Qatar seeks NZ company 
New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) recently held an advisory board meeting under its Beachheads programme in Qatar. Through this two-year programme New Zealand companies are provided with faster access to better international networks. It connects interested companies to a network of advisors who can provide detailed insights into doing business in a specific international market as in Qatar. "The focus of companies in New Zealand has shifted from Western countries to the region. With Qatar becoming a major hub of industrial activities and development, a number of companies are keen on knowing about the market here," NZTE counsel general and trade commissioner Wayne Mikkelsen told The Peninsula. 
(6 March 2010)

Missouri dairy kings 
New Zealander Kevin Van der Poel, 46, remembers the skepticism and suspicion when he moved to Missouri more than four years ago to raise dairy cattle. When Van der Poel started construction on rock walkways for moving cattle between pastures, rumour spread that he was building housing for victims of Hurricane Katrina. Some locals thought his cows seemed too thin and speculated that they had to go too far to forage or weren't adequately protected from the elements. He was a foreigner who had purchased a prized farm and had a different way of doing things. Some folks told him he would fail — though you would be hard-pressed to get many of them to say so now. Instead, Van der Poel is among those credited with boosting the state's reeling dairy industry. Now, on just over 2000ha, Van der Poel has 3800 dairy cows and an additional 2000 still too young to milk. The operation pumps about US$6 million a year into the local community and employs 28 people, about a third the number required to run a confinement dairy with a similar-sized herd.In the last few years, he and a handful of New Zealanders have invested US$100 million in Missouri's dairy industry, which annually generates more than US$900 million in economic impact. The New Zealanders operate four dairies and own almost 10 per cent of the state's herd. And with milk prices so low, their less expensive methods — which mostly involve a different way of feeding cows — are luring converts. "Their impact has been so significant in our state that it's hard to get your arms around it," said executive director of the Missouri Dairy Association David Drennan. 
(11 January 2010)

Dishy beef cakes 
Wellington waiters Strip-of-Meat are a company with "a dress code that involves a lot of skin" writes website Inventorspot. "Yes, we've seen plenty of businesses of this sort lately, but with a name like this as part of their marketing plan; they offer something that just can't be passed over." Wellington entrepreneur Christian Newman said the idea for the company came after he was asked by a friend to be a waiter at her hen's night in Taupo. "I wasn't even wearing an apron, just a pair of underpants and a bow tie. It was a bit raunchy and made me realise there is a market out there," Newman said.
(December 2009)

Digital industrialists 
David ten Have, the 34-year-old CEO of Wellington company Ponoko features on the cover of Inc. Magazine, as part of an article called 'The Future of Manufacturing'. "Ponoko did not invent the laser cutter. The machine has been around for a couple of decades … But Ponoko is the first company to hook a laser cutter up to the Internet and let anyone, anywhere, take control of it," says Inc. senior writer Max Chafkin. Asked what Ponoko is trying to achieve, ten Have shares, "We're trying to take 'Made in China' and smear it across the globe. We're designing a factory for the 21st century." If you log on to Ponoko's website, you can find some 20,000 items available for purchase. The items for sale are not held in inventory; they exist digitally as design files on the company's servers. "What Ponoko really sells is access to rapid fabrication machines allowing people to make stuff for themselves or buy stuff that other people have designed." Ponoko was established at TechCrunch40 2007, with a vision to reinvent how goods are designed, made and distributed worldwide. 
(01 October 2009)

Sting in UK market 
Family-owned business Nelson Honey is seeking approval to market its bee venom honey in Britain, claiming the product alleviates the symptoms of arthritis. Britain's Food Safety Authority has to approve the marketing of any "novel food" to check it is safe. More than 13 million pots of bee venom honey have been sold in New Zealand over the last decade. Nelson's most popular bee venom honey is called Nectar Ease, which sells for $21.95 (£8.95) for a 500g pot. It contains a blend of honey derived from the native manuka and dried venom harvested from the Apis mellifera honeybee using electrical milking machines that send impulses to stimulate worker bees to sting through a latex film onto a glass collector plate. 
(3 July 2009)

Mothers make green 
Ecostore founder Malcolm Rands has been touring American hypermarket chain Meijer promoting his environmentally friendly household cleaning products, the stores the exclusive retailer of his products. A well-known environmentalist in New Zealand, Rands is working hard to gain a foothold in America's rapidly growing eco-friendly market. His spiel of "making a difference in a small way" seems to resonate the strongest with mothers. Ashley Riedstra, mother of 1-year-old Wyatt Shellenbarger, stopped to talk to Rands at the Meijer in Cascade this week. She left with a bottle of laundry liquid and whitener in her cart after hearing that the products don't contain chemicals or perfumes. "I like that it's good for the planet and it's good for your skin and body," said Riedstra, 23, of Lake Odessa. A low-budget social networking campaign targeting "mommy bloggers" has paid dividends, said vice president of Ecostore USA Lyne Appel Downing. 
(24 April 2009)

Time has flown 
Auckland watchmaker Malcolm Campbell of Timeshop Watch Repairs, who has been in business in a two metre square Lorne Street premises for almost twenty-two years, is now to retire. Campbell told the ABC's Kerri Ritchie: "There's not many of us around now, so a young person in the trade is very rare, but we shall see what happens." A watchmaker for over 50 years, Campbell says business is booming. "Strange thing with watches is that people tend not to throw them away. They just put them in the sock drawer or in the back of a cupboard or in a box somewhere, and 30 or 40 years later they pick them out again and say, "Oh I like that now I think I'll get it serviced because after all it was my Uncle Sydney's or it was Aunty Jane's gold watch so I'd like it going and I might wear it sometimes." 
(1 March 2009)

Madonna's mad for it
Wellington-based company "Phil & Ted changed my life," writes Examiner.com's Kate Byrd of the New Zealand "stroller gurus", going on to give ten reasons why she loves her buggy. "I researched double strollers for months. Testing, pushing, reading. In the end I got the Phil and Ted's Sport Buggy with the doubles kit." Byrd's reasons include: colour, weight and width. "It's a stroller I will use for a long time and suited for children from infant to five years with high weight limits … And did I mention that Gwyneth Paltrow has the exact same one? Seriously, she and Madonna go on walks together with it." Phil and Ted's Most Excellent Buggy Company's products sell in 1800 stores in more than 43 countries. Other ventures include Mokopuna Merino baby clothes and Bam! nursery hardware. The company also acquired Hubco, a designer and marketer of car roof racks and accessories. 
(8 January 2009)

Networking in California 
Scott's Ferry-raised Victoria Ransom, 32, now based in Silicon Valley, California, has won $450,000 in an international Internet business competition for her design application to be used on social networking site Facebook. Ransom's company Wildfire Interactive beat more than 600 entries with an application to help businesses run interactive promotions, sweepstakes and coupon giveaways. Her design allows companies, such as Pepsi and Red Bull, to create branded promotions that can be used to reach Facebook's 130 million members as well as other sites such as Bebo and MySpace. "One thing that is tough right now is funding, so this is a real boost for us," said Ransom, who graduated from Harvard with an MBA and co-founded Access Travel, an adventure travel firm active in 16 countries. Her father, John Ransom, said his daughter's upbringing in Scott's Ferry, near Bulls, fuelled her entrepreneurial skills. "There're only 45 dwellings there, so the big kids taught the little kids things at school," he said. "She attributes a lot of her success to the tiny community." 
(10 December 2008)

KR on Argentinean Edge
nzedge.com co-founder, Saatchi & Saatchi CEO and Lovemarks instigator Kevin Roberts keynoted HSM’s Buenos Aires management conference alongside Harvard U strategy guru Michael Porter, Nobel laureates Joseph Stiglitz (Economics) and Muhammad Yunus (Peace), and Wikipedia creator Jimmy Wales. Speaking to an audience of 2,000, Roberts’s advice for challenged times was “hold your nerve; stay focused; welcome paradox; have consumer foresight; lead with emotion; and have courage to act.” He said that the destruction of old operating systems gave rise to new rules, new markets, new ideas and new technologies. He noted that both Microsoft and Fedex were founded in the mid-70s recession. “Fortune favors the brave – still.“ 
(27 October 2008)

Greenery in urban London 
New Zealand-born James Fraser founded UK landscape firm Avant Gardener in 1990, which continues to operate from a nursery out of Battersea in London. One of Fraser's latest projects is profiled in the Telegraph, which describes artist Biddy Bunzl's south-east London garden as "a unique and intuitive partnership between the planting and landscaping." Stepping out of Bunzl's back door is like embarking on an adventure into an unknown landscape. Tropical-looking palms and tree palms combine with spiky yuccas and cordylines to give an exotic, jungly feel, interspersed with unusual plants from New Zealand, such as spear-like lancewoods, Pseudopanax. In 2000 Fraser exhibited at the renowned International Festival of Gardens at Chaumont-sur-Loire in France. His designs have also featured in the Sunday Telegraph and Gardens Illustrated. 
(6 October 2008)

Unconventional movement
New Zealander Grant Harrison, 44, Hutt Valley High School old boy and owner of American health benefits company Humana, one of the largest in the United States, is the man behind bike-share programme Freewheelin which has seen Democrat and Republican delegates getting about Denver and Minneapolis on bicycles during the latest conventions. The New York Times lists Freewheelin as one of the ten things to do in Denver on a 36-hour visit. "You'll be hearing a lot about this convention's efforts to be environmentally sustainable, so do your part to offset all that hot air and borrow one," the Times recommends. Harrison was in Denver for the August convention where he heard former president Bill Clinton, vice-presidential nominee Joseph Biden and Obama speak. "It's pretty exciting," he said. "It's about changing things for the future and really impacting how people live their lives. It really is a social movement." Freewheelin is currently in discussions to expand the program to other cities, and plans to leave behind about 70 bicycles in both Denver and Minneapolis-St Paul for public use after the conventions.
(10 August 2008)

Microsoft's gatekeeper
Christopher Liddell, Chief Financial Officer at Microsoft since 2005, and the former senior New Zealand business leader is the architect of Microsoft's recent $44.6 billion takeover offer for Yahoo. Liddell is now dealing with the rejection of that offer and Microsoft's imminent acquisition fight. "You have to be disciplined and ruthless," Liddell told The New York Times before Yahoo's board turned down the offer. "We should see acquisitions as a way of growth. We should not be embarrassed at all." Liddell, who since joining Microsoft has made 50 acquisitions, was previously CFO at forest product company International Paper and CEO at Carter Holt Harvey. 
(11 February 2008)

Slimming with Rachel 
Model and reality TV show host Rachel Hunter is the face, and figure, of US weight loss brand Slim-Fast. Advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather chose Hunter because she embraced a more realistic body type. EVP for strategy and planning at Ogilvy Public Relations Therese Caruso said: "She could also talk sincerely about her experiences, the pressures of the industry, and people who expected her to be a different type of model, yet she stayed true to who she was." The choice of Hunter has also enabled the brand to reach beyond traditional women's magazines, to the target audience of 30- to 45-year-old women. 
(3 March 2008)

Some pig 
A miniature variant of the NZ kune kune pig has become the must-have pet in Britain. Chris Murray, co-owner of Pennywell Farm in Devon, began breeding the pigs nine years ago. He crossed kune kune with local miniature breeds, resulting in a pig that grows no bigger than a cocker spaniel. "They are easy to house train and have a good temperament," he says. "A sow would normally snap at you if you picked up one of her litter, but these are amazingly content." British TV personality Jonathan Ross has bought two of the pigs as pets for £150 each, and Murray has had requests from as far away as Australia. 
(15 October 2007)

Technology high-fliers
Marketing entrepreneur Andy Lark is the latest New Zealander to land a top job at a leading US technology firm. Lark has been appointed global vice-president of marketing and communications at Dell, one of the world's largest computer makers. He joins former Carter Holt Harvey boss Chris Liddell, now chief financial officer at Microsoft, and ex-EDS sales head Michael Boustridge, who now leads British Telecom's business in the Americas. As the chairman of New Zealand Trade and Enterprise's Beachhead programme in the US, Lark has a strong involvement with NZ businesses and industry programs. "Fortunately, Dell is supportive of my efforts to help New Zealand companies thrive in the US and other markets," he said in the NZ Herald. "I wouldn't have taken the role if it had meant giving that up." 
(17 September 2007)

Burger boom 
A restaurant chain founded by three New Zealanders has become one of the most successful businesses in the booming UK "posh burger" market. Gourmet Burger Kitchen was established six years ago by school friends Greg Driscoll, Brandon Allen and Adam Wills. The trio sold the business to restaurant investment company Clapham House Group for NZ $25.7 million in 2004, staying on for 18 months as directors before cashing out. Since the start of the 2006 financial year, Clapham House has added 13 GBK outlets to the chain, and is currently looking for a further 100 sites across the UK. 
(10 June 2007)

 

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Cinema success story

First in flight 
Nelson's Ngati Koata has become the first Maori tribe to venture into the airline industry. The iwi aims to launch a Nelson-based passenger charter service in the next three to four months, and has further plans for an airline freight operation. "We are starting off small and getting into the aviation industry in a conservative manner," said Ngati Koata Trust CEO Caron Paul, who will also be acting CEO of the yet-to-be-named airline. The Trust has leased two 18-seat aircraft that were previously owned by Origin Pacific Airways, a NZ regional carrier that closed in September last year. Ngati Koata Trust is the legal entity representing more than 5000 iwi members. Its business interests include a ship repair yard, a furniture manufacturing company and a health and social services arm. The Trust recently announced plans for another new and potentially lucrative business - making and selling biodiesel to the local fishing industry, motorists and manufacturers. 
(22 May 2007)

New voice in US media marketplace 
NZ-born advertising executive Antony Young, US CEO of Optimedia, is about to publish his first book in America. In Profitable Marketing Communication he offers US marketers a fresh perspective on the media marketplace, based largely around successful European campaigns and organisational models. One of his key points is the need, particularly in the US, to move from analogue to digital: "I'm a fan of digital, and while many talk about bringing digital into the mainstream, we [at Optimedia] wanted to turn the organization on its head and do it." Young began his advertising career at Saatchi & Saatchi and Colenso/BBDO in Auckland, before spearheading Zenith Media's launch in Asia. He replaced industry veteran Mike Drexler as CEO of Optimedia US in June last year. 
(8 May 2007)

Healthy competition 
A NZ healthy fast food chain has opened its first European outlet in Glasgow, Scotland. Owner Conrad van der Klundert believes that Reload, a South Island-based juice, salad and sandwich bar, can take on established chains such as Subway as well as existing juice bars in the UK and Ireland. He eventually hopes to employ between 200 and 300 staff in more than 100 stores, with each making £350,000 annually. "We are trying to change the eating style in as many places as possible, from fast food to healthy food," says van der Klundert, who already operates Reload stores in Australia, Singapore and China, as well as across NZ. The UK and Ireland franchise has been bought by Scottish businessman Keith Stark. 
(22 April 2007)

Auckland pioneers landing technique 
Auckland International Airport is leading the world in trialling a landing method designed to reduce fuel use and emissions. Beginning April 18, the test landings will see selected Air NZ and Qantas jets glide into the airport with engines set on idle. "We've chosen only a very small group of aircraft to participate. [These planes] typically arrive at times of the day other traffic is light," said airport spokesman Lew Jenkins. If successful, the program may be tested by airports such as LAX in future. 
(13 April 2007)

Two Paddocks enters asian market 
Actor Sam Neill has been busy promoting his Two Paddocks vineyard in Hong Kong, but has dismissed any suggestion of a major expansion into China. "We're a boutique winery. I think if we started expanding into China we'd be swallowed up in a minute," he said in the Washington Post. Instead Neill's range of premium wines will be sold exclusively through an organic food store in central Hong Kong. Two Paddocks is located in Central Otago and produces just 3000 cases of wine a year. 
(31 January 2007)

Future vision 
Needing to know the life cycle of your business in 2030? Wondering about the strengths and weaknesses about merging two global IT systems? Interested in the long-term climate for pensions? Former Auckland systems manager and management trainer Faye Cossar runs her business astrology practice Juxtaposition in the Netherlands consulting for conglomerates such as KLM-Air France, supermarket chain Ahold and worldwide insurer Generali on company life cycles, and organisational development and culture which makes an ideal topic for a lecture. The Ahold study showed that their Albert Heijn supermarkets in the Netherlands are now in the 8th phase of a 72-year, 12-phase cycle. According to this model there would also be a parallel with the previous phase 8, from 1935-1941. Understanding the systems archtypes presented lessons from the past. Advice for phase 9 starting in May 2007 could be given based on the last phase 9, 1941- 1947 and the positive themes of this phase - Involvement in Politics, Expansion, Overseas issues. 'Big is best'. Faye Cossar was one of the first MA graduates in Cultural Astronomy and Astrology in 2004, from Bath Spa University College, the first university in the world to offer such a programme.
(December 2006)

Agencies with edge 
The Kiwi ad industry once again proved its strength on the global stage, picking up a slew of awards at this year's Cannes Lions Advertising Awards. Saatchi & Saatchi won a Gold Lion in the media category for its Rubbish Film Festival for Telecom, Aim Proximity won Gold in direct marketing for its Body Parts campaign for BNZ, and Colenso BBDO's Scott Maddox and Fraser Grant won Silver Lions in the Print Young Creative category. TBWA/Whybin won two Promo Lions for its Stand in Black and Be the Ball campaigns for Adidas, as well as a Gold Lion in direct marketing for its Bootscraper campaign for ASB. Stand in Black also earned TBWA/Whybin a Gold Award and Grande Clio (Best in Show: Innovative Media) at the Clios in Miami, Silver at ADFEST (Thailand), Bronze at the Media Spikes (Asian Advertising Awards), and a New York One Show Bronze Pencil. Saatchi & Saatchi New York also poured gold at Cannes for NZ client 42 Below. 
(28 June 2006)

Best foot forward 
NZ footwear company, Kumfs, has reached a significant milestone in its nearly 70-year history with the opening of its first branded store in the US - in Fresno, California. The US and Canada account for 10.5% of Kumfs' wholesale business, which now generates a $54.6 million annual turnover. Kumfs started as a podiatrist clinic producing its own shoes in Auckland in the 1940s. By 1961, the company was commercially manufacturing its own orthopaedic shoes. With factories in Auckland and China, Kumfs now produces 9,000 pairs of shoes per week and leads the Australasian market for fashion footwear recommended by podiatrists and physiotherapists. 
(29 May 2006)

Sudoku mania
Retired Kiwi judge, Phil Gould, continues his path to world domination as the man behind current puzzle-page phenomenon, Sudoku. Gould now provides puzzles for 120 newspapers in 36 different countries. “It will fade but I don't expect it to disappear for good,” says Gould. “I think the crossword and the sudoku will sit side by side for years to come. The crossword is there for the wordsmith and the sudoku is there for the rest of us.”
(3 October 2005)
   

International man of mystery
Wayne Gould – retired NZ judge turned “international puzzle star” – is responsible for the latest craze in newspaper teasers, Su Doku. Gould discovered the number-based logic test in a Japanese bookstore in 1997. After six years of labour, Gould created a computer program to produce the puzzles, and sold the result to Rupert Murdoch’s Times. The game has been a hit in the UK, spawning a best-selling book (and two more in the pipeline), and has now been purchased across the Atlantic by the New York Post.
(27 May 2005)
   

Ben Ohau doing just fine 
The South Island's MacKenzie Basin is internationally famous for two things; providing the stunning backdrop to the final battle in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and producing the most consistently high quality merino wool in NZ. The Cameron family of Ben Ohau Station have been exporting their premium merino wool to Europe since 1897. One of its more recent customers, Italy's Loro Piana fashion house, has twice awarded Ben Ohau its World Wool Record Challenge Cup for the finest bale of wool produced in a solar year. The station has also won the Loro Piana Trophy for the NZ Record Bale for four years running. Ben Ohau currently holds the NZ record for the finest fleece ever produced - at 12.3 microns it is finer than cashmere. Read about the history of Ben Ohau Station in NZ Life and Leisure here. 
(3 September 2005)

The new wave
Two NZ companies made international business magazine Red Herring’s vaunted “Top 100 Private Companies in Asia” list for 2005. Esphion and Argent Networks, both based in Auckland, are rated as companies which could significantly affect the way we live. Esphion is a network appliance company which specialises in securing large IP networks by detecting faults in the network itself before they reach computers. Argent Networks provides billing and customer service solutions for telecommunications companies, netting much of its business from the rapidly expanding mobile phone markets of Africa and the Middle East. Both companies are financed by Wellington-based venture capital firm No.8 Ventures.
(2 September 2005)
    

Sam’s back
Called by Kerry Packer “the world’s best television executive,” NZ-born Sam Chisholm is back helming Packer’s Channel Nine. In the 90s he turned UK’s BSkyB into a cash cow for Rupert Murdoch. The Auckland born King’s College old boy moved to Australia in his early 20s. The gruff Chisholm is equally known for his medical fortitude, having had a double-lung transplant as a result of a rare respiratory condition. Chisholm and Nine have been Australia’s top media story this year. "Television is the most perishable commodity - we have no stock, we have no plant, we have no factory - this is a creative business...You're always trying to anticipate what your constituency wants and try to provide them with that. It's the ultimate service industry. If viewers don't like it - zap! They vote every day on what we do and if they don't like it they're quick to tell us." 
(14 July 2005)

Less is more 
In a study released by the World Bank, New Zealand has been named the most business-friendly nation in the world. The study ranked 155 countries and was based on classic American assumptions of economic success, like the idea that the less red tape - the easier it is to do business. Singapore joined New Zealand in the top spots while America came in at third place, followed by Canada. The World Bank examined factors such as the ease or difficulty of hiring and firing, the abilities of creditors to recoup money in the case of bankruptcy and the ability to enforce contracts in court. 
(14 September 2005)

Liddell to work on margins
TBR believes the addition of New Zealander Chris Liddell as Microsoft’s CFO should help usher in an era of growing operating margins and a tightening of the fiscal belt. In TBR’s opinion, the hiring of Liddell, direct from the forest industry, will bring a relatively-low margin operation mindset to Microsoft. Specifically, TBR believes Liddell will reduce expenses brought on board during Microsoft’s growth stage. During a difficult operating environment and faced with unfavorable currency headwinds, Liddell was still able to increase International Paper Co.’s operating margin 18% from 2003 to 2004, even when revenue grew only 6.5. TBR predicts Microsoft’s operating margins could expand significantly during the next one to three years as Liddell brings a more mature and responsible fiscal management culture to the company. Chris Liddell holds an engineering degree from the University of Auckland and a master of philosophy degree from Oxford University in England. Chris was a prime mover in The Knowledge Wave and an instigator of the progressive think tank The New Zealand Institute. 
(13 May 2005)

Battle of the titans
Fonterra has made a formal takeover bid for Australian conglomerate, National Foods, earning it the title “NZ moo-nopolist” in the Sydney Morning Herald. The super-company already owns Australian brands Bega, Western Star, Bodalla, Perfect Italiano and Peters & Brownes. In an ironic twist, Fonterra’s chief competition in the takeover bid looks likely to be Graeme Hart, NZ’s most successful entrepreneur and owner of the Burns Philip food group.
(3 November 2004)
 

Whinge benefits
Research undertaken at Victoria University suggests a positive side to gossiping and whining at work. According to the report, “whingeing to a sympathetic co-worker both reflects and constructs the close relationship between team members, thus consolidating the team's solidarity.”
(25 October 2004)

Suntan Man
Al Baldwin, 74, has sprayed his last beachgoer. Over the past 30 years, New Zealand-born Baldwin had become a fixture in Surfers’ Paradise beach, spraying an estimated three million beachgoers with suntan lotion. His business was a patch of sand where he sprayed suntan lotion on up to 600 beachgoers a day, and hired out chairs, umbrellas and boogie boards. He grew up in a New Zealand orphanage, moved to Sydney in the early 1950s and to the Gold Coast in 1968.
(2 September 2004)

Chisholm to Packer
New Zealand-born media supremo Sam Chisholm has resigned as a Director of Telstra to joint Kerry Packer’s media group PBL. Chisholm, 64, retains his chairmanship of Foxtel. He was head of Nine in Australia for 15 years before becoming Chief Executive of British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) for several years. He was Executive Director of News Corp until 1999. Chisholm is the consummate worker of phones and backrooms in some of the biggest Australian-led media initiatives.
(4 September 2004)

I see red
A New Zealand company, Knights of NZ, wins the contract to make the Australian Olympic team's opening ceremony coats for the upcoming Winter Olympics. Worth more than $3000 each, the coats are made from 100 per cent Kiwi baby virgin wool. Aussie World Champion aerial skier Kirstie Marshall believes they will threaten the sporting tradition of uniform swapping between competitors: "I don't know that any Australians will want to swap. These look fantastic,"
(23 January 2002)
        

V. Good
New Zealand energy drink V rates well for taste and kick.
(13 June 2001)

Insurance chart for safe passage
Former New Zealand Shipping Company employee John Richardson's 1979 The Merchant's Guide to Documentary Problems has guided thousands of marine insurance under-writers through the shoals of incoterms, bills of lading, letters of credit and other tricky areas of the trade.
Pdf Copy
(12 May 2001)
 

Castaway
A New Zealand consortium plans two lodges on Pitcairn Island, home to the descendants of the Bounty mutineers.
(31 March 2001)
 

First time
Christchurch Casino has placed a clock in its gaming room - a first for the industry, which usually likes punters to forget the outside world exists.
(17 December 2000)

Guru Gilson 
Clive Gilson, University of Waikato Professor, co-author of Peak Performance: Business Lessons From the World's Top Sports Organisations, and motivational coach, to "is to turn the [English] Football Association from its traditional home for semi-retired blazers into a Peak Performing Organisation". 
(5 November 2000)

High stakes
Christchurch Casinos Limited and international affiliate CryptoLogic have debuted Kiwi Casino on the net. Punters drop their dollars surrounded by "the exotic sub-tropical rainforests of New Zealand". 
(5 October 2000)

Sir Ron Brierley: 61 not out
Sir Ron described by the Financial Times as the "cricket mad corporate raider" and "one of the most controversial corporate figures of the past twenty years" knocked the London Stock Exchange for six when his Guiness Peat Group opposed the merger between the LSE and Deutsche Borse. The swashbuckling former stamp-collector is known for batting off the front foot.
(11 August 2000) 
 

"Brain drain clouds NZ's future" - refuse the hype and get to the edge
More centric thinking, this time from London's Observer, "New Zealander's are leaving their country in droves, placing a strain on the economy and painting a grim picture for the future." Our opinion: New Zealand Edgers of the world network and take over.
(13 June 2000)  
    

Kiwi revolutionises advertising through seamless internet surfing
Financial Times special report "Japanese Internet Tsumani", looks at how the internet is making reaching customers easy: "you can be sitting in the back of a taxi in a traffic jam checking your stocks, paying bills.  It is seamless", says New Zealander Jonathan Hendricksen, president of ValueClick Japan.
(May 2000)

           

Kiwi ex-bellboy now Japan dotcom millionaire
Young entrepreneur Jonathan Hendricksen this week became the first foreigner to list a company on the Tokyo Stock Exchange - and overnight made himself a $150 million fortune.  The former hotel doorman has a 15% stake in billion dollar on-line advertising company ValueClick. 
(May 2000)

0800 GAZZA - personalised phone numbers up for sale in Britain
Henry Newrick, a New Zealand entrepreneur, who brought the idea to Britain, says, "They will change the way people think about phone numbers and make them more memorable and certainly valuable".
(6 April 2000)
               

dot.com dream
Kiwi Victoria Davies is among the silicon dolls  burnt by the dot.com crash. She's now on a $100,000+ salary, but has less confidence in stock options, "I don't look at it as my ticket to being a millionaire because I really don't think it's that easy".
(11 December 2000)
   

Kosher washer
Dishdrawers by Fisher & Paykel are taking the American Jewish market by storm. The separate compartments make them the kosher washer of choice according to New Zealand sources close to the Paykel family.
(19 November 2000)

  


Kevin Roberts punts Saatchi & Saatchi into the Premier League
The ideas shop meets 'La Difference' when it was announced that Saatchis was to merge, for £1.24 billion, with French giant Publicis. Celebrating the merger, as well as scooping creative awards at Cannes and the company's booming fortunes, Kevin raised a Kiwi toast to jubilant staff, "Go buy your people and your colleagues across the way at Publicis a cold beer [or French champagne]."
(22 June 2000)
  

Economic hardware 
In 1949, New Zealand engineer and economist Professor William "Bill" Phillips astonished the London School of Economics revealing his "do-it-yourself" creation: an analogue computer model of the workings of the British economy. The Monetary National Income Automatic Computer or MONIAC prototype was an odd assortment of tanks, pipes, sluices and valves, with water pumped around the machine by a motor cannibalised from the windscreen wiper of a Lancaster bomber. Visiting fellow at the National Institute for Economic and Social Research Professor Brian Henry says the machine is far more than a museum piece. "Phillips was a brilliant guy. He came up with interesting ways of providing practical advice on policy." Phillips was born to Albanian immigrants on a farm in New Zealand in 1914. He died in Auckland, in 1975. 
(8 May 2008)

Feasts in factories 
New Zealander Margot Henderson, sought-after London gourmand and the other half of Arnold & Henderson catering, does not like to use the word 'simple' when describing their menus. "It's more like it has a sense of place," she says. At a recent Parisian soirée in a metal factory, 240 guests, including the French prime minister, sat down at long banquet tables while the cooks worked out of a makeshift kitchen. Dishes were served family-style from large bowls and platters; the entrée, veal shin on the bone, arrived with a knife sticking out of it. Arnold & Henderson has an impressive client list including Balenciaga, Marc Jacobs and Mulberry. Melanie Arnold and Margot Henderson began the catering business in 1995 when they worked together at London's The French House Dining Room in Soho. They now run restaurant, Rochelle Canteen in Shoreditch.
(23 March 2008)

To India without nails 
New Zealand's prefabricated Lockwood Homes are taking on the luxury housing market in India. MacDonald Sarin, a realty asset management company in Gurgaon, said because of the speed of construction people can enjoy their dream homes sooner. "Initially we will cater to the high end segment, designing it specifically for farm houses and second homes. But in future we will expand this concept to the middle housing segment," the company said. The Indian expansion comes just as Lockwood launches its new range of EcoSmart homes in New Zealand. The Lockwood house was invented in 1951 by Jo La Grouw Snr and Johannes (Jan) van Loghem, based on the log-cabin technique of interlocking timber walls. 
(26 March 2008)

New exec at Opera House
Sydney's most famous landmark is now presided over by New Zealander Richard Evans, who last month became chief executive at the Opera House. Among the challenges Evans will face, is raising some NZ$790 million for the ongoing renovation of the Sydney Opera House complex. Evans told The Dominion Post: "There is no question that it must be one of the more difficult jobs there is, but unless it was, I wouldn't want to do it." Chairman of the Sydney Opera House Trust Kim Williams said Evans has the right attributes for the role. "Richard has a strong entrepreneurial outlook with a good sense of humour ... qualities which are essential to managing an enterprise like the Sydney Opera House," Williams said. Evans was previously chief executive of the Australian Ballet.
(16 February 2008)

NZ director airs at Super Bowl
In just 30 seconds, Wellington ad director Paul Middleditch made his mark at this year's Super Bowl. Sydney-based Middleditch created the NZ$3.4 million one-off slot for Diet Pepsi Max, at his sixth Super Bowl. When Middleditch - whose work includes the New Zealand ASB Goldstein ads - began directing spots and music videos in 1990, he was one of the only young directors working in New Zealand advertising. Now very much sought-after, Middleditch told The Dominion Post he does a lot of comedy work in the United States. "In America when you do comedy it becomes more high-profile and people ask you to do more work like that. So I've been lucky like that."
(20 February 2008)

Chairman of the Internet

Game on 
Wellington-based Sidhe Interactive is the creative brains behind Jackass: The Game, released in the US by Red Mile Entertainment and MTV Games on September 26. The company hopes it will sell over a million copies, which is the benchmark for success in the highly competitive gaming industry. NZ's largest games developer, Sidhe Interactive recently won a multimillion-dollar deal to create a game based on the upcoming US film Speed Racer for Nintendo Wii and PlayStation 2. "It is a perfect combination to be coming off Jackass and rolling on to that," says Sidhe spokesman Jos Ruffell. "We have gone from playing in the Australasian market to competing at the absolute top level in the US market." 
(1 October 2007)

Power producers 
Queenstown-born film producer Tim Bevan (right) features in Vanity Fair's annual 'New Establishment' power rankings, along with business partner Eric Fellner. Bevan and Fellner founded British film powerhouse Working Title in 1984. Their company has produced nearly every hit British film since the late 1980s, from Four Weddings and a Funeral and Elizabeth, to Love Actually and Shaun of the Dead. Bevan and Fellner are ranked 75th on the 100-strong list, which is topped this year by Rupert Murdoch (News Corporation), Steve Jobs (Apple, Disney, Pixar), and Sergey Brin and Larry Page (Google). 
(October 2007)

Designing women 
New Zealand Herald writer Fiona Hawtin reports on the unique nature of the NZ fashion scene for the International Herald Tribune. "Of the 45 labels showing at the seventh New Zealand Fashion Week ... 39 of them are designed by women and almost all are owner/operator businesses," she writes, noting the stark contrast with the traditionally male-dominated fashion industries in Europe and the US. High-profile examples of this trend include Karen Walker, Kate Sylvester, Elisabeth Findlay (Zambesi), Helen Cherry and Trelise Cooper. "Boundaries don't exist so much for women [in NZ]. We can excel in the arts as much in business sectors," said Wellington designer Alexandra Owen who, together with Chelsea Thorpe and Kirsha Whitcher, is part of a new generation of NZ women running their own fashion labels. 
(12 September 2007)

Tributes flow for industry titans 
NZ has lost two of its leading business figures with the deaths of Sir James Fletcher and Nick Nobilo (pictured) on August 29. Fletcher, 92, became Managing Director of construction dynasty Fletcher Holdings in 1942. He was knighted for services to industry and the community in 1980. "We don't have enough industrialists or business people that we can look up to. He is one we can revere," said Fletcher family friend John Hart. Nikola 'Nick' Nobilo, 94, founded the Nobilo Wines empire in 1943 after emigrating to NZ from Croatia six years earlier. Nobilo helped steer the NZ wine industry away from hybrid grape varieties and fortified wines to a higher level of quality wines made from classic grape varietals. "You can't talk about where New Zealand wine has got to in the world today - and it is absolutely impressive - without taking into account the contribution of the Nobilo family," said Terry Dunleavy, editor of NZ Winegrower.
(30 August 2007)

Something to Crowe about
Russell Crowe is gradually proving the naysayers wrong as co-owner of the South Sydney 'Rabbitohs' rugby league club. Crowe and businessman Peter Holmes a Court took over and privatised the beleaguered club in 2006, sparking numerous protests from fans and league officials. "What we're doing has never been done before," said Holmes a Court in the Sydney Morning Herald. "I still don't know if we're going to be successful. I know this is a crazy thing to do. It doesn't stack up on any of the numbers my accountant will agree to as a business deal. But I know this club would not have survived." The SMH is impressed with the pair's efforts so far: "As anyone at the club who was there for a nanosecond of the dark days will attest, their influence has been remarkable." 
(30 July 2007)

Health, wealth and honey 
A NZ health company has teamed up with a German university to promote the use of manuka honey products to heal wounds, treat stomach and skin problems and, potentially, to help in the fight against cancer. Researchers at the Technical University of Dresden have discovered the compound responsible for manuka honey's anti-bacterial properties (methylglyoxal) and have enlisted the help of Te Awamutu-based Manuka Health New Zealand Ltd to measure and certify the levels of the compound in its own products and those of rival companies. "We have known for some time that manuka honey has this property," said Manuka Health chief executive Kerry Paul. "The term Unique Manuka Factor is used to describe this honey's consistently reliable anti-bacterial effect and UMF has been trademarked by the Active Manuka Honey Association. But we haven't known until the German discovery what the compound is that is responsible." Manuka Health expects to dramatically increase its current annual turnover of NZ$5 million as a result of its new partnership. 
(6 July 2007)

Lions share 
NZ agencies won 18 awards at this year's Cannes Lions, the world's most prestigious advertising awards. Auckland agency TBWA\Whybin won the Grand Prix award in both the Media and Promo categories for its ASB "Pago" and NZ Rugby Union "Bonded by Blood" (pictured) campaigns, respectively. Other winners included Clemenger BBDO for a campaign for the World Press Photo Exhibition, Ogilvy for an email invitation campaign for Soul Bar and DraftFCB for an illustrated print campaign for Little Boys sausages. DraftFCB also won three Silver Lions in the Radio category, which is not traditionally a strong area for NZ advertising. The 2007 Cannes Lions were attended by more than 11,000 people. Over 25,000 entries were received from 80 countries. 
(20 June 2007)

Brand passion paramount 
Sean Fitzpatrick and the All Blacks are held up as inspiring examples for business leaders by American finance blogger, Jim Citrin: "No other sports franchise in the world has achieved a 72 percent winning percentage over as long a period. It's amazing that a nation of just 4 million ... can produce the greatest team in the history of any sport." In high demand as a motivational speaker in the US and Europe, Fitzpatrick is an eloquent promoter of team-play and emotional connection in business. "With the All Blacks, a passion for the brand is paramount," he says. "When a team member puts on the All Blacks jersey, he knows that he can win, that he must win. Winning as an All Black is not about the individual, or even about today's team. Each player feels part of an unbroken tradition going back over a century." 
(6 June 2007)

Fletcher nets Formica 
NZ manufacturing company Fletcher Building has bought the iconic Formica Corporation for US $700 million. Fletcher Building already owned the rights to Formica products in Australia and NZ - chief executive Jonathan Ling said the latest acquisition would help create "a truly global laminates platform." Formica Corporation, maker of the famous eponymous laminate as well as other surfacing products, was rescued from bankruptcy by two private equity firms in 2004. The company was founded in the United States by engineers Daniel O'Conor and Herbert Faber in 1913. 
(24 May 2007)

NZ a modern treasure hunter's dream 
NZ features in a "21st century treasure map" for entrepreneurial Americans, published by Inc. magazine. The interactive online map is a guide for American business owners looking for international opportunities. The NZ economy is described as one of the world's least regulated and most entrepreneurial, with one of the highest rates of business ownership per capita. Inc. ranks it alongside Hong Kong, Sweden and Irealand as one of the best places in the world to set up shop. 
(April 2007)

A wallflower no longer 
Auckland digital signage company Wallflower Global has been purchased by Thailand's Global Satellite Broadcasting Corporation (GSBC) for US $20 million. Since its inception four years ago, Wallflower has become the preferred digital signage specialist for international companies including Vodafone, Telstra, Sky City and Mazda. "We are thrilled to acquire the business not just because of its dynamic user friendly technology but also Wallflower has a huge footprint in Australia and NZ," said GSBC founder Ronald Flynn. "The people at Wallflower are terrific and [Wallflower Global CEO] Tony Scott will be staying on board as the CTO and President for the newly named GSBC Wallflower." 
(2 February 2007)

Icebreakers Canadian connection
Nova Scotias Chronicle Herald reveals a NZ business success storys Canadian connection. Jeremy Moons outdoor clothing company Icebreaker enjoys CA$100 million in annual retail sales, largely thanks to its revolutionary merino wool thermal underwear. Icebreaker and a group of NZ farmers recently signed the largest merino wool contract in the world: $30 million for the period 2006-8. Moon reportedly found the inspiration for his business in 1993, at the remote Pohuenui Station in Pelorus Sound. Owned by Brian Brakenridge and his Canadian sheep shearing champion wife Fiona Nettleton, Pohenui Station ran a flock of 3000 merino sheep. Chronicle Herald: In a moment of visionary pride, Brakenridge showed entrepreneur Jeremy Moon his merino wool underwear ... Moon was so impressed that he mortgaged his house, bought half of Brakenridges business, began manufacturing merino wool long johns and persuaded a NZ explorer to wear the same pair for the entire 43-day Jules Verne Challenge. 
(10 January 2007)

Boiling Point 
US BusinessWeek profiles “white-hot” New York-based company Fahrenheit 212’s fresh take on innovation for global consumer product companies. Named after the point at which water boils (“when one degree of difference can make all the difference”), Fahrenheit 212 was spawned by global ideas company Saatchi & Saatchi, with F212 CEO Geoff Vuleta and President Mark Payne leading a recent management buyout. Vuleta, former MD of SaatchiNZ, created F212 in Auckland before establishing the company in New York. Fahrenheit’s goal is to create new products from existing assets that will earn sizeable revenue from untapped markets. The hybrid management consultancy, agency and design house dives head-first into its clients’ product opportunities and gaps to research, prototype and bring to ready-to-go solutions to market. Fahrenheit 212’s clients include spirits giant Diageo (for whom it developed the Smirnoff Raw Tea range), Samsung, P&G, Hershey, UBS and NBC Universal. Says NBC’s Beth Comstock, “We need people who can take us to where we can’t see yet.” 
(15 January 2007)

Silver lining for OpenCloud
Wellington telecommunications support firm OpenCloud has raised US$10.25 million in funding from Advent Venture Partners (London), No 8 Ventures (NZ) and Motorola Ventures (US). The funding will be used to expand the company's international interests, which include a new headquarters in Cambridge, Scotland, and increased sales, marketing, delivery and product development in Europe, America and the Asia Pacific. "We are building up the [Cambridge] infrastructure," says company director and chief executive Stephen Newton. "By the end of the next two to three months we will be 10 to 12 people at the Cambridge site." OpenCloud, which specialises in the supply of next generation application servers to the telecoms industry, played a pioneering role in the development of the cutting-edge JAIN SLEE platform. 
(10 January 2007)

Top shelf 
NZ's 42 Below vodka has been named Cocktail Spirit of the Year for the second time in a row at the 2006 Australian Liquor Industry Awards (ALIA) in Sydney. "42 Below has made a large impact in the Australian market in a short time," says the brand's Australian Country Manager Craig Schweighoffer. "Over the last two years we have seen the brand establish itself as one of the most recognised spirits in the country, its reputation securing a solid appreciation among Australian bartenders and consumers alike." Known as the Oscars of the liquor industry, the ALIAs took place at the Darling Harbour Convention Centre on 2 November. 
(3 November 2006)

Wairewa Station on the ball 
South Canterbury sheep farmers Philip and Anne Munro won a lucrative US contract to supply wool for the tennis balls used at the US Open. The couple hosted American tennis ball producers Tex Tech and Wilson's at Wairewa Station last year, impressing them enough to secure a year-long order of 280 bales per month. The Munro's wool was set aside for the sole purpose of producing US Open tennis balls, which will be branded with Wairewa Station's logo. "It's quite a buzz for us that this has happened, said Philip Munro in the NZ Herald. "The whole situation is quite surreal, it has to be taken as quite significant, not only for ourselves, but also for the NZ wool industry." Held in New York, the US Open is the highest-attended annual sporting event in the world. 
(9 August 2006)

Global roaming 
Auckland-based company RoamAD has secured another major international contract, providing a high-speed wireless network to the Italian university city of Bologna. The free wi-fi network is the first to be deployed in the historic centre of a major Italian city. RoamAD has already established metro-wide wi-fi networks in Auckland and Perth, and plans to connect Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide in the near future. 
(8 June 2006)

Buy-now price $700 million 
John Fairfax Holdings has bought New Zealand internet auction site Trade Me for $700 million. What started as one young Wellingtonian looking to buy a second-hand heater to warm his drafty Mount Victoria flat in 1999, has expanded exponentially to become the most visited website in New Zealand with 1.2 million registered users and one of the most successful edge enterprises in years. Trade Me will continue to operate as a stand alone business, with founder and Chief Executive Sam Morgan continuing to run the company with a board of Trade Me and Fairfax executives.

Dubai calling 
Two New Zealanders are at the forefront of a massive property boom currently happening in Dubai. The United Arab Emirates is spending £140 billion to transform the city into an ultra-modern capitalist powerhouse, the business and leisure hub of the Middle East. Bruce Munro's BRM Construction Dubai has produced high rise lift shafts for 65 Dubai projects to date, and now wins 95% of its tenders. Civil engineer Greg Sang is overseeing the $2 billion construction of what will be the world's tallest building for Emaar Properties. "I think my last job was with the Takapuna City Council," he remarked to TVNZ. "I was doing water mains." 
(21 May 2006)

Mongolian musings 
Auckland born investment banker, John O'Loghlen, muses on Mongolia in the nicely titled Feeding a Dragon: Mongolia's Position within a Rising Asia. Observations on the Land of Eternal Blue Sky for the Land of the Long White Cloud. In 2004 O'Loghlen spent ten days in Mongolia participating in the annual Sunrise to Sunset marathon, an event which sparked his ongoing interest with the country's history and future. Feeding the Dragon notes similarities between Aotearoa and Mongolia - "the world's two most beautiful patches of grass" - and ponders Mongolia's ability to ride the Asian financial wave currently headed by neighbouring China. Read the full article here. 
(August 2005)

Bullionaire business opportunity 
A Massey University graduate may soon be striking agricultural pay-dirt after founding the world's first gold-farming company, Tiaki International. Chris Anderson spent 8 years at Massey developing a chemical process which causes plants to "hyperaccumulate" gold particles from the soil. When crops such as canola, corn or mustard are planted on former gold-mining land they soak up the precious substance and store it in their roots and leaves. Tiaki is now promoting its services in China and Brazil as a means of simultaneously re-greening former mine sites and creating a lucrative offshoot to sell on the open market. 
(1 October 2005)

Phoenix rising
NY Times feature on the burgeoning international alternatives to Coca Cola mentions NZ-brewed delight, Phoenix Cola. “This organic, caffeine-free drink from New Zealand is actually made from the cola nut. Refined-sugar shunners can opt for the honey-sweetened version.”
(25 September 2005)

   

Chinese opportunity 
Fonterra has made the biggest ever investment in the Chinese dairy industry by a foreign company by purchasing a 43% stake in the Shijiazhuang San Lu Group for US$107 million. The San Lu Group produces powdered milk, liquid milk and fresh dairy products, and is predicting sales of US$925 million in China this year. According to Fonterra chief executive Andrew Ferrier, the investment reflects Fonterra's confidence in the future of the dairy industry in China, where dairy consumption has doubled in the last five years. 
(3 December 2005)

Milk and money 
Fonterra has announced plans to build an AU$15 million dairy innovation centre in Melbourne. "By investing significantly in innovation we are ensuring that we remain at the forefront of developing specialty ingredients and consumer products that will continue to grow the global dairy market," says Bob Major, Fonterra's director of innovation. The centre is expected to be open for business by April 2007. 
(31 October 2005)

Liddell goes for growth
Microsoft’s money man from Matamata is seeking to revive the company’s stock price with a story of significant growth based on a raft of new product releases. Chris Liddell says that Wall St is “starting to see some tangible evidence of some of the innovation and investment that's gone on the last few years. The pipeline of product releases over the next 12 to 18 months is probably the highest it's ever been in the company's history.” CFO Liddell stated in his presentation  to the Financial Analyst Meeting on 28 July that “we intend to continue to drive growth, we intend to continue to maximize the cash flow that we can get from our businesses, and we intend to continue to aggressively invest in our future, all of which has a view to driving shareholder value. The performance of this company has been outstanding over the last five years, but we believe there's no reason why the next five years won't be even better.” Asked how he was planning to mesh with the Microsoft culture, Liddell said “It’s pretty simple really. Be extremely good at what I do.” 
(August 15 2005)

Big Chief Fletcher
Christchurch man Ian Fletcher holds a key position in British government as Director of the International Trade Development Group for the British High Commission. Fletcher oversees the promotion of British business around the world; a massive job considering that 25% of the British economy is generated externally. In an interview with NZ City Fletcher says his NZ nationality coupled with his close personal ties to Britain has helped him greatly in his new role, as he has “'looked through the telescope from both ends.”
(15 September 2004)
     

Dynamic partnership
Christchurch based Nano Cluster Devices Ltd (NCD) has secured a potentially lucrative partnership with American organization and manufacturer, NanoDynamics. NanoDynamics is to take over international sales duties for NCD’s groundbreaking technologies, which include the self-assembly of nanowires in production of semiconductors and electronic components.
(18 October 2004)
     

Gamble pays off
Business Review Weekly dubs Matthew Slatter “Australia’s most admired new chief executive,” thanks to his remarkable transformation of Tabcorp from “a Victorian-centric pokies and wagering minnow to what will soon be the world's fourth-largest gambling company.” The NZer took over the reins at Tabcorp in October 2002. Since then he has consolidated Australia’s gaming industry by coordinating nearly $4 billion worth of takeovers and mergers.
(19 August 2004)
 

Back from the brink and here to stay
The Herald profiles NZ’s master business tactician, Burns Philip head Graeme Hart. “Were it not for Mr Hart's charm and reputation for ego-free business dealings, it would be easy to mistake that supreme confidence for arrogance. He is unshakeable in the belief that he … will find another winner […] Mr Hart's definitely the guy who looked like he was on his knees and then came back and stuck his fingers up in the air at everyone.”
(9 August 2004)
  

Designs on Nike
NZ company Designer Textiles has won a contract with sports apparel company Nike. Nike has agreed to use Designer Textiles' merino advanced performance program (MAPP) in manufacturing its ACG range of outdoor sports shoes. The AGC range will carry an additional MAPP tag detailing the NZ origins of it 100% pure merino wool. "Co-branding with Nike is a great breakthrough," said Managing Director Mark Bilton. "It's small but it's important for the credibility of the brand."
(1 July 2004)
 

Opus goes trans-Atlantic
NZ firm Opus International Consultants has expanded its business in Canada with the purchase of Geoplan Consultants Inc. Opus already has offices in the UK, Malaysia and Australia, and in 2002 won the Trade New Zealand Services Exporter of the Year Award for boosting yearly exports from $9.5 million in 1999 to $28.8 million in 2001. The company was the driving force behind Auckland's recently launched Britomart Transport Centre, and is currently working on the redesigning the London Underground's Piccadilly Line.
(27 January 2004)

Mad for merino
A trip to NZ “pulled the scratchy wool from [a Seattle Times writer’s] eyes” with the discovery of Kiwi staple, merino. “This is not your grandfather's wool, most of which could have doubled as a Brillo pad […] For successive autumns now, I've snuggled up in the soft wool and uttered a prayer of thanks to its donor animal — the lonely merino down on a South Island hillside…” The same superfine 'technology' is behind the export success of the Icebreaker (above) recreational clothing designs. 
(2 October 2003)
  

Eric "Bueller" Watson
SMH charts the enviable career of Eric Watson; from butcher’s apprentice to multimillionaire businessman and owner of the NZ Warriors, (who bowed out in the semi-finals of the 2003 NRL to eventual winners Penrith). “See Eric Watson and you can't help but think of the character Ferris Bueller, from the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off […] the teenager who gets into all sorts of difficult situations but gets out of every one of them, just by thinking clearly and being cool. Oh, and he gets the girl, too. Eric is the man you imagine Ferris grew up into. Watson is so cool that you just know he didn't suddenly become cool in his 20s, or his 30s. He's been cool since day one, for sure.” In his latest incarnation as movie mogul, Watson recently opened Capital Pictures and funded Geoff Murphy's NZ-made film, Spooked.
(28 September 2003)
  

Once were panelbeaters
NZ's 2003 "Rich List" is headed by billionaire businessman Graeme Hart, who last year accomplished a daring takeover of Australian food giant, Goodman Fielder. Hart was the subject of the Australian headline; 'Once were panelbeaters, now cashed-up Kiwis.' Other members include Stephen Tindall, Lucy Lawless, Rachel Hunter, Eric Watson, the Auckland Warriors, and newcomers Rodney Duke (Briscoes Group) and Michael Erceg (Independent Liquor). Sailors Russell Coutts and Brad Butterworth also made the grade.
(19 July 2003)
   

Hart food
Graeme Hart, edge entrepreneur and controlling stakeholder at Burns Philip, has completed his $2 billion takeover of Australian food group Goodman Fielder. Burns Philip is now a certified trans-Tasman superpower, with such iconic Aussie brands as Uncle Toby's and Meadow Lea under its umbrella.
(10 March 2003)

Kiwi gets top job
NZ-born businessman John Buchanan has been appointed senior independent director of BHP Billiton, effective 1 February 2003. Buchanan was formerly chief financial officer at Britain's BP.
(2 December 2002)

Superyacht supremos
"New Zealand is fast becoming one of the world's biggest centres for superyacht construction, with its low-cost high-tech designs." Alloy Yachts is the world's 2nd largest manufacturer of superyachts: advantages that make the sailing smooth include lower exchange rates and labour costs, complete in-house production, successfully applied carbon-fibre technology from the America's Cup and a revolutionary "in-boom furling" sail management system. Their recently completed Victoria of Strathearn was voted "Best Sailing Yacht over 38 metres for the year 2000" by superyacht magazine Showboats International.
(24 April 2002) 
 

World's finest fleece
Canterbury-based Escorial Company, in conjunction with CSIRO (Australia's Government science organisation), has produced the world's finest bale of wool, registering a fibre diameter of 12.7 microns. "The finest bale up to now was 12.9 micron in raw fibre, which is nowhere near as fine as ours", says company founder Peter Radford. With $40 million worth of retail trade since its inception in 1994, Escorial wool is used by Italian fashion houses Gucci, Comme des Garcons, Chanel and Louis Vuitton. 
(9 April 2002) 

Kiwi prof named head of International Federation of Accountants
Professor of Accounting and Public Policy at Victoria University, Wellington, Ian Ball named chief executive of the world's top accountancy body, the New York based International Federation of Accountants. "Ian is ideally suited to lead IFAC during this challenging time for the accountancy profession," comments Aki Fujinuma, IFAC president as Ball arrives in the wake of Enron.
(March 2002)

South Sea's start-up
Stephen "Warehouse" Tindall, (Forbes: "the Sam [Walmart] Walton of the South Pacific") backs NZ technology innovation in Red Herring. Citing do-it-yourself Kiwi advances in biotech, multimedia and software (the world's leading agricultural bio-tech research and the success of Lord of the Rings) Tindall pushes New Zealand forward: "We need our country to be self-sustaining ... I refuse to let our inventiveness go to waste - this is my home and I want to see it flourish."
(22 January 2002) 
          

Seaweed means fuel 
Aquaflow Bionomic Corporation, a New Zealand-based company, is likely to be the first of its kind to produce biofuel from large quantities of wild algae. Aquaflow's chairman Barrie Leay said his company had successfully achieved "commercial-scale continuous harvesting of tons of wild algae" in a recent interview with Ethanol Producer Magazine. Aquaflow disclosed earlier this year that it was seeking $5 million to continue improving the refining process; its technology has garnered interest from investors in the UK, US, Australia and Asia. It is currently in talks with Boeing to develop an algae-based jet fuel. 
(11 April 2008)

Virgin's cable guy 
Neil Berkett has been promoted to a permanent role as chief executive at Virgin Media. Berkett took on the job at the cable company as acting chief executive in August last year when Steve Burch resigned. Berkett began his career at the national Post Office in New Zealand before moving to Australia. The former banking executive joined the UK cable industry in 2005, when he became chief operating officer of NTL, which later merged with rival Telewest and was rebranded as Virgin Media. Virgin Media chairman Jim Mooney said the board is delighted at his acceptance of the role. "Since taking on the role of acting CEO six months ago, he's demonstrated that he has both the strategic vision and operational experience to take the company into its next phase of growth," Mooney said.
(7 March 2008)

Tips for the Irish 
Irish sheep farmers are looking to their New Zealand counterparts for advice on how to make more money tending their flocks. Lincoln University's Dr John Hickford spoke at two conferences in Kilkenny and Athlone discussing how New Zealand sheep farmers had evolved their business in the absence of subsidies, and about new technologies available to sheep farmers to help increase their profits. Dr Hickford explained that sheep farmers in New Zealand lost all their subsidies in 1987 and were forced overnight to produce in an unprotected environment. The Independent's Michael Gottstein wrote that Irish sheep farmers can learn some valuable lessons. 
(4 March 2008)

Beyond the ugg
No longer are New Zealand's fashion tastes being derided for unbecoming tracksuits and shoes, the local fashion industry is pinning the country on the style map. New Zealand is now home to a vibrant and steadily expanding fashion industry, with some 50 established labels, up from a handful ten years ago, half of which sell abroad. The Economist cites Karen Walker, Trelise Cooper and Icebreaker as leading examples of the New Zealand fashion industry's value. The World Trade Organisation says clothes exports were worth NZ$315m ($216m) in the year to June 2007, up from NZ$194m a decade earlier. Trelise Cooper says because New Zealanders are geographically remote and have little exposure to mass labels, like Gucci and Gap, designers ignore the rules. "This produces a different, quite edgy style," Cooper says.
(28 February 2008)

Blogs in big business
Former Aucklander Andy Lark, recently appointed VP of global marketing and communications at Dell, is one of the technology industry's "Most Influential" communicators according to PR Week. Champion of big business using internet tools, such as blogs and forums to improve communication with customers, Lark says any industry can embrace blogging. "[The communication team is] the nexus point inside the enterprise where the message comes in and the message goes out ... So many customer issues and concerns are being expressed as conversations." Lark runs one of the biggest marketing budgets in the world, reportedly worth $4.5 billion.
(31 January 2008)

Dave versus Goliath 
The opening of a new hotel in Christchurch coincided with the launch of a film detailing the unusual story behind its development. Hotel SO is the result of property developer Dave Henderson's 13-year clash with the NZ Inland Revenue Department (IRD). We're Here to Help captures the battle on film: from Henderson's complaint about comments made to his girlfriend while seeking a rebate, to IRD's subsequent audit of his business and resulting million dollar claim, and the ensuing 4-year court battle which ended in Henderson's favour. Rather than resting on his laurels, Henderson bought the building that housed the IRD, evicted its tenants and set up the hip, ultra-modern Hotel SO. He now plans to open similar hotels in Auckland, London and New York. 
(27 November 2007)

The post-industrial revolution 
Wellington-based Ponoko is one of a wave of new companies offering personalised product manufacturing services online. Founded by David ten Have and Derek Elley, the Ponoko website lets customers upload designs for cases and enclosures as digital files, which Ponoko then laser-cut from metal or wood. The product is flat-packed and shipped back to the original customer, who assembles it at their end. Elley likens the process to teleportation in an interview with The New York Times: "... products will be shipped not in solid state, but as design files - meaning manufacture can happen as close to the point of consumption as possible. The future is one where people will be buying and selling product design files - and consumers will be able to control the manufacturing process direct from their PC." Elley and ten Have plan to open fabrication stations around the world, starting in the US. 
(15 November 2007)

Hyperfactory enters hyperdrive 
Rich Frank, former president of both Walt Disney Studios and Paramount Television Group, has invested in NZ mobile marketing agency The Hyperfactory. He joins 42 Below vodka's founder and chairman, Geoff Ross and Grant Baker, and Paul Frank, current head of television at The Firm, as chief investors in the award-winning company, which was founded in 2000 by brothers Derek and Geoff Handley (pictured). "[The Hyperfactory] were one of the few who weren't just a sales group or someone who comes in and pitches you an idea and ... [then] try to find some creatives to do it or people to write the programming," said Rich Frank in Adweek. "They were able to function and execute the ideas. It is really what I'd call a full-service agency ... They do all the creative and media buying. I was impressed with them." The Hyperfactory has a US headquarters in New York, International headquarters in Auckland, and sales offices in LA, Chicago, Shanghai, Hong Kong and India. Its client roster includes Toyota, Motorola, Vodafone and Coca Cola. 
(5 November 2007)

Hot pick for Virgin Media
Wellington-born Neil Berkett is widely expected to be made chief executive of Virgin Media. Berkett joined Virgin Media as chief operating officer in 2005 and has been acting chief executive of the company since the abrupt departure of Steve Burch last month. He recently announced his intention to develop Virgin Media's broadband services in the UK, rather than continue to compete for BSkyB's premium pay-TV market share. "Despite our technical advantage we are still not really standing out from the crowd," he admitted in a Guardian interview. "I really do want to re-focus our energies onto the broadband platform." Berkett has previously worked for Prudential Assurance Company and Lloyds TSB in the UK. 
(22 October 2007)

Edge dynamics in action 
NZ social researcher Brent D Taylor has applied Edge theory to economics in his new book Outsider's Edge: The Making of Self-Made Billionaires. Taylor has spent the past four years studying the backgrounds of some of the world's richest men and women, including Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey and Sir Richard Branson. He identifies the "outsider" status of each billionaire subject as a common factor uniting and motivating the group, despite their different upbringings, interests and industries. Outsider's Edge was released in Australia on October 8, and will be published in the US in April next year. 
(28 September 2007)

Milking it 
NZ is reaping the benefits of a global milk boom, according to the New York Times. Milk is in high demand and short supply due to a combination of global factors, including climate change, trade policies and the economic explosion in China and India. "Even when prices start easing back, we don't expect them to go back to where they were," said Hayley Moynihan, a dairy analyst at NZ's Rabobank. "The cost of production and ongoing demand is going to see prices eventually settle at higher levels than they did in the past." NZ is one of the world's largest milk producers, and the largest exporter of dairy products.
(4 September 2007)

Design Mobel goes global 
Tauranga bed and furniture maker Design Mobel has launched the first of its Okooko global concept stores in Wellington and Hong Kong, with more to follow in the US later this year. Okooko stores integrate award winning NZ design and sustainable NZ manufacture, with a focus on Design Mobel's trademarked Bodyfit Sleep System -personalised bedroom spaces made from all-natural materials. The name Okooko comes from an old Maori word meaning to cradle in arms. The Wellington store is located at the corner of Blair and Wakefield streets. 
(August 2007)

Green choice for NZ motorists 
NZ has launched its first commercial biofuel - Gull Force 10. Available through Gull Petroleum stations, the "green" fuel blends 90 per cent premium gasoline with 10 per cent bioethanol made from cows' milk. "We are serious about providing motorists with real choice and leading the way in reducing greenhouse gas emissions," said PM Helen Clark at the biofuel's Auckland launch. Gull is a family-owned business with 30 petrol stations in the North Island. Gull commissioned NZ dairy giant Fonterra to produce bioethanol for its Gull Force 10 blend in 2004. 
(1 August 2007)

Barclay founder rates 
NZ Barclay founder and president William J. Buechler gives NZ investments the thumbs up in a column for Forbes. Buechler predicts that NZ's rising short-term interest rates, combined with Fonterra's 27% share increase, the discovery of new oil reserves and the introduction of the KiwiSaver retirement fund scheme, will see a dramatic increase of funds into the NZ Stock Exchange. Buechler: "Assuming the number of publicly traded companies in New Zealand remains near existing levels, the impact of the money surge on stock prices and future market capitalization should be obvious and will offer early adopters tremendous opportunity." 
(11 July 2007)

Eslinger in all things interactive
Tom Eslinger, worldwide interactive creative director for Saatchi & Saatchi, was president of the Cyber jury at this year's Cannes International Advertising Festival. He spoke about the importance of ideas and the growing respect for media as a creative field in an interview with AdWeek. "[M]y biggest challenge is going to be to keep everybody focused on looking for the big ideas that are executed the most brilliantly," he said. "Somebody will always do a smarter piece of Flash programming next year and there will always be a nicer mobile phone, and there will always be a cooler gadget. The thing I want to look for is the idea that works across a whole bunch of channels and kicks the most ass." Born in North Dakota and now based in Los Angeles, Eslinger is also a long-time resident of NZ having been Saatchi & Saatchi's first ever creative director for interactive and emerging technologies, first in Wellington, then Auckland. He founded the Wanganui School of Design in 1987. 
(18 June 2007)

Top of his game 
New Zealander Bob Hayward has found success in the highly competitive US film industry. Based in Los Angeles, Hayward is the Chief Operating Officer and founding partner of Summit Entertainment, an independent distribution company turned film studio established in 1993. Summit began as a foreign distributor of English-language films and now makes, promotes and distributes its own movies. Its most successful script acquisitions to date include Mr and Mrs Smith and Memento. Hayward graduated from Auckland University in 1982 and promptly embarked on an OE that is yet to finish. "When I first landed, I thought, 'God, I'm going to the land of whizzkids; I'm going to seem like the yokel from the country' - and actually I did very well," he said in a recent NZ Herald interview. Hayward has since worked in 35 different countries and, prior to founding Summit, did internal audits for United International Pictures and ran theatres for Cannon Films. 
(June 2007)

NZ ranks swell at creative hotspot
Geoff Coyle is the latest New Zealander to join advertising powerhouse 180 in Amsterdam, bringing the combined total to eight. "Of the 23 nationalities employed here, NZ is by far the most over-represented group," said Coyle's compatriot Kruno Ivancic in Fastline. "And, as usual, we are making our presence felt in the land of milk, cheese and tulips." Creative team Stacey Lee and Rosita Rawnsley and account manager Sam Dempsey (all ex-Saatchi Auckland), creative director Andy Fackrell, digital artist and designer Emile Wilmar and account executive Lauren Andrews make up the NZ contingent. 180 has produced award-winning campaigns for Sony, MTV and Adidas, including the sports giant's recent Impossible is Nothing series featuring Jonah Lomu (pictured). 
(May 2007)

Xero on the money 
A NZ online accounting software company has won the inaugural International Technium Challenge, a business planning competition sponsored by International Business Wales. Wellington-based Xero beat 19 entries from five other countries, winning the opportunity to open an office in one of Wales' Technium business innovation centres along with a business support package worth NZ $120,000. "The Technium Challenge programme will ... give Xero a fantastic platform from which to enter the European market," said company co-founder Rod Drury. Xero is an online accounting system designed for small to medium-sized businesses launched in 2003. Its features include daily bank account updates, a 'dashboard' providing a snapshot of your business at a glance and real-time advice from financial advisors. 
(25 May 2007)

Risky business 
A viral advertising campaign by NZ's Prodigy Films has caused a stir online. Created for Irish skincare line Elave (Ovelle Pharmaceuticals), Prodigy's "Nothing to Hide" clip is a risqué parody of the countless cosmetic or personal hygiene ads set in a laboratory. To emphasise the purity of its products, the Elave take on the traditional "lab technician" ad features an all-nude male and female cast. "New Zealanders are so laid-back that they made it seem totally natural," said company owner Joanna Gardiner of the shoot, in which she also appeared. Gardiner claims that sales of Elave products have soared by 500% as a result of the risky campaign, which has been viewed, at the time of writing, by more than 350,000 people. "Nothing to Hide" was directed by Brendan Donovan and produced by Caz Hearn, with creative work by Dave Govier and Levi Slavin. 
(15 May 2007)

Matterhorn among world's best
Wellington institution the Matterhorn has been named one of the world's top five bars by respected US trade magazine, Bartender. The Cuba St local was ranked fifth behind Milk & Honey (London), Salvatore at Fifty (London), The American Bar (London) and Bayswater Brasserie (Sydney). Judges described the Matterhorn as "a bastion of creativity and bar culture in NZ [that] has led the way for many years." Last year, the Matterhorn was crowned Best Bar in New Zealand and won Best Drink Selection at the inaugural New Zealand Bar Awards in Auckland. "There's a definite culture that goes with the Matterhorn," said co-owner Sam Chapman in the NZ Herald. "It's a real local, rather than just an urban tourist spot - it's very much part of the fabric of people's daily lives." 
(22 April 2007)

Stamps commemorate centenaries 
NZ Post has issued a series of stamps celebrating the centenaries of four organisations that have played a major role in the country's history. Released April 24, the stamps pay tribute to Suzanne Aubert's House of Compassion, World Scouting, the Plunket Society and NZ Rugby League. "The stamps will be popular reminders of their significance to this country's sporting and social development," said NZ Post stamps general manager Ivor Masters in the NZ Herald. 
(April 2007)

Text polling a hit in US 
Auckland mobile marketing company Txstation has established a strong presence in the US, providing real-time audience polling for the National Basketball Association, Fox News and the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Txtstation's technology allows broadcasters and event organisers to ask viewers questions during games and broadcasts using on-screen graphics. Answers are sent in via SMS to a shortcode or through a website and are then displayed in real-time on TV, online or in stadiums. "That's very appealing, not just for broadcasters and sporting leagues, but for advertisers and sponsors of sports," said chief executive Greg Hayes in Wellington's Dominion Post. "We've got a real niche in the marketplace." Txstation is now seeking capital from NZ investors to expand its operations in the US. 
(12 February 2007)

Final tourist frontier 
Christchurch internet entrepreneur Mark Rocket was the first New Zealander to sign up for one of Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic space flights. The self-described space nut (he changed his surname from Stevens by deed poll) put down the required US$200,000 to buy one of the initial 100 seats more than a year ago, and expects to take off in early 2009. "It's one of my lifetime goals to get into space," he said in the NZ Herald, "I've always been interested in space travel and I had been following the development of the new generation of spacecraft very closely." House of Travel has just been announced as NZ's only accredited "space agent" for the tourist flights. "Kiwis are great travellers and they're always looking for new experiences," says the chain's retail director Brent Thomas. Approximately a fifth of the 10,000 people who have registered an interest in Virgin's space flights are from Australasia. 
(17 January 2007)

Knife-edge marketing 
A Miami Herald feature puts the spotlight on the man behind 42 Below's aggressive US marketing campaign: James Dale. Despite having no professional training, 35-year-old Dale has successfully carved a niche in the ultra-competitive world American liquor advertising. He describes his frequently controversial approach as "spider-monkey marketing - nimble, cheeky moves - as opposed to guerrilla (gorilla) marketing." Some of his riskier gimmicks include a "win a Russian bride" contest and the New York "Snow Patrol," where vodka shots and snow shovelling services are offered to frozen nightclub bouncers. "You do walk a very careful line [between controversy and public backlash]," says Adrants.com editor Steve Hall, "But 42 Below vodka has just straddled that line perfectly." 
(3 November 2006)

Evans provides edge perspective
Laurence Evans has taken a top position with Edelman, the world's largest independent public relations company. Evans has been appointed president of Edelman's full-service research firm - StrategyOne - whose client list includes Unilever, Wal-Mart and Wrigley's. "StrategyOne has a track record of developing research that informs and evaluates some of the most successful communications and marketing campaigns of recent years," says Evans. "I am pleased to be leading the firm." The Canterbury University graduate has previously worked for top US research firm Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates and Caltex Corporation. 
(18 September 2006)

Hands on high flyer 
Kiwi Carly Arnold has been named one of British magazine Management Today's 35 women under 35 for 2006. Arnold, 29, studied engineering and business at Auckland University and worked for Air NZ before landing a business analyst job at EasyJet (UK) in 2002. Five promotions later, Arnold is EasyJet's general manager at Luton airport, overseeing more than 500 staff, 17 aircraft and a budget of £30 million. Her advice to recent graduates? "Ask questions, never stop learning and build good relationships." 
(29 July 2006)

Fonterra gets bigger 
NZ dairy giant Fonterra has established a strong foothold in Australia's eastern states thanks to a crucial new partnership with Lismore-based co-op, Norco. Under the agreement, Norco will provide the manufacturing facilities and supply milk to the Fonterra on a preferred basis in exchange for Fonterra's sales, marketing and distribution support. According to Fonterra Brands GM Aidan Coleman, the alliance will provide the company with further opportunities to grow its branded milk business in Australia.
(15 June 2006)

Top dog, top bloke 
Former Air NZ CEO, Ralph Norris, graces the cover of June's Australian Financial Review Boss magazine. The lengthy profile is devoted to his new role as head of Australia's Commonwealth Bank - the first major interview the famously low-key Norris has granted. Boss: "The CEO is good company. In contrast to the tenure of his sometimes testy, somewhat aloof predecessor, Norris' short time in the cockpit of Australia's biggest bank has been defined by his affability and openness. And, at least to staff, his accessibility." Norris explains his management philosophy as leading by example: "As a chief executive you are a role model, whether you like it or not. That means how you react, how you act, very much sets the standard for the organisation. So it's not a case of do as I say and not as I do. It is a case of having complete alignment between what you are saying and what you are doing. That's very important in creating trust and respect in the organization." 
(June 2006)

NewZealand.com the business
Business Week hails Tourism NZ's Webby Award winning website, NewZealand.com, as "a vibrant blend of heritage and enterprise" - media savvy, innovative and easy to use. "[NZ] is clearly establishing itself as a prime mover with a perceived ascendant star. A neutral country with a rich cultural past and an abundance of breathtaking scenery, matched only by the warmth and humility of its people. The website perfectly complements these qualities." The Webby Awards are the online equivalent of the Oscars. 
(11 January 2006)

Tourism’s Holy Grail
A Guardian Film article on cinema-inspired tourism points to NZ as the ultimate example. “Every country wants its own Lord of the Rings. The extra-ordinary pulling power of the trilogy - the perfect shop window for the country's spectacular landscapes - revitalised a tourist industry now worth more than £3bn.” 
(17 February 2006)

Top ten showing
New Zealand was listed in the top ten in Forbes’ recent ranking of the world’s most foreign investment friendly economies. NZ scored 88.5/100 taking tenth place in the list of 135 countries. The Top places went to Denmark,  Finland and Iceland. According to the National Business Review, NZ scored highly in the wages and prices (99), ease of regulation (98) and absence of corruption (99) categories but was disadvantaged by an abysmal score in corporate tax rates (31).
(6 February 2006)

Zespri strikes gold 
The Zespri phenomenon has been featured in online marketing magazine Reveries. NZ lost its domination of international kiwifruit sales as far back as 1989, when countries such as Italy, Spain, Chile, South Africa and France starting producing the fruit en masse. Instead of admitting defeat, NZ Kiwi farmers teamed up with Hort Research to develop - and, crucially, patent - a new variety named Zespri Gold. Zespri Gold reported sales of $150 million in 2005, 50% more than in 2003. The company predicts sales of $650 million by 2009. Reveries: "Best part is, unlike the original kiwi, the new variety was patented, meaning that anyone who wants to grow it has to pay a licensing fee. Irony is, among Zespri's best customers are the very countries that used to be stealing their market share. How cool is that?" 
(23 May 2006)

Would you like fries with that $25 million? 
Three Kiwi entrepreneurs have sold their hugely successful chain of UK burger restaurants for NZ$25.7 million. Greg Driscoll, Brandon Allen and Adam Wills opened the first Gourmet Burger Kitchen in Battersea, south London, in 2001. Similar in concept to NZ's Burger Wisconsin, GBK soon developed a cult following, winning the Observer Food Monthly's coveted Best Cheap Eats award in 2005. The business has been purchased by Clapham House, a major restaurant conglomerate owned by David Page. Driscoll, Brandon and Wills will stay on as company directors. 
(13 November 2005)

The “little airline that could”
Air NZ’s ongoing $800 million overhaul has not gone unnoticed in the US, with lengthy articles devoted to its new look 747’s in the LA Times and FirstClassFlyer. Upgrades include fold-out flat beds in business class, personal TV screens for all seats, doubling the size of its LAX lounge, and the introduction of a high-end economy class. FirstClassFlyer editor, Matthew J Bennett, calls Air NZ “a little known gem,” and ranks its revamped business class as second only to Virgin Atlantic. “Business travellers will be flocking to Air NZ,” he said.
(14 August 2005)
  

Design on the money
Auckland based Cabco Group Ltd is to provide hi-tech shopping carts for US retail giants Wal-Mart and H.E Butt. The Wal-Mart deal alone is expected to net the company $50 million per annum. The TV Cart is simultaneously a shopping trolley and a state-of-the-art entertainment system for kids, with an inbuilt LCD screen showing the latest children’s films and TV shows. The carts are also fitted with real-time monitoring devices, which allow maintenance issues to be resolved from NZ via the internet. Cabco Managing Director, Doug Bartlett, describes the TV Cart as “simple, quirky technology at the cutting edge.”
(August 2005)
   

Bellew gives Oman a go
Long-standing Christchurch Airport CEO, George Bellew, is leaving the top job for a major international one. Bellew is to run the Oman Airports Management Company, which means overseeing $1.46 billion worth of upgrades to the Middle Eastern hub. 64-year-old Bellew was once the protégé of renowned Kiwi business mogul Sir Tom Clark. “[Tom] taught me that Kiwis can,” says Bellew. “He convinced me that we can fight it out with the best. Giving it a go is my poison.”
(17 August 2005)
   

All in a day’s work
The Economist reports on ructions to repair the dire finances and arcane structure at Oxford University. Proposals by new vice chancellor John Hood to centralize decision-making and change the way in which dons’ work have stimulated an outcry from the dons. “A brisk New Zealander, Mr Hood has little time for self-indulgent eccentricities. Many dons think he’s insufficiently respectful of Oxford’s age and grandeur. “It’s not as if we’ve been sitting around wishing we were as good as the University of Auckland, It’s not as if he were from Harvard” sniffs a college head.” The Guardian has several reports featuring mixed opinion, proposing Hood both as a "businessman, not an academic", and as “highly accessible…with the express intention of stimulating debate."  The subsequent appointment of Oxford’s first female senior administrator (from Auckland University) brought cries of Hood “hand-picking the executive”. (4 May 2005). Meanwhile The Independent  commends John Hood, for his foresight and quick-thinking in regards to the institution’s financial situation. “Hood deserves congratulation for asking the right questions and hiring a firm like McKinsey (on a pro bono basis) to come up with the answers. He has done the job amazingly speedily considering he arrived only last autumn. His action shows what can be done if you hire a vice-chancellor from outside the system - especially when that man has a background of running NZ's second biggest conglomerate.” 
(21 May 2005)

Prime real estate
The iconic Cardrona Hotel in Central Otago is officially on the market, with a $7 million price tag. Built in 1863, the rustic gold rush-era building features 16 guest rooms, an onsite dwelling for the owner, a general store, and a restaurant.
(5 November 2004)
 

Dynamic partnership
Christchurch based Nano Cluster Devices Ltd (NCD) has secured a potentially lucrative partnership with American organization and manufacturer, NanoDynamics. NanoDynamics is to take over international sales duties for NCD’s groundbreaking technologies, which include the self-assembly of nanowires in production of semiconductors and electronic components.
(18 October 2004)

Taking care of business
NZ ranked first overall in the World Bank’s ‘Doing Business’ report for 2004, ahead of the US, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Australia. The annual survey decides which countries are best for doing business in based on seven key areas; starting a business, hiring and firing workers, enforcing contracts, getting credit, closing a business, registering a property and protecting investors. 
(9 September 2004)

First and best
Christchurch businesswoman Elizabeth Deuchrass has won the International Partnership Network’s 7th biannual Global Best Award for the Pacific Ocean region - the first NZer ever to do so. Her company - Elizabeth Deuchrass & Associates Ltd – has spent the last 20 years promoting exchange between schools and businesses. She will collect the award in London at the ‘Global Challenges, Local Actions’ conference this November.
(11 August 2004)

Super-mini
Age profiles Paul Hakes of Wellington’s Hakes Marine: the man behind super-maxi yacht, Zana. Hakes’ latest project is a 12m racing boat, which he hopes to successfully export to Australia. “It is a modern design, a fast boat and it is a cost effective boat and uses the best of what NZ has to offer,” says Hakes.
(26 July 2004)
   

World class
Dr John Bedbrook, President and CEO of American GM crop developer Verdia, has returned to his native NZ as part of the government's World Class New Zealanders business advisory program. Bedbrook recently spoke at the Bio2004 convention in San Francisco.
(June 2004)
  

'Queen of Literature'
Easy Jet In-Flight profiles Liz Calder, co-founder of Britain's most successful independent publishing house, Bloomsbury Plc. Dubbed the 'Queen of Literature,' Calder is credited with discovering the likes of Salman Rushdie, Anita Brookner and Julian Barnes. The Bloomsbury stable is currently home to J.K Rowling's blockbuster Harry Potter series, Margaret Atwood, Jeffrey Eugenides and Donna Tartt. Calder: "When we started out I think a lot of people thought, 'Well, let’s see how this new company does. They might fall flat on their faces. They might not be there in a year’s time.’ But that was the element of risk. Twenty years on we’re in a very different state. We’re now one of the well-established houses and we walk with a big stick these days. We’re not the publishing house that’s dodging, ducking and diving. And although that’s good, I do miss it." Liz Calder was born in England but grew up in New Zealand and has strong family ties to New Zealand.
(January 2004)

BECA at the helm
NZ engineering company BECA International has won a lucrative contract from the Marshall Islands government to oversee US-funded construction projects worth US$14 million. Most of the funding has been assigned to  new educational and healthcare facilities.
(1 February 2004)   

Snap, crackle and edge
NZ-born David Mackay makes Time’s list of ‘World Beaters: People to Watch in International Business.’ After 3 years at the helm of Kellog Co.’s US division, Mackay had brought the cereal company back to its status as a best-selling American brand. He now oversees operations in more than 180 countries, as Kellog’s COO.
(15 September 2003)
     

Kiwi juice goes global
Auckland-based kiwifruit juice manufacturers - Nekta International Limited - have made a successful entry into the US market. Sales have "exceeded expectations" since the product was lauched there in June. Nekta is already sold in Australia, Asia, Europe, and Africa. 
(26 August 2003)
   

EasyNZ
Air NZ has responded to increased and heavily discounted competition by introducing a no-frills Tasman Express service. So far, the cheap fares are proving to be a lucrative addition; by mid-August, Air NZ had tripled its average daily trans-Tasman online bookings. Overall, the airline has clocked up its first profit in 4 years. Chairman, John Palmer: "We have come a long way in a short time."
(12 August 2003)
   

Meridian puts the wind up Australians
NZ's Meridian Energy is poised to spend up to $600 million on developing wind energy facilities in Australia over the next 5 years. The project depends on the federal government's renewal of its mandated renewable energy target (MRET) scheme. Says Meridian's Keith Turner; "We are not here to dabble, we're a serious player."
(30 May 2003)
 

Telecom top performer
Trans-Tasman rivalry entered the field of telecommunication last month, as Australian Telstra and NZ Telecom battled for recognition as the best performer in their field for 2001-2. British consultants, IR Group, awarded top honours to NZ Telecom Corp., after measuring the companies' respective returns to investors over the financial year.
(23 January 2003)
 

Ideas from the edge
NZEDGE co-founder and worldwide CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi Kevin Roberts talks to The Times about his work guiding MBA students at Cambridge and to The Independent about the age of the idea: "He preaches love but hates management; he wants ideas but not information." An overview of Robert's "unique take on the world." A self-confessed optimist and champion of individual thought over the "herd mentality" of management, Roberts has bridged the unlikely gap between numbers-driven marketing and product "lovability" by turning a global advertising giant into a "hothouse of ideas."
(29 September 2002)
 

Bus-class high flyer
Kiwi Ray Webster is Chief Executive of pioneering no-frills airline Easy Jet. Touching down in the market in a big way Webster works by the mantra that, "Airlines are about people, not about airplanes and airports." The Observer's Frank Kane talks to "the typical New Zealander" about convincing the city, rivals, and passengers about a £400m link up with competitor Go and access to European markets   
(12 May 2002)
 

Business class destination
New Zealand is ranked the fourth best place to do business in Asia, according to prominent think tank - the Economist Intelligence Unit. The rankings took into account 70 factors, including political risk and corruption, key economic indictors, foreign exchange regulations, infrastructure, and tax policies. Singapore edged out rival Hong Kong and then Australia, to take the top spot. 
(24 April 2002)
 

Stand and deliver

Man with the hook
NZ-born Sam Chisholm, the man who spent more time in the boxing ring than class room at King's College, who then went on to become deal maker and right hand man for both Kerry Packer and Rupert Murdoch, is profiled SMH's Good Weekend. Depending on who you talk to, Chisholm is "a little guy with a Napoleonic complex,...a bully who respects people who stand up to him,...or a man with a tough exterior but a soft interior". Chisholm: "Loyalty is important ... once you've sold your principles you've got nothing left". 
PDF Copy
(2002)

Thank goodness for spreadable
One of the greatest inventions of all time, according to the New Zealand Post, is New Zealand's spreadable butter, and the Telegraph's Bee Wilson agrees. "If it weren't for the New Zealand Dairy Research Institute, I would still be condemned to start each day in a bad mood, struggling to spread lumps of fridge-cold butter on toast," Wilson writes. "Spreadable butter therefore feels like a gift from a benign providence. When it was launched in Britain in 1991 it was a hit, and is now so popular that butter sales are eating into margarine's profits." Spreadable butter was developed in New Zealand in the 1970s. 
(20 April 2008)

All for a chat show 
Twenty-two year old Christchurch design student Nick Lowe wants to raise $1 million on You Tube in the hope of millionaire-status and a spot on Ellen Degeneres' talk show. This week Lowe passed the $1,000 mark by offering the opportunity to advertise on 10,000 videos for $100 each. Nick set up mywebbybuddies.com because he wanted to do something creative that would lead to fame and fortune. "After covering the cost of my degree and travel expenses that may arise from the interviews, I'd like to invest the rest for a secure future," Lowe said. 
(5 March 2008)

Windy farewell 
Paddy Gillooly owns a tourism company in New Zealand which takes visitors by jeep or all-terrain bus to the tip of the South Island's Farewell Spit, one of only two companies permitted the sandy, and windy trip. Some days it's like looking through a "curtain of sand" says Paddy. "Only a mechanic could do this job," he says. That's because his buses, which are continuously deluged by sand, salt water and mud, need constant care. Farewell Spit is a protected area and still growing and changing, mostly due to those strong winds. 
(4 March 2008)

Quick sale 
Two Yorkshire property developers are enthusiastic about the benefits of investing in property in New Zealand; Ian Payling and Dave Rothwell-Wood built the 'Lemon-Tree house' on land north of Auckland. Once the sale was agreed, the two men made the first of three trips to New Zealand. On the first, they had 20 meetings in eight days, got their planning application in, found a builder and pegged out the site. Payling said he couldn't imagine that happening in the UK. "We also opened a bank account and secured a loan within a day to pay the builders' costs," he said. New Zealand has much to recommend to overseas buyers. It has a robust economy, with no capital gains tax, stamp duty or estate duty and no overseas ownership restrictions for residential property. 
(23 February 2008)

Halo helmed by NZ boy genius 
This year's most hyped video game, Halo 3, was engineered by a former child prodigy from Kakanui. Chris Butcher, 29, works for Seattle-based gaming company Bungie, which produces the Halo series for Microsoft Xbox. In its first week of release, Halo 3 achieved $US300 million in global sales and became the fastest selling video game in history. Its lead engineer, Chris Butcher, began studying sixth form maths, calculus, chemistry and statistics at the age of eight and, by age nine, was writing his own computer games. He left high school at 16 to attend Otago University and, at the completion of his science PhD, was snapped up by Bungie. "There's really few people in the world that can say that they are really happy and they love what they do and they have a chance to affect the world in some small way," he said in a recent NZPA interview. "It's possible that in some point in the future I'll end up deciding that I want to do something else besides games and who knows what that will be, but I'm really enjoying coming to work every day and focusing on my craft and working with the people I get to work with here. I feel very privileged." 
(24 September 2007)

Air NZ in pioneering partnership
Air New Zealand has signed an agreement with airplane maker Boeing and engine maker Rolls-Royce to collaborate on projects to make commercial aviation more environmentally sustainable. Stage one of the plan will see the first trial flight of a Boeing 747 partly run on biofuel by early 2009. "Air New Zealand is keen to encourage research into alternative fuels and wants to work hand-in-hand with industry partners and the New Zealand government on promoting this type of activity," said Air New Zealand Chief Executive Rob Fyfe. The NZ government, which has just announced an ambitious environmental plan of its own, has welcomed news of the Air New Zealand partnership. "Achieving Air New Zealand's plan to become the most environmentally responsible airline will put New Zealand further along its path to becoming the first truly sustainable country in the world," said Climate Change and Energy Minister David Parker. 
(28 September 2007)

Benchmark branding 
A leading Korean trade group is using NZ as a benchmark for competitive national branding. Research by the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) has shown the long-term effectiveness of NZ's "100% Pure New Zealand" and "New Thinking New Zealand" slogans, and the group is now urging that a similar approach be taken in Korea. "If some of New Zealand's methods were applied to our national branding, it would help sharpen our competitive edge as well," said So Byung-taek, divisional director of KOTRA. According to KOTRA's research, visitors to NZ have increased by 53 per cent since the "100% Pure" campaign was launched in 1999, and 2003's "New Thinking New Zealand" slogan has significantly boosted exports such as screw cap wines. 
(10 September 2007)

Influential exports 
Two New Zealanders made The Bulletin's annual list of the 50 most influential businesspeople in Australia. Fairfax Media Chief Executive David Kirk is ranked fifteenth on the list. The former All Black Captain has headed the publishing giant, which owns The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian Financial Review, since 2005. According to The Bulletin, his aim is "to transform Fairfax into a fully integrated digital media publishing business". Former Air NZ Chief Executive Ralph Norris is listed in twenty-second place. Norris is now CEO of the Commonwealth Bank, where he oversees the fortunes of 710,000 shareholders and over AU$425 billion in assets. The Bulletin's Most Influential list is topped by Frank Lowy (Westfield Group), James Packer (PBL) and Michael Chaney (National Australia Bank, Woodside). 
(25 September 2007)

Hong Kong follows NZ's lead 
Hong Kong sees NZ as a role model for renewable energy and environmental technology, according to its government's website. "New Zealand is renowned for its high environmental standards and its use of new technologies to protect the environment," said Chief Executive Donald Tsang. "Hong Kong can learn much from New Zealand's record in this regard and that also translates to business opportunities for New Zealand companies in our city and elsewhere in Asia." Tsang was recently in NZ, where he visited a state-of-the-art water treatment facility in Auckland. 
(12 September 2007)

A NZ space odyssey 
A NZ company has plans to launch rockets into space, carrying scientific packages, DNA and human ashes. Auckland-based Rocket Lab, co-directed by Peter Beck and Mark Rocket, will start sending its 17-foot carbon-fiber "Atea" rockets spaceward in September 2008. "New Zealand has the know-how to be part of the global space industry", says Rocket, an internet entrepreneur who changed his name from Mark Stevens by deed poll. Rocket Lab has already signed a deal with American firm Celestis to send human ashes into space. 
(14 August 2007)

Jeweller finds Wonderland in NZ
British jeweller Alice Hughes has created a range of bespoke pieces inspired by NZ plants and sea life. She established Alice in Wonderland Jewellery in 2004 after undertaking an apprenticeship in NZ, where she worked with NZ jewellers Ray Mitchell and Peter Elsbury. Mitchell found international fame after designing the "One Ring" for Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy. "When I arrived in New Zealand I was overwhelmed by the nature," says Hughes. "I found it really energising and the whole idea of combining the natural elements with jewellery really came together in my mind." Hughes now runs jewellery house parties in her home town of Liverpool, selling her pieces directly to customers: "I always turn up with a couple of bottles of New Zealand wine which is always a help, too." 
(20 June 2007)

Sellaband springboard for NZ rapper 
Christchurch rapper Maitreya has found international fame through sellaband.com, a new social networking site for entrepreneurial music lovers. Sellaband allows users to buy "shares" in acts they think have the potential for major chart success. When the amount invested in an act reaches the US $50,000 mark, Sellaband helps the musician record and globally release a studio album, the sales of which benefit the "believers" (fan investors). Maitreya, now based in New York, was sixth artist to break through the $50,000 barrier and is currently recording his debut album - One Love and Light. 
(9 June 2007)

Lord of the Rigs honoured in NZ

The Rings effect continues 
NZ features in a new weekly video series on international branding practices by British marketing guru Martin Lindstrom. In Altering the Brand of a Country: How Movies Hurt Columbia and Help New Zealand, Lindstrom investigates the positive impact on global perceptions of NZ caused by films such as the Lord of the Rings trilogy. "One need look no further than ... New Zealand to understand how motion pictures have become the most potent marketing force for a country brand," reads Lindstrom's program guide on Adage.com. 
(21 May 2007)

Clean, pure, natural cosmetics to France 
NZ cosmetics companies Trilogy, Skinfood, Art a Face, Living Nature and Antipodes have presented their ranges to 50 French retailers and beauty journalists at the NZ ambassador's residence in Paris. The May 14 breakfast event received a strong response, according to NZ's ambassador to France, Sarah Dennis. "New Zealand beauty brands differentiate themselves in this market, built on the image of a clean and pure environment and high quality natural ingredients," she said. Some of the cosmetics companies' products are already available at Paris's high-end Printemps department store, as well as in specialist skin-care outlets. The French fact-finding and promotional tour was organised by NZ Trade and Enterprise (NZTE). 
(15 May 2007)

New era in online advertising 
NZ internet entrepreneurs Firstlight are emerging as world leaders in online advertising with their Editorial Related Advertising (E|R|A) programme. With offices in Bangalore (content support), New York (sales) and Wellington (research and development), Firstlight have developed what is now considered the leading contextual advertising solution on the internet. Publishing heavyweight Forbes.com has been one of the early adopters of the technology. New Zealander Brett Bailey, co-founder and director of Firstlight, describes ERA as a “unique, smart and cutting edge solution that gives publishers the ability to provide contextual advertising to their existing advertiser base, using extremely accurate non keyword technology.” The advantages of Editorial Related Advertising ensure quality targeted linking to editorial content and is intended to compliment rather than compete with other keyword related advertising products.
(5 March 2007)

Morgan trades up 
TradeMe founder Sam Morgan was profiled in the February issue of Australian Financial Review Boss magazine. In 1999, the then 23-year-old Wellingtonian launched NZ's e-commerce success story, which was recently purchased by Fairfax for $AU 625 million. Morgan's share was $AU 197 million, he continues to run the company. His advice to budding online entrepreneurs is to learn code, keep a tight rein on finances and not to bother with advertising until the website is truly established. Initial marketing should be done by word of mouth. "There is no joy of discovery when you find a product through being advertised to," he says. "When did you last tell someone how cool Coke was?" Morgan hopes to gradually phase himself out of TradeMe and put his earnings into a venture capital fund to invest in NZ businesses. "I just get bored kind of easily," he says. "I'd like to be backing companies where there are people working hard like I did." TradeMe currently has 1.2 million members, hosts 35 million auctions per year and includes property, car, job, flat-hunting and web-dating facilities. 
(February 2007)

Australian foothold for TrustPower
NZ company TrustPower has won a NZ$200 million contract to build a wind farm in Snowtown, South Australia. Construction of the 42-turbine plant begins on the Hummocks and Barunga ranges in April. "Over time, for TrustPower generally, the New Zealand market is going to be limited," says chief executive Keith Tempest. "The process for us is to gradually, not quickly or aggressively, develop our experience and expertise in the Australian market." The Snowtown wind farm will provide electricity for around 60,000 South Australian homes. 
(14 January 2007)

Try before you buy 
NZ company Ruatuna has attracted the attention of global business trend-spotting website Springwise. A joint venture between design company Sustainable Structures and construction firm Straw Built Homes, Ruatuna is essentially a show-home with a twist. Potential customers can book a night's accommodation in one of the company's straw bale homes - kids and pets included - to get a hands-on appreciation of the design. Springwise calls the novel practice tryvertising: "They can test-drive a car - why not a test-live a home? It will be interesting to see if this catches on with traditional home developers and extends to other big-purchase industries, especially those introducing new (or revived) technologies."
(November 2006)

Another Webby for Edge Exponents Tourism NZ's consumer website newzealand.com, designed by Shift, has won the Webby award for best tourism website in the world for a second time. Known as the Oscars of the internet, the Webbys are managed by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. Previous winners in the tourism section include the New York Times, Expedia and Lonely Planet. "Newzealand.com has won several NZ-based website awards in the past but a second Webby recognises the international calibre of their online work," says Tourism Minister Damien O'Connor. "The tourism world is highly competitive, and this new award shows how sophisticated and cutting-edge NZ's marketing is." 
(13 June 2006)

Wellington a global talent magnet
A Cato Unbound essay by Richard Florida - The Future of the American Workforce in the Global Creative Economy - uses the Peter Jackson led Wellington film studios as an example of "a profound shift in the nature of global competition." According to Florida, America not only has to contend with the looming economic giants of India and China, but with cutting edge creative "IQ magnets" such as Wellington, Taipei, Amsterdam and Melbourne. "As we walked past a wall map with pins showing the Weta studio workers' native countries, the head of digital animation joked that the organization looked more like the U.N. than a film studio," he writes. "Jackson told me his key lure was to offer exciting, challenging work with a secure future in a city with abundant natural beauty, affordable housing, and an outstanding quality of life for people of nearly every income bracket." 
(4 June 2006)

Asia-Pacific high flyer 
New Zealander, now Singaporean resident Simon Israel has secured his place in the upper echelons of Singapore's business community with his appointment as the first non-Singaporean Director of state holding and investment agency Temasek. Temasek's US $60 billion portfolio spans a wide range of industries, including pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, property and biosciences. 52-year-old Israel is also Asia-Pacific Chairman of French food and beverage conglomerate Danone, Director of Singapore telecommunications company SingTel, and Chairman of the Singapore Tourism Board. "[Simon] has a wealth of marketing and investment experience in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as a practitioner's knowledge of various consumer trends in Asia," said Temasek Chairman S Dhanabalan.
(May 2006)

Craze hits new heights 
Czech accountant Jana Tylova has won the inaugural sudoku world championships held in Lucca, Italy. The Japanese game of logic has been popularised by NZ judge-turned-entrepreneur Wayne Gould, whose syndicated games now appear in over 400 newspapers worldwide. Gould was on hand in Lucca to present the winner's trophy. 
(11 March 2006)

Pacific gateway Ia Orana! 
Air Tahiti Nui is now offering stopovers in Auckland and Tahiti for any direct flights between New York or LA and Sydney. Billed as the first-ever non-stop service between New York and the South Pacific, the package kicked off in summer 2005. 
(February 2006)

The deal's not just big, it's Massive 
New York based company, Massive Inc, of which Wellingtonian Claudia Batten is a part owner, has been sold to Microsoft for up to $US 400 million. Founded four years ago, Massive Inc pioneered a form of software which downloads advertising into online video games, providing advertisers with a direct link to the "Lost Boys" market of 18-34 year old males. Massive's software downloads dynamic advertising into background features of gaming action - such as billboards and vending machines - whenever the user is online. Massive clients include Coca Cola, Hollywood movie studios and multinational car companies. Educated at Samuel Marsden and Victoria University, Batten hopes to return to Wellington in the near future. "New York is a tough city," she says in a NZ Herald interview. "Sometimes I feel like a caveman who's knocked the beast on the head and dragged it home. And that's just getting groceries." 
(21 May 2006)

School of Rock
A music teaching program designed by four Christchurch friends has taken off online, selling more than 10,000 copies – mostly in the US - in just two years. Jamorama is a step by step guide to learning guitar by ear, using video clips, educational computer games, jam tracks, and a method for remembering chords devised by a university psychologist. “I wrote Jamorama because I was fed up with the quality of the guitar playing books on the market,” says Jamorama spokesman Ben Edwards, a qualified teacher and former lead guitarist for Christchurch band Degrees.K. Edwards and co-founders Mark Ling, David McKinnon and Jon Coursey plan to follow up Jamorama with Bassorama, Drumorama, Rocketpiano and – eventually – a real life rock school.
(18 August 2005)
  

Liddell goes for growth
Microsoft’s money man from Matamata is seeking to revive the company’s stock price with a story of significant growth based on a raft of new product releases. Chris Liddell says that Wall St is “starting to see some tangible evidence of some of the innovation and investment that's gone on the last few years. The pipeline of product releases over the next 12 to 18 months is probably the highest it's ever been in the company's history.” CFO Liddell stated in his presentation  to the Financial Analyst Meeting on 28 July that “we intend to continue to drive growth, we intend to continue to maximize the cash flow that we can get from our businesses, and we intend to continue to aggressively invest in our future, all of which has a view to driving shareholder value. The performance of this company has been outstanding over the last five years, but we believe there's no reason why the next five years won't be even better.” Asked how he was planning to mesh with the Microsoft culture, Liddell said “It’s pretty simple really. Be extremely good at what I do.” (August 15 2005)

Norris ready for take off
Ralph Norris is leaving the helm at Air NZ to return to banking as managing director and CEO of Australia's Commonwealth Bank. Norris is credited with turning Air NZ's fortunes around. "Air NZ's financial position has never been stronger, with good liquidity and one of the best balance sheets in the industry," says Air NZ chairman, John Palmer. "Internationally, Air NZ is recognised as one of the recent success stories of the airline industry." Sydney Morning Herald: "Still, you could do worse than a Kiwi. They know everything. As they keep telling us." 
(18 June 2005)
   

Woolly windfall
The NZ Merino Wool Company has won a 7 year contract valued at approximately $NZ40 million to supply U.S apparel manufacturers SmartWool. SmartWool, whose chief business is in outdoor clothing and accessories, recently signed a deal with Timberland to provide merino lining for shoes and boots.
(13 April 2005)
    

Miles makes leap to big pond 
Managing Director of Vodafone NZ, Tim Miles, is to head the $12 billion UK  branch from April 2005. According to the NZ Herald, Vodafone went from 1.08 million mobile subscribers in late 2001 to take the market lead from Telecom with 1.83 million at the end of 2004. Miles sees his new job as a reflection of Vodafone NZ and what the whole business has achieved. It also underlines the fact we are working in a truly global business with a readily available pool of resource and talent. Vodafone UK has 15 million customers. 
(7 February 2005) 

Academia and industry united
Cambridge-MIT Institute director, NZer Michael J Kelly, speaks about the importance of combining entrepreneurial and business skills with academic learning in the Guardian. “Governments around the world realise that it shouldn't be left to chance as to whether bright students, and indeed inventive academics, manage to get their ideas out of the university laboratory and into the market place … [CMI’s] intensive course for budding student entrepreneurs has resulted in several businesses being launched by its alumni. It is seen as a key resource by regional development agencies, which view university graduates as a prime source for developing new businesses in their region.”
(11 May 2005)
   

Adman personified
“If you ever wanted to make a feature film about the advertising industry, the adland equivalent of Broadcast News, there would be no contest on who should get the starring role.” Worldwide Saatchi & Saatchi CEO and NZ Edge co-founder Kevin Roberts is the subject of a lengthy Independent feature, in which he explains the origin of Lovemarks, the future of supermarket shopping and much, much more.
(13 December 2004)
 

Much love for Lovemarks
Tom Peters named Lovemarks: The Future Beyond Brands (written by Edge co-founder Kevin Roberts) his Business Book of the Half-Decade, calling it “just bloody brilliant.” Lovemarks also made Amazon’s top ten business books of 2004, with the accompanying description: “Lovemarks is an entertaining, elucidating, and ultimately inspiring vision of the rejuvenation of brands through the power of love and the responsibility of business to fulfill one of its key functions - to make the world a better place.”
(12 November 2004)

For the Love of India
Bollywood heartthrob Shah Rukh Khan - recently hailed by Time magazine as the biggest superstar in the world, with an audience share of 3.6 billion people – launched Kevin’s Roberts’ book Lovemarks: The Future Beyond Brands at a glittering gala in Mumbai. After reading passages from the book, King Khan equated love with acting. ‘‘Acting is all about magnanimity. It’s about giving, not taking. I have only one fundamental in life: that you can’t win an audience unless you give. And it has worked for me.’’ With French, Brazilian, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Chinese and Japanese editions in the works, Lovemarks is becoming one the most widely published books by a New Zealander. The HinduBusinessLine: “Kevin Roberts has authored a well-written, delightfully produced, eminently readable book. It makes a case for going into an emotional realm that transcends mere brands. A realm where emotion rules, and to quote a neurologist, "the essential difference between emotion and reason is that emotion leads to action while reason leads to conclusions."
(15 October 2004)

Tycoon Teece
Berkeley Planet profiles David Teece, the man dubbed an “economics rock star” by the NZ government and one of the world’s top 50 business intellectuals by global management giant Accenture. As well as advising PM Tony Blair on economic policy, founding Russia’s first major league business school, owning Canterbury International apparel, founding the large global firm the Law and Economic Consulting Group, and establishing and funding the Kiwi Expat Association for professional experts, the Nelson native holds the Mitsubishi Bank Chair in International Business and Finance at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and directs its Institute of Management, Innovation and Organization.
(6 August 2004)
 

Good morning Iraq
NZ company, Argent Networks, has won a US$3.5 million deal to help rebuild Iraq's telecommunications infrastructure. ArgentEclipse is to be the new customer billing system for the national fixed-line network, which is owned by the Iraqi government.
Link has expired
(15 March 2004)
 

Down Under distillery on top
The international success of NZ’s 42BELOW vodka has dealt big brand owners “a hard lesson in what not to do when wooing a global consumer tribe of super groovers with money to burn.” 42BELOW has joined Grey Goose (France) and Ketel One (Holland) as an elite boutique label, favoured by bar tenders and drinkers in the know around the world. Founder Geoff Ross - a former Saatchi & Saatchi adman - attributes his company’s success to savvy, subversive advertising and the age-old use of word-of-mouth credibility. “If the big players work it out - and I don't think they will - they're not culturally set up to do this," he says. "They can't execute a slow-burn strategy. They need huge volumes tomorrow.”
(31 March 2004)
 

Inter-national Bank
Australia's ANZ Group has purchased the National Bank of NZ from Britain's Lloyds TSB. The AU$5.4 billion deal is the largest takeover in the Asia-Pacific this year, doubling ANZ's market share to make it NZ's biggest bank. 
(25 October 2003)
  

Fairydown man enough for Hillary
NZ outdoor label, Fairydown, is to be re-named ‘Zone,’ after market research revealed Australian men to be uncomfortable with the original tag’s effeminate connotations. Sir Edmund Hillary, who used a Fairydown sleeping bag on his 1953 ascent of Everest, dismissed the concerns as absurd: “Reading that connotation into the name is just absolutely stupid. It's a good brand. I have a Fairydown jacket and I am very proud to wear it.” The Fairydown brand will remain unchanged in Aotearoa.
(18 September 2003)
   

Pooling resources
NZ's Fisher & Paykel Appliances has formed a technology-sharing alliance with US white-ware company, Whirlpool Corporation. Fisher & Paykel managing director, John Bongard, predicts greater access to global markets to result from the union: "Whirlpool offers us the benefits of global purchasing power and the strength of its global technology development organization."
(11 August 2003)
  

Ringing up the profit
Telecom NZ has made a NZ$703 million net profit for the past year, ending a four-year run of negative growth. The solid progress comes despite a troubled foray into the Australian market.
(6 August 2003)
   

You have the right to remain nauseous
The smelly brainchild of Lower Hutt physicist Andrew Rakich has become an indispensable item for the LA Police Department. SkunkShot gel, originally sold in NZ to keep marauding dogs away from rubbish bags, is now being used in the US as an alternative to mace, on drug dealers, squatters and thieves. "It's an application I never dreamed of," says Rakich, who is now selling his wares in Europe and Australia as well as online.
(30 May 2003)

Well-oiled
Tauranga-based company, Avocado Oil New Zealand, has won a lucrative contract to supply Tesco - Britain's leading supermarket chain. Avocado Oil New Zealand is a world-innovator in cold-pressing and refining extra virgin avocado oil - which is becoming a staple of chefs and consumers alike.
(November-December 2002)
   

Gondwanaland Farming Co.
Trans-Tasman dairy giants Bonlac Foods (AUS) and Fonterra (NZ) have merged consumer food lines to create a new company - Australasian Food Holdings Pty Ltd (AFHL). AFHL will incorporate leading brands including Tip Top, Mainland, Ferndale, and Cadbury Ice Cream in NZ, Australia & Oceania. Fonterra is the major shareholder. 
(1 July 2002)
          

Zespri patriotism
In a fascinating 2-part feature the LATimes slices open the Kiwifruit and looks at the history of NZ's No.1 horticultural product, from poor crop protection: "Even without a patent, the trademark "kiwifruit," if copyrighted, could have become the same kind of powerful marketing tool for NZ fruit growers that the term Xerox is for the U.S. photocopier company", to innovative development of the Zespri brand and efforts to stronghold the pioneering NZ industry: "They were instrumental in introducing kiwifruit to the world and instrumental in getting us started. They feel they have a unique position within the category and want to capitalize on it."
(08 May 2002)
         

Land of milk and honey
The Scotsman reports on New Zealand's "White Gold Rush" - the scramble by milk producers to find new dairying land as world prices continue to rise, and the further impetus given to the industry with the creation of NZ's "new, aggressive, global co-operative", Fonterra. 
(2 April 2002)

Triple bottom liners
Janet Street Porter gets down under with the finer points of NZ culture, including food evangelist Dick Hubbard and the socially conscious breakfast cereal. The Triple Bottom Line philosophy = the three Ps of People, Planet and Profits. "He [Hubbard] likes that, especially the putting people first bit." And Janet finds paradise lost as news of Barrymore sneaking in for NZ rehab hits the local press and has her asking whether nuke-free should be tabloid-free as well.
(10 February 2002)

Flooring the market
Forty-one companies, mainly from the US, confirm they will exhibit high-end Wools of New Zealand branded carpets at Surfaces 2002. The giant US flooring trade fair, which last year attracted more than 60,000 trade visitors from throughout the world, is being held in Las Vegas.
(19 December 2001)     
 

Milking size
Global Dairy Co. New Zealand's newly-formed giant dairy company looks to the Australian industry for further expansion. Also, we want to be fifth in the world, size-wise, says Global Dairy Company chairman John Roadley.
(19 June 2001)
 

Big dollar boys
New Zealand energy family the Todds become the first New Zealanders to make the Forbes 500 list of the world's wealthiest people, coming in at 490 with a net worth of US$1 billion.
(21 June 2001)

Donuts to the world
Krispy Kreme donut king, Kiwi Don Henshall talks cautious expansion for the American icon.
(15 June 2001)
 

Altitude stable
A bit of turbulence on the ground, but Air New Zealand still makes the top ten in the air.
(20 May 2001) 
    

Still flying high
Air New Zealand continues its good run, ranking in the top ten international airlines in a Zagat survey covering 31 500 flyers.
(1 April 2001)
 

Playing in the big
league Otago's Business School makes it into the Financial Times top 100 league.
(22 January 2001)
 

Avalanche warning 
IT staffing company Avalanche plans to open a branch in New Zealand. The attraction? "English is a native language...and there is a first world infrastructure".
(7 December 2000)

    
NZ-edged NuTech
Matt Michalewicz, 24, founder and CEO of NuTech Solutions Inc fled to New Zealand from his native Poland at age six. He became "the only student I know of who drove to class every day in a Corvette".
(16 November 2000)
    

Forbes gets a bargain
Forbes Global have included New Zealand company The Warehouse Group in their 2000 list of Best Small Companies: "Dynamism is all about growth and profits; in our opinion these 300 are among the best the world has to offer."
(30 October 2000)
   

Kiwi banker helps Bosnia rebuild 
As the Bosnian economy struggles to recover from the ravages of war, its citizens are struggling to accept the recovering local currency. "The most telling detail on the new Bosnian currency is the signature on every note. It is that of the governor of the Central bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who is, bizarrely enough, a New Zealander." A Bosnian academic said: "We need outsiders to run things because without them the fighting would start again."
(1 August 2000)