Business Profile – Simply Architecture

Posted on 22 February 2019 by Damon Harvey

Many business professionals start giving back to their chosen career later in life, but that’s not the case for architectural designer Andrew Flack, who runs his own fledgling business but doubles as a tutor at EIT.

Andrew completed the two-year architectural design course at EIT in 2010 and within just seven short years he returned as a tutor, a role that has also enabled him to establish Simply Architecture in Hastings.

Going full circle is a bit of a theme to Andrew’s career. Simply Architecture is based in commercial offices on the corner of Hastings Street and Avenue Road, the same office as his first-ever job out of EIT.

“I’m pretty much sitting in the same place that I sat in when I began working with LHT, an engineering design business.”

As well as working for LHT, Andrew built up his knowledge and experience with Napier-based businesses Structural Concepts and PMA Architects.

All three businesses had more of a focus on commercial building projects but with the booming residential building sector, Andrew was keen to focus on this area of the market.

“I had previously been involved in large-scale commercial design projects and hadn’t done much residential design until we set up the business.

“I always had a strong interest in designing houses and with the boom in this area across Hawke’s Bay and a shortage of architectural designers, I could
see that this was a big opportunity.

“My background in structural form of buildings has also been a benefit as I can take a practical approach when a brief from someone building a new home starts to get a bit more complicated.”

In a little over 18 months in business, Andrew has moved from working at the kitchen table to offices, and has added experienced architectural designer Warren Clarke, two former students Ezra Curd and Scott Peters as draughtsmen (are both the students draughtsmen or just Scott Peters?) and sister-in-law Tenille McCombie as office manager.

The team has worked on a range of residential and commercial projects including new houses, house renovations, some shops in Napier, a church in Tamatea and a funeral home in Gisborne.

Another exciting project is a new building for the YMCA, a partnership they are doing with one of Hawke’s Bay’s leading construction firms, Gemco Group.

Andrew likes a modern approach to building design but also takes design inspiration from some of Hawke’s Bay’s foremost architects Guy Natusch and John Scott.

He also enjoys robust design discussions with Warren, who is a specialist in designing energy-efficient and sustainable houses to the Homestar rating system.

“Warren’s done something that I don’t think I could do, which is design my own home. I would be too critical and I don’t think I would ever finish it.”

Andrew also enjoys giving back to his profession and says it’s been great to teach architectural design at EIT and see graduates go and work for local businesses, including his own.

“Most graduates are pretty keen to live and work in Hawke’s Bay and with there being a wide range of subdivisions coming on to the market, it gives employers confidence to give students a chance to kick start their careers.”

Andrew has teamed up with former Hawke’s Bay architectural designer Warren Clarke, who is based in Christchurch.

simplyarch.co.nz

Dentiq – new dental care for Hawke’s Bay

Posted on 16 February 2019 by Damon Harvey

A dollar a day for your annual dental care is just one initiative Dr Sundar Jagadeesan is introducing to his second and newest Hawke’s Bay dental clinic, Dentiq.

If his approach to growing bis first practice in Wairoa is anything to go by, Dr Sundar is sure to make a success out of his new state of-the-art practice on Gloucester Street in Greenmeadows, which opened in late December.

Dr Sundar arrived in New Zealand in 2004. He lived in Auckland for a couple of years before completing bis New Zealand dental licence in Otago in 2007. He then practiced in Greymouth and Hamilton before buying an already established practice in Wairoa in 2012.

T he practice had limited active patients when Dr Sundar bought it from the previous dentist, but with a mantra of ‘beautiful smiles begin here’, he quickly built the practice up to over 2,800 patients.

Dr Sundar is focused on creating a dental wellness pathway for patients, something that he learnt while studying in Seattle. He wants to sec dentistry as affordable for everyone and create long-lasting relationships with his patients.

“The framework is mainstream science-based dentistry but taking a medical model of delivering dental care rather than a masonry model. We treat the teeth in the context of the person behind the teeth and just not the teeth”.

“Regular routine dental care is less expensive than if you wait until it hurts!”

One concept to achieve this is by introducing the dollar a day subscriber model. He says a new patient gets about $650 of dental care in the first year for just $365.This includes two checks-ups during the year, x-rays and a fluoride application.

“Did you know that just 30 percent of the population go to the dentist regularly – which is one to two times a year – while 44 percent go every two years.”

When people come into the clinic they arc assessed over five measures using a traffic light system moving them from red to green: how comfortable they are with dentistry; what is their gum health; their individual condition of teeth; their bite and jaw joint; and aesthetics, that is, how good their teeth look.

“We risk analyse the patient’s oral health care across these five measures and move them into a wellness model, not into a repair model.”

The move from single tooth dentistry to comprehensive care requires a great understanding of risk factors and the ability to manage them effectively.

The comprehensive examination, the initial patient engagement focuses the clinician and patient on the variables most likely to ensure a predictable and excellent outcome.

The examination will be carefully examined to the patient understand it’s most diagnostically useful elements, including an insightful look at your medical and dental history, how to better account for a patient’s agendas and expectations, intelligent use o f radiographic and photographic documentation, and gum health (periodontal), teeth (biomechanical), bite and jaw joint (functional) and appearance of teeth (dento facial) presentations.

“It’s a refreshing way to approach one’s dental care and yo u will understand that we are interested to partner with you for a longterm dental wellness outcome rather than to fix a single tooth with less predictablity.”

Dr Sundar was personally trained by Dr John Kois a master clinician cum -teacher in Seattle, Washington, USA over three and half years. I t was a major commitment as he juggled his practice, young family and studies which all finished up well.

“Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all” – Aristotle

The main focus of Dentiq is to empower our clients to make the right decisions based on the latest evidence based dentistry which will improve their lives holistically.

When you arrive at Dentiq, directly opposite Greenmeadows New World, you’re met by a welcoming team matched with beautiful smiles showing off their shiny white teeth.

White is also the predominant colour of the clinic and it’s noticeable that Dr Sundar has spent a lot of time designing the look of the clinic as well as its flow – from the comfortable reception area through to the dental care rooms.

“I wanted a large space. We have a dedicated room to risk analyse and diagnose the situation, and then two restorative rooms, one hygiene room and one denture making roo m. These are custom made for each procedure. We also have a fully fitted out dental laboratory on site and a client recovery room with a fully body massage chair. A client can rest and recover fully before they head out into their lLives .”

Dr Sundar says he’s regarded as a big dreamer and is looking forward to his dream coming to reality in his “new home” Dentiq.

Watch this space!

www.dentiq.co.nz

User experience spurs buying the business

Posted on 30 November 2018 by Damon Harvey

Just like Victor Kiam of Remington Razors fame, Ray Burr and Donna Campbell liked the product so much they bought the company.

Ray and Donna were dairy farmers from Aria in the King Country who, like many other farmers across New Zealand, relied on using urea to increase productivity. They started out with 360 cows, which over time grew to 520.

“Our system was relying on the increasing use of urea – from 50 kilograms of urea/hectare/year up to 150 kilograms of urea/ hectare/year – but production wasn’t increasing and we were facing major animal health issues: downer cows; Rotovirus; a large numbers of lame cows; an increased reliance on CIDRs [controlled internal drug releases] to get cows in calf; induction to try and maintain an acceptable calving spread; and more,” says Ray.

The breakdown in their system led to a lack of net cash profit and they could see the harsh impact of urea on the farm.

“As a farmer you always try to do your best using the knowledge that you have available, but it wasn’t working on our farm. We were actually going backwards not forwards, and we could see that our farming practices were impacting on the environment and the health of our animals.

“You have a thought in the back of your mind that you are actually producing food for humans and if your animals aren’t performing too good and they’re suffering or not healthy, what are you doing? We needed to look for the technology that would help us farm the way we wanted to farm – sustainably.

“That meant having healthy pastures, healthy animals and a really healthy cashflow, and we achieved all of that within a few years using these programmes. Increased production starts with healthy soil.”

Ray and Donna went in search of support and after seeking advice from several highly regarded experts in agriculture who gave no satisfactory answers, they decided to look outside the square.

The rest, they say, is history. Not only did the farm come back to life but productivity soared (more about this shortly).

So, what was the secret? They found a small business in Waipawa owned by Peter and Daphne Lester that used advanced, science- based systems focusing on the three key elements – soil, plant and animal nutrition.

What farmers and horticulturists need to know is that standard fertiliser has only four of the sixteen elements soil requires to be healthy. When the same four ingredients get dumped on the soil year after year, there is a saturation of those four elements with none of the other twelve soil essential elements being monitored and replaced if necessary.

“This was an exciting time in our farming career as we observed a complete turnaround not only in our farming operation but also in the farm environment. Improvements were taking place every year, we couldn’t wait for calving to start and the new season to unfold; farming for us became an absolute pleasure,” says Ray.

After using Quantum for six years, the Burr’s got a phone call from Peter to see if they were interested in buying the business.

They had already sold the farm and had been having a well-deserved break while contemplating their next move.

“We had 18 years of milking 520 cows, so we were enjoying having a few sleep-ins and taking a year off,” says Ray.

“In 2008 we went from being share milkers to shareholders, buying a 50 percent shareholding in Quantum with the opportunity to buy the business in full.”

In 2016 the Burr’s took over full ownership. To further develop the business and add credibility to their farming system programme, they invited a highly respected vet and animal nutritionist to come out from the US, and he lived with them for about three months while they absorbed all the expertise and wisdom he offered.

“It was a real eye opener and made us realise how far New Zealand had to go and where we needed to be to keep up with the rest of the world.”

Farming practices and their impact on the environment have been some of the hottest and most scrutinized issues, both in local and national politics.

“Farmers are now under a lot of pressure because of rules and regulations about what they can and can’t do. This system encourages farming the farm as an ecological entity, looking at the soil fertility as well as what animals are eating.

“At every step in the food chain we can look at efficiencies and how farmers can get the right efficiencies without going overboard and having a detrimental effect on the environment. Believe it or not, if you do that properly, profits follow.

“That’s been going on for 50 to 60 years. There’s always been enough scientists and people farming under these types of systems that sooner or later sustainable food production would be achieved using the right methods; otherwise when you get it wrong, you have a detrimental effect on soil and animal health,” Ray says.

Donna says moving from the farm into an agribusiness wasn’t an easy transition.

“It was quite a struggle actually, from dealing with 520 cows a day to suddenly dealing with people and selling your wares, but it did help that we had used this system and could personally verify the results.”

Since taking over full ownership, the Burrs have rebranded the business from Quantum to Qlabs and given their science a brand name – Fallian.

Fallian is Scottish Gaelic for healthy and healthy encompasses what the coordinated soil–plant–animal nutrition programmes achieve.

Healthy soil equals Healthy plants equals healthy animals equals healthy environment equals healthy bank balance.

They have also recently been granted a patent for their Ruminant Nitrogen Utilisation Efficiency (RNUE).

Ray says RNUE is one of the most proactive advancements available in New Zealand pastoral agriculture. Basically, by scientifically evaluating farmers’ pastures in the laboratory, Qlabs can determine how much urinary nitrogen and milk urea nitrogen an animal will produce when it comes time to graze that pasture. This is a powerful management tool.

“Farmers who have worked with us to develop this programme have enjoyed shifting their thinking in kg/DM/Ha to asking themselves, ‘what is the true value for my livestock and the environment?”

“This enables farmers to work proactively to gain greater pasture- to-animal production efficiency while reducing their environmental footprint. For me, there is no satisfaction in agriculture than witnessing the enjoyment farmers get out of farming successfully.”

Ray is also strong to point out that while they saw success in using Quantum for dairy farming, Qlabs now has clients across the primary sector spectrum, both conventional and organic producers.

They work with viticulturalists, horticulturalists and agriculture producers, all of whom have had significant success in increased productivity while enhancing their land.

“We test soil here in our lab in Waipawa to determine what essential nutrients are missing, and then we provide the client with a treatment plan to fix all those problems,” says Donna.

“First we improve farm soil health, which is quickly followed by animal health, and then last but not least, the farmer’s health improves as the stress goes down when the costs go down and the profits go up.

“In dairy we have seen production rise by 3,500 kilograms/MS. The farm moved from non-compliance to full compliance, meeting all obligations required by Environment Canterbury in the Red Zone, and profitability increased at the same time, without using any surplus nitrogen at all. That means savings in the region of $60,000 a year because the farmer is not paying for excess artificial nitrogen anymore.”

In growing their business The Burr’s have become members of the Hawke’s Bay Chamber’s Business Development Group. They are now also getting one-on-one support from Roger Smith, the director of the programme.

Members of the Business Development Group meet fortnightly to identify and solve a $20,000 problem in every member’s business every month.

Roger says already this year the Group has helped each other discover and address $2 million worth of issues.

“As we like to say that is $2 million in the back pocket and not out the back door” he says.

Roger says 1-1 clients also have access to the Programme’s purpose- built diagnostic ‘Business Optimiser’ software that is used to discover the full and immediate profit potential of their business.

“That analysis then allows us to build a longer term growth plan for each individual business to help the owner achieve their work and lifestyle goals” he says.

Here is some feedback from clients on the Group Programme…

“We now know how to take our customers from $300 a year spend to over $3,000 a year!”
“Our new value-add ideas have increased our price to our customers by 50% and they thanked us for it!”
“Our new sales system is getting us in front of customers that would never have seen us just six months ago!”
“We have learned ways to increase our turnover by around $5,000 a week!”
“Our new sales script has increased our sales by 20%!”

As for Qlabs, Roger sees it as a genuine ‘challenger brand’.

Roger says a challenger brand usually starts as a small business with a big idea that attacks the ingrained assumptions about a category and the way the incumbents do business. A good example of a global challenger brand is Apple in its early days – with Steve Jobs at the helm. They took computers out of the basement and put them on every worker’s desk. It was an outrageous idea at the time but one that changed the world.

“Challenger brands change the world because they are the ones that have the courage to look at what we all take for granted and ask ‘why’?” Roger says.

“What Ray Burr and Donna Campbell have developed at ‘Qlabs’ is world leading technology that is now a profit making machine for every kind of farm in New Zealand. Ray and Donna are challenging some of NZ’s ingrained assumptions about how things are done – and proving them wrong. They have been so successful they can now guarantee every farmer or grower they work with an environmentally compliant future, greater animal health, much higher productivity and much greater profitability. This really is 21st century land management in action – and it is what New Zealand is crying out for right now. This is a story we should all be shouting about from the roof tops” Roger says.

Waipawa is no Silicon Valley – and it is an unlikely place to find New Zealand’s next technology superstar – but Ray and Donna have no desire to move their business to the big city.

“Our business is all about the ‘health’ and ‘heart’ of the country” Ray says. “We love being in and around the rural community and its people. We live on the land ourselves on a small lifestyle block – and nothing will move us away from here!” he says.

www.qlabs.co.nz

Growing a market for hemp foods in HB

Posted on 16 November 2018 by Simon Hendery

Chefs and foodies have been quick to develop a taste for Otane-based Kanapu’s premium cold-pressed hemp seed oil. But that’s just the beginning. The company’s founders want to put Hawke’s Bay on the map as a global supplier of top-end hemp foods.

Having to ramp up your target production because product demand significantly exceeds initial forecasts is one of those business headaches it can be nice to have.

It’s the situation Isaac Beach and Simon White of Otane-based Kanapu Hemp Foods found themselves in this year.

Kanapu has been growing hemp on Otane’s Ludlow Estate, Simon’s family’s farm, and the cold-pressed hemp seed oil they’ve been producing has been in hot demand.

Targeting the premium end of the hemp food market – both locally and internationally – the company is also close to launching a packaged hemp flakes product.

“Following our marketing launch earlier this year, and as a consequence of the response from around the country, we’ve had to adjust some of our forecasting around demand for functional hemp foods in New Zealand,” says Isaac.

“It’s resulted in us increasing our target production for this year (the 2018–19 summer growing season) to around twice what we’d originally intended before the launch.”

The new production target is about 250 hectares of hemp, which the pair admit could be challenging to achieve. It will involve extending production beyond Ludlow Estate, using contract growers across Hawke’s Bay – potentially from Wairoa down to Dannevirke.

The hemp varieties being harvested by Kanapu have zero tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), so are completely non-psychoactive.

They contain about four percent gamma linolenic acid (GLA), a bioactive fatty acid known for its anti-inflammatory qualities, and two to three percent cannabidiol (CBD), which has been shown to be therapeutically useful in treating pain and epilepsy.

Isaac says the company is looking to commence growing trials this season with high CBD hemp varieties, containing 8.5–13 percent CBD.

Hemp production is regulated, meaning Kanapu needs to have its licenses amended in order to achieve its growth plans.

“We’re working with the Ministry of Health to first enable the increase in cultivation area within a short time frame. That process will impact on whether we can meet the target or not,” says Isaac.

“The Ministry have indicated we need to provide justification for the increase, and the justification is that people want to start consuming this product more readily.”

At around 700 hectares, Ludlow Estate is predominantly a mixed-cropping farm. Simon says he became excited about hemp’s potential following an initial meeting with Isaac.

“We’re always looking for new opportunities. And this was a very new opportunity that came to our attention. We researched it and Isaac and I put a three-year plan together. We had targets and key goals within that three-year plan. We achieved all those goals and targets and from there we launched on a commercial scale.”

Simon says a key aspect of the business is that Kanapu is working on a model under which the company controls all aspects of the product, from growing the hemp right through to sale of the product.

“We’re involved in the process the whole way through, which is a key part of making it a successful premium product. That way you’re guaranteeing quality of the product, which is really satisfying,” he says.

“The other thing that’s really hit home recently is the number of testimonials we’ve been receiving from people who’ve been using our product. They’re telling us they’ve been able to stop taking pills [for pain and arthritis] and are instead just using this sustainable product that’s actually helping them.”

Isaac says Kanapu was strongly focused on developing the hemp food industry as a positive economic driver within the Hawke’s Bay region and the Ngati Kahungunu rohe.

“In that regard, we are already establishing relationships with existing cropping farmers to assist in developing this industry because we realise if it’s going to become all that it can be in Hawke’s Bay, it’s going to require a joint effort from multiple farming interests – from the farming side of the value chain right through to manufacturing, et cetera,” he says.

“From a manufacturing point of view, we’re already positioning ourselves to support that development, and there are some key steps that need to take place between now and this summer’s harvest to enable us to really get a good foot in the door from a national perspective – and even with a view to going international – in terms of establishing Hawkes’ Bay’s potential within this industry.

“We’re almost unashamedly biased to supporting farming interests in Hawke’s Bay, from Wairoa to Dannevirke, and even further south into the Wairarapa region.

“From a business point of view, that’s where we need to focus our energy. If we are to be a region that has a significant competitive advantage in this sector, we need to partner like that. And we need to get all of the expert growers in this region onboard.”

As well as doing what it can to position Hawke’s Bay to take advantage of hemp’s business potential, Kanapu is also helping with efforts to strengthen the industry at a national level.

The company has been at the forefront of the formation of a coalition of businesses involved in the hemp industry.

That entity is called MIHI (Movers in Hemp Innovation) and is focused on identifying opportunities within the sector.

“We’ve identified there is a significant need for government and private sector resources to be dedicated to establishing a sound understanding of the market trends offshore so that we understand as a country where our unique point of difference can be best had,” says Isaac.

“There’s a lot of work that needs to be done to understand the growth of the industry on an international scale but also to understand where, within that global industry of foodstuffs, New Zealand has its unique point of difference. As a coalition partner we’re working towards that in conjunction with government.”

Isaac says the first meeting of MIHI founders was held at Ludlow Estate earlier this year and about 30 companies have now become involved in the grouping.

“Since then we’ve developed a memorandum of understanding and formalised a coalition as a government partner, representing industry in this area.”

www.Kanapu.co.nz

Success flows from the drains up

Posted on 9 November 2018 by Damon Harvey

When the Global Financial Crisis hit in 2007, Mark Currie thought his family business, Drainways, was about to go down the drain, literally.

The business, started by Owen Currie in 1977, was starting to feel the strain of the downfall in construction projects across Hawke’s Bay.

Mark had taken over the business from an older brother in 2007 and was in business survival mode working alongside his two other brothers Jaydon and Carlton.

By 2009 and with the Global Financial Crisis taking a firm grip on the Hawke’s Bay economy, Mark was the last remaining employee, doing all the work from estimating jobs, to doing the hard labour of floor preparation of commercial buildings, to sending out the invoices in the evening.

“We had moved out of drainage in 2000/2001 when we saw a niche in the market for earthworks and floor preparation work but by the time the GFC hit, every one with a digger and a truck was in our space.

“It was pretty tough at the time, it was a lot of work for a one-man band. I had some business mentors and they were recommending that I get ready to wind the business up but a friend came in and said we should have another go at building up the business, so I decided to take that option.”

Through a new focus, dedication and hard work Mark was able to rebuild the business. He took on an employee and within a short time, both Jaydon and Carlton were able to re-join.

“You build up a reputation and people like using you. I was winning jobs against the bigger boys because I pretty much had zero overheads and was therefore more competitively priced, and that enabled us to get the business back on its feet and get both Jaydon and Carlton back.

“We had also built up a good relationship with construction companies such as Gemco and Mackersey (now MCL Construction) and that also got us through.

In 2014, with the business back on its feet, the Curries decided to get back into drain laying as it required more specialist expertise and equipment: it was also something they knew well, having been brought up working on drains with their father.

“The business started as a drainage business with Dad having a really good reputation with council officers and builders. They (council officers) would come visit a site Dad was working on, and the consent checking would end up being very straight forward as they knew the quality of his work.”

Today Drainways employs 16 staff with Mark as the managing director “working on the business, rather than in the business” – and Jaydon and Carlton are project managers.

Drainways is a licensed Hawke’s Bay drainlaying and certified water reticulation company specialising in civil and commercial water and drainage systems. It is also ISO 9001 accredited for Quality Management Systems and Processes. It works extensively with water pipe sizes from 20mm to 500mm and drainage from 100mm up to 1200mm+.

The business is split between working as subcontractor for other civil contractor firms and securing its own civil contracting projects. It has become prequalified for 3 waters (domestic use water, storm water and waste water) projects with the Hastings District Council.

“We got prequalified for Hastings District Council projects under the value of $1million in 2015 and then we went for a higher prequalification a year later, which council then promoted us up further in their rankings to what is called Complex A.”

In the last year Drainways has worked as a subcontractor for the Te Mata Road water mains project and a part of the new water networking project from Hastings to Havelock North.

Mark says the business is now in a position to be able to tender for these types of projects on its own based on the investment that has been made in staff, equipment and improving processes and efficiencies.

Late last year the company started the HDC funded Lean High Performance Programme, which with the help of Stefan The Lean Hub has had a dramatic and positive impact on business growth and performance.

Drainways mission statement is ‘we provide for the health and wellbeing of communities through the construction of fresh water and drainage systems that are built to last.’

“It’s something we take real pride in. We are very much part of the community, so for us it’s important that we take pride in our water and drainage projects as we also live here and we drink from the same taps as everyone else, so we have to do a great job.”

Drainways has a pipeline of work on the rise. It has picked up a major subdivision project in Hastings where it will do all the civil works such as roading, drainage, landscaping and power.

Mark and the team is also keeping a close watch on other major residential developments including the proposed Iona/Middle Road development which will require services within the 300 plus housing development as well as solutions to connect to council’s 3 waters systems.

“There’s some great opportunities presently and although there’s some risk, that’s what drives us as a family.”

www.drainways.co.nz

Pro Q & A with Mark Warren

Posted on 27 August 2018 by Damon Harvey

Mark Warren, a farmer from Central Hawke’s Bay, has become a top-selling author on his first attempt. Mark has written about how he took over Waipari Station when the impacts of Rogernomics were about to be deeply felt. Not only did he survive but he’s thrived and has been entrepreneurial in his approach to working the land. He’s sold bottled water, operated a successful four-wheel drive training and adventure business, and recently launched a campaign to set a goal of the $1,500 super lamb by 2028.

Tell us a bit about your farming enterprise?

Over the last 34 years Waipari Station has developed into a diverse agribusiness, from a traditional extensive low-input store sheep and cattle station with a big focus on strong wool production, to a breeding and finishing property with a major focus on producing out-of-season fully-spec’ed 24 kg GAP 4 lambs for Atkins ranch to supply Whole Foods Market in USA with 100 per cent natural grass fed lamb.

A large part of the income now comes from forestry, with the average return almost double the wool cheque (carbon sequestion values are around half the value of the wool cheque). Bottled spring water, 4WD training and adventure have all made a substantial contribution to the bottom line.

What are some highlights of your farming career?

When I took over management of Waipari in July 1984, I made a goal to clear the current account short-term debt within three years, I did it with three days to spare.

Winning Hawke’s Bay Farmer of the Year in 1992 was a milestone. Selling bottled water for more per litre than petrol was very satisfying. Harvesting the A grade logs I planted 25 years before it was worthy of an ice cream. Being the first sheep farm in the world to gain the GAP 4 sheep accreditation. Having my book Many a muddy morning go to Number 2 in New Zealand’s bestselling non-fiction list in the first week after publication was a very pleasant surprise.

Have you always been interested in writing?

I never imagined I would write a book. Being dyslexic, the written word does not come easily, but computers with spell check and Google speak all help to get the written word into a format others can understand. I have in the past, in conjunction with Mazda, written a 4WD technique and safety book.

How long did it take?

It took about a year to write, having set a goal to write 1,000 words before 7 am most mornings, but it took a further three years to get it into a format that anyone else could understand!

Did you set aside specific hours each day?

I function best in the mornings!

Is the 4WD operation a business for you?

The 4WD business, Hillseekers 4WD NZ Ltd, was an important income stream when the interest bill for buying big chunks of shares in the farming company was greater than the income. Despite generating good profitability from the farming business, it couldn’t always pay the interest bill and my grocery bill at the same time. I now just service my loyal clients and focus on quality, not quantity, of business.

How many people have you taught to drive?

I don’t teach people to drive so much as show them how to use counter-intuitive techniques to drive in off-road and slippery situations. Hillseekers have trained approximate- ly 4,500 people over the last 25 years. All those enrolled on a Hillseekers or Freeze- drive course must already be able to drive and hold a current NZ driver’s license.

What’s your view on the state of the primary sector today?

There are new opportunities becoming attractive every day but being average in the traditional sense is no longer a sustainable business practice. Opportunities tend to come in overalls, not in a suit.

There are three types of farmers: those who make things happen; those who watch things happen; and those who wonder what happened.

Case in point, I recently launched a campaign to set a goal of the ‘$1,500 super lamb by 2028’ (check it out on Facebook). Many people just laugh at those involved, some can’t quite count the noughts correctly, and some just come up with reasons it can’t be done. Meanwhile a small group of forward and lateral-thinking industry leaders are developing and testing ideas that are on track to reach the target.

What’s the biggest challenges the primary sector faces?

One of the biggest challenges to the primary sector is that a large portion of the population seems to have forgotten, or just don’t understand, that farmers provide their food each day. Yet they seem to be determined to make farmers look the villains in society, making the cost of production via compliance, etc., go up, then they complain about the high cost of healthy natural food.

Would the modern farmer cope with what happened to you in the mid 1980s?

The modern farmer should run a stress test on their business where interest rates suddenly increase to over 20 per cent and income halves at the same time. If they can’t calculate that, the answer I think is very obvious to me.

What are the opportunities within the primary sector?

With threats such as artificial meat/ protein and oil-based synthetic clothing and carpet being accepted as normal and healthy by the more ignorant sectors of society, there is emerging a golden opportunity for our pure natural grass-fed vegetarian lamb and beef, to satisfy the more intelligent sector of the population. We need to emulate the success of the wine industry in telling our provenance story. As an industry, we have over focused on a ‘production push not market pull’ business strategy.

An easy way to understand that is to look at the wine aisle in the supermarket. Compare the price per litre of the box wine, and the bottles on the top shelf with a great provenance story, then think of our top natural vegetarian grass-fed lamb being produced to perfectly match the $90 bottle of pinot noir, not the $18.99 3 L cask of ‘smooth red’ at $4.74 per 750 ml equivalent. But the cask wine will pair nicely with an artificial meat burger!!

The Taste Pure Nature brand of NZ should be levered to focus on supplying the .001 per cent of the wise people in the protein and fiber market.

They seem to understand the concept of safe, quality, healthy food. Their next product excitement will come when they learn to appreciate the huge value and performance of wool as a sustainable, naturally replacing fiber to keep warm and healthy.

The fine wool sector is leading the way in this at present. So it must surely only be a matter of time until the most quality conscious sector of society realises the performance of strong wool for more rigorous demands of work wear and flooring.

Who have been some of your role models during your career?

Neil Kittow over the back gully was a great mentor and farming coach. Pita Alexander, my accountant, has and is a quality advisor and sounding board. Peter Nancarrow taught me a lot about some of the tricks of the wool trade.

Bay deLatour never let me rest on my laurels. I was very fortunate to have meet Charlie Upham, VC and Bar. A great example of a man who realised and proved that rules are made for the guidance of the wise and regulation of the full hardy. He ignored a lot of rules and got praised for it. He also learnt how to manage risk!

Mental health has had an impact on the rural community. You’ve faced adversity before, any advice for fellow farmers?

Seek a mature and calm, experienced, successful mentor who may not be a close friend but who understands your business and can tell you (gently) what you need to hear rather than what you may like to hear. Have open dialogue with wise friends in different businesses from faming and compare notes with them.

What’s the target of the book – any aspirations on book sales?

There are three main themes.

1) The original intent of the book was to record for agricultural history some of the coal face facts and challenges faced when dealing with Rogernomics. I started writing the book 30 years after Rogernomics kicked in. To make the book more appealing to a wider reader market, the editor suggested that the crashing bulldozer stories added some light entertainment.

2) It looks at the practical aspects of successful personal and business risk management. All reward requires risk. If you plant a lettuce seed in the ground it carries a risk that it may not germinate. In the current over-regulated OSH environment, the OSH bureaucrats seem to be determined to try to eliminate risk by, in some cases, not allowing the person to self-manage risk using prior experience.

This is very much leading to produce a work force that is not allowed to develop the decision-making skills and the capability to get a job done in the first case.

3) I also hope it will be an inspiration to overseas farmers facing the reduction or abolition of subsidies, and how they may learn to adapt to change, which might allow them to thrive. The current situation regarding Brexit and the reduction of farming subsidies may be a case in point.

Pita Alexander’s forward tells it better than I can!

Writing a book is a great way to see the country – what are looking forward to most?

I am very much enjoying meeting people with similar stories about how they managed during Rogernomics and those who have learnt to manage dyslexia positively.

Indigo Restaurant – adding spice to business success

Posted on 7 August 2018 by Damon Harvey

Kingfisher is still the number-one beer match with a vindaloo at Napier’s Indigo Restaurant but it has a spicy point of difference that keeps the business as fresh as the local ingredients it uses.

Indigo does the common curries like butter chicken, rogan josh and tandoori better than most but it stands out for its huge menu using local fresh meats, produce and wine and beer.

On top of this, Indigo has become widely known as the home of New Zealand’s – if not the southern hemisphere’s – largest whiskey selection, over 800 and counting.

The differences at Indigo don’t stop there. At the helm is 25-year-old Shaun Bates, who started as a dishwasher at the Hastings Street restaurant six years ago and has worked his way from cleaning plates to waiting tables, to Maître D to restaurant manager and part- owner for the last 18 months.

As Shaun says, “we’re not an Indian restaurant, we’re a restaurant that serves Indian food.”

Shaun had no hospitality experience when he first started working for founder and business partner Paul Anderson, an expat Brit, who having moved to Napier wanted to recreate the dining experiences he enjoyed on over 35 business visits to India.

Although Shaun was a novice, he was prepared to work hard from the bottom up; it was a case of learning all aspects of the hospitality industry.

“Hospitality is hard work; it’s seven days a week and I had to learn from the ground up, and Paul has given me some great opportunities.”

Indigo was established by Paul and wife Nichola with a desire for Hawke’s Bay people to love authentic Indian food as much as they do, with a mix of fusion both in food and drinks.

“There’s a perception that all restaurants in India play Bollywood music, the waiting staff wear saris and there’s elephant pictures on the walls, but that is far from reality.”

Paul didn’t want Indigo to be known as a curry house that serves vindaloo and Kingfisher beer; although for diehards, it’s still their go-to. He instead wanted to spice it up with a large menu using fresh local ingredients, as well as display his collection and portray his love of Whiskey and other spirits. “Most curry houses have beef, lamb, chicken and goat, but we wanted to showcase other local fare such as duck, salmon and crayfish to create a fusion-style menu.

“Paul has a passion for whiskey and other spirits and thought that this might provide a further point of difference. We have 800 whiskeys including many rare drams, 50-odd American bourbons and 75 gins, among others.

Shaun says a popular way to experience Indian cuisine, other than your usual favourites, is to try the thali menu, which is a selection of eight small plates.

“We were one of the first in Napier to introduce the thali menu, it’s the best way to introduce people to new flavours.”

The downstairs dining area caters for 75 guests while the upstairs banquet and function room caters for 50 and doubles as the Amber Bar, named after the colour of whiskey. Amber is also the colour of beer and Indigo boasts a large range of local beers such as Giant, Brave, and its own craft beer range, Napier Brewing Company, brewed at the Westshore Inn.

Shaun is always looking to grow the business and says the introduction of takeaways, both pick-up and delivery across Hawke’s Bay, has been hugely successful. Most takeaway food businesses keep to a smaller confined delivery area, but Indigo’s special food containers that keep food hot for up to an hour enable deliveries to Hastings and Havelock North.

“We have an easy to use App and website and with a team of four drivers, we can deliver to most places across Hawke’s Bay.”

Shaun sees further expansion within the Indigo brand, some remaining a secret at this stage. Catering has been a recent addition that has worked well for the business community.

Both Paul and Shaun have a firm belief in supporting the local community. They do this via a wide range of sponsorships, from the Hawks basketball team through to local clubs and schools.

Although Napier is a tourism town, Shaun and Paul know that it’s supporting locals that makes the business a year-round success.

“It’s important for us to contribute to the community and we do this by supporting a wide range of sports teams and schools, and we know that in turn they will support Indigo.”

Shaun and Paul are also equally committed to looking after their staff and families. They’ve seen the bad press about poor working conditions for migrant workers and have taken a leadership role along with Napier MP Stuart Nash to ensure workers aren’t taken advantage of within the hospitality sector.

“All our staff are paid above the minimum wage and we provide a serviced house for our chefs. It’s not acceptable to exploit migrant workers and we will do everything we can to stamp it out.”

Check out Indigo next time you’re looking for a unique dining experience, or find their App at the Apple or Google App store and order in.

www.indigonapier.co.nz

Bayswater Group becomes a Super dealership

Posted on 7 August 2018 by Damon Harvey

In 1990, Rob Townshend was fighting for business survival, faced with the sudden passing of his father and a legal battle that could prevent him from using his surname on a sign above what he says was a “gravel car yard” in Napier.

Fast forward to 2018 and Rob is at the helm of a super motor vehicle dealership covering the full spectrum of vehicles and brands, from the everyday runabout to the luxurious and high-performance vehicles many dream to own.

Firstly, there’s a great story in how Rob came up with the name Bayswater Vehicles … Not wanting to be financially crushed in a legal battle to retain the family name on the dealership, Rob went looking for alternatives.

After trying to come up with a name that everyone liked, Rob turned to the Google of the time – the library.

“It was taking months and the best we could come up with was Bluechip Subaru, so I said to the team I’m going for a drive and when I come back, I’m going to have a company name and you’re all going to say it is great.

“I jumped into the car but didn’t have any idea where I was going to go and I just started to drive. I ended up at the library, I walked in and found some Australian phone books and I started to flick through them. I found a dealership called Bayswater Mitsubishi, and because Mitsubishi was dear to my heart, after I had done all my training at Townshend Motors, Mitsubishi, my father’s family

business for many years, I instantly liked it. “Hawke’s Bay is surrounded by water, so that was it; I had the new name and I went back to the office and told everyone and they liked it – well that’s what they told me at the time!”

The rest, they say, is history. The Bayswater brand has since gone on to not only become the home of Subaru and Hyundai but also Suzuki, Isuzu, Jaguar, Land Rover, Volvo, Renault and, just recently, BMW.

The newly opened Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo showrooms (a $2.4 million fit-out designed in London) is the latest addition to the ever-growing Carlyle Street site. A further $10 million will be invested in a makeover of the Carlyle & Faraday corner of the superstore, adding a 20-bay service workshop and additional dealership showrooms.

By 2020 the Napier Bayswater site will be one of the largest dealerships in New Zealand and far from the humble beginnings on the old gravel car yard.

In the early 90s, Rob started selling Subaru and Hyundai as well as second-hand imports from Japan. He knew that the import bubble would burst at some stage so he worked hard to make a success of the two relatively new brands into Hawke’s Bay.

That perseverance has since paid off with an array of dealership awards for most of the vehicle brands along with accolades as a great place to work, with Bayswater being a two-time finalist in the Kenexa Best Workplace Awards.

“I nearly chucked in the Hyundai brand in the early years. The technology was old and I didn’t think it was going that well. I spoke to my father-in-law, who did the figures and said it was making a bit of money, so why not stick with it.”

It was sage advice, Hyundai vehicles like the Santa Fe are top sellers and Bayswater Hyundai has gone on to win multiple dealership awards, culminating in the Asia Pacific Hyundai Dealership of the Year in 2016.

For all the award wins, Rob is equally proud of his team of long-serving staff, which he says is a real family affair.

“We’re very family orientated; my mother Dot at 87 years old is still a shareholder and we’ve got fair mix of fathers and sons, husbands and wives as part of the team.”

And a big team it is – with over 100 employees spread across the Napier site, Bayswater Hastings in Stortford Lodge and Manawatu.

As the business has expanded, so too has the need for specialist management skills, and Rob appointed Paul Brown as general manager last year.

With annual turnover of over $100 million, Rob was faced with the dilemma of either selling or investing in expansion and appointing key managerial personnel.

“To be honest, I got pretty close to selling the business but when push came to shove, I couldn’t do it because I felt there was a lot of unfinished business. The business is a big part of my life and the staff are part of the family.

“There was still plenty to achieve and it was a good point to be at as it got me asking myself questions like, do I have the skillset to take the business further? I could see some skill gaps but I still wanted to be part of the business.”

Paul came recommended by a senior partner at accountancy firm BDO, where Rob’s wife Lisa is an advisory partner at BDO Central in Napier.

“He came highly recommended; we met a couple of times and Lisa said he would be perfect – he’s a qualified accountant and had been running John Andrew Ford, another big dealership. But what I liked about Paul was that he had started out cleaning cars and he’s been a branch manager, business manager and had worked his way up.”

As everything starts to align at Bayswater Group with ongoing investment and expansion, Rob and his team can look to the future of the motor industry and forecast what changes are ahead.

“We already have autonomous and electric technology within our vehicle range now and I see this is where the industry is heading, everything has changed, and we don’t want to be a Kodak, which went from one of the best companies in the world to no longer being around.

“It’s very important for us to try and get a handle on the future of the motor industry.”

Two years ago Rob sent Bayswater Hastings manager Paul Kerr, wife and group marketing manager Sarah, and business partner Mel Chan to San Francisco to visit Google, Facebook and Hyper Island to get an idea as to where the future is heading.

“There’s electrification of cars, which is a big thing and it comes with issues such as not needing to be serviced as much, so that means that we need to think about what our service shops are going to look like.

“That’s why we have got to design something that is going to be future-proofed as well.

“We also need to look at what the next generation may want in vehicle needs and try and stay ahead.

“Where we believe it will head is that our children and grandchildren won’t actually own a car. We can see that you may pay a monthly sum of money to have a ‘Bayswater Plan’, which might consist of a 1600 cc hatchback for 40 weeks a year, a seven-seater SUV for 4–5 weeks over summer holidays, then a Ute for a while, and then a real cool sports car.”

As for picking his favourite vehicle on the lot, that’s also a difficult decision. There’s the gleaming top-of-the-line four-wheel drive Range Rover, the high-performance sleek F-TYPE Jaguar coupé, the BMW M-Series, Volvo safety, Subaru AWD, the hard-working Isuzu Ute, class leading vans, the versatile Suzuki, stylish Renault or the more unassuming but technologically advanced Hyundai Santa Fe.

With the wide selection of vehicle brands and types, does that make it harder or easier to recommend the most suitable vehicle for a customer?

“A lot of the time it’s about choice. I would sit down and ask them to list their wants and needs – and they will paint a picture of something they want and then we can make a recommendation. There’s very few limitations to what we can offer.”

www.bayswatervehicles.co.nz

Topline is in the fast lane for business growth

Posted on 7 August 2018 by Damon Harvey

Hawke’s Bay is a sea of traffic safety cones, temporary traffic lights or stop/go signs and alternative routes due to some major road and infrastructure projects.

There’s the Hastings water mains project, the Whakatu Arterial, the major roundabout on the Hawke’s Bay Expressway and the new entranceway into the airport – just to name a few. Then there’s the rollout of ultrafast fibre, a project that started about eight years ago.

Back then an ambitious 21-year-old was learning all he could about concrete and asphalt. Taurus Taurima was a labourer for local roading contractor but he had his sights set on operating his own contracting business.

Now aged 29, the Flaxmere born and bred is the proud owner of Topline Contracting, a business that has quickly hit the ground running.

Taurus left school at 16 years of age but what he doesn’t have in formal business skills, he’s got in business smarts, sound knowledge of the industry, strong work ethic and a desire to get new work based on a reputation of delivering on quality.

“When I started Topline Contracting I put my entire life savings into it.

“At the start I couldn’t afford concrete from the plant, so I was mixing cement bags with stones. Everyone else used machines but I had to go back to being old school and do it all by hand. Everything was very labour intensive.

“I focused on quality right from the start and if it didn’t go right, I wouldn’t argue about it, the job would just get redone.”

Working from the back of a car borrowed from a friend, Taurus’ first job was an exposed aggregate driveway for Jill Baddeley, a work colleague of his mum’s (Rahia Jessup) at Tremains Real Estate.

“Jill paid me before I started the job and I was determined to give her the best driveway in Havelock North.

“Since then she has been a great supporter and when she sells a house, she refers the new owners to me if they’re in need of a new driveway or hard landscaping such as concrete around a pool.”

Topline Contracting has grown rapidly from the days of Taurus and a mate working out of the back of a car to now employing over 20 staff and operating a large yard in Omahu Road and a fleet of 12 trucks, including a concrete mixing truck and other machinery.

Like getting the right mix when making concrete, Taurus has worked out the best approach to secure work. He’s also turned to his landlord and local businessman Kevin Bailey for mentor support.

Topline Contracting operates as a sub-contractor to some of the big national contracting firms as well as securing its own jobs, such as commercial and residential developments and landscaping projects.

“Our point of difference is that we are responsive. It was the only way I was going to get work; instead of saying to a customer that we will book you in, we tell them we will be there straightaway.”

As the work grew, Taurus has looked to provide jobs for those who have had a similar upbringing in Flaxmere. It’s a place he loves and although his family now resides in Havelock North, his commitment to Flaxmere and its people hasn’t dwindled.

“When I started I wanted to provide opportunities for others from Flaxmere. As the business has grown I’ve needed to bring on experienced people but there’s still staff that are either from Flaxmere or similar backgrounds.

Taurus isn’t going to stand in the way of any staff getting into business ownership, nor his own four children.

“I was once told by someone that I wouldn’t make it, but I thought I would give it a go and am now able to show my children that you can dream big and go out and do it.”

With the business on a growth trajectory, some key appointments are upping the professionalism of the business. Some staff are being trained into management roles while Taurus and contracts manager Daryll Pugh are driving the business into more challenging projects.

Topline Contracting knows its place in the local market. There’s plenty of work about with the region’s economy in a strong position.

www.topline.net.nz

Fastway delivering for 35 years

Posted on 14 May 2018 by Damon Harvey

From one man driving a van delivering parcels across Napier and Hastings 35 years ago, Fastway Couriers now delivers over 25,000 parcels every day of the year throughout New Zealand.

The franchise model business with 17 regional franchise owners and 300 franchise couriers in New Zealand has exponentially grown in parcel deliveries with the rapid growth in online shopping both nationally and globally. In the last three years parcel movements have risen from 8,072,539 to 8,834,002 in 2017.

Fastway New Zealand chief executive Scott Jenyns has been with the business for 17 years, starting out as the franchise business manager and has progressed his way through the business to chief executive.

Scott says the courier sector has transformed dramatically over this time – from 80 percent of deliveries being large packages delivered between two businesses to 80 percent of parcels being smaller than 3 kilograms delivered to residential properties.

He says much of the success of the business can be attributed to the franchise model that founding owner Bill McGowan initiated in 1984, after just one year of business.

The franchise model is also now in place in Australia, Ireland and South Africa.

“We get a real kick out of seeing the franchisees embrace our model and be true courier experts in their local markets.

“Every day is slightly different in that instance when you are dealing with them as business owners (rather than employees),

but for me it’s seeing them go and take on national initiatives and adopting them into their local markets,” Scott says.

A vision to be a cost-effective courier service

Bill McGowan founded Fastway in 1983 with the vision to develop a cost-effective courier service using a simple pricing structure with no complicated weight breaks and no time-consuming consignment notes.

Bill spent a year doing research, and after that he was ready to go. He saw Hawke’s Bay as the ideal place to start Fastway, due to the short distance between the twin cities of Napier and Hastings, with fast-growing Havelock North also being part of the delivery route.

At the time, the industry was extremely regulated and Bill had to purchase an existing company with transport licenses to be able to get underway.

He purchased a security company called Hawke’s Bay Security Services, which came with three goods services licenses, which it used for carting cash.Bill changed the name of the company to Hawke’s Bay Courier Services. Later, Bill made extensive submissions to Government which successfully led to industry deregulation and then also successfully lobbied a move away from requiring consignment notes, which supported Bill’s business model of using prepaid courier labels.

Initially Hawke’s Bay Courier Services was branded in red and white livery but with the potential to expand the business to other regions, Bill rebranded to Fastway Couriers, with the new logo featuring a running man, which Bill designed himself.

From day one Bill created each courier delivery area himself. He would define a geographic territory for the run, work it himself for a month, before handing it over to a driver to manage. He would then build up another run, and so on.

To give an impression of being busy every morning Bill would fill his van with empty boxes – and as he said at the time “no one wants to do business with a courier that has no work!”

During this time, he developed a process called saturation marketing, which is still the way new courier territories are developed today.

A Franchise model is born

Early on Bill realised that he needed to find a way to make the couriers as motivated to gain new business as he was. After building up courier runs and handing them over to drivers, no new business was being established other than the sales Bill himself made.

n what is regarded as the most crucial decision ever to grow the business, Bill decided to create courier runs as a stand- alone franchise, rather than employing drivers. His catch phrase was “the harder you work, the more money you’ll make.”

His first franchise owner was Chris Guildford in Gisborne and due to his success, others soon followed.

The franchise model enabled Bill to expand the business beyond Hawke’s Bay, opening depots in other main centers. A linehaul network was also established to link the various branches, and for about a year Bill drove a linehaul truck at night and worked in the day.

As more and more depots opened around the country, Bill decided that franchising was also the answer to establishing and managing the depots, so he turned each depot into a Regional Franchise. Regional Franchisees were business people who could operate the depot and office facility and provide business support services to their courier franchisees.

The first regional franchisee was Gisborne and was sold to Milton Smith in 1984 and other branches were quickly converted thereafter.

Staff who had previously run the depots were redeployed to provide high levels of management support to the regional franchisees and show them how to support their courier franchisees.

They worked from a central office in Napier, which was named Franchise Support Office.

This restructure resulted in further growth and improved productivity enabling the expansion of the network throughout the country, with the linehaul trucks linking all locations.

International expansion begins

By 1992, the New Zealand business was highly profitable and performing well. It was the second largest courier company in the country, with national coverage in all main population centers, and had carved out a market niche that was untouched by the other operators.

It was now that Bill started to look at the potential of expansion into Australia and like he did for New Zealand he researched the opportunity and then launched into business across the ditch in 1993.

Running a business in two countries was tough going with Bill travelling back and forth on a weekly basis for several years.

It was time to put a management structure in place and he appointed a CEO and general managers in both New Zealand and Australia.

A fundamental change also took place in the positioning of the business. Bill was finding it difficult to get business minded people interested in a franchise associated with transport. He made the observation that other franchise organisations could get the sort of people that Fastway wanted and he needed to move from being positioned as a transport company to a franchise company.

This lead to a complete overhaul and tidying up of the business by Bill’s wife Suzanne McGowan. She revamped the franchisee operations manuals, the logo, the uniforms, signage, imagery, and advertising messages and strict marketing standards were implemented to control and maintain them.

Developments in technology were taking off at this time, and Bill brought in one of his Directors, Brem Ellingham to work on a part- time basis, establishing a separate company that would develop IT solutions for Fastway.

Brem’s role didn’t stay part time for long – he eventually oversaw all IT and later became the Managing Director of the Fastway Group of Companies, a position he held for 18 years.

In the year 2000 Fastway looked at further global expansion and it created a National Master Franchise, granting rights to operate the Fastway system for an entire country.

National Master Franchise operators would undergo extensive training and research before replicating the model successfully working in New Zealand and Australia.

Fastway Couriers now operates out of Australia, Ireland, South Africa and New Zealand

Technology starts to deliver results

A leading-edge software package Franchise Management System (FMS) was developed so regional franchisees could track every parcel in the system from pick up through to delivery. It stored customer information and calculated courier remuneration, as well as providing comprehensive reporting and a range of other tools that assist the Regional Franchisees to manage their business.

FMS is now known as WebFMS, a cloud based product with a single database which controls all of Fastway’s financial transactions including customer accounts payable and receivable, courier remunerations and has now evolved to include the company’s dynamic and offline label customers.

Scott says hand held computers (scanners) were introduced in 2006 to courier franchisees enabling the delivery signature to be uploaded to the website, so customers can view the signature online.

In 2014 Fastway integrated WebFMS with a US based company; BluJay Solutions Ltd which allows real-time scan data, in flight diverts, custom messaging and provides both an Android and iOS option for secondary devices and hardware failure.

“If you go back 35 years we had couriers running around without any handheld devices, it was a very manual orientated business. If I look at the business then and now we have created a lot of efficiencies for our couriers through leveraging technology – so all of their daily delivery and pick up jobs are managed by a handheld device ensuring that there is no disruption to serving their customers.

Challenges and opportunities ahead

Scott says the biggest challenge facing the courier delivery sector today is servicing the compounding volume increase from people buying online and wanting it delivered to their home address, usually when they are not home.

He says traditional courier companies were designed to delivery parcels between business to business, therefore many haven’t evolved to cater for the increase in single deliveries to a residential address and are therefore being left behind.

“Before online retail shopping 80 percent of transactions were large consignments between two business but this has completely swung to business to consumer being 80 percent of our deliveries.

“The e-commerce growth rates are phenomenal, all of our large global e-commerce customers and domestic customers we are integrated with are growing at double digit.

“This has challenged the traditional way that we do business and we are really having to look internally how we can ensure that we maintain a delivery network for all those customers buying online and having their products delivered to a residential address.

“We have some technologies that we are offering our franchisees to circumvent that and we have some new initiatives that we will be launching later this year, which will be market leading in New Zealand. We feel that it will put us as first choice for e-retailers, so watch this space.”

Fastway has already introduced some new technology to make it easier, the biggest initiative being the launch of ‘label free delivery’.

A growing number of transactions on websites such as Trademe and Amazon are done at home on a mobile phone as most people don’t have a printer.

“Many of the transactions are being done via a mobile phone, so how can we expect them to print a tracking label, so we have introduced a piece of technology that is “no printer – no problem.

“It’s providing real ease of transactions for the consumer and our customers just love it as it has broken down a barrier to sales that they have previously had.”

The last delivery mile

Another added value new product that also supports label free technology is Parcel Connect, which is giving greater delivery control to the consumer. Parcel Connect is a convenient agency network such as (service stations/dairies) which Scott says helps overcome an inefficiency that was created by e-commerce and the delivery of parcels to residential addresses during the day, when most people are at work.

“We are trying to deliver a parcel to someone’s home during business hours and in most cases the person isn’t home, so Parcel Connect puts control with the consumer and how they choose to receive their item. They can ask us to leave it in a safe and secure place, or if they are not happy with that they can redirect to a Parcel Connect agent and they can collect on their way home from work. In 2016 International express, mail delivery and logistics services company, Aramex bought Fastway which has helped increase the service offering to international delivery, as well as gaining access to leading edge technology.

Scott says little has changed to the franchise model since the sale to Aramex but it’s opened up parcel delivery to and from over 80 international markets.

“We have been able to launch an international service on the back of that acquisition while we get access to all their technology. They are very big on investing in start-up businesses, so when any new investment in a start-up business we get access to that information and make and assessment whether that is applicable to the NZ market.”

The future for Fastway looks set to continue in the fast lane.