Blog

Pro RMA
What’s New in Planning?
Proposals for developing a ‘national planning template’ were first introduced following a 2013 discussion document ‘Building Competitive Cities: Reform of the Urban and Infrastructure Planning System’, with consultation on the development of National Planning Standards commencing on 6 June 2018 and submissions on Draft Standards closing on 17 August 2018. The themes emerging from the consultation indicated that: current plans...
Business Profiles
Success flows from the drains up
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...
Latest News
Record turnover and passenger growth brings forward Airport Masterplan review
Passenger growth at Hawke’s Bay Airport continues to exceed expectations and has led to the company posting a record turnover of $6.6 million. Year-on-year passenger growth is up 8 percent with 715,000 annual passengers for the rolling year through to October 2018. Net profit after tax of $1.4m, was slightly down on last year ($270,000) but was due to increased...
Latest News
Strong tenant interest in large commercial development in Havelock North
Construction is underway on one of the largest commercial development in Havelock North in a decade with key tenants already confirmed for stage one, signalling strong confidence in the fast-growing CBD. Murrayfield Properties Limited, owned by Jonathan and Cristina McHardy’s family trust, has a vision to create a modern vibrant retail, commercial and hospitality precinct. A representative for the McHardys,...
Latest News Pro Primary
PickMee! in Full Blossom
PickMee! summerfruit trees are in full blossom, with almost perfect conditions producing good strong flowering for pollination, to grow crops of nectarines, plums and peaches in time for Christmas. “Blossom is right on time, with plenty of flowers for the bees to do their work,” says John Altham, whose family business is a major New Zealand producer under the PickMee!...
Latest News
A great result – BSA upholds complaint
Today the Broadcasting Standards Authority has upheld complaints by Damon Harvey and Anna Lorck against Mediaworks regarding two news items by Newshub in January this year.  These items were in relation to the delayed rocket launch from the Māhia Peninsula. The Harvey Lorcks said: “We are pleased that an independent tribunal has agreed with our concerns regarding Newshub’s unfair and...
Business Profiles
Pro Q & A with Mark Warren
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...
Pro Features
How YES crosses the business boundaries
Today’s high school students face a world where technological change makes it much harder to plot out a career path. That’s one reason Woodford House has embraced the Young Enterprise Scheme. Woodford House is one of 15 schools across Hawke’s Bay participating in the Young Enterprise Scheme (YES) this year and has five teams competing in the challenge. Woodford’s head...
Pro Features
Teens building a business from behind bars – Young enterprise
As the Young Enterprise Scheme grows in popularity across Hawke’s Bay, a team with a difference has taken up the challenge of learning to run a business from inside the region’s prison. The walls of the training room inside the youth unit at Hawke’s Bay Regional Prison are plastered with colourful sketches and handwritten rap lyrics. Notes and business strategies...
News
Real estate: Bay asking prices almost as high as Wellington
  A shortage of listings in the Bay has fuelled the expectations of people wanting to sell property here. They’re now asking almost as much for their homes as sellers in Wellington. According to the latest Trade Me Property Price Index, Hawke’s Bay vendors are asking an average price of $545,100 for their properties, up a "staggering” 23.2 per cent...