Waikato Business News March/April 2023

MARCH/APRIL 2023 

VOLUME 33 

ISSUE 3 

READ ONLINE AT 

http://www.wbn.co.nz 

/WaikatoBusinessNews 

The Waikato region’s voice of local business 

ALL GOOD VENTURES 

All Good Ventures gives the great business ideas of social 

entrepreneurs a nudge in the right direction with money, 

mentoring and muscle. Page 13 

CORNERSTONE DEVELOPMENT DELIVERS 

Construction Advantage makes a mark on the mixed 

commercial and residential development Cornerstone in 

Leamington. Page 20-25 

THE BUSINESS OF ART 

Free Lunch Theatre Company is in the business of providing 

exciting street performances to delight audiences at community 

and corporate events. Page 28 

Riverside 

Adventures 

boosts South 

Waikato tourism 

After ticking along as a small family-run tourism operator for nearly 

10 years, Riverside Adventures is on a growth trajectory that is 

bringing 6,500 visitors a year to South Waikato to enjoy glow worm 

kayak tours, Waikato River bike trails and paddle boarding. CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

2 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS, MARCH/APRIL 2023 

The deck. The roof. 

Anywhere really. 

* 

Hey Toyota, where 

should I put my toys? 

HAMILTON 5 Kahu Crescent, Te Rapa Park Hamilton, 07 838 0499 

MORRINSVILLE 85 Avenue Road North Morrinsville, 07 889 7678 

TE AWAMUTU 29 Kihikihi Road Te Awamutu, 07 872 0017 

www.ebbetttoyota.co.nz 

* Accessorised model shown. Offer available towards the purchase of Toyota Genuine or Toyota Approved accessories on new Toyota Hilux vehicles (excluding GR Sport) purchased at TDP or Bronze pricing through an Authorised Toyota Dealer between 

1 April 2023 and 30 June 2023, or while stocks last. Prices and specifications are subject to change at any time. See Toyota.co.nz for full T&Cs. 

At Bayleys, we believe relationships are 

what businesses are built on and how they 

succeed. We understand that to maximise 

the return on your property you need: 

Professional property management 

A business partner that understands 

your views and goals 

Contact the Bayleys Waikato Commercial 

Property Management team today. 

Jan Cooney 

Head Commercial Property Management - 

Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Taranaki 

027 408 9339 

jan.cooney@bayleys.co.nz 

David Cashmore 

Bayleys Commercial Manager - Waikato 

021 943 305 

david.cashmore@bayleys.co.nz 

Gert Maritz 

Senior Facilities Manager - Waikato 

027 230 2514 

gert.maritz@bayleys.co.nz 

Darren Rule 

Senior Facilities Manager - Bay of Plenty & Taranaki 

027 214 1631 

darren.rule@bayleys.co.nz 

SUCCESS REALTY LTD, BAYLEYS, LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008 

ALTOGETHER BETTER 

Residential / Commercial / Rural / Property Services

WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS, MARCH/APRIL 2023 3 

WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS, MARCH/APRIL 2023 

From augmented reality to user experience 

Businesses from 

start-ups to big tech 

companies and global 

organisations have enjoyed 

the Company-X experience in 

the last decade. 

Since Company-x began 

trading in April, 2013, clients 

have benefitted from expertise 

in everything from augmented 

and virtual reality (AR 

and VR), e-learning modules, 

software design and development, 

and user experience 

(UX) design, both in New Zealand 

and around the world. 

Food assurance provider 

AsureQuality benefited from 

Company-X’s augmented reality 

experience when it built a 

voice-activated auditing application 

for the RealWear Head- 

Mounted Tablet. 

“AsureQuality enjoyed collaborating 

with Company-X,” 

said AsureQuality General 

Manager of Science and Technology 

Dr Harry van Enckevort. 

“They always strive to 

deliver the right solutions for 

our needs.” 

Natural gas company First 

Gas and biosecurity system 

experts Independent Verification 

Services (IVS) asked 

Company-X to build VR systems. 

First Gas needed a VR 

training programme for highrisk 

procedures, while IVS 

required a VR simulation of 

a biosecurity risk-filled shipping 

container. 

“The delivered products 

possessed the ‘wow’ factor we 

wanted to show that training 

for high-risk activities can 

now be virtualised in a fun and 

engaging manner, removing 

almost all risk to our people 

and assets in a cost-effective 

manner” said First Gas Information 

Systems Project Manager 

Reuben Uncles. 

“We chose to work with 

Company-X due to its experience 

and capability,” said IVS 

chief executive Peter Webb. 

Workplace health and 

safety regulator WorkSafe 

included a VR welding fume 

risk management experience 

in a national roadshow courtesy 

of Company-X. 

PPL Plastic Solutions 

Health, Safety, Environment 

and Quality Coordinator 

Jackie Uy tried it out. “It’s 

really good,” she said. “It’s 

very simple and effective.” 

Worldwide leader in milking 

equipment and solutions 

DeLaval asked Company-X 

to build a centralised global 

e-learning solution to support 

DeLaval staff and their dairy 

farming customers around the 

world. 

“Part of the overall success 

of the programme was our 

process, developed collaboratively 

by Company-X and the 

project group,” said DeLaval’s 

Lynda McDonald. “This project 

might not have been so 

successful without a mature 

and well-established review 

and collaboration process.” 

Company-X built gamified 

training to bring innovation 

to skills development for the 

corporation. 

“We were very impressed 

with what Company-X put 

out there,” said Australian 

Meat Processor Corporation 

program manager Stuart 

Shaw. 

In the area of software 

design and development, 

Company-X clients have long 

appreciated the team’s commitment 

and determination. 

Bayer, a global enterprise 

with core competencies in the 

life science fields of health 

care and nutrition, called on 

Company-X to develop long 

term planning and forecasting 

software. 

Company-X 

was great. 

I really 

appreciated 

the ‘can-do’ 

attitude they 

brought to the 

project and 

am immensely 

happy with the 

new system. 

“Company-X listened very 

carefully to our issues but were 

not just a ‘you tell me what 

you want’ supplier, said Hugh 

Lemon of Bayer. “Expect them 

to take ownership of projects, 

make suggestions and make it 

happen.” 

Technical Due Diligence 

Company-X hosts Trade and Export 

Growth Minister Damien O’Connor 

Waikato software specialist Company-X hosted Trade and Export Growth Minister Damien O’Connor (right) on Tuesday, 

March 21. O’Connor learned, from Company-X co-founders and directors David Hallett (left) and Jeremy Hughes 

(centre), about the company’s role in developing the world’s first roading quality assurance tool Transport Insights. 

The minister also enjoyed a demonstration of Company-X’s mixed reality headsets. 

Canoe Racing New Zealand 

asked Company-X to automate 

its canoe sprint racing 

finish-line. 

“The finished product is 

exactly what we needed and 

is robust enough to function 

in the ever-changing weather 

conditions that an outdoor, 

water-based sport must operate 

in,” said Canoe Racing 

New Zealand International 

Technical Official Karen Simpson. 

Industrial Tube Manufacturing 

in Hamilton asked 

Company-X to build a system 

that used accounting data to 

optimise factory production. 

“Tubemanager has been 

really valuable to us as part of 

the lean manufacturing process,” 

said Industrial Tube 

Manufacturing assistant general 

manager Ian Foster. “It 

will help remove the need for 

physical job cards and introduce 

a paperless manufacturing 

system.” 

Jumpflex in Hamilton 

needed information technology 

infrastructure that could 

keep up with international 

demand. Company-X was 

asked to integrate the web services 

required to manage the 

international supply chain 

processes, from manufacturer 

to customer. 

“The fact that Company-X 

directors David Hallett and 

Jeremy Hughes are great software 

engineers means they 

only hire really competent and 

senior engineers. This means 

we weren’t going to end up 

with juniors making a mess of 

various tasks,” said Jumpflex 

director Jeremy Mould. 

“Basically, everything they 

took on was well thought out 

and professional looking.” 

Philips Search and Rescue 

Trust asked Company-X 

to build a new receipting and 

communication system to free 

up fundraising staff. 

“I had 150 per cent confidence 

Company-X would 

deliver what they promised,” 

said Philips Search and Rescue 

Trust fundraising manager 

Kelly Olsen. “I ran some figures 

and the return on investment 

was about six months. 

They used layman’s terms in 

Whanau data platform builder Āhau and leading Aotearoa New Zealand open banking 

gateway BlinkPay were led through a technical due diligence process by Company-X senior 

consultant Ben Judge. 

“All of Company-X’s recommendations were really helpful in our thinking,” said Āhau 

Kaiwhakahaere Ben Tairea. 

“Company-X showed a level of thought leadership around how we can potentially build out 

our business in the future, that aligned to much of our own thinking,” said BlinkPay Chief 

Product Officer Adrian Smith. 

“Our experience with Company-X has been absolutely exemplar.” 

Hamilton City Council 

asked Company-X User 

Experience (UX) lead Cory 

Mackenzie to help design 

the user experience (UX) 

for new and upgraded content 

supporting their growth 

data, economic analytics 

and economic development 

programmes. The goal was 

to identify, understand, and 

attract their target audience 

and then ensure the information 

was presented in a 

way that addressed their 

core needs. 

“Even before the project 

started, we knew we were 

going to be working with 

experienced professionals 

who could deliver what we 

needed,” said Hamilton City 

Council Economic Development 

Manager Mike Bennett. 

Online job scheduling and 

management software company 

Magnetize asked Company-X 

to review its software 

for usability issues. 

Full replacement was recommended 

as a cost-eftheir 

review, and it was both 

clear and systematic.” 

Clients also recognise the 

high level of technical leadership 

that Company-X brings 

to their software challenges. 

Hughes said: There are 

some common themes in the 

feedback that people have 

given us over the years that 

make me incredibly proud 

of our people. Experienced 

innovators, thought leaders, 

User Experience (UX) 

and great to work with. It is 

so rewarding to hear. Brilliant 

to get that kind of feedback. 

Boom! That’s gold for us.” 

“Our ability to build and 

maintain enduring partnerships 

has long been part of 

the Company-X DNA,” Hallett 

added. “With so many partners 

describing us as part of 

their team, we know this will 

continue in our second ten 

years and beyond.” 

fective way forward. The 

web and mobile app were 

reimagined as a new Software 

as a Service (SaaS) 

solution to streamline systems 

for heavy equipment 

and machinery operators. 

“We were talking constantly 

with The Instillery general 

manager Richie Jenkins 

about our frustrations, and 

he said, ‘If you’re going to do 

this, you’ve got to get Company-X 

onboard.’ I asked, 

‘Who’s the best in the industry?’ 

and he said, ‘Company-X.’ 

So here we are, said 

Magnetize chief executive 

Paul Lyons”.


Riverside Adventures 

boosts South Waikato 

tourism 

After ticking along as a small 

family-run tourism operator for 

nearly 10 years, Riverside 

Adventures is on a growth 

trajectory that is bringing 6,500 

visitors a year to South Waikato 

to enjoy glow worm kayak 

tours, Waikato River bike trails 

and paddle boarding. 

ouple Sally and Steve 

Hastie started the 

company in 2012 with Sally’s 

parents Mike and Ann Paget. “It was 

small for the first few years with 

Mum and Dad going most of the 

work,” Sally says. “Then about seven 

years ago we started gearing up the 

business.” 

Sally and Steve built the business 

to four to five thousand visitors a 

year before Covid struck, effectively 

knocking out international travellers 

who were half its customer base. 

The Hasties turned their 

attention to the domestic market. 

“This strategy worked with many 

Kiwis coming to South Waikato for 

the first time and being blown away 

by what is on offer,” Steve says. 

“Our hero product is an amazing 

twilight kayak glow worm tour. This 

activity can be enjoyed by anyone 

with a basic level of fitness – if you 

can sit upright, you can paddle a 

kayak! The tour showcases one of 

the natural hidden gems of the 

South Waikato, topped off by the 

reflection of twinkling stars on the 

calm waters of Lake Karāpiro.” 

When Covid travel restrictions 

finished, Hasties started to realise 

their dreams to grow the business to 

the next level with funding assistance 

from South Waikato Investment 

Fund Trust (SWIFT) and the 

Government-funded Regional 

Business Partner (RBP) Network. 

SWIFT Chief Executive Amanda 

Hema says SWIFT’s funding 

recognised Riverside Adventures’ 

potential and the Hastie’s 

commitment to grow their business 

despite the challenges they have 

faced from Covid and recent weather 

events. 

Sally says the company had 

outgrown its premises so was moving 

to a larger, five-acre site just down 

the road at the northern end of the 

Waikato River Trail with a new 

operations building and safer access 

to the lake and bike trail. 

“Initially we got $15,000 

We provide kayak, bike, SUP and ebike hire, transport 

shuttles to all bike trails in the central North Island, 

guided bike and kayak tours, and fully inclusive 

multi-day tour packages. Our true strength is the way 

we welcome people to the region. How our customers 

‘feel’ is just as important as ‘what they do’. 

Steve and Sally Hastie 

www.swnz.co 

www.swift.org.nz


Riverside Adventures kayak tour 

feasibility support from SWIFT that 

was super helpful for the move. We 

could never have afforded that and 

now the $5,000 from RBP and 

SWIFT for business advice has been 

invaluable. 

“We have also taken an 

opportunity to open a new shop at 

the velodrome in Cambridge and, as 

our product offering keeps 

increasing as we do more for schools 

and corporate groups, our staff 

numbers have gone from two to 

three full timers up to six full timers 

and seven part-time or casual staff. 

“We have also had in our plans 

for some time to build 

accommodation units and we are 

now building six lakeside 

self-contained units – two will take 

a family of four, plus four king 

studios – so we will have 

accommodation for 10 to 12 people. 

”By offering accommodation, our 

clients can do some other activity in 

South Waikato, such as taking the 

Te Waihou walkway to the Blue 

Springs near Putāruru. We want 

people to stay in South Waikato – 

there’s so much to do in the area 

that people don’t even realise. We 

collaborate with other businesses to 

keep people in the area longer.” 

Amanda says Riverside 

Adventures feeds into other 

destination products that SWIFT 

has supported over the years. “They 

showcase the natural beauty of 

South Waikato and are 

strengthening the diversification of 

business types in our district.” 

Sally says business adviser Kim 

Hill has been very helpful as 

Riverside Adventures has plotted its 

business growth. “Whenever we had 

questions, she was a sounding 

board. 

“Kim has helped us to set 

three-to-five-year financial targets. 

They are mainly to do with our 

A lot of cycling groups want to stay somewhere 

together as they do the trails. Also, some people 

who do the glowworm tour are not comfortable 

driving back in the dark to other accommodation. 

Riverside Adventures cycling 

accommodation which is a million 

dollar plus development. The site 

will have the self-contained units, a 

manager’s residence and pontoons 

and we plan to have it all up and 

running for summer 2024.” 

Sally says “Riverside Adventures 

took on its first full time staff 

member Memorie Brooky in the role 

of business development in October 

2021. Then over December 2022 to 

January 2023 it took on three more 

full-timers. “Our goal is to employ 

more staff from South Waikato for 

cleaning, grounds work, guiding, 

customer service roles and more – 

we plan to have nine new staff over 

the next five years. 

“Mem is amazing – she does 

everything from putting people into 

the water on kayaks and on bikes to 

doing the accounting. Steve had 

worked with her at the New Zealand 

School of Tourism. It was very scary 

taking a full timer on but it has 100 

per cent paid off.” 

About the Regional Business 

Partner (RBP) Network, 

SWIFT 

The RBP Network is a gateway 

that connects small-to-medium 

business owners to advice, people 

and resources to work through 

challenges and/or grow. Funded by 

the New Zealand Government, the 

RBP Network consists of 14 regional 

growth agencies throughout the 

country that assist businesses to 

apply for the support they need and 

access funding support from RBP. 

RBP fund about 50% of the 

business capability up to $5000 and 

the business pays the rest. To make 

the RBP network more accessible 

for businesses in South Waikato, 

SWIFT contributes the lion’s share 

of the business’ contribution (up to 

$4500). In 2022 SWIFT supported 

12 local businesses through the RBP 

Network, with fantastic feedback 

and many continuing the services of 

their mentors afterwards. 

www.regionalbusinesspartners.co.nz 

www.riversideadventures.co.nz

6 NEW APPOINTMENTS 


HMC welcomes return of 

senior account manager 

Nicola Lee 

Award-winning PR and communications 

agency HMC has appointed Nicola Lee 

as senior account manager, welcoming 

her back to the role after a few years 

away to raise her young family. 

Nicola has worked 

across several sectors 

providing strategic 

communications planning and 

advice, including education, 

fundraising, health, consumer, 

agriculture, science, energy, 

local government and stakeholder 

relations. Her key 

strengths include strategic 

planning and implementation, 

digital PR, project management, 

stakeholder management 

and media relations. 

A skilled writer, Nicola 

has helped clients and 

organisations write successful 

award entries and has a 

special interest in fundraising 

and community relations 

communications. 

Nicola has led several 

successful client projects from 

planning through to implementation, 

including managing 

the announcement of 

New Zealand’s first medicinal 

cannabis company’s IPO 

on the New Zealand Stock 

Exchange, and the national 

public announcement of 

groundbreaking research 

findings on a nitrogen reducing 

plantain seed – both of 

which generated significant 

global media interest. 

“It’s a thrill to be back in 

a role that enables me to help 

clients succeed while also 

providing a challenge and 

allowing me to continue to 

grow as a PR practitioner,” 

Nicola says. 

As senior account manager 

at HMC, Nicola will work 

across a portfolio of clients 

in the agricultural, science, 

corporate and not-for-profit 

sectors. 

HMC director Heather 

Claycomb says she’s pleased 

to welcome Nicola back. 

“Having worked with 

Nicola previously I knew 

As an agency we 

continue to grow 

our capability in 

the digital and 

creative sector, 

continually 

adapting to 

the needs and 

direction of our 

clients, while 

also continuing 

to deliver the 

strategic advice 

clients have 

come to really 

value us for. 

she would be a great fit for 

the team again, and she 

has slipped back into her 

role effortlessly with clients 

already benefiting from her 

skills and expertise. 

Nicola Lee 

Virtual health service, Emergency Consult, 

announces new board chair 

Emergency Consult has announced Dr Peter Crow as its new chairman of the board, effective immediately. 

Dr Peter Crow 

Dr Crow has been 

working with Emergency 

Consult’s board 

for a number of months. 

Impressed with his deep experience 

in corporate governance 

and strategy, chief 

executive Jenni Falconer says 

he was a logical choice for the 

role of chairman. 

“We’re excited to be welcoming 

someone of Peter’s 

calibre to the Board,” says 

Falconer, “We started this 

business with a strong desire 

to help people - to take emergency 

medical expertise out 

of the hospitals and into communities 

- and we’ve grown 

quickly. And while we’ve 

been intelligent and agile in 

that growth, we know that 

Peter will bring a new level of 

business acumen and strategic 

thinking to help us realise 

further potential.” 

Dr Crow formally accepted 

the position in March. “It is 

an honour to be invited to 

the board of this innovative 

health business. It’s a privilege 

to work with Jenni and 

Dr Martyn Harvey [clinical 

director] and a team of dedicated 

health professionals. 

I look forward to governing 

with impact,” Crow says. 

Dr Crow is an independent 

board director, advisor, 

author, speaker and 

educator with international 

expertise in corporate governance 

and strategy. His sector 

knowledge extends across 

healthcare, technology and 

innovation, agribusiness, 

professional services, local 

government, manufacturing 

and distribution. 

He has a doctorate in 

corporate governance and 

strategy and is a chartered 

member of the Institute of 

Directors. Dr Crow is also a 

member of several international 

institutions including 

the Global Peter Drucker 

Society, the European Institute 

for Advanced Studies in 

Management, and the International 

Corporate Governance 

Network. 

Dr Crow replaces outgoing 

chairman Myles Whitcher, 

who announced his resignation 

from the board last 

month. Whitcher had worked 

with the doctors who founded 

Emergency Consult since 

2020. He helped shape the 

business in its early days and 

was made chairman in May of 

2022. 

Initially set up to provide 

rapid remote medical 

response to New Zealand’s 

general public, the founding 

team soon realised that various 

medical colleagues could 

benefit from their assistance 

too. Emergency Consult now 

partners with healthcare providers 

nationwide. 

“We’re able to ease some 

of the pressure from rural 

hospital waiting rooms, 

relieve emergency services, 

and support our colleagues 

in emergency departments 

(EDs) across Aotearoa. We 

also bolster clinical capability 

in aged residential care facilities 

and community clinics. 

And provide onthe-spot 

treatment in pharmacies,” 

Falconer says.


Montana Group announces 

Mark Wylie as new CEO 

Montana Group has announced that Mark Wylie has been appointed as its 

Chief Executive Officer, effective from 23 February 2023. 

NEW APPOINTMENTS 

7 

The new position was 

established to lead 

the company into its 

next phase of growth and 

development and as Montana 

Group looks to meet the 

growing needs of our 

customers and stakeholders. 

Directors 

and 

shareholders Dallas Fisher 

and Troy Reid are thrilled 

with the appointment and 

are confident that Mark’s 

leadership and vision will 

help Montana Group to 

achieve its strategic goals 

and lead them into the next 

chapter of our growth and 

success. 

“We believe that this is the 

next step in the evolution of 

our company and will enable 

us to continue to grow and 

succeed in a rapidly changing 

environment, and Mark’s 

experience and vision make 

him the perfect candidate 

to lead our company into 

the future,” Montana Group 

Having someone of his caliber 

leading the team, along with 

the timing of this move, has 

set a perfect platform for all of 

Montana group to work together 

to take our success to the next 

level. Very exciting times ahead. 

director Dallas Fisher says. 

“We are extremely pleased 

with Mark’s appointment,” 

Montana Group director 

Troy Reid says. 

Mark has been Montana 

Food and Events general 

manager, for the last 10 

months and brings thirty-five 

years industry experience 

to the role. He has a proven 

track record in hospitality 

operations and management 

with a varied and interesting 

career working in reputable 

kitchens across New Zealand 

and internationally. On 

return to NZ, he has been 

part of SKYCITY Auckland, 

Hip Group, and Southern 

Hospitality in an array 

of sales, operations, and 

leadership roles. 

“I’m honoured and excited 

to take on the role of CEO for 

Montana Group,” explains 

Mark. 

“This is an incredible 

opportunity to work with 

such a diverse and talented 

team to continue building 

on the group’s success and 

momentum. I truly believe 

that Montana Group is an 

employer of choice with 

development pathways and 

opportunities for growth. 

We are known as being 

innovators in the market, 

with a focus on collaboration 

and partnerships that has led 

us to where we are today. I’m 

personally very excited for the 

future and the opportunities 

this will present for our staff 

and customers.” 

Mark will also act as 

executive director, and 

alongside Dallas and Troy 

they will form a six -person 

board with three final board 

members currently being 

recruited. 

The appointment of 

CEO and establishment of a 

Board of Directors comes as 

Montana Group continues 

to expand its offerings and 

industry footprint. 

Mark Wylie, CEO Montana Group 

Waikato Head Office: 

Gate 6, Claudelands Events 

Centre, Brooklyn Road, 

Hamilton, 3214 

Auckland Head Office: 

8 Mountain Road, 

Epsom, 

Auckland, 1023. 

www.montanagroup.co.nz 

Keep A Close Eye On 

Your Building Costs 

Quantity surveyors are sometimes seen as an ‘unnecessary 

expense’ but the money they can save homeowners, 

developers, builders or those funding a project can mean 

the difference between success and failure. 

One of New Zealand’s 

most well-respected 

quantity surveyors, Gus 

Fepuleai, lives in the Waikato 

and is general manager of a 

new Quantity Surveying firm 

based in Cambridge – Spectrum 

QS. He says quantity 

surveyors essentially help their 

clients establish a realistic 

budget and then act as their 

“eyes and ears” to manage 

costs. 

“Labour is going up and 

building material prices are 

going up. You need someone 

on a job that looks out for your 

interests with regards to the 

budget. Having a technical 

person who understands cost 

and is able to keep an eye on it, 

is of huge benefit – now more 

than ever.” 

Gus certainly understands 

the technical side of 

construction more than most. 

He spent eight years 

working on the tools as a 

qualified builder in Auckland 

before obtaining a Bachelor of 

Construction, with a double 

major in quantity surveying 

and property development. 

He also holds a Post-Graduate 

Diploma in Construction Law 

from Massey University, so is 

ideally placed to give accurate 

advice to banks or non-bank 

lenders, developers and 

builders. 

In fact, banks and non-bank 

lenders are frequent clients 

and trust Gus to guide them 

as they’re not construction 

specialists themselves. 

“Financiers need to know that 

all risks have been assessed 

properly and are being wellmanaged 

so costs do not 

blow out due to unexpected 

bills. That’s where a quantity 

surveyor is worth their weight 

in gold.” 

Spectrum QS provides a 

full range of cost management 

and development monitoring 

services for projects based 

anywhere in New Zealand 

valued at $500,000 or more. 

“I’ve worked on both 

sides of the fence – acting for 

banks and non-bank lenders 

through to project managers 

and developers who need 

value for money from their 

tradespeople, and even for 

builders who need help to 

comply with the conditions of 

their contract.” 

Gus says the best time to 

engage a quantity surveyor is 

at the outset, when plans are 

first drawn. 

“One of the common issues 

that I see is people develop 

drawings and get them to 

building consent stage. But 

when they go out to tender 

and get pricing from various 

builders, they find they don’t 

have enough money to do the 

job. Getting a budget done 

early at the design stage sets a 

benchmark. It’s a lot cheaper 

to redesign things and cut 

costs then, than once you start 

construction.” 

Choosing which tender to 

accept is another area Gus can 

help with. “Nine times out of 10 

people will pick the cheapest 

option. But they won’t be 

aware of all the exclusions or 

the priced alternatives. A QS 

will bring everything to the 

same level so you’re comparing 

apples with apples, not apples 

with oranges.” 

Once a build is underway, 

a quantity surveyor will review 

all payment claims based on 

what’s actually been happening 

on site. They’ll also review any 

variations or changes to the 

project to ensure those costs 

are valid and realistic. “That’s 

where my building background 

really comes in handy,” Gus 

says. “If an electrician says it 

will take 40 hours to install a 

certain amount of wiring but I 

know it should only take 15-20 

hours, I can alert the client 

and the problem can be proactively 

addressed.” 

Gus says the building 

industry is very contractual 

and confrontational at 

times. Having a cool head, 

plenty of experience, and 

good communication and 

negotiation skills are key 

attributes people should seek 

in a professional quantity 

surveyor. 

While it isn’t ideal, there 

have been plenty of instances 

where Gus has been brought 

on board halfway through 

a project when trouble has 

already struck. “So far in my 

career I’ve never come across 

a project that’s beyond repair. 

I’ve always found some sort of 

Gus Fepuleai, General Manager Spectrum Qs Ltd 

solution and a way to steady 

the ship.” 

The decision to be involved 

in Spectrum QS comes from 

Gus’ desire to offer a more 

personalised and specialist 

service compared to larger 

consultancy firms. “I am very 

hands-on and love working 

face-to-face with clients and 

getting out on site. People will 

always get to deal with me – 

they won’t be passed off to a 

junior QS.” 

If you’re embarking on a 

new project and need to keep a 

close eye on building costs, call 

Gus at Spectrum QS on 

0800 777 732 for a confidential, 

no-obligation chat. 

For more info visit 

www.spectrumqs.co.nz.


Debt consolidation 

done different 

Kiwi start-up Money Sweetspot goes nationwide 

Sasha Lockley 

Following a successful 

soft launch in December, 

sustainable lending 

start-up Money Sweetspot 

has now made its financial 

reset debt consolidation 

service available to all New 

Zealanders. 

Debt is a part of life for 

almost all New Zealanders. But 

for some Kiwi, the debt juggle 

can turn into a struggle. When 

that happens, debt can drag 

families down, causing stress 

and seriously hurting quality 

of life. 

That’s where Money 

Sweetspot comes in. Its debt 

consolidation loan wraps debts 

into one regular payment, 

often at a lower interest rate, 

and includes rewards for paying 

on time and avoiding further 

debt. 

Since its soft launch, Money 

Sweetspot has delivered more 

than $1.3 million in financial 

resets to Kiwi all over Aotearoa. 

At Money Sweetspot’s 

recent national launch event in 

Kirikiriroa, co-founder Sasha 

Lockley said that high demand 

proves there’s a real need for 

the service: 

“We’re not talking people 

at the most disadvantaged end 

of society… the people we’ve 

worked with so far are almost 

all ordinary, hard-working 

Kiwi, many in pretty good jobs, 

who’ve just found that debts 

have gotten on top of them.” 

“Whilst it’s been great to 

help those customers, for every 

$1 of loans provided there 

were $2.20 of loans that we 

were unable to provide as not 

all applicants could meet the 

lending criteria. The pressure 

for whānau around the cost 

of living and sheer amount of 

debt that some Kiwi have has 

meant that we’ve only been 

able to approve 40% of the 

applications. This means that 

many Kiwi are stuck in higher 

cost debt struggling to find a 

way through.” 

“We’ve been called the 

Stranger Things of finance, 

because most finance companies 

want to up-sell and keep 

customers, but we are successful 

if we lose customers,” Sasha 

says. “We’re here to work with 

people for a short time, not a 

lifetime.” 

Earlier this month Money 

Sweetspot also announced a 

world-first partnership with 

global financial wellbeing 

platform nudge Global, giving 

customers access to nudge’s 

financial education resources, 

free of charge. This benefits 

their customers as by engaging 

in the platform they earn 

Sweetspot points that can be 

redeemed as additional money 

off their loan, or money into 

their savings account for a 

rainy day. In addition, by committing 

to their financial reset 

and staying on track, their customers 

earn rewards to spend 

through The Good Registry 

with a donation to a charity of 

their choice. 

We’re here 

to work with 

people for a 

short time, 

not a lifetime. 

Money Sweetspot’s investors 

include the Tindall Foundation, 

and its lending capital 

is provided by BNZ. 

BNZ CEO Dan Huggins 

says, “We know there are families 

and individuals out there 

struggling with the rising cost 

of living, who need a hand to 

take some of the financial pressure 

off. That’s why we’re supporting 

Money Sweetspot in 

their mission to support New 

Zealanders to reset their debt 

and feel more in control of 

their finances. We believe this 

innovative approach will help 

create a lasting positive impact 

across Aotearoa. 

“Supporting Money 

Sweetspot is part of our wider 

sustainability commitment to 

grow the long-term social, cultural, 

and financial wellbeing 

of New Zealanders, and deliver 

$50 million in no or low interest 

lending by 2024. 

To find out more at 

www.moneysweetspot.co.nz/ 

CONVERSATIONS WITH MIKE NEALE OF 

NAI HARCOURTS HAMILTON 

Mike Neale, Managing Director, NAI Harcourts Hamilton 

Latest Surveys – Industrial 

Occupancy Down & Office Up 

12.00% 

10.00% 

8.00% 

6.00% 

4.00% 

2.00% 

Hamilton 5‐Year Historical Vacancy 

The latest Industrial and Office Occupancy 

Surveys conducted by CBRE 

Research and NAI Harcourts to the 

end of December 2022, provides insight 

into the local economy and future trends. 

Industrial 

Monitored industrial building stock 

in Hamilton reached 2,058,000sqm, following 

56,700sqm of new supply reaching 

completion in the twelve months to December 

2022. 

Overall industrial vacancy increased 

from 0.9% at the end of 2021 to 1.2% in 

December 2022, representing less than 

25,000sqm of physically vacant and available 

space, with almost two thirds of this 

vacant stock located in Frankton. 

The growth in Hamilton’s industrial sector 

and continued low vacancy (now four 

years running below 2% vacancy) has seen 

pressure on rental growth with new building 

warehouse rentals growing by some 

10% to 15%. Part of the increase is due to 

higher land costs, materials and construction 

cost increases and in a number of cases 

more than one party offering to lease the 

same space. 

The most noticeable change in vacancy 

was recorded in Te Rapa North where 

vacancy increased from 0.2% to 1.0% in 

the twelve months to December 2022. The 

single biggest contributor to this increase 

was the completion of a large warehouse at 

12-16 Earthmover Crescent, half of which 

remained untenanted at the end of 2022. 

Although the number of available units 

in Frankton fell from 18 to 12, vacancy grew 

slightly to 2.3%, as a result of several larger 

facilities becoming available. 

Vacancy remained stable at 1.5% at the 

Airport Precinct, representing only 3 available 

units. 

The most significant new completion 

in 2022 was the 7,050sqm new facility at 

12-16 Earthmover Crescent in Te Rapa 

North, half occupied by NZ Post. Overall, 

Te Rapa North experienced an addition of 

almost 34,000sqm of new stock. 

2022 also saw the completion of a number 

of new multi-unit developments situated 

along Arthur Porter Drive, Earthmover 

Crescent and Maui Street in Te Rapa North. 

Despite the economic headwinds, the 

Hamilton industrial market continued to 

experience strong developer and occupier 

activity during 2022. 

Office 

Overall office vacancy in the Hamilton 

CBD has fallen 0.3% to 8.2% in the six 

months to December 2022, with the amount 

of vacant space remaining essentially stable 

and the reduction being driven by the largely 

occupied additional buildings increasing the 

amount of occupied stock. 

After holding relatively stable over the 

past 18 months at 3.1%, Grade A vacancy has 

since seen a decrease of 0.3% to 2.8% following 

the full occupation of the NZI building at 

225 Collingwood Street. 

Grade B also saw a decline in vacancy, 

falling from 6.3% to 5.7%. There have only 

been four new vacancies, ranging from just 

over 160sqm at Vero House to 250sqm at 

Anglesea Imaging Centre. Previously vacant 

space at 54 Bryce Street has since been occupied 

by Spec Savers Audiology. 

Grades C – E experienced an overall 

increase during the second half of 2022, 

which now sits at in excess of 10%, with 

Grade E alone, now 15.9% 

Although the latest survey results show a 

relatively stable office occupier market in the 

higher quality stock (Grades A and B) and 

more activity in lower grades, this is more a 

reflection of tight availability in quality stock, 

than a lack of demand for new and efficient 

workplaces by occupiers. 

Flight to quality remains a strong theme, 

as businesses aim to create workplace environments 

that help not only to attract and 

retain talent, but to maintain and improve 

employee morale and company culture. 

While hybrid working and more employee 

flexibility is here to stay, it doesn’t seem to 

be a major issue in the Waikato where commuting 

to and from the office is perhaps less 

stressful, 

Overall 

Undoubtedly, Hamilton is going through 

a major transformation period with a plethora 

of developments under construction and 

in the pipeline, in a wide range of sectors 

from logistics, manufacturing, infrastructure 

to office, arts and recreation. We believe 

that occupier demand for high-quality 

office accommodation and industrial space 

will remain strong (as evidenced by some 

large precommitments in under construction 

developments), increasingly including 

national and multinational businesses evaluating 

their growth opportunities outside of 

Auckland and government from Wellington. 

Hamilton is quickly becoming the focal 

point of the golden triangle economic area, 

which bodes well for the future of the Hamilton 

industrial and office markets. 

0.00% 

Jun‐18 Jun‐19 Jun‐20 Jun‐21 Jun‐22 

CBD Overall Office CBD A Grade Office CBD B Grade Office Industrial 

For your copy of the latest Hamilton Industrial, CBD Office or CBD Retail Surveys, please 

email hamilton@naiharcourts.co.nz 

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


WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS, FEBRUARY/MARCH 2023 

We.EV offers Electric Vehicle 

infrastructure analysis 

We.EV has seized the opportunity to 

lead the way in supporting businesses 

to transition their fleets to EVs by 

investigating, designing, installing and 

providing an end-to-end solution to 

meet the customers’ needs and to 

minimize capital costs. Community 

owned, our vision is simple; to help 

businesses shape a better, more 

renewable future. 

We.EV has completed various projects 

throughout the Waikato for education 

providers, councils, large and small 

commercial enterprises. 

”When considering EV charging solutions, 

it’s important to understand your existing 

electrical infrastructure, ensure systems are 

not overloaded but still maximise the use of 

existing assets. Our team can provide you 

with the expert analysis and design required 

before commencing charger procurement 

and installation,” says Head of We.EV 

Craig Marshall. 

There can be considerable costs involved 

with the installation of charging equipment. 

These can include upgrades to existing 

switchboards and cables onsite, the main 

electrical supply or disruptive works involving 

civil (trenching), ducts, pits and charging 

equipment foundations. 

Understanding the options and solutions that 

can minimize costs and maximise charging 

availability before embarking on your project 

is essential. And that’s where We.EV comes in. 

The We.EV team can analyse existing site 

infrastructure, power usage and parking 

locations to produce a report detailing 

recommended EV charging infrastructure 

alongside budget pricing to fit with your 

current needs and allow easy expansion into 

the future. 

We.EV will partner with you and offer our 

know-how and experience to investigate and 

provide a cost-effective EV charging solution 

for your organization. 

0800 800 935 | we-ev.co.nz


Wintec’s Atrium Comes Alive with 

Entrepreneurial Energy at Young Enterprise 

Scheme Kickstart Tīmatanga Event 

More than 200 students 

from a dozen Waikato 

secondary schools 

turned out to see what Young 

Enterprise Scheme (YES) is all 

about. 

The highlight of the morning 

was the speed coaching 

session in which students had 

the opportunity to pick the 

brains of more than 40 business 

mentors. 

YES Waikato coordinator 

Maddie Walker was thrilled 

with the turnout. 

It’s fantastic being able to 

welcome everyone back safely 

after Covid had disrupted last 

year’s event. Being together in 

a setting like this really sets the 

scene for an excellent year of 

entrepreneurship. 

Both students and mentors 

left feeling positive about the 

year ahead, with a mentor saying 

it was “fantastic to see the energy 

in the room and the passion the 

teams have.” 

Students, in true Gen Z style, 

reported it was “so cool” and 

“super fun.” 

Interested in mentoring a new 

YES business? Contact maddie@ 

smartwaikato.co.nz for more 

information. 

YES is managed in the 

Waikato by Smart Waikato Trust. 

Made possible with support 

from sponsors Wintec 

Te Pūkenga, Waikato Pacific 

Business Network, Waikato 

Chamber of Commerce, The 

University of Waikato, Foster 

Group, CAL Isuzu, and EMA. 

1 

1 – John Gallagher with Rototuna Senior High students 

2 – Smart Waikato CE Mary Jensen with Waikato Diocesan 

students 

3 – Ella Wightman from Soda Inc with Fraser High School 

students 

4 – The team from Soda Inc 

5 – YES supporters Steve Tritt and Roger Evans 

6 – Lisa Shaw of HR Attract with St Peters Cambridge students 

2 3 

7 – Kiani Tuhua from SWIFT with Hauraki Plains College 

students 

8 – Roger Evans with Ngāruahawahia High students 

9 – John Luxton of RegenerationHQ with Waikato Diocesan 

students 

10 – Alex Bullot from Young Enterprise with Sacred Heart Girls 

students 

11 – A full house in the Wintec Atrium 

4 5 

6 7 

8 

9 10 

11

Breaking new building ground 

with 3D printed concrete 

Houses built with concrete 3D printing are 

answering the call to build more climate and floodresistant 

homes in New Zealand. 


QOROX partner Nick 

Lane says the technology, 

which can print 

a 3m x 3m concrete wall in 

under an hour, will make the 

clean up after a flood event 

considerably less expensive 

and time-consuming. 

“A lot of houses in the 

February flooding in Auckland 

were wet up to 400mm 

above the floor and suffered 

significant water damage, 

resulting in people having to 

rip off plaster board and trying 

to dry them out. Hawkes Bay 

homes were even worse,” Lane 

says. 

“Some homes will be red 

stickered based on flooding 

alone, without even taking 

subsidence into account. If 

these homes were built from 

concrete, as long as they hadn’t 

shifted off their foundations, 

they would only require 

replacement of furnishings like 

carpet or furniture instead of 

receiving structural damage.” 

Lane says the groundbreaking 

new technology is 

surpassing modular builds 

in time efficiency and waste 

reduction. 

“It’s a massive gamechanger 

in terms of bringing 

together 

innovation, 

technology and construction. 

In our mind, it’s going to leave 

the likes of modular housing 

and prefab housing for dust,” 

he said. 

While the cost is still higher 

than a traditional timber house, 

Lane says concrete will outlast 

timber by hundreds of years 

and give the house owner more 

bang for their buck. 

The higher cost of a 

QOROX build is a key area the 

team have been working on, 

targeting a price that is as cost 

You’re getting 

greater value 

because concrete 

houses will last 

for hundreds 

of years, not 50 

years like a timber 

house is designed 

to be good for. 

effective as a traditionally built 

timber house. 

Lane says improving 

QOROX build affordability 

has also meant working out 

the best way to avoid shipping 

costs, which increased by 

200% as a result of COVID, and 

adapting their formula to use 

less printed concrete without 

compromising on structural 

integrity. 

“We believe we’re not far off 

that at the moment,” he says. 

The QOROX team has also 

been working with a German 

company to develop a mix that 

is specific to New Zealand. 

“Since the robot arrived 

over three years ago, we’ve 

been working on a mix that we 

can use based in New Zealand 

to create a more sustainable 

supply chain and reduce 

shipping costs. 

“We’re working with 

engineers and BRANZ on a 

new wall design which uses less 

printed material in our walls. 

We’re probably about a month 

away.” 

Along with print timesavings, 

QOROX-built walls 

reduce the number of on-site 

steps and speed up the build 

Huia House building - enclosed - 3d concrete walls by QOROX 

process, resulting in cost and 

time-savings. 

The fundamentals of 

building a house have changed 

little over the decades, relying 

on manual labour to stack 

bricks and hammer nails into 

wooden frames. 

“We haven’t changed 

anything for decades. We have 

power tools and management 

software to speed up aspects 

of it, but we actually take more 

steps over a building site than 

we did 40 years ago. Prefab 

and modular building doesn’t 

change this,” Lane says. 

A 3D printed home, Lane 

says, will shave at least seven 

weeks off the standard 200 

square metre house build, with 

increased sustainability and 

quality of the final product for 

a similar value to conventional 

timber framing. 

“Using QOROX we’ve 

printed six sections of walls 

combining to 15 metres long 

and three metres high, in under 

five hours. Within the space of 

a day and a half, we can have 

an entire length of wall finished 

inside and out.” 

QOROX material is 80% 

New Zealand-sourced and the 

other 20% of the final product, 

which Lane calls the ‘colonel’s 

secret spices’, is imported and 

that compares to around 80% 

of imported material used in a 

traditional build. 

“It’s very special cement, 

mixed with a New Zealand 

recipe of sand and water, and 

the end-product is about 80% 

New Zealand made, which in 

New Zealand construction is 

very rare. 

“Some of our mainstream 

products that you can literally 

only buy in New Zealand under 

that brand, when you dig 

Wafaey Swelim, Matthew Johns, Matt Turner and Nick Lane. 

deeper you find the majority 

of all that product is imported 

and it’s only assembled in New 

Zealand.” 

The large amount of silt 

resulting from the recent 

weather events led the team to 

explore how it could be used in 

their product. 

“We could likely only do 

very small prints, such as 

outdoor furniture or planters, 

but it’s not suitable for building 

structures because it simply 

can’t stand up to what we need 

it to.” 

One example of small print 

runs was undertaken in 2020, 

when Hamilton City Council 

recruited QOROX to build a 

Hinaki (eel net) inspired bench 

in Garden Place, which was 

completed during a lunchtime 

demonstration. The park bench 

was then moved to the Waikato 

River walk, next to the ANZAC 

Parade bridge 

Lane says in order to utilise 

the silt, they would need to do 

large print runs to make it cost 

effective. 

“You can only imagine the 

amount of street furniture 

you’d have to produce to be 

using even a small amount of 

the silt that’s out there.” 

Overseas 3D concrete 

printers use mud and other 

natural materials but in New 

Zealand, Lane says, but they are 

limited by compliance. 

“One of our battles is 

complying with the building 

code with a technology that 

can far exceed it in terms of 

strength, durability and many 

other aspects. 

“We’re taking this innovative 

technology and adapting it to 

create wall structure designs 

that meet code by literally 

replicating an existing wall 

that’s already approved under 

the code. This technology 

is capable of unlocking so 

many more possibilities for 

the building industry, but we 

are hamstrung by the code’s 

rigidity at present.” 

But, Lane says, QOROX will 

continue to invest in R&D with 

the purpose of making their 

technology fit to the building 

code because they know the 

product can revolutionise the 

industry. 

“The amazing part is not 

the technology, but within the 

product itself. Our concrete 

product has an initial set time 

of three minutes and a final set 

time of five minutes. 

“After two hours, it’s at the 

same strength as a masonry 

block that you would buy off 

the shelf from the hardware 

store and at structural strength 

for construction in just over 24 

hours. 

“There’s a real science and 

art in the material itself.” 

QOROX regional 

partnership scheme 

Passionate about the future 

of 3D concrete building, Lane 

and founder Wafaey Swelim 

are keen to take the technology 

further afield. 

“Currently our Waikato 

regional partner Iconic 

Construction is using the 

product and QOROX is making 

the material, but we are ready 

to bring this tried and tested 

product to the rest of New 

Zealand. We can’t limit this 

innovation to the Waikato 

when it has so much more 

potential for the construction 

industry.” 

A QOROX regional 

partnership scheme will 

provide opportunities for 

contractors, builders and civil 

construction businesses to take 

the technology on in different 

regions around the country. 

“Our next step is to 

introduce QOROX to people in 

the construction sector who are 

keen on innovative technology 

and are looking to harness it 

for their own builds. We have 

the training, resources, support 

and processes already in place 

to set them up for success using 

the technology,” Lane says. 

Not eager to create a QOROX 

franchise model, the pair want 

people to have ownership of 

the technology with QOROX 

providing support. 

“The QOROX technology 

would be like an excavator is 

to a contracting business. It’s 

another tool in the toolbox 

that contributes to the bigger 

picture.” 

And in the longer game, 

Nick believes QOROX and its 

regional partners will be able to 

tender for large-scale building 

contracts. 

“QOROX will be able to feed 

work to our partner network to 

help with their workflow and 

enable 3D printing to become 

their core business.” 

QOROX History 

Based in Hamilton, 

QOROX was founded by 

architectural engineer Wafaey 

Swelim in 2018 and the first 

3D printer, called Horus, 

arrived from the Netherlands 

in 2020. 

When Swelim arrived in 

2015 he realised the New 

Zealand construction industry 

was behind the eight ball and 

was a mere juvenile in terms 

of automation. 

Like many things in life, 

it was a chance meeting that 

brought Swelim and Lane 

together. 

As well as being the 

founder and director of Iconic 

Construction, Lane is also a 

charter helicopter pilot. 

After landing at Pauanui, 

during a flight of the 

Coromandel, he happened 

upon some interesting looking 

outdoor furniture. 

“For some reason I took 

a photo of the helicopter and 

in the background were these 

chairs. I went over to take a 

closer look and Wafaey came 

out, and we started chatting.” 

Lane says, QOROX were 

still in the R&D phase and 

hadn’t completed any large 

projects yet. 

After nearly 20 years in the 

building game, what Swelim 

was embarking on with 

QOROX made sense and Lane 

was keen to push Iconic into 

new frontiers. 

In 2022, he came on board 

as the first QOROX regional 

partner and Iconic is currently 

constructing the first 3D 

concrete printed commercial 

building in the Southern 

Hemisphere. 

The first solar passive 

house in the world featuring 

QOROX’s 3D printed concrete 

walls is currently being 

constructed in Auckland. 

3D printed concrete by 

QOROX is BRANZ appraised 

as a replacement for masonry 

walls or concrete walls and 

was tested and designed over 

a two-year period to meet all 

New Zealand conditions. 

Learn more about 

QOROX’s 3D printed concrete 

applications in commercial, 

civil, residential and landscape 

construction at 

www.qorox.co.nz.


Hamilton’s economy 

holds up in 

challenging climate 

Hamilton’s economy continues to perform well and the 

supply of quality office space in the central city is on the rise. 

A 

snapshot of the city’s 

economy was presented 

to Hamilton City Council’s 

Economic Development 

Committee at its inaugural 

meeting in March. 

Chair Ewan Wilson said 

despite economic headwinds, 

the city’s GDP held up in 2022 

and the number of people in 

employment grew. 

“Despite talks of a looming 

recession and high inflation, 

Hamilton is well placed 

to weather any adverse 

headwinds. 

“The fundamentals of Hamilton’s 

economy are strong. 

We have a diverse economy 

which is spread across several 

dynamic sectors.” 

A host of reports were presented 

to the committee, outlining 

the performance of external 

agencies and council-controlled 

organisations (CCOs) during 

the six months to December 

2022. 

Waikato Regional Airport 

Limited (WRAL) – which is 

made up of Titanium Park, 

Hamilton Airport, Hamilton & 

Waikato Tourism, and the Jet- 

Park Hotel – reported a net surplus 

after tax of $17.7 million. 

“WRAL’s strong performance 

in the face of uncertainties 

around air travel and 

tourism, was a great result for 

Hamilton,” councillor Wilson 

says, noting council’s initial $7 

million investment in WRAL 

was now worth $114 million. 

Council holds a 50% shareholding 

in the WRAL Group. 

“My observation of the airport 

management is they’ve 

got it right. They’ve got diversification 

right, they’ve got the 

day-to-day decision systems 

working well and, wow, what an 

impressive six-month profit of 

some $17 million.” 

Hamilton Central Business 

Association also presented to 

Thursday’s committee meeting, 

detailing significant developments 

underway across the 

central city. 

Spending in the central city 

increased in the December 

2022 quarter, up 27% from the 

same period in 2021. 

The supply of quality central 

city offices was also on the 

rise, with A and B grade builds 

making up about 35% of office 

space – up from 15% a decade 

ago. 

“I think Hamilton City 

Council has to pat itself on the 

back in regard to the quality of 

office stock,” Wilson says. 

“That’s a direct consequence 

of council’s district plan. It’s a 

by-product of a plan that prioritises 

quality office space in the 

central city.” 

Looking ahead to the next 

three years, council’s economic 

agenda was focused on 

enhancing the wellbeing of 

Hamiltonians. 

“I’m looking forward to continuing 

to engage with businesses 

to ensure that, not only 

do we focus on enabling growth 

in the form of attracting new 

businesses, but we also focus on 

supporting businesses that are 

already here.” 

Dear The current Prime Minister 

Hipkins… immigration picture 

Immigration Congratulations is such on your a dynamic, promotion, ever-changing, and for this and timely 

sometimes opportunity emotional, to contribute topic our and 30+ it years is often experience a challenge in to 

step New back Zealand and immigration take in the bigger work to picture. help inform So, what your does thinking the 

current about your immigration approach picture to the look immigration like? portfolio. 

The 

Historically 

latest Statistics 

the immigration 

NZ data shows 

portfolio 

migration was seen gain as of somewhat 33,200 people 

of a 

a 

net 

for 

poisoned 

the year 

chalice, 

to January 

and 

2023, 

it was 

which 

not 

compares 

until the 

to 

first 

a loss 

John 

17,500 

Key 

in 

government 

the previous 

in 

year. 

2008 

Generally 

that this 

speaking 

approach 

these 

changed, 

statistics 

and 

are 

assessed 

immigration 

on the 

began 

basis of 

to 

people 

be viewed 

either 

more 

coming 

as 

to, 

an 

or 

economic 

leaving, 

tool 

NZ for 

rather 

a period 

than 

of 

just 

12 

a 

months 

means 

or 

to protect 

more, and 

New 

are 

Zealand 

not impacted 

jobs. The immigration 

portfolio 

by short 

term visitor arrivals 

has since 

and 

developed 

departures. 

into 

While 

one 

some 

of significant 

of these arrivals 

strategic 

will 

importance 

be people whose 

which 

travel 

influences 

plans 

many 

were previously 

aspects of 

disrupted 

New Zealand 

by the 

border 

society, 

closure 

workforce 

there 

and 

is 

the 

a clear, 

economy. 

and growing 

Immigration 

trend, of 

is 

skilled 

now a key 

workers 

Government 

now entering 

portfolio. 

the 

country. 

Looking at the big picture. 

Since 

New Zealand 

the new 

should 

employer 

not 

accreditation 

rest on its 

began 

laurels and 

in 

expect 

July last 

that it 

year 

continues 

some 

to 

20,500 

be one 

accreditation 

of the most desired 

applications 

migrant destinations, 

have been 

as 

approved 

it is not, and 

by 

we 

Immigration 

are trending 

New 

backwards. 

Zealand, 

In 

with 

fact, 

an 

we 

average 

will be 

processing 

doing well 

time 

just to 

of 7 

hold 

working 

onto 

days. 

the new 

Applications 

migrants that 

are 

we 

often 

do initially 

approved 

attract 

on 

the 

to this 

same 

country. 

day. Employer accreditation 

is 

We 

normally 

are an 

given 

aging 

for 

population 

12 months 

and, 

but 

by 

INZ 

2028, 

recently 

1 in every 

announced 

5 people will 

that 

be 65+ 

standard 

years. 

accreditation, 

Our birth rate 

applied 

of 1.6 children 

for before 

is 

4 

well 

July 

below 

2023, 

will 

the 

be 

replacement 

automatically 

rate 

renewed 

of 2.1. 

for another 

Our rural 

12 

months 

townships 

at no 

are 

cost 

losing 

to the employer. 

infrastructure and 

services, 

Following 

and 

accreditation, 

while our schools 

employers 

need more 

must 

make 

teachers 

a job 

now, 

check 

in 

application 

a few years’ 

for 

time 

their vacant 

school 

roles 

rolls 

and, 

will be 

to date, 

declining 

some 

and 

27,000 

these 

job 

teachers 

checks 

have 

will need 

been 

to 

approved 

find other 

for 

jobs 

around 

or go overseas. 

150,000 

jobs 

Family 

– with 

and 

an 

lifestyle 

average 

have 

processing 

always 

time 

been 

of 

4 

the 

workdays. 

main reasons 

Job checks 

migrants 

remain 

choose 

valid for 

New 

6 

months. 

Zealand. However, these alone may not be 

sufficient 

Once the 

to attract 

job check 

and retain 

is approved 

the people 

the 

employer 

and skills our 

can 

country 

offer 

needs 

their 

to 

prospective 

maintain 

employee 

our living standards, 

the role, 

let 

and 

alone 

an 

to 

Accredited 

grow. We 

Employer 

need younger 

Work 

people 

Visa (AEWV) 

who can 

application 

contribute 

can 

more, 

be 

and 

made. 

for 

There 

longer, 

have 

to New 

been 

Zealand. 

45,000 work 

visas 

New 

approved 

Zealand 

under 

must 

this 

attract 

new 

the 

accreditation 

migrants 

regime 

it wants, 

and 

and 

decisions 

needs, 

are 

in an 

generally 

increasingly 

made 

within 

competitive 

3 weeks. 

and dynamic international 

market, 

The Recovery 

and one 

Visa, 

where 

which 

people 

was introduced 

can now 

recently 

work-from-home 

to assist 

anywhere 

with the 

in the 

cyclone 

world. 

and 

We 

no longer enjoy the competitive advantages 

flooding 

we once 

recovery 

had, but 

work, 

one 

has 

thing 

also 

within 

seen 600 

our 

visas 

control 

approved 

is to make 

to date, 

the 

and 

immigration 

160 workers 

process 

have 

already 

easier 

arrived 

and quicker, 

to begin 

and 

this important 

world-leading, 

work. 

and 

While 

to promote 

Immigration 

“the visa 

New 

process” 

Zealand 

as 

comes 

one 

in 

reason 

for its 

to 

fair 

choose 

share 

New 

of criticism, 

Zealand. 

the 

Online 

above 

statistics 

visa applications, 

confirm 

and 

that 

the 

their 

move 

processing 

to more 

regimes 

automated 

are 

assessment 

delivering, 

processes, 

and in a 

will 

timely 

help 

manner. 

but there 

Employers 

is a very long 

who 

way 

are finding 

to go. 

any part 

of the 

One 

visa 

area 

process 

which 

challenging 

would help 

may 

is for 

benefit 

the 

from 

Government 

professional 

to 

input. 

engage in more robust 

and 

It 

well-planned 

was recently 

policy 

reported 

settings, 

that 90% 

and 

of 

to 

employers 

pressure-test 

were 

such 

struggling 

settings 

to fill 

before 

vacancies, 

these 

with 

are implemented. 

one third of these 

It is acknowledged 

roles having been 

that 

vacant 

policies 

for 

have 

6 months 

been 

or 

necessarily 

more. However, 

“reactive” 

and 

while 

over the 

this 

past 

vacancy 

3 years 

rate 

but 

is 

there 

high, 

have 

employers 

been too 

are 

many 

increasingly 

instances of 

mindful 

back-tracking 

of the gathering 

of newly 

economic 

introduced 

storm 

policies 

clouds 

when 

and 

better 

have 

planning 

become 

much 

and consultation 

more cautious 

would 

in their 

“get-it-right-firsttime”. 

The 

employment 

decision making, 

new 

and 

Active 

about 

Investor 

the specific 

Policy 

skills 

should 

they 

be 

actually 

first on the 

need. 

chopping 

Employers 

block! 

are also, 

understandably, 

We also need 

reticent 

forward 

about 

looking 

employing 

policies 

migrant 

which are 

workers 

fit-for-purpose 

at the new 

in today’s 

median 

world. 

wage 

rate 

Policies 

of $29.66ph 

which focus 

when 

on 

this 

enabling 

is higher 

the most 

than 

what 

desirable 

is being 

migrants 

paid to 

the 

their 

opportunity 

New Zealand 

to 

workers. 

experience New Zealand and, if they choose 

to stay, 

Especially 

then great. 

for those 

We should 

higher 

not 

skill 

demand 

level 

roles, 

that these 

the reality 

people 

is 

commit 

that New 

indefinitely 

Zealand 

to 

is 

no 

stay. 

longer the attraction it once was, and 

any 

The 

reading 

Productivity 

of New Zealand’s 

Commission 

daily 

report 

news 

would 

into 

suggest 

immigration 

that this situation 

recommended 

is unlikely 

a 

to 

Government 

change any 

Policy 

time 

Statement 

soon. New 

to set 

Zealand’s 

a clear 

residence 

strategic direction 

policy settings 

for immigration 

remain the critical 

policy. 

key 

This 

to 

would 

attracting 

be a 

and 

good 

retaining 

start 

the 

and 

skills 

provide 

the 

country 

some overriding 

desperately 

guidance 

needs. These 

(ideology!) 

settings 

to 

need 

inform 

constant 

policy settings 

attention 

with 

and 

a 

tweaking, 

focus on what 

with 

a 

immigration 

view to the short 

can deliver 

and long 

for 

term, 

the 

and 

good 

must 

of 

be 

New 

accorded 

Zealand 

the 

in 

highest 

the longer 

priority 

term. 

at all times. 

So, 

What 

the 

about 

overall “immigration 

a work-from-homein-NZ 

picture” is 

one where 

visa? 

the 

People 

immigration 

could 

mechanics 

live in New 

and 

outcomes 

Zealand 

are 

and 

trending 

work anywhere 

positively, but 

in 

this 

the 

trend 

world, 

may 

now 

begin 

that 

to slow 

would 

given the 

really 

increasing 

put 

cautiousness 

New Zealand 

of 

on 

employers’, 

the map! 

irrespective 

Yes - Prime 

of 

their 

Minister! 

apparent high vacancy rates. 

Magic Skills Shared 

Back in June 2022, the WE LOVE VW team from Ebbett 

Volkswagen partnered with the Waikato BOP Magic to run 

a netball skills event. 

This event had 200 

attendees between the 

ages of eight to 18-years. 

Many budding netball players 

spent the morning learning 

netball skills as well as playing 

mini-games with the Magic 

team. Six players from the 

Splice Construction Waikato 

BOP Magic shared their love 

of netball with the young 

upcoming netballers – Georgie 

Edgecombe, Ivana Rowland, 

Simmon Wilbore, Erena 

Mikaere, Oceana Maihi and 

Samantha Winders, as well as 

their coach Mary-Jane Araroa. 

After the skills session 

the aspiring players had the 

opportunity to win Magic merchandise 

followed by a sausage 

sizzle with the WE LOVE VW 

team cooking up a storm. 

www.welovevw.nz/magicpartnership | netballmagic.co.nz/ 

Level 2 

586 Victoria Street 

Hamilton 3204 

Level 2 

586 Victoria Street 

Hamilton 3204 

Level 3 

50 Manners Street 

Wellington 6011 

07 834 9222 

enquiries@pathwaysnz.com 

pathwaysnz.com 

Level 3 

50 Manners Street 

Wellington 6011


All Good Ventures providing money, 

mentoring and muscle to social enterprise 

All Good Ventures gives the great business ideas of social entrepreneurs 

a nudge in the right direction with money, mentoring and muscle. 

Launched in 2018, All 

Good Ventures is the 

brainchild of New 

Zealand-based American 

husband and wife Heather and 

Rod Claycomb. 

Their vision for their charity 

is simple; freeing people from 

deprivation through the clever 

business ideas of others. 

They admit All Good 

Ventures was not the starting 

point of their philanthropic 

journey, the dynamic duo had 

explored different ways to start 

their own social enterprise 

over the years. 

“We always knew we wanted 

to do something for people. We 

spent quite a number of years 

thinking about what kind of 

people do we want to help. 

Do we want to help trafficked 

women? Do we want to help 

health care in Africa? But every 

time we pressed into it a little 

bit it didn’t really resonate with 

us and couldn’t see us doing 

that for the rest of our lives,” 

Rod says. 

The turning point came at 

a Global Leadership Summit 

conference the couple attended 

in Chicago in 2017. 

They were wowed by 

Melinda Gates speaking about 

the beginnings of the Gates 

Foundation, which Bill and 

Melinda Gates set up well 

before the Microsoft dollars 

were rolling in. 

But hearing the founder 

of Sseko Designs Liz Forkin 

Bohannon speak about her 

initial idea to help women into 

higher education in Uganda 

really struck a chord with 

Heather and Rod. 

“She had no way to get to 

Uganda, she needed a plane 

ticket and someone bought 

her a $4000 plane ticket. She 

went to Uganda and started a 

microenterprise based around 

handmade sandals,” he says. 

The sandals are sold in 

the US and all the profits help 

the craftswomen further their 

university education. 

“We wanted to be the 

people that bought the plane 

tickets for people who have 

the passion and the idea,” Rod 

says. 

Much like the Gates started 

their foundation before the 

money came in, Heather and 

Rod wanted to help people 

with what resources they had 

available. 

“The Gates were young 

and poor, and they said, ‘you 

know what, we’ll set up the 

foundation and when the 

money comes, we’ll have it (to 

invest in the foundation)’. We 

thought that’s cool, we have no 

money, we can do that too,” he 

laughs. 

“We’re not the type of 

people that are going to buy 

a bigger car or a better beach 

house. What are we going to do 

with our wealth? We don’t have 

children? Actually, let’s put the 

profits of HMC into charity to 

help it gain some momentum.” 

HMC is Heather’s 

Hamilton-based PR agency, 

which she started in 2004 

after a long career in 

communications. 

And while it might seem 

minuscule compared to the 

Gates Foundation, Heather 

and Rod are offering the 

successful applicants more 

than just money – they also mix 

mentoring and in-kind support 

which they call ‘muscle’ into 

the All Good Ventures recipe. 

When we 

say we’re 

funding social 

enterprises, it 

might be $5,000 

and the biggest 

one we’ve done 

is worth $20,000. 

So, it’s not really 

about the money 

but it’s enough to 

give them a bit of 

a boost. 

After the initial seed 

funding is offered, All Good 

All Good Ventures, Rod and Heather Claycomb 

Ventures provides a minimum 

one-year business mentoring 

programme and support with 

the smaller jobs the enterprise 

is not resourced to manage. 

More often than not the 

mentoring comes first with 

Rod helping them develop a 

cohesive business plan. 

“Because we’re in a social 

enterprise space we get 

applicants who say we’re about 

people not profit, and that 

philosophy drives us nuts, 

because you can’t help people 

without profit,” Rod says. 

“Our focus is - so you want 

to help those people? Cool. So 

that aside, how are we going 

to make you have a successful, 

profitable business? And 

it’s hard sometimes because 

entrepreneurs come to us, and 

they have this passion for those 

people. But they don’t know 

how to build a business and 

they just leave that aside for 

a moment. Rod really tries to 

get them on the right track at 

the start and the mentors keep 

them on track,” Heather says. 

Calling himself a serial 

entrepreneur, Rod began 

his career with a start-up in 

Colarado. He was headhunted 

in the late 90s by Waikato 

Milking Systems. In 2001 

he started a company called 

Sensortec and in 2008 he 

founded Quantec where he 

is currently the innovation 

director. 

Both Heather and Rod 

know what it takes to set up 

and run a successful business. 

It’s this skillset that they bring 

to All Good Ventures as they 

help social entrepreneurs to 

help people. 

Heather says, at its 

core, All Good Ventures is 

about freeing people from 

deprivation, whether it be 

lack of healthcare, education 

or employment and this is 

number one priority when it 

comes to vetting applications. 

“Two years ago, we got 10 

or 15 applicants. Last year, we 

got 73. This year should be 

about the same. So then we 

need to get through every one 

of those applications and pick 

the winners, basically. So that’s 

been tough,” she says. 

“It’s as much about the 

business idea, as the person 

themselves. In a way, it’s a 

bit harder than if we were a 

venture capital firm investing 

in for-profit business ideas. 

There would be a lot more detail 

around what they’re doing 

and there would be business 

models already existing. But 

we’re seed funding for-profit 

social enterprises that are 

quite often just a person with 

an idea and a vision,” Rod says. 

What the couple have learnt 

since starting the initiative is a 

lot of grant money in the social 

enterprise space is usually tied 

to specific spending. To be 

successful the applicants will 

try to fit their strategy to the 

application. 

What All Good Ventures 

offers is no-strings attached 

funding, Rod says. 

“We ask them, just hold off 

on what you’re going to spend 

it on. And one of the things we 

did differently last year was, 

instead of attaching a mentor 

to the project right away, I 

help them for eight weeks to 

develop a strategic plan. I get 

to learn where their weak spots 

are, where they need some 

mentoring help. They get to 

learn what their strategy is, 

and where their seed funding 

can be best applied.” 

They went into the venture 

knowing that not every social 

enterprise will get off the 

ground but say they have had 

around 50 per cent success 

rate so far. 

One of their most 

successful, One Day Health, is 

the initiative of a Kiwi doctor 

working in Uganda with 

the goal of ensuring every 

Ugandan is a minimum of oneday 

walk to a health clinic. 

“They’ve vaccinated over 

60,000 children under five 

who wouldn’t have otherwise 

been vaccinated over three 

years, which is pretty cool,” 

Rod says. 

Taking a page from their 

own book, the couple made 

moves to make All Good 

Ventures a sustainable funding 

model last year, opening 

an endowment fund at 

Momentum Waikato. 

“We’re always telling 

our ventures you need to be 

sustainable, don’t rely on 

grants. At the moment, All 

Good Ventures is almost 100 

per cent funded by HMC 

profits and that’s not going 

to last forever. The first goal 

is to get a million dollars into 

that endowment fund and 

that would enable us to have 

an annual return to fund each 

year of All Good Ventures’ 

projects,” he says.


Hamilton farming family take out the 

Ballance Farm Environment 

Regional Supreme Award 

Anjena, Arjun, Amreeta 

and Daljit Singh of 

Lawwal Holsteins 

were announced the Regional 

Supreme Winners at the 

Waikato Ballance Farm Environment 

Awards in Hamilton 

recently. 

Their journey began when 

Karamjit Singh migrated from 

India to New Zealand in 1969, 

and in 1972 bought his first herd 

of 65 jersey cows with his wife, 

Mindy. 

Their late son, Aman, and 

his wife, Daljit, were focused on 

feeding cows to their potential, 

looking after the environment 

and increasing production per 

cow. Aman’s quest for knowledge 

about free-stall barns 

took him around the world 

and, in 2018, a final design was 

selected and built on the property. 

It houses 1000 cows and is 

run today by his three children, 

Anjena, Arjun and Amreeta. 

The free-stall barn system 

provides cows with a fresh total 

mixed ration that ultimately 

means they produce less methane 

than outdoor, fresh-pasture-fed 

cows. 

Producing high-quality 

maize and grass silage is a critical 

part of the farm’s production 

because it ensures the cows 

get plenty of digestible energy. 

Computer software enables the 

team to cleverly tailor recipes to 

suit each herd. 

In awarding the Regional 

Supreme Award, the judges 

commended the fifth-generation 

farming family’s resilience 

and commitment to honouring 

their legacy, and their passion 

for progressive dairy systems. 

The Singhs continually modify 

their farm system to ensure 

sustainability over the long 

term. 

The judges also noted that 

staff wellbeing is a clear priority 

and focus, with long tenure 

being testament to an excellent 

workplace culture. 

Reflecting on their move 

from pasture to free-stall 

barn farming and the business 

model they now operate, 

the Singhs stress that it is not 

just about the animals, the 

environment, or their employees. 

It’s about how all parts of 

the business connect and complement 

one another to ensure 

it is sustainable. 

Anjena, Arjun, Amreeta 

and Daljit Singh also won the 

following awards: 

• Bayleys People in Primary 

Sector Award 

• DairyNZ Sustainability 

and Stewardship Award 

• Rabobank Agri-Business 

Management Award 

Other Waikato Ballance Farm 

Environment Award winners 

include: 

Chris Pellow — Pellow’s 

Produce 

• Ballance Agri-Nutrients 

Soil 

Management Award 

• Hill Laboratories Agri- 

Science Award 

• Norwood Farming 

Efficiency Award 

Graham and Tess Smith — 

Miraka Farm 

• NZFET Biodiversity Award 

• Waikato Regional Counc 

Water Protection Award 

Megan and Phil Weir — Stonyford 

and Harapepe 

• Beef + Lamb New Zealand 

Livestock Farm Award 

• Waikato River Authority 

Catchment Improvement 

Award 

Tom, Carrie and Luke 

Andrews – Wholly Cow 

• NZFET Innovation Award 

The awards also served to 

showcase three local catchment 

groups: Western Firth 

Catchment Group Trust, 

King Country River Care, and 

Taupō Lake Care Incorporated, 

with Taupō Lake Care 

Incorporated receiving the 

Waikato Catchment Group 

Award. 

The Ballance Farm Environment 

Awards are run by 

the NZ Farm Environment 

Trust and champion sustainable 

farming and growing. 

The Supreme Winner from 

each of the eleven regions 

involved in the awards will 

go through to be considered 

for the Gordon Stephenson 

Trophy at the Trust’s National 

Showcase at Te Papa in May. 

The recipients of the 

Gordon Stephenson Trophy 

then become 2023’s National 

Ambassadors for Sustainable 

Farming and Growing. 

Our team 

DESIGNER 

Warren Gilbertson 

studio@dpmedia.co.nz 

DESIGNER 

Ellie Neben 

ellie@dpmedia.co.nz 

EDITORIAL 

Janine Jackson 

editor@dpmedia.co.nz 

PUBLISHER 

Deidre Morris 

Ph: (07) 838 1333 

Mob: 027 228 8442 

deidre@dpmedia.co.nz 

••• 

STUDIO 

Copy/Proofs: 

studio@dpmedia.co.nz 

SUBSCRIPTIONS 

accounts@dpmedia.co.nz 

Waikato Ballance Farm Environment Regional Supreme Award siblings Arjun, Amreeta and 

Anjena 

Oceanography 

Singh 

researcher 

Professor Karin Bryan 

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 

Procuta Associates 

Urban + Architecture 

Contact us 07 839 6521 

www.pauaarchitects.co.nz


Action Manufacturing making strides to 

a sustainable future 

By Katie Glasgow-Palmer 

Sustainability lead at 

Action Manufacturing 

The team at Action 

Manufacturing know 

that environmental 

action and decarbonisation is 

urgent. Businesses are being 

called out for greenwashing 

and a host of other tactics to 

deflect reducing their own 

emissions, pollution and 

waste. 

For a vehicle manufacturer, 

decarbonising is an incredible 

challenge, waiting for 

international original 

equipment manufacturers 

(OEMs) to be able to supply 

the small market of New 

Zealand with zero-emission 

vehicle chassis. 

In the meantime, however, 

there are also many immediate, 

practical steps, which we are 

pursuing to reduce our impact. 

If you didn’t know about 

us already, we manufacture 

bespoke vehicles for the 

emergency, recreation, 

specialist and heavy transport 

industries. 

We have a history tracing 

back more than 70 years to Ci 

Munro building caravans in 

Ōtorohanga. 

Today we manufacture 

much more than just KEA 

motorhomes for Tourism 

Holdings Limited. 

In 2022, Action acquired 

Freighter NZ, a nice addition 

to subsidiary company Fairfax 

Industries, which both build 

for the heavy transport 

industry. 

We are also Australasia’s 

leading quality vehicle 

specialists exporting 

innovative parcel delivery vans 

built on a Renault Master to 

TNT Australia. 

Ambulances for St John, 

mobile medical clinics for New 

Zealand’s DHBs, response 

vehicles for the New Zealand 

Defence Force, minibuses and 

armoured vehicles are just 

some of our case studies. 

We have a team of over 

350 staff, across five locations 

including Auckland, Hamilton 

and Christchurch. Action, 

Fairfax and Freighter work 

together as one team, adopting 

the action way into our 

workplace. What this means is 

that we are collectively focused 

on the same goal; Our team, 

our customers and our planet. 

Some of Action’s recent 

sustainability projects include 

Envirowaste sending our 

treated wood waste and 

plywood offcuts to Whangarei 

to be used as biofuel by Golden 

Bay Cement, replacing coal in 

their industrial processes. 

This is contributing to 

the production of EcoSure 

Type GP cement, NZ’s lowest 

carbon GP cement which has 

699kgs CO2e per tonne of 

cement, 27% less than the ISC 

2020 baseline. 

In addition, we are 

recycling our vinyl and 

polystyrene offcuts through 

local suppliers. We have also 

purchased a 400kg baler, 

baling and recycling both 

cardboard and soft plastics. 

Our dedicated team helps 

to keep all these systems 

running smoothly. 

We are always looking 

for new collaborations and 

partnerships to repurpose, 

recycle or upcycle our ‘waste’ 

materials and prevent them 

from entering our taiao 

(environment). 

We have donated quality 

plywood offcuts to WomeNZ 

shed, a community wood 

workshop, which provides 

the opportunity for women 

Action Manufacturing team restoring the local Bankwood stream 

to learn how to work with 

tools and machinery, and Go 

Eco, a local Hamilton-based 

charitable trust providing 

community education and 

environmental projects. 

These have been upcycled 

into shelves, sound partitions, 

and pātaka pukapuka, 

otherwise known as book 

libraries. 

Action has done the same 

with our Omnipanel offcuts, 

which are used to build walls 

on all our motorhomes. 

Given the great 

insulation, strength and 

durability properties of the 

fibreglass-foam composite, 

the community has taken 

tremendous interest in 

repurposing these for sheds, 

trailer linings and more. 

We found that Civilshare 

and Trademe are popular 

local platforms for donating 

quality excess material, which 

would otherwise contribute to 

landfill - for a hefty fee! 

Overall, these new recycling 

and repurposing projects have 

prevented well over two tonnes 

of material from landfill since 

October 2022, and we aim to 

continue to expand them over 

the coming years. 

We recognise that we have 

the team and the opportunity 

to make a real and lasting 

difference in our community. 

In February, we 

volunteered six hours into 

restoring the local Bankwood 

stream in Hamilton. 

This was the first of 

an ongoing community 

partnership with the Fairfield 

Project, an urban biodiversity 

and gully restoration project. 

As well as weeding to 

protect the juvenile plants, 

Action installed four tracking 

tunnels to see whether any 

pests were in the area. 

The goal is to restore the 

Kukutaaruhe gully to the 

point where the native kokopu 

(giant whitebait) and local 

kuku (native wood pigeon) 

return in abundance. 

We are proud to support 

this project and look forward 

to the next conservation day 

in May. 

Leading up to this, we are 

installing our own community 

vegetable garden at our site 

on Foreman Road. This will 

be used by team members 

and staff to grow healthy kai – 

especially valuable as the cost 

of living continues to rise. 

Given that this is a long 

journey, we are approaching 

our sustainable transition with 

honesty, transparency, and 

integrity. 

We regularly share 

progress and work online and 

with the local community to 

share sustainability problems 

and solutions. 

For us, it begins with 

weekly team meetings, where 

new sustainability ideas and 

projects are born, aiming to 

protect our Papatūānuku from 

the ground up. 

Be sure to look out for the 

release of our first company 

sustainability report in 2023, 

including a five-year plan 

presenting our sustainability 

goals. 

“Our commitment to 

becoming a future-fit business 

means reducing our carbon 

emissions and waste. We 

know that significant progress 

on our sustainability journey 

starts in manufacturing and 

production. It will require 

working collaboratively with 

current and new partners 

to address the major risks 

and challenges we face, the 

lack of cost-effective, longrange 

electric product options 

that can materially reduce 

greenhouse gases. We need to 

decarbonise industry-wide and 

encourage all other businesses 

to adopt the challenge with 

us,” Action Manufacturing 

CEO Chris Devoy says. 

Action acknowledges 

that rapid decarbonization 

is urgent and should be the 

ultimate priority. 

After all, 17% of New 

Zealand’s emissions are from 

the transportation sector, with 

an additional 10% produced 

from industrial processes and 

waste. 

While Action works on the 

trickier challenge of reducing 

emissions, the business can 

start with more grassroots 

projects, engaging staff and 

making small yet tangible 

progress to waste reduction. 

With every small step, 

Action can help shift mindsets 

and build momentum for a 

more sustainable future. 

Action Manufacturing Laminates 

Action Manufacturing Shelves


Value of 

tourism to 

the mighty 

Waikato 

As we approach one year 

since New Zealand’s 

borders fully opened, 

the return of international 

visitors is welcome, both for 

the tourism sector’s recovery 

and the ability of our Waikato 

tourism businesses to 

continue to provide benefits 

for their communities, 

including expenditure and 

employment. 

While it’s fantastic to have 

electronic card transactions – 

an increase of 625% compared 

to February 2022 and 40% 

compared to February 2019. 

Tourism also helps 

stimulate wider business 

activities, particularly 

outside of our main city 

where visitation provides a 

significant source of income 

for some of our communities 

such as Waitomo and Raglan. 

With a higher demand for 

TELLING 

WAIKATO’S STORY 

BY NICOLA GREENWELL 

Chief Executive, 

Hamilton & Waikato Tourism 

sector and communities 

through initiatives such as 

our Ambassador Programme 

helps create storytellers and 

ambassadors for the Waikato, 

as well as building pride and 

knowledge of the history, 

special places and people of 

our region to proudly share 

with manuhiri. 

The A word. 

Amalgamation 

It’s something previous councils 

haven’t just shied away from, but have 

vehemently spoken out against. 

The Waikato Chamber has 

advocated for a serious 

discussion about the 

potential for amalgamation of our 

region’s councils for years now. 

A rational discussion grounded 

in data and driven by a desire 

for better productivity, reduced 

bureaucracy, and the drive to 

do better by the community as a 

whole. A discussion that considers 

evidence-based information from 

the likes of Auckland’s Supercity 

merger where we drill into what’s 

worked there – and what hasn’t. 

In 2018, then-Chamber 

CEO Chris Simpson drew the 

ire of most of the region’s then 

mayors with his call to have an 

amalgamation discussion. He had, 

quite rightly, pointed out that the 

Waikato had 247 representatives 

compared with Auckland’s 196. 

The 12 territorial authorities in 

the Waikato regional catchment 

were in Chris’s sights when he 

first compared Waikato’s 136 

elected councillors, representing 

537,000 people, to Auckland’s 

20 councillors who represent a 

population of 1.7 million. Chris’s 

research showed that Auckland 

had a representative ratio of one 

for every 10,000 people. In the 

Waikato, it’s one for every 2,000 

people. 

Of the 10 mayors the 

Waikato Times spoke to in 

2018, none showed support for 

amalgamation. Then in 2021, I too 

raised the possibility of having an 

amalgamation discussion, saying 

that we, as a Chamber, want to 

see the region have a united and 

stronger voice and one involving 

less bureaucracy. 

I said at the time: “Twelve 

replications, 12 governance 

bodies, 12 bureaucracies, 12 large 

cost-centres and 12 voices singing 

off separate song sheets.” 

There was a more measured 

response from the mayors then, 

a willingness at least to engage 

in a discussion. But nothing 

much more was said until 

Hamilton City Council’s recent 

submission to the nationwide 

review into the Future for Local 

Government showed support for 

a large Waikato unitary council 

combining local and regional 

council powers for Hamilton and 

surrounding districts. Waikato 

District Council gave qualified 

support to a possible sub-regional 

unitary body. 

Stuff reported that under the 

city’s new ideas, a “Hamilton- 

Waikato sub-region” unitary 

council could be based on fastgrowing 

Hamilton, Waikato 

district, Waipā and Matamata- 

Piako, with Mayor Paula 

Southgate saying, “we’re not 

looking at a takeover, we’re 

looking at a partnership.” 

We’re the first to agree that 

there is a strong case to explore 

a unitary authority. We believe 

it’s worth looking at the relative 

competitive advantages of each 

region. You could have a unitary 

body that encompasses Hamilton 

By Don Good, CEO of Waikato 

Chamber of Commerce. 

as the major metropolitan 

hub along with its spokes in 

Cambridge, Te Awamutu, 

Morrinsville, Matamata, Huntly 

and Ngaruawahia. And you then 

have three other bodies: North 

Waikato, Coromandel, South 

Waikato. Each of those regions 

offers different competitive 

advantages and should be 

included in the discussions. 

We don’t necessarily need 

to be a super city like Auckland. 

Instead, you’d have councillors 

and community boards so that 

each town was represented by 

democratically elected people, 

but in a pared back way. However, 

important growth infrastructure 

issues such as a third bridge 

in Cambridge, the Expressway 

extension to Tauranga, the 

economically important Southern 

Links project to the Airport 

to open up the west and Te 

Awamutu, will be advocated and 

lobbied for by a united council, 

much stronger in its weight 

with Wellington politicians and 

bureaucracy. 

The Chamber doesn’t profess 

to have all the answers. But 

we are throwing our support 

behind our 12 councils being 

open to having that rational and 

robust conversation about how 

amalgamation of some form 

could happen. 

our international manuhiri 

(visitors/guests) back, the 

domestic market continues 

to be critical to our region, 

with fellow New Zealanders 

equalling 70 percent of 

visitors to the Waikato. The 

good news for our region is 

that Tourism New Zealand 

research (December 2022) 

shows about two thirds of 

New Zealanders intend to 

take a domestic holiday in the 

coming year. 

In January, the mighty 

Waikato saw 1.8m visitor 

days, an average of 56,600 

visitors per day, an increase 

of 31% on the same month in 

2022. Of these 1.8m visitor 

days, 21% were international 

with Australia continuing to 

be our largest source market. 

And not only are we 

seeing more visitors back 

in the region, but they are 

also spending well too with 

domestic Tourism Electronic 

Card Transactions (TECT) 

data for February 2023 

totalling $55m, an increase 

of 11% compared to February 

2022 and 18% compared to 

February 2019. 

For the same period 

international visitors 

contributed $14m of 

tourism services, businesses 

such as restaurants, cafes and 

local retail shops are more 

sustainable, in turn creating 

town vibrancy and generating 

job opportunities for local 

residents. 

The value of tourism 

within the mighty Waikato 

extends beyond just economic 

benefits, it also contributes 

the cultural, societal, and 

environmental growth and 

development of the region. 

The tourism industry 

has a vital role to play in 

sharing and showcasing our 

unique local stories. The 

Waikato is home to a rich 

tapestry of narratives that 

breathe life into the history, 

people and landscapes of 

the region. These narratives 

provide deeper meaning and 

connection to a place for our 

visitors and are being shared 

by many of our fantastic 

operators including those 

focussed on conservation, 

heritage and Māori culture. 

Social interactions 

between visitors and locals 

leads to the sharing of 

knowledge and values that 

help enrich both resident 

and visitor experiences. 

Empowering our visitor 

Home to a wealth of diverse 

landscapes, waterways and 

coastal assets, we know that 

looking after our ecosystems 

and natural environment is 

more important than ever. 

The regenerative tourism 

movement in New Zealand 

has accelerated, creating 

momentum to rethink the 

visitor sector’s purpose, 

the principles by which we 

operate and how we measure 

success in Waikato. The focus 

for this model is that our 

sector actively contributes 

to the communities and 

the environment in which 

we operate and that we 

encourage visitors to embrace 

a regenerative way of travel. 

Creating vibrancy of 

place, employment and 

education opportunities, 

fostering business innovation 

and growth, preserving our 

cultural heritage, encouraging 

social interactions between 

locals and visitors, developing 

a sense of regional pride 

and the protection of the 

environment are all intrinsic 

to our Waikato destination 

management plan and 

our goal of enriching the 

communities we, as the visitor 

sector, serve. 

BUSINESS 

AWARDS 

Connect - Grow - Inspire - Represent 

2023 

WAIKATO CHAMBER 

OF COMMERCE

Cambridge’s reputation 

‘has never been better’ 

Hustling, bustling Cambridge 

is a town on the up. 

WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS, MARCH/APRIL 2023 VIBRANT CAMBRIDGE 17 

CONTINUED ON PAGE 18 

Those who live there 

love it, with more and 

more people seeking to 

become part of the growing 

Cambridge community. 

And those who visit, either 

for the plethora of top-class 

sporting events, or just for the 

boutique shopping, are booking 

again and again. 


as a vibrant town, great for 

business and lifestyle, has 

never been better. It is a living 

example of the Waipā 

brand – Home of Champions 

– boasting a vibrant feel, positive 

outlook and an engaged 

population actively involved 

in planning its future. 

For first term Waipā mayor 

Susan O’Regan, both Waipā’s 

main towns, Cambridge and 

Te Awamutu, are special. As 

someone born and raised in 

the district, she has seen its 

reputation move from ‘Waipāwho’ 

to ‘Waipā-wow!’ 

“I’m just incredibly proud 

to lead this wonderful district 

with such enormous potential,” 

she said. 

“We now have about 

60,000 people across the district, 

with Cambridge being 

our most populous town. 

“It has a very distinctive 

charm and those who live here 

say they will never leave. I 

understand that; I have family 

here myself. 

“I think as a place to live, 

visit and do business, Cambridge 

is hard to beat.” 

Geographically we’re perfectly 

situated and so have become very 

attractive for doing business. If you 

must shoot to Auckland or Hamilton, 

it’s easy now with the impressive 

Waikato Expressway. 

The knowledgeable and passionate salespeople Bayleys have across all areas of 

property mean we can confidently promise our clients the very best service and skills. 

A powerful combination of local market knowledge, national and global reach, plus 

innovative marketing tools will ensure you get the best result. 

Whatever your property needs, contact the team at Bayleys Cambridge. 

Bayleys Cambridge 

07 823 1540 

cambridge@bayleyswaikato.co.nz 

SUCCESS REALTY LTD, BAYLEYS, LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008 

Residential / Commercial / Rural / Property Services

18 VIBRANT CAMBRIDGE 



‘has never been better’ 

continued from page 17 

Cambridge’s attractions 

are world-class and 

well-known. Maungatautari 

Sanctuary Mountain 

is on its doorstep. There is 

the world class velodrome on 

the outskirts, Lake Karapiro 

draws rowers from around the 

world and the wider district is 

internationally recognised for 

producing world-class racing 

thoroughbreds. 

Fifty per cent of New Zealand’s 

carded athletes live in 

Cambridge with Olympians 

and world-class coaches often 

seen in one of the town’s many 

cafes or stylish restaurants. It 

is an ideal base for world-class 

athletes and coaches, close 

to Hamilton Airport and an 

easy drive to Auckland via the 

Waikato Expressway. 

As they walk through town, 

those athletes will draw inspiration 

from the ground up 

via the town’s Sports Walk 

of Fame which celebrates 

decades of excellence and 

success. 

At the same time, Cambridge 

is a family-friendly 

town that recognises and celebrates 

its heritage. 

Residents enjoy wonderful 

green space plus a network of 

parks and cycle trails. 

That includes the recently 

completed Te Awa Great New 

Zealand River Ride which 

offers continuous riverside 

riding from Cambridge though 

Hamilton to Ngaruawahia. 

Mayor O’Regan noted 

Waipā’s population overall 

grew by 1.2 percent last year, 

led primarily by inward migration. 

That compares with the 

average national growth of 

just .2 percent. 

“We’re seen as a desirable 

district for many reasons, 

including people wanting to 

send their kids to fantastic 

schools where they can still 

have an Ag-day. 

“They want to grow vegetables 

in their backyards and get 

back to actual living and not 

stewing in traffic jams. There 

are also lots of people returning 

here who have roots to the 

district.” 

Mayor O’Regan knows 

land and house affordability 

compared with the price-prohibitive 

levels in major cities 

is also a drawcard. Cambridge 

is not cheap, but it still more 

affordable than some big 

cities. 

“I think Covid made people 

reflect and some have decided 

they don’t want to live in big 

cities. 

“The standard of living in 

Cambridge is very good and 

there is all this wonderful outdoor 

activity. It’s a modern 

town, offering modern things 

but with a delightful olde 

world charm.” 

The Waikato Expressway 

coming through from Auckland 

has made a massive 

difference. 

Mayor O’Regan said successive 

Waipā leaders and 

councils have understood 

the need to grow the district 

population and there have 

been sound planning decisions 

made over several decades. 

“There are about 34 ‘live 

zoned’ growth cells in existence 

around Cambridge, Te 

Awamutu and some of the 

smaller villages, and a further 

20 that are to be made available 

to go live after 2035. 

“There has been very sound 

thinking around how we want 

to grow and where we want 

to grow. We are pretty firm 

about those town or village 

boundary lines. There is no 

anticipation that we want to 

extend anything beyond those 

current boundaries, except in 

Ōhaupō, which may go a little 

further north given the significant 

development at the 

Hamilton airport precinct,” 

she said. 

“We’ve made provision 

for industrial and commercial 

activity as well. Of the 54 

growth cells we have planned, 

four of them are for large 

industrial development areas. 

So it’s a busy story about 

We predict that 

diversification 

is likely to 

continue. Horse 

studs breeding 

world-class 

thoroughbreds 

also contribute 

to the region’s 

GDP and that 

is very strongly 

felt around 

Cambridge 

which 

celebrates its 

equine heritage. 

LEADING COMMERCIAL PROPERTY TEAM 

Whether you are looking to acquire or sell 

commercial property or are a current 

landlord or tenant, our Commercial 

Property lawyers have the skills and 

expertise to assist in a variety of matters. 

We understand your obligations under 

lease or sale and purchase agreements and 

your ongoing compliance responsibilities. 

We can also assist in negotiating terms and 

conditions and managing conflict. 

Our team have extensive knowledge in the applicable 

legislation and experience in preparing, negotiating and 

reviewing documentation, including: 

• Sale and purchase of commercial and industrial property 

• Drafting, reviewing and negotiating leases and sub-leases 

• Rent reviews and disputes 

• Renewals 

• Motel/hotel acquisitions and leasehold agreements 

• Overseas Investment Office considerations 

LISA WARE 

PARTNER 

MONIQUE MEDLEY-RUSH 

PARTNER 

MAT MAKGILL 

PARTNER 

LUCY YOUNG 

PARTNER 

Experienced professionals. Local specialists. Quality advice. 

Cambridge | Phone 07 827 5147 Hamilton | Phone 07 848 1222 | www.lewislawyers.co.nz


growth in Waipā, that’s for 

sure.” 

Agriculture and construction 

continue to be big contributors 

to the wider Waipā 

economy, with good growth in 

manufacturing and the logistics 

sector. 

“While still a strong dairy 

farming district, we have seen 

quite a bit of land use diversification 

into kiwifruit, berries 

and other horticultural pursuits 

including a few goat and 

sheep milking ventures. 

Mayor O’Regan says more 

work is being put into developing 

an economic development 

strategy for Cambridge and the 

wider district. 

“If you can provide an area 

where people want to live, 

work and play, that makes it 

attractive for businesses to be 

here. The proof is the district. 

The airport has shown there is 

an appetite for businesses to 

move out of some of the traditional 

areas for industrial 

activity. And the extension 

of the roading network from 

Held every three to four 

years, the festival is 

at Lake Karapiro, 

Cambridge on 10-16 April. 

An international non-competitive 

participatory event for 

breast cancer paddler teams 

who engage in Dragonboat 

activities as post breast cancer 

diagnosis rehabilitation. 

Dragon boat paddling has 

become a rehabilitation therapy 

for tens of thousands of women, 

and men worldwide, who have 

been diagnosed with breast 

cancer. 

The New Zealand 2023 Festival 

will involve a selection of 

teams from the current 240 

IBCPC member teams, from 30 

countries across all continents. 

Auckland and Hamilton means 

that there are viable options 

for freight-based businesses.” 

Her vision is for Cambridge 

and the wider district is to be a 

place where everybody can live 

fulfilling, productive and safe 

lives. 

“I want a place that is safe 

and healthy for our residents 

no matter their age or what 

area they live in... a district 

that values our aged residents 

but at the same time considers 

the needs of young families,” 

she said. 

“We will not lose sight of 

the things that make Cambridge 

and Waipā the wonderful 

place it is to live in now.” 

“We have a fabulously rich 

district in terms of resources, 

climate and innovation. We 

need to look to the future 

tracking a sustainable pathway 

that plays to our strengths as 

a district and continues to be 

productive for the betterment 

of our residents. 

“Council needs to have a 

strong supporting role.” 

The festival will be governed 

by the Aotearoa Wahine Toa 

Ora Trust and sitting under the 

trust will be an organising committee 

chaired by Meri Gibson. 

Working with her will be 

many experienced members 

of the New Zealand Dragon 

Boat Association on the technical 

management of the festival, 

members of Abreast of 

Life Dragon Boat team and 

members of other breast cancer 

teams in New Zealand to 

help with other aspects of the 

festival. 

The New Zealand Festival 

will be a sporting event but 

above all a social occasion in 

which New Zealand will welcome 

4000 to 5000 people 

I want a 

district that 

has a thriving 

economy. A 

place that 

provides a 

variety of 

well-planned 

housing but at 

the same time 

protects our 

soils as well 

as enhancing 

our unique 

and precious 

environment, 

celebrating 

cultural 

diversity. 

Dragon Boat festival 

hits Karapiro 

For the first time since the establishment of IBCPC in 2010, 

the IBCPC Dragon Boat Festival will take place in the southern 

hemisphere in New Zealand. 

from all over the world. 

The participants are mainly 

women between the ages of 20 

and 80 who will meet to take 

part in the exciting Dragon boat 

races, paddling together on the 

beautiful world-class facility at 

Lake Karapiro, Cambridge. 

They will also be accompanied 

by their friends and 

families, and their faithful and 

enthusiastic supporters. 

The week-long celebrations 

will culminate in three-days of 

intense activity, demonstrations, 

workshops and social 

events aimed at awareness 

and dialogue within the large 

international community of 

breast-cancer paddlers. 

Eight things that make 

Cambridge a great 

place to live. 

Given this edition’s focus on Cambridge, where I happen to 

live, I decided to briefly discuss some things about the built 

environment (mostly), that make Cambridge a great place 

to live and work. 

In no particular order: 

Geography constrains the 

town centre. 

Te Awa o Waikato (the 

Waikato river) curves to the 

south of the original town centre, 

its steep banks providing a 

natural limit to expansion. To 

the east an escarpment drops 

away first to ‘Carter’s Flat’ 

and beyond this the Karapiro 

stream. To the north-east is 

Lake Te Ko Utu. And at the 

north-west ‘Victoria Square’ 

provides an anchor for the 

CBD and a buffer for the residential 

area to the west and 

north. 

These natural limits to the 

commercial centre of town 

have kept it quite compact and 

created a more vibrant atmosphere 

than might be the case 

otherwise. As single storey 

buildings are redeveloped to 

create more office and living 

space, the town centre will 

only get better. 

Great civic space in the 

centre of town 

The historic town hall and 

piazza, war memorial cenotaph, 

clock tower, and treelined 

Victoria Square combine 

to make an attractive open 

space right in the centre of 

town. Serving as the hosting 

space for many events, including 

the weekly farmer’s market, 

and cricket matches still 

played in the village square, 

these spaces are well used and 

contribute much to the ‘village’ 

feel that locals value. 

It is worth remembering 

the value of quality civic 

space as we consider the location 

of future facilities such 

as a potential new Cambridge 

library. 

The grid street layout 

Within the green belt, 

streets are laid out in a grid 

pattern; while grids have 

pros and cons, here are some 

of the things I like about it in 

Cambridge. 

Long straight streets provide 

excellent vistas; just the 

other morning I was enjoying 

the view of the sunrise over 

the hills along the east-west 

streets as I walked to the bus. 

The same views make it easy 

to identify landmarks to assist 

with wayfinding, and the grid 

pattern itself means it’s hard 

to get ‘lost in suburbia’. 

Most of the area inside 

the green belt is within a 15 

minute walk from town. The 

grid pattern is inherently 

pedestrian friendly with multiple 

route options and regular 

intersections, which go some 

way to slowing traffic. 

The green belt 

The green belt parks and 

walking tracks provide easy 

access to recreation opportunities 

for anyone living within 

or near the green belt. If the 

current green belt is connected 

to walking tracks and 

green spaces in new growth 

areas, the amenity will be even 

further improved. Some have 

even recently suggested the 

creation of a new green belt 

along the edge of the new residential 

growth areas. 

Green infrastructure 

Building on the value of the 

green belt, Cambridge is also 

fortunate to have parks and 

walking paths around Lake Te 

Ko Utu and along both sides of 

the river. Along with Victoria 

Square, Leamington Domain 

and several smaller parks 

we’re spoilt for green space. 

Not to mention the many trees 

that Cambridge is well known 

for. In addition to the recreational 

benefits, this ‘green 

infrastructure’ helps to cool 

the town environment, soak 

up and filter stormwater, and 

has been linked to improved 

mental health. 

Social infrastructure 

While straying somewhat 

from the built environment 

remit, the strong social infrastructure 

in Cambridge is 

critical to the town’s success. 

Groups like the Lions and 

Rotary clubs contribute more 

than many grasp. The Cambridge 

Tree Trust has been 

responsible for the creation 

of many of the walking tracks 

and planting many of the trees 

that now are a key part of Cambridge. 

Organisations like the 

Cambridge Business Chamber 

help to nurture the vibrant 

business and retail environment, 

while Waipā council 

and councillors have generally 

done a good job of responding 

to the needs and expectations 

of the community. There are 

too many more to name, but it 

is these social institutions that 

build a great town. 

Retention and restoration 

of character buildings 

Mostly I am referencing 

LANDMARKS 

BY PHIL MACKAY 

Phil MacKay is Business 

Development Manager at 

Hamilton-based PAUA, 

Procuta Associates 

Urban + Architecture 

the town centre, though some 

good examples of character 

exist in residential areas too. 

For a relatively small town 

centre, Cambridge has a good 

base of quality buildings from 

the earlier years of the town. 

These have in many cases 

been well looked after or more 

recently restored, with the 

likes of the Masonic Hotel 

soon due for a refresh. They 

also generally have a good 

scale, with second storeys now 

repurposed for office space 

above ground floor retail. The 

scale helps to frame the main 

retail streets, along with street 

trees and landscaping, providing 

attractive spaces and 

atmosphere. 

Set backs in residential 

areas 

While there are some nicely 

restored villas and bungalows, 

one of the things I enjoy 

about the residential areas of 

Cambridge is that houses are 

mostly set back somewhat 

from the street with space for 

gardens and trees at the front. 

This might seem an odd 

thing to get excited about, 

but, along with lower fences, 

it means the houses address 

the street in a more open and 

inviting fashion. Houses are 

close enough to be present and 

imply a level of passive surveillance, 

yet residents retain 

a degree of privacy by virtue of 

being set back. 

There are many more 

things to love about Cambridge, 

but these are just a few 

things about the built environment, 

that are worth thinking 

about as we collectively come 

to grips with the growth of not 

just Cambridge, but all of the 

Waikato.



Construction Advantage 

Construction Advantage are leaving their mark on some of 

the finest commercial, industrial and private development 

projects in Cambridge and beyond. 

Based in one of their 

previous projects at 

48 Empire Street, 

Construction Advantage offers 

a complete property development 

package to their clients 

– from initial feasibility studies 

and cost consultancy, through 

project, development and 

construction management plus 

design and build. 

From fit out works, through 

to million-dollar projects, 

Construction Advantage has 

significant commercial and 

industrial project experience. 

The recent Cornerstone 

mixed commercial and residential 

apartment development in 

Leamington is a fine example 

of what happens when you have 

the right team for the job. 

Construction Advantage has 

excellent working relationships 

with local contractors, tradespeople 

and professionals and 

has a policy to buy local whenever 

practical. 

The support local sentiment 

was echoed by Cornerstone 

owner Adam O’Leary 

who made the move away from 

the original Auckland firm he 

had contracted and propelled 

him towards Construction 

Advantage. 

“The original architect was 

based in Auckland and I wasn’t 

really happy about using an 

architect that wasn’t local. 

“I was given a reference for 

John Mason at Construction 

Advantage and they redrew the 

plans with their own architects. 

“They made some really 

good changes and got it to the 

look it this now. 

“The building is quite big 

and imposing but it’s black 

mixed with nice stonework and 

it’s quite stylish, and has a look 

that is timeless,” Adam says. 


director John Mason says 

the development is a great 

asset to both Leamington and 

Cambridge. 

“We really enjoyed working 

with Adam and his 

commitment to local is brilliant 

from a Cambridge business 

perspective. 

“It was nice to work with a 

family with vision and to create 

a really good quality building 

in Leamington that is a stand 

out for Cambridge. 

“It provides a new way 

of living and the apartments 

are filling up at speed at the 

moment. We are very proud 

to have worked with them and 

help them achieve their goal.” 

Every project Construction 

Advantage works on has 

its own set of unique requirements 

and it’s the job of the 

Our expertise gives 

your construction 

project an advantage 

Integrity | Value | Quality | Honesty | Sustainability | Innovation | Success 

Construction Advantage specialises in 

managing developments and delivering 

commercial property assets for private clients. 

Our significant commercial and industrial project 

experience ranges from fit out works, through 

to million dollar build projects. Attention to detail 

and commitment to quality ensures we deliver. 

Development & Project Management 

Level 1, 3/48 Empire Street, Cambridge 

Design 

& Build 

Project 

Management 

Construction 

Management 

Phone 07 823 0331 

constructionadvantage.co.nz 

Development 

Management 

Feasibility 

Studies 

Cost 

Consultancy

VIBRANT CAMBRIDGE 

21 

14-strong team of quantity 

surveyors and site managers 

to manage every aspect of construction 

from brief to build. 

Take the rammed earth 

Tapapa Marae outside Tirau, 

an unusual build that John 

says the team were keen to 

take on and have worked on all 

3 stages of the project. 

“We like a variety in the 

work that we do and we always 

embrace a challenge so hence 

the rammed earth and the 

multi-story in Leamington,” 

John says. 

“The client talked to a number 

of other construction businesses 

about doing rammed 

earth but nobody would take 

the risk or take the challenge. 

We sat around as a management 

team and said wouldn’t 

that be fascinating. Following 

research, we learned 

about rammed earth and the 

buildings are really stunning 

and have great presence. The 

rammed earth sounds quite 

alternative, but actually it 

forms a very robust, strong 

product and within a day it’s as 

hard as precast concrete.” 

The wharenui was the 

first of three buildings on the 

site. Started right on lockdown 

the build, during which 

the company worked alongside 

members of the Tapapa 

Marae Trust, was completed 

six months later in October. 

The whare horoi was completed 

in 2022 and the final 

stage wharekai commenced in 

March 2023. 

Whānau project manager 

Martin Miles says whānau 

found Construction Advantage 

open and interactive in their 

communication and reporting. 

“They are cognisant of the 

statutory requirements and 

their application to tikanga; 

and have undertaken kōrero 

to align these principles as 

applied to our project successfully 

on a number of occasions. 

“We have no hesitation or 

reservation in our association 

with Construction Advantage.” 

The team also managed the 

complex rebuild on Carters Flat 

for Professional Farm Services. 

It involved the demolition 

and re-building of a retail space 

while the business remained 

operational. 

The high-profile site is 

bounded on two sides by overhead 

power lines and tucked up 

against existing buildings. 

As always, the team loved 

the challenge, and while careful 

consideration of the building 

sequencing and methodology 

was needed, they landed precast 

panels on an existing party 

wall stabilised by a steel frame 

founded on concrete piles. 

John says the high-end 

architectural finishes inside 

and out of the Professional 

Farm Services build has drawn 

high praise from the client and 

the wider public. 

Working closely with clients 

is a vital piece in the construction 

jigsaw and Construction 

Advantage makes a point 

of detailed client consultation 

from the get-go. 

“We work with good people 

who, like us, value integrity, 

innovation and collaboration 

and because of this we achieve 

great builds. We are passionate 

about adding value to every 

build.” 

The success of the team’s 

business philosophy perhaps 

can be measured in the extraordinary 

amount of repeat business 

(up to 90 percent) offered 

to the Construction Advantage 

team. 

It is with this careful client 

consultation, attention to 

teamwork and a firm commitment 

to deliver on time that 

remain at the core of the company’s 

approach to doing business 

today. 


manage everything from property 

purchase, tender for services, 

cost containment and 

on-time on-budget project 

completion. 

The teams sees itself as 

Waipā-centric and pride themselves 

on delivering great projects 

through their excellent 

working relationships with 

local contractors, tradespeople, 

engineers, designers and 

architects. 

“We provide end-to-end 

services, managing projects 

from start to finish, dealing 

with everyone from real estate 

agents through to project 

funders. 

“Typically, our team starts 

with feasibility studies and a 

look at the numbers. 

“We always strive to formalise 

a bankable project at 

the start, rather than confront a 

set of unaffordable drawings,” 

John says. 

GREAT PROJECTS 

GREAT PARTNERSHIPS 

GREAT PRODUCTS 

Proud to be a trusted supplier to 


WWW.SPECTRUM.CO.NZ 07 849 4123 SALES@SPECTRUM.CO.NZ

Cornerstone delivers much-needed 

accommodation to Leamington 

The way we live is changing, and apartment living is 

quickly becoming the way of the future. The small town 

of Leamington, located in New Zealand’s Waikato region, 

is getting its first taste of this with the newly opened 

Cornerstone development. This development is the first of 

its type in Leamington and the third of its kind in Cambridge. 

Located on the corner 

of Burns and Campbell 

Streets, the four-story 

mixed model development is 

a family affair. Les and Elayne 

O’Leary, owners of The Village 

@Leamington, started the 

project, and their son, Adam 

O’Leary, completed it. The 

project has been hampered by 

situations beyond the O’Leary’s 

control, but Adam says that it’s 

awesome to see his parents’ 

initial vision come to fruition, 

albeit in a somewhat altered 

guise. 

The idea to develop the site 

was seeded in 2009 when Les 

and Elayne, in partnership 

with another party, agreed to 

build a supermarket, a pub/ 

tavern, and adjoining shops. 

They discovered, through 

their project manager Peter 

Knox, that the other party was 

actually bankrupt. The couple 

went ahead with as much of the 

project as they could afford, 

building the supermarket, pub, 

and four other shops. Called 

The Village @Leamington, 

Fresh Choice took up the 

supermarket lease, the pub 

became the Five Stags Tavern, 

and Thai Food Cambridge, 

Liquor Hut NZ Pizza and 

Kebab, and Royal Cambridge 

occupy the other four spaces. 

Completed in 2012, it left 

an L-shaped section empty as 

there wasn’t funding available 

to further the development. 

I think everyone’s 

quite happy, it 

will be finally 

completed, it’s 

that sense of 

satisfaction that 

it’s done. My 

parents were 

quite happy 

when I suggested 

that we should do 

something with 

grass area. 

Solutions for every surface 

Solutions for every surface 

re proud Proud to to be associated with The with Cornerstone the Jumpflex Development new build 

MERCIAL / INDUSTRIAL / RESIDENTIAL PAINTING 

SPECIALIST COATING • WATERPROOFING • MEMBRANE ROOFING 

• TANKING • JOINTING • INJECTION GROUTING 

hamilton@cantecservices.co.nz 

118 Norton Rd • Hamilton 

Tel COMMERCIAL 07 846 7166 / Mob INDUSTRIAL 027 220 / 8969 

RESIDENTIAL PAINTING 

www.cantecservices.co.nz 

hamilton@cantecservices.co.nz 

118 

LICENSED 

Norton 

APPLICATOR 

Rd • Hamilton 

FOR: 

ALLNEX • VIKING ROOFSPEC • EQUUS • JAYDEX • NURALITE • ALTEX • ZONE • SIKA 

Tel 07 846 7166 Mob 027 220 8969


Proud to be associated with the 

Cornerstone Development 

Elayne and Les O’Leary, owners of The Village@Leamington 

Fast forward to 2019 and Adam 

was asked to help out when 

Peter Knox, who had taken on 

managing the shops, became 

of the lessees had deserted 

their shop and stopped paying 

rent and power. 

At the same time, the 

very ill. Sadly, he passed away 

original Thai restaurant was 

We’d had hot 

just before the first COVID 

way behind on rent and Adam 

lockdowns. 

weather and 

was left to clear it out, clean it 

Recently returned from 

the fridges and 

up and get it re-leased. 

living and working in Scotland 

Finally with good tenants in 

with his wife and two children, freezers were 

the shops, in early 2021 Adam 

Adam stepped into the breach. full of very, 

set his eye on the section that 

“When my wife and I 

was still undeveloped. 

very putrid and 

relocated from Scotland, we 

“I asked Les if there any 

decided to move to Cambridge rotten food. I 

plans for the remaining 

due to its appeal. We had 

(undeveloped) grassed area, 

cleaned that all 

both already landed jobs in 

and I was put in charge of 

Hamilton, I worked full time as out myself, and project managing the build of 

a senior mechanical engineer 

quickly found 

retail shops to complete the 

for Manta5 designing and 

shopping centre.” 

developing hydrofoil water new reputable 

The goal was to build 

cycles.” 

tenants and 

something to complement 

Whilst working at Manta5 

the shopping centre and the 

signed them up 

and ‘part-time’ managing The 

community. 

Village, Adam also established to lease. 

“We wanted shops that 

Prime Solutions Limited after 

would draw people into 

a sawmill in Tokoroa asked 

Adam to project manage the 

build of a bespoke crane and 

work (through Prime Solutions 

Ltd) exceeded my available 

Leamington,” he says. 

A meeting with the Waipā 

District Council alerted Adam 

steam system he had designed spare time, so I resigned from to the shortfall of rental 

for them while he was still in Manta5 and worked for myself accommodation in Cambridge. 

Aberdeen. 

full time,” he says. 

“They gave me useful 

“Soon 

contract 

the 

and 

additional 

management 

Managing the complex was 

not without its challenges; one CONTINUED ON PAGE 24 

Fencing Solutions Waikato offers their customers 

experience in products and installations 

Residential • Commercial • Rural 

CONTACT US TODAY 

Todd: 027 492 7337 

Email: todd@fsw.co.nz 

check out our website at 

www.fencingsolutionswaikato.co.nz 

Latitude homes 

The team at CHP Electrical 

are proud to be associated 

with The Cornerstone 

Development Project 

Anthem homes 

Phone 07 848 2122 

or 0800 245 368 

Email: info@chp.nz 

www.chpelectrical.nz



FROM PAGE 23 

We specialise in Property Management in the Waikato 

including Cambridge, Hamilton, Te Awamutu. 

Our staff have collectively over 48 years of 

Property Management Experience. 

Call today 

Nicole Anstiss, Managing Director 

022 495 3925 

07 823 2929 

www.arspropertymanagement.com 

Proud to be REINZ members 

contacts whom I could visit to 

gather more information. We 

went through a few ideas with 

the architects and a planner 

who proposed putting a level 

of apartments above the retail 

shops.” 

In October 2021, the ground 

works began on the apartment 

development featuring 30 

apartments – 12 one-bedroom 

and 18 two-bedroom units, 

seven shops on the ground 

floor, and a car park in the 

basement. 

He started the development 

with an Auckland architect, 

but his eagerness to use 

local suppliers saw him 

get in touch with John 

Mason at Cambridge-based 


Limited. 

“I was keen to use more local 

companies who would have a 

better feel for the area and as 

well to help the area prosper. 


Limited use Cambridge based 

companies and tradies where 

possible so straight away it 

seemed like a good fit” he says. 

I took that to 

the owners 

and was given 

the green light 

for the project. 

There was a 

lot of learning 

from my side 

going through 

the design and 

build contract 

and costs for 

the build, but 

we were soon 

underway. 


Limited contracted Cambridge 

based, LAD architecture and 

nearby BCD Group to draft 

up the building structure and 

layout, and budget quote was 

provided. 

COVID lockdowns and 

related staffing absences meant 

the fabrication of the building 

steel-work and its painting 

caused a significant hold-up. 

“The decision to ‘stick 

local’ soon paid off as local 

companies continued to work 

when they were allowed to, and 

soon the building framework 

was soon being erected. 

While the Auckland/Tāmaki 

Makaurau region was still 

locked down,” he says. 

As the build progressed and 

Adam’s workload tapered off, 

he decided to get another job 

as senior innovation engineer 

at Innovex (Tīra nda). 

With the development 

nearing completion the work 

started piling up so Adam 

sought out the services of 

Accommodation Rental 

Solutions and managing 

director Nicole Anstiss. 

“She had the skill and 

experience needed but and 

had also offered to take on 

the management of the retail 

shops. And Nicole has been 

essential at helping get the 

fine details and facilities of the 

build sorted out.” 

The name of the complex 

was chosen by Adam from a list 

compiled by Frank Tian at LAD 

architects. 

“This takes inspiration from 

the building being at the corner 

of Burns and Campbell Street, 

and the cladding on the ground 

floor is schist stone. It also 

sounds solid and adds a sense 

of importance to the building,” 

Frank says. 

Managed by Colliers, the 

commercial leases include 

Postie, a pizza outlet, dental 

practice, plus a café space 

and two other shops are still 

available to be let. 

“That’s new employment 

in the area, as well as 30 

apartments of new residents 

in the heart of Leamington, 

Cambridge,” Adam says. 

Adam might be breathing 

a sigh of relief that The 

Cornerstone is complete but 

he’s not ready to rest on his 

laurels just yet. 

Next for Prime Solutions 

Limited will be a longer-term 

project to build much needed 

housing in Tokoroa with the 

potential development of 

farmland into 180 homes and 

affordable living options. 

The team at Comins Plumbing is proud 

to be the preferred contractor for the 

Cornerstone Development 

Plumbing - Drainage - Gas fitting - Heating 

CONTACT US 

Office hours: 

Monday to Thursday 7.30 am till 5.00pm 

Friday 7.30 am till 4.00pm. 

Phone: 07 8237263 

Local agents for The Fireplace selling and installing Jetmaster 

Gasco fires. Local agents for Central Heating New Zealand 

Administration: Sharon - office@cominsplumbing.co.nz 

Pricing /technical: Andrew – andrew@cominsplumbing.co.nz

VIBRANT CAMBRIDGE 

25 

So far it isn’t taking too 

much of my ‘spare time’ but 

let’s face it, I never have any 

spare time anyway. 

CONSULTING ENGINEERS & PLANNERS 

HAMILTON | TAURANGA | AUCKLAND | NEW PLYMOUTH | NAPIER 

PROUD TO PROVIDE CIVIL, 

STRUCTURAL AND 

GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING 

FOR THE CORNERSTONE 

DEVELOPMENT



PAUA Architects: 

Shaping Cambridge for over 25 years. 

Architect Antanas Procuta has been contributing to and 

helping to shape the town he calls home for over 25 years. 

Initially working from home in 

Cambridge, Procuta was joined early 

on by architect Richard Mauriohooho, 

who recently celebrated 25 years with 

the practice. Long-standing team 

members have been a strength of the 

practice, with architect Geoff Lentz 

also marking 20 years this February. 

Despite taking up premises in 

Hamilton in 2001 and completing 

projects across the Waikato, the 

practice has maintained strong roots 

in Cambridge, with both Procuta and 

strategic development manager Phil 

Mackay based in the Town of Trees. 

The practice has played an important 

part in shaping the town, with past 

work including the masterplanning of 

the Cambridge Park subdivision, the 

urban and architectural design of Le 

Quesnoy Place townhouse enclave, 

residential homes, and the recently 

completed Cambridge Police Hub. 

The common theme running through 

these projects is the importance 

of local context, with each project 

acknowledging and building on the 

unique character of Cambridge. 

In Procuta’s words: “The focus of 

our design is the individual, crafted 

response to the site, to the client and 

to their brief.” 

Cambridge Park 

In 2003 PAUA was engaged to 

prepare the overall urban concept 

and masterplan for a 330-household 

residential subdivision – now known 

as Cambridge Park. 

The neighbourhood is centred on a 

public green space at the heart of the 

community and designed to continue 

the original 1863 arcaded street 

design for Cambridge. The road and 

pedestrian walkway layout references 

this grid pattern to prioritise 

pedestrian activities through the 

neighbourhood. In 2009 the project 

won the Living Streets Aotearoa 

‘Golden Foot Award’ for Walkability. 

Le Quesnoy Place 

PAUA was approached in 2004 by 

a local developer wanting to build 

on the unique character legacy of 

Cambridge. 

Inspired by Cambridge’s sister-city 

relationship with Le Quesnoy in 

France and occupying an enviable 

location on the banks of the Waikato 

River, the neighbourhood comprises 

fifteen, high-quality, two-storey 

homes designed to complement 

each other with similar architectural 

forms, materials and features. 

Papillon Townhouse 

Built for a local farming couple, this 

townhouse was designed around the 

conceptual idea of creating courtyard 

spaces and a sense of spaciousness 

within a smaller site. This idea 

prompted the ‘papillon’, or butterfly, 

shaped layout of the floor plan. 

A traditional architectural form was 

chosen to link with neighbourhood 

church buildings and houses in what 

is one of the earlier-settled areas of 

Cambridge. Local materials such as 

Hinuera stone were chosen alongside 

other high performing materials 

to craft a contemporary home that 

respects the context of the local area. 

Cambridge Police Hub 

The architectural brief was to provide 

a design that reflected the new 

approach in New Zealand policing 

and acknowledged the nature of the 

collaborative partnership between 

Waikato-Tainui and the NZ Police in 

this development. 

Reflecting on the importance of water 

in Māori culture, Senior Architect 

Richard Mauriohooho based the 

shape of the building on a Waka 

Hourua, or double hulled waka. 

The orientation of the building 

also makes reference to local 

maunga - Maungatautari, Pirongia, 

Maungakawa, and Kakepuku - 

through the alignment of walls and 

windows, while local materials were 

used in keeping with Waikato Tainui 

strategies. 

As well as the prominent Hinuera 

stone wall featuring a ‘niho taniwha’ 

pattern, recycled wood and bricks 

from the police house previously on 

the site have been used as features in 

the new building, connecting to the 

history and context of the site. 

CAMBRIDGE POLICE HUB 

Procuta 

Associates 

Urban + 

Architecture 

07 839 6521 

www.pauaarchitects.co.nz

Business 

communication: 

walk before you run 

When it comes to getting your strategic communications right, 

as a business, my advice for you today is: walk before you run. 

What do I mean by 

that? Well, I think 

sometimes as business 

leaders we can often be 

bamboozled into thinking 

our competitors and business 

colleagues are all doing 

the right things and we’re the 

only ones on the backfoot. 

And our perceived inadequacy 

often rears its ugly head when 

you hear about businesses 

jumping onto the latest social 

media channel or using a new 

communications tool. 

For instance, isn’t every 

business already on Tik- 

Tok? Shouldn’t you have a 

YouTube channel? Podcasting 

– isn’t everyone doing it? 

‘No,’ ‘maybe’ and ‘no’ are the 

answers, by the way! 

Don’t fall into the trap of 

being pressured to start using 

the latest and greatest communications 

medium if you 

haven’t already got the basics 

right. 

If you’re not sure if you’ve 

got your business communication 

basics sorted, here are 

four foundations to put in 

place: 

Internal first 

The most important audience 

for any business is your 

staff. Be sure they feel well-informed 

about your business 

direction, excited about where 

it’s heading and ready to be an 

active participant in achieving 

goals. And don’t assume if you 

told them once, they’ve got 

it. You need to communicate 

with staff regularly and repeat 

messages often. 

Your staff have potential 

to be your strongest ambassadors 

or your biggest detractors. 

By prioritising your 

internal communication and 

staff relationships, you’ll find 

your external communications 

will go more smoothly. 


Direct communication 

I’ve seen organisations prioritise 

external channels, such 

as media publicity, before 

communicating directly to the 

external audiences who matter 

most to their business – 

namely customers. 

Direct communications 

with priority audiences often 

doesn’t happen because it’s 

difficult. Many times businesses 

haven’t thought about 

gathering customer details 

or the details they do have 

are incomplete (for instance, 

you’ve got a phone number 

but no email). 

New Zealand’s anti-spam 

laws also pose a big communication 

roadblock. You can’t 

send any email communication 

to anyone unless the person 

opted in. If your data collection 

methods haven’t kept 

up with this law, then you’ve 

PR AND 

COMMUNICATIONS 

BY HEATHER CLAYCOMB 

Heather Claycomb is director 

of HMC, a Hamilton-based, 

award-winning public 

relations agency. 

got a major communication 

challenge on your hands. 

However, I urge you to 

figure out a solution. Rather 

than giving up and putting 

direct communication in the 

‘too hard basket,’ the potential 

return on investment makes 

getting it sorted worth it. 

Multi-channel storytelling 

Your business won’t have 

longevity in your sector unless 

your customers, stakeholders 

and community trust you. 

And you can’t build trust if the 

only messages they see in the 

market are ‘buy my products.’ 

One of the best ways to 

build trust is to tell stories 

about your business, your 

customers, your staff and the 

impact you are making on the 

marketplace and in your community. 

People want to see 

the stories behind the product 

or service you are selling. 

When you are consistent 

with your storytelling and use 

many different channels to get 

those stories in front of your 

audiences repeatedly, you’ll 

reap the reward of improved 

brand loyalty. 

Relationship development 

Strong and positive relationships 

are the backbone 

of any business, whether that 

be with your staff, customers, 

partners, suppliers, industry 

stakeholders, near-neighbours 

or others. 

If your relationships suffer, 

your revenues and profits will 

most likely dip too. 

The mistake many businesses 

make is expecting their 

key relationships to develop 

‘organically.’ This is erroneous 

thinking. 

Think of the most important 

relationships in your personal 

life - with your partner, 

kids, family. You need 

to invest time in these people 

so they realise you care. The 

same rules apply in business. 

So think about all your 

stakeholders and be proactive 

in developing ways to keep in 

touch and demonstrate your 

appreciation for the part they 

play in your business success. 

Tech talk with 

no tech talk 

In the often-befuddling world of software 

development, technical experts walk a fine line 

between showing that they understand the 

complexities of the hard stuff and taking their 

audience safely on the journey with them. 

TECH TALK 

BY VICKI JONES 

Proud to be part of the 

Cambridge Police 

Hub new build 

Tel: 07 849 9921 or email: hamilton@ckl.co.nz 

www.ckl.co.nz 

Did you know that you can 

now get a whole degree 

in ‘science communication’? 

The description for 

Otago University’s course says 

it can help you “Connect people 

with science through meaningful 

and creative communication”. 

What a genius idea, to develop 

that course of study, given how 

confusing scientific language can 

be. Well, the pandemic certainly 

showed us how hard it can be to 

explain highfalutin concepts to 

us mere mortals who don’t have 

a science education. 

Understanding the background 

and knowledge that your 

audience brings with them is 

obviously the important bit here. 

Over these last few years of working 

with the Company-X team, 

I’ve noticed the difference in how 

they communicate compared 

to others who seem to want to 

drown their audience in jargon. 

If developers are talking to fellow 

developers, they can go for their 

lives with the technical lingo, 

confident that they’ll understand 

each other. But even then, there’s 

an “approach with caution” 

warning on all discourse. 

No-one wants to come across 

as the arrogant “smartypants” 

in the room but, equally, clients 

need to be reassured that the 

team has the right level of technical 

expertise. If you’re literally 

talking the same language, the 

likelihood of what you’re saying 

getting lost in translation is much 

lower. 

But an awful lot of the conversations 

the Company-X 

people have with clients aren’t 

with people with deep software 

knowledge. They know what they 

need software to do for them but 

not the details of how to make it 

happen. After all, that’s why they 

contacted a specialist software 

company in the first place! 

It’s like when you go to your 

GP. Most of us don’t want the 

Latin names or Lancet-level terminology 

for whatever ails us. 

Personally, I’m more comfortable 

with a reassuringly simple 

description the puts my mind at 

rest that the Doc has identified 

it correctly, not the microbial 

detail. 

But there are some people, 

Vicki is the marketing manager 

at Waikato software specialist 

Company-X. 

of course, who want to know 

more details about the whys and 

wherefores, and the GP should, 

one would hope, be able to add 

that additional layer of explanation 

if and when the patient 

needs it. 

Part of relationship-building 

with a client is an honest 

and open discussion about genuine 

levels of technical knowledge. 

Whatever our business, we 

should pitch the way we talk at 

the right level for our clients to 

be able to feel confident in what 

we’re doing. There’s danger in 

making them feel inferior, the 

patronising effect of feeling like 

they’re being talked down to. 

A crucial strength in a software 

development team is knowing 

when to talk tech, and when 

to talk human. Successful teams 

appreciate that the need of every 

client differs and adapt the conversation 

to fit. What a relief - 

talking tech doesn’t have to be 

tech talk, after all.


The Business of Art 

Street performance morphs into 

creative business 

Exploring the creatives in the business of art 

When the Free Lunch 

Theatre Company 

started in 1999 

to provide income for street 

performers, there was little to 

hint that it would become an 

enduring business. 

At its helm today is creative 

director Sandra Jensen; in 

1993 she was a 16-year-old 

looking for a creative outlet and 

instead of ‘joining the circus’ 

she found the McGillicuddy 

Serious Party. 

Originating in Hamilton, 

the group used political satire 

street theatre to launch the 

absurdist party’s candidates, 

who stood for the first time in 

1983 to contest the local-body 

elections in Waikato, and 

made their last stand at the 

1999 general election. 

Sandra travelled around 

the country with the rag-tag 

group, inviting the populace to 

not take the political process 

too seriously through their 

performances. 

“Oh, we were kinda 

serious,” she says. 

The company was also 

known for their political protest 

theatre, including a stint 

against the redevelopment of 

Garden Place. 

A whole lot of 

us dressed 

as aliens with 

a UFO going 

down Victoria 

Street and then 

we had a mock 

battle with some 

stereotypical 

Hamiltonians. 

What started out as ‘a bit 

of fun’ aimed at providing 

humour and entertainment to 

lighten the election process, 

ended after a poor turnout 

at the 1999 elections and the 

party disbanded. 

“We were still doing weird 

and wonderful stuff, art for 

art’s sake. But the political 

side of McGillicuddy started to 

wane. Those who really were 

genuinely interested in politics 

got into parliament, like 

Nándor Tánczos and Metiria 

Turei,” Sandra says. 

The newly formed Free 

Lunch Theatre Company, 

however, continued and still 

operates today, providing 

exciting street performances 

to delight audiences at 

community and corporate 

events. 

“It was never meant to 

be a business but it got to 

the point where people were 

wanting to hire us and Mark 

Servian created Freelance 

Street Theatre Company as a 

way to provide income for the 

entertainers,” she says. 

There at the company’s 

inception, Sandra slowly took 

on more and more roles and 

responsibilities, and by 2004 

she was single-handedly 

running the show. 

It’s definitely a labour 

of love; like most creative 

entrepreneurs, Sandra works 

what she calls a ‘muggle’ job - a 

Harry Potter term to describe 

a person who lacks any sort 

of magical ability and was not 

born in a magical family. 

‘My muggle job pays the 

boring bills, like the rent and 

the food and the children’s 

school fees and keeping them 

clothed,” she says. 

Working fulltime as the 

enterprise coordinator at Go 

Eco in Hamilton, Sandra is 

likely to put as many magical 

hours into Free Lunch. 

“I don’t want to think 

about the number of hours. I 

definitely call it my side hustle. 

Although it is a fulltime job. I 

don’t know if it even feels like 

a job. It’s just what I do. And 

it just happens to occasionally 

make me some money,” she 

laughs. 

Known for their stilt 

walkers, human monuments 

and other fantastical street


Sandra Jensen 

Photo: Tony Mckay 

business; it’s a long way for 

the stilt walkers to fall, so 

training in the art of falling is 

a must. 

“We want to teach you to 

how to walk but we also have 

to teach you how to fall. That’s 

the scariest part. I went a good 

20 years before I fell for the 

first time while performing 

and I learned I can’t Limbo on 

stilts.” 

And Sandra is still on the 

‘tools’ after close to 25 years in 

the business; donning metrehigh 

stilts, full make-up, 

costume and a sassy attitude 

to match. 

“I’m not 50 yet so I think 

I’ve definitely got quite a few 

years left in me. As long as I 

maintain a good fitness level 

and don’t break myself,” she 

says. 

Like most businesses, Free 

Lunch has experienced many 

highs and lows, including the 

disruptions caused by COVID. 

“We were lucky, we 

managed to survive through 

COVID with the help of the 

resurgence grants and the fact 

that we are very, very frugal. 

We run on the smell of an oily 

rag.” 

Having weathered the 

pandemic storm, business is 

beginning to take off again for 

Free Lunch. 

“In the last six months, 

people have just gone - oh, 

we can do stuff again. But 

the only downside is they all 

decided to do it all at once and 

at the same time.” 

For some of the performers, 

all of whom have other jobs or 

study, it means two gigs a day, 

in different cities and more 

wrangling on Sandra’s part to 

ensure everyone is at the right 

event. 

The gigs Free Lunch book 

are varied, from corporate 

conferences and community 

events to birthdays, weddings 

and more. 

“We’ll do meet and greet at 

award nights or conferences. 

They usually theme their 

evening so recently I’ve 

been an American tourist 

with a gondola in Venice. 

That was hilarious. I’ve been 

Cinderella’s fairy godmother 

as a drinks trolley so I had all 

these drinks on my skirt.” 

A recent performance at 

the Special Olympics found 

a crack in, what Sandra calls, 

her non-sentimental heart. 

“One of the best gigs we’ve 

done lately was the Special 

Olympics opening ceremony, 

which really got me in the 

feels,” she laughs. 

“It was the most 

electrifying event. We were in 

a room full of hundreds of the 

happiest people in the world. 

And they’re also stoked to be 

there. That was just amazing.” 

Mostly, the artistic 

direction for the events is left 

to Sandra and she says the 

clients are never disappointed. 

“Very few people actually 

request a costume. But they’ll 

often say if they’ve got a theme 

and I’ve always got stuff for it.” 

performances, Free Lunch has 

an ever-evolving line-up of 

characters. 

Sandra likes to keep it 

fresh; she is the main costume 

designer and is constantly 

dreaming up weird and 

wonderful costumes to delight 

audiences. 

“I’m the one who’s putting 

the pressure on myself to 

create all these new costumes 

because I don’t like doing the 

same thing over and over. I 

think it’s boring. And people 

will just think - oh, this is what 

you do. I’m constantly creating 

new stuff because I want to be 

able to show our range and 

show that we are growing.” 

Making the costumes is 

one of the Free Lunch jobs 

she relishes and a costume 

can keep her working till all 

hours to make it just as she 

envisioned. 

“There’s definitely been 

quite a few times when I’ve 

been finishing off a costume 

the night before an event or 

a costume hasn’t worked out 

and I have to remake it. And 

then I just kick myself and go 

- actually I’ve got a shed full of 

costumes, I should just use one 

of those.” 

She’s lost count of the 

number of costumes she has 

made over the years; some she 

keeps, some get remodeled 

and some she sells to the Free 

Lunch performers. 

As well as being number one 

costume designer, Sandra is 

also chief artiste-wrangler with 

around 20 regular performers 

who contract to Free Lunch. 

It’s the Free Lunch admin 

that is a necessary evil. 

“I’m making sure everyone 

knows where they’re going 

and organising carpooling. 

And even now people are still 

getting affected by COVID 

periodically, so it’s always in 

the back of my mind and I need 

to have a plan B and C just in 

case someone is sick.” 

Taking care of the Free 

Lunch performers is serious


Growing unicorns – 

NZ’s changing startup 

& VC landscape 

Entrepreneurs may be the commercial heart of New Zealand, 

with the start-up sector is poised for hockey stick growth, but 

by international comparison, we still have a long way to go. 

Thanks to our ability to 

bootstrap ideas and 

disrupt stagnant industries, 

New Zealand has witnessed 

some remarkable success 

stories in the last five years. 

Some starts-up have gained 

unicorn status by surpassing 

the market capitalisation mark 

of $1 billion dollars with a few 

possibly reaching dragon status 

– surpassing $1B in a single 

raise. These include Predict 

HQ, Timely, ArchiPro, AllBirds, 

Harmoney, Red Shield, Petlife, 

Soul Machines, Hnry, Crimson 

Education, Vend, Vital, Xero, 

Unleashed and Rocket Lab. 

But compared with other 

countries, such as the US, Germany, 

the UK, Australia, Israel, 

and India, NZ is still in an emergent 

phase when it comes to how 

we support, fund, and develop 

new commercial ventures. 

NZ hasn’t seen the enormous 

wealth from successful start-ups 

that many of those countries have 

enjoyed over the last 20 years. 

So how can New Zealand 

foster new commercial ventures 

better and create more unicorns? 

What’s holding us back? 

The Downturn 

The current economic downturn 

is driving venture capitalists 

to cautiousness and conservatism. 

We have seen an end to 

the ‘easy money’ and the seemingly 

limitless supply of readily 

available capital of the last few 

years. 

The New Zealand start-up 

sector is well-positioned for significant 

growth, but there are 

now likely to be more checks and 

balances before an investment is 

made. 

The onus is on start-ups to 

get their house in order and 

demonstrate why they stand 

out from the crowd. People and 

emotions will play key roles in 

investors’ decision making, so 

getting the right advice is crucial. 

Fortunately, there is a wealth of 

accessible and affordable help 

now available. 

Experience and awareness 

Many early-stage companies 

don’t have a firm grasp on how 

the VC process works or how to 

attract the right investors, particularly 

during seed, series A, 

series B, and series C funding 

rounds. 

We have an opportunity to 

grow founders’ awareness of venture 

capital and private equity by 

making it easy and affordable for 

them to access information, support, 

and advice. 

Misconception 

We also need to challenge 

some of the preconceptions and 

stereotypes people hold about 

venture capitalists and demonstrate 

the valuable role investors 

play in helping entrepreneurs 

and our economy. 

Gone are the days when 

investors were out to beat founders 

down, and exercise control as 

quickly as possible. To be successful 

in venture capital today, 

investors understand the need 

to be a founder-friendly partner 

VENTURE CAPITAL 

BY PHIL TAYLOR 

Partner, Tompkins Wake 

who can invest, incubate, and 

incentivise their entrepreneurial 

partner. However, more 

recently, we have seen the balance 

swing back slightly towards 

investors. 

Venture capitalists recognise 

that terms need to be favourable 

for all parties. They understand 

the need to preserve incentives 

for founders, typically through a 

healthy shareholding. 

Attitude 

A lack of ambitious aspiration 

also hamstrings many 

Kiwi entrepreneurs. Many are 

quite happy to sell out for $20- 

30 million, buy their bach, 

boat and ford ranger ute and 

retire early. You must be pretty 

extraordinary to be the leader 

of a billion-dollar unicorn. But 

the reality is many institutional 

VC investors aren’t looking for 

a start-up that will just do well. 

They want unicorns. 

Market growth & maturity 

Despite all the challenges, 

now is the perfect time to 

establish a start-up. The venture 

capital landscape has changed 

over the last four to five years, 

influenced by growth in the 

number of venture capital funds 

and increasing maturity in the 

market. And it’s been good news 

for start-ups. 

In 2002, the New Zealand 

Government issued funds 

through New Zealand Growth 

Capital Partners NZGCP, making 

$300 million available to the 

start-up market. This was a real 

tonic for the sector and made 

it easier for start-ups to find 

investor money in New Zealand, 

rather than looking offshore. 

Today, we have more than 

65 active funds, which has seen 

investment in the start-up market 

grow by more than five times 

over the last 20 years. 

NZGCP’s funds gave the 

market time to grow and mature 

to the point where it is now 

self-supporting. The influx of 

international funds that have 

come into New Zealand combined 

with investment by homegrown 

funds demonstrates 

the durability of our start-up 

ecosystem. 

Our talent and innovation 

will continue to be drawcards 

for foreign VCs, as will our high 

education standards and ‘no 

corruption’ status. 

We have seen several large 

venture capital funds mature 

from a typical initial size of say 

$10 million fund size to up to 

$250 million. They now have 

cash to reinvest and appreciate 

the benefits of their previous 

experiences, particularly during 

tough times. 

The need for ‘Smart 

Money’ 

While venture capitalists are 

looking for the right start-up, 

entrepreneurs also need to 

make sure they’re partnering 

with the right VC. We call it 

‘smart money’, and it is largely 

about being satisfied with the 

following three things: 

• Knowledge & connections: 

VCs with a deep knowledge 

of their particular sector. 

Think of someone who can 

facilitate connections with 

suppliers, help recruit the talent 

the business needs, and 

offer structured training and 

support. 

• Deep pockets: VCs with deep 

pockets and the ability to help 

with follow-on funding. This 

could be through their own 

fund or other funds they can 

tap into. As we head further 

into an economic downturn, 

start-ups will need larger 

cheques at later stages, and 

funds to tide them over to the 

next round. 

• People first approach: VCs 

who know how to put people 

first and can help avoid 

founder burnout. Successful 

VCs understand the importance 

of putting people first. 

Forget the accounting and 

finance metrics. It’s all about 

the people - looking after 

them is not just the right 

thing to do, it’s good business. 

LEVEL 1, 131 VICTORIA STREET 

120 SQM PRIME COMMERCIAL OPPORTUNITY 

IN THE HEART OF HAMILTON’S HOSPITALITY 

For Lease 

Directly opposite the new Waikato Regional Theatre 

development, this newly renovated, character filled 

commercial property is surrounded by award winning 

hospitality with spectacular views over the south end of 

Victoria Street. Close to excellent parking options and the 

Waikato Museum – Te Whare Taonga O Waikato. 

This impressive vacancy is a blank canvas for a new tenant 

wanting to locate amongst the action of Hamilton’s nightlife 

and zoned for City Centre under the Hamilton City Council 

Operative Plan. 120 sqm of office space with a small 

kitchenette area located at the rear of the building. This 

property is available now. 

MIKE NEALE 

027 451 5133 

mike.neale@naiharcourts.co.nz 

RA PIRIPI 

021 838 887 

ra.piripi@naiharcourts.co.nz 

MONARCH COMMERCIAL LTD MREINZ 

LICENSED REAL ESTATE AGENT (REAA 2008) 

Cnr Victoria & London Streets, Hamilton 07 850 5252 

Further Information Available - Enquire now


1 The Boulevard, Te Rapa Hamilton | (07) 838 1249 

THE ALL-NEW 7-SEAT 

Discover the Wildly Civilised, all-new, 7-seat, Jeep Grand Cherokee L. New refined interiors and exceptional 

technology combined with legendary Jeep 4x4 capability and seven-seat SUV versatility. Experience the new 

wild side of luxury with Jeep. To learn more, visit jeep.co.nz. Book your Jeep Grand Cherokee L test drive today.


No matter the property 

We’ve got you covered. 

Hamilton’s No.1 Real Estate Team 

LODGE.CO.NZ

After months of declining house prices, the Hamilton property 

market has “found its floor” according to a local property expert. 


Property market finds its floor; 

Hamilton house prices stabilising 

Thanks to an equalising 

market, house prices 

are reaching a stable 

footing due to a combination 

of appropriate asking prices 

and buyers acting quickly, 

Lodge Real Estate Managing 

Director Jeremy O’Rourke 

says. 

“Sales figures are showing 

us that a sense of urgency has 

picked up in the market, and 

we’re no longer seeing the 

‘wait and see’ attitude among 

buyers that was common in 

the past few months, where 

buyers were hesitant to put 

in an offer just in case house 

prices fell further.” 

“However we’re not seeing 

that steep price fall like we 

did last year when housing 

volume was declining at the 

same time. 

Sales in Hamilton are 

currently sitting at a median 

of $760,000 to $780,000, 

with REINZ figures nationally 

show the median house price 

at $762,000. 

The lesson for 

buyers here is if 

you see value in 

a property, take 

the opportunity 

to buy, otherwise 

someone else will 

also see the value 

and act quicker 

than you. 

Jeremy says previous firsthome 

buyers are releasing 

and buying up into their next 

property, which is increasing 

the supply of homes suitable 

for the first home market, 

with first-home buyers now 

accounting for 30% of the 

market. 

Lodge Real Estate Managing Director Jeremy O’Rourke 

“As those previous firsthome 

buyers are selling their 

homes and moving up a price 

bracket, we’re now seeing a 

rise in houses being sold in 

the $1 million to $1.5 million 

range. This is particularly 

evident in the northeast 

suburbs of Hamilton.” 

He says vendors selling 

within the $1-$1.5M price 

range are receiving multiple 

offers, with sales in this 

bracket accounting for 

around 16% of current market 

sales. 

Jeremy is also predicting 

a more active April than 

usual as buyers keep tabs on 

the market in order to jump 

when the right opportunity 

presents. 

“Traditionally April is a 

slower month with public 

holidays and school holidays, 

with buyers taking a bit of a 

rest. But with the interest 

we’ve been fielding lately it’s 

possible April could remain 

quite busy. 

“March is on track to 

achieve just over 200 house 

sales across Hamilton, which 

is a volume level the market 

hasn’t seen since November 

2022. 

Raglan Food Co tops 

Dairy Free awards 

The fourth annual Dairy Free Awards, which highlight and 

showcase the best of New Zealand’s available plant-based 

dairy alternatives were recently announced. 

Run by The Vegan Society 

NZ, the awards cover six 

categories of fully plantbased 

products: ice cream, 

milk, cream, desserts, yoghurt 

and butter. 

Waikato dairy free producer 

Raglan Food Co were top 

favourites in the yoghurt 

category, winning with their 

Vanilla Bean, while their 

Natural Greek-Style came 

second. 

Raglan Food Co head of 

marketing Sarah Phillipps says 

their Vanilla Bean and Natural 

Greek-Style are top performers 

and incredibly popular. 

“It’s always super to get this 

feedback and recognition. 

“We feel really strongly 

that our yoghurts are as good 

for the planet as they are for 

people’s tastebuds. 

Raglan Food Co has been 

topping the yoghurt category 

for the Dairy Free awards since 

its inception in 2020. 

The company started 

life there in 2014 as Raglan 

Coconut Yoghurt whipping 

up their signature dairy free 

yoghurt at the Raglan Old 

We want to 

inspire more 

people to 

incorporate 

plant-based 

foods into their 

diets and we feel 

we can do that 

if our products 

are deliciously 

tasty and made 

from simple 

ingredients. 

School Arts Centres’ certified 

community kitchen. 

Founders Seb Walter and 

Tesh Randall stumbled upon 

what they thought was the 

tastiest vegan coconut yoghurt 

after experimenting in their 

home kitchen. 

Since that time, they moved 

to purpose-built premises at 

Nau Mai and morphed into 

Raglan Food Co. 

They ventured into new 

territory with an array of 

flavoured coconut yoghurts, 

and in 2021 they launched kefir 

smoothies and Vegan Mayo 

and Vegan Aioli. 

The kefir smoothies proved 

popular, with the natural 

variety taking out the ‘Drink 

Champion Award’ in the 2021 

Outstanding Food Producer 

Awards, and the other flavours 

winning silver and gold medals. 

Producing a wider range 

of products, Raglan Food Co 

employs 30 staff from around 

Whāingaroa and sell their 

products across New Zealand 

and overseas. 

These days Kiwi consumers 

are acutely aware of the 

environmental consequences 

of their choices, with many 

Dairy Free Awards’ product 

nominees based on oats, 

though coconut was also very 

popular. The top ice creams 

were both on a stick, proving 

that Kiwis love to eat on the 

go, the Magnum Almond 

Dairy Free was a clear winner, 

with the Kapiti Chocolate 

Boysenberry a close run 

second. 

“There were 37 different ice 

cream flavours nominated! It’s 

wonderful to see the increasing 

number of dairy-free products 

out there, proving the market 

is booming and the public’s 

appetite for plant-based is 

growing. Our awards set a 

high bar for companies to 

step up to, providing quality 

Kiwi products available to all.” 

Vegan Society spokesperson 

Claire Insley says. 

“The winners are 

delighted to be shown they 

are the nation’s favourite! We 

encourage more companies to 

offer great NZ produced plantbased 

foods. As a nation we 

need to be more self-sufficient 

and there is no reason we 

cannot grow all our own plants 

for these fabulous products.” 

Meanwhile for the plant 

milks, Boring Oat again 

produced a winner with their 

deliciously creamy Barista Oat 

and runner up was their Boring 

Oat Milk! Not boring at all for 

this Kiwi company. Another 

year of winning under the belt 

for Takapuna company Vutter, 

who won the Butter category, 

with Olivani original coming a 

close runner up. 

New to the Dairy Free 

Awards were the Dessert 

and Cream categories. Little 

Island came out top with their 

delicious Cashew Cream, 

European favourite, Alpro 

came in second with their Soy 

Cream Single. The time has 

come for vegan desserts to 

receive their own category, to 

mark the number of delicious 

and dairy-free alternatives 

there are in all spheres of food 

produce. Damn Good Food Co 

were the winners with their 

delicious Salted Caramel, a 

damn fine dessert, if ever there 

was one! Sara Lee brand Joy 

were the runners up with their 

amazing Key Lime Pie 

Kiwis overwhelmingly 

support locally produced foods, 

so it’s no surprise most of the 

award winners were well loved 

Kiwi brands. With the recent 

devastating storms hitting 

the North Island and more 

to come, we must act now to 

mitigate our carbon emissions. 

The Vegan Society offers 

resources for those wishing 

to take up plant-based eating 

to help the environment, 

improve their health and show 

compassion for the animals. 

For the full results check 

out vegansociety.org.nz/ 

nz-dairy-free-awards/


Wintec design graduate finds 

her niche working with clay 

A tutor introduced Bachelor of Design graduate Brogan Houghton to 

local business Mystery Creek Ceramics during her final year at Wintec. 

Now, thanks to that 

connection and her 

growing interest in 

clay, Houghton is employed 

there as a studio potter. 

“One workshop and I was 

hooked,” Brogan Houghton 

says after her first encounter 

with clay. 

The designer-turned-potter 

first attended a pottery wheel 

workshop with her brother 

which ignited a passion for the 

medium. 

But it didn’t all click 

into place immediately for 

Houghton. This Hamilton local 

had no idea what to do after 

finishing secondary school, 

she was good at math and 

focused on playing sports (she 

even represented New Zealand 

for Water Polo in Greece,) 

however, skilled as she was, 

she knew that was not her true 

calling. 

After school she worked at 

a pharmacy giving herself the 

time to ensure she was heading 

in the right direction for her 

future. 

“If I had gone into study 

straight after high school it 

would have been business or 

accounting,” Houghton says. 

She wasn’t “out-there 

creative at high school”, but 

she did study the arts and 

that inclination gave her the 

grounding to head in a creative 

direction. 

“I wanted to focus on design, 

I enjoy the digital side of design 

and I like the process,” she says, 

which is why she signed up for 

the Wintec Bachelor of Design 

(Visual Communication) in 

2018. Little did she know at 

the time that her three-year 

design degree would lead her to 

a career in pottery. 

A few of her assignments 

with open-ended briefs gave 

her enough free reign to bring 

her love of pottery into the 

process. 

“For one of my freelance 

projects, I developed a design 

brand for my pottery.” 

It was during a conversation 

with a tutor she learnt of 

an opportunity to work for 

Mystery Creek Ceramics, a 

Waikato ceramic business 

recently founded by Alex 

Wilkinson. 

“I started working for Alex 

when my degree came to an 

end. But I wasn’t completely 

new to clay, I’ve been working 

with clay and knew some of the 

processes,” she says. 

But of course, there was a 

steep learning curve to develop 

all the skills required of a 

studio potter. 

“On the job I’ve developed 

new skills in hand building, 

staining the clay, the process 

of Nerikomi, loading kilns and 

glazing - everything!” 

Houghton describes her 

work day as having a lot of 

production elements and a 

I do what I love 

and get paid for 

it. There’s not a 

lot of jobs to be 

employed as a 

maker like this. 

lot of repetition. The four-day 

week sees her doing many 

different jobs and her skills 

have gone from strength to 

strength. 

There’s a rising demand for 

handmade products, she says 

“I think people want 

something that’s a one-off. 

Unique. There are different 

markets for different pottery 

out there.” 

Houghton also teaches a 

class at the Waikato Society 

Brogan Houghton 

of Potters and has her own 

eponymous brand where she 

sells her unique pieces. 

She said that her design 

degree has proved to be 

essential. 

“It’s been so helpful 

because I have the skills and 

ability to do some of my own 

photography and then do all 

my own design and product 

design.” 

Te Pūkenga design team 

manager Julie Ashby says that 

an education in design can 

be a good base for students, 

providing them with skills 

that are transferable across 

disciplines. 

“The degree teaches 

students how to develop 

and refine an initial concept 

through to the development 

phase and into completion, 

this approach can be applied to 

many areas outside the purely 

visual communication field of 

work, turning design reality 

into 3d objects,” Ashby says. 

Houghton’s advice to 

students in their final year: 

“Do what you love and 

stick to it. Connect with people 

and keep your eyes open for 

opportunities,” she says. 

“Because sometimes your 

career direction isn’t as linear 

as you’d think.” 

Oceanography researcher recognised 

for making waves around the world 

With a sea captain for a grandfather and childhood summers spent around the 

sea, it’s no surprise that Professor Karin Bryan was drawn to studying the deep 

blue. A passion for maths and physics led the University of Waikato Professor 

to physical oceanography. 

Professor Bryan is one of the new Royal Society Te Apārangi Ngā Ahurei a Te Apārangi Fellows. She has 

been honoured for her research on estuarine processes, coastal morphodynamics, and climate-driven 

variability in waves, which has gained international recognition over a period of more than 20 years. 

“I like to think it is the most challenging because of the complexity of our coastline and the immediate 

impact on coastal communities, and in turn, our impact on coastal ecosystems.” 

Professor Bryan says climate change is a game changer for an already complex discipline. 

“It is really hard to provide useful information in such an uncertain environment. The focus was first on 

the slow onset hazard of sea level rise, but these massive events of the last few months are making it even 

harder to visualise the future. There is no time to perfect a theory or model anymore, we need to learn and 

improve really quickly to be able to help.” 

The recognition that comes with the Fellowship also comes with a reminder for Professor Bryan. 

“I think for my research it will remind me to focus on fewer but higher quality (and, most importantly, 

more useful) outcomes,” she says. 

It’s also a prompt to keep working with the next generation. As Dean of Te Mata Kairangi School of 

Graduate Research, Professor Bryan is committed to demonstrating the value of graduate study in creating 

useful knowledge for society. 

“This year I want to focus on helping students get real value out of their university experience. It sounds 

corny, but to show that universities still have a place in creating useful knowledge for societies.” 

Her world-leading work in the oceanography of the coastal ocean and recent announcement following the 

rigorous election process for Royal Society Fellows are testament to that value. 

Ngā Ahurei a Te Apārangi Fellows are recognised by the Royal Society Te Apārangi for their distinction in 

research and advancement of science, technology or the humanities. They are world leaders in their area of 

research and scholarship.


Businesses may need to plan for 

challenges as a result of continued 

headwinds - where can they start? 

Businesses are facing numerous and ever-changing headwinds - persistently high 

inflation, increasing costs and interest rates, and labour shortages may mean that 

some businesses feel the challenges are monumental. 

Additionally, some have 

been impacted by the 

widespread disruption 

and damage following the 

recent adverse weather events 

including Cyclone Gabrielle 

and Auckland flooding. 

While many will be 

fortunate to continue trading 

despite the challenges faced, 

others might not. 

They’ll be facing challenges 

such as whether they can 

source material necessary 

to manufacture goods. Or if 

their usual roading network 

will support distribution 

channels. Which crop, if any, 

can be salvaged after the 

floods. Whether they have 

sufficient staffing resources 

available to meet the current 

demands of their business. 

At times like these, 

directors and boards will find 

natural tensions between 

dealing with the operational 

aspects of their businesses 

and the adherence to fiduciary 

duties. If a business is facing 

financial difficulties, directors 

need to be aware of the 

options available to help and, 

at the same time, understand 

their legal obligations. At a 

minimum, ensuring financial 

records are accurate and up to 

date and proactively engaging 

with key stakeholders, such as 

banks, creditors and IRD, is 

key to any recovery plan. 

However, there are other 

restructuring processes that 

are designed to facilitate 

boards in these situations. 

Voluntary Administration 

(VA) is a formal insolvency 

process, whereby an 

independent Licensed 

Insolvency Practitioner is 

appointed to help resolve 

financial and operational 

issues. It’s a rehabilitative 

restructuring process, 

intended to create time 

and space for a restructure 

proposal to be presented to 

creditors, with the ultimate 

outcome being that a 

business survives and avoids 

liquidation. 

A moratorium period, 

preventing creditors from 

taking action or enforcing 

securities, provides the 

required breathing space for 

boards and their advisors 

to take the time needed 

to assess all options and 

make recommendations for 

creditors. For directors, a 

VA provides protection from 

personal liability for insolvent 

trading. 

VAs can be costly by virtue 

of the fact they are quite a 

prescriptive process with 

various statutory creditors 

meetings to be held, and a 

detailed proposal required 

for creditors. In the right 

circumstances, an alternative 

might be to undertake a 

formal or informal creditor 

compromise. A compromise 

is a deal with some or 

all creditors wherein the 

company pays back some or 

all of the debt owing over a 

period of time - which can 

be beneficial from a cash 

flow perspective. However, 

it does not provide the same 

level of protection as a VA for 

directors. 

In both options, creditors 

should expect a better 

outcome than if the company 

simply entered liquidation. 

VAs and compromises 

are powerful tools which 

maximise the opportunity for 

businesses, or parts thereof, 

to return to a sustainable 

position and continue trading. 

BUSINESS IN THE 

WAIKATO 

BY JUDITH SHIELDS 

Associate Director, 

Advisory, PwC 

Ultimately the devil 

is in the detail, and the 

decision on what is best for a 

business needs to be carefully 

considered. 

At PwC, we know that 

business restructuring is a 

sensitive and trying time for 

any owner – one in which the 

future of your hard-earned 

business is at stake. We focus 

on delivering what needs to 

be done, having those tough, 

realistic conversations with 

you, and recovering your 

business. It costs nothing to 

get to know us, and we want 

to play a part in keeping Kiwi 

companies fighting fit. 

Take control of your future. 

Buy your own business. 

0800 225 999 

LINKBUSINESS.CO.NZ 

$5m Profits! Superb Import/Wholesale B2B 

Auckland 

· 30+ loyal, highly capable staff spanning 

warehousing and sales 

· Several long-term local and overseas 

supplier relationships 

· Incredible and high-quality product 

range in a fragmented industry 

· Significant barriers to entry present 

from certifications through to MOQ 

$19,500,000 

Excellent repeat revenue from blue-chip reseller 

customers. High calibre C-suite and management 

team with 70+ years experience. Enquiries from 

interested parties and their professional advisors 

are invited. This will be a buyer-friendly sale process 

with early access to management, site visits, and a 

populated data room. 

linkbusiness.co.nz/LE00079 

Jeremy Pak 021 199 7760 

jeremy.pak@linkbusiness.co.nz 

Manufacturing. $1.3m Profits. $3,900,000 


· Long legacy, amazing staff and culture 

· Great systems ensuring efficiency 

· Already set up for transition to new owner 

· Clear niche, enjoys contract work and 

significant pipeline if business into the future 

· Booked out until mid 2024 

linkbusiness.co.nz/LE00091 

Martin Plom 021 051 5507 

martin.plom@linkbusiness.co.nz 

Booming B2B, $1 Million+ Profit $3,200,000 


· Strong demand for services 

· Skilled staff, fully managed 

· Multiple locations 

· Growth prospects 

· Operating exclusively in the B2B market with a 

nationwide reach 

Civil Construction & Drainage 


· Market Value of Assets 2 Million 

· Diversified income streams 

· Experienced and qualified staff 

· Approx. $4 million of forward work 

$EOI 

Engineering – Semi Managed $1,051,000 


· Design and fabrication of a huge variety of items 

in the food processing and dairy industries 

· Solid reputation, capacity for growth 

· Well setup premises 

· Average earnings $290k to working owner 

· Operates efficiently, small team 

linkbusiness.co.nz/BOP00597 

Roger Brockelsby 027 919 5478 

roger.brockelsby@linkbusiness.co.nz 

linkbusiness.co.nz/WK00306 

Scott Miller 027 301 6543 

scott.miller@linkbusiness.co.nz 


Rick Johnson 021 991 485 

rick.johnson@linkbusiness.co.nz 

Signage Business $680,000 


· 2022FY sales $1M+, $300K to owner operator 

· Well-established business in Waikato Region 

· Experienced team, exceptional reputation 

· Loyal client base, growth potential 


Rick Johnson 021 991 485 

rick.johnson@linkbusiness.co.nz 

Busy Café $295,000 

Waikato/Hauraki 

· Established & busy café, solid reputation 

· Great Location, ample parking, low rent 

· Operationally managed by staff 

· Lovely premises, big growth potential 

· Opportunity to grow business value 


Lynda Smyth 021 270 4271 

lynda.smyth@linkbusiness.co.nz 

Best In The West! $595,000 


· Established eatery & bar, impeccable reputation 

· Easy operation, fully licensed, modern kitchen 

· $250K Profit to owner operator in 2022FY 

· Long-term lease, prominent location 


Therese Bailey 021 289 0949 

therese.bailey@linkbusiness.co.nz 

Franchise Mobile Service $195,000 


· Excellent earning potential. 

· Exclusive territory Hamilton & West Waikato 

· The business comes with one fully stocked sign 

written vans with all the tools required. 

· High level of customer demand in a bottomless 

evergreen market 


Grant Jacobson 027 454 0432 

grant.jacobson@linkbusiness.co.nz 

Cabinetmaker Business $350,000 


· Profitable business, niche market 

· Excellent reputation 

· Popular location, little competition, skilled staff 

· Owner operator seeing $130K returns 

· Strong lease, large workshop 


Therese Bailey 021 289 0949 

therese.bailey@linkbusiness.co.nz 

Superette In Desirable Location $110,000 


· Well-established business, FMCG opportunity 

· Easily managed operation, desirable location 

· Weekly sales approx. $9K 

· No staff, loyal clientele 

· Fantastic opportunity to get into FMCG 


Scott Miller 027 301 6543 

scott.miller@linkbusiness.co.nz 

All LINK NZ offices are licensed REAA 2008

““Fosters’ communication 

skills and proactive 

approach sets them 

apart. They didn’t just 

come to us with problems, 

they came with solutions.” 

” 

Hatish Padharia, Project Manager 

for Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand 

Staff members have a bigger, brighter workplace, 

patients have easy access to purpose-built facilities 

and the automatic doors the nurses had been 

hankering after for 10 years are finally installed. 

Fosters eight-month refurbishment of the Waikato 

Regional Diabetes Centre at 26 Clarence St in 

Hamilton was a resounding success. 

Fosters Maintain team carried out the diabetes 

centre revamp in 2022, building new consulting 

rooms, upgrading existing facilities, installing a new 

phlebotomy lab and toilet and relocating podiatry 

rooms. 

Charge nurse manager Vikki Lowe-Reid worked 

closely with the Fosters team over that time and was 

blown away by their friendliness and professionalism. 

“The communication was outstanding,” she said. 

“Almost every day we would sit down with the 

Fosters project manager and figure out how to make 

all these renovations happen while keeping the 

centre functioning around staff and patients. We sort 

of became a left and right team and I think that’s why 

this project was so successful.” 

She was also impressed with Fosters’ local subcontractors, 

who were respectful and sensitive to 

those around them. 

“It’s a live site and for all of the contractors it would 

have been very, very difficult because they can’t just 

shut an area off and go for it,” Vikki said. “They had 

to mind a lot of things and they did very well.” 

Hatish Padharia from Perficio Consultants Ltd, 

appointed by Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand 

Waikato to manage the upgrade, agreed that project 

management was a key factor in the project’s 

success. 

“Fosters’ communication skills and proactive 

approach sets them apart,” he said. 

“They didn’t just come to us with problems, they 

came with solutions.” 

FOSTERS.CO.NZ . 07 849 3849

Waikato Business News March/April 2023

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?