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Is the housing crisis over? How effective is the fast track planning process?

In our April 2022 article we talked about housing supply and how the effective use of fast-track planning processes under the RMA could assist us, while on the other hand recognising the views of some economists that ‘the housing market boom is over’. While the latter could be considered to prevail the former, does this make the issue worst? Even if the housing market...

Getting the Basics Right

Every business, regardless of industry or size, is vulnerable to cybersecurity attack- that’s just a fact; your business is not immune. As of the writing of this article, there’s an uptick in attacks across New Zealand in both the retail and manufacturing sectors, businesses that normally would be considered low on the radar, and that will only increase in these and other unexpected segments during the year....

The construction sector – The have’s vs the have not’s

The opportunities and challenges inherent within New Zealand’s construction sector have always been amplified by its cyclical nature. With the high demand construction firms are currently experiencing in both the commercial and residential sectors, we are seeing the industry take fresh approaches as it responds to market challenges such as procurement of materials and delays due to supply shortages as...

The Growing Value of Insurance Cover

Recently there has been significant coverage given to the rapid escalation of costs within the New Zealand (NZ) construction sector. It’s no surprise then that this has seen a sharp increase in the cost to build/ rebuild in a comparatively short time frame. However, even if your policy includes an automatic inflation guard to cover annual inflation, your coverage has probably...

Small Trade Contracts: What you need to know moving forward

The Fair Trading Amendment Act 2021 comes into force in August 2022 and this will place new obligations on businesses while providing new protections for consumers and small businesses. The key change is that “standard form small trade contracts” will now be subject to the unfair contract principle. To understand the significance of this change we first need to identify...

Where are you on the stress curve?

As the world continues to reopen it looks like we will have some additional challenges and stress to deal with. How do we best manage this and look after our wellbeing? Stress is often given negative press and we are continuously under pressure to reduce it. I’m going to encourage you to look at it in a different way. Stress is...

Investing through uncertainty: It’s a matter of time

Equity markets for the year so far can be described in one word: Volatile The current situation in markets is being driven by rising interest rates, alongside multi-decade high inflation, clogged supply chains and the war in Ukraine. Times like these can often spark our ‘fight or flight’ instinct, or alternatively investors might avoid any risk altogether. But both scenarios...

Navigating the fast-moving world of cyber risks

Commentary on cyber risk seems to be in the news almost every day. With good reason. Many organisations from the Government, through to consulting firms, business associations and insurers are all trying to raise awareness of the risks that SME businesses face. The simple fact is that cyber risk and threats are developing and changing. It is a fast-moving area that...

Have we learned any recruitment lessons yet?

By Adam Caccioppoli, Associate - Baker Tilly Staples Rodway Many businesses seemingly have not changed their approach to recruiting talent, despite the almost constant noise from all industries about how hard it is to find the people their businesses need to grow and succeed. Are we really going through the same old motions expecting a different result? Here are four...

Pro Q&A – Doug Tate

CHB is not the sleepy part of Hawke’s Bay any longer and under the combined leadership of for chief executive Monique Davidson and Mayor Alex Walker, the district has overcome many challenges to bring its THRIVE vision to life. Doug Tate has been part of that journey as the council’s group manager of customer and community partnership but with Monique...