Waikato Business News December Recap 2021

RECAP
2021
A wrap up of the year's stories in
the Waikato business community.

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2 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP December 2021

oard.”
FROM THE EDITOR
PUBLISHER
Deidre Morris
Ph: (07) 838 1333
Mob: 027 228 8442
Email: deidre@dpmedia.co.nz
Like many businesses across the country, it’s been a
tumultuous year for the Waikato Business News.
We farewelled our editor Richard Walker after three
years at the helm and his departure in July was a huge
loss to the publication.
His steady writing hand has helped provide a strength
of stories that celebrated the successes of the Waikato.
Most of what we look back on in this recap issue are
stories of Richard’s telling.
The business news hasn’t been immune to the impacts
of Covid, and our sales team of
Deidre Morris (owner), Joanne
Poole and Penny McNicol have
worked hard to maintain longstanding
relationships and build new ones.
Every month, production manager
Olivia McGovern weaves together
the articles and adverts, and creates a
stunning magazine that we are all very
proud of.
While the stories we tell are the strength
of the Waikato Business News, our
advertisers provide the backbone to our
monthly publication.
JANUARY/FEBRUARY VOLUME 29: ISSUE 1 2021 WWW.WBN.CO.NZ FACEBOOK.COM/WAIKATOBUSINESSNEWS
Labour in
charge
By RICHARD WALKER
T
This electoral term
marks the first time since
2005 that a Labour
Government has held
both Hamilton seats.
What can Waikato
business people
expect? At the start of
a new term and a new
year, Hamilton East
MP Jamie Strange
and Hamilton West’s
Gaurav Sharma
talk to Waikato
Business News.
he train link to Auckland
is top of mind for Hamilton’s
two Labour MPs,
with a crucial report due this
term into the viability of fast
rail. The result of the Ministry
of Transport detailed business
case study is due in 18 months,
and an initial business case
study is also being conducted
into rapid rail from Hamilton
to Tauranga, says Hamilton
East MP Jamie Strange.
Meanwhile, both Strange
and newly elected Hamilton
West MP Gaurav Sharma are
touting the value of the delayed
Te Huia rail service once it is
running.
“Getting that train to Auckland
is one of the biggest
things on ou radar. It's a promise
that we’ve made in the past,
and we're hoping to deliver on
it soon,” Sharma says.
Strange says the key is productivity.
“Being able to get
on the train, open the laptop,
We can’t thank you enough for your continued support
and can’t wait to catch up with you all in the new
year.
The various Hamilton businesses who write monthly
columns provide a viewpoint to the business news
from their world of business, as well as sharing some
of their wisdom for our readers. Whether it be legal,
recruitment, PR, IT, architectural and more, we thank
you for your contributions.
work a l the way up, work all
the way back, there’s a cafe on
But the game changer
would be a rapid link, one
which Strange says would
effectively unite the cities’
labour markets.
“For some, it might sound
like a pipe dream, but I
wouldn't necessarily put it in
that category,” Strange says.
He sees potential for a
public-private partnership,
with the government partnering
with iwi and business,
and points to the possibilities
around ACC, Super Fund and
Kiwisaver as investment funds
tota ling $120 billion. “A lot of
them invest in overseas infrastructure,
so it's encouraging to
see ongoing discussions with
the managers of those funds
to see what their appetite is for
investment in New Zealand.”
Such a link would be a
multi billion do lar investment,
Jamie Strange and Gaurav Sharma,
MPs for Hamilton East and Hamilton West.
with tilt trains potentia ly travelling
th existing gauge track
at 160 km/h, but a train on
wider gauge track able to clock
250 km/hr.
The “gold plated” version
would involve building new
tracks, which for the Auckland
section could utilise th existing
rail co ridor.
“I always say the problem
in New Zealand has
always been that short-sightedness,”
Sharma says. “If we
had invested $2 billion in the
1960s, we wouldn't be putting
in $30 million for an upgrade
now. The problem is, every
time the government looks at
it, and it says, ‘We l, it's a $10
billion investmen that we don't
want to do now’, it just means
that in 2040, we'll sti l be having
the same conversation, in
2080, we' l sti l be having the
same conversation.
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER VOLUME 29: ISSUE 11 2021 WWW.WBN.CO.NZ FACEBOOK.COM/WAIKATOBUSINESSNEWS
Holi Boli
meets Covid
challenges
with style
Challenges of the global pandemic, a three-month
lockdown in India and repatriation to New Zealand
has resulted in opportunities for Hamilton-based
entrepreneur Ana Wilkinson-Gee.
Continued on page 2
Continued on page 10
One of the North
Island’s most opulent
properties, owned
by a prominent Kiwi
golfer, is up for sale.
SEE PAGE 21
In between there has been a celebration of Waikato in
architecture, real estate, building, start-ups, education,
technology, agriculture and more. And despite the
sojourn we enjoyed from lockdowns at the beginning
of the year, Covid continued to feature strongly in our
stories with businesses and organisations adapting
to the new landscape and many Waikato businesses
developing innovative solutions to the pandemic.
PRODUCTION MANAGER
Olivia McGovern
Ph: (07) 838 1333
Email: olivia@dpmedia.co.nz
ADVERTISING INQUIRIES
Please contact:
ADVERTISING ACCOUNT
MANAGERS
Joanne Poole
Ph: (07) 838 1333
Mob: (021) 507 991
Email: joanne@dpmedia.co.nz
Penny McNicol
Ph: (07) 838 1333
Mob: (021) 090 52601
Email: penny@dpmedia.co.nz
ELECTRONIC FORWARDING
EDITORIAL:
News releases/Photos/Letters:
editor@dpmedia.co.nz
PRODUCTION:
Copy/Proofs:
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SUBSCRIPTIONS:
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As we look back over the year, which started so promisingly
after Covid had messed with our 2020 summer,
there was much to celebrate in the Waikato.
We started the year talking to Hamilton’s Labour MPs
Jamie Strange (Hamilton East) and Gaurav Sharma
(Hamilton West) for our front page story and ended it
with a feel-good story about ethical fashion label
Holi Boli.
Lastly, I should introduce myself - I joined the team in
October and am looking forward to sharing the stories
that make the Waikato a thriving hub of business,
innovation and creativity. I am lucky to call Raglan/
Whaingaroa home and have lived in the Waikato for
over 20 years. To share your feedback, thoughts and
stories contact editor@dpmedia.co.nz.
Janine Jackson
131 Victoria Street, Hamilton
Ph: (07) 838 1333 | Fax: (07) 838 2807
www.wbn.co.nz
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WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP December 2021
3

MUROKI
BALLET NOIR
HAMILTON GARDENS
ARTS FESTIVAL
TEEKS
hit the Hamilton Gardens Arts Festival 2022.
THE STORY THEN
The Hamilton Gardens Arts Festival faced
an uncertain future after the sudden loss of
$150,000 from multiple funding sources.
A crowdfunding campaign was launched in
October to help it bounce back from Covid-19
related setbacks.
Festival director Geoff Turkington said planning
for the festival, was well underway when they
found out about the drop in funding.
A last minute boost to the tune of $100,000
by WEL Energy Trust, Brian Perry Foundation,
Grassroots Foundation and Hamilton City
Council helped bring the festival back from the
brink but a shortfall of $20,000 was needed to
keep the 2022 festival on track.
As a charitable trust, the festival, Waikato's
premiere arts event for over 20 years, relies on
the support of local businesses and funders
each year.
Turkington was quick to point out the benefits
of the festival to not only boost people’s spirits,
especially in times of continual Covid upheavals,
but it also contributes to the Hamilton
economy.
“Research undertaken by the Ministry of Culture
and Heritage in 2019 identified that the arts
and creative sector contributes $10.8 billion
to New Zealand’s GDP and creates over 92,00
jobs
“It’s a huge industry, but also you can’t put a
price on the wellness of the community.”
REB FOUNTAIN
THE STORY NOW
The show will go on thanks to the success of
the crowdfunding which raised over $25,000 in
four weeks from nearly 250 donors.
Turkington says the team is thrilled to have such
phenomenal support from people who recognise
the value of the festival.
“The money is definitely important but I think
at that stage in a very, very long year for myself
and the team, the messages and encouragement
from all the 247 donors meant a lot to
us and that really give us the strength to keep
going.”
While the rest of us might be getting ready to
go on holiday, there’s still a lot of hard work for
the HGAF team; from artist’s contracts, collating
technical information and learning how to
navigate the Covid traffic lights will keep them
busy.
Being a larger event they will be operating
under the vaccine pass system and that means
they can go ahead at full capacity in green or
orange.
“When you are dealing with the sheer number
of staff, volunteers, audience and performers
safety is paramount so we will be doing full
contact tracing,” Turkington says.
The line-up
TEEKS, Ballet Noir, Haus of YOLO, Reb Fountain,
Muroki, Soundtracks from Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction
and Reservoir Dogs, Sunset Symphony are
some of the biggest and boldest shows to ever
Featuring everything from classical music to
drag, ballet to theatre, comedy to children’s
shows, the 2022 festival programme is positively
brimming with world class arts experiences.
The musical programme showcases a diverse
mix of musical stylings including flamenco, soul,
folk, percussion and classical.
Experience Northland soul sensation TEEKS’ life
affirming live show with support from rising
Raglan star Muroki.
Also, on the Rhododendron Lawn - the spellbinding
Reb Fountain will premiere her highly
anticipated new album Iris alongside fan favourites
from her Taite Prize-winning self-titled
album, and The Auckland Jazz Orchestra team
up with the fabulous Caitlin Smith for a night of
big band jazz!
A star studded band of Kiwi music icons will
rock’n roll through the soundtracks from
Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs.
Performed live in concert - starring Tami Neilson,
Laughton Kora, Milan Borich and Booga
Beazley, backed by the phenomenal Big Band
Royale.
Haus of YOLO is a party of a show, jam-packed
with extraordinary circus skills and sewing
chaos. Truly a feast for the senses, this multidisciplinary
show from The Dust Palace (PULP, Top
of the Heap) explores the modern middle class
slavery of fast fashion.
Theatre lovers are spoiled for choice with five
solo theatrical works exploring a diverse range
of topics including conservation, the joys of
reading, satire, and Aotearoa history.
Lovers of poetry and music can join some of
the country’s best and brightest songwriters,
including Anna Coddington, Lawrence Arabia
and Julia Deans as they perform original music
inspired by the poems of iconic writer Katherine
Mansfield.
Mansfield in Her Own Words: Unplugged is an
intimate coupling of poetry and music taking
place in the charming Mansfield Garden.
There’ll also be world-class homegrown ballet!
Contemporary but elegant, Ballet Noir is ballet
seen through the stylish, cryptic lens of film
noir.
Head to hgaf.co.nz to check out the full Hamilton
Gardens Arts Festival 2022 programme. Early
bird discounts are available on most ticketed
events until Christmas eve.
The Hamilton Gardens Arts Festival is made
possible by our generous funders: Hamilton
City Council, WEL Energy Trust, Grassroots
Festival Trust, Trust Waikato, Perry Foundation,
Hamilton Gardens, King St Advertising, ACLX,
University of Waikato, Harkness Henry, Ministry
Culture & Heritage, Longveld, Norah Howell
Charitable Trust, CBD Association, Waikato
Times, The Hits, Go Media, Cleland Hancox and
Friends of Hamilton Gardens.
HAUS OF YOLO
4 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP December 2021

Product development leads
to scheduling calendar
USER INTERFACE: Company-X senior software architect Luke McGregor, left,
discusses user interfaces with professional services manager Michael Hamid.
Magnetize job management app users got what
they needed, rather than what they wanted.
When users of the
Magnetize job management
app asked
for a scheduling calendar
showing a month’s jobs at a
glance developer Company-X
didn’t stop there.
Company-X senior software
architect Luke McGregor
questioned users of Magnetize’s
job management app
why they wanted a month view
and what they got from it.
“The big problem with a
month view is information
density,” McGregor said. “If
you have all your jobs showing
it’s too high and you can’t
see what’s going on. You
can’t see the forest for the
trees. There are a million
things on the screen. That’s
what I pushed back on, and
it pushed us back towards a
better solution.”
When McGregor and the
software development team
dug deeper with users they
discovered they wanted both
high-level visibility of scheduling
capacity of equipment
and people and to drill down
into specific jobs.
Company-X build a
It solves their pain
point. We’re having
quite a few eureka
moments. It’s
satisfying. It’s all
credit to the company
and its culture.
scheduling calendar that
gives a month view, to give
users the high-level visibility
of resource allocation they
requested, but also drill down
into the schedule with views
for two weeks, one week and
three days. User experience
and user interface designer
Briana Christey said the
development of the resource
calculator was “a good example
of why Company-X is so
good at what they do”.
“We’re excited because
it’s a really good example
of how we dove deep to get
to the core of what users
need,” Christey said.
“It’s a good example of
thinking back to why this is
important, rather than ‘we
know we want to look at this
at a month level’,” McGregor
said.
“The questions we are
answering at a month level
are not the same questions we
are answering at a week level.
What’s hard to do in software
is to take those steps back,
but I think they are important
steps to take.”
Magnetize chief executive
Paul Lyons described the
Company-X approach as a
marvellous solution.
“It solves their pain point.
We’re having quite a few
eureka moments. It’s satisfying.
It’s all credit to the company
and its culture,” Lyons
said. “It’s about filling gaps
when you’re running a business.
Where are the gaps?
Where can I put people? It’s a
calendar that tells you what’s
available and you can click in
and go to the action.”
Another challenge was
finding the best way for users
to quickly and easily log their
time on jobs as other options
are cumbersome.
“We needed a fresh
approach,” Christey said.
The Magnetize
scheduling
calendar enables
users to:
• Schedule jobs
• Assign people and
equipment
• Drag and drop to
reschedule jobs
• Click and drag to
extend jobs across
multiple days
• Book out staff on
leave, and equipment
out of action
It gives visibility as to:
• What jobs are
scheduled and when
(including the ability
to filter by teams, or
by job status)
• See who's on leave,
and what equipment
is out of action
• What jobs people
and equipment are
assigned to (in the
"Resource View").
• Workload for the
month ("Month View")
“One evening, as I opened
my iOS alarm clock app to
set my waking time, I realised
there was the inspiration for
our solution: a simple spinner
for workers to set their start
and end time.”
SIMPLE: Magnetize's scheduling calendar makes things simple.
Gamification
Gamification is being
used to motivate
and engage users of
Magnetize’s new business
management app.
Gamification is about
motivating users' behaviour
with game elements, such as
challenges and rewards.
“Building the application
from scratch, we were
presented with an exciting
opportunity to rethink how
the user interface (UI) could
motivate workers to log their
time,” said user experience
and user interface designer
Briana Christey.
“We had a lightbulb
moment - that if we enable
Jase the worker to see
who else has logged time
on a job, we could appeal
to his sense of competition,
and motivate him to
do the same.”
Company-X took an iterative
approach to the project as
it collaborated with Magnetize,
industry subject matter
experts and Magnetize clients
and potential end-users.
“I have been in business
in a variety of roles
and Industries for 35 years.
Partnering with Company-X
and Briana Christy
combined with a relentless
focus on our clients and
potential clients, I can honestly
say this is the first
time that I can say I have
worked on a project that
has been truly driven by
the focus on its clients
and their needs and solutions
to their pain points”
Magnetize chief executive
Paul Lyons said.
Navigate the
digital landscape
with us
WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP December 2021
5

AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY
OFF-ROAD ADVENTURE FIRST FOR THE SHIRE
A brand new event that plans to highlight and
promote the unique and bucolic landscapes of the
Matamata-Piako District has arrived unexpectantly
in the Shire.
The inaugural Middle-earth Halfling Marathon
will offer an immersive and unique themed
event for runners and walkers of all levels
through Hobbiton Movie Set and the surrounding
picturesque rolling green hills of the
Waikato farmland.
The event is the first of it’s kind for Hobbiton
Movie Set, who are best known for their tours
of the 12-acre movie set location as seen in The
Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit Trilogies, but
has been in the works for some time.
“It’s been about five years since the concept
was originally discussed,” Hobbiton movie set
deputy CEO Shayne Forrest says. “It’s something
we have wanted to do for a long time but the
moment never felt quite right. We’re excited
to launch the Middle-earth Halfling Marathon
today, as a way for people to get out and do
something new, explore some beautiful and
never-before-traversed landscapes, and focus
on their health and fitness at the same time.
It will be an event that blends together the
world of off-road running with the world of
Middle-earth – something we’re sure must be
pretty unique as far as running events go!”
The Middle-earth Halfling Marathon is a joint
venture between Hobbiton Movie Set and The
Events Agency, an Auckland-based event and
expo support agency with over 20 years of
event expertise and experience, managed by
Matt Reilly. The event has been made possible
with the support of the Thermal Explorer Regional
Events Fund after being presented to the
Event Investment Panel earlier this year.
“The Event Investment Panel are thrilled to
support the development of this exciting new
event,” Thermal Explorer Regional Events Fund
lead entity and panel representative Nicola
Greenwell says. “The Halfling is such a unique
sporting event that we have no doubt it will
attract a large number of runners and walkers,
and their supporters, to the Waikato from all
around the country, bringing significant economic
benefit to the district and wider region.”
The inaugural Middle-earth Halfling Marathon
event is to be held on Saturday 2 April, 2022 and
will feature two distances, the Halfling Marathon
21.1km, and the Eleventyfirst 11.1km. Both
courses will begin at the starting line at Buckland
Landing, just across from The Shire’s Rest where
Hobbiton Movie Set’s home base is, with
breathtaking views across the valley and the
mighty Kaimai ranges towering in the distance.
With staggered start times, the Halfling Marathon
and the Eleventy-first will journey through
the farmland, twist and turn around the track
on their own adventures before arriving into
Hobbiton and following the meandering pathways
of the village. Each distance will get to visit
areas on the Alexander Farm that were used for
filming but not otherwise accessible on tours,
including the original Gandalf’s Cutting as seen
in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the
Ring. After a dash through The Green Dragon
Inn, where the thirstiest of halflings can stop for
a quick tipple to quench their thirst, runners will
continue on to the finish line where their fellowship
of supporters will be waiting.
The Halfling Event Village will be set up at
The Shire’s Rest ready for refreshments, food,
entertainment and prizegiving as all finishers
will receive a specially designed medal with
prizes for both event distances.
Entries before 31 January go into the draw to
win a Waikato weekend in partnership with
Hamilton & Waikato Tourism. The prize pack will
include two nights accommodation and a range
of activities for two, plus the value of their event
registration.
Entries are open now at
www.halflingmarathon.com
BEWARE OF FOREIGN IMITATIONS.
There’s no shortage of great ideas in New Zealand.
But for an innovative bunch, we’re not the best at
realising the full potential of our innovations, particularly
when exporting them.
At James & Wells, we can identify your competitive
edge, offer business strategies for specific markets and
help you own and leverage your intellectual property to
ensure no one steals the fruit of your labour.
www.jaws.co.nz | +64 7 957 5660
6 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP December 2021

A YEAR IN
REVIEW
FOR LABOUR MPS
THE STORY THEN
Our very first front page story for 2021 featured
Labour MPs Jamie Strange (Hamilton
East) and Gaurav Sharma (Hamilton West).
This electoral term marked the first time
since 2005 that a Labour Government has
held both Hamilton seats. We asked the pair
what can Waikato business people expect?
The train link to Auckland was top of mind,
but they also talked about goals to invest in
transport, housing, and health.
THE STORY NOW
It’s been a big year – and a challenging one
for many. Across 2021, the Government has
focused on protecting lives and livelihoods
as the pandemic has evolved, while also
making progress on some of the long-term
issues facing New Zealand. We’ve been
working hard to ensure that the everyday
concerns of Hamiltonians are part of the
conversation.
In January, we spoke with the Waikato Business
News about our goals to deliver a more
liveable Hamilton – by investing in transport,
housing, and health. Since then, progress
has been made across each of these areas.
There’s more work to do, but it’s great to see
initiatives underway to keep our beautiful
city a wonderful place to live.
At the start of the year, getting the new
commuter rail service to Auckland up and
running was one of the biggest things on
our radar. So, we were really stoked when
Te Huia – which has the potential to replace
up to 73,000 return car trips each year –
launched in March, with further changes to
the service announced recently.
We’ve also made progress in housing. New
Zealand’s housing crisis has been decades
in the making, and it will take time to turn
around – but our Government has taken
steps this year to ease pressures in our market
and tilt the balance in favour of whānau
and first home buyers. We’ve extended
the bright-line test and we are phasing
out a long-standing loophole that benefits
property speculators over first home buyers.
We’re funding infrastructure like pipes and
roads to get housing developments built
faster through our Housing Acceleration
Fund, and we’re cutting red tape so more
homes can be built, faster.
We’re also building a record number of public
and transitional houses. Hamilton is set to
get up to 640 new public homes and up to
320 transitional housing places, which will
ensure more people have a safe, dry place
to call home, and will also create local jobs.
Youth mental health support in the region
PICTURED: LABOUR LAUNCHES TE HUIA TRAIN - JAMIE STRANGE (MP HAMILTON EAST),
HON NANAIA MAHUTA (WAIKATO-TAINUI), DR GAURAV SHARMA (MP HAMILTON WEST),
PRIME MINISTER JACINDA ARDERN AND HON MICHAEL WOOD.
has received a boost, and the health reforms
the Government has kicked off will enable
more Hamiltonians to access the care they
need, when and where they need it. Te
Whare Whakapiki Wairua, a new alcohol and
drug treatment court, has opened in the
city, and is providing wraparound services to
address the reasons for offending.
COVID-19 has made 2021 a difficult year for
many in Hamilton, but the Government has
worked hard to provide wage subsidies and
other business support to protect jobs and
boost our economic resilience. We heard
a lot of positive feedback on the COVID
response at the roundtable with businesses
that the Prime Minister attended recently.
Thank you to everyone who have done their
bit to keep everyone safe. We have worked
closely with organisations in Hamilton to
help with Super Saturday and the ongoing
vaccination efforts.
It’s awesome that Waikato DHB has flown
past the 90 percent first dose milestone,
and that our community has transitioned so
seamlessly into the traffic light system. This
new way of managing COVID-19 allows us to
look forward to a summer with fewer disruptions,
and to look ahead to a new year with
greater opportunities.
by Labour MPs Jamie Strange (Hamilton
East) and Gaurav Sharma (Hamilton West)
2022…NEW YEAR…
NEW IDEA? NEW IP?
“There is one thing stronger than all the armies
in the world, and that is an idea whose time has
come.” (Victor Hugo)
It might be a glorious afternoon. The sun
might be shining, and a gentle breeze might
be blowing across the sea as you enjoy a fine
Pinot Gris. Then it hits you…bam! The idea for
the new product you’ve been searching for!
Or perhaps it is morning, and while tucking
into your scrambled eggs and sipping your
steaming Americano it comes to you…wham!
The idea for a new service that will really see
your business take off!
Whatever the circumstances, if you are
inspired over the Christmas and New Year
break to do something new I strongly urge
you on your return from holiday to undertake
some IP due diligence before investing
further time and money in your idea.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ISSUES
> BY BEN CAIN
Ben Cain is a Senior Associate at James & Wells and a Resolution
Institute-accredited mediator. He can be contacted at 07 957 5660
(Hamilton), 07 928 4470 (Tauranga) and benc@jaws.co.nz.
If your idea is for a new product, then here
are some issues you might need to consider:
• Do you know if your product exists already?
Have you conducted any Internet
searches, for example, to see if it does?
Have you searched the patents, designs
and trade mark databases of the
Intellectual Property Office of New
Zealand to see if the way your product
works, or your product appears, is already
protected?
• If your product does exist already, at
least in general terms, what makes your
product ‘new’? Does it involve a new way
of making or doing something, or does it
just look different to the competition?
• If your product doesn’t exist already, have
you told anyone about it? If you have, did
you get/need them to sign a non-disclosure
agreement before telling them?
If you have involved any third parties in
the development process so far, have you
signed non-disclosure agreements with
them?
• Have you made any drawings for your
new product? If you have, then have
you kept them somewhere safe? It might
be early days, but have you made any
prototypes and shown or tested them in
public as yet?
• Are you planning on making the product
yourself, or sub-contracting manufacture?
If the latter, are you planning to make
your product in New Zealand or overseas
– perhaps in China?
If your idea is for a new service, then issues
you might want to consider are:
• Do you know if anyone else is offering
the same or similar service to your existing
and potential customers?
• If someone is already offering a similar
service, what makes your service different?
Is it underpinned by revolutionary
software, or does it involve a new model
of delivery?
• If your service doesn’t exist already, have
you told anyone about it? Did you get/
need them to sign a non-disclosure
agreement before telling them? If your
new service involves a third party developing
software for you, for example, do
you know who owns the software code?
Whether your idea relates to a product or
a service, another issue you might need to
consider is the name of your new product or
service and the corresponding domain name
(if applicable).
If you have some name options in mind,
have you conducted any domain name or
Internet searches to see if someone else if
using an identical or similar name?
Have you searched the trade marks
database of the Intellectual Property Office
of New Zealand, and perhaps the New
Zealand Companies Register, too, for identical
or similar trade marks and company
names?
If you are thinking you will want to export
your product or service in the future, have
you also searched the trade marks databases
of the overseas countries you might want to
sell into?
As you can see from the questions I’ve
posed, having an idea is just the start of
your IP journey. Do not be deterred, however,
because if your idea is one whose time
has truly come, we at James & Wells will
do everything we can to help you on your
journey.
WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP December 2021
7

CONVERSATIONS WITH MIKE NEALE
OF NAI HARCOURTS HAMILTON
How was 2021 ?
– and for 2022 ?
Sharon Zollner, chief economist for
ANZ, earlier in the year suggested
that an economist’s job in 2020 was
to make the weather forecasters look good
– and so they did.
2021
We saw the continuation of asset price
inflation, driven by low interest rates and
the simple supply and demand equation.
Uncertainty around Covid lockdowns has
remained, which in turn has continued to
apply pressure on businesses, particularly
within the retail, hospitality, events and
tourism sectors.
Industrial land prices went to $500/sqm
and then $600/sqm – with a recent auction
Mike Neale - Managing Director,
NAI Harcourts Hamilton.
of 1,000sqm at 48 Foreman Road, Te Rapa
seeing $780/sqm achieved due to healthy
competition. Industrial vacancy rates hover
around 1% and land remains in short supply,
with Hamilton City Council having an
issue it needs to address promptly. Waikato
and Waipa District Councils have similar
issues, as business and migration flows
into the Waikato continue to see demand
out stripping current supply.
LEARNING
IN THE WORKPLACE
Yields for commercial and industrial
investment properties have increasingly
been below 5%, with lease terms seemingly
irrelevant to industrial investors,
paying almost anything to get their foot in
the door. Quality commercial investments
generally remain in the 5%-6% range for
all but premium offerings, while unit titles
can sometimes provide a value proposition
when it comes to seeking a more
attractive return.
Commercial owner occupiers continue
to seek opportunities, but with vacancy
rates generally between 6%-8%, the options
remain limited. Industrial owner occupiers
increasingly compete for land to develop
for their own purpose-built requirements.
The Covid response has unfortunately
created uncertainty and the government
has done little to assist small and medium
enterprises needing to plan to keep afloat.
Retail, particularly hospitality and eventbased
businesses, have struggled through
continued lockdowns, restrictions and
inconsistent policy decisions. Many I talk
to feel beaten up, that those in the Beehive
are not listening to their predicaments or
understand their situations. Will we see
greater certainty through the traffic light
system (Covid Protection Framework) ? -
one would hope so, but ……
In many ways 2021 was far more disruptive
than 2020 – and one would expect
that supply chain issues will continue, or
possibly deteriorate further, as the rest of
the world opens up and chases economic
growth.
However, there are some key
changes afoot
2022 ?
• Interest rates are starting to rise. This
will impact on development margins,
rental rates tenants pay and put further
pressure on those businesses that are
struggling
• Access to capital will become
more difficult, with quantitative
easing being reduced. These factors
will start to bite, so finance for
48 Foreman Road, Te Rapa
many will become harder to obtain
• We are likely to see a gap open up
between yields for blue chip investments
and the rest. Assets with risk
or uncertainty associated to them will
become harder to finance
• More property is likely to come to
the market, as owner occupiers look
to free up capital and investors consider
disposing of assets where risk or
future capital expenditure is likely to be
required
Cash could become king again. We are
already seeing vendors preferring to deal
with cash and unconditional offers, as
opposed to those that may be at a higher
level, but with the risk of the deal failing to
proceed. Government, corporate and larger
organisations generally appear to be better
placed to withstand the issues that Covid
has brought up. They often have greater
resources, capital reserves or access to capital
and the extensive networks required
when things get tough. Small and medium
sized enterprises (SME’s) however are the
ones likely to suffer most and are less likely
to have the resources to bounce back.
Continued staff shortages are apparent
within every sector. This is being exacerbated
due to non-vaccinated workers leaving
the workforce and the ongoing issue
with immigration for skilled migrants into
New Zealand – just ask licensed immigration
adviser Katy Armstrong of ‘Into
NZ’. This along with housing affordability
and an increasing number of people reassessing
their lives, will see a continued
exodus of people and their families from
Auckland, to the likes of Hamilton and the
Waikato in 2022.
All in all, there are going to be continued
issues through 2022, so don’t expect
an easy ride – but there will be opportunities
for those who have positioned themselves
for this.
To everyone, have a good break over
Christmas and New Years, enjoy the time
with your friends and families - it’s been a
turbulent year, so take the time to consider
what decisions you need to make in 2022
and then get on with making them happen.
NAI Harcourts Hamilton
Monarch Commercial Ltd MREINZ Licensed
Agent REAA 2008
Cnr Victoria & London Streets, HAMILTON
07 850 5252 | hamilton@naiharcourts.co.nz
www.naiharcourts.co.nz
PEOPLE AND CULTURE
> BY SENGA ALLEN
Managing Director, Everest – All about people TM
www.everestpeople.co.nz
We have all heard the cliché that ‘the greatest asset a
company has is its employees.’ If that’s the case, then
there is a good argument to look after your employees
by providing them with professional development
opportunities.
The ability to learn and grow not only
benefits the individual, but it can also have
a positive effect on staff morale, customer
satisfaction and the professional standing of
your business.
A formalised training and development
programme is designed to assist employees
to gain knowledge to do their job better by
increasing skills, knowledge and expertise
with the programme aligned to the business
needs currently and in the future.
It may include learning a new skill, increasing
knowledge in an area of expertise or in some
cases meeting regulatory or legal requirements.
So, what are the elements you should consider
when developing a learning plan for your
business, and for individuals?
• What is the intended purpose of the training?
Be clear about the strategic purpose
of the training and how the training will
benefit not only the individual but your
also your business
• What is the best way of delivering the
training? There are many ways to deliver
training and training doesn’t necessarily
have to be delivered in a classroom situation.
It may be the employee is responsible
for their own learning through an
extra mural programme, the training may
be computer based or it may be knowledge
gained through a family.
Think about the individual when you are
developing their professional development
programme and consider how they
learn best and how you can tailor the
training to accommodate the learning
style.
• What outcomes am I looking for from
the training? You need to determine the
outcomes you are looking for, for example
may you want a better customer service
experience for your clients, or you may
want to build a stronger team culture.
Consider the outcomes and develop measures
so you can assess the effectiveness
of the training.
• Are there alternatives to ‘traditional’ training?
It may be that mentoring with another
manager will provide the professional
development an employee needs, so
developing a structured mentoring programme
may be a cost effective solution.
You could also consider job rotation which
creates a more flexible workforce capable
of performing a variety of tasks, which not
only benefits the employee but also benefits
the business.
• What measure will you use to evaluate the
training? There are a number of measures
that can assist with the evaluation of training.
These include customer satisfaction,
productivity per transaction, reduction in
error rates, fewer customer complaints,
reduction in overtime and processing time
averages reduced. It can be difficult to
evaluate the non-tangibles such as work
habits, attitudes, and behaviours; however,
these can be measured thought staff
surveys.
Business that offers learning opportunities
to their employees are more likely to have a
higher workplace morale and increased
loyalty which translates into increased
productivity and customer satisfaction.
So, what professional development have you
identified for you and your employees in
2022?
8 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP December 2021

UNIVERSITY ENDS YEAR WITH
NEW QUALIFICATION
THE STORY THEN
Waikato University featured in several editions of
the Waikato Business News.
In September, an $11-million University of
Waikato-led research project Go Circular 2025
was launched to develop New Zealand’s circular
economy partnered with the Sustainable Business
Network, Government agencies, and materials
recovery, recycling and waste management
provider, Waste Management.
University of Waikato researchers also received
funding of over $12 million from the Ministry of
Business Innovation and Employment’s Endeavour
Fund to advance projects to model the ecosystems
of New Zealand’s 3820 lakes, seek keys to
climate change in our deepest caves and bring
nature back to our cities and towns.
In the 2022 Times Higher Education World University
rankings released in mid-October, the University
of Waikato was ranked in the top 101-125
universities in the world in the subject category
of Business and Economics, the only university in
New Zealand to reach this ranking.
over $US1 billion this year and the world’s fastest
growing sport.
Tom Featonby, Esports coordinator at the University,
says the minor builds on the University’s
OMEN Esport Area, launched in 2019, and positioning
the university as an Esport industry leader.
“It is such an exciting and rapidly growing
industry. We also know it is where most of our
secondary students are, so it’s helping to bring a
connection between something they are passionate
about and higher learning.”
The minor, made up of four papers, covers
topics from the training and performance of
elite gamers through to Esports production and
broadcasting and will enable students to bring
that understanding to their chosen profession.
There are three pathways for studying Esports
including, ‘Athletes and Coaching’, ‘Industry,
Events and Management’, and ‘Design, Media,
and Production’. Students can take the minor to
explore innovations in the Esports industry and
learn how they can take these innovations into
their chosen career.
“The research tells us three out of every four New
Zealanders are now involved in video gaming
and Esports is a version of that. We already have
huge national Esports events being run by the
University for secondary students. Offering the
minor is the next evolution of that,” Professor
Thorpe says.
She says the stereotypes of teenagers locked
away in darkened rooms were outdated and
instead it was time to recognise the incredible skill
and talent needed to succeed in Esports, with
professional athletes bringing in millions of dollars.
The minor was designed to give students a good
overview of the industry and students taking it
would be able to implement the learnings into
their careers in a variety of ways.
“A student might be taking a Bachelor of Teaching
so it might help them think about how they can
implement Esports into the classroom through
the gamification of learning or how they can use
digital games to get kids excited about physical
education again. The possibilities to take learnings
and innovation from the Esports industry to other
sectors are endless.”
The University would eventually like to develop
the subject into a major, but for now Professor
Thorpe says it is exciting to be the first in New
Zealand to offer students the chance to study the
subject.
“We know this is their domain and their language
and if we can meet our secondary students in this
space, it’s a place for really constructive dialogue.
Learning from a place of passion and exploring
interdisciplinary innovations in Esports, our
students can go on to be real leaders and change
makers in their chosen careers”.
THE STORY NOW
University of Waikato ended the year with the
launch of New Zealand’s first Esports minor qualification
for 2022. Waikato is one of only a handful
of universities around the world offering the
minor that will provide students an overview of
the Esports industry, a business expected to turn
Professor Holly Thorpe, a sociologist in Te Huataki
Waiora School of Health at the University, and
Associate Professor Gareth Schott, a media psychologist
and digital gaming expert, have been
instrumental in helping to develop the qualification.
Professor Thorpe says the Covid-19 pandemic
has changed the role of digital technology in
people’s lives and as a result gaming has soared.
CELEBRATING
PROMOTIONS
AT DTI LAWYERS
Experience care as it
should be, experience
the Braemar way.
DTI Lawyers are excited to announce the promotion of Cassie Death and
Jack Sullivan to the role of Senior Solicitor, reflecting their expertise and
experience in commercial and property law.
CASSIE DEATH is an experienced property law specialist, with a focus on
commercial and residential conveyancing. That work is complimented by her
problem solving skills developed through employment law and privacy work.
You can reach Cassie at cassie@dtilawyers.co.nz
JACK SULLIVAN is an experienced solicitor in all aspects of commercial law,
property law and financing, together with a specialty in trusts.
You can reach Jack at jack@dtilawyers.co.nz
Braemar Hospital is one of the largest
private surgical hospitals in New Zealand,
and it’s here in Hamilton.
With more than 100 world class specialists,
10 state-of-the-art operating rooms, 84 beds
including 32 private rooms, at Braemar
you’ll receive the highest level of care.
Choose the very best.
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SPECIALIST LAWYERS WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP December 2021 9

Business Awards
have the green light!
A turbulent 2021 has the Waikato
business community eager for
a chance to socialise with their
peers in person at the Waikato
Chamber Business Awards.
Virtual events serve a purpose, but
nothing beats stepping out, meeting
up and celebrating success
with your colleagues.
The Gala event was moved from its
traditional November date to the 9th of
February 2022 as a result of Covid, fortunately
the Traffic Light system gives us
the green light to go ahead, and we can
finally celebrate our finalists in person.
This year we will be inducting two
extraordinary business leaders into the
Hall of Fame, Sir Robert Mahuta and Sir
Dryden Spring. Both of whom have overcome
adversity and whose transformative
leadership has impacted our country substantially.
The Waikato is blessed with
quietly spectacular leaders whose vision,
influence, and achievements should not be
forgotten.
The finalists have been announced
and they will find out on the night how
they fared. Win, lose or draw, the Awards
process gives entrants the opportunity to
be confidentially reviewed by a group of
our Waikato business leaders. We appreciate
the time and energy that our judges
put into the Awards process with the aim
to improve the level of entrepreneurship
across the Waikato. We also want to thank
Foster Construction Group for becoming
the primary sponsor for the Awards.
We had a record number of entries this
year which is a testament to the thriving
business community we have here in the
Waikato.
This year’s finalists include Balloons
over Waikato, Beca, Body Fit Training
Hamilton CBD, Clean Boss, Creative
Waikato, DEC Pharmaceutical, Designwell,
Discover Waitomo, Fish City Hamilton,
Hamilton Airport, Jet Park Hotel
Hamilton Airport, Mighty Local, Momentum
Waikato, Noke, Old MacDonald’s
Rural Education and Care Centre, Room-
Mate Cabins, Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari,
Shift72, Spring Sheep Milk Co.,
SWIFT, The Instillery, Waikato Hauraki
Coromandel Rural Support Trust.
By Don Good, CEO of Waikato
Chamber of Commerce.
The Awards cover the following
categories.
• Micro Business, sponsored by
Sleepyhead.
• Not for Profit, sponsored by Trust
Waikato.
• Innovation, sponsored by Company-X.
• Marketing & Social Media, sponsored
by ChowHill Architects.
• Business Growth & Strategy, sponsored
by Deloitte.
• Service Excellence, sponsored by
Tompkins Wake.
• Community Contribution sponsored
by Montana Food & Events.
• International Trade, sponsored by
Fairview Ford.
• Social & Environmental Sustainability,
sponsored by Wintec.
• People’s Choice, sponsored by Air
New Zealand.
• The Supreme Award, sponsored by
Foster Construction Group.
To celebrate individual leadership success
stories in our community we have two individual
awards, the Emerging Leader of
the Year sponsored by Mitre10 MEGA and
highly prestigious CEO of the Year award
sponsored by the University of Waikato
We can’t wait to celebrate with
our finalists and their supporters on
the 9th of February. There are a limited
number of tickets still available
through our website or by contacting
help@waikatochamber.co.nz You don’t
want to miss out on the opportunity to meet
and network with the high achievers of our
business community!
2021
WAIKATO CHAMBER
OF COMMERCE
BUSINESS
AWARDS
PROUDLY
SUPPORTED BY
PICTURE: CAMBRIDGE WEBSITE BUILDER ROCKETSPARK TOOK OUT THE SUPREME AWARD
AT THE WAIPĀ NETWORKS BUSINESS AWARDS. PHOTO: CORNEGEPHOTOGRAPHY
ROCKETSPARK
ON AN UPWARD TRAJECTORY
THE STORY THEN
Following their Supreme award at the Waipa
Business Awards earlier this year, Cambridge-based
software company Rocketspark
have not rested on their laurels.
In April this year, Rocketspark hosted over 100
of their design partners from around New Zealand
at their design conference called Launch
2021.
THE STORY NOW
Head of Product Jeremy Johnson says their
partner community has been a strong source of
growth for Rocketspark, as graphic designers
and other service businesses add web design
to their offering using the Rocketspark website
builder.
“With the introduction of Rocketspark Academy
training programmes, we’ve been able to
go beyond providing software and support
and truly invest in the success of our partners'
businesses.”
Rocketspark Academy’s inaugural Professor and
Partner of the Year Tonia Reid from Greenhouse
Creative, is now reinvesting her knowledge into
other design businesses.
Rocketspark’s design partners are a key source
of inspiration for new design and website
functionality with its code-free web design
platform. To meet that demand they’ve hired
two new University of Waikato graduates into
development roles in November, as well as a
UI/UX designer and another senior developer
earlier in the year.
Rocketspark also created a new integration
with New Zealand shipping software provider
Starshipit, who have white labeled their
software for New Zealand Post as their eShip
product. The new integration with Rocketspark
Ecommerce streamlines the processing, labeling
and dispatching of orders for merchants
and gives them the option of using either
Starshipit or eShip with Rocketspark.
In 2021, Rocketspark announced ‘Gift-itforward’,
an initiative equipping each of its
existing design partners with a lifetime website
subscription to give to a deserving non-profit
of their choice.
Rocketspark CEO Grant Johnson says by providing
Rocketspark’s high performing website
platform at no cost they can help non-profits
make a true impact.
“So many non-profits work hard for their worthy
communities and causes, and yet many don’t
have a great online presence and are often not
collecting precious recurring donations online,
or generating revenue with an online store.”
In November this year, Rocketspark purchased
the other tenancy on their floor and are creating
a new co-working space in downtown
Cambridge, appropriately called Launchpad
Cambridge. Launchpad is for creative and
digital businesses looking for some freedom
from the home office either full time or maybe
a few days a week.
With a great team in place and international
growth fund market validation grant from NZTE
Rocketspark are looking forward to ramping up
their offshore activity in 2022.
/
2021
WAIKATO CHAMBER
OF COMMERCE
BUSINESS
AWARDS
PROUDLY
SUPPORTED BY
07 839 5895
Everest
PROPERTY
• Commercial Property Investment & Finance
• Business Investment & Finance
• Residential Property Investment & Finance
25 Ward Street, Hamilton everestproperty@xtra.co.nz 0274 742 326
10 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP December 2021

ENLIGHTEN DESIGNS
CONTINUES TO RESPOND TO THE CHANGING ENVIRONMENT
THE STORY THEN
Earlier this year, Hamilton-based website
design and software development company
Enlighten Designs was shortlisted in the Best
Emerging Business category for the prestigious
New Zealand International Business Awards.
Enlighten Designs has been recognised for
bringing New Zealand innovation to the global
stage.
At the time, founder and CEO of Enlighten,
Damon Kelly, said he was immensely proud that
the business had been recognised as a finalist
after an intensive judging process, and that the
accolade comes at a time of real growth.
THE STORY NOW
Enlighten Designs are yet to find out if they
have won any awards as the Covid lockdowns
forced the postponement NZIBA awards, and
the NZ Resellers Award in which Enlighten are
also finalists.
The Waikato Business News caught up with
Damon to see how the year has progressed for
the Enlighten team.
Enlighten Designs has been working on some
interesting projects recently - can you tell us a
bit more about them?
One interesting project that we’ve got on
the go is working with Google engineers to
improve our client’s Core Web Vitals -
these are the metrics used by Google to
score a user’s experience loading a webpage.
Through this workstream, we had the challenge
to firstly understand and then develop a
strategy around these metrics, with the goal of
lifting our client’s performance in very new area
of search engine optimisation. This has been
an exciting project for us because it’s a great
reflection of what Enlighten Designs is all about
– innovation, cutting-edge technology and an
eagerness to learn.
We were also shoulder-tapped by Microsoft
to promote our world-class consulting services
around using Power BI for data storytelling.
Enlighten was one of around 100 partners
to feature in the inaugural # BuildFor2030
campaign - an initiative with Microsoft and its
partners to encourage action on the United
Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. It’s a
great project because it resonates with our goal
of using technology to make a difference.
What has been the biggest business challenge
for Enlighten Designs as a result of the COVID
pandemic over the last 18 months?
Like many other businesses, the pandemic was
initially a shock for our team, as we sustained
an immediate drop in demand locally. The real
challenge was trying to determine the best way
to respond to the changing environment, with
the hope that the approach we took would be
beneficial long-term.
Rather than opting for the risk-averse route,
we saw the pandemic as an opportunity for
growth. At a time when many businesses were
letting go of staff, we doubled down and
redeployed our team to focus on international
expansion.
The pandemic transformed the way people do
business, so location and in-person meetings
were no longer important when onboarding
new clients. Combined with our already seamless
remote-working abilities, this has proven to
be a huge advantage for Enlighten. Evidence
of this can be seen through the strong international
and domestic presence we’ve secured
over the last 18 months.
How have these challenges impacted you
personally and do you have any techniques or
strategies to share with other entrepreneurs in
regards to dealing with unforeseen crises?
Over the years, I’ve learnt that when it comes to
dealing with any unforeseen challenge – it’s all
about mindset! As CEO though, I went back to
our company values, and these really guided
my response in this, as with other challenges.
One strategy I would recommend is to view
any challenge as an opportunity, rather than
a crisis. As tempting as it was to pull-back and
avoid any risks, Enlighten battled the pandemic
head on by pushing into the international
market.
As an entrepreneur and business leader,
maintaining a positive mindset is a crucial
strategy which allows you to stay motivated and
confident when dealing with difficult situations.
The continued success of Enlighten over the
last 18 months has validated our gut feeling that
persevering during uncertainty and making big
moves, was the right thing to do.
The pandemic has noticeably changed the
way people use technology in the business
world. What are your thoughts on how remote
working might affect staff mental health and
wellbeing in the long term?
The pandemic has redefined the way people
do businesses, with remote working now an intrinsic
part of our everyday lives. This has been
great for Enlighten because there’s been hot
demand for digital transformations across many
different sectors and business types. But although
working from home may have its perks,
only being able to connect with colleagues
through webcam or email, definitely starts to
take its toll.
What I’m beginning to notice is that many Kiwis
are struggling to overcome their Covid-fatigue
and are increasingly becoming overwhelmed
with exhaustion and lack of motivation. New
Zealand’s constant string of lockdowns can also
leave people feeling isolated and disconnected,
which as we know, can cause a strain on
mental health.
I’m aware of how crucial it is to uphold the
wellbeing of my team. Even though we have
somewhat mastered the art of working from
home, I always encourage the team to stay
DAMON KELLY, FOUNDER AND
CEO OF ENLIGHTEN DESIGNS
connected and get some fresh air during their
downtime.
In your opinion, what’s the most important
skill for entrepreneurs to develop?
Being great at recruitment! As an entrepreneur,
it’s crucial to remember that you can’t do it
alone. I’ve learned that a business is only as
good as its team. When you’re hiring new employees,
you shouldn’t just consider how skilled
they are in their profession, you should also ask
yourself if they will embody the core values
of your business. At Enlighten, we’ve always
hired people that reflect our values of learning,
creativity and integrity.
Above all else, fostering new and existing relationships
with your colleagues is essential. You
don’t just need to recruit great people - you
need to connect with them. Having an awesome
workplace culture with a connected team
is crucial for driving productivity and success
+++++++
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Get in touch today, to find out more about
BUILDING SUSTAINABLY
WITH PAUA.
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Contact us 07 839 6521
www.pauaarchitects.co.nz
WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP December 2021
11

Wishing you a
happy and healthy
holiday from your
local experts
The team at Waikato Business
News wishes you all a safe and
happy festive season.
Waikato Business News office
will be closed from:
Wednesday December 22, 2021
until Monday January 10, 2022
Bowen Therapy
HOLISTIC HEALTH THERAPIES
Wishing you a safe and happy Christmas
and a prosperous New Year.
Wishing you all a safe festive
season and looking forward to 2022
Jocelyne at Holistic Health Therapies
Temporary
Recruitment
Permanent
Recruitment
Executive
Recruitment
07 839 3685 | www.assetrec.co.nz
Industrial
Recruitment
11 Ridgeway Place, Hamilton | 021 502 095
Holisticfrench@gmail.com | www.holistictherapies.co.nz
12 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP December 2021

Our wish for you this
Christmas, is that your hearts
and homes will be filled with
peace and happiness
Email: ana@ana-maria.nz
www.ana-maria.nz
Address: 82 Grey Street, Hamilton East
Mobile: 021 881 229 Ph: 07 211 4654
Merry Christmas
From the team at
Waikato Business News
info@wbn.co.nz | 07 838 1333
Wishing you a happy and safe holiday
season from the teams at Hamilton
Radiology and Midland MRI
Offering unparalleled care and expertise
0800 426 723 hamiltonradiology.co.nz
0800 687 674 midlandmri.co.nz
WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP December 2021
13

REGIONAL ROUND UP
Allan Sanson
WAIKATO DISTRICT COUNCIL
After a rough 2020 thanks to the arrival of
COVID-19, this time last year we all were all
hopeful for a better 2021. Things didn’t quite go
according to plan and this year has presented a
whole set of new challenges with the northern
part of our district spending months in lockdown.
As we emerge under the COVID-19 Protection
Framework, life is returning to our “new normal”.
With the recent adjustments to our national
approach to the pandemic, council has had to
reposition, reconsider and at times adapt our
services to comply with changing requirements.
This challenge is not unique within the Waikato
District and many of our neighbouring councils
and others have been grappling with what the
future may look like, and how we can best put in
place controls to ensure we keep our communities
safe and well.
Reflecting on other events this year, we have
again seen large growth in many of our towns
and villages across the district. As a fast growth
area council, balancing growth with affordability
will prove to be a huge challenge for us and our
community in the coming years. We outlined
many of these challenges in our Long-Term Plan
which we adopted in June.
A success of the past 12 months has been the
way the District Plan Review team and the independent
commissioners adapted the hearings
to keep this process on track despite the upsets
of COVID-19. The team were able to host these
hearings virtually on Zoom, which was a New
Zealand first. We are expecting the outcome
of the review to be released in January 2022.
And perhaps our greatest success this year was
getting confirmation from our independent
commissioners for the approval of a land use
change for Sleepyhead at Ohinewai. This project
is of scale that will be talked about in the Waikato
for many years to come.
We have a lot coming down the pipeline from
central government that we all need to get our
heads around including, legislative reform in the
three waters area (drinking water, wastewater,
and stormwater) and National Policy Statements
that relate to urban development (the growth in
and around towns) and freshwater management.
Considering all this, we are facing an enormous
task. Our district is growing rapidly, and we need
to keep up with this growth, while making sure
our community is a desirable place to live, work
and play. We need to balance the services we
provide with what our community can afford.
While our response to COVID-19 has been
strong as a country, and our district’s consistent
presence in the productive sector has placed us
well to recover from any global recession, we
also know that there are certain sectors and parts
of our community that are struggling. Many in
our communities will need our support if they are
to recover from the current economic hardship
and keep socially strong. Our vision of liveable,
thriving and connected communities demands
that we deliver this balance.
Moving into 2022, we will continue to respond to
the needs of the district, balancing affordability
with adding value and enhancing community
wellbeing – so we can all work towards a better,
and more resilient, future together.
Finally, it’s been a big year that has seen many of
us separated from our whānau. This festive season
I will be spending time with my family at the
beach. I look forward to seeing many of you next
year and wish you a happy and safe holiday.
Paula Southgate
HAMILTON CITY COUNCIL
Many in the business community will be pleased
to turn the page on 2021, hoping for more positive
times ahead.
Covid-19 continued to throw curve balls and
for business, it has been exceptionally tough. I
acknowledge that and thank those who, despite
everything, have kept people in jobs, and our
local economy turning. At council we have
been running to keep up with a year of change,
much of it driven by central Government. We
have been in the thick of, and often leading,
discussions about a raft of reform proposals and
far-reaching legislation.
The most divisive issue has been the Three Waters
Reform to better manage water, wastewater
and stormwater. Council’s decision in November
clearly confirms our opposition to the reforms as
currently proposed. No councillor supports the
current asset transfer model proposed and we
are all concerned around local representation.
Water reform will happen in some form; that is
very clear. As I write this our council continues to
push back on Government to get the best outcome
for our city and ensure we have a strong
voice in future decision-making. On December 9
Government announced more time will be taken
to consider such feedback.
Our council has also been concerned with the
bi-partisan announcement about housing. We
considered the proposed law changes, which
sought to allow three-storey homes to be built in
most parts of the city without a resource consent,
as fundamentally flawed. We sent a hard-hitting
submission and directly addressed the select
committee. It was pleasing to get some wins
from our push-back, including the acknowledgement
that existing, well-progressed notified
plan changes (like Peacocke) should continue.
Hamilton has a housing crisis; we need more
homes. It is as simple as that. But trying to impose
a blanket solution, without taking note of the
extensive planning work we have already done
to enable more housing, is not the answer. At
the time of writing however, there had been
little movement on how our city can finance
infrastructure that new housing will demand. In
Hamilton we have $1.07 billion worth of ‘unfunded’
infrastructure included within our 10-Year
Plan….a mammoth amount we cannot hope to
fund alone. This is an issue we are continuing to
press government on.
There are two other pieces of other reform on
the table, including changes to local government
itself. The other is reform of the RMA which
I support. We will always need environmental
protections, but the RMA is an outdated piece
of legislation which is hindering, not helping our
efforts to build New Zealand. It is doing nothing
to help us address the country’s housing crisis.
Given what remains on our plate, 2022 promises
to be just as busy as this year. As this year draws
to a close, I thank our business community again
for continuing to operate in challenging circumstances.
I wish you well over the busy summer
period and sincere hope you can enjoy some
time with family and friends.
14 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP December 2021

Jim Mylchreest
WAIPĀ DISTRICT COUNCIL
While we all headed into 2021 with renewed
hope from a tough 2020, we can certainly say
that this year has thrown a few challenges in our
path again, but we are emerging with a positive
mindset and looking forward to the promise of a
new year, and what 2022 may bring for us.
You can never give up hope – you always have
to look forward! Even in another tough year, we
have persevered and gained some great results.
We started off strong in 2021, with some outstanding
events in Waipā – the Home of Champions,
signing off our ‘What’s Next, Waipā’ 2021-
31 Long Term Plan. The culmination of 18-months
hard work by a great team produced a plan for
the next ten years that we can be proud of – it’s
so good, it even took out the Taituara Great CD
Competition recently! We were thrilled.
We also opened the new pool facility in Cambridge,
Perry Aquatic Centre Puna Kaukau o
Te Oko Horoi. Visitors to the centre can enjoy a
variety of options for all the family, including the
outside 50m pool which received an upgrade.
COVID-19 re-emerged in the community once
again. Waipā was proudly the first district within
the Waikato to reach over 90 percent double
vaccinated. COVID-19 has caused a lot of
paigns, encouraging people to support local
and purchase what they can from retailers near
them instead of online. Every small purchase
helps!
From my perspective, this year in local government
has been a challenging one with three
waters reforms, future for local government reforms,
and an updated National Policy Statement
for Urban Development with many changes that
are not in the best interests of our residents, and
our wider community. Council has continued
to challenge these decisions on behalf of our
district and will continue to do so, to gain better
outcomes for all of Waipā.
This holiday season, be kind, take a moment to
reflect on the year that has been and the great
memories we have created amongst tough
times. We all hope for an amazing and prosperous
2022 – Merry Christmas!
Jenny Shattock
SOUTH WAIKATO DISTRICT COUNCIL
South Waikato District Council has had a busy
year. We continue to support and plan for the
growth we are experiencing across the district,
alongside business as usual services and
activities. For many years South Waikato faced
a declining population and the challenges that
went with that. Now we have large new housing
developments underway and these will deliver
much needed housing to support our population
growth. Council is working closely with private
developers, iwi, Kainga Ora and Momentum
Waikato to catalyse new supply across the entire
housing spectrum.
Our SW Space to Grow brand provides a strong
value proposition to investors, new residents and
visitors. In partnership with Te Waka, we promote
the strengths of the Waikato region to international
investors and together with the South
Waikato Investment Fund Trust (SWIFT), we have
facilitated noteworthy developments that will
deliver jobs to our community, like the proposed
new dairy factory and the South Waikato Trade
Training Centre development. Investing in job
creation and developing the skills and capability
of our people through investments into Impact
Hub, Tokoroa and the WorkIT programme, is
producing positive employment outcomes for
our young people and entrepreneurs.
Our Long-Term Plan 2021-31 signalled that one of
the priorities for our council was to increase our
investment in community facilities with a focus on
a new recreational development in Tīrau, a new
skatepark for our Putāruru community and new
or upgraded library and pool facilities in Tokoroa.
Developing and strengthening key partner and
stakeholder relationships has been important
over the past year and working with our partners
has ensured that together we can deliver the
necessary support for our community.
All of this takes place within the context of significant
change to our operating environment.
The three waters reform, alongside inter-related
reforms to the Resource Management Act
and the Future of Local Government, presents
opportunities and challenges to communities
across New Zealand. Our council is disappointed
the Government will mandate the reform of
three waters service delivery, given the absence
cancellations of events, and businesses have had
tough times. Waipā has worked hard to support
the business community with ‘buy local’ camof
community input and consultation to date.
Information in the public area has been inconsistent,
poorly understood and inaccurate, and to
that effect councillors decided to be part of the
Communities4Local Democracy group seeking
to convince the Government to alter its intention
to proceed with legislation. We want a reform
package that can appropriately meet everyone’s
objectives. Our council will communicate the
case for better engagement with our community
during 2022 to central Government.
COVID-19 continues to challenge us both in
business and in our personal lives. We all have
whānau, friends and colleagues spread around
the country. COVID-19 has frustrated supplies
of almost everything which has had a significant
flow on effect to our project delivery and
business success. I want to acknowledge the
community groups that have tirelessly delivered
testing and vaccination opportunities. And I want
to applaud the business sector that has navigated
these challenges over the past year.
Looking forward to 2022, we will continue to
navigate through COVID-19. Our strength and
resilience fills me with hope for the future. Our
relationships with partners and stakeholders are
critical to our district’s continued success. We
need to grow and nurture these relationships in
the knowledge that we share a common goal -
building a successful community.
I am proud to be Mayor of such a multicultural
community and believe that strength comes from
diversity and overcoming challenges.
On a final note, the local government elections
coming up next year. If you relish a challenge
and want to give back, then now is the time
to starting seriously considering standing for
council. You have just over six months to cement
your thoughts one way or the other. Working for
council can be challenging, but as I prepare to
retire after 24 years of community service, I can
confirm it is also extremely rewarding.
Ash Tanner
MATAMATA-PIAKO DISTRICT COUNCIL
As we come up to Christmas and a good Kiwi
summer, it’s a good chance to reflect on the
year that’s been and to come. COVID threw us
some curve balls and we’ve had to do things
a little differently this year, with online council
and committee meetings and a bigger focus on
digital consultation, but I’m proud of how my
colleagues, staff and communities have responded,
and the resilience and innovation shown in
the face of uncertainty.
We made some big decisions on what our priorities
are over the next few years for the 2021-2031
Long Term Plan and started work on the few big
projects to help our district grow, thrive and be
an even better place for future generations.
We received strong community support to work
towards developing a destination spa in Te Aroha
and we agreed that if we’re going to do it, it
needs to be done properly. Once the Project
Governance Group is confident the business
case stacks up and a larger spa operation is possible
(after analysing land stability and whether
there’s enough geothermal water available), we’ll
focus on developing concept plans next year for
the community to consider.
We’re still working through the details of achieving
zero waste by 2038, signalled in the Waste
Minimisation and Management Plan. As part of
this ambitious goal, there’ll be two purpose-built
resource recovery centres established in Matamata
and Morrinsville, with the Waihou Transfer
Station getting an upgrade to bring it up to
health and safety standards.
Making our main streets somewhere people
want to stay, enjoy and spend money is also high
on our list. We’ll be asking people for their ideas
on revitalising our town centres and launching an
innovative way of interacting and talking with our
communities in the new year – all I’ll say now is
‘Nancy’ is nearing - watch this space.
We’re also looking into slowly but steadily
improving the walking and cycling connections
across our district, including Matamata, Morrinsville
and Waharoa, and making some good
progress in extending the Morrinville river walk
track. Morrinsville will also receive two additional
water sources to meet growing demand, and
ensure there is enough water for essential use
(like drinking and hygiene) all year round. We’re
making some headway with the Lockerbie bore
and design of the new treatment plant.
After receiving multiple requests for more dog
exercise areas in Matamata and Te Aroha, we’re
pleased some new areas are now up-andrunning.
We look forward to working with
community groups in the new year to improve
them further. It’s also great to see Headon Events
Centre in Matamata back in action after a bit of a
spruce up and new flooring.
It’s been a good year; we’ve made some steady
progress and have some solid plans for next
year. We have a great district that’s growing,
thriving and full of good, hard-working people
who make this district what it is. We look forward
to 2022 and making our district an even greater
place to live, work and play.
WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP December 2021
15

TOUGH TIMES BUT WAIKATO TOURISM’S
FIT FOR THE
CHALLENGE
TELLING WAIKATO’S STORY
> BY JASON DAWSON
Chief Executive, Hamilton & Waikato Tourism
The mighty Waikato tourism sector is living up to
its moniker despite having experienced a second
tough year, says Hamilton & Waikato Tourism’s chief
executive, Jason Dawson.
As one of two regions in the country to record
the largest market share increase for visitors over
the past 12 months, the Waikato has so far come
through the lockdowns and border closures
resulting from COVID-19 in reasonable shape,
he says.
“This is fantastic for the region overall – and
it’s real-time confirmation the Waikato is just as
sought-after by domestic visitors as it is international.
“It’s also validation that campaigns like ‘Mighty
Local’ that we re-launched in September to get
locals supporting local businesses do work.”
However, Jason says, it has not been easy,
and the cold reality is there are pockets of the
Waikato region where tourism businesses are
really hurting, and jobs lost, because of the
border closures as well as the months-long lack
of domestic visitors.
“The most impacted are our businesses that
have traditionally drawn much of their custom
from international markets – but mighty locals
that they are, our operators have stepped up,
showing great agility with re-gearing the experiences
they offer and vigorously marketing to
Kiwis, knowing that in time international visitors
will be able to be here too.”
He says there has, however, been quite a level
of frustration amongst tourism businesses that
the Government had not provided greater
clarity around the timing of border re-opening
and the process that would ensure everyone is
kept as safe as possible.
“Having time to plan and prepare for guests
is a very important part of the hospitality, the
manaakitanga, we here in tourism in the Waikato
always want to extend to those who visit us.
“Despite the lack of surety, though, Hamilton &
Waikato Tourism and our operators are working
to ensure we are primed to take the best advantage
of border re-opening.
“We are working with Tourism New Zealand and
our neighbours like the Bay of Plenty, Rotorua
and Taupō planning initiatives to inspire and
draw visitors back into the region and encourage
them to spend more while they are here.”
Jason adds that pre-COVID, the Waikato drew
30 per cent of its visitors from Auckland, and
that the re-opening of this important market is ‘a
blessing and warmly welcomed’ by the Waikato
tourism sector.
“In 2019 visiting Aucklanders generated $206
million for the Waikato economy in tourism
earnings and, despite the lockdowns, this
important market delivered $199 million to our
economy in the 12 months ending in October.
“We continue to promote the many reasons why
Aucklanders will enjoy visiting the Waikato, either
as a day trip or to stay with us for a while,” he says.
“Amongst our ongoing promotion is working
with the media that infiltrates Aucklanders’ lives,
newspaper, radio and, of course, social media,
to tell our stories.
“One of our pre-Christmas efforts has been
partnering with the Stuff media group to produce
a spectacular 48-page colour supplement
with stories and images. This has gone into
the Sunday Star-Times newspaper, which has
high Auckland weekend readership plus good
national exposure.
“To keep our very supportive local market up
with the best things to see and do in their home
region, this informative supplement has also
appeared in the Waikato Times.”
With the new year, Jason says there are some
key Waikato events coming, with several bound
to attract national and international attention.
“In March, matches for one of the hottest
events of the year will happen at Seddon Park
in Hamilton – the ICC Women’s Cricket World
Cup – where there will be teams from Australia,
England, India and South Africa, as well as our
own national team.
“Then in April there’s a sports event of an entirely
different stature – The Middle-earth Halfling
Marathon TM . This is an off-road adventure
unlike any other where runners and walkers can
explore the bucolic landscape of the Shire, as
seen in the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit
trilogies.
“Getting up to speed for this very special event
has to be a New Year’s resolution for a lot of
people.”
Jason says the Waikato region is an ever-popular
destination for a wide range of events with
some of the fun this summer including the
Hamilton Gardens Arts Festival (18-27 February),
Balloons over Waikato (15-19 March), the Great
New Zealand Muster in Te Kuiti, regarded by
many as the sheep shearing capital of the world
(2 April), and Raglan Arts Weekend (16-18 April).
The new year is also a busy one on the business
events calendar with some of the key events
over the next six months including the likes of
the Water New Zealand Conference and Expo
(22-25 February), the Kudos Awards honouring
scientists (3 March) and the WasteMINZ Conference
(10-12 May).
He says now that Kiwis can get out and explore
their own country, tourism operators in the
Waikato were looking forward to an exciting,
successful summer.
“We’re also cautiously optimistic we’ll soon be
able to welcome international visitors again,
with everyone’s safety assured. I was interested
to see recent projections estimate that very few
people arriving here from overseas will carry
any risk – in fact, only three in 10,000 passengers,
or 0.03 per cent.
“I want to give a special shout out to our three
MIQ hotels here in the Waikato and their staff
who have done an exceptional job helping to
ensure people’s safety over the past 18 months.
“As a country – and as a region – we can be
very proud. We have done the hard yards
and now we deserve fun times ahead. Merry
Christmas and may we all get what we wish for
in 2022!”
16 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP December 2021

WE’RE LOOKING FOR
TRAINEES NOW!
SEE CAREERS.WEL.CO.NZ FOR VACANCIES
WEL WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?
Merry Christmas and
a Happy New Year from
WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP December 2021
17

THE FUTURE FOR
HANSA PRODUCTS
When Waikato-based business Hansa relocated and
built at a brand new site in Hamilton’s Northgate
Business Park in 2019, they didn’t expect their fiveyear
plan to come to fruition in just three years.
Martin says keeping production in New Zealand
is beneficial on two fronts; supporting
local employment and maintaining quality
control.
When the new space officially opened at the
beginning of 2019, the Hansa team numbered
around 30, three years on and there
are now over 50 staff.
At the time Hansa managing director Martin
Vogel knew the building was an investment
into the long-term future of the company.
While the land at the time seemed much
bigger than what they needed, he could see
the future for expanding and doubling the
production space.
This year, Hansa added 2500 square metres
to the new building and more than doubled
their manufacturing space.
“This was planned for five years after we
moved in and we’ve been here for three
years now. This is a result of demand since
COVID,” Martin says.
Unlike many businesses, COVID-19 resulted in
a huge increase in demand for Hansa.
“People are spending more time at home, in
their own backyards and that creates a demand
for the product. When you spending more time
in the garden trimming trees you realise that a
wood chipper would be a useful tool.”.
Hansa products, high quality chipping and
shredding equipment, have been in high
demand for more than 40 years.
aging director Steve Milburn based in Germany
was critical to driving growth in Europe.
“Steve plays a pivotal role in the European
markets, building the Benelux presence and
achieving the right cultural alignment when
onboarding new distributors,” Vogel says.
For us, it’s about
breaking and
expanding into those
new export markets
and we’ve put a lot of
energy into meeting the
market regulations and
adapting our product
to fit the need of our
international customers
While it has its challenges, including recruiting
good quality, skilled staff, Martin is proud
that Hansa supports local.
“The overarching benefit is that we’re creating
jobs for the community. That’s definitely a
driver of it.”
And, Vogel says, sending production to China
would take all the satisfaction out of what they
do and impede their ability to continually
improve their products.
“From a manufacturing perspective, having
production in New Zealand allows us to make
continuous rapid improvement. We have
our process set up to give us an edge on
the competitive market. And being able to
maintain quality control in-house, you can’t
achieve that offshore.”
As part of the factory expansion, 290 solar
panels have been added to the roof of the
extension to provide 100kW of power, and
concepts are underway for a semi-automated
powder coating line. Once implemented, the
new semi-automatic line will complement the
existing 3D Solidworks design, robot welding,
and powder-coating facilities to efficient production
system for single piece flow.
Hansa manufacture a range of wood chippers
for home gardeners, lifestyle blocks, orchards,
hire centres and commercial arborists
in engine-powered or PTO driven configurations.
Their number one design priority is efficient
product performance to make the experience
Hansa’s overall strategy is to take their worldclass
products to the world.
“For us, it’s about breaking and expanding
into those new export markets and we’ve put
a lot of energy into meeting the market regulations
and adapting our product to fit the
need of our international customers.”
Throughout the pandemic, Hansa also experienced
rapid growth into Australia, Germany,
United Kingdom, and the Benelux region
(Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg).
Vogel says Hansa are now moving their focus
towards the French market.
Having Hansa Products Europe GmbH man-
They’ve taken back over their distribution in
Australia, which is their biggest export with 60
percent of their products ending up across
the ditch and have continued growth plans
for Australia, in both the lifestyle and commercial
market segments.
Vogel recognises the value in digital channels
in conjunction with traditional distributor networks,
therefore will be growing eCommerce
as it is a great channel to market.
The market growth and increased production
Hansa is experiencing has meant an increase
in production staff back home in New Zealand.
18 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP December 2021

of using each machine enjoyable.
They also meet or exceed the market’s regulatory
safety standards and the machines are
designed for ease of servicing and maintenance.
The overarching benefit
is that we’re creating
jobs for the community.
That’s definitely a driver
of it.
into those new export markets and we’ve
put a lot of energy into meeting the market
regulations and adapting our product to fit
the need of our international customers,”
Vogel says.
It’s a far cry from its humble beginnings on
Ryburn Rd, in a honey shed in Ohaupo.
Vogel’s father, Manfred Vogel, a design
engineer, started making chippers from his
mother-in-law’s honey shed in the 1980s.
Martin says his father saw the opportunity in
the market and on a shoestring budget, he
began making them in his own time,
and never looked back.
In 2004, Martin joined the family business
and it was just the two of them for a while,
but Martin has since taken it from strength to
strength.
“When I joined the company, we were able
to leverage off the reputation that my father
had built 20 years before,” Martin says.
The name, Hansa, was created by Manfred,
who is originally from Germany. He moved
here in 1977 and when he started the business
he didn’t want to use the family name, so it
was Martin’s mother who came up with the
name. They wanted to include some of his European
heritage and Hansa is an old trading
name from the Viking times and is common
especially in Northern Germany.
Looking ahead into the future, the team at
Hansa are committed to an ongoing evolution
of sustainable manufacturing processes.
Along with long product lifespan through
the design and production of top-quality
product, and lean manufacturing to minimise
waste through all areas of the business, the
expansion is another continuous improvement
towards actualising their sustainable initiatives
on premises.
In recent years, Hansa undertook the SIRI
assessment as part of the Callaghan Innovation
Industry 4.0 Demonstration Network
programme which resulted in Hansa being
ranked highly in enterprise automatisation.
As a result of increased manufacturing costs
Hansa has recognised industry 4.0 as being
pivotal for their future success.
Hansa is now working through a 10-year automation
piece which will result in increased
automation, profit margins, and being able to
supply their increasing demand confidently.
“For us, it’s about breaking and expanding
WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP December 2021
19

Putting a little more goodness into my life
It took some convincing before I committed to spend three days at Resolution Retreats. It wasn’t that I doubted the quality or
worthiness of the gorgeous Karapiro spa, but simply that my business took all the time and energy I had. Stepping out of that constant
drive for results felt self-indulgent and wasteful.
If my attitude feels familiar
to you, I have things you
need to know.
Investing those first three
days was among the best business
and personal decisions I
have ever made. I followed
it with another three day programme
and together they
have been transformational.
Resolution Retreats is neither
a holiday nor a bootcamp.
It is a genuine wellness retreat
run by highly skilled people
who understand exactly what
burnout, inability to relax,
overcommitment, and putting-yourself-last
looks like
and they are driven to giving
clients the tools and support
to refocus into a healthier,
more successful approach to
life. No judgement, no finger
wagging.
The first programme I did
was a Kick Start; the second
was a Resilience programme,
aimed squarely at business
people. Although the experience
of each was very similar,
the coaching and learning
sessions in the Resilience
programme included knowl-
edge and tools for addressing
burnout, prioritising, dealing
with people, communication
strategies, workplace dynamics
and other typical business
issues. Oh, and to illustrate
how well they understand
their clients, the Resilience
programme provided coffee,
tea and sugar as well as the
standard incredibly healthy
and delicious five meals a day.
The programme was
highly organised
and structured with
a nice balance of
free time.
As a broad overview, Resolution
Retreats packages
combine seriously good and
healthy food that catered for
individual preferences (eggs
poached, not runny, please);
physical movement that was
equally comfortable for teens
or 80-year-olds plus the option
of personal trainer sessions;
classic spa treatments
such as massage and beauty
therapies; outstanding learning
sessions led by specialists
on diverse subjects such as
tools for mental wellbeing,
or the effects of hormones
and tools for monitoring our
health, and those work and
business-related subjects.
All set in beautiful grounds
with superb private chalets
and amenities including spa,
indoor pool and tennis court.
And with impeccable professionalism
and service.
The programme was highly
organised and structured
with a nice balance of free
time. But nothing was compulsory,
so if I chose to opt
out of something and instead
going for a swim or a walk,
that was perfectly fine. Someone
might check in to see that
I was okay but that felt nurturing
and responsive.
But parts of the experience
I most valued were the human
elements: the opportunity to
share experiences with others
from all over the country who
were each on their own interesting
journey and to have
time to build real connections,
the incredible responsiveness
and nurturing by the Resolution
Retreats team, the space
to use the time I was there to
focus on what was most important
to me. It felt like a
rare privilege.
My experience was prob-
ably absolutely typical. I arrived
feeling exhausted and
a bit unsociable. I left feeling
energised, refocused, back in
control of my life and wellbeing,
and with all the knowledge
and tools I needed to
make these a lasting change.
They gave me the tools to
take back control of my life;
it felt so powerful.
From a business perspective,
the value was obvious.
I returned to work with more
energy to give to my team and
with better skills to lead and
coach. I can see the potential
for my team to also benefit
from a Resolution Retreats
programme and that’s an investment
I will be making.
By DEIDRE MORRIS (DIRECTOR DP MEDIA LTD.)
20 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP December 2021

Putting yourself,
your health and
your happiness first
Having never been on a retreat, I was both excited and nervous
entering Resolution Retreats. On arrival we were greeted by
lovely staff members and shown to our villa. Almost immediately
you enter into a world of relaxation. They have worked hard to
ensure every part of the retreat is up to the highest standard
including facilities, food, staff and even how lovely everything
smells! No detail is left out.
The multiple workshops
covering everything
health-related ensure
you leave with a better understanding
of how everything
such as food, exercise and
sleep affects our quality of life.
Carly took out first health
workshop, which covered mental
health. She didn’t linger on
negative topics but she spoke
matter-of-factly. She talked
about mental health as a positive
and important part of life.
It shouldn’t have negative connotations
surrounding it and this
is something that we all need to
continue to work on.
With our mental wellbeing
taken care of, the next two workshops
with Jo and Tiffany were
based around nutrition. The information
we learnt was easy to
process and you could easily implement
it in your everyday life.
The workshops were equally as
interesting as they were educational.
Being the youngest woman
at the retreat I wasn’t sure how
I would fit in, I soon discovered
that what we learnt was for
women of all ages. I felt at ease
right away and I want to encourage
other young people to take
part in experiences like Resolution
Retreats.
Spa treatments are offered
to make you feel pampered and
help you unwind fully. I went
for a facial and full body massage
leaving me recharged and
glowing.
Fresh and healthy meals
are provided every day, which
are all prepared by the women
running the retreat. They aren’t
chefs but the food was delicious
with ingredients purchased locally
from the supermarket. This
shows everyone that once you
leave the retreat, making meals
like that at home is definitely
doable.
Being the youngest
woman at the
retreat I wasn’t
sure how I would
fit in, I soon
discovered that
what we learnt was
for women of all
ages.
There are fitness classes every
day, which I wasn’t looking
forward to as much as spa
treatments but I really ended up
enjoying the exercise. Tiffany,
who took fitness, showed us that
exercise comes in many different
forms. You just have to find
one that works for you. We did
a few different activities such as
pool fitness, dance, different circuits
and walks around the lovely
grounds. As well as fitness,
we did yoga and meditation. I
was very excited about this form
of wellness as I have been trying
to get into it before I went
on retreat. Tiffany made sure
everyone’s abilities were catered
for in the yoga classes. I spoke
to a few ladies before who were
a little nervous but managed to
enjoy it and relax once they got
into it.
You are also given time to
yourself to unwind, they call
this ‘bliss time’ and it’s a great
way to enjoy the retreat facilities
such as the pool, spa, sauna,
steam room and gym. You can
also use this time to sit in your
villa and read a book or even
just mingle with the other ladies.
As this retreat focuses largely on
being a place for anyone who is
feeling burnt out to recharge and
reset, ‘bliss time’ is an important
part of this experience. They do
a great job at balancing time to
relax and time for activities/
workshops.
Throughout the retreat you
are encouraged to step out of
your comfort zone. Whether it
be in fitness class, eating food
you usually wouldn’t at home,
and even cutting out coffee and
alcohol, which for a lot of people
can be a challenge in itself.
All injuries, allergies and ailments
were taken into account
and this meant everyone could
participate in all activities to the
best of their ability, enjoy all the
food, and no one is made to feel
left out.
There were women of all
ages, shapes, sizes and everyone
was there for different reasons.
But at the end of the day everyone
was there to better their lives
in one way or another, which
gave me a sense of unity. I left
with the understanding that putting
yourself, your health and
By BETH NEBEN
your happiness first is so important.
It’s okay to take a break,
to recharge and to always keep
learning how to be the best version
of you!
WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP December 2021
21

What a Year!
After 30 years in business 2021 has
been our most challenging year ever.
When you begin your business, as
we did in early 1992, there was
a sense of excitement and apprehension
of the unknown. Every business
opportunity was seized upon and every $
was precious, and there was always that
feeling that everyone else knew more
than you did. Business success also has
an element of timing and good luck, and
ours came in the form or a small news
article about Wilson & Horton winning
a court ruling that an advert placed by
an overseas advertiser in NZ should be
zero-rated for GST.
As our immigration and education business
at the time was almost exclusively
providing services to overseas clients we
approached the IRD who, to their credit,
promptly undertook an audit of our business
and a substantial refund of the all the
GST we had paid to date was duly made!
Looking back, these early challenges
pale into insignificance compared with
the challenges of these past two years.
Last year we were all presented with the
unknown, both in our business and in our
personal lives. But once the “unknown”
became “known” we all pivoted and
adjusted our business operations and personal
lives to the new world and got on
with life – thinking that 2021 would be
better. However, for many businesses,
including our immigration business, 2021
has proved even more challenging.
We provide a service to migrants, and
employers who employ migrants, and
advise, assist and manage the various visa
and regulatory requirements to enable
migrants to enter, study, work, invest and
live in New Zealand. It was not so much
the border closure that impacted on our
business but the very frequent and significant
legislation changes that happened on
Richard Howard
an almost daily basis. Having instructed
clients on the basis of the relevant legislation
one day the Government decided
to issue everyone free visas the next day.
Having geared up employers for the new
accreditation regime (after 3 years of planning)
and then have a last-minute deferral
until sometime next year. Having to
deal with all our visa holders and investor
migrants who have completed all their
visa requirements but who are not able to
actually enter New Zealand and more. And
then the introduction of the 2021 Resident
Visa and the Immigration New Zealand
website immediately crashing…
Our learnings from 2021 are to expect
the unexpected, to embrace flexible working
arrangements as these are here to stay,
utilise technology to its potential, and to
make the most of any opportunities for the
team to come together – our people are our
greatest asset and we need to explore all
options to really look after them.
Looking forward we now have more
legislative certainty (we hope!) for immigration
in the coming year and can plan
forward with some confidence for another
busy and successful year - and one which
we very much intend to be more enjoyable
than the year we are now leaving behind!
STILL TIME TO
GROW UP,
NOT OUT
THE STORY THEN
In June, Waikato Business News spoke to Thomas
Gibbons, who is on the Property Council
Waikato regional executive, about Hamilton
City Council’s boost for urban design and he
warned developer discontent was likely to
persist.
As part of its 10-year plan, the council had overhauled
its developer contribution (DC) settings
while also proposing an average 8.9 percent
rates rise.
Among a raft of changes, builds in the CBD
of six storeys and higher are set to gain a full
contribution remission, dropping to 50 percent
for other buildings. The remissions depend
on engagement with the urban design panel.
He emphasised the city had engaged with
his membership-based organisation over the
changes.
Despite robust discussions about the changes
there remained a view that the city’s DCs were
still too high.
Gibbons said the Property Council supported
remissions as a way of encouraging further
development and was also supportive of the
boosted role for the urban design panel.
THOMAS GIBBONS
areas like Hamilton, Waikato, and Waipa.
Local government was almost universally opposed
to the reforms, with Hamilton City and
FutureProof raising forceful concerns about the
impacts on existing infrastructure, and on the
well-being of the Waikato River.
Conversely, those who believe supply is an
important part of the affordability puzzle have
been more welcoming of the reforms.
Others have accepted the idea that something
needed to be done – which is perhaps an
acceptance that the current planning system
isn’t delivering the houses it needs to - though
have seen the proposed reforms as a relatively
blunt instrument.
There remains a critical problem of how our
communities pay for growth. The Waikato
remains a desirable place to live, and as we
can’t stop babies being born, or people moving
here, our housing needs will continue to
increase.
So, there is a need for more infrastructure to
service growth, while at the same time, there
is limited appetite for rates increases or higher
development contributions. Indeed, higher
development contributions can worsen the
affordability issues that already arise.
Level 2
586 Victoria Street
Hamilton 3204
Level 3
50 Manners Street
Wellington 6011
07 834 9222
enquiries@pathwaysnz.com
pathwaysnz.com
Regional sprawl could also become an issue
as DC costs are passed on to home buyers,
he said, raising house prices in the city and
potentially driving drift to smaller towns, in turn
putting pressure on the roading system and
commuter times.
THE STORY NOW
A lot has been happening in the development
world. At a policy level, RMA reform continues
to emerge, with the National and Built
Environments Bill being reported back from
select committee. Hamilton City Council started
consultation on a plan change that would allow
for more intensification, as a way of meeting
its NPS-UD responsibility to provide for more
developable land.
Into this process came the hurricane of bipartisan
RMA reforms around enabling more
housing. The soundbite was that an existing
section could allow three dwellings of three
storeys each, which would seem a dramatic step
towards greater intensification of high-growth
Some would say the basic answer is more central
government spending on local infrastructure.
Our local authorities and communities
simply aren’t geared up to fund their growth
needs.
Absent this kind of intervention, we need to be
more innovative about how we approach infrastructure,
with a closer look at targeted rates,
Special Purpose Vehicles, and other tools.
Meanwhile, great developments continue to be
done in Hamilton and across the region. We
are seeing some great new apartment developments
come onto the market. Greenfields
development remains a challenge, because
of the infrastructure issues highlighted above.
Commercial development too seems to be
coming on well, with premium new buildings
going up, often with national tenants who are
attracted to Hamilton for its centrality and safety.
Union Square and the new ACC premises are
leading the way here.”
Contributed by Thomas Gibbons
22 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP December 2021

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WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP December 2021
23

THE PLUMBER’S
LEAKY TAP
When you’re self-employed or lead a small business,
taking care of your brand and taking care of yourself
go hand in hand. And it’s not always easy.
on your skills and expertise, you are your brand.
The two are intrinsically linked, unless you’re
being totally inauthentic or fabricating a different
persona… good luck with that if you are.
I realised this year how underplaying my own
abilities could be damaging to my business. If
someone asks you if you can do something and
you answer ‘yes, I think so’ or ‘I’ll give it a go’, it
obviously gives them less confidence in you than
if they hear an emphatic ‘yes’.
I once heard someone described as FIGJAM –
where the last five letters stood for ‘I’m great, just
ask me’. This person was the epitome of blowing
their own trumpet, allergic to humility whilst
over-estimating their own ability. As a client, that’s
not the attitude I’d want to see from a supplier of
mine, so that level of overt self-belief isn’t something
I aspire to personally. But, like everything,
there’s a healthy middle ground that will be
authentic for me and the right fit for the types of
clients that I want my brand to aspire to.
Many people have felt that the 2021 lockdowns
were harder than 2020 and for me, the enforced
period of semi-isolation led to introspection.
However, we increasingly also seem to be more
open to sharing our mental health battles, even
just a small blip like mine.
So, with the help of the wonderful Jean at Everest
People, I’ve been focusing on taking care of
my own brand through getting to understand
my own brain. And life is already so much better
for it.
For the job at Verdict Communications, the
advertisement’s headline read ‘Brilliant Account
Manager required’. My covering letter pretty
much just had a single sentence about how my
typical English modesty prevented me from calling
myself brilliant but that I hoped my CV would
be of interest.
It’s taken me 20 years to finally realise that what I
always classify as modesty is actually something
quite different, and not always constructive. It’s
a kind of imposter syndrome that, at its worst, is
suffocating.
It’s a common feeling that most of you will have
experienced at least once, that sense of not
being worthy of someone’s belief, of irrationally
feeling out of your depth when you’re actually
TELLING YOUR STORY
> BY VICKI JONES
only up to your ankles. It’s a fear of stuffing up,
even while doing something you’ve done perfectly
well many times before.
It never affects my family relationships, and rarely
shows itself to my friends. Until recently, it had
only popped into my work life a handful of times.
But, this year, it turned up at my door, let itself in
and made itself at home for a while.
In agency days, I was surrounded by supportive
colleagues, able to keep feelings of self-doubt
at bay. I was driven to not let the team down or,
more honestly, not look a fool. As a consultant
or contractor, smart clients and motivated teams
focus me, even if they don’t realise the positive
impact they have.
When your business is built around you, based
Vicki Jones is director of Dugmore Jones, Hamilton-based brand
management consultancy. Email vicki@dugmorejones.co.nz
Many of us live with the fear of over-promising
and under-delivering. But the risk in leading
your customers to have low expectations is that
they have a poor understanding of what you’re
genuinely capable of.
I now understand that an outright ‘yes’ doesn’t
seem arrogant and big-headed, which was always
my fear. It doesn’t push you into the dreaded
‘fake it till you make it’ zone, worrying if you
can deliver on what you promised. It shows that
you’re more than ready to rise to the challenge.
It wasn’t until a client called me out that it really
struck home. He literally told me off for selling
myself short – “you’re better at this stuff than
you give yourself credit”. During that thankfully
honest conversation, I finally realised that I might
send my business into a downward spiral if I
wasn’t careful about how I articulate my own
knowledge and experience. If I didn’t remove
the filter of insecurity, I’d be limiting the kind of
work I could be getting in the future.
Marketers are often neglectful of their own
brand story, like the plumber with the leaky tap.
But now I have insights into what makes me tick
(or rather, what makes me stop ticking) I have a
much clearer focus on what my own brand is all
about.
I’ll be following my own advice, at last, and
will nurture my own brand with more care and
attention in 2022. Because…I can.
Many of us live with the
fear of over-promising
and under-delivering.
But the risk in leading
your customers to have
low expectations is
that they have a poor
understanding of
what you’re genuinely
capable of.
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24 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP December 2021

A NEW APPROACH NEEDED TO SOLVE
TECH TALENT SHORTAGE
TAXATION AND THE LAW
> BY ROB FISHER
Rob Fisher, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairoa, Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Whakaue,
is Technology Consulting Lead Partner at PwC New Zealand. For
more information please contact Elsa Wrathall 0274 595 540.
With an estimated 10,000 open jobs in the tech
sector, Aotearoa is at real risk of being unable to
deliver its digital ambitions.
start walking the talk and focus efforts into the
right stage. We need to shift effort and resources
towards initiatives that engage and inspire
tamariki and rangatahi, rather than waiting for
graduates with whakapapa to roll out of tertiary
training institutions.
Our approach to training also needs to be
re-thought. Currently there is a high burden on
employers to make heavy investments (time
and money) in graduates to become ‘project’
or ‘client’ ready, productive team members.
The general feeling in the industry is that while
graduates come with enthusiasm, critical-thinking
and a level of industry awareness, we effectively
give them all of their work-experience. This bites
particularly hard for the small and medium parts
of the tech sector.
In August, NZ Tech published a report on the
skills crisis the sector faces, which shows the
combined impact of huge industry growth and
COVID-related border closures. In the last few
years the sector has focused on filling mid-senior
tech positions by reaching into the global pool
of talented individuals and selling them on the
Kiwi lifestyle.
This approach makes technology an exclusive
club that doesn’t really look like our community -
Māori are significantly underrepresented at only
4% of the industry’s workforce. If you believe in
the power of diverse thinking and perspectives,
it’s a missed opportunity to add more horsepower
into an industry that thrives on creativity and
innovation.
If we don’t fix this, the equity gap between
Māori and non-Māori will continue to grow. Tech
salaries are increasing - the median salary is over
$95k - and Aotearoa is producing more start-up
success on the local and global stage. Lack of
Māori participation means money and opportunities
bypassing Māori households and communities,
which has intergenerational consequences.
There needs to be targeted investment by Government
and industry to ensure equitable digital
access for tamariki and rangatahi. It’s no longer
acceptable that young Māori don’t have the
opportunity to explore, develop and learn digital
skills. Collectively, we need to create the environment
for all young people to engage confidently
with technology and to shift their mindset from
consumers to digital innovation creators.
If the tech industry is serious about creating a
workforce that’s more diverse, then it needs to
Cataract
One solution is to learn from other industries
and shift away from multi-year courses that don’t
reflect how the industry works. Technology skills
development is much better suited to vocational
education where tauira (students) can learn
the craft and specific skills industry needs from
a blend of classroom/virtual in an actual work
environment. That’s the approach we’ve taken
with our Ignite programme, which provides onthe-job
learning for participants, while they work
towards technology certification through one of
our alliance partners.
This approach removes another barrier for Māori
- the cost of tertiary education. That’s both the
cost of tuition and the unseen cost of sacrificing
wages and income to support themselves and
whānau. Shifting to a vocational training model,
in a partnership between Government, industry
and training institutions, would provide a significantly
higher quality of education that meets
industry demands and allows people to earn
while they learn. Government will need to offer
incentives to support organisations making this
investment in our future generations.
The tech industry is known for its ability to meet
complex challenges with innovative solutions. In
the case of addressing the talent shortage, it will
take a sector-wide collaboration and an openness
to new ways of doing things to solve it.
Cataract
Surgery
Cataract Surgery
Surgery
Cataract
A CATARACT IS A GRADUAL CLOUDING
OF THE LENS INSIDE THE EYE. HAVING A
CATARACT CAN BE LIKE LOOKING THROUGH
A CLOUDY WINDOW AND MAY TAKE YOU
Surgery
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A
THE
CATARACT
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IS
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ery
CATARACT CAN BE LIKE LOOKING THROUGH
CATARACT CAN BE LIKE LOOKING from THROUGH
Cataract the development team is a normal process
AWAY FROM DOING YOUR USUAL DAY-TO- A CLOUDY WINDOW AND of aging. MAY Cataracts TAKE YOU can also be present at
A CATARACT IS A GRADUAL
DAY ACTIVITIES. A CLOUDING CLOUDY WINDOW AWAY AND FROM MAY DOING TAKE YOUR birth, YOU develop USUAL from DAY-TO- injuries, certain diseases,
OF THE LENS INSIDE THE EYE. HAVING A
AWAY FROM DOING DAY YOUR ACTIVITIES. USUAL
at Hamilton medications or long-term
DAY-TO-
Eye exposure to
CATARACT CAN BE LIKE LOOKING THROUGH
sunlight.
A CLOUDY WINDOW AND MAY TAKE YOU
AWAY FROM DOING YOUR USUAL DAY DAY-TO- ACTIVITIES.
As scary as cataracts might sound, modern
DAY Cataract ACTIVITIES. development is a normal process
Clinic
cataract surgery can usually restore vision
of aging. Cataracts can also be present at Cataract development lost is a to normal cataracts process — and can often reduce your
birth, develop from injuries, certain diseases, of aging. Cataracts can dependence also be present on glasses at as well.
Cataract medications development or is long-term a normal process exposure to birth, develop from injuries, certain diseases,
of aging. sunlight. Cataracts can also Cataract be present development is a normal process
medications or long-term When exposure you are no to longer able to see well enough to do the things you like to do,
birth, develop from injuries, certain diseases,
of aging. Cataracts sunlight. can also be present cataract at surgery should be considered. Thankfully cataract surgery is one of the safest
medications or long-term exposure to
As scary as cataracts might sound, modern
and most effective surgical procedures performed today. Surgery involves removing the
sunlight.
birth, develop from injuries, certain diseases,
cataract and replacing it with an artificial lens. The procedure typically is performed on
cataract surgery can usually restore vision
As scary as cataracts might an outpatient sound, basis modern and does not require an overnight stay care facility. Recovery time is
As scary lost to as cataracts might — and medications sound, can modern often reduce or long-term your exposure to
cataract surgery can usually quick, and restore vision can vision start to return to the affected eye within a few hours of surgery.
cataract surgery can usually restore vision
dependence on glasses as well.
lost to cataracts — and can often sunlight. reduce your
lost to cataracts — and can often reduce your
dependence on glasses as well.
dependence on glasses as well.
When you are no longer able to see well enough to do the things you like to do,
When As scary as cataracts might sound, modern
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
surgery is one of the safest
cataract surgery should be considered. Thankfully cataract surgery
and most effective surgical cataract procedures surgery performed can When is
usually today. you one of are the
Surgery restore no safest longer Ophthalmologists,
involves vision able removing to see well with
the enough fellowship to training do the things various you subspecialities, like to do, providing
and most effective surgical procedures performed today. Surgery involves removing the
cataract and replacing it with an artificial lens. cataract The procedure surgery typically should an
is be Ophthalmic
performed considered. service Thankfully of excellence. cataract surgery is one of the safest
cataract and replacing it with lost an artificial to cataracts lens. The procedure — and typically can is performed often on reduce your
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
We offer a comprehensive range of diagnostic and treatment services, including
quick, quick, and vision and vision can start can to dependence return start to to the return affected to
on eye the
glasses within affected cataract a few eye hours as and within
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
an outpatient basis and does not require an overnight stay care facility. Recovery time is
quick, and vision can start to return to the affected eye within a few hours of surgery.
When you are no longer able to see well enough to do the things you like to do,
Hamilton Eye Clinic have a team of highly qualified and experienced
To book an appointment email:
Ophthalmologists,
Hamilton Eye
with
Clinic
fellowship cataract have
training
a team surgery in
of
various
highly should subspecialities,
qualified be and
providing considered. appointments@hamiltoneyeclinic.co.nz
experienced Thankfully cataract surgery is one of the safest
an Ophthalmic service of excellence.
or phone us directly.
Ophthalmologists, and with most fellowship effective training surgical in various subspecialities, procedures performed providing today. Surgery involves removing the
We an offer Ophthalmic a comprehensive service cataract range of of excellence.
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
surgery in our adjoining purpose-build facility Bridgewater Ophthalmologists, Day Surgery. with www.hamiltoneyeclinic.co.nz
fellowship training in various subspecialities, providing
an outpatient basis and does not require an overnight stay care facility. Recovery time is
We offer a comprehensive range of diagnostic an Ophthalmic and treatment service services, of excellence. including
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.
To book an appointment email:
WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP December 2021
appointments@hamiltoneyeclinic.co.nz
We offer a comprehensive range of diagnostic and treatment services, including
or phone us directly.
surgery in our adjoining purpose-build facility Bridgewater Day Surgery.
To book an appointment email:
Cataract
Surgery
DUAL CLOUDING
THE EYE. HAVING A
KE LOOKING THROUGH
AND ATARACT MAY TAKE IS A GRADUAL YOU CLOUDING
THE OUR LENS USUAL INSIDE DAY-TO-
THE EYE. HAVING A
ARACT CAN BE LIKE LOOKING THROUGH
25

COMMUNICATION
TACTICS FOR THE HOLIDAYS
PR AND COMMUNICATIONS
> BY HEATHER CLAYCOMB
Heather Claycomb is director of HMC, a Hamilton-based,
award-winning public relations agency.
Play a game that doesn’t involve a device
Board games get people laughing and talking.
The energy in the room can rev up the happy
endorphins, which helps to build relationship
bonds. Dust off your favourite one and give
it a go.
Ask questions
and conversations. What was your favourite
Christmas gift as a kid? What’s the naughtiest
thing you did as a teenager? What would be
your ultimate holiday destination and what would
you do? If you were in prison, what would you
eat for your last meal?
Use social to document family moments
Many of us are used to creating ‘stories’ on Facebook,
Instagram or even LinkedIn these days. Try
creating a digital ‘story’ to document and save
memories of a special day with friends or family.
Tell a good joke
If you are gifted with the special communication
talent of joviality and clever timing, deliver a
clean joke or two. There’s nothing like a good
laugh to bring people together!
Say I love you
Every month I try to bring Waikato Business News
readers some seriously good communications
tips you can use in your work life. Once in awhile
someone even tells me they put my pontifications
into practise. It’s always nice to hear that
someone out there is reading and implementing
these things – good on you.
But as I sat down to write this last column of the
year, I felt like ditching the business talk and
doing something a bit lighter – but equally as
important.
For many of us, Christmas, New Year’s and the
summer holidays are a time to connect – or
reconnect – with friends and family. So, how
about trying out one of these communications-related
activities to build relationships,
create memories and have some fun?
Video Nana spinning a good yarn
cuzzies roll their eyes and leave the room. Well,
believe it or not one day you’ll miss it. You swear
you won’t forget it because you’ve heard it so
many times, but you’d be surprised how fast
details fade away. Take a moment to write down
family stories – you’ll be glad you did.
Finally print your family pics
You’ve been promising to print your photos since
the dawn of the digital camera in the early 2000s.
Yet, the latest snaps you have on your walls are
the kids’ school photos from 1995. Make 2022
the year!
Find pride of place for handwritten items
This is my personal project for 2022. I have letters,
cards, recipes and notes from older relatives
that I want to get out of my closet and onto my
walls.
Ask the people you are hanging with over the
holidays a random question that spark memories
It’s the most important message you’ll ever
communicate.
Nana – or Grandad or Cousin Lou – won’t be
around forever. Why not ask them to talk about
a favourite memory from their childhood and
video it for posterity?
Write down Uncle Joe’s annoying story
You know that story – that one that makes all the
Have a digital free dinner
Whether it’s with your friends, kids or wider
family, set aside a dinner or two when everyone
puts their phones on silent - maybe even locks
them away - and talks to one another over a long
dinner. You may have to bribe the kids, but it will
be worth it.
COMPANY-X CLIENTS WILL BENEFIT FROM
NEW ZEALAND CLOUD
COMPUTING SERVICES
TECH TALK
> BY DAVID HALLETT
David Hallett is a co-founder and director of New Zealand
software specialist Company-X.
Company-X clients stand to benefit from a series
of data centres being built in Auckland by big tech
players Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft.
Amazon and Microsoft are bringing the very latest
in cloud computing services to the doorsteps of
Kiwi companies by building data centres here in
New Zealand.
Once built and operational, clients will be able to
shift from data centres overseas to New Zealand
data centres closer to home.
Company-X builds interactive augmented reality
(AR) and virtual reality (VR) solutions using Amazon
Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure.
When Amazon and Microsoft’s data centres are
operational, we can deploy in New Zealand using
the same infrastructure that we deploy into the US
and Europe. It’s a much better outcome for our
clients.
Amazon and Microsoft stored data in New
Zealand instead of Australia or other parts of the
world will have a far shorter distance to travel
over the internet, improving latency.
Communication between devices and New
Zealand data centres will be faster than communication
with data centres overseas.
That’s great news for anyone using cloud services,
and extra special news for those using them for
resource-heavy AR and VR applications. Suddenly
the time it takes to update a screen or provide
information will become far more instantaneous.
There’s nothing worse than tapping buttons and
having to wait for half a second for something to
happen. If it’s using cloud services based here in
New Zealand you will tap and it should react in
milliseconds.
Many organisations require their data to be stored
onshore. So the building of New Zealand data
centres means they can take advantage of the latest
and greatest technology under New Zealand
law and jurisdiction. When data is stored offshore
many governments have the right to intercept and
look at it. I’d rather it was here in New Zealand.
There’s also benefits around geographical availability.
If a high-speed fibre cable gets broken
between New Zealand and an overseas data
centre the provider can switch to New Zealand
infrastructure.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) intellectual property (IP)
in New Zealand manufacturing will also be able to
be stored in New Zealand servers, with reduced
latency for data queries. New Zealand’s data
centres will be environmentally sustainable, completely
powered by renewable geothermal and
hydroelectricity sources, rather than fossil fuels.
Switching from hosting on-premise servers to
AWS or Azure, and using serverless architecture,
will substantially reduce our carbon footprint while
providing businesses more flexibility. Both AWS
and Azure can scale up and down based on the
data needs of clients. In the long run, this flexibility
leads to a lower cost for technology start-ups.
If you were providing software as a service 20
years ago you generally needed large capital
investments in standing up and growing your
servers. Now, thanks to Amazon and Microsoft’s
elastic model, the entry barrier is much lower. You
can build software and scale up based on your
client’s needs.
This batch of data centres is being built in Auckland,
closest to the biggest population centre, but
If I was Amazon or Microsoft, I would still be looking
at building my next lot of data centres down
near Lake Manapouri in Fiordland. The location
provides ample renewable electricity production,
and the climate is cooler meaning lower costs for
cooling the facilities during the summer.
Google has announced its first New Zealand-based
privacy and artificial intelligence (AI)
With their tech, Amazon,
Google and Microsoft
also bring worldleading
brains to New
Zealand, which can only
be good news for New
Zealand Inc.
engineering team presence in July. This, with
Amazon and Microsoft’s plans, are exciting for us
because agriculture has been number one in the
economy for so long.
Apart from the obvious benefits to consumers
for having cloud computing services closer to
them, there are also other benefits. With their
tech, Amazon, Google and Microsoft also bring
world-leading brains to New Zealand, which can
only be good news for New Zealand Inc.
Amazon Web Services, Google and Microsoft are
contributing to the rising technology tide, lifting
the technology industry and its clients. With a
rising tide, all waka will float.
26 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP December 2021

HOW FOSTERS ARE MAKING
SUSTAINABLE
BUILDING A REALITY
The Foster Group is the only construction company
in New Zealand to hold both of Toitū’s top
sustainability certifications, carbonzero and enviromark
diamond. They can also deliver Green Star
builds. To achieve the Toitū certifications, Fosters
have already proven their commitment to the environment
– they have analysed their impact, set
objectives to improve their footprint and set up
an environmental management system to help
achieve their goals. To maintain the certifications,
they must continually set and achieve their goals
to offer cleaner, more transparent, low-emissions
builds, demonstrating they have gone above
and beyond what is general practice.
What does Toitū carbonzero mean?
“Our carbonzero certification demonstrates that
we are committed to ensuring the impact we
have on the planet is consistently offset” explains
Fosters Sustainability and Compliance Advisor
Jael Clausen.
The construction industry produces 40 - 50% of
NZ’s landfill waste. According to Thinkstep, it is
one of the primary contributors to climate change
in NZ, creating 20% of national greenhouse gas
emissions. For Fosters, just because this is ‘industry
standard’ does not mean it cannot be improved.
“Fosters acknowledges that we cause harm, so
we’re taking the opportunity to invest in sustainable
practices” Jael continues. “Because we manage
a large variety of projects, we have gained
knowledge on how to build sustainably and we
have been able to invest in and implement
best environmental practices.”
Fosters was awarded Toitū carbonzero certification
in 2020. It means that clients can be confident their
building has been constructed more sustainably
and with less carbon emissions.
“Toitū reviews our greenhouse gas emissions annually
under the international standard for carbon
footprints, ISO 14064-1,” says Jael.
“They check our progress against our goals, and
we must prove that we have reached our reduction
target for the year.”
Each month the sustainability team record and
analyse the group’s carbon emissions, monitoring
trends and setting objectives to reduce fuel consumption,
electricity usage, and waste-to-landfill.
Other initiatives include making an electric vehicle
available for use by employees and utilising companies
which generate 100 per cent renewable
energy.
“We are targeting a 52 per cent reduction in emissions
by 2025” says Jael. “That means achieving a
10 per cent reduction annually through less energy
use, less waste and more efficient transport
solutions.” Fosters passed their first audit in 2020
and recently completed the second one.
What does Toitū enviromark diamond mean?
“Our enviromark diamond certification demonstrates
we have systems in place to reduce the
environmental impact of our business and the
buildings we construct” says Jael.
(L-R) (BACK ROW) CASS BARNES, RHYS HARVEY,
RYAN TESSELAAR, TIM STRAWBRIDGE, NIGEL
SUN (FRONT ROW) ADAM FINDLAY, ROSS PACEY,
JAEL CLAUSEN, ALLAN BRADSHAW
“To achieve this certification, we have developed,
implemented, and now maintain a robust
Environmental Management System, which is
audited annually to ensure it meets and exceeds
the components of an ISO 14001 system.”
For clients, the Toitū enviromark diamond certification
proves that Fosters is managed responsibly
with a whole of environment focus.
“Our clients can be confident that our team will do
everything possible to mitigate any environmental
impact during the construction process” says Jael.
“This is also important to our team and our contractors”
she continues. “They can be confident we are
following best practice, going above and beyond
industry standard with continual improvement.”
Audited annually, Fosters must demonstrate
environmental protection being put into practice.
A simple example is recycling building materials.
Instead of one big skip on site (common on most
building sites), you’ll find several bins on a Fosters
site collecting concrete, steel, timber, plastics,
glass, PVC pipe and many other materials for
recycling.
What is a Green Star build?
Aimed at commercial buildings, Green Star is a
holistic sustainability rating system for buildings,
fitouts and communities. Fosters offer accredited
professionals who are trained to manage Green
Star projects to meet the extensive requirements.
“We appreciate the holistic approach to Green
Star builds” says Jael. “That is reducing emissions
with smarter building, energy and water savings,
lower running costs to create healthier work environments
and contribute to a better future. The
concept is well aligned with Fosters’ purpose.”
APL in Hautapu is a Green Star project. Achieving
a 5-star design rating in December 2020, the
project is currently targeting a build rating. More
Green Star projects are in the pipeline.
“Having inhouse knowledge of the Green Star
principles, combined with the work of the sustainability
team on Toitū, ensures there is a sustainable
focus on every Fosters project,” concludes Jael.
“We are proud to be frontrunners in our industry
and it means that building with Fosters is better
for the environment.”
Is 2022 the
year to sell your
business and
get on with life?
After a year of uncertainties, it might just be the
time to spend more time with family, renovate
your home, or start that new hobby.
Take advantage of the high buyer
demand and contact LINK to find out
what your business is worth right now.
MAKE A CONFIDENTIAL ENQUIRY TODAY
All LINK NZ offices are licensed REAA08
22 Naylor Street,
Hamilton
0800 225 999
LINKBUSINESS.CO.NZ
WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP December 2021
27

If you want to build sustainably,
the choice is easy.
Fosters are the only commercial construction
company in New Zealand to hold both top
Toitū sustainability certifications.
We believe in building sustainably
to protect future generations,
so let’s talk.
FOSTERS.CO.NZ . 07 849 3849