Remote work is here to stay, and will be transformational

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How did you cope with seeing computers, keyboards, screens and staff walk out the door on 26th March, wondering whether this remote worker experiment would actually work?

What we witnessed was the future being sucked forward in a vacuum of necessity created by the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.

Whether you were well prepared or not, remote working as an option is the new reality for many businesses here and around the world.

It is now important to reflect on what this all means and how a remote enabled workforce can add value to our business and organisation, and what technology you’ll need to make it happen.

Remote Work Benefits

Remote working provides the opportunity to reassess existing technology, systems and operational processes that can provide employees with a workplace promoting engagement, diversity, and wellness. This is likely to elevate productivity and performance across the board.

In essence, if you establish a pragmatic work-from-home protocol, you will need to be closer to your workforce than ever before. Nowhere to hide for leaders and employees alike, unlocking potential and giving you a competitive edge.

Being able to tap into a remote work talent pool not restrained geographically can address access to new skills and create new job roles within your organisation. That said, remote work may not be ideal for every business, but it gives many a chance to rethink team diversity and dynamics and the necessary expertise to drive success

The Right Technology and Processes

Business leaders will need to implement the proper businesses tools and software, and managers must put in the right processes. Here are some ideas to help with some of the challenges you will need to address.

One of the most recognised reasons for remote team challenges and failures is poor communication. Good internal communication is the life blood of a great business culture. Without the right tools to facilitate real-time communication, teams will not interact as often or meaningfully, and employees could feel more isolated.

But when teams leverage collaborative tools such as Microsoft Teams, Google Hangouts, Slack, Zoho, and ZOOM, they create transparency and sharing in real-time which results in better accountability, morale and productivity. Key toolset features include instant messaging, video conferencing, voice notes, and document management.

Collaboration

Over 60 percent of teams say collaboration is the most important ingredient of business success. Today’s collaboration software empowers teams to work smarter together whether in the office, in a remote work centre (outsourcing) or at home.

These tools provide real-time delivery and deployment of information as well as instant, reliable and secure access to company data and information whenever and wherever the teams need it. Many of these software tools are available and at no additional cost as part of your Microsoft or Google accounts feature sets.

These virtual work spaces will continue to evolve and can play a critical part in the success of your business. It does this by keeping work organised, prioritised while ensuring teams are always online and co-ordinated.

Team Messaging

Facilitates real-time, one on one and team messaging technology has emerged as the primary means of communication for remote teams. They’ll have the ability to send and receive messages instantly, providing secure access to people and information that email and social media apps cannot.

Video Conferencing (VC)

Communicating face-to face from just about anywhere and anytime, from work, the airport, in the orchard or in a taxi. The VC tool must allow for screen-sharing and recording so participants can share important insights with the rest of the team on any device they choose.

File Sharing

File sharing apps makes available all of your important files and documents via the cloud and sync them across all your device and teams. The same security protocols apply to your users whether in the office or at home, so your data is safe, and access can be audited.

Many of the software tools to achieve a permanent migration to a remote work reality for your organisation are readily accessible, are easy to deploy, are secure, deliver instant results and are easily deployed, if you know how.

Over recent months, many of us have been thrust into a remote work environment, and it looks like this concept is here to stay, largely driven through necessity and the safety of our workforce. But also, the benefits of remote work have been well and truly realised, and can be a powerful tool for organisations going forward.

Business after Covid19 – our new normal

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The COVID-19 pandemic will in all likelihood change the way that we do business for a long time to come.For most businesses’ turnover is down and owners are having to turn their attention to dealing with an environment that is constantly changing during this time of uncertainty, their inventory requirements (especially those who are reliant on the import & export markets or have only just begun to trade again) and their staffing capacity. Maintaining profitability, or in some cases viability and liquidity, could prove to be challenging. Below is a brief overview of some key elements you should keep in mind to help facilitate your businesses likelihood of success.

Short-Term Cash flow Forecast

Prepare a 13-week cash flow forecast. This is often an eye- opening exercise and will effectively capture most entities’ business cycles. The forecast will help navigate choppy waters in the near-term, as it will highlight shortfalls in necessary cash balances. Maintaining an up to date forecast will allow you to easily identify if there is an upcoming risk of the business running out of cash and/or will show if borrowing requirements fall short of actual availability from lines of credit. You will need to ensure that any forecast is subject to revisions in light of COVID-19 and the ongoing impact it will have on the market. Cash flow forecasting is a necessary tool for distressed businesses and can be helpful for entities going through a rough patch or for stronger businesses struggling in this economy. Being in a position to be able to identify when cash may be short, puts you on the front foot for being able to make arrangements to source more capital or to organise payment arrangements i.e. contact with your bank for extended loan facilities, contact with Inland Revenue to arrange payment plans and liaise with landlords to determine whether a rent relief period is feasible.

Monitor actual against your forecast

Cash is King! It is possible that a business can still be reporting profits but have trouble meeting its current obligations to both lenders and key creditors. Problems may develop as customers become slower to pay or, in some instances, don’t pay at all. Some problems may not be immediately recognised and could include changes in product/service demands, increasing overhead costs, use of obsolete production methods or increasing competition. As a starting point review, defer and/ or eliminate all non-essential expenses and capital projects, where possible. Identify whether there are any current commitments that can be put on hold or adjusted given the current environment. Further, accelerate receivable collections, focus on customers that normally pay on time and have started to slow payments; offer discounts to pay now; even keep on top of small accounts.

Adaptive management – learning by doing

When faced with great uncertainty, we have three options:- remove the uncertainty and proceed, proceed anyway and adjust as necessary, or do nothing. If we assume that option 1 is unrealistic, and option 3 is unacceptable, we’re left with only one option – take action, learn, and adapt. The very objective of adaptive management is to provide a framework that drives action now, despite uncertainty. The goal is not necessarily a predetermined target – at least not initially – it’s achieving incremental change. The idea is to take a small step, reflect, learn, adjust, and take another small step instead of large strides that may well lead you off course when dealing with moving targets.

Adaptation goes past simply responding to disruptive events; it also means seeking out and seizing opportunities that are created by market forces. At times like this, it’s this sort of iterative decision making that should be the foundation of your strategic planning.

Short-term action plan

The potential output of a short term action plan would be a succinct, “fit-for-purpose” plan that prioritises the what, who and when for your organisation and can be used as a roadmap for the upcoming months. It can also be used as a key discussion document for sharing with your business’ stakeholders.

The following areas should be noted within your action plan:

  • Ensure you understand the current Government rules and requirements for your business
  • What can I be doing now to prepare? What do I know for certain?
  • Determine short term goals
  • SWOT analysis
  • Overall solvency
  • Working capital needs
  • Operational – supply chain continuity, logistics
  • Customers and sales
  • HR, Employment issues and structure of the business
  • Finance and funding – what Information would be required to get funding (cashflows, plans etc)

Record sale takes place during lockdown

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We are now in the recovery mode of COVID-19, having been in full lockdown and then varying levels.

At Level 1 we are much closer back to the normal than many other countries across the globe.

There is certainly an air of the unknown going forward from an economic recovery, but Hawke’s Bay is well poised to recover at a faster rate than other regions. There’s significant residential, commercial and industrial building activity on construction books and we have also had several prominent sales.

The Colliers Hawke’s Bay team was busy during lockdown working on many leads and listings and it was a major highlight to announce at Level 2 that we had closed a history making transaction with the sale of The Tomoana Food Hub for $41m, at a yield of 6.23 percent.

It was a fantastic feeling to announce the record sale to the Hawke’s Bay business community, providing confidence that there are willing investors keen to invest in Hawke’s Bay.

The sale was to a new property syndicate established by Mitchell Mackersy Lawyers. The syndication scheme didn’t close until end of March and was over subscribed, which is another indicator of investor confidence in Hawke’s Bay.

Tomoana Food Hub also has some high profile multi-national tenants that are long established in Hawke’s Bay such as Tomoana Warehousing, Jamestrong Packaging and Fonterra.

During lockdown the Colliers International market research team based in Auckland launched a new investor and occupier sentiment survey which sheds some light on how landlords, tenants and investors have reacted to the impacts from COVID-19 and expectations for the future.

Approximately half of the respondents believe that conditions will stabilise within a year and 58 percent see the year ahead providing new opportunities and indicating that they would like to make their next acquisition within the year.

Enthusiasm amongst purchasers has clearly been bolstered due to a general belief that values will ease over the short term from the peaks apparent over the latter part of 2019. Approximately 80% of respondents are picking a decline in values, but some may be disappointed. Transactional evidence to date suggests that high quality properties with premier tenant covenants remain in demand with limited shifts in pricing.

Rent relief during lockdown has been a significant issue and is clearly illustrated by responses to the survey with 82% of landlords and 55% of occupiers confirming that rental assistance packages have been agreed. In April, 84% of occupiers reported paying of 50% or more.

It is likely that the May statistics will be similar with 67% of landlords and 76% of tenants expecting rental payments to be the same as they were in April.

The lockdown also enforced a massive change in working habits with a vast majority of office workers conducting business from home. Survey results show that the move has proved popular for employees.

Although working from home is likely to be an ongoing topic of discussion 75% of respondents to the occupier survey indicated that they would retain the same or increase their footprint over the next 12 months.

Further, the traditional office setting continues to offer many advantages. According to respondents, being able to collaborate with colleagues in person (34%), bumping into co-workers (13%) and the ability to have spontaneous meetings (12%) were rated as key benefits.

The industrial property sector is viewed by investors as being the most resilient in the current economic climate. While there will be some disruption in the short term due to the impact of COVID-19, history shows the resilience of the industrial sector in periods of uncertainty and market disruption.

At the heart of the industrial sector, goods-producing industries such as manufacturing and construction accounted for around one-fifth of New Zealand’s $300 billion economy in 2019, according to Statistics New Zealand. In addition services such as transport, warehousing and postal services, industries in growth pre-COVID-19, has been boosted significantly in recent months as people shift to online and ‘click and collect’ services more than ever before.

Cultural connection important for HB Airport

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Visitors arriving to the redeveloped Hawke’s Bay Airport will be enveloped by a sense of place and a connection to the special character of the land the airport is based on in Ahuriri.

The airport is on schedule to celebrate the opening of the new terminal in February 2021, after a $20.2 million expansion project that has seen the terminal nearly triple in size.

Although there has been a couple of set backs, including COVID-19 lockdown, the final stages are now being completed with the centralized hospitality and commercial hub as well as the Air New Zealand lounge.

Local artist Jacob Scott, on behalf of local hapu Mana Ahuriri, has been involved in the project since its inception. He has been engaged to design the interior ceiling which when finished will connect visitors to the region and its people by telling the stories of the local area, Ahuriri and its connection to other places in the world.

The whakairo panel installation will form a part of the larger redevelopment project which incorporates further storytelling into other elements of the building’s structure including the outdoor entrance forecourt and the road entry works on Watchman Road.

Jacob says the airport is not only an active public space but serves as an airport that can project artistic ideas on a massive, public scale.

The artwork comprises over 250 plywood panels, approximately 180 running meters, carved using digital machining technology by Lattey Group in Hastings. The completed panels will be suspended above visitors as they enter and move through the airport terminal, forming a single continuous art installation through the interior of the terminal.

In working with local iwi to identify content for the designs, a decision to focus on ideas connected to the airport locality and purpose was made.

The inspiration for the design comes from the Kuaka, a native bird of the area and is a symbol of passage or voyage, of strength and endurance and of journeys and discovery as the Kuaka travels 29,00kms to Alaska and back each year. At the end of their journey the Kuaka feed in the estuary surrounding the airport and the birds provide a link to the world around us.

The fact that the birds travel this far to feed, in this place is significant and as Ngahiwi Tomoana, Chairman Ngāti Kahungunu says “the Kuaka make the longest flight of any man creature or even man-made plane without refueling. This little bird arrives with the wisdom of both worlds, both sides of the veil, that of the living, and that of where those who have passed on dwell”.

As a site of departure the airport is Hawke’s Bays connection with the wider world. It is a lift off point for connections made through trade, enterprise, social and cultural connections.

Jacob says the story has been ever- evolving since the initial concepts were developed prior to construction commencing. He says interwoven into the design is the formation of the land, which underwent significant change with the 1931 Hawke’s Bay earthquake.

Further inspiration has also been the impact of COVID-19, which impacted on the aviation sector grounding flights globally.

“There has been recent turmoil, but we are welcoming people back to Hawke’s Bay again and our people will also take flight and explore the world again, just like the kuaka. We can take flight and go anywhere and anyone will be able to come here from their place too.

Hawke’s Bay Airport chief executive Stuart Ainslie says the design brief was outlined in three key priorities; Express our unique regional identity, Uplift the profile of creative practice in the region and Improve visibility of creatives on a national and international level were identified.

“This project exemplifies how these aspirations are enacted and it will provide a unique setting that will welcome visitors on holiday and for business to the region.”

Family Business pumped for the future – Harris Pumps

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Stephen and Michael Harris are the third generation to take the helm at Hastings-based firm Harris Pumps and Filtration and the cousins are determined to take the business to the next level, joining business growth organisation The Icehouse’s Owner Operator Programme and recently getting support from the Regional Business Partner to work through the shock of COVID-19 .

Stephen Harris anticipated trouble ahead when the effects of the pandemic had the potential to hit their supply chains in Europe and Asia earlier in the year so he started ordering extra products and supplies.

“We stocked up on pumps from Europe and Asia and thankfully the freight kept coming in.” Initially, when lockdown hit in New Zealand there was a group of staff ready to work but the phones were quiet and staff numbers required in the office were cut back. Workshop staff were in their own bubble and staff came up with ideas to maintain safety with workshop hours, for example, staggered. “We couldn’t send staff in the same vehicle and the costs went up for sure.”

April’s revenue has been slashed but Stephen knows they were fortunate to continue being operational, particularly as farmers were being hammered by the drought and needed their specialist support. Most supplies weren’t too hard to get – with the exception of polythene and PVC pipe.

“We had to prove that the pipe was required for essential services and the suppliers were just very nervous about getting the supply to us. Some were also charging a premium for delivery.”

Before COVID-19 hit the business, Stephen and Michael made the decision to join the Icehouse Owner Operator Programme facilitated by leading business coach Michaela Vodanovich.

They had heard about The Icehouse from Tim Masters from Masters Plumbing who had completed the Icehouse programme a few years back.

“We needed a push – we had grown up with the business and just kept doing things they way they were always done and I guess you fall into that trap of sticking with the way things were done in the past. We tended to get busy with the everyday work but since we’ve been in The Icehouse Michaela has made us think about the future and finding out the key things that we needed to sort out to work smarter.

“We delegate better and we have created a leadership team which is working really well. We promoted our office manager into an operations manager role and she has been absolutely brilliant – she’ll say what needs to be said. We are incredibly fortunate with her and with all our staff. I think everyone enjoys their roles and for most it’s not just a job.

“We have a lot of staff that have been here for a long time and we now sit down together for a lot more meetings and that’s meant there’s more ideas coming from those staff. Sometimes you only think about things from your own perspective so the value in gaining staff input has been valuable. During lockdown we really needed those different views especially when we were trying to decipher the Government information because a lot of it was quite grey.”

While key clients were maintained during lockdown, including food producers, farmers and growers, Stephen said it was interesting to see what people wanted to buy. “Strangely a lot of products and fittings weren’t things we would normally sell so I think people were trying to utilise what they had lying around.”

Through the connections made on the Owner Operator Programme Stephen is looking to work with specialists to develop online strategies and e-commerce.

“If this happens again , the ability to sell online might be something that is really useful – who is to say this thing doesn’t come back – there’s always the potential for it to happen again – hopefully not, but the risk is there.”

A Smart way to clean

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Gary Singh always wanted to have his own business. Gary and his family moved to Hawke’s Bay in 2008 and he started to work for a local commercial cleaning business.

He worked hard but wasn’t sure if an opportunity to buy into a commercial cleaning business would eventuate. So he left and went to work at BP Bayview as a café manager. While there, the opportunity came up to buy a café in Hastings, but Gary realised that although he loved making lattes and flat whites, he wasn’t so confident in the kitchen making food.

It was around the same time that the owner of the cleaning business he had worked for was ready to ease into retirement and asked Gary if he was interested in buying the business.

“We looked at the books and decided to give it a go.”

But two weeks out from settlement, the cleaning business’s largest client and over 50 percent of revenue decided to go elsewhere. This was a huge setback and as the sale transaction had already commenced, there was no chance to renegotiate.

Gary and wife Deepti decided that they would give it a go and Gary hit the streets looking for new cleaning contracts as well as building a reputation for quality cleaning.

Through sheer determination and hard work, that initial setback has been the springboard to creating a successful business and it’s Gary’s optimism and planning that will also get the business through the COVID-19 setback.

Over the last 18 months Gary has invested significantly in technology. Although commercial cleaning is labour intensive, Gary is set to launch app-based technology that will enable artificial intelligence (AI) cleaning audits.

The app is currently being fine-tuned via a trial with some of his team and some local clients.

Presently the business undertakes manual cleaning audits every 45 days, but AI will enable technology-based daily audits.

The technology ensures consistency of the quality of the cleaning job as well as improving processes and communications with the client.

During the COVID-19 lockdown, Gary’s business was significantly impacted, with many commercial businesses closed and not requiring daily cleaning services.

However, rather than dwell on the pending lockdown, Gary started to look at what opportunities would arise.

Two days out from lockdown he had worked with his cleaning chemical supplier and they were ready to launch a new service offering that would immediately cater for the businesses classed as essential services.

“Ninety percent of the businesses that we clean were closed but we needed to provide a service to those that were regarded as essential service businesses.”

He researched both the Ministry of Health requirements as well as the World Health Organisation’s recommendations and could see a higher level of santisation would become mandatory.

“We knew it was not going to be normal going forward. A few things would change and we needed to adapt to these scenarios. We realised that santisation service provisions were going to be big going forward so we were working harder to ensure we grabbed the most of these circumstances.”

It was hard work to find the right equipment but Gary purchased two santisation cleaning machines to capture the new evolving market.

“It was hard to find the resources but it was also important not to rush and then get caught buying too much of something that might not work – it was important we made good decisions and got the right products.

“We were lucky, we’ve got a good team and we found the right product just before we went into lockdown, so it was fortunate that we had a little bit of cashflow coming in.”

Gary says that as a business owner, he needs to lead from the front, no matter how hard the storm is and not let negativity set you back.

“It’s important to keep yourself positive. There’s a lot of negativity out there and rather than thinking about what’s going to happen, think about what you have at the moment and just keep going.

“My wife was fantastic. Sometimes my face would show the story and the worry, but she would say ‘don’t worry, it will be ok’. Those little words and that support around you make a difference to your mindset and when your mindset is clear, nothing is going to stop you.”

Gary is now in the final preparations for rolling out his new AI- based cleaning app. Watch this space.

The land of plenty will rise again

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Big things were expected from 2020. Hawke’s Bay’s economy was hot to trot and regarded as one of the strongest performing regions across New Zealand.

But, that all came to screaming halt on March 25 when Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that businesses and schools across the country would go into lockdown and we would be forced to stay home for at least one month.

This was a huge jolt to the economy and we could already see the catastrophe that was taking place in other countries such as China and Italy.

The global stock markets went into freefall, dropping at levels not experienced since the GFC in 2007–08 and the Great Depression of 1929–33.

For Hawke’s Bay, many wondered whether all the good work that had been done in recent years to get the economy into such a strong position was going to come undone by COVID-19. We knew that hospitality and tourism were going to be the earliest COVID-19 casualties but what would be next?

Over recent years we have seen unprecedented levels of commercial, industrial and residential development across the Heretaunga Plains as well as in Napier City. Back in 2018, The Profit published a feature profiling over $600 million in construction work.

Meanwhile, our horticulture sector has also been booming, with new varieties planted and increased production; and the viticulture sector had perfect growing conditions that has winemakers calling it a vintage for the times.

The only blip for the region was in farming, which wasn’t based on price of product but a severe drought that has crippled farmers, especially those on the outskirts of Hastings and in Central Hawke’s Bay.

We’re now in a post-COVID-19 environment in New Zealand; we have all resumed our businesses and many of us are holding our breath to see what recovery looks like. For some, the journey is going to be long, longer than a cold winter; tourism is unlikely to get to the same levels for some years to come.

Local campaigns swarm the Bay

There’s been a lot of rhetoric about supporting local businesses first – buy local, shop local, travel local – and there’s been a multitude of support local campaigns, such as Hawke’s Bay Chambers’ Be in the Bay, hospitality’s Hawke’s Bay at Home, We are Team Napier, LocalEyes Hawke’s Bay, the list goes on …

Retailers in our CBDs have woken up to the fact that as well as having a physical retail presence, many have moved into the virtual world of e-commerce, not only selling to locals
but shoppers across New Zealand and the world.

The massive surge in online shopping saw courier businesses like Aramex (founded in Hawke’s Bay over 30 years ago) recording the equivalent of four Christmas parcel delivery periods between Levels 3 and 2, due to many small retailers creating shopify websites.

During the lockdown, The Profit interviewed 12 local business owners and managers. The 15-minute video interviews were a huge success and revealed several common observations: all of the interviewees were optimistic about their businesses’ futures; they believe our economy will recover quicker than other regions; and they regard our primary sector – produce that we grow from the land – as a unique asset that sets us apart from other regions.

Hastings was once known as ‘the Fruitbowl of New Zealand’ and some suggested that this continues to be our point of difference and our economic backbone – the apples, grapes, dairy and animals that prosper on our fertile land.

Major projects all go

One significant game-changing project already financially backed by $12 million of government funding is a Food and Innovation Hub in Tomoana.

The Hub is a cornerstone project of the Matariki Hawke’s Bay Economic and Social Strategy and aims to attract added value food technology and production as well as act as an incubator for new food producer businesses.

There’s also life in the commercial and industrial development scene with the likes of Rockit Apples’ multimillion-dollar packing facility in Irongate; a $70 million private hospital opposite the Hawke’s Bay Hospital; a new Kmart retail complex in Napier; and the final stage of the Toitoi – Hawke’s Bay Opera House.

An 50-strong call centre for Ministry of Social Development is also set to be established in Hastings. The airport’s $20.2 million terminal expansion is continuing and they are also promoting a $10 million solar farm; while Napier Port’s new wharf construction at a cost of over $170 million is well underway.

Housing at epicentre of recovery

Hawke’s Bay has had a dire need for new affordable housing and Kainga Ora (formerly Housing NZ) is willing to pump hundreds of millions of dollars into local housing solutions. As well as the government agency’s housing roll-out, there’s been record building consents in Central Hawke’s Bay, Hastings and Napier.

Hastings has several major housing developments including Lyndhurst in Hastings, Waingakau in Flaxmere, along with Arataki, Brookvale and Iona in Havelock North. Napier is continuing to develop housing in Te Awa, Mission Hills and Parklands. Retirement village developments are also boosting the economy with new developments in Havelock North and Napier.

CBD Retail transformation includes online presence

For many years long-established local retailers in our CBDs have come under pressure from big-box retailers as well as, more recently, global retail giants such as Amazon.

Many of these retailers haven’t moved with the times into setting up online websites, but COVID-19 forced some to do so and the benefits have been substantial.

The business associations of Hastings, Havelock North and Napier have been busy developing marketing plans for breathing life back into the CBDs. Hastings District Council has allocated $150,000 support for Hastings, Havelock North and Flaxmere campaigns and it will now be up to the retailers and hospitality providers to convert these efforts into sales.

Anita Alder, the general manager of Hastings Business Association says there is an air of optimism from retailers in Hastings. They’ve had tough times before and they’re a determined bunch of sales people.

“As for any SME, COVID-19 was tough and Hastings CBD was not immune to that; however, Hastings is back and businesses are focussed on driving forward.

“Our larger CBD recovery strategy kicks off at the start of July, assisted by funding from the Hastings District Council for CBD recovery and city developments, such as Tribune, and HDC future development/growth plans prior to COVID-19 are back underway.”

Anita says owners are thinking outside of the box, using their entrepreneurial skill sets to drive forward. Many local retailers since lockdown have included online sales and are seeing positive returns from that, while others used the lockdown period to their advantage, such as local bar The Common Room, which undertook a full refurbishment.

“While we are not fully out of the woods and have a way to go in the SME recovery process, we remain focussed and optimistic.”

Napier City marketing manager Pip Thompson said when lockdown was relaxed and retailers were able to reopen, they experienced a Christmas-like trade. Hotels and motels are increasing their trade weekly so all in all business is reasonably bright.

In Level 1 and beyond, Pip has launched a support local campaign, Buy Local–Win Local, with three $500 shopping sprees up for grabs.

“We visited all the retailers in the CBD when they reopened and they all have a very positive, optimistic outlook. They viewed the lockdown as ‘it is what it is’, and took the opportunity to work on their businesses and look at how they can do things differently.

“Many upgraded their websites and enhanced their online presence, which gives shoppers the ability to shop worldwide 24/7, while high-end restaurants took to the takeaway trade and enjoyed the change of service during Level 3.

“Most importantly, all of our retailers/retail assistants have big smiles on their faces and are glad to be back trading and welcoming people into their stores.”

Councils provide economic recovery stimulus packages

Hawke’s Bay councils have submitted a joint bid to Crown Infrastructure Partners for $314 million of government investment funds for ‘3 waters’ infrastructure projects, which includes stormwater, wastewater and drinking water while the Regional Council will appoint a Regional Recovery Manager to coordinate, support and lead economic recovery efforts.

Hastings District Council chief executive Nigel Bickle is keenly aware of the key role HDC has to play to regenerate and revive the local economy.

Nigel says that during lockdown Council was moving quickly to take advantage of government investment opportunities to help the region recover from the unavoidable economic downturn that would follow.

“Council invests well over $100 million per year to deliver services, maintain assets like our roads and develop critical infrastructure. A good chunk of that ends up as wages for employees of our suppliers and contractors, and that money is then in turn spent with businesses from supermarkets to shoe shops. We are a key stimulus to the economy.”

Following the call from government for ‘shovel ready’ projects, in just a matter of days Council pulled together applications not just for its own programme of work, but also in partnership with its fellow Hawke’s Bay councils.

“We already had 28 projects worth more than $16m that we could resume at Level 3, but this additional funding will help keep people employed and businesses alive without creating a huge rates demand on our community.”

The government responded positively to council’s funding applications and to date has committed to investing over $9 million in Hastings redeployment
opportunities (as part of a wider region allocation) to be used for local roading projects that will bring hundreds of new jobs into the region.

This will include $9.5 million to improve State Highway 51 around Waipatu Marae including upgrades to footpaths and iWays in the area.

Continued communication with key government agencies also saw the announcement of a $500,000 contribution towards drought relief that will benefit the district’s rural community, and the establishment of the MSD contact centre in Hastings.

Central Government has also pledged to invest in building 200 new homes in Hastings, where council is partnering with Kainga Ora to be just one of two cities in New Zealand to pilot a place-based approach to solving the current housing shortfall.

Napier ready to roll

Napier mayor Kirsten Wise says the development of our economic and social recovery and renewal framework for our community is well underway.

Council has a capital works programme in excess of $100m but has lost two potential major projects – the swimming pool complex, which has gone back to the drawing boards and no government funding for the national aquarium.

However this is partly offset with a new civic centre, a food processing plant at Awatoto and several residential developments. Napier is also the home of the Port and the Airport and this will continue to provide offshoot economic stimulus.

“So much is currently unknown about the extent of impacts and pressure points for Napier as we leave lockdown and venture into a new normal under Level 1.

“We want to be agile in responding to the needs of our community over the next 12-18 months. The framework will provide for agility and responsiveness in recovery initiatives, while ensuring that we remain focused on However this is partly offset with a new civic centre, a food processing plant at Awatoto and several residential developments. Napier is also the home of the Port and the our wellbeing goals; make decisions based on evidence; and partner with iwi, businesses, not-for-profits, and our community in the recovery and renewal journey,” Kirsten says.

Record council consents and PGF funding a positive hit for CHB

In Central Hawke’s Bay, the council has worked with its local government counterparts to pull together a list of ‘shovel-ready’ capital projects as part of regional stimulus packages to the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) and Crown Infrastructure Partners (CIP).

The PGF package for Central Hawke’s Bay District Council (CHBDC) included 10 projects across areas such as roading, vegetation management, social housing, and walkways and cycleways, with a total value for these projects approximately $40 million.

The CIP package for the region focussed on three waters infrastructures, and CHBDC had six projects including domestic water supply and wastewater. The total value for these projects for CHBDC is approximately $89 million.

Council is also working with several commercial enterprises on large and medium-scale developments, some of which are applying for PGF funding. These projects have the potential for significant economic uplift for the district, both in their construction phase and ongoing contribution to our economy.

In April the council recorded a strong monthly high of $6.5 million worth of building consent applications lodged in April – a 180% increase on last year’s value for the same month and of a similar value to the $6.7 million worth of building consents lodged in March.

$15 million in projects to move Wairoa forward

Wairoa Mayor Craig Little says the district is continuing to push forward with millions of dollars’ worth of improvement and enhancement projects having received more than $15 million in additional central government funding through the PGF.

He says the investment is spread across the district in a range of building, construction and enhancement projects to support council’s aspiration to make Wairoa the best it can be.

“Our latest boost was around $2.5 million for roading and construction projects, which was part of the $15.24 million for Hawke’s Bay through the Government’s Worker Redeployment Package, announced in March.”

Wairoa work will see the replacement of the Patangata Bridge at Whakaki, realignment of the Nuhaka River Road at Nuhaka and repair of the Rangatahi Dropout at Mahia.

Other physical works include nearly $5 million for a town centre revitalisation project; $7 million towards the sealing of the Mahia East Coast Road; $2.2 million for bridge strengthening; and $400,000 for the creation of a regional digital hub in the Wairoa library.

A business case is also being conducted to look at all the options for access into the peninsula, and the realignment of the Nuhaka/Opoutama Road and access to Wairoa will further be improved with the $5 million funding for ‘pre- implementation’ work on the Waikare Gorge safety realignment project on State Highway 2 between Wairoa and Napier.

A series of non-council independent and iwi projects that directly relate to employment have also received PGF support.

“This work is just the beginning. Council continues to partner with local iwi and the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council on a range of vital projects that we hope will also receive Government support.”

Business HB ready to support local businesses

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As New Zealand emerges from its COVID-19 lockdown, around the country business and community leaders are turning their thoughts to regional recovery.

We are now confronted by a deep global, national, and local recession, the sharpness of which is unprecedented. It will be a slow, persistent climb out of this recession, back to some sense of normality.

New Zealand is well used to regional crises. Since 2002 there have been 71 states of emergency declared due to natural events; four a year, on average with the associated economic, social and environmental impacts for the communities affected. Globally, there has been a trend for financial and economic shocks every decade or so. Supporting businesses to prepare for these shocks, to respond to them and to emerge

stronger on the other side is a key challenge for every regional economic development agency in New Zealand.

Patterns emerging through the current COVID-19 crisis, in an economic sense are also new, variable, and complex with regions, sectors, communities and individual businesses all being affected differently. SMEs and certain sectors like tourism, retail, events and hospitality are disproportionately affected while others are under pressure in food supply
and health response. Supply chains and international trade are affected, and around the world central banks are using quantitative easing and monetary policy to boost demand. Local businesses and communities are trying to understand and respond to the ongoing impacts of the crisis while also trying to maintain day-to-day operations.

Roadmap to recovery

Here in Hawke’s Bay conversations have begun on what our roadmap for recovery will be. Hawke’s Bay already
has the Matariki Regional Development community, bringing together with one vision, the collective impact of business, Iwi and hapū, councils, and local representatives from Government agencies. Regional partnerships are in place, with valued and established relationships and diverse perspectives for collective and sustainable economic and social impact. Regionally, we can achieve prosperity alongside greater equity, prioritising broader and long-lasting future opportunities, addressing the more complex needs of our people and business. While Government has a key role to play in supporting the region, recovery efforts need to be locally driven.

Business Hawke’s Bay is part of the conversation. Through our membership of Economic Development New Zealand* and partnerships with national economic analysts, we have access to experts, resources and insights to help inform and support a programme for rebuilding and supporting our local economies. The aim is for the region to emerge from the COVID-19 crisis more resilient, agile, and sustainable.

Business at the forefront

Our economic and socially inclusive recovery requires strong business and industry input, advocacy, advice, and leadership. Business Hawke’s Bay is establishing a business leaders’ advisory forum and sector advisory groups to ensure that the voice of industry is heard alongside other partners and is considered at the forefront of recovery efforts, for that is where future sustainable jobs and economic and inclusive growth will come from.

It will also be important to ensure that actions are prioritised giving support to the highest value or most needed. Being agile and responsive, recognising that there are many possible scenarios to plan for should be a key factor in developing our recovery strategy. We already have a programme designed to deliver economic, inclusive, and sustainable growth that focuses on whānau wellbeing, employment skills and capability, resilient infrastructure, economic growth and promoting our place.

More than ever, it’s a time for evidence-based decision-making, to closely monitor progress and to identify appropriate “present-based” measures and indicators. Measures such as traffic counts (traffic busyness is considered an indicator of economic performance), retail spend and internet use which are available more frequently, are being used to evaluate economic impact in real-time. A wider focus on wellbeing, beyond GDP is encouraging everybody
to reconsider definitions of economic prosperity. We also need strong inclusive and sustainable growth indicators to provide a deeper, richer picture of progress. Evaluation throughout, constantly reviewing the impact of actions, adjusting and learning along the way, is the way to go.

Our region will face future economic crises, so understanding what COVID-19 can teach us will help to build a
more resilient Hawke’s Bay business community, for inclusive growth and sustainable returns and an economic development ecosystem to support it.

* Economic Development New Zealand, a national not for profit that empowers and enables individuals and organisations either practicing, or associated with, economic development across New Zealand.

 

Brenda Chapman bids farewell to successful stint at EIT

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Brenda Chapman has been the marketing face and voice of local tertiary education institute EIT for 20 years. You will have heard Brenda’s Canadian effervescent accent on the local radio stations promoting the many courses at EIT.

Brenda started at EIT in January 2000 when there was just over 2000 EFTS (students) and leaves 20 years later with the EIT firmly established as one of the strong education institute performers.

She is moving to Auckland to live with her new partner and is in semi-retirement.

What is your career background in New Zealand?
I was an international commerce trainee conducting market research for the Manawatu Standard Ltd, the Timaru Herald and the Southland Times for 12 months back in 1986/1987. Subsequent roles included Marketing Manager and advertising manager for the Manawatu Standard. I moved to Hawke’s Bay in 1993 and was the marketing coordinator and then the Manager – General Cargo at the Port of Napier. I came to EIT as the Section Manager – Education and Social Sciences in January 2000 and was then promoted into the Marketing leadership role in August 2000.

There will be many highlights – what are some of the ones you are personally proud of?
The many building openings and degree launches (Bachelor of Recreation and Sport, Masters in Health Science), in the early years under Bruce Martin’s leadership as our chief executive.

The events we held to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Nursing, the 40th anniversary of EIT as well as the merger with Tairāwhiti Polytechnic and the establishment of the EIT brand in that region – EIT Hawke’s Bay and EIT Tairāwhiti.

Any funny moments that you recall?

There are many but one that springs to mind is when EIT sponsored a category at the Hastings Business Awards and it coincided with the Rugby World Cup in NZ. The Canadian team was based here – so of course I needed to support them! I wore a red dress, a polar fleece maple leaf shaped hat and a Canadian flag as a cape, whilst delivering the speech. Anything to be memorable for EIT!

Are there any special mentions of people that you have worked with closely?
The many colleagues I have worked at EIT for a long time, it’s a fabulous place to work with a very collegial environment. It’s family friendly and with a great work/ life balance.

Our connections with the business community has also been a highlight. I’ve enjoyed networking with many organisations and the sponsorships that EIT has held – Sport Hawke’s Bay, Hawke’s Bay Magpies, HB Chamber of Commerce, Hawks Basketball, Hawke’s Bay Netball, the Napier and Hastings City Marketing organisations, and the various employers.

You’ve worked under two high calibre chief executives, what was that like?
Both Bruce Martin and Chris Collins have been extremely supportive and always supported our marketing efforts. We have a team of professionals and I have appreciated the support that our employer community has given us.

You have been a champion of EIT at many events, adding your own unique character. Was that important to you?
What I love about our region is that we embrace vibrancy and accept differences. There have been many events that EIT has sponsored and I have enjoyed being able to profile EIT in a memorable way.

Will the identity of EIT remain strong on the east coast?
The people who have studied at EIT and the staff who have supported them are the foundation of the region. These people have contributed to the local economy and the improvement of the quality of health of the citizens of our region – Hawke’s Bay and the East Coast.

While there is the establishment of the NZIST organisation, the people who have studied and worked at EIT will continue to improve the economy and the quality of life of our region.

You have also been a big advocate for Hawke’s Bay – why is that so important to you?
Hawke’s Bay is a fantastic place to live, work and play. EIT is a cornerstone to that – we have over 800 people on the payroll, and over 10,000 students studying at EIT.

My focus has always been about EIT making a positive difference to people’s lives – whether that is students/ graduates and employers. Making it easier for everyone to achieve their goals – whether that is personal or work.

The Alternative Board proves to be a winner

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TAB was first featured in The Profit in 2018, when it was launched in Hawke’s Bay by Wayne Baird and Russell Jaggard. Back then, Wayne and Russell were just starting to establish TAB, seeing the opportunity to offer the model that was benefiting small businesses across New Zealand and the world.

The more conventional advisory structure for a business is to have a governance board, made up of experienced business people across a range of business competencies such as financial, legal, human resources and marketing and sales.

This type of structure is usually for medium-to-large businesses and is particularly common in the corporate sector as well as the not-for-profit sector.

TAB was launched in 1990 by US entrepreneur Allen Fishman as a way for small businesses to get the benefits of a board structure. In 2012, Aucklander Stephen James introduced TAB to New Zealand and it’s now in nine cities and towns across the country.

Wayne Baird is the franchisee for Hawke’s Bay, Gisborne, Taupo and Wairarapa, with Russell being joined by experienced business leader and start- up extraordinaire Ailne Bradley as board facilitators.

Having been a board director and chair myself for the past 14 years, it was a pleasant surprise to turn up for a TAB meeting and be asked to go to the white board and rate out of 10 how I was feeling about my own business and also how I was feeling personally.

New Zealand had just moved from COVID-19 Alert Level 3 to Level 2 and so the four of the five members of the TAB I was joining were all happy to see each other in person, instead of via a Zoom video conference call, therefore they were in relatively high spirits, with the lowest rating being 7.5 (and this was me!).

Wayne hosted of the TAB meeting that was attended by local business owners Carol Reid of Soulpreneurs, Kay Castles of Admin Plus, Alieta Uelese of Learning Innovations and newcomer Joanna Monteith of Consult Ltd. Absent was Dr Sundar Jagadeesan of new dental practice Dentiq, who had only just reopened his practice and had a backlog of patients to treat.

The agenda for the meeting followed the TAB’s well-honed formula that affords everyone around the table equal opportunity to provide updates on their business, and then report on progress from actions they agreed at the previous meeting before presenting a new challenge or opportunity their business is facing.

Following the biggest disruption to businesses and the economy and the world strike on March 24, you would have expected the mood of the table to be sombre, but in fact it was largely the opposite.

The forced physical closure of their businesses and lockdown spent at home had given these business owners the time to not only keep business going and staff motivated but also to adjust their businesses to the new normal.  When it came time to put forward a recent challenge or opportunity, the true benefit of the TAB board format came into its own.

As each member addressed their fellow board members, they were scrutinised first, responding to a range of questions, some expected but many unexpected.

The appeal of the process was that the room wasn’t full of ‘yes’ or ‘no’ people, nor those who had a vested interest due to being a staff member, director/ governor or an investor/shareholder.

The questions were tough and the advice even tougher. And that’s the gold of TAB. There are no hidden agendas, you get what you give, as your time to put something forward soon comes.

For small business owners it can be a lonely place leading from the front but with TAB, there is genuine support as well as accountability.

As the facilitator, Wayne gave everyone an opportunity to firstly ask questions rather than risk going straight to the possible solutions.

This was an easy trap for me to fall into and I quickly realised that I couldn’t shoot straight to what I thought was a solution. Instead, by asking questions you get to fully understand the situation each business owner is experiencing before putting forward any suggestions, ideas or advice.

I like to think of myself as an ‘ideas person’, so this was particularly challenging, but the approach works. Not only does it draw out the full picture but it enables the business posing the issue or opportunity to get a broader and more external perspective.

Everything is confidential; there’s no risk of ideas being leaked. As an observer I signed a confidentiality agreement, so I’m not going into any detail on what was raised.

However, two members had challenges they wanted to moot about how to evolve their businesses, while the other two members were looking at solutions to get the best out of their teams.

My summation was that the challenges and opportunities weren’t anything I hadn’t heard before but it was the process – the listening, line of questions, advice and agreement for action – that was unique.

There’s accountability and it’s not to those within your business that perhaps you can make excuses for not actioning as promised.

To close the meeting, Wayne asked each member what they intended to action before the next meeting and it was recorded. After the formal meeting, Wayne contacts and works with each member on their actions.

Kay Castle sees many benefits in becoming a member of a TAB board, saying that she always gets something valuable to further develop her administration support business.

“We all share ideas and our experiences and there’s a high level of confidence and trust in each other. We’re also very fortunate to have Wayne and the opportunity to tap into his wealth of knowledge.”

Like the board meeting format, the final word must go to Wayne (not me …).
He says his personal vision is to work alongside as many SMEs as possible to help them reach their own goals and visions for what they want their business to be.

“When you ask questions, you gain clarity. I often see business owners who leave the meeting with a completely different viewpoint. That’s the beauty of the collective wisdom around the table and one of the aspects that makes The Alternative Board different.”

As we all move out of COVID-19 and look to keep adapting our businesses, it’s worth contacting Wayne at wbaird@ thealternativeboard.co.nz to discuss how TAB can assist.