Waikato Business News July/August 2022

JULY/AUGUST 2022 

VOLUME 30 

ISSUE 7 

READ ONLINE AT 

http://www.wbn.co.nz 

/WaikatoBusinessNews 

The Waikato region’s voice of local business 

LABOUR OF LOVE 

A birthday gift to attend a hat-making tutorial has turned 

into a flourishing business for Raglan-based hat maker 

Lisa Uphill - PAGE 6 

PREMIUM GENETICS 

LIC’s strong dividend to farmer shareholders is driven 

by increased spend on premium genetics and herd 

improvement services - PAGE 14 

THINKING BIG 

The sky is the limit for South Waikato businesses 

looking for a loan from South Waikato Investment 

Fund Trust - PAGE 28 

Gin is a winner 

for Holland 

Road Distillery 

Hamilton gin distillery Holland Road is riding high 

after a double gold, gold and a silver at the 2022 

New Zealand Spirits Awards. 

Hoping for some 

constructive feedback, 

Holland Road’s 

founder and number one gin 

maker Terry Rillstone didn’t 

think he’d be bringing home an 

award, let alone three awards. 

“I wasn't expecting anything 

at all except to get some good 

feedback notes. It really gives 

you validation that you're on 

the right track. That your products 

are stacking up against 

domestic and international 

products,” he says. 

Crafting London Dry gins 

with a contemporary twist, the 

Holland Road Sauvignon Blanc 

and Green Tea – double gold, 

Pink Grapefruit and Kawakawa 

– gold, and Wild Ginseng and 

Manuka Honey - sliver, are all 

infused with locally sourced 

organic produce that contain 

natural flavonoids and antioxidants. 

Based in Eureka and operating 

out of a humble home 

garage set-up, Holland Road 

distillery started life out as a 

hobby and has grown to operate 

commercially in the past 

two years. 

It’s an impressive set up, 

with a state-of-the-art copper 

still, several stainless-steel 

holding tanks and all the gear 

required to craft and bottle the 

three award-winning gins. 

Of course, like a lot of projects 

that start out as a hobby, 

Holland Road has morphed 

into an obsession for Terry, 

and has taken over more and 

more of the garage as his interest 

in gin has grown. 

“It’s a big leap from doing 

the legal home distilling stuff 

in a small 20-litre still to 

jumping into commercial production 

with all the licenses, 

lots of hoops to jump through, 

a lot of money and a lot of time 

and resources.” 

While Holland Road is 

part time and growing, Terry 

is still at the helm of his business 

ResinCraft that supplies 

fibreglass materials and mould 

making products to boat builders, 

surfboard makers, special 

effects studios, crafters and 

more. 

“We used to have a retail 

store and it got incredibly difficult 

during Covid so everything 

is online now. I have one 

other guy who is my IT and 

product specialist, and he can 

run it by himself if he needs 

to. It's quite a simple business 

model and it's enabled me to 

Gin maker Terry Rillstone is 

winning with Holland Road. 

do this (crafting gin).” 

Holland Road started small 

about seven years ago with 

Terry brewing gin in a one-litre 

copper still and using his 

friends as taste testers. 

“You test the product on 

friends and they’ll say, ‘yeah, 

that's okay’. And you think - is 

it really or is it because you're 

getting free alcohol. Most of 

my friends and family have 

been pretty honest,” he laughs. 

The branding was conceived 

in 2019 when Terry 

decided to go commercial. The 

CONTINUED ON - PAGE 4

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WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS, JULY/AUGUST 2022 3 

Creating marketing magic with social media 

TikTok, Instagram, Facebook are forces 

to be reckoned with when it comes to 

modern-day marketing. 

Cambridge-based Spencer 

Social is serving up 

social media that is 

engaging, fun, authentic, 

creative, captivating and, more 

importantly, it hits the mark 

with the ever-growing audience 

of people who live in the 

social media world. 

Who better to guide you 

through the social media jungle 

than a ‘Gen Zer’ who lives 

and breathes the stuff? At 22, 

founder Sophie Walton has 

grown up in a digital world. 

Like many people her age, 

Sophie’s social media education 

has happened by osmosis. 

She learnt pretty quickly 

that a university degree wasn’t 

going to give her the specialist 

knowledge she needed to be a 

social media expert. 

“I did a wee bit of university. 

I didn't finish. I did one marketing 

paper and I was mostly 

there for English. I felt like 

the marketing education there 

wasn't really reflective of what I 

was likely to be doing if I ended 

up in a social media marketing 

job. I thought I would see if I 

could just figure it out myself.” 

After a bit of time working 

in a social media manager role, 

Sophie took the step into freelancing 

in 2019 and eventually 

set up Spencer Social. 

With Covid just around the 

corner, Sophie was still able to 

develop and grow her business. 

No longer operating out of her 

home, in 2021 she moved into 

an office in Cambridge. 

“I was a freelancer through 

a lot of Covid and have essentially 

been operating most of 

my business life during the 

pandemic. I think it's kind of 

a myth that every single online 

business hit March 2020, and 

then blew up because everyone 

was on the internet. It's still a 

big learning curve for me.” 

When TikTok started to 

become a serious option for 

brands, Sophie dove right into 

experiment with the platform 

“I just set up a TikTok 

account for a small business, 

just to see if it would work. That 

account got around six-million 

organic views that year.” 

Organic marketing requires 

less ‘pushy sales’ than paid 

marketing, and Sophie says, 

when done right, it can generate 

a steady stream of loyal traf- 

Spencer Social 

marketing magicians 

Kirsty Erskine and 

Sophie Walton 

fic, start to increase brand curiosity, 

and generate sales. 

Being new to the business 

world, Sophie hasn’t been 

afraid to turn some of the social 

media pitfalls into moments of 

magic. 

When a client’s product 

video was likened to a 2000’s 

Barbie movie, Sophie turned 

it into TikTok gold, earning a 

video addressing the Barbie 

comparison 3.3 million organic 

views. 

Whether the comments are 

good or bad, Sophie reckons 

it’s better to engage with the 

audience, who, she says, “have 

spent their precious time interacting 

with the brand and giving 

them feedback on your 

social media presence, you may 

as well take it”. 

“You just gotta roll with it. 

People are always gonna say 

negative crap. You might as 

well be like, yeah, and what? 

TikTok seems to like that.” 

With one-billion monthly 

active users worldwide, it’s 

hard to ignore the power of a 

medium that many associate 

with young people dancing. 

Recent data shows that 

TikTok became the first 

non-Facebook app to surpass 

three-billion downloads and 

consumer spending on the platform 

has reached more than 

US$2.5 billion globally. 

Working mostly with food 

and beverage clients, Sophie 

and her content manager/right 

hand woman Kirsty Erskine 

create content that is more 

than just a boring product 

video; they share the good, the 

bad and sometimes the ugly of 

the brand’s journey, as they 

believe being authentic is the 

key to success. 

“Telling the story of the 

brand is the most important 

thing. You can always go here's 

the product, and here's the list 

of benefits. And sometimes 

if there's a really amazing, 

strange, crazy, wild, out-there 

benefit, then those videos go 

really well. But a lot of the videos 

that are going viral, especially 

at the moment, are videos 

with the founders talking 

about, ‘I lost $30k in one week 

and here's how I fixed it.’ Those 

kinds of stories where you 

watch to the end to find out 

how they fixed it.” 

It's not all about creating 

state-of-the-art videos, 

although they deliver creativity 

in spades with Kirsty’s artistry 

and Sophie’s social strategy 

expertise, the pair can also 

take existing brand footage and 

turn it into compelling short 

form video content. 

“Sometimes the content 

generated by staff living and 

breathing the brand is better 

than what an agency will 

be able to capture. I’m talking 

about the really authentic, 

unique, cool moments like 

watching the bread rise in the 

oven at 3am or when products 

turn up with the labels on backwards. 

Pulling back the curtain 

on your brand can create some 

special moments that go viral,” 

she says.

4 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS, JULY/AUGUST 2022 

Gin is a winner for Holland Road Distillery 

FROM - PAGE 1 

image of a 17th century plague 

doctor might seem inspired 

now but little did Terry know 

what was around the corner. 

“I had been playing on the 

premise of the old plague doctor 

masks that were full of 

botanicals and it’s a bit ironic 

that six-months before the 

lockdown our designer had finished 

the design.” 

Hidden behind crow-like 

masks, plague doctors relied 

on the innate power of botanicals, 

both as protective talismans 

and as a source of natural 

healing. 

Inspired by these ancient 

traditions, Terry sources natural 

botanicals long-used for 

their protective qualities. 

“New Zealand has so many 

native botanicals that have 

been unexplored and I've had 

some crazy stuff sent to me. 

I've got pohutukawa stamen, 

harakeke seeds, kawakawa 

berries and leaves, totora and 

rimu bark from 100-year-old 

trees that I’m playing with. 

There's just so much available, 

and that's just the tip of the iceberg 

of what botanicals are edible 

or accessible.” 

Terry is always working 

on recipes and he’s constantly 

thinking about new flavour 

profiles to infuse into future 

gin and new product offerings. 

Having a substantial 

supply of aromatics and 

botanicals on hand also helps 

with the gin cocktail recipes 

he concocts to share with the 

restaurants, bars and retail 

outlets that stock Holland 

Road. 

Just like the growth in popularity 

of craft beers, gin has 

seen a resurgence in 

New Zealand. 

The handful of commercial 

distilleries in New Zealand 15 

years ago has grown to almost 

150, with about 85% specialising 

in gin. Most of these, like 

Holland Road, are boutique, 

hand-crafted operations. 

“Gin has just gone like craft 

beer. Everyone was used to 

getting their Lion Red or Steinlager 

and as soon as craft beer 

exploded here in New Zealand 

and around the world, people 

didn’t realise beer could taste 

like that. Then they get educated 

about what's in it, how 

it's made and the same thing 

has happened to spirits and 

gin,” Terry says. 

Gin is the comeback queen 

of spirits. In the beginning of 

the 19th century, gin and tonic 

was the drink of choice of the 

British Raj. Someone cleverly 

added gin to the water, sugar 

and lime used to disguise the 

taste of quinine which was 

dispensed to the soldiers for 

Malaria and – hey presto, a 

G&T. In the 1920s, the martini 

was the darling cocktail of 

the flapper. Then, in the affluent 

1980s, yuppies were downing 

G&Ts like water. 

Contrary to popular opinion, 

gin was invented by a 

Dutch doctor who distilled 

schnapps with juniper berries 

in the 16th century. It made its 

way to England in the 17th century 

when an increase of alcohol 

import taxes and the high 

taxes for local beers and wines 

led to an explosion of home gin 

production. 

Known as mother’s ruin 

because it was sold at incredibly 

low prices to poorer communities, 

gin was said to be 

a major reason why the birth 

rate in London during the mid- 

18th century was exceeded by 

the death rate. 

Thankfully, gin has come a 

long way as far as reputation 

and flavour goes. Traditionally 

characterised by the flavour 

of juniper berries, gin makers 

the world over are now maximising 

flavour profiles with 

a seemingly endless array of 

botanicals blends. 

Gin is made by infusing a 

neutral spirit with botanical 

ingredients during the distillation 

process. Terry sources a 

whey-based ethanol from Fonterra, 

as well as sugar cane and 

grain-based ethanol from New 

Zealand companies importing 

from overseas. 

There are only 

a few distilleries 

in New Zealand 

that have the 

capability to 

make their own 

ethanol and you 

could count them 

on one hand. 

“There are arguments about 

the base spirit coming across in 

the flavour. Some people say it 

doesn't matter what your neutral 

base alcohol is as the botanicals 

take centre stage. Some 

people say use a grain base as 

it has a good mouthfeel, but it 

can also hide some flavours. 

There’s debate both ways” 

It is possible for Terry to 

make his own ethanol but it is 

Our team 

STUDIO 

MANAGER 

Kelly Gillespie 

kelly@dpmedia.co.nz 

very labour intensive, expensive 

and hard to keep the product 

consistent. 

“There are only a few distilleries 

in New Zealand that have 

the capability to make their 

own ethanol and you could 

count them on one hand.” 

With gin well and truly on 

the comeback trail, Terry is 

hoping the Government will 

take the same route they did 

with wine. He belongs to Distilled 

Spirits Aotearoa who 

are lobbying Government to 

decrease taxes and make it easier 

for New Zealand spirits to 

compete on the world stage. 

“We'd like to see what was 

done in the wine industry 30 

years ago where they dropped 

the taxes right back in order 

to get production up, promote 

New Zealand wine and get 

it overseas. The wine industry 

flourished and has done so 

for many years. We’re hoping 

they can do the same with spirits 

because there's some great 

spirit producers here in New 

Zealand, and great products. 

If they could lower the taxes to 

help build the industry here, 

Kiwi spirits producers could do 

really well overseas.” 

DESIGNER 

Ellie Neben 

ellie@dpmedia.co.nz 

PUBLISHER 

Deidre Morris 

Ph: (07) 838 1333 

Mob: 027 228 8442 

deidre@dpmedia.co.nz 

EDITORIAL 

Janine Jackson 

editor@dpmedia.co.nz 

STUDIO 

Copy/Proofs: 

studio@dpmedia.co.nz 

SUBSCRIPTIONS 

accounts@dpmedia.co.nz 

HOLLAND ROAD DISTILLERY 

available from 

beerandwine.co.nz 

413 Anglesea St, Hamilton 

ADVERTISING 

MANAGER 

Joanne Poole 

Ph: (07) 838 1333 

Mob: (021) 507 991 

joanne@dpmedia.co.nz 

2/1 Riro Street, Hamilton 

Ph: (07) 838 1333 

www.wbn.co.nz 

- 

www.dpmedia.co.nz


Company-X contributes to the Government’s 

carbon neutrality goal 

Software specialist Jeremy Hughes shares tips and tricks. 

Company-X and the Road 

Efficiency Group (REG) 

collaborated on the 

closing keynote at the Roading 

Infrastructure Management 

Support (RIMS) Forum. 

In the keynote, entitled People 

First – Higher Competency 

Leads to Lower Carbon, REG 

sector excellence workgroup 

chair Roger Brady and Company-X 

co-founder and director 

Jeremy Hughes shared how 

the Asset Management Competency 

Framework (AMCF) 

could help the transport sector 

contribute to the Government’s 

carbon neutrality goal. 

The New Zealand transport 

sector needed to ensure it had 

the right teams of appropriately 

skilled and experienced people 

to plan for and deliver great 

service under extraordinary 

pressures. An objective scorecard 

was needed that could be 

applied to teams working in 

diverse organisations across 

the sector, from city and district 

councils to Waka Kotahi NZ 

Transport Agency and contractors. 

Developing an approach 

that worked sector-wide was 

important because of its public 

mandate to manage activities 

and assets appropriately. 

Organisations also have legal 

obligations associated with 

their stewardship approach. 

The competency framework 

helps individuals and organisations 

within the transport sector 

to measure their capability 

and make smart decisions 

regarding staff skills and workforce 

development. The AMCF 

allows organisations to measure 

levels then identify appropriate 

competencies for various 

aspects of asset management. 

It is built on best practice and 

aligns with the ISO 55000 asset 

management standard. This 

assessment tool has been set up 

in an asset agnostic manner so 

it will be able to be used across 

other asset types too. REG partnered 

with Company-X to build 

the AMCF survey and report 

portal to help transport sector 

professionals begin a personal 

development journey. 

The AMCF survey and 

report portal covers capabilities 

needed to govern, procure, and 

deliver effective management 

of transport assets. 

Transport sector professionals 

who log in to the AMCF 

survey and report portal are 

invited to assess their competency 

in the areas of organisational 

strategy, culture, leadership, 

and people; knowledge 

management; asset management 

strategy; planning and 

decision making; delivery; performance 

management and 

continuous improvement. 

The project looks to understand 

the wider capabilities 

needed to make sound investment 

decisions for transport 

activities across Aotearoa New 

Zealand. Data collected from 

the AMCF survey and report 

portal will be used in individual, 

organisational and sector 

development, as well as recruitment. 

Hughes said there were 

three key learnings for an audience 

considering embarking on 

a software project. 

“Regular software releases 

allow for targeted feedback 

from people and a more refined 

product,” Hughes said. 

“The iterative approach 

allows people using the system 

to engage with core features 

before more are added. 

KEYNOTE: Company-X 

co-founder and director 

Jeremy Hughes, left, is a 

keynote speaker at the 

Roading Infrastructure 

Management Support 

(RIMS) Forum. Hughes is 

pictured with business 

partner David Hallett. 

It’s a journey. 

“No software perfectly survives 

engagement with people 

using it. The user helps perfect 

the end product.” 

“As a sector we must 

ensure we have the right 

teams of appropriately skilled 

and experienced people to 

plan for and deliver great service 

to our communities,” said 

REG programme manager 

Andrew McKillop. 

Company-X senior software 

architect Luke McGregor 

also spoke at the conference on 

how rapid prototyping solved a 

road-testing problem. 

McGregor did some rapid 

prototyping and explored the 

ways that the data could be 

visualised. 

Company-X gave CityEdge 

Alliance its first prototypes 

to look at in less than a week 

and the solution was iterated 

from there. 

CityEdge came to Company-X 

with a hosted system in 

mind, but instead, Company-X 

designed and developed a web 

browser-based application that 

did not store data on a server. 

This solved the problem with 

reduced build time and cost. 

The final solution was ready 

for use three months after work 

began and used daily by about 

50 CityEdge Alliance users. 

Take your software 

journey with the team 

that knows the way


Labour of wild is a labour of love 

Raglan local Lisa Uphill always knew there was something 

creative she wanted to pursue as a career and couldn’t quite 

find her groove until hat-making came along. 

It was a birthday gift from 

her partner Tom to attend 

a hat-making tutorial that 

set the wheels in motion and 

landed Lisa her dream job. 

“Monika Neuhauser 

(Pirongia-based milliner) 

taught me how to make a hat, 

and since then I have been 

obsessed. I’ve spent every spare 

hour that I have researching 

hat-making and refining my 

craft because I just love it so 

much.” 

That hat-making tutorial 

was a little over a year ago and 

since then Lisa has made over 

30 hats and another 10 are in 

production. 

“I’ve traded in the Netflix 

for hatting,” she laughs. “I definitely 

feel the pull to come here 

(her studio) and potter with the 

hats.” 

It was friends who made up 

the first of her customers but as 

her social media following has 

grown, so too has her customer 

base, including a client in New 

York. 

“I'm so grateful to the people 

who have supported me by 

ordering hats and showing me 

love on social media...it literally 

keeps me going.” 

Lisa’s boutique hat-making 

business Labour of Wild 

is based in her Raglan home 

where all the magic of bringing 

someone’s dream hat to life 

takes place. 

It is here that she starts the 

process off with a client consult; 

every hat Lisa designs and 

makes is not only a piece of art, 

it also fits like a glove. 

A tool called a conformer, 

which looks a bit like an instrument 

of torture, measures the 

exact contour of the hat wearer’s 

head. As Lisa points out 

there are universal head sizes 

but much like a fingerprint, a 

person’s head will have its own 

unique contour. 

This is one of the points of 

difference in a hat that Lisa 

makes; once finished and atop 

the wearer’s head it will feel like 

it’s meant to be there. 

The 34-year-old calls herself 

a hat maker not a milliner. 

Lisa Uphill 

The hats she makes are similar 

to the traditional fedora 

or western hat typically worn 

by men, but as fashion dictates 

they have become popular 

with women over the past few 

decades as well. 

“I consider myself to be a 

hat maker because I don't make 

fascinators and what, typically, 

were women's hats.” 

Using rabbit, or sometimes 

the more expensive beaver 

felt, a hat takes Lisa around 15 

hours to construct. 

As well as being made to 

fit like a glove, Lisa spends 

time during the client consult 

talking about the design and 

each hat becomes a one-of-akind 

heirloom piece with little 

flourishes to capture the wearer’s 

style. 

Like the beautiful olivegreen 

hat that has a swashbuckler 

design etched in the top for a 

client who loves pirates, or the 

ivory wedding hat for the bride 

adorned with the shell used by 

the groom to pop the question. 

Each hat is so stunning they 

could easily be displayed as artwork 

when not being worn. 

Like many young entrepreneurs 

these days, Lisa understands 

the importance of having 

an online presence to 

market her brand. 

Not only did her partner 

Tom gift the hat-making tutorial 

that ignited Lisa’s hatting 

passion, he is also the creative 

behind Labour of Wild branding 

and website. 

Being a creative with a 

graphic design background 

Lisa says she was a tough customer 

but she put her faith in 

his vision for the brand. 

“Tom has his design agency, 

which is a huge help to me. I'm 

aware of how lucky I am. It’s 

very professional looking and 

I have Tom to thank for that. 

I know how hard it is at the 

beginning for a small business 

to afford to get a decent looking 

website and branding.” 

In a short space of time Lisa 

set about purchasing the tools 

she needed to make great hats. 

“I just knew from the offset 

that this was my thing. I was 

pretty quick to pour a lot of my 

savings into buying the equipment 

so that I could make life 

easier and do a good job. I've 

been saving for a long time and 

I spent probably half of my life 

savings on all the equipment. 

It wasn't cheap but it was an 

investment.” 

Sourced from overseas, the 

fur felt starts out as a rough 

hat body which Lisa transforms 

using traditional hat-making 

methods involving heat, steam, 

pressure and fire. 

One of the first tools she 

purchased was a steam iron 

used to saturate the hat with 

steam to stretch the felt over 

the hat blocks. 

“I started out with a household 

iron and it’s possible to get 

by with household tools but it’s 

more labour intensive.” 

She has also replaced a 

wooden spoon with a fancy tool 

aptly named a pusher downer 

which gives the brim crease a 

sharp definition. 

“It's a very Kiwi thing to be 

resourceful. Kiwis just seem 

to know how to do everything 

with what they have available, 

especially in small towns. So, 

I took on a bit of that and just 

tried to make do with whatever 

I could to begin with.” 

Originally from the UK, Lisa 

and Tom came to Aotearoa in 

2015 with their backpacks and 

very little else. 

They came with the intention 

of making Raglan their 

home. Tom’s design agency 

HNDRX is set up to work 

remotely. Lisa started work- 

ing for a local electrician where 

she is still part-timer but hatting 

has definitely become a 

full-time occupation. Not that 

Lisa’s complaining, she knows 

she’s found her ‘thing’. It’s 

what wakes her up in the morning 

and what she goes to sleep 

thinking about. 

“When my friends ring or 

visit they know I’ll be in my studio,” 

she laughs. 

The name Labour of Wild 

was born from a brainstorming 

session with Tom to evoke the 

feeling of it being a labour of 

love, and Lisa says, the amount 

of manual labour that goes into 

the craft. ‘Wild’ conjures up 

the endless design possibilities 

with each hat being wildly 

unique. 

“A hat is a great vehicle for 

self-expression and it's wild in 

the sense that it's not the norm. 

It's such an honour to be able 

to keep this age-old craft alive 

and I am so lucky to be rubbing 

shoulders with Raglan's talented 

creative types, it's such 

an inspiring community.” 

Mercury and Hikotron 

partner on nationwide 

EV charging network 

Mercury is supporting 

Hamilton start-up 

Hikotron in its 

rollout of a New Zealand-made 

smart AC charging network 

for electric vehicles. Hikotron 

have rolled out several 7kW 

AC destination chargers 

throughout the Waikato region 

and are planning to expand 

nationwide, starting with 500 

public charge points by 2026. 

Mercury general manager 

sustainability Lucie Drummond 

says in New Zealand a 

lot of the early focus has been 

on public fast DC charging to 

minimise ‘black spots’ in the 

country’s charging network. 

“In more mature overseas 

markets around 80% of public 

chargers are slower AC 

units at locations where people 

naturally park, for example 

near retail, hospitality, business 

hubs, apartment buildings, 

master-planned communities, 

off-street parking sites 

and community facilities. 

“We believe there’s great 

potential for destination AC 

charging in New Zealand’s 

charging ecosystem and love 

Hikotron’s focus on designing 

their hardware robustly 

for public spaces. It’s a great 

reflection of the local talent we 

have right here at home, with 

the entire design and build of 

their high-tech chargers and 

supporting mobile app being 

done here in New Zealand.” 

Mercury’s partnership with 

Hikotron is for an initial threeyear 

period and considers 

electricity supply, joint brand 

and marketing and broader 

EV charging initiatives. The 

partnership will also explore 

opportunities to streamline the 

charging experience for Mercury 

customers. 

“Renewable electricity is 

New Zealand’s competitive 

advantage. We’re excited to 

play a role in supporting New 

Zealand’s low carbon transition, 

including by making 

e.transport more accessible 

through wonderful partnerships 

like this,” Drummond 

says. 

Hikotron director Stephanie 

O’Callaghan says the 

Hikotron team are excited 

about the partnership with 

Hikotron co-founders Larry Muijiwijk, 

Ron Smits and Stephanie O’Callaghan. 

Mercury and delivering EV 

charging across the country. 

“We plan to roll out our cutting-edge 

technology throughout 

the country, giving EV 

owners the confidence to travel 

from destination to destination 

knowing they can charge their 

vehicle upon arrival. 

“The charger design is 

based on learnings from 

proven European infrastructure, 

with further design and 

high-tech improvements 

including two pending patents 

that address common EV 

charging infrastructure pain 

points. Hikotron is vertically 

integrated allowing for rapid 

response in maintenance, continuous 

research and development, 

and an investment that 

remains in New Zealand.” 

On average a 1-hour 7kW 

charge at a Hikotron charger 

provides 45km of range. 

Future sites will have a mixture 

of 22kW and 7kW chargers 

to suit different lengths of 

stay and vehicle types. 

The Hikotron charger is 

designed specifically for public 

spaces and incorporates 

Type 2 sockets which allow all 

EVs to connect and charge. 

This design is recommended 

by Waka Kotahi NZ Transport 

Agency for public AC charging 

as it avoids tethered cables 

which are susceptible to damage 

and other safety issues. 

EV drivers can download 

the Hikotron mobile app from 

Google Play or Apple Store. 

They use the app to scan the 

QR code on the charger, plug 

in their vehicle, and then tap 

on ‘Start charge’. The cable is 

locked in until the user taps on 

‘End charge’. 

The Hikotron app also 

enables users to locate an 

available charger nearby, monitor 

how much power is being 

drawn while charging, and 

make payments.

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NX range ineligible for Clean Car rebate. Delivery delays expected across the NX range, please confirm availability with your Lexus Store. F Sport PHEV variant shown.


K-Mart announces purpose-built Hamilton 

distribution centre 

Kmart New Zealand has announced it 

will open a new 40,000 sqm distribution 

centre at the Ruakura Superhub in 

Hamilton, following a planned move 

from its distribution centre in Wiri, 

South Auckland. 

The new distribution 

centre is scheduled to 

be operational in late 

2023 and will service the 

long-term needs of Kmart’s 

New Zealand stores and many 

customers in the North Island. 

Kmart chief executive officer 

John Gualtieri says this 

significant investment signals 

a new chapter for the retailer 

and is a great stepping-stone 

to Kmart’s future growth in 

New Zealand. 

“Moving to a larger, purpose-built 

facility in the 

high-profile Ruakura Superhub 

will allow us to improve 

availability for customers and 

meet future business needs, 

through improved productivity, 

reliable flow of stock to 

stores and shipment diversification,” 

Gualtieri says. 

The new facility, located 

on nine hectares, will include 

warehousing, distribution, 

storage, a container yard, 

and an office facility. The site 

will benefit from direct access 

to the Ruakura Inland Port 

which will provide rail access 

to the Port of Tauranga, minimising 

road transport costs 

and reducing carbon emissions. 

Kmart engaged global 

supply chain and business 

transformation consultancy, 

TMX, to lead the procurement 

of a new facility and via 

a competitive tender process 

the development was awarded 

to Tainui Group Holdings to 

build and lease back the distribution 

centre. 

“We’re delighted to be 

working with Tainui Group 

Holdings, not only due to their 

development capability, but 

also the strong sense of community 

both of our businesses 

share. Tainui Group’s deep 

commitment to its iwi (tribe), 

Waikato-Tainui, and the prosperity 

of the region and people, 

is something that Kmart 

is proud to support,” Gualtieri 

says. 

Tainui Group Holdings 

chair Hinerangi Raumati-Tu’ua 

says the company and 

Waikato-Tainui iwi looks forward 

to partnering with Kmart 

to unlock the full economic, 

social and environmental benefits 

of Ruakura for their business, 

team members, customers 

and suppliers. 

“Kmart is a global leader 

in the retail industry and their 

decision to locate at Ruakura 

will also create further 

employment opportunities in 

the Waikato, including for our 

iwi members, and we are committed 

to working with Kmart 

to create a pathway for this,” 

she says. 

Tainui Group Holdings 

chief executive Chris Joblin 

welcomes Kmart to the Ruakura 

Superhub. 

“This new building will be 

one of the largest of its kind 

in New Zealand, spanning 

Peter Tuck (TGH), Tony Reynish (Port of Tauranga), Chris Joblin, Richard Jefferies 

(TGH), Blair Hamill (Port of Tauranga) and Leonard Sampson (Port of Tauranga) 

From left - Mayor Paula Southgate, Kmart CEO John Gualtieri, 

HCC councillor Ryan Hamilton, TGH CEO Chris Joblin, Hamilton 

East MP Jamie Strange, Hamilton West MP Gaurav Sharma. 

the area of four rugby fields, 

and we’ll work closely with 

Kmart to get the full potential 

from their proximity to 

the inland port, rail and road 

connections. Alongside other 

global and national players 

set to commence operations 

at Ruakura in the next 24 

months, this move endorses 

Ruakura and the region as 

the home of logistics. It will 

bring great economic benefits 

for the Waikato and New Zealand.” 

The new Kmart distribution 

centre will be developed 

in line with the Greenstar 4 

rating. Sustainability features 

will include solar panels generating 

up to 300kW of power, 

rainwater harvesting, onsite 

stormwater treatment, electronic 

vehicle charging stations, 

bike racks and end of 

trip facilities. Construction 

of the facility will include low 

VOC (volatile organic compound) 

paints, LED lighting, 

double glazing, HVAC (heating, 

ventilation and air conditioning) 

systems that use 

low emission refrigerants, 

and close to 20 per cent of the 

overall site will be landscaped. 

TMX New Zealand director 

of property Sam Smith 

says the Ruakura Superhub is 

a prime location for business. 

Kmart is a 

global leader 

in the retail 

industry and 

their decision 

to locate at 

Ruakura will also 

create further 

employment 

opportunities in 

the Waikato, 

“We were pleased to help 

Kmart secure this sought-after 

location. The facility will 

incorporate cutting edge technology 

including autonomous 

mobile robot technology. With 

the retailing landscape changing 

as a result of Covid-19 and 

consumer preferences, the 

investment in a new bespoke, 

custom-built warehouse will 

enable Kmart to distribute 

product via multiple channels 

and efficiently handle their 

dynamic range of inventory.” 

Kmart will close its Wiri 

distribution centre after the 

new Hamilton facility is operational. 

All existing Kmart 

team members at Wiri will be 

offered a role at the new distribution 

centre, which will provide 

more than 100 jobs when 

operational. Until this time, 

the Wiri facility will remain in 

operation and continue to service 

Kmart’s customers across 

its New Zealand store network. 

With 25 Kmart stores in 

New Zealand and an expansive 

online store, Kmart has revolutionised 

the way New Zealanders 

shop, providing families 

with everyday products at 

the lowest prices. The Kmart 

brand has massive customer 

love across Australia and New 

Zealand for its affordable and 

stylish range of products. 

“Kmart is confident that, 

along with our Christchurch 

distribution centre servicing 

the South Island, the new DC 

in Hamilton will ensure the 

business is well-placed to efficiently 

service our stores and 

customers across New Zealand 

and allow for further 

growth,” Gualtieri says.


How to Implement 

Search Engine 

Optimisation in 2022 

The end goal of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is 

profitable leads from free organic traffic. 

When Google trusts 

your site and ranks 

it at the top of 

search engine results pages 

(SERPs) you will get more 

visitors, and more leads. 

But the SEO landscape is 

always changing. What worked 

only one year ago doesn’t 

necessarily work today, and 

what works today may not work 

tomorrow. As Google makes 

updates to its algorithms, the 

way we need to optimise our 

websites and content must 

change along with it. 

So, is SEO still important, 

and what works in 2022 and 

beyond? 

Making sure your website 

matches the searcher’s 

intent 

Google have stated that their 

mission includes ensuring any 

person searching on Google 

gets the right information at 

the right time in the format 

that's most useful to their 

query. 

From a search perspective 

Google’s primary client is not 

the plumber trying to improve 

her rank, or the chartered 

accountant looking for more 

clients. Their primary client is 

the searcher - for example, the 

person searching for ear buds 

on their mobile phone. 

By looking at a range of 

clues, Google decides whether 

the searcher is trying to find 

a specific brand of ear buds, 

doing some research on 

the technology involved, or 

wanting to purchase ear buds. 

So, the SERPs could 

include a range of leading 

brands, Wikipedia or other 

informational pages, or 

websites that will allow them 

to purchase ear buds online. 

What does this mean for 

SEO? The job of SEO is to 

help Google understand very 

clearly who you intend to help, 

where and how, so that they 

can deliver the most accurate 

results to the searcher. SEO 

makes sure the right people 

discover your page and are 

compelled to visit. 

Keeping searchers engaged 

on your website 

When Google includes your 

website in the SERPs, they 

then measure what happens 

to every searcher who clicks 

through to your site. 

If Google gets the 

impression that searchers 

THE DIGITAL 

WORLD 

BY JOSH MOORE 

Josh Moore is the head 

marketing fanatic at Duoplus, 

a Hamilton-based digital 

marketing agency that 

helps clients get more leads 

and sales through online 

marketing. www.duoplus.nz 

successfully found what they 

are looking for then they will 

keep presenting your website 

in the SERPs. If Google see 

a low level of engagement 

with your site, such as people 

dropping off within seconds, 

they will downgrade it and look 

for a better match elsewhere. 

This is tricky, because 

Google cannot always tell if the 

searcher dropped off because 

they quickly found the answer 

they wanted, or if they decided 

they wouldn’t find the answer 

at all. 

However, Google will 

also notice if searchers keep 

coming back, how many pages 

they visit, and how long they 

stay. 

This is where SEO is critical. 

To encourage searchers to visit 

your website your headlines 

should be attention grabbing, 

and your content must be 

compelling and interesting. 

Your website should be 

optimised with the user in 

mind, including an easy-touse 

interface and a clean, 

simple design. The results 

they are looking for should be 

discovered quickly and easily 

and be presented in a format 

that they will enjoy and engage 

with. 

The overall user experience 

on your website should be 

positive, with no dead ends or 

frustrating experiences. 

But that’s just the 

beginning. If you want users 

to keep returning you need 

to keep adding relevant and 

engaging material. Make it 

easy for them to purchase, to 

make repeat purchases, and to 

increase their spend over time. 

Creating an excellent mobile 

device experience 

As of May 2022, 58.26% of 

all web traffic came through 

mobile phones (StatsCounter). 

Accordingly, for many years 

now, Google have been making 

search result decisions based 

only on the mobile version of 

your website. 

Therefore, the mobile 

version of your website needs 

to be as good, if not better, 

than your desktop version. 

One role of SEO is to 

consider the user experience 

(UX) for mobile devices when 

designing your website. This 

includes making sure that 

buttons and links are large 

enough to be easily clicked on, 

and that your content is easy to 

read on a small screen. 

Also, make sure your 

website adapts to the different 

screen sizes of mobile devices 

so that your website looks 

good and is easy to use, no 

matter what device someone 

is using. 

Optimise your images 

for mobile screens, and 

present information in short 

paragraphs, bullet points, and 

headlines that are easy to scan. 

Become the authority in 

your sector 

Finally, Google is constantly 

looking for webpages that 

provide the most relevant 

information to the most 

common search queries, in the 

most helpful and trustworthy 

way. 

Gone are the days when lots 

of little articles on plumbing 

will continue to rank highly. 

If 100 plumbers all write 

generic articles on how to fix a 

dripping tap, Google is left to 

choose a site at random. 

In 2022 and beyond, SEO 

includes making sure that 

your website includes highquality 

content that is relevant 

to your sector. To do this, 

keeping adding unique and 

original content that is more 

comprehensive and valuable 

than your competitor’s. And 

make sure your internal links 

structure reflects the value of 

the content. 

This way, Google is 

more likely to see you as a 

trustworthy and relevant 

expert in your field and 

present you in the top spots of 

the SERPs. 

By implementing SEO 

correctly, you will continue 

to dominate search results, 

attract organic traffic, and 

gain more and more profitable 

leads. 

CONVERSATIONS WITH MIKE NEALE 

OF NAI HARCOURTS HAMILTON 

Amazing Spaces 

Hamilton CBD Edition, July 2022 

The seed was initiated some 5 years ago 

after seeing the popularity of Hamilton’s 

Fine Homes Tour. Hamilton 

Central Business Association General 

Manager, Vanessa Williams, and I were 

discussing the relative merits of various 

architecturally designed homes in and 

around Hamilton. 

July 2022 in the shadow of Covid-19 and 

the Love the Centre campaign to bring people 

back into the central city, the tour concept 

finally took shape. 

The HCBA Development Tour was limited 

to two 90min events of 25 people on 

each, at the end of July. Being well over-subscribed, 

we are considering how and when 

another edition may be possible. 

I have been privileged to play a part in the 

many redevelopments that have occurred in 

and around our CBD, so was keen for others 

to experience a snippet of the many developments 

that have taken place – since 2019 

alone, we highlighted 16 new builds, 16 significant 

upgrades / redevelopments and 

12 proposed new builds / redevelopments. 

While the CBD transformation started in 

earnest in 2012, when we sold Matt Stark 

his very first central city project (now Urban 

Homes, on the corner of Anglesea & London 

Streets), we saw it as important to showcase 

spaces that people would otherwise not have 

the opportunity to see or experience. 

Ward Lane Apartment – the former granary 

(aka Ward Lane Tavern) is a truely 

stunning reflection of what can be achieved 

with inner city living. A two year project 

where attention to detail and utilising the 

buildings original features, has enabled an 

absolutely unique outcome. 

Designwell at 10 Garden Place – part of 

Panama Square (interconnected buildings 

at 14, 12 and 10 Garden Place) this bespoke 

space was created with the removal of two 

previous ceilings, to provide a creative and 

collaborative design layout. 

Ibis on Alma Street – this prototype room 

has been constructed in an entirely separate 

building to millimetre perfect design, 

which has enabled design modifications and 

improvements prior to being replicated in 

the Ibis itself. This room design will be the 

first of its type in the Pacific region. A shout 

out to Ibis Hamilton Tainui who recently 

sold 126 room combos, including beds 

(under 4 years sold), mini bar fridge, 32 inch 

flat screen TV, alarm clock, iron and ironing 

board, hair dryer, phone, kettle and a room 

chair for between $200-$400 per room to 

organisations that help those in need. They 

also donated 40 bed and linen packages to 

local charity groups as their way to give back 

to the community. 

Edwards White Architects at 286 Victoria 

Street – situated within the Riverbank 

Lane development, the floor was 

stripped to a bare shell, as they had outgrown 

their previous space. Excellent natural 

light flows, meeting rooms, a communal 

social kitchen and breakout spaces provide a 

modern and interactive work space. 

Bettle & Associates, The Rooftop at 

298 Victoria Street – also within the Riverbank 

Lane development, this structure 

was created independently and then craned 

on to the building. The expansive Waikato 

River views are exceptional and unrestricted. 

Incorporating an extensive balcony, 

this is a modern boutique space which is 

unparalleled in many respects. 

There has been a lot of talk about the death 

of offices and everyone wanting to work 

from home – we challenge anyone who 

went on either of the recent tours, to say 

that having seen these spaces, that they 

would prefer to work from home. 

We thank the business and building owners 

for their willingness to feature in our tour 

and for allowing us to showcase some of the 

best Hamilton has to offer. 

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

07 834 9222 


NZ borders reopen 

– what does the “new 

normal” look like! 

After having very restrictive and 

changeable border and visa settings 

for the past 2 ½ years “normality” 

returned on 1 August with the opening of the 

NZ border, and the resumption of all visa 

processing across (almost) all categories. So 

what does the new immigration normal look 

like? 

Firstly, there has been a major change in 

the way Immigration NZ will process visa 

applications. The introduction of the ADEPT 

online processing regime means paperless 

applications and more efficient, real-time, 

processing of applications. Several administrative 

tasks, including application updates, 

are now automated. While the benefits of 

this regime are obvious it is fair to say there 

have been a number of significant frustrations 

around the regime’s inflexibility and 

inability to deal with individual situations. 

From 1 August INZ has significantly 

increased visa application fees. For example, 

the Skilled Migrant category residence 

fee has increased from $2,710 to $4,290, 

and the main work visa fee was increased 

from $495 in June to $595 in July, and now 

to $750. The family residence fee has almost 

doubled from $1,480 to $2,750! With 

greatly reduced visa fee income over the last 

2 years, it very much looks like INZ is looking 

to recoup losses especially when ADEPT 

is meant to deliver enhanced operating efficiencies! 

The 2021 Resident Visa, for which applications 

closed 31 July, has seen 104,000 

work visa holders (& their families) apply 

for residence, and some 40,000 have been 

approved to date. It is fair to say applications 

are not being processed at the rate 

originally expected and much of our day is 

spent appeasing frustrated clients. However 

the end outcome will be that some 100,000 

previous work visa holders will, eventually, 

transition to residence and therefore will not 

need to re-apply for any future work visa. 

The new employer accreditation and 

Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) 

regime began in July. The accreditation 

application process has worked well and, 

as at the end of July, some 7,300 employers 

have been approved their accreditation. 

The subsequent Job Check process, 

has not enjoyed the same degree of success 

with just 430 approvals from 3,000 applications. 

This is one of the application types 

that is causing problems within ADEPT and 

is now leading to major delays and frustrations 

with employers – and just at the time 

when overseas skilled workers are desperately 

needed. As at 28 July only 1 AEWV 

had been approved – the borders may have 

opened but it will be some time before we 

see the much needed workers actually arrive 

and begin work! 

On 5 September the new straight-to-residence 

(Green List) category will begin and 

enable applicants in a range of occupations 

such as medical professionals, engineers 

and IT specialists to apply directly for residence. 

This is good news for these people, 

many of whom were unable to take advantage 

of the 2021 resident visa due to their 

particular work visa status. 

The Government also recently 

announced the closure of the existing Investor 

residence categories…. 

The new immigration normal looks very 

much the same as it always has been – lots of 

changes, many frustrations and much more 

to come! 

Taupō industrial 

estate to tap into 

geothermal energy 

A new industrial estate being developed in Taupō will deliver 

geothermal energy to the doorsteps of its future users. 

He Ahi, a 45-hectare 

greenfields site located 

in existing industrial 

area on the northern edge of 

Taupō is being established 

by Te Pae o Waimihia, and 

Tuaropaki Trust’s hydrogen 

business. 

Tapping into clean energy 

to power business activities, 

the industrial park aims to 

provide positive environmental 

and commercial outcomes 

for tenants. 

The land was purchased 

from Contact Energy in May 

by Te Pae o Waimihia, a forest 

hapū cluster trust representing 

six Ngāti Tūwharetoa 

hapū: Ngāti Rauhoto, Ngāti Te 

Urunga, Ngāti Hineure, Ngāti 

Hinerau, Ngāti Tutetawha and 

Ngāti Tutemohuta. 

Chairman Ngahere Wall 

says the deal represents a 

partnership between Te Pae o 

Waimihia and Contact Energy, 

and an exciting journey for the 

trust and hapū. 

“As well as rental income, 

the project will give the trust 

and hapū preferential investment 

and employment opportunities 

with tenants, and a 

potential hub for our own 

projects.” 

The project also reinforces 

Contact Energy’s commitment 

for operations to benefit 

Tauhara hapū and aligns with 

their strategy to grow demand 

through the supply of geothermal 

energy and electricity. 

“This is a great initiative to 

make the benefits of geothermal 

development more widely 

accessible and we are very 

excited to be working closely 

with local hapū to establish 

this project,” Contact Energy 

geothermal resources and 

development general manager 

Mike Dunstall says. 

Te Pae o Waimihia will 

develop industrial and business 

land lots for companies 

seeking a serviced site 

and leased facility, specifically 

designed and built for their 

business purposes. 

Contact will have exclusive 

rights to sell geothermal 

energy to the tenants, as well 

as a right of first refusal on any 

electricity supplies. 

Energy use on site must be 

primarily low carbon — geothermal, 

electricity or biomass 

such as wood chips or wood 

pellets. 

Aptly named He Ahi, to signify 

fire, the project reflects 

the source of local geothermal 

energy. 

“He Ahi also represents 

the fire that burns within ourselves 

to create opportunities 

for our people and our community,” 

Wall says. 

Design and development 

work for the site has already 

commenced with the appointment 

of a project director 

Blandina Diamond and consultants 

Egmont Dickson take up 

the project management role. 

“The development is an 

exciting part of Te Pae o Waimihia’s 

commercial and financial 

diversification, but also 

has strong demands focused 

on recognition of cultural 

expression and kaitikai of the 

environment,” Diamond says. 

Starting in September 

2022, the project infrastructure 

is due to be complete by 

mid-2023, with the first tenant 

already secured and their site 

will be ready at the same time. 

Te Pae o Waimihia is 

involved in forestry and commercial 

property developments 

for the benefit of hapū, 

including providing employment 

opportunities, and 

grants for health, education, 

kaumatua, housing and marae. 

Level 2 

586 Victoria Street 

Hamilton 3204 

Level 3 

50 Manners Street 

Wellington 6011 

07 834 9222 

enquiries@pathwaysnz.com 

Level 2 Level 3 

pathwaysnz.com 

586 Victoria Street 50 Manners Street 

Hamilton 3204 Wellington 6011 

From Left Craig Stephenson (Contact), Sarah Williams (Amplify), 

Blandina Diamond (TPoW), Greg Stebbing (TPoW), Dominic Bowden 

(TPoW), Ngahere Wall (Chair, TPOW) and Mike Fuge (CEO, Contact).


Turning 

Brands into 

Beacons: time 

for Daymark 

to stand out 

One becomes two. 

Yeah, Buoy! Designwell 

Studio recently 

launched its sister 

brand, Daymark, a strategic 

branding studio obsessed 

with creating unforgettable 

identities. 

Designwell directors, 

husband-and-wife team of 

creatives Kristin and Alexander 

Wastney, continue their 

quest to help businesses clearly 

communicate who they are and 

what they are all about through 

bold and impactful design. 

Having made a name for 

themselves on interior projects 

such as Mr Pickles, Cream Eatery 

and Panama Square, Alexander 

says the time was right 

for the strategic business branding 

team to stand out. 

“These are places that people 

visit every day and are front 

of mind but we also do the same 

business’s strategic brand work. 

We wanted to create a new identity 

and brand for that work, and 

it’s a chance for the brand team 

to really stand on its own two 

feet and grow,” Alexander says. 

Designwell is well-known 

in the design industry for creating 

exceptional experiences 

through compelling brands and 

innovative spaces. Alexander 

says that separating the agency’s 

two arms of spatial design 

and brand strategy into two separate 

studios was a conscious 

decision as their business has 

grown. 

“It’s time for Daymark 

to stand out. We want the 

brand component of our business 

to start walking the talk. 

Daymark will be the model 

for just how charismatic and 

Daymark team from left - design director Alexander Wastney, graphic designers Jazmyne Powell & Courtney Burchell, 

creative director Jackson Croucher, graphic designer + illustrator Loryn Engelsman, graphic designer Thomas Casey, 

studio support Ayesha Croucher, and design director Kristin Wastney. 

differentiated we aim for our client 

brand identities to be.” 

Beginning life nearly five 

and a half years ago, the team 

has grown from just Kirstin and 

Alexander to 12 staff. It makes 

for a perfect half dozen in both 

the Designwell and Daymark 

teams. 

The separation doesn’t mean 

there won’t be collaboration 

and both teams will continue to 

operate from the same office. 

“We are still in one office 

and the value of that is the 

multidisciplinary and collaborative 

approach which we still 

do on a daily.” 

With a young family to raise, 

Kirstin has stepped back to 

parttime work, while Alexander 

continues to have directorship 

over both studios. 

It has meant they have promoted 

senior designer Jackson 

Croucher to the role of creative 

director of Daymark. 

“Jackson is a really talented 

dude. It’s been really cool to 

promote someone within the 

team up into that position,” 

Alexander says. 

Designed for maximum visibility, 

inspiration for the new 

studio’s identity came from daytime 

navigational aids called 

daymarks. Alexander says the 

essence of what a daymark is 

all about resonated with the 

in-house team. 

“A daymark is a navigational 

aid for sailors and pilots, distinctively 

marked to maximise 

its visibility in daylight - a lighthouse 

for the daytime. These 

towers stand out with an almost 

slapstick, ‘Where’s Wally’ vibe. 

“Like daymarks, great 

brands are unapologetically 

bold and charismatic. We 

wanted our studio’s brand to 

represent exactly this because 

this is who we are and what 

we strive to do for each of our 

clients. 

“Our passion is guiding clients 

through the design process. 

We love giving them the confidence 

to succeed with a brand 

identity and strategy that communicates 

to their target audiences 

why they exist and what 

they do in a compelling and 

authentic way.” 

For design that won’t get 

lost, follow @daymarkstudio on 

Instagram and check out daymark.co.nz 

Diversify into LatAm 

Are you looking for new 

market diversification 

options? What about 

one with 650 million people? 

At the Latin America Centre 

of Asia-Pacific Excellence 

(LatAm CAPE), our objective 

is to prepare New Zealanders 

to engage with and do business 

with the countries of Latin 

America and to support and 

develop their knowledge and 

understanding of this region. 

Over the last couple of 

years, the LatAm CAPE has 

offered a variety of one-day 

workshops to businesses 

where it introduces SMEs to 

the specifics of Latin America 

markets in accessible and original 

forms. 

In the first half of 2022, 

we launched our Diversifying 

into Latin America (DILA) 

programme. The programme 

delivered a comprehensive set 

of modules over eight weeks 

on how to engage successfully 

with the region by offering the 

tools and strategies needed 

for business growth. We had 

expertise from LatAm CAPE, 

University of Auckland, and 

Massey University, and valuable 

input from guest speakers 

with in-market knowledge. 

“Participation in the inaugural 

DILA programme 

afforded me new insights into 

LATAM - its regional diversity 

and latent opportunities. It 

also provided connections well 

beyond my expectations.” 

• DILA 2022 Participant: 

Glenn Hansen, Group 

Financial Controller, 

Vortex Engineering 

Group 

We are now taking registrations 

for another DILA programme 

to a new set of Kiwi 

businesses that want to succeed 

in Latin America. 

Applications close on 4 

September 2022. The course 

runs over eight weeks with 

two in-person sessions, and 

six online sessions. The cost 

is $250, includes programme 

Ships passing through 

the Miraflores lock in 

the Panama Canal. 

materials, attendance at all 

sessions, flights, and accommodation 

for in-person sessions. 

16/09 - 04/11 

Register at: 

www.cape.org.nz/dila 

Registrations close 4 September

Reinventing 

Anglesea Clinic 

"HealthyPatients&CommunitiesbeginwithHealthyStaff" 

A desire to invest in valued 

people is driving a new 

initiative and a focus on values 

at Anglesea Clinic UrgentCare, 

says CEO Julie Karam. The 

Waikato’s largest after-hours 

medical centre, Anglesea Clinic 

UrgentCare is open 24 hours a 

day and 365 days a year. 

Julie says her workforce of 80 health 

professionals is dealing with more than 

220 patient presentations a day, amid 

a global pandemic which has placed 

even greater strain on a stretched 

healthcare sector. 

And although the pressure in the 

sector and on the Anglesea front-line 

stems from funding shortages and stiff 

competition for medical and health 

professionals, Julie’s ambition is to make 

Anglesea the region’s leading afterhours 

medical provider, retaining the 

very people who power it. “Our sector 

faces some significant challenges,” 

Julie says. “The impact of COVID on 

the health sector has been widely 

publicised, and the shortage of staff has 

created an atmosphere of poaching 

among providers. Employee turnover 

has hit record highs, with medical staff 

in demand and burnout prevalent. 

“Healthcare workers have been pushed 

extremely hard over the last couple 

of years,” Julie says. “Our team is 

dedicated to caring for others, from our 

reception staff who are the face of our 

organisation, to our amazing nurses 

who provide comfort and assurance, our 

healthcare and medical care assistants 

who provide support, to our doctors 

who listen and provide quality treatment 

and to our administration staff who keep 

everything behind the scenes running. 

They all play an essential part in keeping 

our patients well. 

“It’s my obligation and my role, as CEO, 

to look after my people.” 

" If we are not taking care 

of our staff, how can 

we expect them to take 

care of our patients?" 

To that end, and through a partnership 

with broker VAHRY, Anglesea is now 

offering healthcare insurance for 

permanent staff. The insurance package 

covers pre-existing conditions, includes 

guaranteed acceptance and best of all, 

staff can add their families based on 

their own needs. 

This combined with other benefits, 

such as increased training allowances, 

employee reward and recognition 

programs and discount schemes have 

already begun to impact Anglesea’s 

workforce positively. 

“We have had an increase in staff 

wanting to work here, wanting to feel 

valued and as though they matter to 

their employer. Who doesn’t want that 

from the organisation they work for? 

“I’m just so grateful for the opportunity 

to do this for my staff, to show them 

we care, particularly with what we’re 

experiencing in the health sector with 

COVID,” Julie says. 

" It’s all about People 

- he tangata" 

WWW.VAHRY.CO.NZ

"Caringisoneofourvalues,andthatstartswithensuringmystaffandtheir 

families have access to healthcare without 10 -12 month wait times” 

Thereareotherstaff-focused 

changes too, such as increasing 

the pay rates: Anglesea pays 

nurses higher rates than many 

other healthcare providers. 

“With the cost of living skyrocketing 

ensuring pay rates are competitive 

is even more paramount,” Julie says. 

"Investing in our workforce is a strategic 

priority for us. Anglesea provides 

essential services in the community, in 

partnership with many other providers 

such as GP's and the hospital." 

Julie’s motivation is the robust and 

consistent belief in a values-based 

organisation focused on principles of 

caring, trusting, quality and integrity. She 

has a strong vision for the organisation 

going forward, encompassing these 

values on every level. 

“Ensuring our staff felt valued and are 

working to their optimal performance 

level was something I was determined to 

achieve - and that all starts with creating 

a values-based organisation. 

“If we are not taking care of our staff, how 

can we expect them to take care of our 

patients? It’s all about people ‘he tangata’. 

“Becoming a values-based organisation 

that prioritises the wellbeing of the very 

people relied on every day to provide 

healthcare to you and your whānau is a 

Julie Karam, CEO Anglesea Clinic 

no-brainer,” she says. 

A values-based organisation is a living, 

breathing culture of shared core values 

among all employees, and led from the 

top. 

Julie urges all business owners to 

consider this values-based approach. 

organisational pain points are often 

related to growth, high turnover, 

workforce challenges, and, in Anglesea’s 

case – a market where staff were 

regularly seeking new opportunities or a 

change of direction. 

“Caring is one of our values, and that 

starts with ensuring my staff and their 

families have access to healthcare 

without 10- 12 month wait times. 

“My staff’s wellbeing became my focus, 

and keeping them well means our 

patients ultimately benefit too.” 

Originally set up by a group of local 

GPs in 1987, Anglesea has become a 

household name in the health sector 

over more than 30 years. 

The catalyst for the recent changes 

Julie has led was the shift in company 

structure. Originally a co-operative 

company (think Fonterra but in health) 

April 2022 saw Anglesea become a 

Charitable Trust. 

“Previously the structure of Anglesea was 

focused on the benefit it provided to the 

shareholders first,” Julie says. 

“This made it difficult to prioritise staff 

wellbeing over shareholder gains. With 

the establishment of the Trust comes the 

emphasis on our values. 

So where to from here for Anglesea? 

Julie is already working on more plans to 

enhance services and support her team 

and the community it serves. 

“Firstly I want to take care of my staff, 

ensure they feel valued, have access to 

healthcare and, enjoy coming to work 

each day,” she says. 

“From there, we have plans to improve 

and increase our service delivery. 

Anglesea works closely with Te Whatu 

Ora (Health NZ) and is already positioning 

itself to work alongside Te Aka Whai Ora 

(the Maori Health Authority) too. 

“Once the workforce is stable, from there 

we can focus on improving services for 

our patients. It will take time, but the 

result will be a stronger Anglesea, happy 

healthy staff and patients.” 

www.angleseaclinic.org.nz


LIC deliver strong 

dividend to farmer 

shareholders 

LIC has today announced its financial 

result for the 2021-22 year, driven by 

increased farmer spend on premium 

genetics and herd improvement 

services to breed more efficient cows 

with a lighter environmental footprint. 

Reporting a 15.3% 

increase in underlying 

earnings, the farmer-owned 

co-operative will 

return $26.2 million in dividend 

to shareholders. This 

equates to 18.43 cents per share 

with a 18.5% gross yield on the 

current share price. It will be 

paid on 19 August. 

“The board is pleased to 

present this result for our farmers, 

particularly after a year 

hampered by Covid-19, inflationary 

pressures and supply 

challenges,” board chair Murray 

King says. 

“I want to thank our farmer 

shareholders for their ongoing 

support, many of whom 

faced similar challenges as us. 

Delivering value for our farmers 

is at the centre of everything 

we do and it’s results like this 

that enable us to do just that – 

through our herd improvement 

products and services, a solid 

dividend, and, importantly, the 

right R&D investment to keep 

their herds profitable and sustainable 

into the future.” 

Summary of financials 

• Total Revenue from Continuing 

Operations: $263.2 

million (up 5.7%) 

• Net Profit After Tax (NPAT): 

$26.7 million (up 16.5%) 

• Underlying Earnings: $25.7 

million (up 15.3%) 

• Strong balance sheet, no 

debt at year-end and total 

assets $385.6 million (up 

1.2%) 

• Dividend: $26.2 million, or 

18.43 cents per share 

• R&D investment: $18.2 million 

or 6.9% of revenue (up 

6.2% from $17.1 million) 

Everest 

PROPERTY 

King said the result was 

driven by more farmers opting 

for the co-op’s premium bull 

teams to breed high genetic 

merit cows, which produce 

more milk, more efficiently – 

resulting in a lower environmental 

footprint per kilogram 

of milk solid produced. 

“The dairy industry needs to 

keep evolving to meet the challenges 

posed by climate change. 

Consumers expect a more sustainable 

approach to farming 

and this result reaffirms our 

farmers are well dialled into 

this. 

“The production efficiency 

of every cow in our national 

dairy herd has never been more 

important; farmers know that 

all cows aren’t created equal 

and they are investing in solutions 

to breed the best cows, 

faster. 

“These breeding decisions 

will serve them well into the 

future to build a more profitable 

and sustainable dairy sector 

and meet climate goals.” 

During the 2021-22 year, 

71% of fresh semen straws used 

for breeding replacements were 

from LIC’s premium bull teams 

(2.1 million straws), up from 

60% the year prior (1.8 million 

straws). These teams utilise 

younger bulls, selected 

using genomic DNA technology 

so they can be made available 

to farmers earlier and fast 

track the rate of genetic gain 

on-farm. 

King said the co-op has 

invested heavily into genomics 

over the last 30 years and new 

research has confirmed farmers 

are reaping the rewards of 

this now. 

“Long term users of LIC 

genetics have almost doubled 

the speed of improvement in 

their herds over the last decade. 

They are not only breeding 

genetically superior cows which 

are more emissions efficient, 

they’re also breeding them at a 

much faster rate and genomics 

is the key contributor to this. 

“We don’t need to milk 

more cows; we just need to 

milk the best cows and we’re 

really pleased that our farmers 

are making solid progress in 

this space.” 

In other business activity, 

orders for sexed semen almost 

doubled from the previous 

year, exceeding 200,000 straws 

for the first time. International 

exports also saw an increased 

demand for sexed semen, while 

overall straws numbers sent 

offshore remained steady on 

the year prior. 

DNA verification tests 

increased (up 15%), as did LIC’s 

range of animal health tests (up 

21%), with a notable increase 

in Johne’s disease testing with 

close to one million samples 

tested (up 28%). The number 

of animals recorded in MINDA, 

LIC’s herd management system, 

also remained steady, as 

did herd testing with a modest 

increase in total samples processed, 

however more farmers 

are using the co-op’s EZ Link 

devices to help simplify and 

speed up the herd testing process 

(up 4%). 

During the year the co-op 

invested $18.2 million into 

R&D, up from $17.1 million the 

year prior, maintaining its position 

as one of the largest private 

investors in R&D at 6.9% 

of revenue. 

A large proportion of this 

investment was directed to 

the co-op’s large-scale methane 

trial, with CRV and funding 

support from the New Zealand 

Agricultural Greenhouse 

Gas Research Centre, which is 

aimed at discovering a genetic 

link for methane production 

to ultimately enable farmers to 

breed cows that emit less methane. 

King says the trial has been 

measuring feed intake and 

methane emissions from 300 

young bulls and results from 

this phase are expected to be 

released later this year. 

Other key events during the 

year included the completion of 

the sale of the automation business 

to MSD Animal Health, 

which then resulted in the 

co-op’s first special dividend 

payment to partially distribute 

the sale funds, and the appointment 

of a new chief executive 

David Chin who took over the 

reins in January. 

Outlook 

Murray King, 

LIC Board Chair 

The co-op expects underlying 

earnings in 2022-23 to be in 

the range of $20-26 million, 

assuming no significant climate 

event or milk price change 

takes place between now and 

then, nor any major impacts 

from M. bovis or Covid-19. 

King says a key focus for the 

year ahead remains on delivering 

to the three commitments 

in the co-op’s strategy - operational 

excellence, faster genetic 

improvement and software reliability 

and performance. The 

co-op’s performance against 

these commitments during the 

2021-22 year will be reported 

on at its Annual Meeting in 

October. 

• Commercial Property Investment & Finance 

• Business Investment & Finance 

• Residential Property Investment & Finance 

25 Ward Street, Hamilton everestproperty@xtra.co.nz 0274 742 326 

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CLEAN ENERGY CENTRE, TAUPŌ 

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Kitchen business born out of lockdown 

A visit to family 

in Cambridge 

turned into a new 

business venture 

for Daniel Billings. 

The founder of Maple 

& Stone, a bespoke 

kitchen and cabinetry 

manufacturer, was on the way 

with his family to Bali when the 

first lockdown hit. 

“The flights were all booked 

and the week we were flying 

out all the flights were cancelled.” 

Looking to establish roots 

in Bali and further his Muay 

Thai skills, Daniel had been 

living in Australia for the past 

seven years and had sold an 

investment management firm 

to make the move to the tropical 

climes of the Indonesian 

tourist mecca. 

Finding himself locked 

down in the Waikato with the 

in-laws, Daniel very quickly 

bought a home, luckily, he 

says, in a time when no-one 

was in the market for a house. 

It was the next step in 

adjusting to this unexpected 

Kiwi life, when he began making-over 

the new family home 

that sparked his business venture 

in the Waikato. 

“I started renovating and it 

was through that process that 

I got interested in the kitchen 

side of things.” 

Not able to find a kitchen in 

the local market that appealed, 

Daniel looked overseas to see 

what was available. 

He had a kitchen contract-made 

to his design specifications 

in China and shipped 

to New Zealand within four 

months. 

“The quality of the product 

is terrible. It looked amazing 

on the front. And it was unbelievably 

cheap,” he laughs. 

As well as not being the 

quality he would have like, 

Daniel realised when he made 

changes on the plans, he 

couldn’t change the kitchen 

design as it was already on the 

way. 

“The idea in the beginning 

was for me to design 

these kitchens, get them made 

in China and sent over. This 

was before the COVID supply 

chain issues had really kicked 

in. Because of the issues I had 

we decided to manufacture 

locally.” 

He’s thankful that it was his 

kitchen that taught him a few 

valuable lessons in setting up 

Maple & Stone. 

“It was a good plan to begin 

with, because I couldn't believe 

how cheaply I could get it. 

But this was before the shipping 

costs had tripled and time 

delays of three months are now 

six or eight months.” 

Keeping the production 

local also means Daniel can 

support local businesses like 

Laminex in Te Rapa and the 

timber board they use is a New 

Zealand product. 

This first foray into kitchen 

manufacturing piqued Daniel’s 

interest in the technology 

behind the industry and 

he purchased his first CNC 

machine from Taiwan. 

“The technology is 

incredible. We design everything 

on the computer. We are 

more like an interior design 

firm, who manufactures kitchens, 

which is the opposite to 

most kitchen manufacturers in 

New Zealand, who are mainly 

manufacturers and they do 

design where they can.” 

The CNC machine interprets 

the design and moves 

cutting tools to cut the desired 

shape from the material. The 

automated cutting process is 

much faster and more accurate 

than a manual movement 

of tool. 

“The CNC flies around 300 

meters per second cutting out 

all the individual parts, everything 

gets a label which makes 

it easy for the guys on the factory 

floor to put it all together,” 

Daniel enthuses. 

The Maple & Stone team 

of nine, soon to be 12, work 

in depth with clients to create 

their dream kitchen. 

“We come up with the most 

amazing design for them first, 

and then from there we work 

out how to make it.” 

Kitchens are not the only 

products Maple & Stone offer, 

they now do wardrobes and 

commercial fitouts, including 

Homebrew café in Cambridge 

and the new Leamington Village 

development. 

When Daniel started Maple 

& Stone two years ago, he was 

operating out of a small industrial 

unit in Titanium Park. 

They have since doubled in size 

and taken over the unit next 

door, and a new warehouse 

and showroom is scheduled to 

open at the end of the year. 

“We will have a beautiful, 

purpose-built showroom 

which will be an experience 

centre where people can come 

in and touch and feel and play 

with this incredible product.” 

There’s also a new CNC 

machine on the way from Italy, 

which will increase production 

capacity. 

Daniel reckons he couldn’t 

have picked a better time to 

start up his business than the 

2020 lockdown. 

“It was the best time to 

launch a business in the sector. 

There was a lot of people 

spending quite a bit of money 

on housing. But from what 

I've seen, we're winning a lot 

of business off other firms, 

which really comes down to 

our design,” he says. 

And, Daniel says, the business 

isn’t slowing down despite 

the deceleration of the real 

estate market. 

“We’re seeing 20 to 30% 

price decreases in housing 

but we're still growing with 

lots of new inquiries. A lot of 

that's coming from the different 

product we are offering the 

market.” 

DTI Lawyers named Boutique 

Law Firm of the Year 

DTI Lawyers is delighted to have been recognised 

with NZ Lawyer’s Boutique Firm of the Year Award 

for its specialist employment law practice. 

Since the pandemic, 

New Zealand’s employment 

landscape has 

experienced more change 

than ever before. Businesses, 

individuals and communities 

have needed strong leadership, 

clear guidance and 

empathy, director Jaime 

Lomas says. “We place a 

high value on relationships 

and our contribution to the 

Waikato community. We 

feel extremely grateful to be 

recognised this way.” 

Director Andrea Twaddle 

considers that the award 

not only reflects the experience 

and expertise of the DTI 

team, but also their genuine 

engagement with clients. 

“Many business owners and 

workers are at risk of burnout 

and there is significant 

competition for good people 

across sectors,” Andrea says. 

“It is a significant time to be 

supporting businesses leading 

people strategy, culture, 

health safety and wellbeing 

matters, and we are thankful 

for the privilege.” 

Led by directors Jaime 

Lomas and Andrea Twaddle, 

and supported by senior 

associate Anna Jackman, 

and associates Katy Baxter 

and Kirsty Tyson, the 

DTI employment team has 

extensive combined experience 

across contentious and 

non-contentious employment 

matters, independent workplace 

investigations, and privacy. 

They have had many 

successful outcomes in dispute 

resolution, including 

at mediation, the Employment 

Relations Authority and 

Employment Court. Alongside 

working with SMEs and 

large commercial entities, the 

firm has particular specialist 

expertise within the education 

and healthcare sectors. 

Since its establishment in 

2013, DTI Lawyers has been 

at the forefront of helping 

businesses and business people 

successfully navigate the 

changing environment. It has 

established a reputation for 

providing astute, practical 

legal advice and representation; 

always working in partnership 

with clients to help 

achieve the outcomes they are 

seeking. 

DTI has a strong commitment 

to professional development, 

instilling a culture 

in which knowledge is sought, 

applied and shared – both 

internally but also with clients 

and the general community. 

With extensive law 

changes presently before 

Government, including proposals 

to amend the Holidays 

Act and the introduction 

of Fair Pay Agreements, the 

firm’s specialist employment 

team looks forward to preparing 

clients to meet their obligations 

in an ever-dynamic 

workplace environment. 

Andrea Twaddle and Jaime Lomas


How is the impact of climate change 

being reflected in financial statements? 

Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) factors are now 

one of the key considerations for many stakeholders 

including investors. Climate risk, in particular, is a 

focus area with a number of investor groups becoming 

increasingly vocal about how the impacts of climate 

change are reflected in financial statements. 

Recently, we reviewed 

the annual reports of 

31 March 2022 NZX50 

reporters and looked into: 

• how climate-related 

impacts on the financial 

statements were disclosed 

• how auditors considered 

climate-related impacts in 

key audit matters (KAMs). 

In this article we outline 

the key findings of that 

research. 

How are New Zealand 

reporters responding to 

climate risks? 

Currently, information on how 

climate change impacts the 

financial statements of businesses 

is rare. Out of the 15 

NZX50 31 March 2022 reporters 

we examined, only three 

included any details. 

These reports showed, when 

information is provided, it is 

often a brief statement saying 

that climate change is not 

material to the financial statements 

without a clear explanation 

about why that is the case. 

In the three reporters’ financial 

statements that mentioned 

climate risk, it was included in 

relation to: 

• property valuation (two 

reporters) 

• financial risk management 

(one reporter). 

Also, none of the companies 

we reviewed included a quantification 

of the impacts of climate 

risk or made an adjustment to 

the numbers in the financial 

statements. 

However, climate-related 

risks actually have a broad 

impact on the financial statements. 

Depending on what your 

business is, your supply chain, 

customer base and physical 

location (among other criteria) 

could be impacted. 

Regulators around the world 

have become vocal on this topic. 

Where there has been no mention 

of climate change at all, 

within estimates and judgements 

for example, management 

should make sure that it 

has been validated that there is 

no impact. 

The role of green finance 

Of the 15 reporters we examined, 

four mentioned the use of 

green finance. 

Finance plays a key role in 

funding green initiatives and 

we are seeing a rise in so-called 

‘green finance’. However, it is 

difficult to tell whether the funding 

disclosed by the companies 

WRITTEN BY 

VICTORIA ASHPLANT 

Director, Sustainability 

Reporting and Assurance, PwC 

we reviewed are labelled ‘green’ 

because the funds were used for 

green initiatives, or because the 

coupon payable on the borrowing 

is linked to sustainability 

KPIs to incentivise the borrower 

to meet its sustainability goals. 

Is climate-related information 

material to investors? 

When considering what climate 

change information is material, 

it’s important for businesses 

to reflect on whether investors 

could reasonably expect that climate-related 

risks could affect 

the amounts and disclosures in 

the financial statements. Similarly 

they should think through 

whether they have indicated 

the importance of the information 

in their decision making. 

For example, the conclusion 

may be that climate change 

is not expected to cause a material 

impairment charge even if 

cash flow forecasts include the 

impacts of climate risk. 

Equally, climate change may 

only be expected to be quantitatively 

material in the future, but 

may not have an effect on the 

current period’s balance sheet. 

Disclosing this information 

may be useful to the users of 

the financial statements when 

they are trying to assess how 

climate change might impact a 

company. 

If information is not in the 

financial statements, is it 

included elsewhere? 

As a result of growing stakeholder 

expectations globally, 

but also here in New Zealand, 

we are seeing an increase in 

the inclusion of climate related 

information in the ‘front-half’ 

of annual reports. Organisations 

are starting to lay out a 

road map to their transition to a 

lower carbon economy. 

More than half of the reporters 

(nine out of 15) provided 

some level of non-financial climate 

related information outside 

the financial statements. 

Seven entities included this 

information in the front-half 

of their annual report and two 

businesses published this information 

in a separate sustainability 

report. Most did so without 

mentioning how those risks and 

opportunities were reflected in 

the financial statements. There 

were also two different frameworks 

used to report against. 

Framework Framework used used in in 

sustainability sustainability 

reports reports 

Task Force Task Force on on 

Climate-related 

Disclosures Disclosures (TCFD) (TCFD) 

Global Global Reporting Reporting 

Initiative Initiative (GRI) (GRI) 

Around the world we are 

seeing many companies make 

net-zero commitments. New 

Zealand companies are following 

suit to a lesser extent. 

Apart from investors, this 

trend has been partly driven 

by governments taking steps 

to motivate the private sector 

– something that might 

come into play more with the 

introduction of New Zealand’s 

emissions reduction plan, 

recently published by the 

Government. This describes 

how this country is going to 

meet emissions budgets and 

make progress towards meeting 

New Zealand’s 2050 emission 

reduction target. We 

would therefore expect greater 

reporting of a company’s netzero 

commitments and how 

it plans to get there in future 

annual reports. 

We have seen rapid developments 

in the nonfinancial 

reporting space over the past 

year. 

This will likely drive better 

disclosures in financial statements, 

as companies get a better 

grip on the climate-related 

risks and opportunities facing 

their organisation and as 

they develop plans to address 

Number Number of of 

entries entries 

TCFD TCFD & GRI& GRI 1 1 

Does Does not specify not specify 2 2 

For more information see our report: 

4 

2 

these. For a while now, a number 

of different frameworks 

have been released that companies 

could follow voluntarily 

to make disclosures in 

their annual reports on ESG. 

What’s changed in the past 12 

months or so is that governments, 

regulators and supranational 

organisations like the 

EU are starting to impose or 

expand mandatory requirements. 

This should help with 

consistency within a jurisdiction 

but not comparability 

between them. 

However, in the last year, 

the International Financial 

Reporting Standards Foundation 

(IFRS) established the 

new International Sustainability 

Standards Board (ISSB). 

The ISSB is progressing with 

the development of standards 

that are seen as a major step 

towards developing a global, 

consistent baseline for sustainability 

reporting standards. 

These standards will 

be expected to address sustainability 

more broadly. The 

first exposure drafts address 

climate risk, unsurprisingly, 

given that investors have said 

there is an urgent need for 

information on this issue. 

www.pwc.co.nz/insights-and-publications/2022-publications/howis-the-impact-of-climate-change-reflected-in-the-financials.html 

4 

2 

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20 MOTORING 

WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS, JULY/AUGUST 2022 

Special Hyundai day 

shows off advances 

in hydrogen power 

A special day to introduce Hyundai hydrogen powered trucks 

drew a keen crowd to P&B Group in Hamilton recently. 

As the registered 

Hyundai dealer in 

Waikato P&B Group 

brought together an impressive 

line-up of trucks for this launch 

to the many transport agencies 

throughout the region. 

The cold and fog didn’t dent 

the enthusiasm of those who 

wanted to know more about 

what Hyundai New Zealand has 

on offer. 

One keen man had left 

Waikato late the night before, 

got home to Hawke’s Bay, then 

realised the show was on, so 

turned round and came back. 

P&B Group business development 

manager, Ian McDonald 

welcomed him back and led 

him straight to the barbecue for 

a sausage and a hot cup of cof- 

fee… a dead set customer for a 

new truck, one would reckon. 

Nationally 

hydrogen should 

be a very serious 

power source 

for many types 

of commercial 

vehicles 

Star of the show was the 

power unit of what would 

become a 40-ton (fully laden) 

hydrogen powered Hyundai 

truck and trailer. 

Hyundai Truck & Bus had 

exposed the under-deck workings 

and carefully explained 

how the five hydrogen gas cylinders 

stacked up behind the 

cab allowing a flow of hydrogen 

down through a series of battery 

plates, converting to electricity 

to drive the truck. 

“Hyundai has been developing 

the use of hydrogen for 

about 20 years,” said Grant 

Doull (National Manager – 

Hydrogen & Eco Commercial 

Vehicles). “But even now only 

three countries are using this 

as a power source…Korea, Switzerland 

and New Zealand. 

“This is very new for New 

Zealand even though P&B, in 

keeping up with future technology 

has been discussing the 

capabilities of hydrogen with 

Hyundai for some years,” said 

Ian. 

“Nationally hydrogen 

should be a very serious power 

source for many types of commercial 

vehicles,” he said. 

“Take, for example, forklifts or 

any lifting devices used in warehousing. 

At present these come 

either battery or diesel powered. 

“A strong case for using 

hydrogen would be that batteries 

run out of puff and diesel 

pollutes.” 

Ian said that the Hyundai 

production quality is outstanding 

across a broad range of 

vehicles including refrigerated, 

tipper and furniture removal 

units. 

“Hyundai records a high 

market standard against manufacturers 

from across Europe, 

the USA and China, with a very 

competitive price range. 

“At the moment we can 

only sell diesel. Mid-23 electric 

trucks will come on-line and 

soon after hydrogen trucks will 

hit the market.” 

Ralph Blackburn (CEO – 

P&B Group) congratulated Paul 

& Brenda Muldoon on achieving 

25 years in business. A huge 

milestone with P&B Group 

growing to include not only 

the original P&B Auto Electrical 

business, but now encompasses 

P & B Mechanical which 

services & repairs light & heavy 

vehicles, and the P & B 4x4 

Centre which sells & installs 

4x4 parts & accessories. David 

Chubb (P & B Auto Electrical 

– Manager) presented Paul & 

Brenda with a plaque to recognise 

their 25 year milestone. 

PHOTOS BY ALEX BULLOCH

WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS, JULY/AUGUST 2022 MOTORING 21

WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS, JULY/AUGUST 2022 MOTORING 23 

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24 WAIKATO ARCHITECTURE AWARDS WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS, JULY/AUGUST 2022 

‘Amongst the Gully’ by 

Cullen Keiser Architecture 



Cambridge Homes 

Dominate Waikato 

Architecture Awards 

Two Waikato designers have been awarded top honours 

at the 2022 Waikato Regional ADNZ Resene Architectural 

Design Awards. Held recently in Hamilton, the awards 

celebrate the greatest architectural designs New Zealand 

has to offer. Awarding outstanding projects from across 

New Zealand in commercial and residential categories. 

Designers Daniel Cullen 

of Cullen Keiser Architecture 

and Lee Turner 

of Turner Road Architecture 

both have award-winning 

projects located in Cambridge. 

Daniel Cullen won the 

Regional Residential New 

Home over 300m2 Award 

for his work on ‘Amongst the 

Gully’. Located on a steep, 

bush site in rural Cambridge, 

the contemporary home was 

carefully designed to suit the 

steep contour of the land and 

placed to leave the native 

fauna undisturbed. Positioned 

for maximum solar gain, 

and to showcase the incredible 

views of the surrounding 

bush and farmland, the master 

bedroom and living areas 

cantilever over the gully into 

the tranquil bush. Entering 

the home, you are greeted by 

a harmony of plywood and 

masonry block. This connects 

you to the natural surrounds 

through the raw sustainable 

materials. Extensive glazing 

allows sun light, warmth and 

highlights the views. 

ADNZ judges said the home 

has been successfully designed 

to suit the steep contour of the 

land and carefully placed. 

“The house has been well 

positioned for maximum solar 

gain but also to tap into the 

incredible views of the surrounding 

native New Zealand 

bush and Waikato farmlands. 

The master bedroom and living 

areas have been cleverly 

cantilevered out over the 

gully, almost like you are floating 

amongst the gully vegetation,” 

the panel noted. 

These beautiful 

homes celebrate 

escapism and 

a raw, natural 

aesthetic that 

allows you to 

relax and be 

transported. 

Lee Turner also won 

the Regional Residential New 

Home over 300m2 Award and 

the Regional Resene Colour in 

Design Award for his work on 

‘Stepped Ridge House’. 

A contemporary low-lying 

home, it steps down the natural 

contour of the ridge in the 

foothills of Maungakawa, providing 

expansive, panoramic 

views of the plains below. A 

low profile, multi-pod home, 

it has been built into the sloping 

ridge meaning minimal 

disruption to the skyline. It 

has been constructed with raw 

textures and a colour palette 

drawn from nature. 

Judges said the generous, 

dramatic, and yet grounded 

home comfortably steps down 

the natural contours of the 

terrain revealing a series of 

spaces to inhabit and vantage 

points to indulge in. 

“Raw materials and textures 

have been meticulously 

selected and detailed to flatter 

and not compete with the 

surrounding landscape. The 

house drinks up the views but 

respectfully sinks into the view 

for others. The low-profile 

roof emphasises the stepped 

design and relationship of 

spaces to the landscape. An 

elegant play on a sense of refuge 

and outlook,” the judging 

panel noted. 

Architectural Designers 

New Zealand CEO Keryn 

Davis says the way both 

designers embraced the native 

‘Stepped Ridge House’ by 

Turner Road Architecture 



surrounds were a big part of 

the wow factor. 

“These beautiful homes 

celebrate escapism and a raw, 

natural aesthetic that allows 

you to relax and be transported. 

It is fantastic to see 

our members taking cues from 

the whenua and making the 

most of our incredible landscapes. 

Well done to Lee and 

Daniel.” 

Architectural Designers 

New Zealand is a leading professional 

body for architectural 

designers and architects 

in New Zealand. Entries 

are received from members 

throughout the country. 

The winners are announced 

through a series of regional 

award events in July through 

to August. The National 

Awards will be held on Friday 

28 October at Te Pae in 

Christchurch. 


Turner Road Architecture

WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS, JULY/AUGUST 2022 WAIKATO ARCHITECTURE AWARDS 25 







Let's start 

something 

exciting 

Our focus is to provide a 

professional quality service 

that stands out among others 

M :: 027 247 7660 E :: daniel@cullenkeiser.co.nz 

W :: www.cullenkeiser.co.nz

26 WORKPLACE HEALTH AND SAFTEY 

KEEP PILLAR BOXES 

CLEAR OF GARDENS 

AND TREES 

Make sure they are visible at all 

times to avoid damage 

Damaged pillar boxes are 

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0800 800 935 

www.wel.co.nz/safety/public-safety


Claudelands Oval 

named New Zealand’s 

best venue 

Transforming a green space into an 

outdoor concert venue has earned 

Hamilton’s H3 Group a national award. 

Claudelands Oval was 

named Best Venue 2021 

by the New Zealand 

Events Association (NZEA) at 

their annual awards function. 

This comes after Claudelands 

Oval had an impressive debut 

as a concert venue in February 

last year when it hosted a 

25,000-strong crowd for Six60 

Saturdays. 

The Hamilton venue triumphed 

over finalists Whanganui 

War Memorial Centre 

for the 2021 Downer New 

Zealand Masters Games, and 

Christchurch’s Haere-roa for 

NZ Antarctic Science Conference. 

Claudelands was praised by 

the award judges for its, “first 

foray into largescale outdoor 

concerts, which was a complex 

undertaking with multiple 

stakeholders in the mix. 

“The Claudelands team rose 

to the challenge and proved 

themselves to be agile and 

thorough – delivering a hugely 

successful event in a previously 

underutilised outdoor space. 

Six60 Saturdays was a great 

example of a venue working for 

all of its stakeholders.” 

There are 

definitely plans 

in the pipeline 

for more outdoor 

concerts at 

Claudelands Oval 

so watch this 

space. 

Managed by Hamilton 

City Council’s H3 team, 

Claudelands Oval has been the 

venue for Hamilton’s annual 

A&P Show and Waikato Show 

for many years, as well as other 

recent events including Relay 

for Life and 4 And Rotary 

Nationals. However, the space 

is most commonly used for 

on-site car parking during 

large events at Claudelands 

Events Centre and GLOBOX 

Arena. 

Hamilton City Council general 

manager of venues, tourism 

and major events Sean 

Murray says transforming this 

large greenspace into an outdoor 

concert venue required 

the H3 team to reimagine and 

redefine its vision for the area. 

“It was very much a blank 

canvas when the idea first 

came about – the beauty of a 

large outdoor space like this 

is you aren’t constrained by 

the four walls of a traditional 

indoor concert venue so this 

gave us unlimited scope to play 

with,” Murray says. 

“Ensuring Claudelands 

Oval lived up to the vision we 

had for it as a concert venue 

required our team to think creatively 

to determine the best 

configuration and overlay all of 

the infrastructure required, as 

well as proactively engage with 

the client, partners and stakeholders 

such as neighbours to 

Gary Taylor, Ben Slatter and Rebecca Aston 

accepting the best venue award from Brittany 

Turlock Crowd at the Six60 concert in February 2021 

ensure all of their needs were 

fully understood and met.” 

After its successful debut 

for Six60 Saturdays, Murray 

said the H3 team look forward 

to hosting more live 

music at the award-winning 

Claudelands Oval. 

“There are definitely plans 

in the pipeline for more outdoor 

concerts at Claudelands 

Oval so watch this space.”. 

Other Hamilton events recognised 

at the NZEA Awards 

include Hamilton Gardens 

Arts Festival 2021 which was a 

finalist for Best Arts or Cultural 

Event 2021, and Balloons Over 

Waikato which was shortlisted 

for Best Community or Not- 

For-Profit Event 2021. 

Cyber security challenge helps fill skills gap 

The largest cyber security challenge in New Zealand was 

held at the University of Waikato recently with students from 

around country preparing to hack, learn and solve their way 

to virtual glory - and a decent prize pool. 

Following a nationwide 

‘Capture the Flag’ 

competition last month, 

150 participants were invited 

to Hamilton to attend the flagship 

event, now in its 9th year. 

The grand prize winners 

– Team Covid-Brain consisting 

of Ava Rider, Leon Bowie 

(both studying in Wellington) 

and Jamie McClymont 

(CyberCX) from Wellington 

– took away the $1500 prize 

as well as a free course for 

certification through Offensive 

Security for each team 

member, valued at around 

US$5000 in total. 

Waikato University Computer 

Science senior lecturer 

Dr Vimal Kumar says the talent 

and ability of the participants 

gets better each year. 

“This year we had a high 

school student from Wellington 

who wound up competing 

on his own, without his team 

members. However, he held 

The secret to being effective in 

the cyber security space is being 

adaptable. Things are rapidly 

evolving in cyber security, so we 

don’t focus on tools but more about 

the underlying foundations. Tools 

come and go but the ability to think, 

creatively solve problems and adapt 

will keep us ahead of the game. 

his own and took out the High 

School prize in a hard-fought 

tie-breaker with a team from 

Christchurch.” 

Dr Kumar says the variety 

of challenges, the ability to 

network and learn from industry 

experts, and the chance 

to extend their own knowledge 

made the weekend a 

great experience for everyone 

involved. 

“The secret to being effective 

in the cyber security space 

is being adaptable. Things are 

rapidly evolving in cyber security, 

so we don’t focus on tools 

but more about the underlying 

foundations. Tools come 

and go but the ability to think, 

creatively solve problems and 

adapt will keep us ahead of the 

game.” 

With a desperate lack of 

numbers in the cyber security 

workforce, Dr Kumar says, the 

challenge is an ideal opportunity 

for teaching and recruiting 

the talent of the future. 

“Right now, we have a 

skills gap, particularly in cyber 

security. This event provides a 

NZCSC 2022 winners from left Ava Rider, Leon Bowie 

and Jamie McClymont with Dr Vimal Kumar. 

platform for students to showcase 

their skills and be visible 

to their peers and to industry.” 

Dr Kumar says Waikato 

University predicted the skills 

shortage a long time ago - that 

prediction prompted the creation 

of New Zealand’s first 

Master of Cyber Security 

alongside the country’s first 

Cyber Security Lab. 

“We took steps to fill the 

shortage but demand has massively 

outstripped supply. The 

Covid pandemic and border 

closure has exacerbated this 

to some extent, as we would 

usually rely on international 

expertise coming in. This 

has impacted the job market, 

which is a benefit to people in 

the country with fresh graduates 

often securing close to 

$100k salaries.”


SWIFT calls on South Waikato 

businesses to think big 

The sky is the limit for South Waikato 

businesses looking for a loan from 

South Waikato Investment Fund Trust 

(SWIFT), which has reset its minimum 

business loans to $50,000. 

SWIFT has also reset 

its grants, which are 

available to not-forprofit 

organisations that 

either deliver educational and 

training opportunities to enable 

people to enter the workforce 

or support community 

infrastructure that encourages 

business investment to improve 

the quality of life in the district. 

SWIFT has increased its 

minimum grants to $25,000 

and will consider approaches 

for multi-year funding support. 

Applications for community 

grants are now open and close 

on 15 September. 

“Large scale impact is the 

focus,” SWIFT CEO Amanda 

Hema says, who took over the 

Sam Wulff, director 

of Putāruru-based 

steel building frame 

company Green Frame 

role in late 2021. “This is all 

about incentivising growth.” 

Hema says SWIFT has 

published its new grant and 

loan criteria on its website to 

give clarity and transparency to 

applicants. 

The reset is part of SWIFT’s 

new five-year strategic plan 

which, over the next three 

years, will focus on: 

• Managing and leveraging 

SWIFT’s current portfolio 

of investments to deliver 

the best outcomes for South 

Waikato 

• Supporting South Waikato’s 

existing industries and 

established businesses to 

succeed and grow 

• Working with South 

Waikato’s key industries to 

ensure they can access the 

workforce and skills they 

need to succeed. 

SWIFT makes loans 

as a registered financial 

services provider. “Our fiveyear 

discounted loans can 

be transformational to a 

business,” Ms Hema says. 

“Our interest rates are usually 

less than market rates and we 

are very community focused. 

Businesses must be located or 

in the process of relocating or 

expanding in South Waikato to 

receive a loan. 

“With all new loans our 

community liaison co-ordinator 

will introduce the business to 

our training and employment 

partners, and makes regular 

check-ins. When the loan 

finishes, we don’t step out of the 

picture, we can scaffold them 

into another loan arrangement 

to support further growth 

plans.” 

Director of Putāruru-based 

steel building frame company 

Green Frame Sam Wulff says 

SWIFT financed and took 

security over three steel roll 

forming machines worth 

several hundred thousand 

dollars enabling the company’s 

owners to use their money for 

intangible set-up costs. 

Wulff says Green Frame’s 

steel framing is being used 

instead of timber framing in 

everything from tiny homes 

and cabins to family homes 

and commercial and industrial 

buildings. “A big advantage in 

these times of building product 

shortages is that the steel can be 

rolled in a week.” 

Green Frame is also 

developing one, two and three 

bedroom modular homes that 

can be delivered on the back of 

a trailer and assembled on-site. 

“By having the SWIFT loan we 

have capital free to develop 

these new products.” 

Van Dam Plumbing 2020 

owner Stephen Mulholland 

says a five year SWIFT loan 

helped the company to replace 

a 30 year old 1.7 tonne digger 

with a new Kobelco 2.5 tonne 

digger, buy a top-of-the-line 

Ifor Williams trailer and a 

Toyota Hiace van, and take 

on five new staff including a 

plumber, three apprentices and 

an administrator to help meet 

growing customer demand. 

“The SWIFT loan is great. 

My partner Jade Corry and 

Van Dam Plumbing 2020 owners Stephen Mulholland 

and Jade Corry and their sons Quinn and Rex on their 

new SWIFT-funded Kobelco digger 

The Green Frames team. 

I used our savings and bank 

loans to buy the business in 

2020 but we needed extra 

finance for new equipment 

and staff to effectively service 

customer needs. We do a lot 

of rural work like septic tanks 

and effluent fields, and the 

old digger was past it and we 

needed more people. 

“We got the SWIFT loan 

in 2021 and it is locked at a 

below market interest rate 

for five years. One of the loan 

conditions was that we had 

to take on three new staff by 

2026. We achieved that in the 

first few months and have just 

hired another two. After COVID 

the workload in the district has 

increased dramatically.” 

Besides the loans to individual 

businesses with high growth 

potential, SWIFT supports 

a range of workforce 

development programmes 

in the South Waikato district 

including: 

• Access to free driving licence 

training for all rangatahi 

(young people of any 

ethnicity) 

• The Generation forestry 

training programme in 

partnership with the Central 

North Island Wood Council, 

Te Uru Rākau (New Zealand 

Forest Service), Forest 

Growers Levy Trust, the 

South Waikato District 

Council, and Toi Ohomai 

Institute of Technology. 

• Training scholarships 

through Toi Ohomai 

• A partnership with WorkIT, 

the South Waikato District 

Council’s employment 

agency for young people 

SWIFT’s longer term strategic 

priorities from 2024 will also 

include: 

• Making the case for the 

infrastructure needed to 

support the growth of the 

South Waikato economy 

• Developing South Waikato’s 

sectors of comparative 

advantage to create a 

productive and resilient 

economy 

• Attracting new investment 

into South Waikato to 

deepen our capabilities and 

support new employment 

opportunities 

SWIFT chair Bruce 

Sherman said besides its new 

strategy the trust has had 

a governance reset moving 

from eight directors to six. 

With some recent retirements 

the board is seeking two new 

board members to broaden 

the board’s diversity and 

inclusion. 

“We’re a values-based 

business.” Are you really? 

‘Our people are our most 

important asset’. How many 

times have you heard businesses 

make this bold and 

sweeping statement? Yet how 

many businesses act as if they 

really believe these words? That 

statement is a clear expression 

of a value, and values are visible 

through the actions people 

take, not just what they say. 

Values are concepts or mental 

constructs that capture and 

express what is important to 

us. In the context of business, 

the values that are espoused 

by the CEO need to be followed 

through in practice. They need 

to be articulated, discussed, 

defined and communicated 

by the CEO and then followed 

through in practice. This will 

translate into ‘how we do things 

around here’, reward and 

recognition and career opportunities 

within the business. 

Values form the foundation 

for everything that happens in 

your workplace. If you are the 

founder of the business, your 

values permeate the business. 

What we are noticing in the 

current economic environment 

is that businesses are beginning 

to realise that the values they 

hold are an important point of 

difference between them and 

their competitor. 

So why do values-based 

businesses have a point of difference? 

Companies that have 

well established values frameworks 

are attracting and retaining 

the ‘right’ and the ‘best people’. 

We are seeing that the 

values have become a point 

of difference and when people 

are looking for their next 

challenge, they are becoming 

more attracted to companies 

who know what they value and 

those values align with their 

own. 

And how can applying values-based 

management help 

your business and why would 

you bother? In the current economic 

environment people 

are hesitant to ‘jump ship’ and 

move to another company. Better 

the devil you know seems to 

be the thinking by most people. 

However, we also find 

that when people are looking 

to move on, they are taking a 

close look at the company they 

are applying to and are basing 

their application and their decision 

to join a company on how 

they manage and not on the salary 

offered. 

As an example, I recently 

recruited a senior manager for 

a medium-sized company. The 

candidate had been working in 

a large organisation in a senior 

role but was attracted to my client’s 

company as it seemed to 

be a growing and innovative 

business. When we discussed 

salary with the preferred candidate 

our offer wasn’t anywhere 

near what he had been receiving, 

however he decided to take 

the role as he could see that 

the business had a values system 

that was aligned with his 

own and there was potential to 

grow within the business. The 

candidate was inspired by the 

CEO and his philosophy and 

the direction he was taking 

the business. As an employee, 

working for a company that 

has a values system that is congruent 

with yours can be more 

important than the value of the 

salary. 

You know as an individual 

what you personally value. If 

you want to attract and retain 

like-minded people you need 

to think about that values your 

business has, how you communicate 

them and how that 

translates into productivity, 

PEOPLE AND 

CULTURE 

BY SENGA ALLEN 

Managing Director, 

Everest – All about people tm 

www.everestpeople.co.nz 

retention and growth. 

My last word of caution – 

don’t espouse values that you 

think you have and then don’t 

demonstrate them! It’s the 

faster way to exit employees.

9 in 10 

workplace 

decision 

makers read 

print media 

Book your spot in 

our next publication 

info@dpmedia.co.nz 

*Source: Neilsen Australia Consumer and Media View. 

Survey 3 2016 National 12 month. Print readers have read any magazine in the past 

month OR any newspaper in the past 7 days OR any catalogue in the past 7 days 

Publishers of Waikato Business News, 

Waikato AgriBusiness News and BeautyNZ Magazine

30 CHILD FOCUS 

WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS, JULY/AUGUST 2022 

Learning to succeed 

at Kip McGrath 

Hamilton has two Kip McGrath Centres that have been 

providing excellent up to date and relevant tuition for 

over 20 years. They offer individual learning programmes 

tailored to the specific needs of each student as 

identified in the initial free assessment. 

At Kip McGrath, our focus is to help your 

child reach their full potential 

We make learning relevant and engaging which boosts 

self-confidence and success in class. Students can be taught in centre 

or online face to face at home. Give your child a boost today. 

CENTRE • PHONE NUMBER 

Address 

Hamilton East - 29 Hukanui CENTRE kipmcgrath.co.nz/centre 

Road, • PHONE Fairfield, NUMBER Hamilton 3214 | 07 853 5013 

Address 

Hamilton West - 89 Rimu Street, Whitiora, Hamilton 3200 | 07 848 2262 

kipmcgrath.co.nz/centre 

“Mathematics, English, 

spelling, reading, and 

writing are taught, 

including NCEA math and 

English. Programmes are 

modified as children achieve 

their goals,” Kip McGrath principal 

Paul Kelly says. “Our goal 

is to help students succeed 

in class. We do this through 

weekly 70--minute tutoring 

sessions that are personalised 

for every student and include 

one-on-one attention.” 

Students work within a supportive, 

small group setting run 

by trained qualified teachers. 

“They quickly develop a sense 

of achievement and discover 

learning is not only successful 

– it’s enjoyable too,” Paul says. 

They also have several students 

who just work online. 

This has grown since the lock 

down and will be a growth area 

for the centres. 

The sessions feature a mix 

Paul and Rosemary Kelly receiving awards for their 

two centres in Hamilton from Storm McGrath CEO 

of Kip McGrath. Australasian Conference in July 

of books, worksheets and computer 

activities providing the 

variety that a student’s brain 

needs to keep engaged, motivated 

and learning. As the student 

gets older, they have more 

input into the content of the 

lesson. This tailors tutoring 

to their needs and increases 

engagement, ensuring the time 

with the tutors is well used. 

The centres cater for a wide 

range of students from duxes 

of schools to those who really 

struggle, including dyslexic 

students. 

Free assessments can be 

made online at Kipmcgrath. 

co.nz or by ringing Paul 07 

8482262. Help your child now.

CHILD FOCUS 


Destination 

management 

strategy guides 

Waikato tourism 

Whitiora – your 

kindergarten in the 

city – now open 

8am–5pm weekdays 

Whitiora Kindergarten, near Waikato Stadium and handy to 

the CBD on the corner of Abbotsford and Willoughby Streets, 

is now offering extended hours for greater convenience for 

families working and living in the central city. 

While still offering 

traditional morning 

and afternoon 

sessions, the Kindergarten 

also has school day hours and, 

from the beginning of August, 

is now open 8am–5pm to 

better cater for city families. 

Whitiora Kindergarten 

offers: 

• 20 FREE hours from 

2-years-old 

• passionate, qualified teachers 

• close connections with 

Whitiora Primary School 

• a well-resourced and huge 

outdoor play area 

• safe, caring and stimulating 

environment 

• a focus on our unique Enviroschools 

programme 

• learning based on Te 

Whāriki (NZ Early Childhood 

Curriculum) 

Part of the Waikato Kindergarten 

Association family, 

Whitiora Kindergarten has 

been a mainstay of early childhood 

education in the central 

city for almost 75 years, with 

many generations of Hamiltonians 

attending during this 

time. 

“My son loves books — 

and all because of his teachers,” 

was just one comment 

received by a parent in the 

most recent Whaanau & Family 

Survey. 

“The atmosphere of focused 

activity reflects the children’s 

engagement in learning,” was 

another. 

Whitiora Kindergarten’s 

most recent Education Review 

Office report gave them the 

highest rating, with these 

points among the review findings: 

“Children’s language, culture 

and identity are highly 

visible and valued. Learning 

partnerships between 

the kindergarten and home 

guide individual children’s 

programmes for learning. 

The learning programme is 

tailored to all children’s abilities, 

emerging interests and 

needs. Complexity is added 

to play which empowers children’s 

sense of what they 

know and what they need to 

learn. Children are considered 

confident and are curious 

about the world around 

them.” 

For older children, 

Whitiora Kindergarten (like 

all Waikato Kindergarten 

Association services) offers 

the Cool 4 School transition 

programme for four-yearolds, 

which aims to give parents 

and their child(ren) 

assurance that they will be a 

happy and successful learner 

at school. Kindergarten staff 

work together with families/ 

whaanau to prepare each 

child for their transition to 

school by developing specific 

learning priorities in relation 

to the NZ Curriculum (Te 

Whāriki) and the NZ Primary 

School Curriculum. 

With 20 free hours available 

weekly for children 

from two-years-old, families 

often find the Association’s 

8am–5pm kindergartens a 

cost-effective and consistent 

service for their preschool 

education needs. 

Other WKA kindergartens 

with 8am–5pm hours include 

Peachgrove, Chartwell, Deanwell, 

Hamilton West and 

Insoll Kindergartens in Hamilton, 

Leamington Kindergarten 

in Cambridge and 

Newcastle Kindergarten in 

Ngaruawahia. 

Call 0800 CHILDREN 

(244 537) or find out more 

information on our website 

kindy.nz/whitiora 

Our Waikato is a 

region of such 

appealing diversity, 

from awe-inspiring 

natural wonders like the 

mighty Waikato River, the 

Waitomo Caves and surfing 

beaches to award-winning 

eateries, intriguing 

museums, magical movie 

locations, and welcoming 

people. Here at Hamilton 

& Waikato Tourism 

(HWT) we work to a carefully 

considered an everevolving 

strategy – a destination 

management (DM) 

plan – that guides how we 

develop our tourism sector 

in a sustainable way and 

undertake vital marketing 

of the region. 

The DM approach is a 

key focus of the New Zealand-Aotearoa 

Government 

Tourism Strategy that 

aims to enrich the country 

through sustainable tourism 

growth underpinned 

by productive, sustainable, 

and inclusive tourism. 

Using international 

research, Government 

frameworks and industry 

consultation, the Ministry 

of Business, Innovation 

and Employment 

(MBIE) has established five 

goals to achieve this. These 

include for tourism to support 

thriving and sustainable 

regions; for productivity 

in the sector to improve; 

for the country to deliver 

exceptional visitor experiences; 

for tourism to restore 

and champion our natural 

environment, culture, and 

historic heritage; and for 

Kiwi lives to be improved 

by tourism. 

Sitting under these 

goals there are 16 principles, 

or kaupapa, of destination 

management, 

ranging from defining the 

TELLING 

WAIKATO’S STORY 

BY NICOLA GREENWELL 

Interim General Manager, 

Hamilton & Waikato Tourism 

destination and the vision to 

marketing and promotion and 

environmental stewardship – 

see graph for all 16. 

To bring this home and give 

it full meaning in the Waikato, 

our ultimate goal is to use 

tourism to enable positive 

benefits for our region’s communities, 

people, culture and 

environment. 

Our vision is for the 

Waikato to be celebrated for 

providing encounters that are 

real New Zealand experiences 

– that the Waikato is a special 

place where kaitiaki (guardianship 

of our environment) 

runs deep, mana (strength, 

pride, and identity) inspires 

and where there are unforgettable 

discoveries to be made. 

As an early adopter of the 

DM approach, in 2016 HWT 

developed a Tourism Opportunities 

Plan to support the longterm 

growth of the sector and 

increase the economic value, 

and benefits of tourism to the 

region. 

This plan provided 

the framework and direction 

for delivering new and 

improved tourism experiences, 

attractions, and infrastructure, 

while at the same 

time enhancing livability for 

our local residents taking into 

consideration social, economic, 

cultural and environmental 

opportunities, as well as knowing 

where there might be risk. 

With the starting point 

being the understanding that 

if our natural world is healthy, 

so too are our people (taiao ora 

tangata ora), Waikato tourism 

DM works to: 

• Provide connections 

between visitors, local residents 

and industry sectors 

• Live our brand values – 

surprising, magical, and 

authentic Waikato experiences 

• Embrace guests – 

manaakitanga 

• Ensure regenerative tourism 

that actively contributes 

to the community and 

the environment – kaitiakitanga 

• Foster innovation – always 

looking at ways to improve 

and adapt. 

To bring these aims to life 

we continue to invite the perspectives 

and aspirations of 

our Waikato residents – across 

the board including iwi, the 

tourism sector, local businesses, 

and local and central 

Government. 

Our DM plan is a living 

strategy that will continue to 

evolve as the operating environment 

we work in changes, partnerships 

develop and progress, 

new research comes to light, 

new policies are adopted, and 

new opportunities and challenges, 

such as national and 

global events, occur. 

PART OF HWT’S PROMOTION 

IS A QUARTERLY 

NEWSLETTER THAT WILL 

TELL YOU ABOUT THE LATEST 

THINGS TO SEE AND DO IN 

THE WAIKATO. IT’S FREE AND 

YOU CAN SIGN UP FOR IT BY 

FOLLOWING THIS LINK: 

WAIKATONZ.COM/SIGN-UP- 

FOR-OUR-NEWSLETTER/


Heat Turned up on 

unregulated advocates in the 

employment law jurisdiction 

For those not involved in the 

employment law industry, the issue of 

unregulated employment advocates 

causing mayhem in this specialised 

jurisdiction may be met with a 

confused “huh?” 

The problem is that at 

present, anyone in 

New Zealand, regardless 

of education, qualifications 

or experience, can set 

themselves up as an ‘employment 

law specialist’ and go on 

to offer the same services as a 

qualified employment lawyer. 

In many cases, their clients do 

not even realise the advocate is 

not a lawyer. This is analogous 

to someone with no training in 

dentistry, setting themselves up 

as a ‘dental specialist’ and being 

able to offer the same services 

to the unsuspecting public, as a 

dentist. 

Let me be very clear from 

the outset; there are some very 

good employment law advocates 

out there, and this article 

is not about them. Rather, it is 

about the very bad employment 

law advocates, who have no idea 

what they are doing, engage in 

unethical (at times, bordering 

on illegal) conduct, often represent 

the most vulnerable and 

yet, are unregulated and therefore, 

not answerable, to anyone. 

Although this problem has 

been around for a couple of 

decades, anecdotally, the number 

of these bad employment 

advocates appears to be on 

the rise. Either that, or their 

hitherto, unbridled brazen conduct 

has escalated. 

During my 13 years as a specialist 

employment lawyer, the 

conduct I personally have had 

to deal with from these advocates 

includes failing to show up 

for their clients for a scheduled 

hearing/mediation; the advocate 

had simply decided that the 

matter didn’t look like it would 

pay much so it was not worth 

their while continuing, much 

to the shock of their client who 

had not been informed they 

were no longer represented. 

Other reprehensible conduct 

involves altering documents 

to try and strengthen their client’s 

weak case and then filing 

the forged documents in legal 

proceedings, refusing to comply 

with timetabling orders wasting 

the time of all involved, including 

the Employment Relations 

Authority and the Employment 

Court, and a favourite amongst 

a few of them; trying to extort 

settlements and/or other benefits 

for their client by threatening 

a lawyer with a complaint to 

the New Zealand Law Society 

(‘NZLS’) if the lawyer does not 

advise their client to give in to 

the advocate’s demands. 

Many of these advocates 

posit that the concerns 

employment lawyers are raising 

about their conduct, is nothing 

more than employment lawyers 

trying to “protect their patch’”. 

That is not the case, and the 

judiciary have also been raising 

these concerns. I know of 

no employment lawyer who 

does not willingly engage with 

the ethical, experienced advocates. 

Indeed, even the latter 

have been crying out for regulation 

in the industry, not least of 

all, because the bad advocates 

are tarnishing the reputation of 

those that are good. 

One such advocate demanding 

regulation is Kelly Coley, 

president of the Employment 

Law Institute of New Zealand 

(‘ELINZ’). In a recent interview, 

Ms Coley stated that ELINZ 

receives at least half a dozen 

complaints about advocates 

per year, but adds that most 

are multiple complaints about 

the same handful of advocates. 

Although ELINZ members are 

expected to comply with the 

ELINZ Code of Conduct and 

Rules, membership is voluntary, 

and any member whose 

conduct does breach the code, 

can continue with their business, 

even if they are expelled 

from ELINZ or simply choose 

to resign. 

In an NBR article published 

on 25 July 2022 entitled 

‘Unregulated Advocates 

Impede Justice, Say Industry 

Players’ the article focused on 

one notorious advocate in particular, 

with whom I have had 

a number of dealings. In one 

case, I received a frantic phone 

call from two of his clients who 

EMPLOYMENT 

LAW 

BY ERIN BURKE 

Employment Lawyer and 

Director at practica Legal. 

had not been able to contact 

him for two weeks. Due to multiple 

timetable breaches, the 

authority had contacted the two 

clients earlier in the day, stating 

that if their witness briefs were 

not filed by the end of the day, 

they would be facing authority-ordered 

penalties. I filed the 

witness briefs they had drafted 

themselves, with no opportunity 

to read them, given the 

urgency of the matter, and filed 

a memorandum interceding 

on their behalf and explaining 

the issues with the advocate. 

This advocate’s conduct is wellknown 

by the authority, and 

he has had penalties awarded 

against him personally numerous 

times by the authority, for 

his unacceptable conduct. He is 

not the only one. 

The clients in the above 

example, had paid the advocate 

a sizeable amount of money 

up front, after which he simply 

went ‘comms dark’ leaving 

them without representation, 

in trouble for breaches of a process 

they knew little about, and 

with no recourse to get their 

money back. 

And therein lies the large 

difference between an advocate 

and a registered lawyer; the 

latter is answerable to a stringent 

disciplinary regime that 

could see negligent, unethical 

or incompetent conduct met 

with fee reductions/reversals, 

penalties and even suspension 

or strike off. In the case of an 

unregulated advocate, they are 

free to simply move onto their 

next unsuspecting victim. 

NZLS is currently in the 

middle of the most significant 

review of the legal industry 

in a generation, and an 

independent panel will be 

considering and making 

recommendations on what 

legal services should be regulated, 

hopefully by early 2023. 

MBIE is likewise reviewing its 

dispute resolution processes, 

which includes the provision 

of employment mediation services. 

In the meantime, both 

employers and employees are 

urged to thoroughly research 

who they are engaging to represent 

them, and what, if any, 

protection they have if things 

go wrong. For clarity, holding 

a law degree does not make 

someone a lawyer. To be a registered 

lawyer, the person must 

hold a current practising certificate, 

and prospective clients 

can check current registration 

at www.lawsociety.org.nz/registry-lookup/ 

Impact Hub Waikato brings Co-Creatives 

to South Waikato creative founders 

Aspiring creatives from 

across the South 

Waikato District will 

soon have the opportunity 

to kickstart and grow their 

own creative business, thanks 

to a brand-new accelerator 

programme by Impact Hub 

Waikato. 

Kicking off on September 

9, the Co-Creatives accelerator 

is designed to uplift and 

empower local creatives - and 

Impact Hub Waikato is calling 

on anyone aged 16-35 years 

with an artistic or creative 

skill, plus a desire to build an 

income stream or start a business 

through that skill, to apply 

to join. 

Throughout the programme, 

a series of entrepreneurial 

and artistic modules 

will be delivered in-person 

and online at Impact Hub’s 

co-working space in Tokoroa, 

with modules such as Sounds 

of our Whakapapa (how cultural 

heritage can inform 

modern storytelling), Personal 

Branding (how artists 

can build a successful brand), 

and Artists and the Metaverse 

(perspectives on the potential 

opportunities for creative 

entrepreneurs in this 

space). Some of Aotearoa’s 

most renowned artists and 

professionals will work 

with the cohort, including 

multi-media producer Faiumu 

Matthew Salapu, known 

as Anonymouz, who produced 

the historic opening soundscape 

for Jacinda Ardern’s 

2021 apology ceremony for the 

dawn raids. Impact Hub’s own 

Tijmen Doesborgh, former 

marketing manager for Red 

Creatives in the South Waikato bring 

their own unique flavour and our 

community has a need for this talent 

to be uplifted... 

Bull in the Netherlands, will be 

facilitating the marketing modules. 

Programme participants 

will get the chance to not only 

rub shoulders with, but also 

learn from leading creatives 

and professionals like Anonymouz 

and Doesborgh. 

Co-Creatives project lead 

Nanise Ginnen says the ultimate 

goal of the programme is 

to bring strength and growth to 

the culture and arts community 

in the South Waikato, through 

enabling creative founders to 

grow confidence and build an 

income stream from their craft. 

“Creatives in the South 

Waikato bring their own 

unique flavour and our community 

has a need for this talent 

to be uplifted, however 

the opportunities offered in 

Hamilton are not always accessible 

to them, or they are less 

likely to participate due to 

physical distance, economic or 

cultural factors. We’re thankful 

to Manatū Taonga Ministry 

for Culture and Heritage 

for their foresight in enabling 

a rural community to bring a 

programme of this calibre to 

South Waikato creative founders” 

Ginnen says. 

The programme was conceptualised 

in late-2021 by 

Hub Waikato’s team, Nanise 

Ginnen, Emma Sinclair, 

Cara Ryan and Esther Gathambo, 

together with Creative 

Waikato’s South Waikato cultural 

activator Leafa Wilson. 

Impact Hub Waikato 

has since been working in 

collaboration with Creative 

Waikato to bring the programme 

to life. 

The in-person components 

of the programme will take 

place in the South Waikato 

Impact Hub, located in the 

Tokoroa CBD. This multipurpose 

hub puts a spotlight on 

local entrepreneurs, startups, 

founders and young professionals. 

After their participation 

in the programme, 

participants can expect continued 

support and community 

through their Impact Hub 

membership. 

Application for Co-Creatives 

to www.impacthubwaikato.co.nz/co-creatives/ 

open until August 27. The programme 

will begin on September 

9th with a noho marae stay, 

and culminate in two events - 

a Community Showcase on 

November 30, and an Awards 

Evening on December 01.

33 

FROM THE 

REGION 

Three business 

observations from 

my trip to Europe 

We have travelled to Europe 

for a wedding and have found 

a few issues that may be a 

window into the future for both 

big and small Kiwi companies. 

Wonderful Waikato district 

The Waikato district 

is one of the fastest 

growing rural districts 

in the country. With a 

geographic region only 10% 

smaller than Auckland, we 

are a sizeable rural district 

with an increasing demand 

for urban services. Stretching 

vast terrain from Tamahere in 

the south, to Raglan and Port 

Waikato in the west, Pōkeno 

and Onewhero in the north, 

and back to Eureka in the 

east, our district encompasses 

everything from farmland to 

coastland. 

Celebrating success 

Over the last few years, we 

have ticked off a few key 

projects and achieved some 

exciting milestones for our 

communities, all amidst the 

global crisis that has been the 

pandemic. 

Throughout this time, we 

have continued to focus on 

delivering to the demands of 

our communities. 

Just some of the many 

things we can be proud of 

delivering recently include 

our new Tuakau Library, 

completing our section of 

the Te Awa cycleway, the 

Mangawara Bridge, resolved 

appellants in the Environment 

Court for the Ohinewai 

Sleepyhead Development, 

and supporting the return of 

ancestral land back to tangata 

te whenua in Whāingaroa 

which will be the home to a 

brand-new papakāinga. 

On a more legislative 

note, we also completed 

a representation review, 

have undergone various 

consultations with the 

community covering a variety 

of policies, bylaws, and 

strategy reviews, we launched 

our Long-Term Plan, Waikato 

2070, the Pōkeno Public 

Realm Concept Plan and most 

recently our Annual 

WRITTEN BY 

MAYOR ALLAN SANSON 

- WAIKATO DISTRICT 

COUNCIL. 

Plan for 2022/23. 

All these documents help 

to support the work that 

council is doing, and will do, 

to support our community 

vision of Liveable, Thriving 

and Connected Communities. 

Enacting our vision 

Developed in 2018 by those 

elected to represent the 

district, our councillors, 

this vision is something that 

elected members and council 

employees join forces to work 

towards. 

So, when 

you receive 

your voting 

documents this 

year, make sure 

you do your bit 

and support 

who you think 

is best equipped 

to serve our 

community. 

Liveable communities are 

well-planned and peoplecentric, 

providing for a 

range of quality residential 

options, social infrastructure, 

walkways, and open spaces. 

They reflect what’s 

important to people and 

support a shared sense of 

belonging both to the local 

community and the wider 

district. 

Thriving communities 

participate in council decisionmaking 

and community-led 

projects, provide input into 

the management of their local 

assets, and sustain the local 

business sector that provides 

local employment. 

Connected communities 

have fit for-purpose 

infrastructure to create 

liveable, thriving communities. 

Connectivity through 

roads, cycleways, walkways, 

and digital capabilities enable 

rapid information sharing 

and engaging in activities 

together. 

By these means, people 

in connected communities 

access services and amenities 

that meet their social, health, 

education, and employment 

needs. 

The challenge for us as 

elected members remains 

to balance growth and 

affordability and provide 

services equitably across the 

large geographical area that 

we cover. 

A fond farewell 

The successes and milestones 

that I have seen council 

achieve over the last 21 years 

are something that I hold near 

and dear to my heart. 

I’ve now reached a 

milestone in my career, 

so it’s time to go out, and 

this provides an exciting 

opportunity for someone to 

step up to fill my shoes. 

It has been an incredible 

honour to serve the Waikato 

district for two decades, with 

the last 12 years spent as 

Mayor. 

The upcoming triennial 

elections offer an opportunity 

for you to have a real say 

on what the future of our 

community will look like. 

So, when you receive your 

voting documents this year, 

make sure you do your bit 

and support who you think 

is best equipped to serve our 

community. Your tick, your 

choice. Your vote, your voice. 

I look forward to seeing 

what the future of the Waikato 

district has in store. 

1. If you have a European supply chain, 

be resilient in your scheduling. Transport 

systems here are stressed and causing 

upheaval. Staff health issues and excessive 

demand during the school holidays have 

delivered a headache to all involved. 

Be prepared for continuing disruption if 

you are travelling to or trade with Europe. 

Airline schedules are constantly changing, 

with cancellations even up to the moment 

of departure. Delays in excess of two hours 

are occurring and flight cancellations are frequent. 

Be prepared to change your itinerary several 

times and make your appointments flexible. 

Many are turning from airlines to rail as 

an option, but it is similarly affected. 

2. Prices are on the rise and with it a 

change in consumers’ buying habits 

A recent McKinsey survey titled ‘European 

consumers increasingly react to the 

stress of rising prices’ gives some useful 

insight into your customers’ potential actions 

as prices rise. 

Changing buying habits are a growing 

trend. It is happening in Europe and those 

changes will become the major issue in New 

Zealand for our households and thus for 

Waikato businesses. Buying habits in Europe 

have altered significantly as the public react 

to budgetary constraints. 

It is reasonable to expect a similar reaction 

in New Zealand. Higher input costs, be it 

wages, or raw materials in your cost of goods 

sold, or simple general expense items, all add 

By Don Good, CEO of Waikato 

Chamber of Commerce. 

up and businesses must pass these on or fold. 

Waikato businesses will have some difficult 

pricing conundrums to solve if they are 

to survive and flourish. 

3. Covid is still here but in the background, 

however, its effect on productivity throughout 

Europe is immense. People off work and 

services disrupted is the current norm, however, 

Europeans do worry less about Covid 

as the McKinsey research shows, and the 

fear effect on the public psyche in France and 

Britain has diminished significantly. 

The prevailing attitude right across the 

generations we met is that the pandemic is 

behind us but could reappear, and we will 

cope with it if it does. We didn’t see many 

masks in either the UK or France. Restaurants, 

cafes and pubs are full. People are 

pragmatic and are getting on with life. 

Riding on a hot and sweaty London Tube 

journey with no one wearing masks was 

instructive, especially when the carriage was 

full. A hire car for the longer journeys or a 

Boris bike in London felt a lot safer. 

WAIKATO BUSINESS 

HALL 

FAME 

Connect - Grow - Inspire - Represent 

OF


BBM and Foodstuffs 

bringing supermarket with a 

difference to Tokoroa 

An innovative new way to get food 

where it’s needed most is coming to 

Tokoroa, with Buttabean Motivation 

(BBM) and Foodstuffs North 

Island partnering to open a ‘social 

supermarket’ this August. 

The social supermarket 

will be focused 

on providing food 

support with dignity, by 

allowing people who are 

experiencing food insecurity 

to choose what they need for 

themselves in a supermarketstyle 

environment – rather 

than providing people with 

a pre-filled food parcel that 

might not meet their specific 

needs. 

“It’s about giving people 

what they need to provide 

for themselves and their 

families through tough times, 

without taking away any of 

their dignity,” David Letele of 

BBM says. “No one should feel 

ashamed to be getting food 

support.” 

“The idea is that this will be 

a place that provides more than 

just emergency food access – 

it’s a place where people can 

connect with a wide range of 

support services to help make 

sure that one day, they don’t 

need the social supermarket 

anymore.” 

“We decided to bring this 

initiative to Tokoroa because 

we have an existing BBM group 

down here, and through that 

have learned a lot about what 

the community needs,” Letele 

says. “We have a member in 

Tokoroa who weighs well over 

300kg. Every time I visit him, I 

think if we had a service down 

here, and if he had the support 

like we do in South Auckland, 

he would have more of a 

chance of living. That’s the kind 

of difference we believe this 

initiative can make.” 

This will be Foodstuffs’ 

third social supermarket 

partnership, following the 

success of the year-old 

Wellington City Mission Social 

Supermarket and the recently 

opened Te Hiku Pātaka in 

Kaitaia – which is a partnership 

with Te Kahu Oranga Whanau. 

The partnership is part of 

Foodstuffs’ pledge to be Here 

for NZ, helping to ensure all 

New Zealanders have access 

to healthy affordable food and 

Having 

Foodstuffs on 

board means 

we get their 

retail expertise 

and support on 

all the logistics 

of setting up a 

supermarket... 

supporting local communities 

to thrive. 

For BBM, providing food 

support became a key focus 

throughout New Zealand’s 

COVID-19 lockdowns. 

“BBM Foodshare started 

the day before the first ever 

level four lockdown, when we 

helped a mum of four who had 

no food and no money,” Letele 

says. “The first person I called 

for support was Chris Quin 

at Foodstuffs North Island, 

and since then we’ve gotten 

hundreds of thousands of 

healthy food parcels to people.” 

Foodstuffs North Island 

head of membership 

experience Willa Hand says 

that partnering with BBM 

on this initiative was a “no 

brainer”. 

“We’ve had a close 

relationship with BBM for some 

time now, and have supported 

their Foodshare operations 

in South Auckland since the 

beginning of the pandemic. 

When they told us about 

their plans to open another 

Foodshare in Tokoroa, it made 

total sense that we would throw 

our support behind it and 

help them set it up as a social 

supermarket.” 

From left Dave Letele, Dave Freeman (Foodstuffs North 

Island), two New World Tokoroa team members and 

Viv Smith ( New World Tokoroa owner operator). 

Since the opening of the 

Wellington City Mission Social 

Supermarket in March 2021, 

Hand says the Foodstuffs team 

have learned a lot about what 

makes these initiatives work. 

“What really makes a 

difference is having strong local 

leadership who connect deeply 

with people in their community. 

That’s why each of our social 

supermarket initiatives so far 

has taken a slightly different 

approach – rather than setting 

up a cookie-cutter offering in 

every town, we work closely 

with the community partners 

to set up something that is 

uniquely suited to their needs.” 

The backing from Foodstuffs 

has helped take their plans for 

the Tokoroa community to the 

next level Letele says. 

“Having Foodstuffs on 

board means we get their 

retail expertise and support 

on all the logistics of setting 

up a supermarket, training 

a team to run it, and getting 

processes sorted to make sure 

there’s always stock on shelf 

when people need it. And 

we get to pair that with our 

passion for the community 

to create something that will 

meaningfully impact the lives 

of people doing it tough in 

Tokoroa.” 

Foodstuffs North Island, 

the 100% New Zealand owned 

and operated co-operative with 

members running PAK’nSAVE, 

New World and Four Square 

stores, plans to roll out its social 

supermarket initiatives to 

more communities in the year 

ahead. Discussions are already 

underway with community 

partners in a number of other 

regions to find solutions that 

are right for them and their 

local communities. 

Changes proposed for Carter’s Flat 

Waipā District Council 

is moving ahead 

with proposals 

to rezone the Carter’s Flat 

commercial and industrial area 

in Cambridge. 

Public submissions will 

open soon on a formal Plan 

Change to change zoning from 

industrial to commercial. Only 

a minor change is needed to 

the District Plan to support the 

zone change, which is already 

identified as ’deferred commercial’. 

Manager district plan and 

growth Tony Quickfall says 

current zoning had been in 

place since 2012. The proposed 

change would help implement 

the Cambridge Town Concept 

Plan and realise the expectations 

of key stakeholders and 

landowners, including the 

Cambridge Community Board 

and Chamber of Commerce. 

“There was always an intention 

to rezone Carter’s Flat at 

some stage and two key triggers 

for the change have now been 

well and truly met. The Cambridge 

section of the Waikato 

Expressway, which is important 

in terms of traffic flow, is 

now well entrenched for road 

users,” Quickfall says. 

“And there is more industrial 

land coming on stream in Cambridge, 

particularly at Hautapu 

and at Hamilton Airport which 

means there is somewhere for 

industrial activity to go. A zone 

change will enable Carter’s Flat 

to realise its potential as a commercial 

mixed-use zone, particularly 

for larger-scale commercial 

activities that will add value 

to the town and complement 

the existing town centre.” 

The zone change would also 

allow apartments to be built 

above commercial premises in 

Carter’s Flat, supporting council’s 

drive to increase the supply 

and range of housing options in 

Cambridge. Within walking distance 

to town and close to Lake 

Te Koo Utu and the Karapiro 

Stream, Quickfall says the location 

would be attractive. 

“People have told us they 

want to see a more vibrant, 

mixed-use area close to town, 

that doesn’t compete with existing 

retail outlets and protects 

the integrity of the town centre. 

It makes the whole area a lot 

more compatible with the formal 

Cambridge Town Concept 

Plan, refreshed in 2019.” 

As part of the plan change, 

council is increasing its definition 

of large format retail to 

units over 400m2. Under the 

plan change, retail stores of this 

size or larger will be allowed in 

Carter’s Flat. 

A Local Area Plan for Carter’s 

Flat has separately been 

developed alongside the proposed 

rezoning, setting out 

design parameters. This sets 

out the vision for Carter’s Flat 

and includes design guides to 

complement planning rules. 

Public feedback will be invited 

on the Local Area Plan at the 

same time as council calls for 

formal submissions on the 

rezoning. 

Carter’s Flat was unofficially 

named after William Kennedy 

‘King’ Carter who operated 

a coach service and built his 

house and stables there in the 

late 1870s. By the early 1900s, 

the land was farmed before 

changing to industrial development. 

Carter’s Flat and the surrounding 

area also includes a 

number of culturally significant 

site with multiple pa sites and 

borrow pits in the area. 

The Plan Change will follow 

a statutory public submission 

and decision process. 

Submissions will be open from 

August 25.

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All LINK NZ offices are licensed REAA08

Waikato Business News July/August 2022

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