Profit 28 February- April 2017 issu

INSPIRING BUSINESS IN HAWKE'S BAY

FEBRUARY - APRIL 2017

THE

Mike Toogood – aeromedical pioneer BEN WARREN

Supercharging healthy living

WINEWORKS

A vintage HB business

VIV BULL

No bull from Port leader

GM FREE

Battlelines drawn

Backed by BDO

www.bdo.nz

Backing Hawke’s Bay Business BDO Central, Chartered Accountants & Business Advisors

At BDO, we believe there is no substitute for local presence, experience and insight. That’s what you get with BDO, backed by the depth and breadth of resources you only find at a leading global accounting firm. If you’re looking for an exceptional local adviser, with the backing of a national and international network, then BDO Napier is the perfect firm for you.

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CONTENTS

Business Hub | Hawkes Bay

INSPIRING BUSINESS IN HAWKE'S BAY

FEBRUARY - APRIL 2017

THE

LOCAL

WE’RE LIKE YOU

Spark’s Hawkes Bay Business Hub is a local business like you. We’ll come to you, giving you a dedicated business communications expert and regular tech checks to ensure you have the right solutions for your business.

PRO FEATURES WineWorks expands Ben Warren, a man on a mission Startup search begins Mike Toogood – Aeromedical pioneer Repair Shop hits 100 years Be Dazzled – a new apple variety GM Free battlefields drawn

CALL SPARK BUSINESS HUB HAWKES BAY FOR A FREE 30 MINUTE TECH CHECK

0800 482 422

BEN WARREN

Supercharging healthy living

SPA2594

8-9 10-12 16 20-23 24-25 28-29 30-31

Mike Toogood – aeromedical pioneer

SPA2594 Hawkes Bay Hub The Profit A4 Press Ad FA.indd 1

14/10/16 10:27 AM

WINEWORKS

A vintage HB business

VIV BULL

No bull from Port leader

GM FREE

Battlelines drawn

Cover photo by Melissa Mills

PRO EXPERTS 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40

Pro Primary by Brent Paterson Pro Finance by Tobias Taylor Pro RMA by Cameron Drury Pro IT by Simon Fletcher Pro Education by EIT Pro HR by Kimberly McKay Pro Legal by Edward Bostock Pro Property by Paul Harvey Pro Business by Jess Radich

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20-23

24-25

28-29

PRO REGULARS 4-5 6-7

Pro HB – What’s happening in the Bay Pro Q & A Viv Bull

BUSINESS PROFILES 14-15 22

Createus Group Laser Electrical

FEBRUARY - APRIL 2017

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EDITORIAL Hastings – the Premium Foodbowl of New Zealand Ngāti Kahunugunu chairman Ngahiwi Tomoana, former All Black captain Taine Randell, and organic grower John Bostock are among high profile leaders from Hawke’s Bay, Auckland and Northland who have joined the campaign to keep Hastings GM Free.

effectively the market standard for premium foods. Across Europe and Asia, people want GM Free food and are prepared to pay for it.

Hastings District was the first in New Zealand to secure GM Free food producer status under the local plan, but this is now under threat.

Farmers and growers who want to keep Hawke’s Bay’s productive land GM Free say they embrace science and are keenly interested in innovation that makes their businesses more efficient and sustainable.

Hastings once known as the Fruitbowl of New Zealand, branding that was done away with several years ago, has a real opportunity with GM Free status to take the position as the Premium Foodbowl of New Zealand.

The demand for GM Free products in the US and in Europe is exploding, according to John Bostock, who is New Zealand’s largest organic grower.

Last year two of the US’s best known food companies, General Mills and Mars announced they will label all products containing GM ingredients.

In two years, launches of GM Free products in the US have grown at a rate of 262% – around 2,000 a year.

Hawke’s Bay producers are well placed to meet this growing demand given that our region’s fields are free of GM crops.

Editor Damon Harvey damon@theprofit.co.nz

The US is not the only market where GM Free food is now

That is why maintaining GM Free status is vital to attracting top dollar for Hawke’s Bay food products.

Science and innovation is imperative to running successful agricultural businesses, which are the backbone of the Hawke’s Bay economy – creating jobs and economic opportunities for the community.

A political stand off is now in place. Councils such as Hastings, Northland and Auckland are fighting for GM Free Status, meanwhile, the Government is pulling out all stops to prevent Hawke’s Bay and other regions from protecting their GM Free status by changing the RMA. Just before Christmas, the Maori Party took a stand that is hugely important for Hawke’s Bay. The Party told environment minister, Nick Smith it does not support giving him new powers under the RMA if he can use them to prevent Hawke’s Bay and other regions from creating GM Free Food producer zones.

The Maori Party’s move is vital.

Smith wants to stop our region from creating opportunities to increase the brand value and reputation of the products we export – despite the evident economic benefits of GM Free status and the overwhelming community support for this position.

Defending our region’s ability to be GM Free in law has been a long and unnecessary fight, given the position makes perfect economic sense for our high-value food producing region and keeps options open for Hawke’s Bay producers.

We should all join Ngahiwi.

Taine, John and others.

Go to page 26 for more about the GM Free fight. Also visit www.pur ehawkesbay.org to view the video asking the government to protect our rights as regions to be GM Free.

Also in the issue we meet up with Mike Toogood who has built an aviation business that saves hundreds of lives throughout New Zealand and the Pacific Islands every year.

See pages 20-23.

Ben Warren is building a healthy eating & living revolution from Hawke’s Bay. Ben’s business BePure is growing at a rapid pace from Havelock North. See pages 10-13.

Got a great story? Then let us know. Email me at: damon@theprofit.co.nz

EDITOR/PUBLISHER: Damon Harvey 06 878 3196, 021 2886 772, damon@theprofit.co.nz, Twitter – @profithb

THE PROFIT is independently owned by Attn! Marketing PR and is published four times a year. Copyright ©2012: ATTN! Marketing PR

CONTRIBUTORS: Simon Fletcher, Sarah Thornton, Jess Radich, Paul Harvey, Brent Paterson, Kimberly McKay, Catherine Wedd, Edward Bostock, Cameron Drury, Catherine Wedd, Amy Shanks and Anna Lorck.

All material appearing in THE PROFIT is copyright and cannot be reproduced without prior

ADVERTISING SALES: Kem Ormond; sales@theprofit.co.nz, 027 272 4470

care and diligence has been taken to ensure accuracy, no responsibility will be taken by the

PHOTOGRAPHY: Julia Jameson, Damon Harvey, Amy Shanks

publishers for inaccurate information or for any consequences of reliance on this information.

DESIGN: Julia Jameson PRINTING: FORMAT DISTRIBUTOR: Reach Media SUBSCRIPTION ENQUIRIES: sales@theprofit.co.nz

permission from the publisher. Neither editorial opinions expressed nor facts stated in advertisements are necessarily agreed to by the editor/publisher of The Profit. While all due

ATTN! Marketing PR p 06 878 3196 | f 06 878 3194 | www.attn.co.nz PO Box 8809, Havelock North 4157 Vol 28 • February - April 2017 ISSN 2253-5292

SUBSCRIBE TODAY AND BE THE FIRST TO READ ABOUT YOUR REGION! 878 3196 2

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FEBRUARY - APRIL 2017

HAVELOCK NORTH 266 Blackbarn Road New Year, New Agenda Rarely does a remarkable property of this calibre with views of the ocean, Mt Ruapehu and ranges beyond become available. 'High Ridge' has been designed without compromise. Enjoy superb views from every aspect of the home. The location is spectacular. Now is the time for new owners to reap the rewards. This easy living home is ready to enjoy.

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PRO HB

Key Appointments

EV Highway underway

Carolyn Neville is Business Hawke’s Bay’s new marketing and operations manager. Carolyn is responsible for developing and implementing marketing initiatives and operational oversight for both BHB, the region’s business-led economic development agency, and the key local initiative, the Ahuriri-based HB Business Hub. Carolyn has strong relationships with businesses, BHB stakeholders and other organisations resident at the Business Hub having just completed a year-long project to enhance business connectivity between Hawke’s Bay, the rest of New Zealand, and beyond.

Alister King has been appointed the Matariki Programme Manager. This new position has been created on behalf of the region to ensure that Matariki – Hawke’s Bay Regional Economic Strategy and Action Plan 2016, is implemented for the benefit of the region.

Alister has held senior management positions within both small and large export organisations and has recently completed a Doctorate in Business Administration.

Banking and investment specialist Stephen Moir has been appointed as non-executive director at Napier Port.

Stephen brings an extensive background in institutional banking and financial markets, having held senior roles with Westpac Institutional Bank, Credit Suisse and Citibank overseas.

Stephen is an independent non-executive director on the board of BNZ, chair of the advisory board to the Victoria University Chair of Business in Asia, and director of The Guardians of the New Zealand Superannuation Fund. He replaces John Loughlin, who retired by rotation at the AGM after serving 12 years on the board.

Unison Group will create an EV highway between Taupo and Napier, which has been conditionally approved for funding from the Low Emission Vehicles Contestable Fund.

Unison will receive Government support to install two fast chargers on the ‘Thermal Explorer Highway’ route between Taupo and Napier said chief executive Ken Sutherland.

“The Napier-Taupo highway is a key transport link between Central North Island and Hawke’s Bay, and a popular tourist route,” says Ken. “This project will mean EV drivers – residents and visitors alike - won’t have to worry about finding a charging station along the 140km stretch of road. This is great news for our network regions.”

Unison has been active in supporting the uptake of EVs, recently committing to converting 30 percent of its corporate fleet to electric vehicles in the next three years, and commissioned three charging stations across its network last year.

“We’ve been really happy with the uptake of our existing charging stations,” he said.

“Just over six months after the first Power Park was launched, collectively the chargers have had over 800 fast-charging sessions in total and delivered 7,300 kWh of electricity.

Ken added the company planned to commission the two charging stations along the Napier-Taupo Road by June, and also has another planned for Taupo this year.

EV charging stations are already in Napier in the carpark next to the Quest Hotel, 206 Dickens Street, Rotorua in the public carpark at 1134 Haupapa Street and in Hastings at the Hastings District Council carpark at 100 Queen Street West.

TAKING CARE OF OUR ENVIRONMENT AND OUR ECONOMY REQUIRES

PARTNERSHIP We foster strong connections with the community Resource Consent Advice and Planning Transport Planning • Pollution Control • Biodiversity Online Irrigation Data • Water Management Want to know more?

(06) 835 9200 / www.hbrc.govt.nz www.youtube.com/HBRegionalCouncil

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HB

Biggest roading project in 15 years starts The Whakatu Arterial Link road, connecting State Highway 2 (SH2) with Pakowhai Rd will be opened by late 2018.

It is the largest road project in Hawke’s Bay since the construction of the Napier-Hastings Expressway in 2002.

As well as making transport of fresh produce across the district more streamlined, the finished road will take heavy trucks off the residential streets of Whakatu, making them safer for families.

Main contractor Higgins has started work at the SH2 end, near the Napier Rd turnoff while Unison is also on site, putting in the ground works for

+

roundabout lighting and undergrounding the overhead wires.

The work will then move across the country towards Pakowhai Rd, finishing at the entrance to the Pakowhai Country Park.

The Whakatu Arterial Link is considered a strategic link of the highest priority in the region. The three kilometre route includes three large roundabouts, one at each end and one in the industrial area of Whakatu, and a bridge over the Karamu Stream, at the Pakowhai Rd end.

The cost of the project is $25.6 million, with central Government contributing $17.97m and ratepayers funding the balance.

Profit

Opening of Porters Boutique Hotel Brave Brewery & Carrs Kitchen Another bumper apple crop Whakatu Arterial Te Matatini Festival

Loss Ongoing water woes Water exporting Chlorine Bore 3 Michael Henley, Trinity Hill Chief Executive Officer and Pam McCann Family Works Service Manager.

Family Works to benefit from Sparkle fundraiser Family Works is set to benefit from Presbyterian Support East Coast (PSESC) annual charity fundraising event “Sparkle 2017” to be hosted on the grounds of principal sponsor Trinity Hill on May 20.

Family Works, which is part the PESEC family of services, helps break the growing cycle of violence, child abuse and neglect children and families are facing in Hawke’s Bay. Family Works service manager Pam McCann said money raised will help fund social worker services in more of the region’s schools to

NZ Digital

meet increasing demand for children dealing and coping with family violence.

“Hawke’s Bay is the only region in New Zealand where family violence rates are increasing. Social workers in schools are having a positive impact as they are helping children with the strategies and professional support they and their families need.

Trinity Hill’s chief executive Michael Henley said, as the principal event sponsor and host, the winery was able to reach out into the community and help a very deserving cause,

which provides essential social services to families and children throughout Hawke’s Bay. Shirley Collins, Head of Marketing for PSEC and its services, said Sparkle’s success came from giving guests a Hawke’s Bay experience like no other along with adding an element of mystery surrounding all the finer details including the theme, entertainment and Master of Ceremonies.

Tickets can be purchased from www.sparklehawkesbay.co.nz

Software, Websites, Digital Marketing

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FEBRUARY - APRIL 2017

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PRO Q&A

Q&A

Viv Bull

Viv Bull took out the Linden Estate Leadership Award at the Hawke’s Bay Chamber of Commerce Business Awards at the end of 2016.

Viv is the Culture & Capability manager at Napier Port and as part of the senior management team she leads all aspects of the people-related functions at the port.

Can you give us a brief overview of your career?

I’ve often taken the path less chosen when it comes to my career, diving into new roles in very different industries and carving out my own space.

I’ve always been interested in understanding people and behavior, and completed a Masters of Science in Organisational Psychology at Canterbury University. I looked at a number of career options, and decided on a graduate internship with the State Services Commission which involved working in quite demanding situations with senior managers and leading collective bargaining for public sector departments.

After that I moved to KPMG’s Organisational Psychology

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Q&A

Consultancy Group, where I completed my registration as a psychologist.

I worked my way up to Associate Director, before making a shift to a role as Strategic Human Resources Manager at the Department of Corrections. After two years with Corrections, it was back to consultancy as a founding director in a small specialist Wellington-based firm, Hatton Consulting. It was in that capacity that I secured a contract with Napier Port.

One of those was industrial relations strategist and advocate Simon Wallace.

We had very different ideals and we didn’t get along at all to start with, but I came to appreciate his unique talent and he taught me some important lessons about the relationships, power and the political foundations of organisations and change.

to be that any industrial negotiations would take months of protracted and difficult conversations. Now, it’s a positive relationship and we’re working constructively together.

What are some of your values that you live by?

Three years prior to working for the Port, my husband and I decide to take a big punt and move to Hawke’s Bay. We moved from a great life in Wellington with a fantastic home, three children and successful careers. I started working three days a week at Napier Port, and eventually moved into a full-time role as Culture and Capability Manager.

I continually strive to be a better leader, better person, a better mum, and a better friend. Accountability is important – often you see leaders or companies hide or blame others for their mistakes. I try to take ownership of what I do – and that includes accepting and owning my mistakes.

It’s about having the right culture, the right atmosphere. The core culture is crucial, but you also need to understand and adapt to people and teams’ individual differences. When you find the right balance between the two, that’s when you get the best out of people. Fun and humour are crucial – enjoying the people and the work make the tough situations endurable.

What are some career highlights/ achievements?

Being given a potted plant by the union when I left the State Services Commission. It was really unheard of, and it meant a lot, that despite working in the most confrontational setting, they thought enough of me to say they were sorry to see me go.

Introducing a management development framework at the Department of Corrections was also a highlight, as was redesigning the remuneration framework for Fonterra’s 4000 dairy employees – and seeing it settled in collective bargaining following a single day of negotiations.

I’m also very proud of the culture change at Napier Port – we’ve recognised that our people are core to commercial success, and a commitment to safety is embedded at all levels.

Who do you look up to? Any mentors?

Inspirational people?

I’ve always found my mentors among the people I’ve worked with. I’ve been fortunate to work with some extraordinary people, and to be able to learn from people whose perspectives are quite different from my own.

Something one of my mentors taught me is to play the long game – keeping people’s trust and maintaining respectful relationships is way more important than the short-term wins.

What is your role with Napier Port?

As Culture and Capability Manager, I sit on the senior management team and lead all aspects of the people-related functions at Napier Port. Employee relations is a major part of the role, as is guiding the direction of port-wide health and safety. The role has grown a lot over the nearly six years I’ve been at the port, and this year we’ve begun to focus more on our place in the Hawke’s Bay community. For me, that has meant leading our sponsorship programme and establishing a Communications team.

What’s a typical day at the Port?

A typical day at the port is talking to people, listening to people, and helping people. It varies immensely, but those are the constant threads running through my days.

What achievements of the Port’s are you proud of ?

Port staff are a diverse mix of skills and expertise – how do you get the best out of everyone?

You were awarded the Chamber’s leadership award – what does it mean to you?

As a woman who started in human resources, to be recognised as a business leader is massive. It’s a tremendous boost to my sense of who I am and what I’m doing. And to be recognised in Hawke’s Bay – a place full of what I like to call “pockets of brilliance” – is a real honour.

It truly means a lot to me. It’s also a huge recognition for Napier Port’s leadership team, and the vital role the port plays in both our national economy and in the Hawke’s Bay community.

We aren’t all perfect – so what’s an area of your skill base that you need to work on?

I tend to go at things in a whirl, so I’m working on adding a bit more structure and order to the way I do things.

What do you do in your spare time?

I run, with my dogs – it’s the most fantastic thing for my mental health.

I also sing in a band and spend time reading, gardening, and with my family.

The change in the employee relations climate and the improved relationship with our people and unions. It used

recruitment intelligence 11 Donnelly Street, Havelock North, Hawke’s Bay. TEL. 06 877 6637

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FEBRUARY - APRIL 2017

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Wineworks' new Auckland facility.

coming of age

for Wineworks 21st birthday marked by opening of Auckland facility.

WRITER: Sarah Thornton

The recent opening of Wineworks’ new Auckland facility marked an important milestone in the business’s history and the third and final chapter in its expansion story.

Wineworks was established in 1995 in Hawke’s Bay by Tim and Jules NowellUsticke, who now own the business along with Lyn Williams’ and Rebecca Turner’s families. Three years later, a Marlborough plant was opened and in 2014, a small bottling facility in Auckland was added to the company’s operations. Tim says the ethos of the business was always to provide regionally based, added-value packaging services to local wine producing regions.

“For the first 20 years being regionally based was a valid strategy as small wineries were growing at that time. While we have always been focused on adding value to the regional economies, the reality is now that small wineries are not growing and are finding it difficult to compete with the big guys.

“We realised we needed to have a larger presence in Auckland if we wanted to start working with the wineries that are growing fastest in New Zealand and at this stage in the industry, those major players are Villa Maria, Constellation, Lion, Pernod Ricard, Delegat and Treasury. And that meant building a larger bottling and packaging facility in Auckland, which we opened in October 2016, coinciding with our 21st birthday.”

Located in Onehunga and spread across two hectares, the new plant is positioned in the wine industry’s ‘sweet spot’, between the OI 8

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glass factory (NZ’s largest manufacturer of wine bottle glass) and the inland Metro Port.

It’s logistically convenient and there are six more hectares for the warehouse to expand into in the future, if required.

The new Auckland plant boasts New Zealand’s fastest bottling line.

“We can process 22,000 bottles every hour on the two bottling lines. In terms of numbers, it’s huge, turning out two containers’ worth of bottled and packaged wine every hour, five days a week,” says Tim. “For the first 20 years being regionally based was a valid strategy as small wineries were growing at that time.

While we have always been focused on adding value to the regional economies, the reality is now that small wineries are not growing and are finding it difficult to compete with the big guys."

– Tim Nowell-Usticke

Owning three operations and responsible for 400 staff in different parts of the country have meant some management changes for Tim. Previously based at the Hastings plant, he now works from a home office on a lifestyle block in rural Hastings. The change of workplace, he says, has been very positive for the business.

“Each location has its own manager who is responsible for everything to do with their own plant. Our group human resources head said that if I based myself at the Hawke’s Bay plant then I’d always be seen as the boss there. The staff would come to me,

Tim Nowell-Usticke

which would undermine the manager, and I wanted the managers to be the bosses. We also have a few support managers who have a group role across the company and help the three plant managers,” adds Tim. Recently Tim moved all of Wineworks’ IT systems into the cloud.

“The cloud gives us more communication options and better security. We receive a lot of industry intelligence and it is imperative we keep that safe. We take confidentiality very seriously, which was one of the reasons for the move to the cloud. It’s a lot more secure than a server onsite. We need to protect our customers’ IP and data, and of course their wine.”

Tim is well placed to comment on how the wine industry is performing, working with a range of small and large wineries. Wine is now this country’s sixth-biggest export earner, worth more than $1.5 billion to the New Zealand economy. Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc drives the exports, and Tim says to succeed internationally, Hawke’s Bay wineries need to have the variety in their portfolio.

“The export side of the industry is totally driven by Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.

Hawke’s Bay is in the same position as Auckland wineries, they can sell Syrah and Chardonnay and export markets will like them, but then they’ll say, ‘show us your

PRO

Feature

Wineworks in operation.

Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc’. If you don’t have it in your line-up, you’d better have something else very special or you’ll be locked out of the export game.

Most of the major players in Hawke’s Bay have Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc in their portfolio, they realise it’s essential for export success.”

Now that the Auckland plant is up and running, Tim says it’s time to “have a cup of tea, consolidate and concentrate on

COMMERCIAL INVESTMENT SALE

continuing to provide the levels of service our customers have come to expect over the years”. Any future expansion is off the table.

“Our three plants cover a large part of the wine packaging in the country so there is no need to expand further. We can take the focus off growth now and focus on our customers and bottling their wine.” www.wineworks.co.nz

WINEWORKS BY NUMBERS • 158 million bottles are filled every year.

• 70,000 tonnes of glass are used a year, or 27 trucks’ worth every day.

• Marlborough is the largest of the trio with five bottling lines.

• In 21 years, Wineworks has bottled more than a billion bottles of wine.

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FEBRUARY - APRIL 2017

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Ben Warren, a man on

By Sarah Thornton

Clinical nutritionist Ben Warren has a lofty goal – to build the future of personalised health – and he’s well on target to do it.

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Ben’s mission, BePure is in growth mode.

The holistic health and nutrition company he founded in 2004 in Hawke’s Bay recently expanded its offices to Auckland, alongside opening an Auckland Clinic. Ben is also eyeing an international move this year, potentially taking his BePure seminars to Australia and California.

BePure began its life with running eightweek nutrition courses from inside Havelock North’s Peak Fitness, but growing demand for Ben’s seminars meant a change of location to larger premises to accommodate the evolving business. There are now two aspects to BePure; the nutritional programmes and the supporting nutritional products.

“My aim has always been to help a lot of people. I started out holding courses, which then developed into weekend seminars.

Before long I was doing two weekend and six weekday seminars every month. More than 4,000 people had attended the courses and seminars just in Hawke’s Bay so it wasn’t sustainable on a personal level and I realised I needed to expand my team,” explains Ben. With such rapid growth, Ben took the decision take on business partner, Andrew Laloli in a CEO role. “Together we pulled the existing framework apart, rebranded and relaunched the mission in July 2015, which is to build the future of personalised health.

That big change up has been hugely positive and allowed us to reach more people to help them on their health journeys. Having

a mission

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Andrew on board is fantastic. He’s enabled me to do what I do, which is nutrition.”

While Ben travels extensively delivering his seminars to more than 1,000 people every month across the country, the Havelock North Clinic remains at the company’s heart running programmes and functional (blood) testing that Ben believes is the most specialist in the country.

“We do the most functional testing of anyone in Australasia. For our high level nutritional programme we do at least 60 blood tests and then extra specialist tests that go to the US for analysis. We have a very sophisticated testing regime for nutritional health and combine functional medicine with nutrition and genetics. We use nutrition to get the best possible expression of genes to promote optimum health. There are a lot of people in this country doing some of these aspects, but no-one except us pulling those three things together.”

Ben Warren

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“At the Clinic what we focus on is prevention and repair. A lot of people we support are experiencing auto-immunity issues, hormonal imbalance and other chronic diseases. Some of our other clients include sports people and elite sports teams, like the Tall Blacks, Olympians and even an All Black.”

Ben has been called the Tony Robbins of the nutrition world, with tens of thousands of dedicated followers. His success, he says, is down to talking to people about nutrition in a way they haven’t heard before.

“People really get it. I think the way I present it makes sense and is relatable. After a programme, a lot of people say they feel better than they ever have in their life, or remember having felt. That’s a strong emotion. What comes with that is a strong commitment to this way of living. We are incredibly fortunate that we’ve been able to reverse the parameters of many of the serious diseases including arthritis, diabetes and Graves disease with nutrition.”

To support the nutritional programmes, Ben has produced his own range of nutritional products, which are manufactured in the US and NZ. “We use one of the largest nutritional product manufacturers in the world, which happens to be based in the US. The products have to comply with stringent FDA regulations, which makes them robust internationally.

“Our biggest challenge with production based in the US however, is the fluctuating dollar. One way we are mitigating this is to create a US dollar hedge, creating sales in the US to protect the NZ market from the variability.

Ben is looking at taking his seminars into the US, specifically California, this year having already identified the States as an ideal launching pad for BePure during recent trips.

“We are looking at other export markets, but there are great opportunities within the Californian market with what we do.

Along with his expansion into the overseas markets, Ben is focusing on how he can take the great work he and his clinical team doing at the BePure Clinic and scale it to make it affordable and accessible to

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01 – 15 October 2017

Including: • Hosted by WWI historian Dr Stephen Clarke • Private bus transportation • Accommodation • Meals & sightseeing as per itinerary Also enquire about Battle of Beersheba Israel 100th Commemorative Tour 2017 & Liberation of Le Quesnoy Commemoration 2018.

more people. Social media is also key for the business, forming the bulk of the marketing effort. “While a lot of what we do is driven by word-of-mouth and referral, social media is very powerful and it’s how we primarily communicate. It just allows us to connect and educate so many more people, so easily,” says Ben. Not content with ever sitting still and adding to his already busy life, Ben has undertaken a PhD in genetics, mental health and nutrition.

“For me, I look at what we’re doing and we’re able to research and move forward more than anyone in this space, as we’ve got such a huge team dedicated to our mission. We are all working together to build the future of personalised health and what that looks like.

It’s about using nutrition to get the best possible expression of a person’s genes.

As for the future, the task ahead is a big one. The state of people’s health in New Zealand and globally is declining, with serious issues such as obesity and cancer on the rise. Ben sees working in the space of health promotion of disease prevention as absolutely necessary to the future of our communities.

“We’re experiencing huge demand in the products and services we provide, evident in BePure’s staff numbers, which have grown from 6 to just over 30 in the past 18 months. www.bepure.co.nz

Steve Lawson I have recently visited the battlefields of the Western Front in Belguim & Northern France. I was blown away by the scale of these historical sites and the NZ involvement. The highlights for me were: Messines - With the Museum & Christmas Truce statue.

Passchendaele, Ypres & Menin - These 3 battlefields in the Flanders area have significant New Zealand links and an astoundingly bloody history.

Le Quesnoy – This town in Northern France was liberated by Kiwis just before the end of WWI and the locals haven’t forgotten this!

Arras - The Underground tunnels, rediscovered in 1916 were dug and linked

by New Zealand soldiers creating an amazing underground military system to house allied troops and supplies.

Thinking of travelling to Europe? Why not add a battlefield tour to your itinerary we can create special family & private tours to include important NZ Western Front sites.

Give me a call or pop in and see me.

CO N TACT STEVE 06 878 8858 I STEV EL@HOT.CO.NZ

The best holidays are created together.

117 MARKET ST NORTH, HASTINGS I 06 878 8858 I 0800 838 858 S T E V E L @ H O T.C O. N Z I W W W. H O T H AW K E S B AY.C O. N Z 12

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Photos courtesy Melissa Mills

On track for success. Top sprinter Georgia Hulls has had a surprising financial windfall from PRO Napier resident Rachael Shaw (pictured left).

Feature Sport Hawke’s Bay chief executive Mark Aspden helped connect the two parties.

Young sport stars get surprising windfall Two promising Hawke’ Bay athletes, sprinter Georgia Hulls and kayaker Elise Legarth have had some surprising and much welcomed financial support from two sisters, that has taken being a sports fan to a new level.

Napier woman Rachael Shaw was looking for a way of giving back to the community that was outside of the norm.

“I wanted to support an up and coming local sports star to enable them to be the best they can without worrying about how to get little bits of money together to compete. I just wanted to give some financial support, and the only criteria I had was to help an athlete in a sport that I knew nothing about,” she said.

Rachael approached Sport Hawke’s Bay with her idea and asked for their assistance in identifying and selecting an athlete.

Sport Hawke’s Bay chief executive Mark Aspden helped put in place some structure around the criteria and developed a short list of athletes to meet with Rachael.

“I wasn’t too keen to interview short listed candidates because I didn’t want to disappoint anyone. However, Mark suggested that it would be a great learning experience for the candidates, as they would need to go out and get funding support at some stage.

“I ended up with two stand outs in Georgia and Elise and it was going to be a tough decision. I spoke to my sister Angela about the difficult decision and instead of having to make a call, she liked what I was doing and decided to support Elise.

During the last year Rachael has followed Georgia’s performances on the track as well as building a close relationship with the Hulls’ family.

Last year Rachael was on a bike tour of Romania and in Europe on holiday at the same time Georgia and Elise were competing in Europe.

“Georgia was competing in Poland, so I went and supported her and Elise was in Belarus, so I looked it up on the map and it wasn’t too far from where I was, so I got on a plane and went and supported her too.”

Rachael says the idea to financially support an athlete has been huge success and she is now keen to set up a Trust with Angela, who lives in Australia, dedicated to supporting other young sports people. She also hopes other locals will consider financially backing athletes.

“It’s been great fun supporting Georgia and Elise and I hope others consider it. There is very little, if any funding for developing athletes at this level so they need people to give them a hand.”

Georgia is rapt with the support from Rachael and says it goes a long way to helping cover her training, equipment and travel costs, which last year amounted to $30,000.

“It’s great having financial support, so I can get to events and lower my times, but it’s also been so good having the emotional and mental support and having someone that has a genuine interest in what I am trying to achieve and how I’m going.”

Georgia emails Rachael every fortnight with training and race updates as well as keeping in contact via regular text messages.

“It’s great having financial support, so I can get to events and lower my times, but it’s also been so good having the emotional and mental support and having someone that has a genuine interest in what I am trying to achieve and how I’m going."

– Georgia Hulls

“We also get together for dinners and Rachael comes and supports me at meets like the Potts Classic,” Georgia says.

Georgia is in her final year at Havelock North High School. She is targeting the 2018 Commonwealth Games and the 2018 IAAF World Junior Championships in Finland next July. At this stage she’s hoping to race in the 200 metres but needs to beat the New Zealand qualifying time of 23.10 seconds.

Her best time so far is 23.80s.

Elise is now studying at Waikato University and is one of the newest members of New Zealand’s high performance canoe racing squad.

Mark Aspden says the personal giving idea is a great way to support young sports people realise their dreams and he hopes there may be others in the community that are keen to support a young athlete.

“It’s been an incredible journey for everyone involved. It takes away some of the financial pressure that’s usually placed on Mums and Dads of sports people and it also provides an additional supporter and mentor to their support crew.

“We would love to see this develop further and we are here to assist,” he said.

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McLaren Stainless in Hastings, an award winning design.

Designed for the future in mind Passing on knowledge a catalyst for merger.

Buildings are designed to last the test of time and for architectural designers Bryan Musson and Andrew Whitney, the merger of their businesses is aimed to achieve the same outcome.

“I’ve been an architectural designer for over 25 years and I recently got thinking about the next 10 years and beyond. I started asking myself some questions such as do I close the doors and go home as some of my peers have done or do I look at creating a business that will outlast me?

“I’ve got a lot of knowledge from being involved in many projects throughout Hawke’s Bay and beyond and I don’t believe my knowledge and that of my peers should be lost to the industry. Nothing beats experience and it’s important that we pass it on to the next generation of architectural designers,” Bryan says.

So with that mindset, Bryan approached Andrew, who had a similar sized business based in Taradale.

“I decided that I couldn’t continue to run the business on my own. I’ve known Andrew for a long time, so I asked him what is he going to do in the future. I left it with him for a while and he came back and said he thought my idea was great and we then discussed how are we’re going to make it work."

Both firms already had strong reputations and award winning accolades. For Bryan, he has notched up a number of design awards for buildings such as the McLaren Stainless facility in Hastings (see photo) and the stunning Rose Garden setting in Frimley Park as well as many residential awards.

He has also built a strong reputation for 14

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designing accessible housing for elderly and people with disabilities.

Andrew has also a strong reputation and had a large portfolio of residential and commercial projects such as the Bridge Street retail and residential precinct in Ahuriri, The Thirsty Whale bar and Restaurant as well as a many residential properties throughout Napier and Hastings.

The first decision Bryan and Andrew made was to not include their names in the business name, as that would limit its lifespan. They wanted to instead be more creative with the company’s name.

Potential businesses names were bandied about before the team unanimously settled on Createus Group.

“We could see huge opportunities in being in a complex with businesses that are providing services that complement each other. It’s already paying big dividends as we can call upon each others expertise very quickly.”

– Bryan Mussson

The next decision was where the business was best to be based, as they both decided that neither of their current premises would work.

Like taking a brief from a commercial or residential property owner, they looked at a range of opportunities but they couldn’t go past one offer, which was to move a new business hub in Hastings, called Business HQ.

Bryan Musson

Andrew Whitney

“Neither of us could move into the new premises on our own, we just weren’t big enough but together it just made sense," Bryan says.

Not only was Business HQ on the corner of Hastings Street and Queen Street, going to be the new premises for structural engineering firm Strata Group but a range of like-minded businesses such as geotech engineers RDCL and property valuers Logan Stone.

“We could see huge opportunities in being in a complex with businesses that are providing services that complement each other. It’s already paying big dividends as we can call upon each others expertise very quickly," Andrew says.

Like designing a new residential house, office complex or factory, Bryan and Andrew started bringing the new business to life

BUSINESS PROFILE

Bridge Street, Ahuriri. A mix of retail, commercial and residential.

Residential architectural design.

as well as undertaking the recruitment of some additional staff. The combined team is now a total of six architectural technicians with administration support from Bryan’s wife Vicki.

Andrew says Createus follows a proven model when it comes to designing and constructing a new building.

“The design and construction of any building can be a daunting and complicated process.

"Our role as architectural designers is to make this process as simple and streamlined

as possible. We use our knowledge of Governmental and Territorial Authority requirements, materials, product and our design skills to create a building that fits need and budget.

“It all starts at the consultation stage when we meet the client at either our office or on-site to work on a design brief and then concept.

It’s important that we fully understand the requirements, budgets, timeframes and products that are to be used.”

“A full brief allows us to work out the professional services you require and the

costs associated with those services. There is no initial consultation fee but we do charge a small fee for an onsite consultation, which is credited back, should we undertake the project," Andrew says.

Createus can also offer advice prior to purchasing a building site or existing building and work out the best positioning of the building, position of services such as water, phone, and drainage.

The process also takes into account Council requirements, site restrictions and other relevant factors.

Createus prepares a proposed site and floor layout as a starting point to enable further discussions and feed back. The concept can then be carried through to the second stage of design including the preparation of sketch plans and elevations before we begin detailed documentation, enabling cost estimates for the project to be obtained.

The working/construction technical drawings with written specifications will define the quality of materials and workmanship requirements in the project.

The level of documentation will vary depending on the site, type of construction and type of project. The documents are then used for pricing, tendering, building consent application and will form part of the building contract.

Createus can tender the project to selected building contractors, if required and can oversee the construction of the project to ensure that the works are carried out in accordance with the building contract.

Createus offers a range of additional services such as providing advice around Resource Consent applications and engaging other technical professionals such as structural, geotechnical engineers, colour consultants, quantity surveyors and landscape designers. www.createusgroup.co.nz

Let us Create your next living or work space ARCHITECTURAL DESIGNERS SPECIALISING IN: Phone: 06 651 1561

o Commercial o

Residential

Queen Street East, Hastings

o

Industrial

PO Box 8573, Havelock North 4157,

o

Kitchen & joinery design

New Zealand

o

Education

www.createusgroup.co.nz

o

Accessible housing design for elderly and disabled

Email: info@createusgroup.co.nz | 308

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Business Hawke's Bay Chief Executive Susan White hosts a workshop at the Business Hub in Ahuriri.

Searching for start-ups to share their stories If you’ve started a new business within the past three years, then Business Hawke’s Bay and Napier City Council would like to hear from you. What did you discover you didn’t know you didn’t know? What were your challenges and obstacles and how did you get around, over or through them? In short, what can others learn from your experience?

Business Hawke’s Bay (BHB) is the region’s business-led economic development agency and together with Napier City Council (NCC), is involved with Matariki – Hawke’s Bay Regional Economic Development Strategy and Action Plan (Matariki). This comprehensive plan tasks various of the region’s economic and social agencies with responsibility for actions. BHB and NCC are working together as co-leads on actions related to identifying and supporting new and existing businesses wanting to grow.

“Our work with Matariki has identified that a key part of increasing economic development and employment opportunities is by ‘growing our own’,” says Susan White, BHB CEO. “We need to improve support for those wanting to start up new businesses and encourage a culture of entrepreneurism.”

Paul Collits, Economic Development Project Manager at NCC is eager to see the establishment of a Start-Up ecosystem. “One of the contributing factors to this is growing the entrepreneur/start-up community. Make

it visible. Ensure it is networked. Link and leverage the bits of activity that are already going well. And make sure that anyone with a good business idea can find a pathway to the resources he or she needs to take the next step. Low entry barriers make for great local economies.”

In past months there’s been activity going on behind the scenes to explore how startup businesses can be better supported.

So far BHB and NCC have hosted three exploratory workshops facilitated by Peter Wogan of Fresh Perspective Leadership.

The workshops were attended by a cross section of business people and advisors who amongst them represent hundreds of years of experience supporting businesses and social enterprise.

Drawing on their experience, these workshops focused on identifying what the issues facing Hawke’s Bay start-up businesses are thought to be as inputs into scoping the ideal start-up customer experience. Soon market validation will be required, hence the shout out to those who have started new businesses in recent times.

“The workshops identified that clarifying your purpose for starting a business and confirming that you had a marketable idea (market validation) were essential aspects early on in the process of establishing a successful start-up, and that’s now the process we are going through,” says Susan.

“Often we hear about people spending scarce resources too early in the process on the wrong things. Market validation is one of the first things to do, so you know whether the opportunity is worth pursuing, needs some fine tuning, or needs more research, for example. How you do your market validation will depend on who and where your market is. Guidance on how to go about this is available.”

Susan observes, “It’s very tempting to go straight into solution-mode. It’s important that we have a sound understanding of the gaps from a customer perspective, so we want to hear first-hand what those needs are from those experiencing them.”

Susan and Paul say they are keen to hear from anyone who has recently started up a business anywhere from Central Hawke’s Bay to Wairoa, and encourages them to contact them as a starting point – susan@businesshawkesbay.co.nz, jj paul.collits@napier.govt.nz Personal contact will then be made to share insights that will be fed into the ultimate recommendations.

For more information on Matariki: Hawke’s Bay Regional Economic Development Strategy see: www.hbreds.nz

Monday

28

an

BUSINESS

CENTRAL

Empowering Business in the Central Region

36 Bridge Street, Ahuriri, Napier 16

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Phone 06 650 1711

www.hbbusinesshub.co.nz

BUSINESS PROFILE

Laser has sights focused for 2017 After an electrifying 2016, Laser Plumbing and Electrical Napier is focused on continuing to add value to its ever-growing list of clients.

Darrin says another bonus of the merger for the plumbing team has been undertaking larger scale commercial jobs such as water, gas, air lines and gas boilers.

The two Laser trade businesses joined forces in May 2016 and it didn’t take Paul and Reihana Manaena too long to realise that it was a great business decision. However, the positives were seen even quicker for Darrin Lee, who heads the plumbing division.

Laser’s specialised service of industrial automation is also humming along and automation engineer John Crossman said the three strong team was thrilled to complete a major project for one of New Zealand’s leading food processors.

“All of a sudden the office was a buzz with activity and it’s been that way ever since.

John said the design and installation of a grading system for beetroot has been a huge success for the increased production.

“Previously some days it would only be me in the office, now we have a full office team and its created a vibrant environment where we all thrive off each other.

“More importantly we’re totally focused on the client and providing solutions that cover the spectrum of industrial, commercial and residential electrical and plumbing services.

Paul agrees with Darrin’s view and says that it has all been “positives, not negatives” since the merger.

“We can offer our clients a much broader range of services. In most cases electrical and plumbing are intrinsically linked, especially within the food processing sector, so we can now offer a full turnkey solution.”

This was evident in the many call outs over the festive holiday period, when Laser remained open for business to ensure it was ready and willing for any challenges put in front of them.

“We had a number of call outs including some from food processors, who are busy at this time of the year and we were able to minimise any downtime for them.

“The harvest season is a busy time and it was important that we had the new grader up and running on time. Our client couldn’t have been any happier.”

Laser Napier is now firmly established as a preferred electrical and automation supplier to the food and beverage sector, developing turnkey solutions for the likes of Kraft Heinz, ATI Engineering, Sacred Hill Winery, Comvita and Bostocks NZ among many others.

“Automation solutions significantly reduce production downtime, therefore providing customers with a competitive advantage.

Not only are we installing technology but we are mobilising it for smart phones and apps providing real time production information at a clients fingertips” John says.

To cap off a successful 2016, Laser Napier won the medium sized business of the year award at the Westpac Hawke’s Bay Chamber of Commerce Business Awards and the Laser Group New Zealand electrical business of the year award.

Paul and Reihana Manaena receiving their awards.

As Paul says “getting acknowledged by a team of judges that our business is a high performer was a fantastic way to finish the year. We didn’t expect to win and it was great to go to our staff Christmas party the following day and celebrate with everyone that contributed to our success.”

“We can offer our clients a much broader range of services. In most cases electrical and plumbing are intrinsically linked, especially within the food processing sector, so we can now offer a full turnkey solution.”

– Paul Manaena

Reihana is looking at 2017 as a year of solidifying the businesses presence in Hawke’s Bay and looking at adding to the already customer-centric experience.

“Our role is simple; it’s to help our clients achieve their goals and to meet deadlines and targets. Many of our large food industry clients need a high level of service, both in technical ability but also in communication.

They need to know what’s going on with their project.

“Internally we will be focusing on streamlining our processes and being as efficient as possible.

The senior management team is also focused on adding new members to their ever-growing team and have taken on four trainees, two each in electrical and plumbing.

“It’s really important that we invest in our future by employing good people and retaining them. There is a dramatic trade skills shortage and we are doing our bit to take on young people, train them well and create an environment that they don’t want to leave. www.napier.laserelectrical.co.nz

The Laser Plumbing and Electrical Napier Team FEBRUARY - APRIL 2017

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AT THE HEART OF THE REGION’S ECONOMIC PROSPERITY

AT THE HEART OF THE REGION’S ECONOMIC PROSPERITY Hawke’s Bay’s buoyant economy doesn’t seem to be slowing any time soon, with strong growth forecast for our tourism, horticulture, wine and forestry sectors and a booming property market.

Intrinsically linked to every economic driver in Hawke’s Bay, there’s no better gauge of our local economy than activity at Napier Port. And 2016 saw cargo records smashed across the board, with the port handling the equivalent of 257,380 20-foot containers, mooring a record 100 log vessels and exporting 22,205 containers of apples.

These new records support the Infometrics’ June 2016 Quarterly Economic Monitor, which showed that Napier and Hastings’ economic growth outpaced Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch for the year to June. The report showed that Napier’s GDP grew 4.7 percent while Hastings District’s grew 3.7 percent.

That growth is expected to continue, with a ‘wall of wood’ coming on-stream and the pipfruit industry aiming to achieve $1 billion in exports by 2020.

On top of the forecast growth, the port is handling a significant upswing in cargo diverted from CentrePort following earthquake damage.

“Essentially, we’re seeing some six years’ worth of growth in six months,” says Napier Port Chief Executive Garth Cowie. “We’re now at a point on our growth curve that, prior to the Kaikoura quake, we hadn’t expected to reach until 2022.”

257,380

TEU CONTAINERS HANDLED

1.207

MILLION TONNES LOG VOLUME

GEARING UP FOR GROWTH

RESTORING REGIONAL RAIL

It’s an unprecedented situation for the port, which is mobilising all its resources to meet the challenge.

The future of the Napier to Wairoa rail line is back on track, with Napier Port and KiwiRail signing a commercial agreement in 2016 that will see a dedicated log service up and running in the last quarter of this year.

“We’re fast-tracking our plans from years to months, sourcing additional forklift equipment, and employing more casual and contract staff. We’re creating space for more containers on port by repurposing some areas, changing how we process cargo, and maximising use of our Pandora depot.”

“It’s a big challenge, but we’re confident that we can handle this growth,” Garth says.

In building for the future, Napier Port has a robust strategy which includes developing key strategic partnerships, expanding its catchment area, progressing key transport links, and putting the infrastructure in place to grow the region’s cruise prospects.

DEVELOPING STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS In 2016, Napier Port began a strategic alliance with Ports of Auckland which will see both ports working together to lower costs for exporters and importers.

The alliance also creates an opportunity to collaborate, innovate, and share best practice in IT, health and safety, and sustainability practices.

Napier Port continues to invest in the Longburn Intermodal Freight Hub in Palmerston North, a joint venture between Napier Port, Ports of Auckland and Halls Group. Strategically positioned in Palmerston North with a direct rail link to Napier Port, the inland port is designed to provide better answers for shippers on the edge of the port’s traditional cargo catchment area.

Garth says Napier Port is a critical gateway for the central North Island and with forests across the region now maturing, the volume of logs coming through Napier Port is expected to more than double by 2020.

“The East Coast region is expecting a considerable increase in log exports from late 2017, with significant volumes forecast to come through both Eastland Port and Napier Port. Ensuring that we have the right transport links in place is a crucial factor in moving those export products to world markets.”

The Wairoa log service will operate on weekends with two services daily on Saturday and Sunday, subject to securing support from forestry exporters.

The service complements the port’s other rail services, including a dedicated weekday log train from Whanganui, Palmerston North and Woodville.

WELCOMING THE WORLD The arrival of the Ovation of the Seas on January 5 drew an overwhelmingly positive response from the Hawke’s Bay community, with thousands turning out to see the ship manoeuvre into port.

At an impressive 348 metres long and carrying over 5000 passengers and crew, it is the biggest ship ever to dock at Napier. Garth is enormously proud of how the port and its partners worked together to ensure the ship’s passengers had a great experience in Hawke’s Bay.

“The Ovation’s maiden call was a huge

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PRO

Economy NAPIER PORT

2026 FORECAST 6 million

TEU containers

2.8 million

35,000

500,000

60

tonnes of wood pulp

cruise ship calls

3.7 million

49%

tonnes of log

100,000

CRUISE PASSENGERS AND CREW

tonnes of bulk cargo

“The Ovation’s maiden call was a huge opportunity to showcase our region, and to demonstrate that Napier Port and our local tourism sector are capable of hosting cruise vessels of this size.”

“We’re grateful to the Hawke’s Bay community, who gave the Ovation’s passengers such a warm welcome to our region. It was fantastic to see people lining Bluff Hill and we appreciated the support and enthusiasm from locals.”

This season, 55 cruise ships are scheduled to call, bringing more than 100,000 passengers and crew into Hawke’s Bay. With passengers spending on average $200 per day, the sector is expected to inject around $20 million into the local economy.

Napier Port has invested in upgrading and strengthening its primary cruise wharf, buying new heavy duty bollards, installing navigational lead lighting and commissioning an additional gangway suitable for larger cruise vessels.

“The cruise sector is one of the vital sectors of our regional economy.

On average, every cruise ship brings an extra 2000 people into the region, and that represents a significant boom for our local economy - we want to keep that business flowing in.”

“The Ovation of the Seas visit demonstrated that, with the support of our community, we can pull off incredible feats for the benefit of Hawke’s Bay.”

340,000

tonnes of cargo

TEU containers of apples

growth in cargo

FUTURE-PROOFING OUR PORT

SUPPPORTING THE COMMUNITY

The port plays an integral role in realising the economic opportunities ahead of the region and having already invested $95 million in people, plant and technology over the last five years, it will continue to make bold steps towards the future.

In recent years, Napier Port has strengthened its connection with the community, supporting a range of causes and events that build stronger, healthier communities here in the Bay.

In 2016, Napier Port announced plans to seek resource consent for a new wharf alongside the container terminal and to deepen and extend the shipping channel. At 350 metres, the new wharf would be long enough to handle the larger vessels that will soon begin calling at Napier.

The port sponsors community sporting events such as the Napier Port Ocean Swim, the Napier Port Harbour to Hills triathlon, and the Napier Port Family Fishing Classic. That’s alongside supporting local non-profits like the Lowe Corporation Rescue Helicopter, the Optimist Yachting Trust and Te Matau a Maui Waka Voyaging Trust.

“We need to ensure Napier Port is capable of handling more than one container ship at a time, and that we have a wharf that can cater to the next generation of vessels,” Garth says.

A partnership between Napier Port and the MTG is teaching schoolchildren about the port’s place in our history, bringing school buses through the port to allow the pupils to experience the action up close.

“Hawke’s Bay is growing in popularity as a tourist destination and this facility would also allow us to handle two large cruise ships simultaneously, boosting the local tourism sector and potentially inject millions into the local economy.”

“We’re also right behind the Napier Port Hawke’s Bay Primary Sector Awards, The Hawke’s Bay Export Awards, the Hawke’s Bay Business Hub and the Great Things Grow Here campaign,” Garth says.

It’s all about future proofing the port and ensuring Hawke’s Bay’s enduring relevance.

“We’re strong believers in making a positive contribution to our community, and giving back and supporting the people around Hawke’s Bay.”

“We want to hear what the community thinks of the project. We’ve already spoken to more than 1300 people so far and we are working closely with our stakeholders to make this project work for Hawke’s Bay.”

GARTH COWIE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

www.napierport.co.nz Tours Facebook: NapierBay Port Twitter: @napierport FEBRUARY - APRIL 2017

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Too Good an opportunity to miss Hawke’s Bay aviation business leads the way in aeromedical services WRITER: Damon Harvey

What started out as a hobby has turned into a successful business that has the feel-good factor of saving hundreds of lives every year throughout New Zealand and beyond.

For Mike Toogood, learning to fly a helicopter with a group of mates and being able to fly to and from his fledgling residential building company offices has evolved into New Zealand’s largest aeromedical air ambulance service.

Mike says he was always going to make a better business owner than an employee and from the age of 19, he’s owned a successful car dealership, prominent building firm Horizon Homes and, since 1991, an aviation business that was initially set up to provide Hawkes Bay’s Rescue Helicopter Service.

“My first foray into business was when I was about 19, so you could say I have been unemployable ever since!

“I got involved in the motor vehicle industry when I left school, firstly working for the Ford dealership in Napier before going into a small partnership in what was known as Westend Autos in Hastings,” he says.

At 21 years of age, Mike bought his first bit of commercial property situated on the corner 20

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of Allerton St Street and Heretaunga Street West and started trading as Mike Toogood Motors. The business grew to be one of the more successful dealerships in Hawke’s Bay in the early 1980s; however, Mike didn’t see his long-term future in selling cars.

“I quite enjoyed the motor trade but it wasn’t something that I could see myself doing forever. By the early 80s I was looking for a new challenge that provided greater opportunities and more enjoyment, that’s when I got involved in the building sector and established Horizon Homes.”

The success of the building firm provided Mike with the financial ability to kick-start his aviation interests and lead the life of the quintessential 1980s high-flyer who could fly his own helicopter around the country.

By the 1990s, Mike had learnt to fly both helicopters and fixed-wing planes and had upgraded from a Robinson helicopter to a Bell Jet Ranger.

“I was pretty passionate about aviation by that stage but I didn’t think that the interest would lead to setting up my own aviation business.”

While enjoying the summer holidays at Waimarama in 1991, Mike was approached by local business identity Jim Scotland, who suggested that he contact Hawke’s Bay

Health Board commissioner Andy Train about setting up a fully dedicated rescue helicopter service for the region.

During that time, the health system was undergoing some major changes with the restructuring of the Wairoa and Waipukurau hospitals and, soon after, the Napier Hospital, centralising all health services at the Hawke’s Bay Hospital in Hastings.

“Andy was concerned about the impact of service levels for those rural communities and could see the need for a dedicated rescue helicopter service.

“Jim suggested I have a chat to Andy, which I did and we kicked the idea around. He convinced me pretty quickly that it was going to be a worthy project and although I was supportive of the concept, I had no idea at that stage as to how it would work.”

A service already existed but the helicopter was compromised as it was predominantly used for agricultural spray work.

“One minute it would be spraying and the next it would be converted into an air ambulance service. Andy knew it was time for a change and saw the need to establish a dedicated service.”

A ‘remodelled’ trust was set up to fundraise and lease a ‘turn key’ rescue helicopter service build a hangar at the Hawke’s Bay

PRO

Feature

A patient being transferred.

Hospital and put in place a small team of medical staff, crew and administration support.

Although the community could see major benefits in the service, as could the DHB and St John, Mike knew the service needed to be run like a business for it to be sustainable.

The Skyline Aviation team at their base at Hawke's Bay Airport.

“There was a lot of capital required and none was available from the public sector. The hospital had no interest in buying a helicopter so we needed to find a business model that would work.”

Mike started to look at different services around the country and how they operated. Well-respected rescue pilot John Funnell was at the forefront of the services in the central North Island and Mike liked the structure he and the Philips Trust had established initially in Taupo.

John’s company Helicopter Services Ltd was the owner and operator of the service and the Philips Trust provided financial support to ensure sustainability.

“THERE WAS A LOT OF CAPITAL REQUIRED AND NONE WAS AVAILABLE FROM THE PUBLIC SECTOR. THE HOSPITAL HAD NO INTEREST IN BUYING A HELICOPTER SO WE NEEDED TO FIND A BUSINESS MODEL THAT WOULD WORK.” – MIKE TOOGOOD

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The trust had been established by the Philips company after the loss of some of their senior executives in an aircraft crash in which John provided search and rescue support.

Mike set out to secure a major sponsor but it was proving difficult as potential partners wanted to see the new service up and running before making any commitment.

“Everyone without exception said to me: ‘If you think it’s such a good idea, go and buy a helicopter and get it set up then show us how it is going to work and maybe we will come on board.’ I knew that wasn’t going to be easy.

“After unsuccessfully approaching a number of organisations about providing some financial support, the hospital decided to underwrite $50,000 a year worth of work, which was a start but it didn’t make the service viable.

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Mike Toogood with pilots Jeremy Bruce (left) and Charlie Betham (right).

“I then had to bite the bullet. We knew that it was a good idea but if we were going to make it work we had to find a suitable helicopter to buy, import into New Zealand and then start some different discussions with potential sponsors.”

Mike’s newly formed aviation business Skyline Aviation Ltd took the plunge and purchased a near new Eurocopter AS 350B helicopter from Japan and recommenced talks with potential sponsors.

The service was now ready to evolve. Skyline employed its first pilot in well-respected Bruce Harvey and the helicopter trust drew up a commercial agreement between Skyline Aviation and the ‘remodelled’ Hawke’s Bay Rescue Helicopter Trust for the delivery of services.

By 1997, Skyline Aviation’s reputation was growing and the company supported the Hawke’s Bay air ambulance (fixed-wing) services with the purchase of a twin engine Piper Navajo aircraft It then took on the Eastland Rescue Helicopter service based in Gisborne in 2005.

In 2009, Mike made a bold move to upgrade from a single-engine Squirrel to a twinengine BK117 helicopter. The main drivers for the change was to ensure the service would meet more stringent Civil Aviation The late Graeme Lowe QSM & CNZM, rules for helicopters operating over built showed interest in becoming the principal up areas and in particular for landing on sponsor of the service but hospital helipads at the major wanted to see a strong business metropolitan hospitals, providing plan first. greater safety with twin engines “He agreed that the service was "I THEN HAD TO BITE THE BULLET. and a far larger and separate cabin a great idea, he asked to see space which greatly improves WE KNEW THAT IT WAS A GOOD IDEA BUT IF WE the business plan and he came access to patients when in flight.

WERE GOING TO MAKE IT WORK WE HAD TO FIND on board quite generously.

However, Mike didn’t have A SUITABLE HELICOPTER TO BUY, IMPORT INTO However, he had several agreement from the trust at that NEW ZEALAND AND THEN START SOME DIFFERENT conditions, including that the time to support the operation of DISCUSSIONS WITH POTENTIAL SPONSORS." value of the sponsorship be a BK117. reviewed backwards after the – MIKE TOOGOOD “They all knew that twin-engine first year and secondly, that I helicopters would be the future for be the voluntary CEO of the rescue helicopters but supporting trust. a more expensive helicopter “He wanted someone whom he had “We eventually got some great support from operation was another story. confidence in and who was committed the community from a range of sponsors to making it work, and he wanted me to and we established fundraising programmes “Over Labour Weekend, I got a call from a underwrite any shortfall in funding.” as well as a long-lasting relationship with contact in Auckland who knew of a BK117 Although Mike wasn’t fully confident in the the Hastings Karamu Rotary Club, many of helicopter that was on the market but an Australian company was also interested and arrangement he had already put a stake in which are still in place today.” the ground by buying the helicopter, so a In the first year the service undertook about had put in a bid. The machine was perfect new trust deed was written up by Mr Lowe’s 100 hours of rescue work. Today the service but I was worried that we might miss out solicitors and Mike the became CEO on a undertakes about 300 missions a year and on the opportunity, so I called my bank voluntary basis and financially underwrote as Mike says, the service is “unrecognisable and quickly managed to put together some finance. the Trust which he did for the next 15 years. from what it looked like in the early days”.

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“We didn’t actually know a lot about what we were doing in the early days, our operations manual was only about 20 pages and our maintenance was done out of town; it was very much a case of learning from experiences and developing systems and procedures on the go.

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the commitment to use it for the service; luckily, they could also see the opportunities.

“It has proved to be a very successful move and we’ve recently upgraded the engines. We now have an extraordinarily capable rescue helicopter that enables us to meet nearly every operational demand.”

In 2013, Mike was awarded a Queen’s Service Medal for his contribution to air ambulance services and has subsequently made a Paul Harris Fellow by Rotary International.

Skyline Aviation has become a family business with both of Mike’s children Annabel and Nick involved. Annabel is a company director based in Auckland and manages New Zealand Air Ambulance Service and the National Starship Hospital air ambulance service while son Nick has set up a design and build business for composite medical support equipment in Napier.

Son in law Rowan also works as an engineer and Load Master for the Auckland based service. Hastings based chartered accountant Stephen Shepherd acts as the company’s independent director having worked alongside Mike for nearly 30 years.

The business now boasts the largest investment into aeromedical aircraft and equipment in New Zealand and has transported more than 35,000 patients throughout the country, the South Pacific and beyond.

Last year NZAAS and Skyline won the contract for the National Starship Air

Ambulance Service, which Skyline has provided a dedicated King Air 350 aircraft to fly paediatric and neonatal specialist teams to retrieve children needing medical treatment throughout New Zealand.

The company also recently added to its ten aircraft fleet a Nextant 400XT jet, which is capable of flying directly to most South Pacific Islands and Australia as well as reaching into Asia and Hawaii, along with a Cessna Mustang jet.

To support the fleet, Skyline Aviation has established its own Civil Aviation Certified Part 145 Maintenance Facility with bases in Napier and Auckland. More than 50 people are now employed in Hawke’s Bay and Auckland across the entire operation.

Mike says the significant investment in equipment, facilities and personnel places the firm in a strong position for an anticipated consolidation of aeromedical services as well as actively seeking new opportunities both within New Zealand and beyond.

“We are privileged to have such an amazing team within the business who share the passion our family has, in delivering leadingedge air rescue and air ambulance services to our patients throughout New Zealand and the South Pacific’ “We are in a small market with only a few organisations involved, such as trusts and commercial operators, but the reality is the air ambulance standards are now set at such a level that the entry costs and business infrastructure along with stringent Civil

Aviation and OSH compliance costs no longer lends itself to a small business model.

“What I’ve found from growing the business from nothing to being the best resourced and capable air ambulance service in New Zealand is that if you don’t have the critical mass, it’s not going to be sustainable.

“We now have over 50 people on the payroll including pilots, engineers, administration and accounting staff, flight nurses and doctors. To run an efficient model it needs to be a fully integrated business.

We have grown organically based on demand, reputation and opportunities as well as being very passionate about what we do.”

The business continues to have strong growth aspirations and Mike is proud that the next generation of family is ready and willing to take it to the next level.

“We face some interesting challenges and opportunities in 2017 such as ACC and MoH tendering the fixed and rotary wing services across New Zealand, which may streamline and nationalise some services.

As Skyline celebrates its 25th year in the aeromedical business we are well placed for further growth alongside our continued commitment to our community as Hawkes Bay’s air rescue and air ambulance service provider.” www.skylineaviation.co.nz www.nzaas.co.nz

We’ve got more tarmac for you to park on Hawke’s Bay Airport is growing and to cater for the growth we’ve added 140 new car parks.

Additional car parking is planned with the revenue generated from the price increase set to deliver customers with a higher level of service.

Watch this space for further announcements

For more information visit www.hawkesbay-airport.co.nz FEBRUARY - APRIL 2017

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Repair Shop Hits milestone WRITER: AMY SHANKS

Moving with the times has been key to 100 years of success for Napier company City Collision Repairs.

Surviving a century is no mean feat. The panel and paint repair business has been through economic downturns and war, and kept up with the ever-changing landscape of technology.

Formerly known as A Dykes and Sons, the shop was established in 1916 by Andy Dykes and later taken over by his sons Jack and Andy.

Another father and son team, Roger and Chris Greaney, are now at the helm and has seen the industry come a long way in recent times.

“In 100 years, it’s evolved from wheelwrights and coachbuilders to makers of bus, truck and vintage car bodies, to a business that repairs them as a growing number of vehicles on the road result in more accidents,” says City Collision Repairs (CCR) manager and owner Chris.

“We have diversified over the years, adapting and changing as cars and trucks have changed.”

Roger joined A Dykes and Sons when he was just 16 years old, making his mark as a young apprentice before being promoted to workshop foreman at the age of 19.

He turned down the opportunity to work on Formula One cars overseas in favour of an informal agreement that he would one day own the shop if he stayed put and worked hard.

Back then, vehicles didn’t have seatbelts or airbags and if anyone predicted their introduction, “we would have laughed at them,” Roger says.

He has witnessed many other changes within the industry over 49 years – cars are now safer, crashes smaller and repair methods more efficient.

“When I began my apprenticeship, if you crashed your car it could be up to 12 weeks’ turnaround time to get it back on the road, now it’s two and a half to three days for the same repairs. That’s because we have technology working for us, it’s a huge time saving and it’s

incredibly accurate. At one stage, we had twenty panel beaters and eight painters working for us, now we have five of each.”

Repairs must be completed to “exacting” standards of workmanship and safety, with rules, regulations and paperwork comprising a large part of the process.

“It’s always changing; the administration side of the business is growing and insurance claims are all online. Today, time is money,” Roger says.

Chris took the reins of CCR about seven years ago, having learned the ropes for nine years before that.

The business shifted from one side of Leyland Street to the other in 2011, and since then they have increased productivity by 30 per cent.

The secret is a larger, more efficient building purpose built to cater to their needs.

“When I started my apprenticeship if you crashed your car it could be up to 12 weeks turnaround time to get it back on the road, now it’s two and a half to three days for the same repairs."

– Roger Greaney Every aspect of the space has been carefully designed to be practical, environmentally friendly and presentable to customers.

“People can only work so hard but they can work more efficiently, we have seen that with the move,” Chris says.

“Now other panel and paint business owners are looking to us as a template for how they could make changes.”

While technology, tools and machinery have all changed over 100 years, CCR’s relationships with other local companies remain the same.

TWO OF THE LEADING LAW FIRMS IN HAWKE’S BAY HAVE MERGED TO CREATE ONE STRONGER AND MORE EXPERIENCED PRACTICE On January 1 2017 Bramwell Grossman and Bate Hallett merged to form Bramwell Bate Limited.

Both firms have significant historical experience in providing legal services in the Hawke’s Bay area.

The merger will strengthen their service offerings and enhance client service.

To learn more visit www.bramwellbate.co.nz

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The award winning workshop.

Records from ANZ (formerly National Bank) show the company opened an account on December 16, 1916 and never changed providers.

“Good relationships are so important in business; we have grown and they have grown with us,” Roger says.

“We have used the same bank for 100 years, our paint supplier has been the same for 50 odd years and the accountants for nearly 40 years.”

Knowledge, passion and dedication have elevated the Onekawa industrial workshop to one of the best in New Zealand.

Competing against 500 others, CCR won a coveted Overall Best Business Award at the 2015 national Collision Repair Association annual awards.

Since the revamp they have also picked up awards for Best Upgrade in 2011 and Best Presented Business in 2013.

“We may be 100 years old but we are still new; we haven’t fallen off the perch, we continue with the industry and the times,” Roger says.

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“They all told us it couldn’t be done in Hawke’s Bay but here we are. It’s about passion, we have always wanted the shop of our dreams and now we have it, we’re among the top five shops in the country.”

This year CCR is in line for another two awards, Best Presented Business and Environmental Awareness, which they hope to add to the trophy cabinet.

Despite recognition and accolades, Chris and Roger say it’s difficult to find staff and encourage young people to consider the job as a viable career choice.

“All you need to do is go to a panel shop and apply. It’s a great career, the wages are good and it’s 8 am to 5 pm, five days a week; I’m almost tempted to put my overalls back on,” Chris says.

“We are in the middle of a shortage, not just in Hawke’s Bay but nationwide. It used to be 800 people coming through every year, now it’s 400 split across 2,000 shops. It’s not really an industry people think about.”

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POWERING THE FUTURE 2016 was a year of significant change.

We cannot predict the challenges we will face in the coming year, but Unison knows its customers rely on electricity no matter what happens. Whether you are a business customer, rural customer, or at home; when you flick the switch, you need Unison to perform.

As we start a new year, it is worth looking at what Unison has done, and what is on the agenda in the year ahead as the Company continues to power and connect Hawke’s Bay businesses and the community.

CREATING A MORE RESILIENT NETWORK A significant and unpredictable event for Unison and its customers last year was the August snowstorms, causing power outages and significant damage to parts of the network.

The benefits of the world-class technology Unison has installed in the past five years was evident.

One example was the visibility that the Advanced Distribution Management System gave Unison, allowing the company to identify faults and damaged areas sooner, and deploy crews more quickly than before.

With the earthquakes in Christchurch, and more recently those in Kaikoura, Unison recognises it is paramount to plan for significant events, so it can restore the network as quickly as possible should disaster strike.

The company’s continuity capability programme aims to do just this.

With earthquake strengthening of its head office and construction of a back-up data centre complete, Mr Sutherland said the next critical milestone for the programme will be the commissioning of its Alternative Operation Centre (AOC) at Arataki in Havelock North early this year.

“We know our customers rely on us to keep the power on, and the AOC will help to ensure we can get the network up and running as quickly as possible should a significant event, such as an earthquake, make the head office inaccessible,” said Mr Sutherland.

Flaxmere substation opening: Project Manager, Paul Humphreys, Relationship Manager, Danny Gough and Flaxmere Councillor, Henare O’Keefe.

FUTURE-PROOFING SUPPLY In 2016 Unison completed a $4.3 million upgrade to its Flaxmere substation, which has not only increased capacity and enhanced reliability of supply to the surrounding community — it has been built with the future in mind.

“This investment means we have the infrastructure in place to cater for the projected growth in Flaxmere and Twyford for the foreseeable future,” said Unison Group Chief Executive, Ken Sutherland.

“We took the opportunity to not just upgrade the assets, but make the substation safer, smarter and more resilient.”

The smart technology includes fibre-optic monitoring equipment for the transformers, and

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arc flash protection of the switchgear. This allows the Company to monitor the assets in real-time, identify faults sooner and optimise management.

“A smart substation will also further assist Unison to manage the technical challenges introduced by technologies like solar and battery storage,” Mr Sutherland said.

In 2017, amongst other upgrades on its network, Unison will complete a $5.1 million upgrade to the Tamatea substation, which supplies residential suburbs in Napier, the Hawke’s Bay Airport Business Park and the commercial area of Onekawa.

Unison’s control room at its head office in Hastings, which utilises an Advanced Distribution Management System.

IMPROVING HAWKE’S BAY’S AESTHETIC APPEAL - UNDERGROUNDING ASSETS Napier’s Kennedy Road - a major road in the region for both residents and tourists alike - has seen another significant visual improvement.

Unison has completed stage two of its overhead to underground (OHUG) conversion.

In the stretch between Riverbend Road and the Napier-Hastings Expressway there are no longer any power poles and power lines.

“The change has been transformational,” said Mr Sutherland.

“It has made a huge difference to the aesthetic appeal of what is one of the region’s busier roads.”

Unison plans to complete the final stage of Kennedy Road OHUG project, between the Expressway and Taradale Road, in the 2017/18 financial year.

Napier’s recently commissioned fastcharging station for EVs.

THE REVOLUTION – NAPIER’S FIRST PUBLIC EV CHARGING STATION With electric vehicles (EVs) continuing to gain momentum, Unison is committed to its pursuit of supporting EVs and has recently committed to converting 30 percent of its corporate fleet to EVs in the next three years.

It is also developing a fast-charging network across its operating regions to support EV uptake and reduce ‘range anxiety’ for EV drivers.

Following the unveiling of the Hastings ‘Power Park’ in the first half of the year, and Rotorua in September, Unison commissioned its third charger in Napier towards the end of 2016.

Just over six months after the first Power Park was launched, EV drivers across the network are continuing to make the most of the facilities.

Kennedy Road OHUG project in action.

LOOKING AHEAD 2016 was a busy year, with 2017 set to be even bigger.

A big issue for Unison and its customers in the next year remains network pricing.

The way customers use, generate, store and manage their electricity is changing.

The Electricity Authority is encouraging electricity distribution businesses, like Unison, to implement more cost-reflective, service-based pricing. This type of pricing means the cost of the network is more fairly shared across users, reflects the costs of the service Unison provides and supports customer choice. Unison will be consulting with its customers in the year ahead to discuss the pricing options it is looking at and to hear their views.

Collectively, as at mid-January, the chargers have had over 800 fast-charging sessions in

total and delivered 7,300 kWh of electricity. This would allow a Nissan Leaf to drive more than 48,000 kilometres.

“It is really pleasing to see this investment proving worthwhile,” said Mr Sutherland.

“Though still in its infancy, the number of EV owners in Hawke’s Bay is only going to rise in the years ahead, with the Government aiming to double EV uptake to reach 64,000 by 2021.”

With the future always in mind, Unison will continue to support new technologies such as EVs. The next project in the pipeline involves the launch of a fast-charger in Taupo and two along the ‘Thermal Explorer Highway’ route between Taupo and Napier, which will mean EV drivers will no longer have to worry about finding a charging station along the 140 km stretch of road.

Unison will also continue to partner with local organisations and groups that contribute to the growth and wellbeing of Hawke’s Bay communities through its sponsorship programme, as well as prudently manage its assets to deliver a solid financial return to shareholders – the power consumers of Hawke’s Bay. The Company’s commitment to innovation is firmly etched into its culture and, with emerging technologies on the rise, Unison is positioning itself in readiness for future change.

“We will never rest on our laurels, and will continue on our journey from a traditional electricity distribution business, to one with a breadth and depth of capability that will drive the exciting future of Hawke’s Bay,” said Mr Sutherland.

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Snow Hardy (Prevar) and Steve Potbury (Fruitcraft).

Hawke’s Bay Apple Growers Set to Dazzle the World WRITER: Catherine Wedd Hawke’s Bay apple growers are set to dazzle the world with a new apple variety, which they see as the biggest development since the launch of Royal Gala, decades ago.

Fruitcraft, a collaboration between three of New Zealand's largest growers – Mr Apple, Bostock New Zealand and Freshmax – has been granted the master licensing rights by Prevar for production and marketing of the PremA129 variety, which will be marketed as Dazzle® worldwide.

The Dazzle Apple is a large, red, sweet apple which has taken 20 years to develop by Plant and Food Research at its research station in Havelock North.

Fruitcraft manager Steve Potbury says this is an exciting opportunity for apple growers around the world.

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“Dazzle is targeted towards the growing Asian markets. It has all the qualities which appeal to Asian consumers. It is a big, highly coloured and very sweet apple.

“We want to work with all growers to ensure they can grow and market it through their preferred exporter. This is a collaborative approach, which gives growers the chance to be involved from the orchards to the markets,” says Steve.

“All apple growers in New Zealand will be able to grow Dazzle, and all fruit exporters will be able to sell it.”

Over 100,000 trees are already being grown by growers in New Zealand including Mr Apple, Bostock New Zealand and Freshmax, and nurseries are busy preparing rootstocks to meet demand for orders.

Fruitcraft is forecasting 1 million cartons of the Dazzle apple will be exported from

New Zealand by 2028, making it one of the country’s most popular apple varieties.

Further production around the world is planned, and Fruitcraft will be looking to license growers and marketers in the main apple growing countries in the next year or two.

“WE WANT TO WORK WITH ALL GROWERS TO ENSURE THEY CAN GROW AND MARKET IT THROUGH THEIR PREFERRED EXPORTER." — STEVE POTBURY

“We are confident of the success of this new apple given New Zealand’s largest growers are already committed to producing Dazzle, and we are starting to field positive inquiries from New Zealand and across the world.”

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History of New Zealand Apple Varieties Commercially Licensed in New Zealand

1970s Royal Gala

1950s Gala

New Zealand has a proud history for developing apple varieties.

The New Zealand industry has invested heavily to invigorate the international apple market with unique varieties, which meet consumer demand

2000 Jazz

Early 1980s Braeburn

Early 1990s Pacific Series

Prevar Commercial Manager Snow Hardy says this is a significant development for Prevar and the pipfruit industry around the world.

“There has been huge input into the Plant & Food Research breeding programme over the years and it’s now very exciting to roll out such a fantastic new variety to growers and exporters here in New Zealand and internationally. We are encouraging growers to get in behind this new apple variety and support this programme.”

Plant & Food Research scientist Richard Volz says Dazzle has been bred conventionally,

2005 Genesis

2005 Envy

through cross breeding between “Sweetie” and “Scired” by plant breeders at Havelock North in 1997. “The parents and grandparents of the PremA129 variety all come from New Zealand. This has taken decades of work and investment by scientists at Plant and Food Research and the New Zealand pipfruit industry to develop a truly New Zealand apple with strong kiwi heritage,” said Mr Volz.

Pipfruit New Zealand Chief Executive Alan Pollard says this is another reflection of the sophistication and strength of an industry where growers, exporters and

2008 Smitten

2006 Lemonade

2016 Dazzle

2010 Rockit

breeders are all working together to deliver high quality products to customers both in New Zealand and around the world.

“The opportunities for New Zealand growers and industry businesses with the release of this exciting new apple variety builds on our confidence and excitement as we approach our billion-dollar export target.

“We have evolved into a fully integrated industry that is forging ahead with sustainable growth, innovation, leadership and strategic vision.” www.dazzleapple.com ATTN13PRO1407

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www.vshb co.nz FEBRUARY - APRIL 2017

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GM Free Battlefields Drawn WRITER: Catherine Wedd GM Free growing regions are calling on the Maori Party to stop the Government from removing local powers that protect their GM Free growing status.

Hastings, Far North, Whangarei and Auckland’s GM Free status are all under threat if the Maori Party sides with National.

The changes Environment Minister, Hon. Nick Smith wants to introduce to the Resource Management Act will take away the rights of regions to make their own decisions to protect their local economy and environment.

Under Clause 360D in the RMA Bill the Government can to stop regions from making their own decisions on key issues, such as whether their territories remain GM Free.

But the regions are fighting back and launched a social media campaign calling on the Maori Party to help them stand up for local democracy and protect their right to be GM Free, which covers what is grown and farmed on the land.

In a video, community leaders, local Iwi, mayors, growers, exporters, farmers, and people from across these regions are

Ngahiwi Tomoana

Jacoby Poulain

Tane Randell

Scott Lawson

speaking out to protect their democratic right to be GM Free.

The video is fronted by Ngāti Kahunaungu chairman Ngahiwi Tomoana and also includes former All Black captain Taine Randell, Hastings mayor Lawrence Yule, Auckland councillor and former Deputy Mayor Penny Hulse, Whangarei Mayor Sheryl Mai, Far North Depute Mayor Tania McInnes, Hawke’s Bay Regional Council chairman Rex Graham and local farmers and growers.

Prior to Christmas, the Maori Party told Mr Smith in a letter that they did not support new regulatory powers (under s360D(1)(d)) if he can use them to prevent regions from creating GM Free zones.

All other political parties have condemned the clause and the Maori Party now is all that stands between the miniter’s ambitions for his Government to open the doors to growing GM food and the regions wanting to protect the country as GM Free.

Former All Black Captain Taine Randell, who now owns and operates freeze dried snack food company Kiwi Garden, said the 360D clause would destroy the value of locally produced exports.

Phillip Bird

Henare O'Keefe

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Penny Hulse

“Our overseas customers don’t want genetically modified products. They do not want to be feeding their babies genetically modified food. This would destroy our marketing opportunities and competitive advantage.”

Ngati Kahunaungu chairman Ngahiwi Tomoana said he hoped the Government and the Maori Party would listen to the voice of the regions.

“I EXPORT 25 THOUSAND TONNE OF NEW ZEALAND CONVENTIONAL GROWN FRUIT AND VEGETABLES AROUND THE WORLD AND OUR CUSTOMERS WANT GM FREE CONVENTIONAL PRODUCE.” – PHILIP BIRD

“We have a duty for our people to provide the best food from the best land on the planet – free of genetic modification.

“We will work face to face and shoulder to shoulder with all our communities and we won’t allow anyone to take these rights from us.”

planners | engineers | surveyors | environmental + 64 6 835 2096 | 94 Raffles Street, Napier

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Tania McInnes

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Sheryl Mai

Auckland councillor and former Deputy Mayor Penny Hulse says allowing regions to make their own decisions will not impact on life saving drugs, as the Government states, because medicines are excluded from all the regional GM Free plans.

“We want to keep the Auckland region GM Free in field and food so we are not putting life saving medicine at risk. We are simply saying let us make our own decisions as a region and how we want to live.”

Hastings mayor Lawrence Yule, who’s district was the first in New Zealand to claim its GM Free status, said 360D was about taking away local decision making powers and he urged the Government to reconsider its position.

“I support most of the changes to the RMA but the change that we are most concerned about are those that effect our ability as a local community to decide what we want.

360D alllows the Government to override our preferences and particularly in Hastings case, where the district wants to be GM Free.”

Hawke’s Bay Regional Council chairman Rex Graham said taking away the right to remain GM Free would jeopardise the ability for exporters to stand out on the world stage.

“Everything we grow is GM free – we don't grow genetically modified food crops and we want to keep it that way.

John Bostock

Warren Maxwell

of difference and it gives us a competitive economic advantage and we want to protect that.”

Exporter, Philip Bird says 99% of New Zealand export produce is conventional and the international markets are demanding GM Free produce.

“I export 25 thousand tonne of New Zealand conventional grown fruit and vegetables around the world and our customers want GM Free conventional produce.”

Bostock New Zealand owner John Bostock, who has been exporting premium produce for more than 30 years, says the marketing opportunities around the world are huge for growers and the economy, but only if it remains GM Free.

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“We don’t want central government interfering with how we market our fruit.

We want them to stand up and let our community decide our GM policy.

“New Zealand is never going to feed the world. We will only ever feed a small proportion of the world, so we have to focus on our point of difference and that is offering high-end, premium food that is GM Free.” www.facebook.com/PureHawkesBay/ www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXKRxxQzGlk

Head Office:

15 Cadbury Road, Onekawa, Napier

Auckland Sales office:

118 Hugo Johnston Drive, Penrose, Auckland

“We export and market our food across the world as GM free. This is our point

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Primary

More Pros than Cons for Primary Producers

By Brent Paterson | Rural Directions

Let’s take a look at some of the pros and cons of being a primary producer.

PROS:

• People – We have been in the business of farming for a few generations now and I can put hand on heart and say that only once have we had a bad debt (for some reason the unwritten rule of a handshake deal still exists as it always has in farming).

Shake hands, load a truck and trailer of cattle out to someone you have never met before and expect payment in 14 days.

This is more a transfer of trust than stock – that sums up our people.

• Time – Now this is contentious at best and I can feel the wrath of the time starved farmers out there as I pen this article. I do get it, this is a busy occupation and to be fair it is getting busier as we seem to complicate our businesses and lives. What I am getting at is that we have the ability to create time if we plan ahead.

When we turn our keys off at the end of the day, the animals (and fruit) keep on growing. Gary Player the great golfer had a beautiful saying when questioned about his horse stud where he said “you must always be careful of something that eats while you sleep”. There is a flip side to this if consumption stands for product conversion. They say time is money, I say time is life.

• The Land – You can’t deny that the feeling of owning (or leasing) a part of Aotearoa holds a special part in most people’s hearts. For the few that get the

opportunity to produce food from their land, it is a privilege to do so. I once went into a dairy shed and a farmer said to me “the milk is pure in the udder and the only challenge that milk in the udder will have in getting to the consumer in its pure form is the human intervention”.

These are wise words and I just wish that all had this understanding when learning the craft of farming. There is no greater privilege in life than being a part of creating something that will outlive us.

The arborists out there have always said “the best time to plant a tree was yesterday the next best time is today”.

• The Environment – 99% of farmers care for the environment, period. The case used to be, use it or lose it but it is now look after it or lose it; we all know the consequences here. As they say “you don’t see many turkeys voting for Christmas do you”… If the consumer (who we ultimately work for) is not happy with your practice, they will fall out of love with the product. If you can get prosecuted for visual pollution, you should be able to charge for visual beauty. I think we should be able to charge people for looking at what we create; it’s hard to get into a visual art show in New York for free…

• Family – What an incredible way to bring up a family on the land offers us, that feeling of space and security, the sound on silence (I often challenge my kids to go out on the farm and listen for silence, one day they will get it… I hope).

The understanding of how the life cycle works, having puppies and other pets

Advisory Services Recruitment & HR Business Administration

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and then seeing them pass away and understanding why. The times when the power goes out (not just in the country as we all know) and needing to rely on your own intuition to have fun. Learning to ride a bike and a horse and climb a tree and more importantly learning to fall. This stuff is not unique to farming and not unique to NZ, but I’ve travelled enough to know that it would be a dream to most of the world.

CONS:

Cashflow – Enough said.

Brent Paterson is the founder and Managing Director of Rural Directions Limited. He is involved in the Family Farming Entity in Patoka and the Agri-business Sector with the following Rural Directions Entities Rural Directions Recruitment & HR, Rural Directions Business Administration and Rural Directions Advisory.

To contact Brent, email – brent@ruraldirections.co.nz.

Call: 06 871 0450

PRO

Finance

Diversification is the Key The investor's guide to navigating the minefield of global events and media hype.

By Tobias Taylor | Spicers Portfolio Management

The recent earthquakes across central New Zealand, Brexit, Donald Trump and John Key's resignation aside, there's a new and potentially bigger risk for investors to be wary of, and that's the media hype that clouds common sense on many of these issues.

Content velocity – the speed of information – and the volume of information, coupled with the media's obsession with speculation, conjecture and sensational headlines have increased the risk of frightening investors into impulsive and ill-considered knee-jerk decisions.

Trump an example of counter-product panic A recent example is the election of US President (President-Elect at the time of writing) Donald Trump. Far from the widely touted global market collapse, the US dollar has strengthened.

Due to worries about China, AMP NZ reports that global shares fell 10.37% by the 11th of February 2016. From this date to early June, before the UK Brexit vote the markets rose 8.02%. After the Brexit vote the markets fell 7.43% by the end of June, but have since recovered 13.81% to the end of November 2016.

Some clients became concerned after these falls and often discussed moving funds out of the markets, even though their long-term plans and goals had not changed. After each fall the market recovered by 8.02% and 13.81% respectively and are now up 2% overall as of November 2016.

Without a doubt, 2016 has been a volatile and difficult market to predict and undertake short-term planning for.

A strategy for coping with global events The best way to deal with the media hype is to let the information digest before you make any decisions – allow the emotion to subside – and position your portfolio with diversification, because when you diversify across asset classes, you have more opportunity to limit the effects of volatility.

It's not just the media. The pollsters get it wrong too – as they did with Brexit and Trump's election – which creates a lot of uncertainty, and we all know that markets act adversely when the so-called experts and pollsters get things wrong. No one was picking John Key to resign either.

Instead of planning to be able to react to change – news of which happens in real time and not always with great accuracy – it would be wiser to plan for what the consequences may be.

Planning is crucial. If your portfolio relies on what market movements may be in the next twelve months, then it is not structured properly.

Also, the “chasing of rainbows” and trying to guess markets is a short-lived pursuit. Solid asset allocation with long-term and researched underlining assets is the only way to mitigate for short-term volatility. For example, if you had withdrawn money from your US listed investments in the wake of Donald Trump's victory, you would have lost out on a rally.

Certainly, if you had placed the said funds in global bonds (including US Treasury Bonds), the effect would have been even worse. As I write, the projected inflationary movements in the US are having negative effects on the long-term bond yields. This movement is counter intuitive to what some were picking.

Planning should be done according to your needs and goals If your need is for income, then we should hold your investment in an income producing asset, at least for the next 12 months of planned income.

The key factor for income producing assets is the liquidity of those income producing assets; people want liquidity and they don’t want to be locked into an investment, but there's a cost to liquidity.

If your needs are long-term, then it is generally good to plan on growth assets.

By establishing true asset allocation, you are in a better position to override any short-term unforeseen market events. Asset allocation/diversification takes care of the uncertainty as best as possible.

Look to the consequences, not the event itself When we have market events such as those of 2016, we need to look at the consequences, not the event itself. For example, as terrible as it may seem, a negative investment reaction to the recent earthquakes fails to consider the increased economic prosperity that will come from investments and infrastructure rebuilding when insurance companies and EQC start paying out claims and paying for infrastructure rebuilds.

Canterbury was a good example of the positive economic impact that sometimes follows momentous events – activity which creates jobs, industry and movement.

What we can, and should, expect is that every year there will be a news item somewhere in the world with some form of economic impact. Diversification and a sound investment plan based on your risk profile, needs and goals, is the way to go.

We should not let our long-term plans be offset by events that could happen, because we just don’t know.

Different asset classes behave differently every year. The Mercer periodic table (pictured) highlights – specifically – the fact that not one asset class out performs the other consistently.

Having the right mix of each ensures our journey is smoother and not effected by the short-term.

The iShares MSCI World Index ETF is a widely used proxy by the global investment community to measure the performance of global shares.

Tobias Taylor is an Authorised Financial Adviser (AFA) with Spicers Portfolio Management.

He has more than 15 years’ experience providing financial advice and is based in the Hawkes Bay area. To contact Tobias email tobias@spicershb.co.nz Tobias Taylor has a disclosure document that is available on request and is free of charge. The information in this article is of a general nature only and is no substitute for personalised advice. To the extent that any of the above content constitutes financial advice, it is class advice only. If you would like advice that takes into account your particular financial situation or goals, please contact your Financial Adviser.

FEBRUARY - APRIL 2017

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PRO RMA

Have We Closed the Rural/Urban Divide?

By Cameron Drury | Cheal Consultants

The onset of summer in Hawke’s Bay reminds us of the amazing natural attributes that characterise our region and make it such a special place to live. Whether you’re driving out to Waimarama to enjoy some beach time or driving inland to the hills or river swimming spots, you can’t help but notice how dry the region becomes once the winds of the spring equinox and lower rainfall patterns take their effect.

It’s once you look a little closer at this that you realise how hard it must be to farm in such a challenging climate. This happened to me recently, and while I have a good degree of involvement in the sector, there’s probably a lot I am not completely familiar with.

This got me thinking and I wondered how much the urban population actually understands about the rural sector, the sort of matters it needs to plan for and respond to and some of procedures undertaken to manage different operations and the environment.

For example, there are times of the year (particularly winter) where soil conditions are such that it’s better to have stock off steeper country and concentrate them on flatter areas – this protects the soil structure of the hills, avoids contributing sediment to waterways and enables better feed management at a time when grass growth has slowed or stopped.

Farm management constantly has to respond to a number of matters, and while it’s a matter of implementing the right practice in the correct context, it’s a complex industry and environment in which to undertake operations.

Although the urban footprint is being managed in relation to expanding into the rural environment, urban interests are certainly expanding into the rural sector, and this is being played out in political expectations and policy development processes.

On one hand you could say that the rural/ urban divide is getting narrower as a result, but if one sector, or worst still both sectors, don’t understand the other or the complex environments in which they act, the divide will actually become greater. A further risk is incomplete understandings leading to unrealistic expectations. This can be easily exacerbated by overly optimistic timeframes.

Although the region has been in the mix of dealing with a lot of issues that seem to camp out on the bridge between rural and urban interests, these are ongoing matters and will always be around. For effective policy development and implementation there needs to be proper and complete understanding of the challenges confronting the rural sector and the different type of responses that can be implemented – as in when, how and why.

It is only then that a workable platform for collaboration can be set. The ability of the rural sectors voice to be heard also needs to be ensured, and this includes representation and input at different levels of local government. If you don’t understand, how can you know, and how can you form views to make decisions?

Let’s get really simple – does the community actually understand the implications of the

new water allocation regime for the Tukituki River? In 2013 under a minimum flow of 3,500l/s, irrigation takes from the river were cut-off for a period of 17 days followed by another period of 24 days 5 days later. If the minimum flow was 4,300l/s, as will be the case in 2018, the cut-off period would have been 7 days followed a further period of 65 days 7 days later – a considerably longer period overall.

This is basically 2½ months of no irrigation – affecting horticultural growth, animal feed, farm management systems and operational logistics. Now I’m not entertaining the thought of reinventing the argument, but are the implications and consequences of this during a long Hawke’s Bay summer and the resultant pressures, stresses and need for considerable system changes really understood and appreciated, and is there the level of support and assistance to help the rural community adapt – as after all, the new framework is for all our benefit isn’t it?

If we’re honest and can’t say yes to this, then we’re not doing very well in closing the divide, and we will need to do better if there is any chance in achieving the outcomes that we as a community set as targets.

Cameron Drury is a Full Member of the New Zealand Planning Institute and a Senior Planner with Cheal Consultants with the role of Regional Manager of the Hawkes Bay operation. Email Cameron at cameron@ cheal.co.nz. Cheal provides expert services in the fields of Planning, Surveying and Civil, Geotechnical and Traffic Engineering. Offices are located in Hawke's Bay, Taupo, Ohakune, Taumaranui and Rotorua.

Relive the Golden Era of Flying at the Tremains Art Deco Festival

Brebner Print Memorial Flying Displays

Design | Print | Deliver Phone: 06 974 3650 brebnerprint.co.nz 34

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PRO IT

Get SaaSy in the Cloud in 2017

By Simon Fletcher | Spark Business Hub

Given it’s that time of the year when traditionally things are a little quieter, what better time to take stock of our technology requirements for 2017.

This article is aimed at the small business who has a basic understanding of technology and wants a better understanding of cloud and how this may help their business.

In my last article we discussed the future of technology and what should business be looking for to prepare for the changes promoted.

Cloud was an area identified as a foundation opportunity, a foundation on which to prepare your business for the changes ahead.

Now that we have some real movement in the telecommunications infrastructure, namely fibre it makes good economic sense to look more closely at cloud and particularly Software as a Service (SaaS).

Software as a Service (SaaS) is software delivered over the internet.

It is supported and maintained by the vendor and typically you are charged an ongoing subscription fee for it.

The benefits of SaaS are 1.

Flexibility in delivery

2.

Cost reduction

3. Scalability 4.

Increase Innovation

Having the software available through the internet gives business the ability to allow access to remote and mobile users. Smartphones are predicted to outnumber PCs by 2 to 3 by 2020 so any new software needs to factor in this component and SaaS makes that easier and cheaper than premise based hardware.

Cost reduction is widely accepted as the main driving force behind using software in the cloud. Studies have indicated also that those who have cost reduction as their main driver for moving to the cloud also became more productive.

Generally the applications you choose to use are easily scaled up or down depending on your business need. If you scale your business up at certain times in the year then you can add and remove users as required. You only pay for what you need rather than buying capacity in servers in anticipation of growth down the track. For example consider Office365 and the ability to add and remove users as needed.

The SaaS market is very competitive so the drive for innovation within these vendors is motivated by the need to grow and maintain its customer base. As a rule the deployment cost of a SaaS business model are cheaper and quicker so innovation is a marginal cost to the vendors business because they have the size, resource, the infrastructure and of course motivation to continually innovate.

SaaS is divided into Horizontal and Vertical segments. Horizontal is business centric like, Salesforce, Office365 and Dropbox whereas Verticals are industry specific, for example FarmIQ or Granular for the agricultural sector, or Vend for the retail sector.

So depending on your industry there is likely to be a software application available that meets the specific need of the industry and your business. Often these vendors have come from the industry and know it well, as opposed to horizontal vendors like Microsoft who cross all industries.

The challenge is with such a huge range of applications it can be difficult to choose the right one for your business although accountants and industry bodies are a good resource to advise you.

But how do you decide whether your business should migrate and become a SaaS user?

That depends on a number of factors. For example if you are rural then you may not have reliable fast broadband so for your business it may not be practical.

If you are urban though and have simple requirements then it may be quite simple to engage with your own IT person and discuss how you move some, if not all of your requirements to the cloud.

Certainly if you have an older set up and don’t have any knowledge then you do need to align with someone who can guide you like your ICT provider.

For my business it made good sense, I don’t have servers, my mail, Microsoft applications, CRM and payroll are managed and I pay a monthly fee for all these.

I hope this has been useful in understanding what SaaS is and how beneficial it can be. The aim is really to touch those businesses that don’t have an understanding of cloud and SaaS and that may now consider it as an option moving forward, I think, 2017 is the right time to seriously consider your business requirements.

Simon Fletcher is the owner of the local Spark Business Hub and has over 20 years’ experience in the Utilities and communications industries.

Email Simon at simon.fletcher@hubhawkesbay.co.nz FEBRUARY - APRIL 2017

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EDUCATION

EIT Graduate Strategises for Success An unexpected speed bump came close to unseating EIT Diploma in Recreation and Sport graduate Jenny Ryan just a few years after launching her cycling tour company Tākaro Trails in Hawke’s Bay. “Former Prime Minister John Key’s 2009 announcement of funding for a national network of cycleways was a double-edged sword,” the Hawke’s Bay Tourism Industry supreme award winner explains.

“I’d got off to a good start and there was significant growth in the second year. In the third year, I nearly went over.

“I was that close to walking away from the business,” she says, all but pinching her thumb and forefinger together.

The problem was that others saw an opportunity to establish their own cycling ventures and Aucklanders, in particular, were opting for bike trails closer to home. Jenny now considers the National Cycleway programme “an amazing initiative”.

“It’s achieved everything it set out to achieve. There are more trails and signage, but it did take longer to build momentum than anyone thought. I had to grow a new market, and when demand did pick up I was perfectly positioned to catch that wave.”

Growing up in Rotorua, Jenny originally wanted a career as a physical education teacher. She applied to study the relevant university programme but was turned down three times. So she took a job with a local travel agency, a move she doesn’t regret.

“It’s worked out for me. I had an amazing career in travel, learning on the job.”

On OE, she worked for Contiki in London for three years. Her career in travel continued in Auckland, but eventually she felt ready for a change.

“I’d been working for 30 years at that point and decided to take a year off.

I’d travelled a lot, to some 70 countries, and I didn’t have a burning desire to do that. So I decided to study for a sports diploma.”

Jenny couldn’t afford to study and live in Auckland but she was a regular visitor to Hawke’s Bay and she knew EIT research professor Bob Marshall, whose special area of interest is sport and recreation.

Jenny Ryan of Tākaro Trails won the EIT-sponsored Hawke’s Bay Tourism Industry’s supreme award for 2016.

“He was a client of my travel agency, so I knew EIT’s Diploma in Recreation and Sport would be a good study programme. I loved it,” she says. “It was a small school with a real care culture and the experience recharged my battery.”

Although she’s never considered herself a cyclist, Jenny started thinking about setting up a trail bike company while at EIT. “The study was a lot about fitness and that gave me the confidence to help people with aspects such as bike skills, nutrition and the importance of hydration. I also studied management courses and, never having had a formal tertiary education, I learnt good strategies from that.”

She was thinking strategically in 2011 when, under pressure with diminishing customer numbers, she relocated Tākaro Trails from Bay View to the touristfriendly seaside suburb of Ahuriri.

She also diversified into the Australian market, working at the top end with inbound tour operators, and developed packages tailored to the individual interests of visitors eager to explore the region’s attractions and network of scenic pathways by bike.

A package, for example, might include degustation dinners, accommodation at luxury lodges and pick-up support.

Now largely out of the casual bike hire market, Jenny says Hawke’s Bay is ideally suited to overseas cyclists.

“It’s got a small population and has a high level of sophistication, with some of the best restaurants in New Zealand. Touring shows like the ballet come here. It’s on the map for those things.”

While she works hard, she says it doesn’t feel like it.

“Ten minutes after locking up for the day you can be back in your own backyard. And it’s really easy to do business here as well, your word still counts for something.”

As her business continues to thrive Jenny doesn’t feel she misses out on anything living in Hawke’s Bay. “I would never consider leaving,” she says.

Real life, real learning, real business EIT School of Business is proud of its programme innovations starting in 2017.

Our new courses will be shorter but more intense - this will provide an even better learning experience. Four start points per year will give more flexibility - start when you wish.

Assessments have been redesigned to better match real world situations - so fewer exams!

Our programmes are closely connected to the business and wider community so they are relevant and help you build your networks for the future.

THE EXPERIENCE YOU NEED & THE SUPPORT TO SUCCEED 0800 22 55 348 | business.eit.ac.nz 36

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PRO HR

Workplace Wellness –

Healthy People and Healthy Business

By Kimberly McKay | BDO Central

I recently attended a workplace wellness conference and learnt some new jargon – “compression of morbidity”. Apparently this means in the future there will be more of us that are older and sicker for longer. It’s a gloomy forecast at both a personal level and in terms of the economic burden.

Another very obvious but disturbing thought is ‘personal decisions are the leading cause of death in the western world’. This is not just referring to people who choose to do blatantly risky stuff like base-jumping, mountain climbing, swimming with sharks or smoking. This is the fact that we all know we should eat well, drink very moderately, exercise regularly, and get enough sleep and relaxation to manage our stress – but of course we don’t! Most of us routinely make very poor lifestyle choices.

A further, very strong message was that businesses should support having employee wellness programs for compelling business reasons in addition to the point above – i.e. people are not very good at this left to their own devices.

BUSINESS REASONS (ROI): • Reduces absenteeism • Improves productivity • Improves performance • Improves recruitment and retention ALTRUISM: • It’s the right thing to do • We want people to be healthy • We want people to be happy

Most importantly research shows a clear linkage between a culture of wellness and employee engagement. It makes sense that when people believe the employer cares about them they are more engaged. This means they are more motivated to perform, stay longer in the job and will recommend the workplace to others.

For many businesses the new health and safety legislation has prompted a review of policies and systems, often with a strong focus on safety initially. The health aspect of health and safety can get less attention unless you are in an environment with obvious health risks such as working with hazardous chemicals or harmful noise levels.

We should think about wellness in the broadest sense and not just in terms of physical health.

The World Health Organisation definition is “a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”

Traditional wellness programmes have tended to focus on physical fitness such as sports teams and gym memberships. These certainly have value because another cheery thought is that physical inactivity is the 4th leading risk factor for global mortality.

Many large organisations also have an Employee Assistance Programme to provide counselling and support the mental health needs of their staff.

Comprehensive wellness programs consider the whole person. Research into societies around the world where people live longest identify having a sense of purpose and community as vital for wellbeing. Within organisations that means connecting people to your organisation purpose so they know how they contribute and helping them to see how their values align with organisation values.

Other types of initiatives that you might consider for your wellness programme can be very wide ranging and these examples may give you some new ideas: • Pleasant work environments that invoke positive feelings • Lifestyle seminars, addiction support, neuroscience education • Community involvement – volunteer day, gifting to charity, fundraising events • Financial personal trainer/advisor, retirement planning workshops • Environmental – sustainable commuting, bike stands, car pools, recycling, energy use • Health checks, flu jabs, eye tests • Meditation, yoga, massage • Nutrition advice, healthy food in cafeterias and at events • Technology – encourage device-free time, provide Fitbits • Supportive rehabilitation programmes after injury

The needs of your people will vary greatly so a flexible program that allows people to select the things appropriate to them is likely to get greatest participation. Regularly ask people what they need to keep your program relevant.

You don’t necessarily have to develop a completely new set of initiatives. You may already be doing a range of things in your organisation to look after people without labelling it a ‘Wellness Program’. You may want to consider packaging and branding what you are currently doing and creating a story around wellbeing that reminds your people what you offer.

Like any aspect of your culture, commitment to wellbeing needs leadership support to be effective and to be accepted as genuine by your workforce. Smart leaders will see the benefit of a wellness program that builds resilience, engagement and performance so people can deliver on the organisation brand promise. If you look after your people, they can look after your customers.

Kimberly McKay is a Human Resource Consultant with BDO Central (NI). She has extensive experience assisting both small and large employers with all aspects of their HR needs. BDO Central are Chartered Accountants and Business Advisors, with offices in Napier and Palmerston North. BDO is able to support clients with a comprehensive suite of accounting, information systems and HR services. The firm is an independent member of BDO New Zealand and part of the global BDO network. www.bdo.co.nz FEBRUARY - APRIL 2017

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PRO Legal

Commercial Leases – Right of Renewal

By Edward Bostock | Bramwell Bate Lawyers

When entering into a new lease the length of the initial term is an important consideration for the parties, especially the tenant who will be required to comply with the terms of the lease (e.g. payment of rent) for the entire term of the lease.

A short initial term will therefore reduce the tenant’s risk which may be of particular importance to a fledgling business but does not provide long term security as to the business’s location.

Rights of renewal give tenants flexibility by (subject to certain conditions) giving them access to a longer lease without having to commit at the outset to a long initial term.

Renewing the Lease

A right of renewal is not exercised automatically and a tenant is required to give the landlord formal notice of its wish to renew the lease.

Terms of commercial leases vary significantly, however the standard provisions of the ADLS lease (widely used) require the tenant to provide at least 3 months’ notice in writing of its wish to exercise the right of renewal and therefore renew the lease. Provided the tenant is complying with the terms of the lease at the time notice is given, the landlord is obligated to renew the lease. It is therefore important for a tenant to ensure that they are complying with the term is of the lease (monetary and non-monetary) when they give such notice.

A decision to renew a lease is a significant one as it will be a commitment to (continue) to meet the terms of the lease for the further term.

A New Lease

When a lease is renewed pursuant to a right of renewal, it is deemed to be a new lease which is an important point, particularly in relation to guarantees.

A guarantor (whether it is the initial guarantor or any subsequent guarantor introduced when the lease is assigned) guarantees the current term of the lease but does not have to guarantee a renewed lease.

The landlord is entitled to require, as part of the renewal, that any guarantor of the existing lease also guarantee the renewed 38

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lease. Note that a refusal to give a guarantee on renewal may be a valid reason for the landlord not to grant a renewal.

It is therefore recommended that a landlord has the renewal formally documented, and signed by the guarantors to record their ongoing obligations.

Notice to renew not given?

A tenant may forget to give notice to renew the lease and where this happens the conduct of the parties may determine whether the lease has been renewed by implication.

This may involve e-mails, letters or verbal communications between the parties recording that the right of renewal has been exercised.

In circumstances where there has been no such communication the parties may wish to rely on the actions of each party – for example a tenant may be able to argue that by remaining in occupation of the premises and continuing to pay rent, the landlord, by accepting such payment is deemed to have accepted that the tenant has exercised the right to renew.

Where the landlord has refused to renew the lease, and therefore grant a new lease, the tenant can apply to the court for relief under the Property Law Act 2007 within three months of receiving notice from the

landlord. If the tenant has simply forgotten to give notice of renewal, the lease may be reinstated. The court has previously put an onus on the landlord to ask the tenant whether they wish to renew the lease when the time comes for the notice of renewal.

However, if the tenant is frequently late in paying their rent or has not complied with the terms of the lease in another way, the court is less likely to grant relief.

Rent?

It is important to note that, where the date to renew the lease is same as the date the rent will be reviewed, the matters are usually dealt with separately and a tenant cannot usually wait for the new rent to be determined before deciding whether to renew the lease the (new) rent is usually determined after the renewal is exercised.

A word of warning

This article is only intended to give a general overview and as the wording and circumstances differ from lease to lease, it is recommended that you consult your legal advisor for assistance when exercising a renewal.

Edward Bostock is a Director at Bramwell Bate Lawyers in Hastings. To contact Edward, email edward@bramwellbate.co.nz

PRO

PROPERTY

Methamphetamine and the Housing Market

By Paul Harvey | Williams’ Harvey Registered Valuers

“New projects are being targeted in Hawke's Bay to help crack a methamphetamine problem which could be one of the worst in Australasia. While calculating the scale of use of "P" is anecdotal, some indication of the problem has come in police statistics which show a trend towards a possible quadrupling of the numbers being prosecuted in the region” New plans to tackle meth crisis in Hawke’s Bay – HB Today, November 19 2016.

Methamphetamine, ‘crystal meth’, ‘meth’, or ’P’ is a Class A controlled substance under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1978. This classification means meth attracts the highest penalties for manufacture, trafficking, sale and use.

However, nationally, a lack of guidelines exist regarding meth contamination in the property profession. Professionals are learning as they go and creating guidelines to help identify and deal with the meth problem.

The guidelines produced by the Ministry of Health (MoH) in 2010 were recently revised in October 2016 and recommendations now define post decontamination levels based on whether meth contamination is due to the use of methamphetamine or due to the manufacture of methamphetamine: Where manufacture has occurred, the revised post decontamination recommendation remains at 0.5μg/100 cm2 (individual sample); Where use alone has occurred, the revised post decontamination recommendations are; 2.0 μg/100 cm2 uncarpeted properties (individual sample); 1.5 μg/100 cm2 carpeted properties (individual sample). The extent to which these October 2016 MoH recommendations are to be considered acceptable, will be determined by the local Council for the area in which the property is located Meth harms via contact as it is a crystal that vaporises when heated, as in smoking.

The vapour clings to surfaces and reforms as crystals. People who encounter these surfaces can ingest the meth through their skin or by touching contaminated surfaces then touching their mouth, nose or eyes.

Short-term effects from exposure to meth include rashes, headaches, nausea, dizziness, fatigue, shortness of breath, and burning to eyes, skin, mouth and nose. Longerterm exposure can lead to cancer; brain, kidney and liver damage; miscarriage and birth defects.

Identifying Meth Use and Manufacture in Properties We understand property managers and real estate agents are now getting regular requests from prospective tenants and buyers for ‘meth clear’ properties. This testing is fast becoming standard as part of the sale and purchase process. Meth testing between tenants is the only way to establish a) a baseline level and b) liability against a tenant in the event of contamination being identified in the future. Regular testing will allow marketing the property as ‘meth clear’ and will therefore ensure quality tenants are attracted. Meth testing will also act as a deterrent to meth users who will not want to be held liable for any contamination damage at the end of their tenancy. Indicators of people manufacturing or using meth include: • Chemical odours and dead vegetation around a section;

variations in the amount of cover offered by different companies and policies.

• An increase in visitors, combined with houses being outfitted with elaborate CCTV systems;

Does Contamination Affect House Sales?

• Visible stains on curtains, walls and ceilings; • Waste material including empty medicine packaging, paint thinner containers and coffee filters with white or red powdery substances; and • Residential tenants who pay with cash only.

Meth testing businesses have become more common and rates for owners for an initial ‘base line’ test for an average three-bedroom house will cost between $160 to $200. This test will give a composite reading of all the samples taken (usually 8 in an average house) and is required to be under the MoH guidelines. The results typically take seven days from the date the sample is taken.

Following this test, a quantitative test may be required. A quantitative test will determine the levels of contamination and which rooms or areas of the dwelling require remedial work. These tests cost about $900 and can be completed only by an independent accredited laboratory. Whilst most property owners have insurance, owners should be aware of what their insurance policy will cover for meth contamination. The insurance industry is also in a steep learning curve as more and more properties are being tested. The amount of cover by companies and policies vary greatly. There are large

So how do prospective purchasers know if a house has been contaminated with meth?

There is no requirement for an owner to report meth contamination to a third party like the local council. Under normal market conditions, if a remediated house goes on the open market for sale, it could be tainted. Some prospective purchasers will be uncomfortable with the thought the house was previously contaminated. Once aware of this issue, a prospective purchaser may lose interest in the property or may have a lower expectation of the market value. For others, it may not be an issue if a confirmation test is provided.

Currently, we have yet to see how the market will react to homes that have been contaminated with meth as there has been insufficient sales evidence to provide any indication. We believe it will be very difficult to identify one single issue like past contamination, as properties have many differing features. The nature of these features will dictate what priority prospective purchasers place upon them.

Paul Harvey is the Director of Williams’ Harvey Registered Valuers. He has a diverse and broad knowledge of the HB property market. To contact Paul, email: paulharvey@williamsharvey.co.nz FEBRUARY - APRIL 2017

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Is Your Business in the Cloud?

IRD gets closer to cloud-based accountancy software.

By Jess Radich | Information Systems and Business Manager, BDO Central (NI)

Small businesses in New Zealand and specifically Hawke's Bay are the backbone of our economy. The purpose of cloud based accounting software is to help SMEs spend more time focused on their business rather than their book keeping. Software providers are constantly working with government to help streamline compliance for small business. The proposed introduction of AIM and direct GST filing are examples of this. If your small business is yet to make the move to the cloud, now is the time to do so in preparation for the proposed Pay-As-YouGo Provisional Tax option due to be available from 1 April 2018.

The introduction of the Accounting Income Method (AIM) for small businesses means that using cloud based accounting software is about to become even more beneficial. Under the proposed method, businesses with gross income of less than $5 million per annum can use cloud based accounting software to calculate their provisional tax payments, removing the guesswork involved in the current system. Rather than making payments in 3 large installments, AIM will work out tax payments regularly throughout the year based on taxable income provided by your cloud based accounting software, generally at the same time GST is due.

AIM will be particularly advantageous for startups or businesses with unpredictable income patterns as tax is only paid on results achieved.

If a business’ tax liability drops, IRD will refund over payments.

Software providers such as Xero, Reckon and MYOB have cloud based accounting solutions which are intuitive and user friendly. The transition from your current system can be daunting so using an information systems specialist who is also an accountant in the set-up and transition is recommended. This is to ensure software is set up correctly from day one so that your business

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is getting the most out of it. It is not a ‘one size fits all’ approach when it comes to accounting software, you need to consider what features and reporting requirements your business needs and a specialist can guide you through this process.

It is expected that most software packages will have the capability of automatically sending electronic information to IRD at each filing date.

In adopting AIM correct coding within your chosen software will be more important than ever before. Your accountant should be able to help you set up bank rules to ensure like payments or receipts are coded to the same place with the correct tax rates, along with helping you decipher what expenditure is deductible to avoid under or overpayment of tax.

Why you should already be using cloud accounting software: Real Time Data The emergence of cloud based accounting software has been a game changer for business owners and accountants. Being able to access real time information at all times by multiple users enables informed and timely decision making.

Having transactions flow directly from your bank into the software removes time consuming data entry, allowing business owners to spend more hands on time in their business.

Software such as Xero and MYOB have recently released the functionality of filing GST returns directly with Inland Revenue removing double entry of information. It is only a matter of time before all tax filing can be processed from within the software.

Accessibility As long as you have an internet connection you can access your data at any time anywhere on any device. This allows greater flexibility for running your business and lends itself to that all important work/life balance. Sending an invoice

or viewing the latest cash position can be accessed via a smart phone or tablet on the run (literally), removing these tasks from the confines of an office – in fact, many small businesses no longer need designated office space.

No Back-ups or upgrades necessary Data saved in the cloud is a lot safer there than on your computer or in a paper file. Cloud companies spend millions of dollars on systems to protect your data. Being in the cloud, your information is constantly being backed up.

Upgrades happen while you sleep. This means that your software is always the most current version and you do not need pay for upgrades when software becomes incompatible or legislation is out of date.

Add on ecosystem While cloud based accounting packages offer a vast range of functions, they can’t offer it all.

New feature full and industry specific apps that fully integrate with a range of cloud accounting software are constantly being developed. These apps enable businesses to create their own personalised accounting platform while removing traditional double entry of information. Apps cover a range of industries such as agriculture, construction and trades, automotive and retail including functions for inventory management, point of sale, job costing and payroll to name a few.

Jess Radich is the Information Systems and Business Manager with BDO Central (NI). She has extensive experience assisting both small and medium sized entities with a wide range of Information Systems and advisory services. BDO Central are Chartered Accountants and Business Advisors, with offices in Napier and Palmerston North. BDO is able to support clients with a comprehensive suite of accounting, information systems and HR services. The firm is an independent member of BDO New Zealand and part of the global BDO network. www.bdo.nz

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