Tag Archives: Hawke’s Bay

Pioneering courier business delivers 35 year milestone

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New Zealand’s pioneering courier delivery network Fastway Couriers is celebrating 35 years.

The company, which was established in Hawke’s Bay in 1983, is celebrating the milestone at its annual conference, to be held in Nelson on April 12-13.

Fastway Couriers chief executive Scott Jenyns says the businesses has come a long way from “one man in a van” to a global franchise with 63 regional depots and 1700 franchisees in New Zealand, Australia, Ireland and South Africa, 2,200 Pracel Connect agents and handling over 40 million deliveries annually.

In New Zealand there are 17 regional franchisees with over 250 courier franchisees delivery from Cape to Bluff.

“The parcel and delivery industry has changed dramatically over the past 35 years. The first Fastway van in New Zealand distributed in a world pre-smartphone technology and internet, in a market made up predominately of business to business customers,” Mr Jenyns said.

The rise of online shopping over the past five years has completely transformed our industry from 80 percent of deliveries being larger packages delivered between two businesses to 80 percent of parcels now being smaller than 3 kilograms on average and delivered to residential properties.

Over this time parcel movements have risen year on year by 10% with the majority of parcels now being delivered as a part of an online transaction between a buyer and seller.

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 in business.

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

“Our point of difference to that of our competitors is that our local franchisees are business owners applying their trade in a local market. It is very motivating as the CEO when you witness a national initiative being adopted by our franchisees into their region.

“A good example of this is our Parcel Connect agent network that now comprises of over 250 agents and is very much a key part of the Fastway ecosystem” Mr Jenyns says.

The rapidly growing appetite of New Zealand consumers for online shopping and the expectation of round-the-clock convenience has underpinned the development of a number of innovative new technologies to help future proof our business and franchisees and delight every customer at the door.

“The e-commerce growth rates are phenomenal, all of our large global e-commerce customers and domestic customers we are integrated with continue to perform well.

“We are turning the traditional delivery model on its head with a range of new technology and processes including embracing the sharing economy to help support franchisees and customers.

“We have invested heavily in new technology and innovation to capture more share of the growing e-commerce market, whilst not taking our focus away from servicing our more traditional customers, with all initiatives aimed to help support our franchisee network.

Parcel Connect, a new service recently introduced, taps into the diverse business hours of local stores and service stations across New Zealand to provide a close and convenient drop off and collection point for both customers and Fastway’s franchisees.

Fastway Couriers’ ability to innovate and lead the way for the delivery sector in New Zealand is accelerated by its connection to international courier and logistics company Aramex.

Aramex, which operates in over 70 countries, purchased Fastway Couriers in January 2016, providing the business and its franchisees with access to world-leading research, resources and expertise.

Mr Jenyns says little has changed to the franchise model since the sale to Aramex but it’s opened up parcel delivery to and from their international markets that they operate in.

“We have been able to launch an international service on the back of that acquisition which we were not able to do cost effectively prior to the acquisitions.

“We also get access to their technology which is immensely important as technology continues to drive changes in the way we do business. They are also very supportive of investing in start-up businesses, so with any new investment in a start-up business we get access to that information and make an assessment whether that is applicable to the NZ market.”

 

 

New container depot a win-win

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A new shipping container depot in Napier has been officially opened with property owner Mana Ahuriri Trust regarding it as a long term win-win with the prospects of job creation for its people and certainty of sustainable growth for tenants ContainerCo Limited.

Mana Ahuriri Trust chairman Piriniha Prentice said the Mersey Street land is part of its Waitangi Treaty Settlement with the Crown.  The trust is set to receive significant land holdings including commercial property and farm land.

Mr Prentice said Mana Ahuriri Trust is excited that the Mersey Street site is up and running with a well-established national business.

ContainerCo is one of New Zealand’s leading independent container storage and servicing businesses, operating at six strategic sites, which serve the four largest ports in New Zealand – Ports of Auckland, Port of Tauranga, Lyttleton Port of Christchurch and Napier Port.

“We see this as a good way of getting our investment portfolio underway. We’re thrilled to provide a new site for ContainerCo as it not only gives us long term cash flow but provides our people with career opportunities.

“For us business relationships are ‘about people’ not transactions; creating career opportunities for our people as well as developing long term relationships with successful businesses such as ContainerCo,” Mr Prentice said.

ContainerCo Hawke’s Bay Manager Mr Garry Fly said the new 5 hectare site is a consolidation of its two container park sites in Battery Road (which closed in 2016) and Austin Street, which will be transitioned to closure or re-purposed next year.

Mr Fly said the $4.5 million facility investment is a strong signal of export and import growth in Hawke’s Bay as well as the success of Port Napier in attracting cargo to and from the wider region.

The facility, within the Napier City Council Industrial zone, will be Container Co’s southern North Island base where up to 4000 – 5000 empty containers (TEUs) can be cleaned, repaired, tested and stored on behalf of some of the World’s leading shipping companies.

It will also be the regional home for ContainerCo’s container hire and sales, and specialised refrigeration businesses.

“The new site future proofs our presence in Hawke’s Bay. We have seen significant growth in the requirement for various container and other shipper related services in recent years and expect this to continue,” he said.

Mr Fly said the business has a fantastic relationship with Mana Ahuriri that extends well beyond being the norm of a tenant and landlord contract.

“This is a very unique partnership and we will be working with Mana Ahuriri to create career opportunities starting from apprenticeships through to management.

The Napier facility employs around 15 staff and ContainerCo about 200 staff nationally with around 40 percent Maori.

Additional development of the facility will provide a new range of services designed to support containerized horticultural exports in the region.

“The site is rail served and we look forward to working with Mana Ahuriri Trust and Kiwi Rail to improve rail options for shipping companies and shippers.

Mr Fly said the facility design incorporates environmental protection features as well as for the future implementation of new types of cargo handling and information technologies that will increase capacity.

Demand for off-port container processing and storage has steadily grown and this site is important as it is near port and rail infrastructure, reducing truck movements and exporter and importer costs.

“The cost of container handling needs to be as low as possible to ensure that exporters are competitive and costs are minimized, therefore container parks need to be as close to the port and rail as possible,” he said.

 

High Demand for hi-tech talent

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Hawke’s Bay’s technology sector is on a roll but are there enough skilled staff wanting to work here?

Recruiting the skilled staff needed to grow a business has often been one of the top challenges for both start-ups and established technology companies in the Bay.

But there are signs that’s beginning to change. The skyrocketing cost of living in centres such as Auckland has made Hawke’s Bay a more appealing option for software developers and other technology professionals. The establishment of ‘tech hubs’ and factors including improving broadband speeds have also made the region more enticing.

And of course, there’s the lifestyle. Who wouldn’t want to live here if the numbers added up?

Among the local technology firms feeling confident about attracting more staff to the Bay is Re-Leased, a locally-founded cloud-based property management software company that expects to grow its Hawke’s Bay team of 15 staff over the next six months, as part of a global expansion.

“What’s important to tech companies is being able to attract talent,” says Re-Leased founder and CEO Tom Wallace.

“There’s so much competition so you need to be able to offer potential staff members things that are going to attract them. That’s obviously a competitive salary and a great lifestyle, which Hawke’s Bay can offer. They want somewhere that’s a nice space to work.”

For Re-Leased, its “nice space” is the redeveloped Ahuriri site it shares with Xero, NOW and the Tech Collective, a collaborate environment – complete with on-site Adoro café – that is also home to several smaller technology companies.

In the company’s recent hiring experience, being part of a tech hub is one factor that’s helped Re-Leased sign up former Hawke’s Bay people who are delighted to have the opportunity to return home, says Tom.

“One of them wanted to move back with his children but didn’t think there would be any jobs available, then he went online and was surprised to see that we were advertising a role. He’s a really senior developer whom we’re over the moon to be able to bring back.

“Hawke’s Bay now really has something to offer – we’ve got tech hubs, we’re got an amazing place to live and a great place to work. Now it’s just a matter of really educating New Zealand about the opportunity.”

If Xero and Kiwibank can do it …

Xero founder and Hawke’s Bay resident Rod Drury says his company expects to continue growing its Hawke’s Bay headcount after opening an office at the tech hub last year.

“Our staff are loving it in there. We’ve had quite a few go and work there for a few days and I think this year we’ll start seeing some of our Auckland and Wellington staff migrating there. It’s proving you can do high-quality jobs in the provinces, so that’s all working well.”

Rod says many of the good developers Xero hires are in their 20s and more interested in the “urban lifestyle” rather than setting themselves up in places like Hawke’s Bay.

But there is also an older staff demographic who are attracted to the region, whether for lifestyle, family or economic reasons.

“We’re finding that a lot of our people who are moving are people we’ve had with us for a long time, so they know how the system works, they know the business, and they have the skills to be productive. And we can support them in their changing lifestyle requirements.”

That leads on to a wider opportunity for Hawke’s Bay, he says: pitching the benefits of living here to corporates who could establish a presence in the region for fifty to a few hundred staff.“

You’ve got to tell that message not just to the employers but to the employees in Auckland so that they’re demanding it internally: ‘Hey, why can’t we come to Hawke’s Bay?’.”

Rod says the concept had been proven by Xero and Kiwibank, which opened a 100-person Hastings office in 2015 designed to ensure business continuity if a disaster hit its main facilities in Auckland or Wellington.

“I think we’ve moved from theory to practice. We’re seeing it now with the likes of Kiwibank and Xero – it’s actually really good practice that’s stacked up. We’re always waiting for those examples, but now we’re seeing those so we’re in good shape,” he says.

“Both us and Kiwibank open our doors to show other companies it’s the way. [When we’re talking to government departments] in Wellington or Auckland we talk about our Hawke’s Bay call centre, how it’s working for our team, how we have a good supply of loyal staff, and it gives us good resiliency from Wellington as well.”

A place where talent wants to live

Another Hawke’s Bay technology start- up looking for more employees is cloud- based industrial data monitoring company DataNow.

Also based at the Ahuriri tech hub, DataNow is planning to raise capital this year and increase staff numbers from four to fourteen within the next three years.

The company was founded by electrical engineer Erik van den Hout and its customers include WineWorks, Ravensdown and Analytical Research Laboratories (ARL).

Erik says this year’s capital raising will enable DataNow to bring new talent into the team, allowing it to continue to develop its product and service.

Business consultant Ben Deller, the former head of marketing at NOW, has been working with DataNow and says while the expanding technology sector is encouraging more skilled people to consider moving to Hawke’s Bay, the talent pool in the region remains small.

“The late, great scientist Sir Paul Callaghan talked about how New Zealand needed to be a place where talent wants to live. You want to offer all the qualities you can to attract the talent you know you’re going to need – in the case of DataNow, 10 more people over the next three years, which we know is going to be a challenge,” Ben says.

He and Erik say being part of the tech hub had provided invaluable opportunities to bounce ideas off like-minded people as they developed the business’s growth strategy. The location would also be a plus for attracting new staff, they say.

Stick to what you know

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The topic of how difficult it is to find a tradie with capacity is a popular one at the moment, which leads me to believe that accounting, paperwork and tax will not be top priority for those in the industry.

Now is a great time to look forward and decide what direction you want your business to go in 2018. For those in the building and construction industry, it seems that an increase in profitability features high on the wish list.

Here are five tips to help make 2018 the most profitable year yet.

Tackle compliance

Tradies all say that dealing with paperwork and compliance is one of the toughest, most time- consuming parts of the job. Invoicing, payroll and GST is not everyone’s forte. Falling short in any of these areas can have significant and costly consequences.

A good accountant with knowledge of cloud- based applications is a great asset. They can recommend the best online accounting systems and job management software that best suits your business. Accounting software such as Xero, Reckon and MYOB give you details of your financial performance in real time, eliminating the need for spreadsheets which remain static and error prone. These platforms also offer integrated payroll systems, which can take the stress out of each pay period. GST is automatically calculated and ready for filing directly with IRD. Customised invoice templates can be set up to save you time at the end of a job, which look professional and are easy to read.

Job costing

Even though you may be charging big bucks for a job, it often turns out that you are only just

breaking even, or worse, are costing you money. This is where job management applications are hugely advantageous.

Workflow Max or trade industry specific apps such as Fergus, Tradify and Service M8 will guide you from job costing and quoting through to invoicing and payment. Each job is made up of various tasks and costs with estimated dollar values applied. Labour cost is calculated based on employee pay rates and hours required. At any given time, a jobs progress can be viewed to ensure all costs are being captured and billed. Knowing how much money your jobs are likely to make you, will help you avoid work that would dig you into a hole, and allows you to pick winners right from the start.

Get paid sooner

Invoices for trade/construction work tend to be on the larger side, which clients can often put off paying. Whether you are a subcontractor on a big job site, or a sole trader doing residential one-off jobs, you should be getting paid regularly and on time. Online invoicing from cloud-based applications mentioned above means that you can send all invoices via email instantly. Customers can then view their invoice online and you can see the exact date and time they opened it – no claiming the invoice was not received! You can even connect online payment services like PayPal or Stripe so that clients can pay on the spot. Enforcing strict payment policies is a good idea too, a 7-day payment term is perfectly reasonable. For high value projects, it may pay to agree on a payment schedule throughout the life of the project with your client. An early payment incentive can also work a treat!

Minimise bad debts

Debtor management in any business can be tough and the construction and trade industry is no

exception. Chasing bad debt is never a pleasant task. Fortunately, there is an easy way to automate the pain away. Xero and most other apps will send late payment reminders automatically to allow you to chase bad debt without lifting a finger. Xero integrated app Debtor Daddy even provides you with a receivables manager that will call your clients on your behalf if they do not respond to reminders. Minimising bad debt levels makes a huge improvement to your business, and really lifts profitability.

Stick to what you know

Many business owners take care of the books themselves, when in fact it is far more efficient and cost effective to pay someone else to do it. Information can be sent seamlessly to an accountant via cloud apps, which will enable them to take care of compliance and provide you with meaningful financial reports without having to chase you. Invoices from suppliers can be scanned or snapped by a smart phone and filed directly into Xero ready for your accountant to process. Employees can prepare their own timesheets using job management software on their own devices and submit for payroll processing. HubDoc or Receipt Bank apps can be used to extract key information from supplier invoices that have been scanned or emailed directly to the app for automatic data entry into Xero.

New Hawke’s Bay business a game changer for women

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Hawke’s Bay woman Robyn McLean is having fun with her new business venture that is a game changer in women’s health.

Robyn and long-time friend Mary Bond, based in Wellington, have launched the Hello Cup Company producing a range of menstrual cups – something that has released them from their bugbear of buying single-use tampons.

Hello Cups not only save money but also have huge benefits when it comes to the environment.

“As mothers we knew there had to be a better option for our daughters than expensive and wasteful tampons and pads. The Hello Cup is that option.”

A single cup will last at least five years and holds three times the amount of a tampon. While most cups on the market are made from silicone, Hello Cups are made from medical-grade plastic, which means they are fully recyclable at the end of their lives.

Robyn and Mary, a registered nurse, came up with their first business idea about 15 years

ago when they both had their first child around the same time. The initial idea was to sell children’s clothing, but around the same time there seemed to be an explosion of children’s clothing retailers and they decided it probably wasn’t the best idea.

“We kept talking about joining forces and starting a business over the years but it had to be the right business. We’ve finally come up with something that suits us both. Being a nurse, Mary really cares about people’s welfare and I had a hunch this would be something that we could do together and really make a difference to the lives of women, not just in New Zealand but around the world.”

Robyn had been interested in using menstrual cups for a while but it wasn’t until she was in need that she finally gave one a try.

“I went into a pharmacy in Havelock North and enquired about menstrual cups. The pharmacist was a user of one and was really encouraging and enthusiastic so I bought one and it was instantly life-changing.

“It seems crazy that women have been led to believe for so many years that there is

really only a couple of options in tampons and pads. Not only do they create a hideous amount of waste, but they are unaffordable for so many women.”

After a bit more research Robyn decided she wanted to buy a New Zealand-made cup. When she found there weren’t any, she went to Mary with her latest business idea and the rest, as they say, is history. Period!

The product development phase included trying to source high-quality medical- grade plastic to make the cups, quality and comfortable design of the cups, a manufacturer and then a great brand name.

The medical-grade TPE (a type of plastic) is purchased from Germany and they are fortunate to have found a manufacturer in Napier who is able to produce the cups to their exacting standards.

“You don’t want anything dodgy going up there, so there was no way we were going to cut corners. Our design is quite different

o others on the market. We have specifically designed it to be as comfortable as possible with as little ridges,” says Mary.

Robyn says having the manufacturing team in Hawke’s Bay has been a huge bonus. “It’s so awesome to have the Hello Cups made in Napier. It proves that Hawke’s Bay has everything you need.”

The inspiration for the brand name ‘hello.’ was based on a desire to have a positive perspective to something that is a dreaded monthly hassle, says Robyn. “It also plays on the full stop being called a ‘period’ in America, which if we expand into that market, will make more sense to them probably than Kiwis!

“We wanted to have some fun and get woman to embrace their period. We’ve done this with the brand name as well as some of the marketing taglines such as ‘bloody brilliant’ and ‘no strings attached’.”

Periods are not a typical conversation topic but for Robyn and Mary, they’re talking about the Hello Cup daily together and to happy converts throughout New Zealand. They’ve both quickly become experts as well as period counsellors!

Robyn sees a massive future in the Hello Cup. It’s quickly become a passion and they’re already looking at new products. In 2018 a sports Hello Cup and a Teen Cup will be added to their product range.

TheSportsCupwillbefirmer,asfitfemales often have stronger pelvic floor muscles, while the Teen Cup will be smaller and

softer and a good option for first-time cup users. Hello Cups currently retail for $49 for a single and $69 for a box containing both sizes.

Robyn, a former journalist and public relations practitioner, will be putting her communications and marketing skills to good use. She will take care of the marketing, including social media and responding to non-medical enquiries.

Mary is responsible for distribution and putting her medical training to use in responding to medical-related enquiries.

“We get some incredibly personal questions from women and so it’s amazing for them to be able to talk to a registered nurse who can answer their questions from an informed medical perspective.”

To get the word out about the Hello Cup, a marketing plan includes reliving their youth and heading to university orientation weeks across the country.

They see huge opportunities with the secondary school and tertiary markets. The cups last at least five years, so that means a student can have one for their secondary schooling and then get another that will last for their entire tertiary study.

“We hear dreadful stories of girls not going to school when they have their periods because they can’t afford it. A single cup will last them their entire high school years.”

The only speed bump Mary and Robyn have hit so far was agreeing on whether they

used the word vagina on their website or something less formal.

“Being a nurse, Mary was keen to stick to the name given in medical texts. I preferred vjayjay and fanny.”

To overcome the issue, their website features a ‘vagina switcheroo’ tool, whereby visitors are able to type their preferred name into a box that will then change the text throughout the site to the user’s chosen name.

“We love what women come up with,” says Mary. Twinkle cave, magic box and foo foo are a few examples.

With more than 7 billion tampons and pads going into the world’s landfills each year, menstrual cups have a huge future.

“We think menstrual cups will be the norm for the next generation and we are planning on taking the Hello Cup to women not just in New Zealand but around the world.”

The Hello Cup can be bought at

www.thehellocup.com