sustainability certifications, carbonzero and enviromark<br />
diamond. They can also deliver Green Star<br />
builds. To achieve the Toitū certifications, Fosters<br />
have already proven their commitment to the environment<br />
– they have analysed their impact, set<br />
objectives to improve their footprint and set up<br />
an environmental management system to help<br />
achieve their goals. To maintain the certifications,<br />
they must continually set and achieve their goals<br />
to offer cleaner, more transparent, low-emissions<br />
builds, demonstrating they have gone above<br />
and beyond what is general practice.<br />
What does Toitū carbonzero mean?<br />
“Our carbonzero certification demonstrates that<br />
we are committed to ensuring the impact we<br />
have on the planet is consistently offset” explains<br />
Fosters Sustainability and Compliance Advisor<br />
Jael Clausen.<br />
The construction industry produces 40 - 50% of<br />
NZ’s landfill waste. According to Thinkstep, it is<br />
one of the primary contributors to climate change<br />
in NZ, creating 20% of national greenhouse gas<br />
emissions. For Fosters, just because this is ‘industry<br />
standard’ does not mean it cannot be improved.<br />
“Fosters acknowledges that we cause harm, so<br />
we’re taking the opportunity to invest in sustainable<br />
practices” Jael continues. “Because we manage<br />
a large variety of projects, we have gained<br />
knowledge on how to build sustainably and we<br />
have been able to invest in and implement<br />
best environmental practices.”<br />
Fosters was awarded Toitū carbonzero certification<br />
in 2020. It means that clients can be confident their<br />
building has been constructed more sustainably<br />
and with less carbon emissions.<br />
“Toitū reviews our greenhouse gas emissions annually<br />
under the international standard for carbon<br />
footprints, ISO 14064-1,” says Jael.<br />
“They check our progress against our goals, and<br />
we must prove that we have reached our reduction<br />
target for the year.”<br />
Each month the sustainability team record and<br />
analyse the group’s carbon emissions, monitoring<br />
trends and setting objectives to reduce fuel consumption,<br />
electricity usage, and waste-to-landfill.<br />
Other initiatives include making an electric vehicle<br />
available for use by employees and utilising companies<br />
which generate 100 per cent renewable<br />
energy.<br />
“We are targeting a 52 per cent reduction in emissions<br />
by 2025” says Jael. “That means achieving a<br />
10 per cent reduction annually through less energy<br />
use, less waste and more efficient transport<br />
solutions.” Fosters passed their first audit in 2020<br />
and recently completed the second one.<br />
What does Toitū enviromark diamond mean?<br />
“Our enviromark diamond certification demonstrates<br />
we have systems in place to reduce the<br />
environmental impact of our business and the<br />
buildings we construct” says Jael.<br />
(L-R) (BACK ROW) CASS BARNES, RHYS HARVEY,<br />
RYAN TESSELAAR, TIM STRAWBRIDGE, NIGEL<br />
SUN (FRONT ROW) ADAM FINDLAY, ROSS PACEY,<br />
JAEL CLAUSEN, ALLAN BRADSHAW<br />
“To achieve this certification, we have developed,<br />
implemented, and now maintain a robust<br />
Environmental Management System, which is<br />
audited annually to ensure it meets and exceeds<br />
the components of an ISO 14001 system.”<br />
For clients, the Toitū enviromark diamond certification<br />
proves that Fosters is managed responsibly<br />
with a whole of environment focus.<br />
“Our clients can be confident that our team will do<br />
everything possible to mitigate any environmental<br />
impact during the construction process” says Jael.<br />
“This is also important to our team and our contractors”<br />
she continues. “They can be confident we are<br />
following best practice, going above and beyond<br />
industry standard with continual improvement.”<br />
Audited annually, Fosters must demonstrate<br />
environmental protection being put into practice.<br />
A simple example is recycling building materials.<br />
Instead of one big skip on site (common on most<br />
building sites), you’ll find several bins on a Fosters<br />
site collecting concrete, steel, timber, plastics,<br />
glass, PVC pipe and many other materials for<br />
recycling.<br />
What is a Green Star build?<br />
Aimed at commercial buildings, Green Star is a<br />
holistic sustainability rating system for buildings,<br />
fitouts and communities. Fosters offer accredited<br />
professionals who are trained to manage Green<br />
Star projects to meet the extensive requirements.<br />
“We appreciate the holistic approach to Green<br />
Star builds” says Jael. “That is reducing emissions<br />
with smarter building, energy and water savings,<br />
lower running costs to create healthier work environments<br />
and contribute to a better future. The<br />
concept is well aligned with Fosters’ purpose.”<br />
APL in Hautapu is a Green Star project. Achieving<br />
a 5-star design rating in <strong>December</strong> 2020, the<br />
project is currently targeting a build rating. More<br />
Green Star projects are in the pipeline.<br />
“Having inhouse knowledge of the Green Star<br />
principles, combined with the work of the sustainability<br />
team on Toitū, ensures there is a sustainable<br />
focus on every Fosters project,” concludes Jael.<br />
“We are proud to be frontrunners in our industry<br />
and it means that building with Fosters is better<br />
for the environment.”<br />
Is 2022 the<br />
year to sell your<br />
business and<br />
get on with life?<br />
After a year of uncertainties, it might just be the<br />
time to spend more time with family, renovate<br />
your home, or start that new hobby.<br />
Take advantage of the high buyer<br />
demand and contact LINK to find out<br />
what your business is worth right now.<br />
MAKE A CONFIDENTIAL ENQUIRY TODAY<br />
All LINK NZ offices are licensed REAA08<br />
22 Naylor Street,<br />
Hamilton<br />
0800 225 999<br />
LINKBUSINESS.CO.NZ<br />
WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP <strong>December</strong> <strong>2021</strong><br />
27
If you want to build sustainably,<br />
the choice is easy.<br />
Fosters are the only commercial construction<br />
company in New Zealand to hold both top<br />
Toitū sustainability certifications.<br />
We believe in building sustainably<br />
to protect future generations,<br />
so let’s talk.<br />
FOSTERS.CO.NZ . 07 849 3849