Canterbury Today Magazine issue #114

Issue 114 | September/October 2012

No mean feat Paralympian Sophie Pascoe’s story of iron fisted willpower Mapping out our future The ins and outs of the CBD blueprint

Zero tolerance When it comes to climate change ‘keep calm and carry on’ just doesn’t cut it

Is the boom back?

Not quite, but Olly Newland sees promise in the property market

Staring down the barrel Getting ready for a crude awakening

Small steps Little things that make a big difference

Reader rewards in this issue…

Be in to win Sony’s newest $649 Sony Xperia P smart phone on page 10 | Grab yourself a half case of wine from myjobspace.com on page 34 Get free pet food from Canidae on page 5 | Get $500 cash back with AIRFOAM on page 13

COMMITTED TO CHRISTCHURCH While LSDC 2011 Ltd as a company was formed following the February earthquake, its directors have for decades called Christchurch home. Their commitment to the city extends beyond the current rebuild.

The pair was heavily involved in the design, development and construction of Sol Square and Hotel So in Christchurch as well as working on the development of the Living Space Accommodation brand.

“The earthquakes provided us with the impetus to form our own company, one that is committed not only to the rebuild of Christchurch but one which can provide the people of Christchurch with quality construction and project management for years to come,” Ferguson says.

An example of their commitment to the city was their decision on where to base their head office.

Ferguson and Scarlett decided to buy a category 4 listed heritage building in Burnside which was slated for demolition and are in the process of restoring the former residential property.

LSDC was named as a Fletcher Accredited contractor very early on in the earthquake rebuild and is now closing in on completing its 800th EQC related contract. While residential rebuilds are a significant part of the company’s work load it is by no means the only avenue of work for the company.

“With experience in jobs from small house alterations, new builds, EQC repairs and hospitality fit-outs through to multi-million dollar commercial projects we are able to be involved at any stage of a building venture from project management, construction through to painting and decorating,” Scarlett says.

“We set up our own painting and decorating division because we didn’t want to be in the hands of sub-contractors in terms of the timing of finishing a job and because we wanted to be able to sign off a contract knowing we have been involved from start to finish and know the job has been done right.”

LSDC prides itself in being involved every step of the way in a new or rebuild project, from initial consultation with the clients right through to signing off on all aspects of the project.

While starting with just the two of them, Ferguson and Scarlett now employ over 20 staff and the pair behind LSDC construction see their staff as one of the keys to the company’s success.

“When we came to pick our staff it wasn’t just about whether they could hold a hammer or a paint brush, it was also about how they would relate to our customers and whether they would fit in well with the rest of the team,” Ferguson says.

“As a team we need to be sympathetic to our clients’ needs during a very difficult and often traumatic time in this city’s history.”

On the commercial side of their construction business, Ferguson and Scarlett have been involved in the rebuild and fit out of a number of hospitality venues around the city including the Carlton Country Club and music venue Dux Live and is currently working on the new Dux Dine restaurant in Riccarton.

The company has also been heavily involved with CPIT’s Faculty of Creative Industries and F3 Design company’s innovative Artbox Project by building the prototype for the modular design project.

The adaptable modules can be stacked, oriented and arranged in various practical configurations to build a functional space for use by artists.

Although designed for temporary use, the modules have been engineered to such a high level that they can be used as buildings for years to come.

It is this commitment to the future of Christchurch which helps LSDC 2011 Ltd stand out from the crowd.

“Some companies are looking to take advantage of the opportunities presented by the devastation caused by the Christchurch earthquakes and will disappear once the rebuild has been completed,” Ferguson says, “but we are here for the long haul.

“Christchurch is our home and by ensuring our work is of a high quality and finished to the highest standards we give our clients, both residential and commercial, what they deserve.”

Commercial: “LSDC Construction provided us with invaluable assistance in creating Dux Live. While I was project manager for the development I had very little experience and Gregor and Simon provided crucial guidance throughout the project, providing sound advice and recommendations on how to speed up the process. They were highly professional in their approach and reacted to plan changes in a positive way, nothing was a problem and they just got on with the job.

It would be fair to say the finished product exceeded our expectations and we have had no hesitation in using them again for our next project Dux Dine.”

Dux Live Bar, Addington Residential: “I recently had LSDC complete kitchen renovations to my house here in Christchurch.

I would like to thank Gregor and Simon and their team for the great service they provided, nothing was a problem and the workmanship was to a very high standard, thanks again.”

- S. Young, Christchurch “I have used LSDC for several earthquake repairs, large and small, and they have been done promptly to a high standard. I have found them to be extremely professional at all times.”

- S. Jackson, Mairehau

LSDC can assist you with: EQC rebuilds and ‘opt-out’ work Building Consents Building Information Building Inspections New Homes Decking Demolition Driveways Fencing Fires and home heating solutions Garages/Sleep-outs/room remodeling Insurance Claims / Quotes Planning Information Plumbing Resource Consents

EQC emergency repair work

- Ross Herrick, Dux Group Operations Manager “LSDC did a great job helping to set us up after the earthquake, they had a great team of guys and positive can-do attitude to get the job done.

I would not hesitate in recommending them to anyone needing construction work done.”

- Alex Watson, Carlton Country Club

DESIGN PROJECT MANAGEMENT CONSTRUCTION

Directors of LSDC 2011 ltd, Simon Scarlett and Gregor Ferguson

L.S.D.C LIMITED

www.lsdc.co.nz Director: Gregor Ferguson 021 965 518 | Director: Simon Scarlett 021 365 144

2011

Director Gregor Ferguson, LSDC’s Construction Manager, has almost 35 year’s experience in the building industry, while fellow director Simon Scarlett, who is the company’s Project Manager, has 12 years in the field with an extensive background in architectural design.

Issue 114 September / October 2012

contents Viewpoints

Features

6 Editorial

11 Is the boom back?

The Rumsfeld effect

Not quite, but Olly Newland sees promising signs in the real estate market

6 Management Kevin Vincent discusses the need to keep your eyes on the competition Canterbury Today

Issue 114

13,739 ABC circulation as at 30/06/12

HEAD OFFICE

7 Politics

GENERAL MANAGER Rebecca Harris Di Barclay

ADMINISTRATION Kylie Moore ADMIN MANAGER Kelly Clarke Lucy Neill Rachel Cooper Judy Slater

SALES & ADVERTISING Miranda Telfer SALES EXECUTIVES Rob Cochrane George Ziegler Melissa Sinclair Kent Caddick Melissa Kala Stuart Gunn Anthony Patrickson Mogens Petersen Peter Black Grant Williams Aoife Dunne Verne Williams

NEWSROOM

Trademark attorney Angela Searle explains the Madrid Protocol’s influence on international trademarks and what this means for you

The ins and outs of the blueprint designed to put the heart back into the Garden City’s CBD

9 Online

When it comes to climate change and the environment, the old, stiff-upper-lip approach of ‘keep calm and carry on’ just doesn’t cut it

9 Productivity Time management expert Robyn Pearce gives a simple piece of advice about how to deal with today’s information overload

14 Business tips

26 Staring down the barrel

What your company can learn from the military and making meetings matter

The days of cheap oil are numbered, but the trillion dollar question is when, and what to do then

10 Technology

15 Local moves

Our regular gadget guru Ian Knott reviews Sony’s latest smartphone, the Xperia P

Moving an entire furniture manufacturing workshop and showroom, with less than a week’s notice, would have seemed impossible in pre-earthquake Christchurch, but in these ‘new-normal’ times it’s par for the course

10 Events diary This is where you find out what’s on near you

28 An environmental ultimatum The Kiwi teenager who challenged the global community to step up and protect the planet

16 Cover story

65

Ian Knott PRODUCTION MANAGER Carolynne Brown PRODUCTION CO-ORDINATOR Sarah Betman DESIGNERS Jenna Day Jarred Shakespeare Janelle Pike 0800 555 054 production@academy.net.nz

22 Zero tolerance

Website design manager Suzanne Carter tunes into online marketing

PRODUCTION

Fax: Email:

88 20 Mapping out our future

EDITOR

03 961 5050 0800 555 054 editor@academy.net.nz

03 940 4732

For Malley & Co Lawyers, returning to Christchurch’s CBD is a signal of intent and belief in our city’s revival

8 Legalities

OPERATIONS MANAGER

Phone:

12 Heading back to the centre

Authorised financial adviser Alan Clarke offers investment advice about bonds

Gary Collins

Phone: Fax: Email:

Is your business protected against intruders and theft?

8 Finance

MANAGING DIRECTOR

Jonathon Taylor Corazon Miller Karen Pasco Marie Sherry

12 Protecting your patch

Labour Party leader David Shearer shares his ideas about creating a place where talent wants to live

Academy House 47B Birmingham Drive Middleton PO Box 1879 Christchurch

16

7 Governance Bob Stewart from Recover Canterbury talks about the changing face of our city

www.canterburytoday.co.nz

In this issue…

Swimming the country’s length three-and-ahalf times is a staggering achievement, but for Paralympian Sophie Pascoe it’s simply what needed done to ready herself for a date with destiny

18 Small steps Little things that make a big difference

KNOWLEDGE FOR GROWING BUSINESS SINCE 1985

Disclaimer: This publication is provided on the basis that A-Mark Publishing is not responsible for the results of any actions taken on the basis of information in these articles, nor for any error or omission from these articles and that the firm is not hereby engaged in rendering advice or services.

A-Mark Publishing expressly disclaim all and any liability and responsibility to any person in respect of anything and of the consequences of anything done, or omitted to be done, by any such a person in reliance, whether wholly or partially upon the whole or any part of the contents of this publication. Advertising feature articles are classified as advertising content and as such, information contained in them is subject to the Advertising Standards Authority Codes of Practice. Contents Copyright 2012 by A-Mark Publishing (NZ) Ltd. All rights reserved. No article or advertisement may be reproduced without written permission.

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Be in to win Go in the draw to win the smartest new smart phone, a Sony Xperia P valued at $649 – turn to page 10 to find out more

31 Greening the silver screen

In Business

Peace activist, poet, playwright and environmental film director Kathleen Gallagher tells it like it is

38 Goods and services

32 Southern escapes Hotspots perfectly suited for a quick holiday fix

62

EcoCentral’s dating programme for used goods, Digital Imports signals its intent, Ashby’s Butchery is a cut above, Havoc Farm’s hog haven, Mill Orchard’s pure fruit in a bottle and Hurrell Apparel’s hi-vis wardrobe

34 Lifestyles Bling for your fingers, bags for the hand, a PC packing some punch, an Indonesian paradise and wine, a savvy bottle opener, espresso machines and more

65 Putting the fab in Prefab The prefab revolution arriving at a building site near you

82 In search of the perfect pinot noir Mt Difficulty is a boutique winery proudly claiming to be one of the few places in the world outside of Burgundy, France, where the pernickety pinot noir seems to truly flourish

85 The height of luxury Nestled 30 feet above the ground in the canopy of a native Manuka grove is a distinctive, one-of-a-kind accommodation venture that appeals to both the young and the young at heart

88 Southern delight What do you get when a Michelin star chef and a revered restaurateur join forces? A restaurant that does dining right

82

70 Focus

41

Town and Country Vet’s high pressure care, time out in Nelson, giving business a lift, the rise and rise of Kalamazoo and healthy options at Shoreline Fitness

77 Hospitality 46 Initiatives The sooner you start planning your Christmas function the better, how Newstalk ZB had Christchurch covered and Supa Karts new home

48 Property and construction Quaryscape’s porous paving, the building initiatives of Fleetwood Construction and Foothold Developments, First National boosts business with A1Comms, Lighting Plus moves to Moorhouse, boutique homes with Inhaus Developments, Timbercore’s role with the EPIC centre and the prefab revolution arriving at building sites near you

Tasty temptations at Totally Gluten Free Bakery, Mt Difficulty Wines searches for the perfect pinot noir, Ostler Vineyards' golden harvest, Hapuku Lodge is the height of luxury, Menumate’s recipe for success, Rata Dining does dinner right, CPR Coffee’s premium roast and the Pedal Pusher lets the good times roll

94 Export How Shape Technology is finding international favour

96 Transport and motoring Total tune-ups at Edgeware Automotive and a new home means George Stocks is a parts nirvana

91 61

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Viewpoint | Editorial/Management

The Rumsfeld effect

Keeping an eye on the competition Kevin Vincent is a director of business improvement consultants Vincent and Nugent Limited www.vincentnugent.co.nz

By Jonathon Taylor, editor for Magazines Today

Last year we profiled the Central City Business Association head Paul Londsdale. He was one of the drivers behind the Restart initiative to get the Cashel St container mall up and running.

Leading up to the October 2011 opening Paul said time was of the essence and the need to get the mall open was immediate.

The reason was because it doesn’t take long for behavioural changes in people to stick.

I can’t remember what the time frame was, but the bottom line is if someone changes their behavioural patterns and sticks with them, then after time, they become permanent and/or very difficult to reverse.

So the need to get people returning to Cashel St as soon as possible was self evident.

This was prior to October 2011, so you’d imagine the deadline for behavioural entrenchment has come and gone and this “known unknown” might well be another stumbling block facing our city; one the best laid plans simply can’t account for.

These best laid plans have finally been revealed and in terms of reviving Christchurch’s commercial heart they look promising. The proposed green frame around a compact inner-city core just seems to make sense, especially as it looks to create new life and liveability around the Avon.

Yes, in the fullness of time these green spaces will make way for buildings, some not yet conceived, but for now, is there any better way of reinvigorating downtown to attract people back to it and hopefully turn the “known unknown” into a forced absence and nothing more?

What we do now know is the Olympics arrived with much fanfare and, as they tend to do, disappeared from view without much ado. What was noticeable is how the Olympic spirit, on more than the odd occasion, seemed to get lost in translation.

From scowling silver medallists, to the eight badminton athletes ejected for throwing matches and onto British track cyclist Philip Hindes suggesting he crashed on purpose, “faster, higher, stronger” seemed more like “petulant, stroppy, dishonest”.

Hindes’ obviously ambiguous comment that “We were saying if we have a bad start we need to crash to get a restart,” was explained away by British officials as being “lost in translation”.

Now that is a classic case of Rumsfeld’s other little gem – the “Unknown unknown”.

I don’t know what he was thinking and I’ll never know how any Olympian, or the officials rushing to their defence for that matter, could contemplate such palpable disrespect to their fellow athletes and the Games themselves.

Now while a roofed state-of-the-art stadium, performing arts precinct and new convention centre are all things to look forward to, perhaps, in the interim decade or two before everything can realistically come together, the best way of breathing life into the CBD is by doing just that breathe life into it.

Competition is great. It drives you to continually improve. It drives the quest for and the development of establishing a sustainable competitive advantage which is achieved through differentiation and unique selling propositions.

You can ignore your competition and lose, copy them and be a follower, or lead them and become a winner. Winners are always more successful. Take an offensive position not a defensive one and devote time to continual improvement.

The process should start with a general assessment of their product positioning, how it compares with yours on price and quality and its relative market share. Secondly ascertain their strengths and weaknesses and likely next moves.

Capabilities?

Competitive advantages?

USP’s (unique selling points)?

Resources, assets, people?

Experience, knowledge, data?

Financial reserves, likely returns?

Innovative aspects?

Price, value, quality?

Accreditations etc?

Management?

Areas of Weakness Lack of competitive strength?

Reputation, presence and reach?

Own known vulnerabilities?

Timescales, deadlines and pressures?

Cashflow, start-up cash-drain?

Continuity, supply chain robustness?

Morale, commitment, leadership?

Accreditations, etc?

Management?

Areas for opportunity Market developments?

Competitor analysis will assist you to understand your competitive advantages and disadvantages relative to competitors.

It will give you a greater understanding of the competitors’ past, present, and most importantly, future strategies. It will assist strategies to achieve competitive advantage in the future and it will help forecast the returns that may be made from future investments.

Industry or lifestyle trends?

• Who are your competitors?

• What threats do they pose?

• What are the objectives of your competitors?

• What strategies are your competitors pursuing and how successful are these?

• What are the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors?

• How are your competitors likely to respond to any changes to the way you do business?

Can you sell?

If so, we want you !

Areas of strength

The next step is to counter these initiatives or deficiencies with your own strategy.

The following questions should be considered:

Take those depressingly vacant spaces, the ones where you knew what used to be there but can’t quite picture it in your mind any more, and green them. At this point, before grand plans have time to take shape, the best and arguably only way of bringing our CBD to life is with a multitude of miniparks. Plant grass, shrubs and trees and watch the people arrive.

6 | September/October 2012 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

Increased competition is a reality and driven by many factors, including the emergence of a global marketplace, the increased number of companies and new technology that makes it easier for them to enter new markets.

Competitors’ vulnerabilities?

Technology development and innovation?

Global influences?

New/niche markets?

Tactics: eg, surprise, major contracts?

Business and product development?

Partnerships, agencies, distribution?

Potential threats Political effects?

Legislative effects?

Environmental effects?

Competitor intentions - various?

Market demand?

New technologies, services, ideas?

Vital contracts and partners?

Loss of key staff?

Sustainable financial backing?

Economy - home, abroad?

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Viewpoints | Governance/Politics

The changing face of our city Bob Stewart is a Business Recovery team leader at Recover Canterbury; part of a team of experienced and skilled Business Recovery coordinators who are helping earthquake-impacted businesses get back on their feet.

To find out more visit www.recovercanterbury.co.nz

Walk down the streets of Auckland, Wellington or Dunedin (in fact anywhere other than Christchurch), and mention business recovery in Christchurch and you’ll hear the same response, “Shouldn’t we have gotten over it by now?”

make sure that our business community has recovered and is ready.

But what is going to hold our business community back is this incorrect assumption that we should have “gotten over it”. We need businesses to realise that they are not alone in still feeling a bit of pain.

We need businesses to realise constant change is a certainty and will bring with it Now that’s unfortunate. But what’s even more new and unexpected challenges. unfortunate is some Cantabrians are thinking Recover Canterbury is the only dedicated the same thing. And while some businesses post-quake business recovery service to help are on the road to recovery, there are others earthquake-impacted businesses get on that have not “gotten over it” and the fact the road to recovery and growth. Our team they think they should have is leaving them is working alongside existing organisations feeling frustrated, isolated and alone. that provide business advice, support and What people need to understand is there is advocacy such as the Canterbury Employers’ no quick fix for businesses recovering from a Chamber of Commerce, the Canterbury disaster like the Canterbury earthquakes.

Development Corporation and What we do have is a whole lot of uncertainty government agencies. mixed with a range of ever-changing challenges - from infrastructure repair to insurance battles, relocation and repair of premise to staff recruitment and retention, all leading to increased levels of stress and fatigue among business owners, managers and their staff.

So how do businesses cope? How do they “get over it?”

Our team of Business Recovery co-ordinators work with individual businesses and groups of businesses to help them recover, become independent and capable of long term sustainability. We do this by providing targeted, relevant and valuable tools and services, such as business recovery planning, mentoring, referrals to professional services, business resilience and stress management support, training and assistance with business issues.

For many businesses it means they need to change the way they operate. Yes, that means you’ve got to pull that strategic business plan For eligible businesses financial assistance may also be available through the out of the bottom drawer and re-define your Canterbury Business Recovery Trust or the strategy moving forward.

Red Cross Independent Advice for Small Businesses also need to surround themselves Business grant. with professional advisors they trust. So Best of all, Recover Canterbury’s services get your accountant, lawyer, your business are completely free and are available until mentor or any other business advisors on speed dial, including your Recover Canterbury April 2013. So if your business is not where it was pre-quake, or you don’t know how to Business Recovery co-ordinator. get the next step ahead in this post-quake Your Business Recovery co-ordinator is a environment, invest five minutes in getting bit like a coach – we’re here to help you a bit of help by giving us a call. weave your way through the mountain of And please don’t bury your head in the sand information out there and pluck out the (or snow) and think that you should have best bits of support, then set you on a path “gotten over it” by now because, believe towards recovery and growth. Because believe me, growth is going to hit Christchurch me, very few people (or businesses) truly have. in a big way.

Opportunities will be here for the taking as rebuild funds hit the city and we want to

A place where talent wants to live David Shearer is the MP for Mt Albert and leader of the Labour Party

I was in Tolaga Bay recently for The Transit of Venus Forum. The theme was “lifting our horizon” and hundreds of scientists, business people and delegates were there to share their ideas on, in the words of my late friend Sir Paul Callaghan, “making New Zealand a place where talent wants to live”.

be the next Weta Workshop. Just get out there and let’s make it happen.

Topics included science and prosperity, restoring and enhancing the environment, and getting the best out of our people.

We need pro-growth tax reform, encouraging people to invest in the productive parts of our economy rather than speculation. That way, our exporters will get the investment capital they need and we’ll all benefit from the inflow of international investment.

At a time when a thousand New Zealanders are moving to Australia every week, unemployment is up by 9000 people and we’ve had a zero-growth budget from the National Government; it was a timely occasion.

Sir Paul had a huge impact on me. We shared a view that our economy doesn’t have to grow at the expense of the environment.

Apply science, innovation and clever design and the two can flourish together. That’s what I think is really going to turn heads in international markets.

We can be a place of opportunity that attracts people from around the world who want to make it their home. Let’s invest in our brains and creativity – in farming, in software, in technology, you name it - and start developing a reputation for New Zealand as a clean, green, smart-operator in business.

To enable this, top of our list must be promoting research and development (R&D) in the private sector. In 2008, Labour implemented an R&D tax credit, which was taken away by National. A couple of years later they replaced it, but with vouchers distributed by government departments through an application system. It was an inefficient and bureaucratic way of rewarding innovation.

I want to say to companies that are innovative: Get out and do it! We’ll get in behind you. You take the risks. We’ll support some of those risks and we’ll give you a tax credit. But it’s up to you. It’s not a government department’s job to predict what’s going to

Instead of working harder for diminishing rewards as most kiwis are currently doing, we want a prosperous, growing economy where everyone has work and can earn a decent living. We also want to create many more high-skilled, high-paying, fascinating jobs.

But we’ll only get there if we grow. And that means making some bold political decisions in favour of productivity and growth.

We need to lift our educational achievement and up-skill young New Zealanders to meet the opportunities of the 21st century. This means reaching into schools to get hold of kids before they drop out. At the moment we have 87,000 young people who are not in school, training, or education. That’s a ticking time bomb and an unforgivable waste of talent. I would like to steer more young people into apprenticeships and rewarding careers in trades.

And finally, there’s the elephant in the room: the future affordability of New Zealand Super.

In just four years our super payments will exceed the entire budget for pre-school, school and tertiary education. And it will continue to rise. Right now, 5.5 people support each superannuitant with their taxes.

In 30 years just 2.4 working people will. If we do nothing, younger people will go without the education and health services we’ve enjoyed.

That’s unfair and we need to make the big decisions, not pass the buck for later when it will be more costly. It’s an urgent issue that National has ignored, but we are willing to discuss it openly and across all political parties. It’s that important.

When he pioneered the idea of the Transit of Venus Forum, Sir Paul Callaghan’s hope was that we would find real points of action to go forward with, to make a difference to New Zealand’s future. These are my first priorities for lifting New Zealand’s horizon.

Architectural Design of New Homes, Alterations, Light Commercial Buildings and Early Childhood Centres.

Phone 03 577 5267 www.designhq.co.nz

Quality Design Solutions for Today’s World. www.canterburytoday.co.nz September/October 2012 | 7

Viewpoints | Finance/Legalities

Are bonds a safe haven?

Protecting your identity

Angela Searle is a trademark attorney for Trade Mark Intelligence who works with both SMEs and global corporations. She can be reached at angela@tmintelligence.co.nz

Alan Clarke is an authorised financial adviser with 24 years’ experience in the finance sector

With global economies and share markets remaining in a state of flux, investors have been increasingly turning to bonds for yield and/or as a safe haven.

During the past two years bonds have been far and away the most popular asset class, because bonds – good quality bonds - have been solid and steady.

A bond is a usually a loan to a government, an SOE, or a big, corporate, company. Bonds generally will be for a five year term, carry a fixed rate and have a rating. There are other bonds that reset the interest rate annually and some are perpetual and never mature.

Unless you know the bond market well, it is better to stick to five year bonds that pay a fixed rate and have a known maturity date.

Bonds can be bought when issued, or can be bought from other investors. Global bond markets are twice the size of global sharemarkets and millions of bonds are traded daily around the world.

But as always there are very good bonds, good bonds, average bonds, and junk bonds.

Ratings might be AAA, AA, A, BBB, BB or B, and anything higher than BBB is investment grade. Don’t go below BBB or buy unrated bonds unless you really know what you are doing!

As with all investments, bonds do not offer a ‘free ride’ - the higher the return, the higher the risk. If you want a ‘safe haven’, you must seek quality first and put yield second.

Interest rates are impossible to predict, and since you don’t want all your money maturing at the same time, a bond portfolio should have differing maturity dates; some maturing in 2012, some in 2013, some in 2014, some in 2015 and so on.

Bond prices can rise and fall and the pricing mechanism mainly depends on interest rates: If interest rates rise, the price will fall, If interest rates fall, the price will rise, This only matters if you want to sell before maturity.

Bonds in NZ are currently expensive (lowish returns) due to high demand and a lack of new issues. Hence an investment in a

$10,000 BNZ bank AA rated bond paying 8.675 percent and maturing in 2015 would cost about $11,000 today. This is a $1,000 premium you would not get back if held to maturity, although any such loss is tax deductible. The better option is new issues but very few are coming to the market.

What about global bonds?

The global economic infrastructure is in much better shape than it was in 2008.

When the GCC hit, many companies restructured and became as ‘lean & mean’ as they could, and many are very profitable.

In addition they have been very prudent and US companies are holding on to an estimated $2 trillion in cash reserves.

With many corporates in such good shape, investors and fund managers are already tilting their bond portfolios away from shaky governments to corporate bonds, which makes a lot of sense.

But how do you access these from little old NZ? Our favoured global bond fund is the DFA 5 Year Fixed Interest Trust which is spread across 80 to 90 AAA and AA rated global bonds, so has excellent diversification and is very low risk.

The fund is hedged into NZ dollars, so is unaffected by the exchange rate. The average return has been 7.5 percent pa since inception in 2004, and has been about 6.5 percent during the past year or so. Whilst it is known as the five year fixed interest trust, this only relates to the maximum duration of the investments they hold, and funds can be withdrawn at any time.

Bonds in summary If bonds appeal to you, buy a mix of NZ bonds and the DFA fixed interest funds. Take care in selecting a portfolio of bonds, as a properly designed portfolio will always be better than a portfolio put together in an ad hoc manner.

As always - diversify widely, on and offshore.

8 | September/October 2012 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

Your trademark is potentially one of your most valuable business assets. Your ability to use it, unimpeded, is something many of us take for granted. Come December, the Madrid Protocol is anticipated to come into effect in New Zealand and while this provides a simple, economic and flexible means to register your trademark overseas, it also means your mark is under more potential threat than ever before.

This could, for example, mean that you are unable to expand your business into geographical areas in which you are not currently trading.

It is expected that trademark applications and objections by foreign companies are likely to increase, so before this comes into effect, it is important to consider the importance to your business of having adequate protection of your trademarks.

If you do business overseas or have goods manufactured offshore, protecting your right to use your name on the international playing field has never been more important.

If you have not registered your trademark – your brand name, then you leave yourself wide open for someone else to swipe it from While working in Australia, I became familiar underneath you. with the operation of the Madrid Protocol, so here are some insights on what it means for I can register a trademark myself – why would I use an attorney?

New Zealand businesses.

What is the Madrid Protocol?

It is an international system, which allows businesses to file a single international trademark application and designate multiple countries in one application. This makes the process more streamlined and saves time and money. There are currently 87 countries which are party to the Protocol, which include some of New Zealand’s major trading partners such as Australia, US, Europe, China and Japan.

The Madrid Protocol also simplifies the subsequent management of the mark, since a simple, single procedural step serves to renew the registration and to record subsequent changes in ownership, or in the name or address of the holder (rather than recording each change for each individual registration).

Why it is important that I ensure my trademark is protected?

While the system will make it easier to file in multiple countries, it also makes it more accessible for overseas entities to file here – thus increasing the risk of someone else registering your mark (if you have not done so), meaning that there may be competing rights to your mark.

Do you file your own tax returns? Would you write your own will? Registering a mark is the same. Yes you can do it, but it’s a case of you don’t know what you don’t know. If you get it wrong, you might not know until someone challenges you or tries to steal your mark out from under you… they might even succeed!

The Protocol, while simplifying the process, brings added complexity to getting the right protection in the right countries. Effective searches become even more important, and for someone not used to doing them, they can be difficult.

Many self-filers also go wrong by defining their goods/services too narrowly, therefore not allowing them scope to expand the breath of their goods or services being provided under their existing mark – or by filing an application to register a logo, whereas they would obtain much stronger protection if just the word mark was registered.

An attorney will also have more success at overturning any objections that are raised during the registration process – and objections are commonplace.

Registering your mark is like insurance – it protects your good name. The name you have worked hard to establish. A professional puts you in the strongest possible position, now and into the future.

Viewpoints | Online/Productivity

Don’t sell - communicate

How to read more, more quickly

Suzanne Carter is the business development manager for website design and development company Limelight Online Ltd. To find out more visit www.limelightonline.co.nz

As every business owner knows, an effective marketing strategy is key to promoting your services/ products in order to grow your customer base and your revenue.

Traditionally, marketing has taken the form of print and radio advertising, seminars, emails to mailing lists and tele-marketing.

This is called outbound marketing as you are pushing your products and services out to your target market.

Inbound marketing focuses on driving relevant traffic to your website, converting that traffic to leads, and finally, turning those leads into sales. Relevant traffic is driven to your website through an effective content marketing strategy, social media and effective search engine optimisation techniques.

This form of marketing is built on the belief that if companies provide valuable content and information to buyers on a regular basis, buyers will ultimately reward those companies with their business and loyalty.

Inbound marketing strategies provide a stronger impact by using online channels and in most cases, for significantly less spend. One of the main inbound marketing strategies is content marketing.

Content marketing is the art of communicating with prospective and existing customers without selling. Instead of pitching or attempting to persuade someone to buy your product or hire your services, you’re delivering information that educates buyers and makes them more intelligent.

Instead of developing ads designed to interrupt customers, you’re looking to create targeted, useful and relevant content for your audience using a variety of mediums including (but by no means limited to): Blogs. Write an informative blog that addresses a particular hot topic. Guest blogging is also a good idea to get your business name and brand known. It also builds your brand trust and credibility.

Videos. Produce a short video explaining how to use one of your products or provide an answer to a problem consumers in your industry might be having.

Podcasts. A podcast is like a radio show but instead of being broadcast live it is recorded then distributed online e.g. via your website.

Enewsletters. Put together a mailing list of your customers and potential customers and send them monthly short but informative newsletters.

White papers. Publish a white paper on a particular topic that is impacting your industry.

Webinars. Webinars are essentially web based seminars, so either arrange one with guest speakers or be a guest speaker yourself.

It is recommended that you do your research first to find out which channels your target market is most actively engaged with.

Any content you produce must be of a high quality and relevant to your business services or products and to your customers’ needs. You may need to hire the services of a professional copywriter to help you with getting the quality, relevance and tone right.

Once produced, your great content needs to be distributed and shared. This is where social media comes in. Get people engaging you - talking about your content, sharing it with their friends and followers, commenting on it.

It also must not be understated that content marketing is a very effective way of generating traffic, links and referrals to your site. All this will help your website perform well in the search engines which again increase your chances of being found by people looking for what your business offers.

Inbound marketing can build brands, drive engagements and, ultimately, lead to vital conversions. For these reasons, no company — no matter how big or small — can afford to ignore its benefits.

However, it doesn’t happen overnight! As with any marketing strategy patience is most definitely a virtue.

So focus on building connections and relationships via social media, produce amazing content and make sure that you communicate it and distribute it effectively.

Robyn Pearce is a time management expert, helping people turn time challenges into high productivity and the life balance you desire.

Visit www.gettingagrip.com

In any large major metropolitan weekend paper we receive more material in one issue than the majority of people living in the 1700’s would have had access to in their entire lifetime (apart from the rich and well-educated). So don’t be surprised that you constantly feel overwhelmed.

The rate of new information available is doubling faster and faster. In the 1970s it doubled every 10 years, in the early 1980s it doubled every five and a half years, in the later 1980s it was doubling every 20 months, and by the year 2000 much information was redundant, passé, or out of date within three to six months.

It doesn’t mean that all information is redundant within six months - that of course would be nonsense. We may not always like it, but we have no power to change this rapid and escalating state of affairs. However, we do have power over our own behaviour, how we respond and how we adapt.

How much do you read?

The first thing I’d strongly suggest you look at is exactly what you spend your time reading.

Do you read as much as you’d like, or as many of the books you’re interested in as you’d like?

I was fortunate enough to do a speed reading course recently with Dr John Demartini, a very brilliant man and author of Count Your Blessings. He had us do a most awakening exercise, and I’d suggest you try it too. You only need a minute, and it will profoundly affect the way you look at your reading choices.

How many books do you read on average a month? Multiply that figure by 12.

How many years of life would you like to think you have left? Multiply the number of years by the number of books you can read in a year.

That figure is the likely number of books you’ll read in the rest of your life. How do you feel about that? And faced with that knowledge, are you happy with the selections you’re currently making?

Essex on Rye SUPERIOR WESTON SUBDIVISION

Sections, 1.8ha opportunities

A different way of reading My biggest recommendation is to attend a rapid reading course (sometimes called speed reading). During the years I’ve attended three quite different programmes, all good, and my experience is that the most important element is the on-going practice. There are many good courses out there. I’ve listed some key points below, and for those who want to go deeper and try a few techniques on your own-you’ll find an expanded version on my website. It’s only to whet your appetite. You really need to attend a course to be pushed to significantly higher levels of competency.

Some rapid-reading keys 1. Read with purpose.

2. Start with the end in mind.

3. Have an expectation of success.

4. Do an audit on your words, and eliminate any negatives.

5. Sit upright and hold the book at a comfortable position.

6. Have good overhead light, fresh air, plenty of water, and a comfortable temperature.

7. Read from the back of your head (your visual cortex) through your eyes, not from your eyes.

8. Preview and review.

9. Use your finger, or sometimes two fingers, as a visual guide. One of the key elements of rapid reading is to use our finger at a very fast rate, running it down the page. We don’t need to read every word in order to comprehend and retain the information. All we need is chunks of text, and the sense is gathered at lightening speed.

10. Do eye and hand speed training to stretch your eyes' and mind’s abilities.

11. Set yourself a daily target.

12. Practice, practice, practice.

13. Comprehension will come - believe it.

If you want to find out more, join Robyn at her ‘Getting A Grip Breakfast Club’ seminar at the Russley Golf Club on September 28, or December 7.

Visit http://www.gettingagrip.com/ breakfastclub to register.

Looking for Lifestyle, No Stress, Certainty?

Come and join many Canterbarians who have already discovered this exciting growing region.

Goldmining • Dairying • Vinyards • Tourism • Holcim Cement • Lakes • Beaches Superior Subdivision, North Otago, Oamaru Don & Denise Alexander Cel. 0272205403 Em. sales@pdbydesign.co.nz Enquiries Welcome

www.canterburytoday.co.nz September/October 2012 | 9

Viewpoints | Tech

News | Events Diary

Sony’s super smart Xperia P

Events diary

What’s happening on the business and entertainment front

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 1 – 16 Feast of Canterbury 2012 – Taste Events Company Ian Knott has been commentating on various forms of technology for the past 16 years. He’s had columns on gadgets, gaming, computing and digital entertainment in many newspapers, magazines and websites in New Zealand and overseas.

I got to take the Xperia P for a test drive and despite having an ever-present bad taste in my mouth from reviewing way too many Sony Ericsson Symbian-powered phones in the past, I found the Xperia P an absolute joy to use.

Google’s Gingerbread Android 2.3 operating system runs beautifully on the Xperia P, but the unit is fully upgradable to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. The price point and size of the handset places it head to head with Nokia’s Lumia 800 Windows phone. But there are several redeeming features hiding within the Xperia P that boost the model above its immediate rivals.

At 120g, the phone is no lightweight and at 10.5mm thick the sensation in the hand is a solid one. There’s no flexing or creaking when the phone is put under reasonable pressures, unlike the Samsung Galaxy range which feel like they could snap at any moment.

The scratch resistant screen holds up to the rigors of daily use very well, but the plastic framing around the Xperia P will soon start to show the knocks and scratches. There is also a small gap\groove separating the screen from the casing - which is probably the most disappointing design flaw.

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 4 Designing for the Mobile - Intergen

To be in with a chance to win an Xperia P, simply email your name, address and phone number to ian@academy.net.nz and be sure to include 'XPERIA P COMP' in the subject line.

Given that the number of people accessing the web via mobile devices is predicted to surpass the number accessing via the desktop in the next two years, it is high time that we start to take this mobile thing seriously. In this presentation, Mark Delaney, a senior UX designer at Intergen will take you on a whirlwind tour of the best practices for organising and designing your mobile experience in the mobile web world.

For more information go to www.intergen.co.nz

Entries must be received before 5pm Friday 26th October 2012.

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 18 – 19

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Since paying out Ericsson in a divorce settlement, Sony is travelling alone in the smartphone stakes. Its first solo effort is the Xperia NXT series – a range of three phones from the high-end Xperia S, which sits proudly side by side with the iPhone 4S and the Samsung Galaxy SIII, the mid-range Xperia P and the more affordable sibling – the Xperia U.

The region’s leading culinary festival is where foodies from across the country and abroad descend on Christchurch to sample the best food and wine Canterbury has to offer. There will be a series of events specially created for Feast 2012, designed to give participants the chance to get creative and indulge in their culinary tastes.

For more information go to www.feastofcanterbury.co.nz

The more you use the Xperia P, the more the built-in handy features begin to integrate themselves into your everyday life.

Clever NFC capabilities allow your phone to be used with the latest tap-compliant technology where just a touch of your phone will pay for services or acquire information from a vendor - something that will become increasingly more common in times to come.

The Xperia P also comes with four SmartTags - which can be programmed to do almost anything. Keep one beside the bed, one in the car, one at the office and simply touching them with your phone will activate preset commands. Starting up GPS navigation in the car and activating Bluetooth, or turning on WiFi when you get into the office and opening emails or reminders. They’re a clever innovation that can save a lot of time if your average day is dominated by digital devices.

If you’re like me and keep your mobile in your pocket for much of the day, then this groove will soon become a collector of fluff, lint and dust, further tarnishing the otherwise slick aesthetics.

The 8MP rear camera is as good as the industry topping high-end devices, but the inferior front camera is nothing to be proud of. The inclusion of a mini HDMI port next to the standard mini USB is a great touch, allowing the full 1080p video taken on your phone to be easily transferred to your TV.

Speaking of slick aesthetics, the crystal clear strip that encompasses the standard three home, back and menu buttons is a stunning inclusion. Even for an old cynical tech-head like myself, this pressure sensitive strip had me grinning in appreciation.

The Xperia P displays features that many more expensive phones would be envious of - and at just $649 (exclusive to Vodafone) will no doubt prove to be the mid-priced smartphone of choice to future-proof your mobile phone usage.

Essential Training for Health and Safety Representatives Stage 1 – Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce This two-day course is approved under Section 19G of the Health and Safety Employment Act 1992 for training health and safety representatives and offers an alternative to union-based training.

Learn how to effectively perform the responsibilities of a workplace health and safety representative, understand health and safety legal requirements, promote the successful management of health and safety issues in good faith. To register go to www.cecc.org.nz

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 19 – 20 Introduction to Marketing – New Zealand Southern Institute of Management This course will teach the appropriate skills needed to understand the marketing concept and challenge and apply it to your workplace. For more information go to www.nzimsouthern.co.nz

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 20 Employment Law for Supervisors – Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce Supervisors are at the front line of employee relations. Research shows there

Ph: 03 3813245

www.facebook.com/YouthtownChristchurch

Check out Youthtown’s holiday and term programmes

10 | September/October 2012 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

is a direct correlation between welltrained supervisors and employees who are motivated, engaged and productive.

This three hour session will break down the fundamental employment law principles and provide practical information supervisors need to know to comply with employment legislation. To register go to www.cecc.org.nz

SUNDAY, SEPT 23 - OCT 16 The Body Festival The Body Festival is Christchurch’s annual celebration of dance and physical theatre.

Ranging from professional shows to amateur productions, the festival takes place in venues all around Christchurch and its surround region, with a programme including a large a number of public workshops and participation events for people of all ages and abilities.

For more information go to www.thebody.co.nz

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 26 Top Shop 2012 Gala Dinner The Top Shop Retail Excellence Awards are open to all retailers in Christchurch, Wellington, Auckland and Waikato. The best retailer can win it's category and compete to be the Overall Top Shop winner in its region. To celebrate the success of all retailers a black tie awards evening will be held. For more information email topshop@retail.org.nz

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 27 Essential skills for Administrators – Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce A dynamic course, where attendees will gain knowledge and an understanding of the diverse role of the administrator and develop skills and strategies necessary for the effective functioning of this pivotal position. To register go to www.cecc.org.nz

TUESDAY OCT 16 – NOV 13 Essential Supervision Skills Programme – Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce This course will give you the essential skills and practical tools to be a team leader and or supervisor and make the transition from individual team member to team leader.

The programme offers five modules in total, spread over five weeks and will give you the opportunity to develop your skills in manageable chunks, as well as undertake activities between sessions to assist in transference of learning to the workplace.

To register go to www.cecc.org.nz

News | Property

Is the boom back?

By Olly Newland

Real estate agents Barfoot and Thompson recently released their sale figures for May and the result are very encouraging.

“The Auckland housing market experienced its busiest May trading in nine years, with the average sales price increasing by 2.5 percent in a month to $582,285. The market showed no signs of the slowdown that normally occurs as we approach winter,” says Peter Thompson, managing director of Barfoot & Thompson. “Sales for the month at 1,165 were the highest in a May since 2003, and were 31 percent higher than for the same month last year, and up 55.3 percent on last month.”

Barfoots are Auckland’s biggest residential real estate agents by far, and similar reports are coming in from other agencies large and small. We appear to have the beginnings of a major upswing in prices and demand, after several years of flat-lining, or, in some areas sliding back.

It’s not a boom yet, but we may not be far off at this rate. A boom has a prolonged and ‘solid’ feel and it’s clearly not there yet. The signs are encouraging (if a boom is what you want). These results, on top of the other indicators, show there’s life in broader real estate.

Of course this applies only to Auckland for the time being, but you can be certain that the effect will slowly but surely spread through the other main centres. As to be expected, not everywhere in the country is benefiting at present. Many smaller towns and cities are still mired in recession going nowhere.

But there are strong signals there is more to come…

Interest rates One of the major signals is the fact that already low interest rates are continuing to fall rapidly. It wouldn’t surprise me if we

“

Look at it this way;

lower interest rates

are in effect a wage rise by other means, and a better way to prevent a cost/price spiral from forming.

This in turn makes property investment more attractive.

”

eventually end up with the cash rate set by the Reserve Bank between one and two percent and mortgage rates in the three to four percent range.

With the troubles in Europe and USA, investors will continue to put money into New Zealand because of our stability and stronger banks. Governments around the world continue to print money out of thin air to try to deal with the GFC and European debt woes. These factors will push rates worldwide down further still and, barring unforeseen events, I am picking rates will stay down for a long time yet.

Look at it this way; lower interest rates are in effect a wage rise by other means, and a better way to prevent a cost price spiral from forming. This in turn makes property investment more attractive.

We have seen this already with several commercial properties recently selling in Auckland for around the four percent yield mark, which was unheard of until now.

Olly Newland

Property Consultant Impartial, expert guidance

For an obligation-free session with Olly, call: 0800 66 22 80

Where is the pressure coming from?

• Very little new construction of ‘affordable’ housing

• A decade worth of houses lost through the leaky home crisis

• The tragic earthquake in Christchurch destroyed thousands of homes

• The huge add-on costs of building new houses, not to mention GST and council fees

• Immigrants who consider NZ as a paradise for housing as compared to the overcrowded towns and cities they come from

One of the traps for beginners is to regard the CV (Council Valuation) which is carried out for rating purposes, as an indicator of market price, and assume the property will sell for around that figure. As often as not, the end price bears little relation to the CV. This can be caused by a number of factors such as major upgrades having been done since the last CV, or the downward value of plaster-clad homes.

In my view, CVs are best ignored or if used, seen as a very rough guide only.

• Lower interest rates which allow greater borrowing

• Rising rents due to the shortage of housing and recent tax disincentives all of which act as major upward drivers of prices.

With more than 45 years in the property game, Olly Newland provides a consulting and mentoring service for people committed to make serious progress with property investments.

Whether it be buying, selling, holding or troubleshooting. If you’re interested in knowing more, visit Olly’s webpage at www.ollynewland.co.nz

Get skilled advice on residential and commercial property investment from Olly Newland, reknowned property expert, author & Authorised Financial Advisor.

Purchasing, selling & managing property.

‘No problems - only solutions.’

Personal, One-to-one, Confidential

www.ollynewland.co.nz www.canterburytoday.co.nz September/October 2012 | 11

News | Business Security / Centre City Return

Stop criminals before they get into your business Nearly 16,000 unlawful entries and burglaries were reported in Canterbury last year, so the obvious question is; is your business protecting itself against intruders and theft?

surprise them before they get in, there is a far greater chance they will disappear – as they are not yet fully committed to the crime.”

In today’s environment it is a given you are going to require an alarm and it really needs to be professionally monitored. Technology now enables this to happen online in real time. “With an internet connection and well Those likely to enter your property with ill intent are smarter and more brazen than ever. placed cameras and lights that turn on if the perimeter is breached (through the use As security technology gets smarter – so too of security beams or movement detectors) do those trying to avoid detection. through video feed we can instantly see what With Christchurch moving closer to rebuilding, that breach is and if the police or security the team at Ross Galt Security recommend company needs to be called. “ businesses take a proactive and integrated There are many different deterrents that approach to their security options – both can be used on the exterior of a premise. electronic and traditional security; locks, Once a breech has occurred you can have a keyless entry systems and secure storage. staged series of security measures activate Ross Galt Security divisional manager Peter – including alarms, lights, sirens, and voiced Erridge says if you are rebuilding, you need warnings the intruder is being watched. to factor security into your overall plan right from the start. “Make the right initial “Your external line of defence is important investment into protecting your people and - the more barriers you have between them property, and you will ultimately save time and their target – the interior of your business, and many dollars. the less likely they are to gain entry.”

“When looking at your security system, you do have to plan for the worst case scenario.

We work with businesses to work through the ‘what ifs’ and find solutions that provide the right outcome for that individual business and its budget.”

If someone gains entry to your building, they are committed, Erridge says. “If you can

The Ross Galt Security division is a new initiative of the leading Christchurch lock and key company, in direct response to the earthquakes. The rebuild and repair of business and commercial premises across the region provides an opportunity for businesses to integrate security more seamlessly into the overall construction of their buildings.

“With over 40 years in the industry, we consult with project managers, construction companies, insurers, architects and business owners, providing the very best quality solutions.”

Erridge says even the smallest business needs to make their property, premise and people secure and he urges all companies to seek professional advice. “There are reliable solutions to meet every budget.”

Peter Erridge

Heading back to the centre The return to central Christchurch for Malley & Co Lawyers is a signal of intent; the company has faith that a thriving city centre will once again be realised.

As the doors to its new Colombo Street office opened on July 30, its previous Cathedral Square office was being slowly reduced to a small pile of rubble.

Partner and acting general manager, John Shingleton says the 115 year old Canterbury firm has always had a central city presence and it was important for them to be among the pioneers leading the charge back to the heart of the city.

“We could sit back and wait to see what happens, but we truly and strongly believe there are exciting years ahead for the centre of town. As a firm, and as a city, I believe we have to look to the future.

of the building code, has an exposed wall section in the boardroom.

“The wall has been left open and a section of the reinforcement of the super-structure is exposed, allowing everyone to understand the engineering behind the safety work the building has undergone. It’s quite arty actually and in Christchurch this could be a modern Throughout the 15 month upheaval, Malley approach to architecture,” he quips. & Co has grown and thrived. An additional two lawyers, a paralegal and several Additionally, the firm has strengthened its administrative people have been added to internal health and safety policies and upservice their growing clientele. skilled many in advanced first aid.

Since February last year, the 26-strong team has been split, some working from the company’s existing office in Hornby, the rest squeezing into a two temporary offices “The next five to 10 years in Christchurch in Riccarton and Church Corner. “Getting the will see many exciting things happen and team back into one space has always been Christchurch is going to become a modern and important, allowing us to re-establish the vibrant place to be – not just to work in, but total team culture.” for visitors and the wider community, and we “Working in separate spaces has seen sub want to be part of that.” cultures and different idiosyncrasies emerge Trepidation around going back to the centre in the individual offices. Part of this extends of town is a real emotion among the team. from the traumatic events we have been Being on the 10th floor during the quake, eye through, part as a direct response to the level with the Christchurch Cathedral tower as altered working environment. Like everyone it fell from sight, was an experience no one in Christchurch, we have undergone many at Malley & Co will forget. To help combat any changes as a team, but we have always been reservations the team has, the new premises, committed to getting the team back together as soon as possible.” which has been strengthened to 100 percent 12 | September/October 2012 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

The move to ASB 518 - 518 Colombo Street is again only a temporary one as they await the completion of a new building in the same block. “We have made a long-term commitment to this central city neighbourhood.”

While many businesses will remain entrenched in the suburbs, Shingleton believes the move back to the central city will see Malley & Co, and the other like-minded businesses, playing an important role, as they contribute to the buzz and lifeline the city needs as it rebuilds.

Since February 2011 Malley & Co were on the 10th floor of the Grant Thornton Building, currently being demolished. Shingleton says it’s quite ironic

that as they make plans to move back into the central city, their previous CBD base is being ripped down. “The team have been watching the demolition with interest and spotted, through the frontage that has been ripped away, my treasured signed Black Caps jersey still hanging on the wall of my office. It’s a small thing – but it’s a vivid reminder of how much we lost that day when we walked out of the building.”

While Malley & Co have been allowed back in to the building since the quake – it was for a limited time to retrieve original deed documents only.

Ensuring data security has always been a priority, however since the quakes, Malley & Co has invested into improved administrative systems. While their back-up server was located off site and the firm did retrieved all files up to 5pm on February 21, they have now installed a system were all data storage happens off site, providing an even more robust system.

News | Business Tips

Do your meetings suck?

By Stephen Lynch

I read a survey recently where participants were asked “What frustrates you most about meetings at work?.”

You want everyone being able to say “We hit our targets, and we nailed our project milestones,” rather than having a whole lot of projects still up in the air, with staff still grinding away day after day, and never feeling the thrill of victory. You want the team to be able to pop the cork and celebrate their achievements at the end of every quarter, not feel like failures.

The top reported frustrations about meetings were:

Everyone has a huge ‘to do’ list of things they could be doing – but what is the one thing - the one tangible bite-sized action they can complete this week that will move each project forward?

• No clear purpose or objective for the meeting • Meeting doesn’t start on time, stay on track, or finish on time • Repeating information for late arrivals • Too long • Not organised. No agenda • No specific action items or tasks assigned

If they can just get that ‘one thing’ done – that is the secret to strategic execution. Anything else they may accomplish during the week is a bonus – but everyone must know what their one thing is relating to each project. In many cases this also means being able to say “no” to anything else that comes up, and protecting your people from distractions.

• Allowing attendees to ramble

“

Meetings are crucial to drive effective business execution. Whether it is a weekly team meeting, a project meeting, or your weekly one-on-one meetings with your direct reports - it is vital that leaders learn how to run effective meetings.

”

Business execution is not about working hard, • Weak presenter (unprepared, not inspiring or or being busy. It is about everyone taking the right action - each and every week – and motivating). nailing that one thing.

Some writers say there should be fewer Leaders must follow up at every meeting and meetings. What nonsense! The number of hold each of their people firmly accountable meetings is not the issue – the problem is for commitments made. most companies do not know how to create and run great meetings.

Fortunately, business execution software Meetings are crucial to drive effective business execution. Whether it is a weekly team meeting, a project meeting, or your weekly one-on-one meetings with your direct reports - it is vital leaders learn how to run effective meetings.

As a leader, your aim is for everyone in your team to finish each quarter with a sense of satisfaction and achievement.

makes the leader’s job easier. You can create specific meeting agendas, and then use the software to drive the meeting and keep things on track. You can track everyone’s progress, and assign new tasks. It makes the job of holding people accountable so much easier.

Running effective meetings is one of the key skills business leaders must master.

What your company can learn from the military

By Stephen Lynch

Many modern management books write dismissively of the so-called “command and control” style of leadership (except of course when Steve Jobs was doing the commanding), and infer that this so-called military style of leadership does not apply in the modern business environment.

I wonder how familiar the authors are with how much the modern military has evolved – and how effectively they have overcome many of the challenges business leaders are only just learning how to master. Here is our take, derived from a blog in Three Star Leadership.

As we move from an industrial-based society to a knowledge-based society, it has become clearer individual employees on the front lines require the autonomy to make their own decisions in order to achieve high performance and feel fully engaged.

In order for employees to make the good decisions however, the organisation needs to have a clear strategy to begin with – a strategy that is well communicated throughout the company, a coherent strategy which all staff are aligned to in terms of their individual strategic priorities.

Only when you have a well communicated, coherent strategy will employees have a clear context for their decision making and know

14 | September/October 2012 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

the “right actions” to take; how to behave, what to say yes to and what to say no to.

There are far too many variables which occur on a day to day basis for “orders” to apply to every situation. This applies to warfare as well as business. Top military organisations use what they call a “mission order” to drive strategic execution.

equipment, training, mentoring and support the results are increased productivity, morale, innovation and agility.

• Do you provide clear strategic objectives for your people?

• Do you provide the appropriate equipment, training, mentoring and support?

A mission order could be compared to a strategic priority a business leader chooses for the quarter. It defines clearly the strategic objective that needs to be implemented without specifying “how” it should be accomplished.

• Do you let staff make decisions about “how” to accomplish the objectives?

The US Marines describe it like this: “We leave the manner of accomplishing the mission to the subordinate, allowing them the freedom to take whatever steps deemed necessary based on the situation. The senior prescribes the method of execution only to the degree that is essential for coordination.”

Elite military units seem to do a far better job than most businesses at getting this right.

The military has learned when clear strategic direction is given – along with appropriate

• Do you measure progress every step of the way and hold them firmly accountable for results?

Stephen Lynch is the chief operating officer of Global Operations at RESULTS.com and the information on this page was kindly provided by RESULTS.com: www.results.com

News | Local Moves

Local moves Moving an entire furniture-manufacturing workshop and showroom into a new premises with less than one week’s notice would have seemed impossible in pre-earthquake Christchurch.

But in these ‘new-normal’ times, learning that your building does not come anywhere close to meeting the building code due to earthquake damage and having to vacate almost immediately, simply means you begin to think outside the square and do what has to be done.

Davies Furniture found itself in this position after receiving its detailed engineering report in mid June – less than a week later, it had entered into a formal business collaboration with another furniture manufacturer, Southern Creations.

While circumstances beyond anyone’s control forced this collaboration, from it has come The Design Workshop - a manufacturing space where the three quality brands – Southern Creations, Davies Furniture and newly launched bespoke brand Tréology are made.

Andrew Davies, managing director of the more than 50-year-old Davies Furniture, says it opens up an entirely new world of opportunities for both businesses. When the long-established family business received the engineering report – it just had to get out and get up and running again as soon as possible.

“It just had to be done; we had a duty to our staff to get them out of there immediately.

While it was a totally unexpected curveball, we just had to forge on.”

The report, placing the building somewhere between five – 10 percent of code arrived on a Wednesday. On Thursday, Andrew called Blair Quane, director at Southern Creations – another furniture manufacturer he had met several times at industry functions.

“By the end of that meeting we had agreed that we would enter into a joint venture and merge our operational processes and create the Design Workshop which would become the factory for the three brands we produced between us.”

On Friday, each business shared the news and re-structuring plans with their teams and the move began the following Monday. Over the week, the majority of the specialist machinery from Davies Furniture was moved into the modern and structurally sound Bromley workshop already occupied by Southern Creations. By the Friday, the Design Workshop was in full production.

Establishing and entering into a business arrangement of this sort and merging two teams and factories is normally a complex and lengthy process. To call what these two astute and forward-thinking business owners achieved in only days, impressive, is an understatement.

How did they achieve so much in so little time?

We just did not have the luxury of time, Blair says. “When Andrew came to me with this idea, from the outset we knew we had to be totally transparent and honest with each other. There is absolutely no room for smoke and mirrors.”

Andrew says it was about finding a solution that worked equally for both businesses. “We are both open-minded and mature enough

“

We are both open-

Blair Quane (right) and Andrew Davies in The Design Workshop

minded and mature

enough in business to

understand that losing control over some areas is a strength.

It was vital to get a balance between what was important versus

”

what was urgent.

- Andrew Davies

in business to understand that losing control over some areas is a strength. It was vital to get a balance between what was important versus what was urgent.”

Again both business owners recognise their experience and confidence in their teams to collaborate and turn a difficult situation into one where they had control. “This sense of inclusion and empowerment gives us a great base to further build our businesses. If we were micro-managing our respective teams – this could have been a nightmare,” Blair adds.

The third brand now being produced under the Design Workshop collaboration is Tréology which produces high-end, sustainable bespoke furniture and timber art from 100 percent New Zealand timber.

The brand is positioned to sell into the American and European markets and was launched in the US in June. “We had only just got off the plane from America after a hugely successful trip, when we learnt about the engineering report. That sure brought us down off our high in a hurry.”

While this was not what either business saw for its future, both men are confident and excited at what the future holds. Throughout the process, and as they continue to smooth out the bumps in the road, each recognises the importance of having solid advisors to help with the process, total transparency, regular review periods, an open mind and the desire to embrace change. “Oh and a sense of humour helps,” they both quip.

“This amalgamation and pooling of resources and the mixing of cultures of two businesses is challenging, but it is an opportunity and everyone is passionately committed to making it work,” Andrew adds.

Post-earthquake Christchurch is a different place; business is done differently, people think differently and the creativity and embodiment of the Kiwi “can do” spirit has never been more obvious – Davies Furniture and Southern Creations are a living testament to this.

While the two businesses retain their individual identity – Blair takes operational control of all manufacturing and Andrew assumes the role of sales and marketing across all three brands.

“While we had to make the time to talk through the issues and find the best path forward, we both still had businesses to run. Keeping up continuity of supply to our customers was vital,” Andrew adds.

While the move came as a shock to both teams, Andrew and Blair comment they have been impressed with who has stepped up within the teams and taken on greater leadership roles.

The Davies Furniture team is now employed directly under the Design Workshop model.

While two of the team opted to leave the company due to longer travel commitments, the remaining staff were offered a position under the new model.

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For more than a year, Davies Furniture has been working at empowering its team and encouraging each person to grow their position into one of increased independence.

“We have a strong culture, shared values and a dedication to excellence. As a team we have worked together to ensure every person is valued and contributes to the growth of the company.

“The work we have been doing has really paid off through this move. Every one of the team has immense pride in their work, our products and the company. Through this move, we have allowed everyone to play their part. The set-up of the workshop was left entirely to the guys who would be using it. The craftsman from both companies worked together to figure out how everything would come together and work best.”

For Reservation: +64 09 925 0777 or or res@achhobson.co.nz 157 Hobson St, Auckland | www.achhobson.co.nz www.canterburytoday.co.nz September/October 2012 | 15

Cover Story | Sophie Pascoe

No mean feat

By Karen Pasco

During the past two years swimmer Sophie Pascoe has clocked up more than 5,700km in the pool – the equivalent of swimming the length of New Zealand three-and-a-half times.

For mere mortals it seems a staggering achievement; for this Paralympian it’s simply what had to be done in order to successfully defend the gold medals she won at Beijing four years ago, when she hits London this September.

Sophie Pascoe set her first goal at just 10 years of age. At the time she divulged this goal to her much-loved grandfather, who was dying of cancer, by way of a promise.

“The last thing I said to him before he passed was ‘I want to win a gold medal for you’.” He never got to see her win any of the three gold medals or the silver at Beijing only five years later, but she kept her promise to him – and it was him she thought of on the winning dais.

Photos supplied by Hannah Johnston

“

I actually think the biggest pressure is from myself. I put very high expectations on myself, I always have. I’m kind of like a perfectionist. In Beijing I was the unexpected who came out of nowhere.

This year I’ve got to expect the unexpected – that’s what I train for.

- Paralympian Sophie Pascoe

”

This determination and clarity at such a young age may have transpired because of the loss of part of her left leg and severe scarring on her right at 2 ½ years, as a result of an accident involving a ride-on mower. Her determination and clear focus may have been there anyway – no one will know, but there is no doubt it is these characteristics that have been instrumental in her success on the world swimming stage.

She started in the pool like other kiwi kids – through swimming lessons. She found swimming in a group hard and confesses she wasn’t very good at it. “Mum then enrolled me in one-on-one sessions with a swim tutor with the help of a grant from the Halberg Trust so I could learn a lot easier. That year I had the school swimming sports where I bet my good friend who had two legs and that’s when I thought to myself I have a talent here.”

Up until she was about eight, she swam solely just because she enjoyed it. But in the same year she competed in the CCS Independent Games where she caught the eye of talent spotters. Actually Paralympians Roly Crichton and Graham Condon would’ve had to have been blindfolded not to recognise her ability – she won every single class in her age group.

“They got me out of the pool and asked if I wanted to join the QEII swim squad and if I wanted to represent New Zealand later in life.” Her answer was an unequivocal yes.

This was the introduction to Roly who would become Sophie’s coach, mentor and friend and would be the man pivotal in her success.

She began with the squad and only a few years later travelled to Australia for her first international meet – bringing home a medal haul of seven golds at just age 11. But the real surprise came in 2006, when at just 13, she won bronze in the 200m individual medley at the IPC World Championships in Durban, South Africa.

Her Paralympic feat in 2008, at 15 years of age, astounded many. Her medal haul of three golds in the 200m individual medley,

16 | September/October 2012 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

100m breaststroke, 100m backstroke (where she also broke the world record) and silver in the 100m butterfly came as a surprise to both competitors and perhaps her own family.

“Definitely it was everything. One thing you can never explain to people is being up on that podium. No one has the understanding of the life you’ve gone through, the life you’ve chosen which is completely different to anyone. Once you’ve finally achieved that goal the emotional relief and space after that is unreal.”

That medal haul combined with success in the past four years (where she has continued to break world records) has meant a step up in training in preparation for London. There are 10 to 11 swim sessions each week as well as three gym sessions. This campaign has also seen the introduction of high altitude training which sees her travelling to Flagstaff in Arizona, United States.

Having confidence in her own ability means she is quite vocal about what she wants to achieve this time around. She admits that the one who is hardest on her to achieve it is her.

“I actually think the biggest pressure is from myself. I put very high expectations on myself, I always have. I’m kind of like a perfectionist. In Beijing I was the unexpected who came out of nowhere. This year I’ve got to expect the unexpected – that’s what I train for.”

Like any job there are days when she would rather not be there, but she knows in order to reach her goal, she needs to follow the prescription of time in the pool and gym.

“You’ve got to do it – got to get up for the job. There are days that I hate it and days I love it. Those days (when you hate it) make you stronger. You do realise if you miss a session you can’t make up for it – that’s the life of being an athlete. You’ve just got to get through those harder days and push yourself.”

This lifestyle means she does not have the lifestyle of your average New Zealand young adult. “I wouldn’t call it sacrificing. I chose to be in sport for a reason, to be the best in the world. Obviously you have goals. You want to achieve them to the best of your ability. To do so you have to make these right choices.”

Cover Story | Sophie Pascoe

There are days, like any other job, where Sophie doesn’t enjoy it as much. There are long stretches away from family and friends as well as the need to rest a lot between training sessions. “It can be lonely. When you’re in that dead space (resting) when you have your own time you can get into the bad area. “That’s when I do rely on the support from family, friends and sometimes junk food.”

To counteract the loneliness she now has a training partner, Alex Laidlaw. Alex is a New Zealand open swimmer who is the same age as Sophie and also lives in Christchurch. She will also accompany Sophie to Flagstaff for her next lot of altitude training just prior to the London Paralympics which start on 29 August.

Pertinent at these times is her coach Roly.

After all the years they have been together he is quick to read when things are not going so well and can adapt training accordingly. But his support also spurs her on to get on with the job.

“I’ve been with him for 11 years he’s a huge influence. He’s been to the Paralympics – he’s been there, done that. He wants the best out of me and I want to do my best for him – we push each other to be the best. He’s there waiting for me at the pool every day. I don’t want to let him down as much as he doesn’t want to let me down.”

There have been two skin graft surgeries on her right leg since Beijing which didn’t go to plan and set her training back a bit. But like always she shrugs it off and says she has

just had to get on with it. Dealing with the setbacks seems just like part and parcel of the job.

When it comes to race day she has a routine she sticks to. She sets a time plan the night before and her team is all aware of what is on it and when it will happen. “Everyone knows where I stand and knows when they are needed. I like to be on my own on race day. I don’t like to be really in contact with anybody unless I choose to be. The plan is from when I wake up to when I have to race and also after racing.”

This time she won’t be the wide-eyed 15-year-old she was in Beijing. “I’m older more mature. I know what to expect at a competition and I’ve learnt a lot along the way. I’m the only one that’s done the training.

You know you have to be 100 percent physically and mentally ready on the day. If I’m not nervous I’m not ready to race. I can now get my head space into the nervous space needed and when I do that I know that I’m ready to go.”

“

You’ve got to do it – got to get up for the job.

There are days that I hate it and days I love it. Those days (when you hate it) make you stronger. You do realise if you miss a session you can’t make up for it – that’s the life of being an athlete. You’ve just got to get through those harder days and push yourself.

Paralympian Sophie Pascoe

”

The people who she has been most influenced by are her family. “I’m really lucky that I was brought up in a family where I was never treated any differently by anybody.”

Her mum, dad, nana and aunty will all be in the stands at London watching, hoping and cheering for her – for her it is important to know they are there. “They’re the only ones that know what I really go through and what it takes to be an athlete. For them to be there to share that moment is just as important for me as it is for them.”

www.canterburytoday.co.nz September/October 2012 | 17

News | Small Steps

Small Steps to a more productive and efficient business

By Karen Pasco

Sometimes it is the little things that can make a huge difference to productivity and cost savings. Each may seem like just a little adjustment, but on mass can turn your whole business around and create a working environment that is more productive and efficient.

Overheads Eliminate unnecessary lighting – install motion detectors to control lighting in frequently unoccupied areas, such as restrooms and copy rooms.

Keep a close watch on energy consumption – set your thermostats to a lower temperature, turn off all appliances when they’re not in use and encourage staff to shut down their computers when they’re out of the office.

Look at paper usage – implement paperreducing strategies such as double-sided printing and reusing paper. You’ll save some trees, too!

Font and font size – is the font you’re using embellished? For instance, Century Gothic doesn’t use as much ink as Arial when printing. If you also reduce your font size from 12 to 10 or 11, then you will reduce the ink you use therefore reducing costs.

Negotiate, negotiate, negotiate – suppliers definitely don’t want to lose business so you have a real power to pull them down to the lowest possible cost. As long as service and quality are not compromised, then you can make some big savings.

Communication and marketing Communicate on online forums and message boards - you’ll interact with potential clients and customers — for free.

Be responsive – if you are going to use social media as a marketing tool, make sure you follow up any feedback you receive — watch for and respond to comments, questions and especially complaints. And when you are contacted as a result of offline marketing activities, respond quickly and professionally.

Start a blog – you can advertise, review your offerings and give free tips as often as you’d like without worrying about running up your budget.

Use Skype – instead of running up a hefty travel bill make the most of this free service.

Speak, pause, listen - when you have several topics to tackle, rushing through them to get all of your ideas out may be tempting.

But this causes confusion and makes staff feel their input is not important. Slow down, and remember communication is a two-way street. Establish a give-and-take that allows both parties to have their say.

Ask for feedback - one way to maintain long-term relationships with your clients is by keeping open lines of communication.

This means asking them for their input on how things are going and how they feel about the service you’re providing. This can 18 | September/October 2012 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

be accomplished by inquiring at the end of a project, during day-to-day conversations or through formal surveys.

Staff productivity Get more organised – individuals and businesses can get through a multitude of work with careful planning and organisation.

List your tasks, prioritise them and track the progress. You’ll find you get through more with a less haphazard approach.

Cost vs task - are you paying someone an unsightly amount per hour to do menial tasks.

Look at the tasks of each of your employees and yourself. Think about getting in a student or part-time worker to complete these tasks so you and your staff can be more cost effective.

Create some competitiveness – set goals and targets for your team members. This may provide a little healthy competition which will increase productivity. Ensure you have short term and long term goals and make sure everyone knows their contribution towards reaching them.

Do we need to do this? – look at all tasks performed within your business. Are you completing some processes just because they are historical or are they essential? Are some processes being duplicated by different people? Can the process be pared down or done when completing another task to save time? Check with staff who complete the jobs – often they have great solutions to

how things can be done more effectively and efficiently.

Be a positive person - present an attitude of positivity and approachability. Show staff you are available and willing to help them. Walk around with a smile, and make eye contact with those you pass in the hallways. Be friendly, pleasant and nice. Talk with kindness, encouragement, civility, and respect. Ask questions before making assumptions. Listen to others with interest.

Environment Look at the space – does your office reflect the needs of your staff? Do people’s jobs require them to interact with other staff members yet everyone is tucked away in their own office?

Are some people’s job sensitive or require privacy and yet they are in an open-plan environment. To get the most out of your staff and provide a productive workplace, match the space to the jobs.

Mobility When you lay your office out you can choose to have straight paths throughout your floor plan. However, it may be worth investigating paths that wind and curve around different work areas to offer a bit of variety to the work day. Worker morale is important to productivity, and if winding paths to get from one department to another help to break the feeling of structure and a rigid workplace, then it is something worth looking into.

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News | Rebuilding Christchurch

Mapping out our future

By Corazon Miller

The blueprint designed to put the heart back into the garden city’s CBD is out.

It has been heralded on one hand as an ambitious plan and lambasted by others for taking the focus away from those in the earthquake-damaged suburbs.

The plans for our city’s future are undeniable pretty, with the proposed “green” frame around a small compact inner-city core including a state-of-the-art stadium, metro sports facility, a performing arts precinct and a new convention centre.

But in the days after the Christchurch City Development Unit (CCDU) released its plans on July 30, among the words of praise, questions were also being raised around funding logistics and the situation in the seemingly forgotten suburbs.

A step forward Politicians at the blueprint’s official launch heralded the new plan, saying it was a step to a bigger and brighter future for Christchurch.

Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee gave his stamp of approval; “I am very pleased to endorse the blueprint the CCDU have created, I believe this is the start of a hugely exciting future for our city.”

Prime Minister John Key affirmed Mr Brownlee’s statement, labelling it an exciting step towards rebuilding and recovering the garden city. “Many lives were tragically lost and thousands of homes and buildings destroyed in the earthquake on February 22 last year. This redevelopment of the city will be a testament to the past as well as an important step to the future.”

He added the end result will be a new Christchurch, built on the foundation of ideas provided by those who live, work and play there; adapted to ensure the city can be accessed and enjoyed by all who visit.

What about the rest?

But for some, this was not enough. As the launch was happening, outside the civic offices a group of impassioned protestors were chanting for the politicians to act on their word.

The TC3 Residents Group had gathered and were calling for action, acknowledging that a vibrant and economically viable city is indeed needed, but such a disparity between the recovery of the CBD and the suburbs is unfathomable.

Spokesperson for the group Kiri Hider points out the suburbs have been seriously neglected and while committed and continued energy has been spent on a blueprint for the city, the suburbs are decaying further.

“It is difficult to understand the importance placed on a roof for a stadium when the roof over our own head is so uncertain. It is heartbreaking that our elderly in TC3 wait, knowing that their homes will probably not be fixed in their lifetime and yet a convention centre is identified as a priority. When did commercial necessity become more important than people? Why can’t the suburban recovery take place at a rate that parallels that of the CBD?” Mr Brownlee, while not speaking directly to the protestors, told those gathered inside at the launch that the cries of TC3 were welcome. “On a day we are announcing moving forward, there are people who are gathered announcing that we are not moving fast enough… that shows passion and that is good.”

Mr Key also took a moment to acknowledge the voices of those in the suburbs saying they were not forgotten and plans were being made for them, but this plan for the CBD was imperative to create an economic and cultural fabric for the city.

many top-class facilities within such a small geographical area.”

Fonterra CEO Theo Spierings points out the plan will provide numerous economic benefits, helping businesses in Canterbury to get back on track. He says the blueprint will provide the necessary infrastructure and certainty that businesses are looking for. “We see the announcement as a very positive step forward which will provide the momentum for businesses to re-establish or grow their operations in the Christchurch area.”

Business dealing It is these businesses Mr Key said would benefit from the anchor projects. “We are announcing these anchor projects to provide certainty to the private sector, which is interested in investing in other projects around them such as hotels, restaurants and retail developments,” he says.

BusinessNZ CEO Phil O’Reilly says the new urban centre will certainly be a significant area for businesses. He says to make the most of the opportunity it is important businesses are fully involved in the development. Mr Magnetic attraction O’Reilly points out negotiation between Indeed a number of business folk have spoken parties will be important in order to maximise out in favour, labelling the plan as a bold and such business engagement. innovative design to put Christchurch back on “Governance arrangements that are fit for the global map – for the right reasons. purpose are required so that business is treated fairly in the process and is best able Christchurch and Canterbury Tourism CEO Tim to contribute to the development,” he says.

Hunter is of the opinion the rebuild will put “Private investors are being sought now and Christchurch on track to becoming one of the they are likely to provide the bulk of the greatest cities in Australasia. “This blueprint sets out a very clear vision for the central city investment for the new development.” and really shapes Christchurch as a city of the Mr Key says the Government will ultimately 21st century – a place where everyone will take responsibility for funding the areas in want to come and stay,” Mr Hunter says. which it holds primary responsibility. “For those anchor projects where the Government “It keeps the best of the Garden City’s urban has the primary responsibility such as layout our forefathers created, enhancing the hospital redevelopment, justice and the ‘city in a garden’ image by adding more emergency precinct and education facilities, parks and by shrinking the size of the CBD into a more compact, people-friendly space… we will get on and get them done for the good of the city,” he said. few other cities in the world would have as

20 | September/October 2012 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

However he says the other anchor projects which are more in the nature of civic assets, such as the stadium, convention centre and metro sports facility, will need to be worked out between the Christchurch City Council and the private sector.

But money doesn’t grow on trees...

It is this uncertainty as to how and where the money for these civic assets will come from that has generated some reticence within the Green Party.

“I have asked for information about discussions between Minister Gerry Brownlee and the Christchurch City Council on selling the city’s assets but that information has been withheld by the Minister,” Green Party Christchurch spokesperson Eugenie Sage said shortly after the blueprint’s plans were made public.

“We have received through the OIA (Official Information Act) a Treasury report on cost sharing discussions with the Council that has every word but the title blacked out.

Ms Sage pointed out it is important to know we can afford such an ambitious plan without putting pressure on the city council to sell Christchurch’s well performing assets “Christchurch International Airport, Orion, and Lyttelton Port Company are strategic and regionally important assets. The dividends and revenue stream they pay the Council helps ensure Christchurch rates remain low.

Christchurch International Airport provided $16 million in profits attributable to the Council last year, Lyttleton Port Company $19 million, and Orion provided $25.4 million.

“The investment model to achieve our new city centre needs to be one that can maintain these excellent public assets,” she said. “The public want to keep our assets and this great new plan for the city centre can’t come at the cost of that.

News | Rebuilding Christchurch

The grand plan Te Puna Ahurea Cultural Centre A world-class cultural centre is proposed for the central city as a focal point for cultural celebration and diversity. It will reflect and celebrate Ngai Tahu and Maori culture and acknowledge Christchurchâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s place and connections within the Pacific region.

The Earthquake Memorial The memorial will be a place where people can reflect and honour those who died or were injured. It will have local, national and international significance.

Because it is such a significant project, it should begin early, not be rushed, and involve the community. The Ministry of Culture and Heritage, Christchurch City Council, and Ngai Tahu, will work together to identify the site and begin the community consultation and design process.

Convention Centre Precinct A world-class convention centre will be developed to attract new and exciting events to the city. The precinct will contain a number of buildings that will reactivate surrounding streets and public spaces. It will support retail and hospitality activities within the core, and visitor attractions and services throughout central Christchurch.

The convention centre will be an iconic building and change the way people think about convention centres.

It will be able to accommodate several events at one time, initially with space for up to 2000 people in total.

Performing Arts Precinct A new performing arts recinct is proposed to offer facilities for music and the performing arts. It could include a centre featuring two auditoria of 1500 and 500 seats respectively, and could also include a permanent home for the Court Theatre, the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra and the Music Centre of Christchurch. It will be located at the northern end of the core, and be complemented by many other arts and cultural projects elsewhere in the city.

Te Puna Ahurea Cultural Centre

Metro Sports Facility The new Metro Sports facility will be a top-class venue and centre of excellence, accessible to people of all ages, abilities and skills. Providing aquatic and indoor sports facilities, it will cater for the day-to-day needs of the recreational, educational and high-performance sporting communities.

It will be capable of hosting national and international events.

Blueprint Anchor Stadium

Stadium The stadium will be a multipurpose, largescale venue that can host international events and concerts. Its proposed location is next to the southeast corner of the core.

It will be well-connected to main transport routes and within easy walking distance of the central city.

03 341 8442 0800 4 NZVel 0800 4 69835 Email: info@nzvel.com www.canterburytoday.co.nzâ&#x20AC;&#x192;â&#x20AC;&#x192; September/October 2012 | 21

Interview | carboNZero

Zero tolerance

By Karen Pasco

It’s difficult to find a hotter topic right now than climate change and the extent of our impact upon it. Considering what’s at stake, the old stiff-upper-lip approach of ‘keep calm and carry on’ doesn’t really cut it, and this is where carboNZero comes in.

The carboNZero programme was established in 2001 by Landcare Research New Zealand Limited. The programme is based on more than a decade of research on climate change, greenhouse gas measurement and carbon monitoring.

Its goal is to provide robust tools for individuals, organisations and events to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions or carbon footprint with the highest level of credibility and integrity.

Karen Pasco talks to carboNZero acting chief executive Ann Smith about the programme, her role in it and what they’re trying to achieve.

What is the carboNZero programme?

“The carboNZero programme is a scheme that provides the rules and guidance for individuals, companies’ products and services to be certified as carbon neutral.”

Why was it introduced?

“Initially, the carboNZero programme was introduced for individuals and companies wanting to take action to reduce their climate change impacts. Individuals were concerned about the impacts of their air travel. Companies were concerned about the impacts of energy use and freight to overseas markets. In the mid-1990s there was an overseas campaign that targeted the ‘food miles’ associated with New Zealand exports.”

What research prompted its introduction?

“In the early 1990s, Landcare Research had a number of research programmes that focused on measuring greenhouse gas emissions and carbon monitoring. This research linked the concept of rewarding landowners for restoring native forest on land where production was marginally profitable with companies wishing to reduce the impacts of their carbon footprint. Through this research, Landcare Research created the first carbon credits in New Zealand and facilitated the first examples of companies becoming carbon neutral. The carboNZero programme resulted from this research.”

How does it work?

“You (individuals and companies) measure your carbon footprint, put in place a plan to reduce your carbon emissions and offset your remaining unavoidable emissions by purchasing carbon credits. The carboNZero programme then audits your carbon footprint and emissions reduction plan and certifies that you have met the requirements or rules of the programme. Companies that measure and reduce their carbon footprint can choose to be CEMARS certified (Certified Emissions Measurement and Reduction Scheme).”

What impact has its introduction had?

“The carboNZero programme has influenced the development of the voluntary carbon market in New Zealand and what actions are required to become carbon neutral. Over 700 organisations and many products across five countries have been certified through the programme. Over the past five years, the carboNZero programme has certified carbon footprints that add up to more than New Zealand’s annual national footprint, which is around 70 million tonnes of greenhouse gases. These companies are actively working to reduce their emissions.

“NOTE: the greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide (from burning fossil fuels), methane (mainly from agriculture and landfills), nitrous (mainly used in electricity transformers); these gases have different impacts or global warming potential in the atmosphere; they are collectively measured as tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents where carbon dioxide has an impact of one.”

What businesses are being certified?

“CEMARS and carboNZero certified companies can be found in almost every sector including food and beverage, utilities, transport, airports, construction, finance and banking, higher education, health, tourism and accommodation.”

What businesses are eligible to join the carboNZero programme?

“Any business can register to become certified through CEMARS or the carboNZero programme. Any company required to report their carbon footprint or actively working to reduce their carbon footprint will find the framework and rigour provided by the carboNZero programme helpful.”

How are businesses reacting to it?

“The feedback that we get from CEMARS and carboNZero certified companies is great. You need a good measurement to identify where the hot spots are in your carbon footprint.

Generally, reducing your carbon emissions requires you to put in place electricity and fuel efficiency, water conservation, waste minimisation and green travel plans. These are all part of a company’s sustainability journey. Success in reducing emissions becomes part of a company’s story and great marketing material.”

What are some of its success stories?

“As a programme we have had many successes such as: becoming the world’s first internationally accredited greenhouse gas certification scheme under an international standard called ISO 14065, being recognised

“

Antipodes Water, carboNZero certified product

These leading initiatives are great to see. Not just seeing results from clients when they reduce their carbon footprint, but also when they reduce their costs as a result and New Zealand and overseas businesses become leaner and meaner. Those success stories really motivate the team.

- carboNZero acting chief executive Ann Smith

”

by the Carbon Disclosure Project, being recognised by the UK Government, and now we have measured and verified over 75 million tonnes of CO²e.

day activities cause emissions and take action to manage and reduce the largest sources of these emissions (you can use our free calculators on our website to do this).

“To put that in perspective it means we have measured and verified footprints that collectively are more than New Zealand’s entire annual carbon footprint.

“Where emissions cannot be further reduced or are unavoidable, some organisations and people choose to invest in projects elsewhere that reduce emissions. This is most often done by purchasing and cancelling offsets from trusted carbon credit projects overseen by governmental or international agencies with the authority to issue tradable units or carbon credits created by these projects.”

"However, the success we really cherish and enjoy is the success and achievements of our clients. Clients that achieve world firsts, like the New Zealand Wine Company with the first carboNZero certified wine, Bridgestone and the first carboNZero certified tyre.

“These leading initiatives are great to see.

Not just seeing results from clients when they reduce their carbon footprint, but also when they reduce their costs as a result and New Zealand and overseas businesses become leaner and meaner. Those success stories really motivate the team.”

What are the major steps New Zealanders need to take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions?

“Burning fossil fuels for activities such as transport and electricity generation are generally where most New Zealanders emissions come from. But the most important contribution that individuals, communities, organisations and businesses can make, is to understand how their day-to-

What are some easy ways businesses/ farmers could reduce their greenhouse gas emissions?

“Farms are businesses and like most businesses, farms can look at energy and fuel being used in various parts of their farm. If you can reduce your usage, you are reducing emissions. And, by the way, you will reduce your costs, which can really help farmers. Just need to be smart about using resources.

“A large proportion of agricultural emissions come from livestock and fertiliser use.

Although it seems there is not a lot that can be done about this, there is some great research being done by Landcare Research and the other Crown Research Institutes – have a look at the greenhouse gas projects reported on their public web pages.”

Continued page 24 >

22 | September/October 2012 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

Interview | carboNZero Continued from page 22 > <

Bridgestone NZ’s Ecopia tyre, carboNZero certified product

<

carboNZero acting chief executive Dr Ann Smith

J.Friend and Co, carboNZero certified product

What considerations do people need to make in various sectors?

“They need to first consider the fundamentals of the business e.g. what is necessary? Then look at all other operations, what could be done better, smarter and more efficiently.

Generally most industries will have a necessary function which emits emissions, but that function is imperative to use to remain competitive in that industry.

“For instance, a courier company needs to use cars and fuel to run their business. But what they can do is look to use more fuel efficient vehicles, look at ways of streamlining delivery runs, provide drivers training and incentives to operate their vehicles more efficiently etc. The courier company could also look at the energy use in their offices, waste to landfill and try to reduce the amount used. There are many things that can be done.”

What is your role at the carboNZero programme and your main objectives?

“I manage technical strategy for our programme and lead a team of dedicated environmental experts and auditors who are passionate about reducing greenhouse gas emissions. I am also responsible for the technical development and quality of the programme and related research.

I also participate in the development of international standards for greenhouse gas accounting and reporting to ensure that the certification of our clients is based on international best practice.”

What prompted you to take up this role?

“I was using the science and stories from the carboNZero programme as examples in my teaching in the UK before I came to live in New Zealand. I was running a masters programme in environmental management for business and all my

<

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VnC Cocktails, CEMARS certified product

“

We need our planet to be safe and healthy in the widest possible sense.

Every little bit helps no matter where you are. Through the carboNZero programme I can help make a difference.

- carboNZero acting chief executive DrAnn Smith

students were middle and senior managers from business and industry. Later, I joined Landcare Research and I was delighted when I was asked to be programme leader for the carboNZero programme. I felt that the research programme had the potential to be a successful business.

“There is a real opportunity to take our expertise to the world and make a real, tangible difference in reducing emissions. I want to leave the world a safe and healthy place for my grandchildren to grow up in. I can’t do that alone.

“We only have the one planet to live on. No company would set out to trash the planet in its business plan. So the converse implies that the majority of businesses want a safe and healthy planet. If we needed to find another suitable planet to live on, we should have set out to find it 50,000 years ago.

“We need our planet to be safe and healthy in the widest possible sense. Every little bit helps no matter where you are. Through the carboNZero programme I can help make a difference.”

24 | September/October 2012 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

”

What previous roles had you been working in prior to this one and where were they?

“I have significant expertise and experience in environmental management and sustainable development strategies.

Previous roles include designing and running the masters programme that I mentioned above, sustainability coordinator for a large UK University and project manager for collaborative projects designed to help businesses improve their environmental performance.”

How do these contribute to your present role?

“Having a background in environmental management and real hands on experience in trying to reduce environmental impacts for large entities, have helped me to understand the problems our customers face and to tackle these with wider sustainability objectives in mind. This experience enables me to shape the vision for our programme to be effective for our clients and to make a difference for the environment.”

What tertiary education have you completed and degrees/doctorates/ professorships do you hold?

“I have a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in botany and psychology from the University of Adelaide, a doctorate in marine biology from the University of London, and a professorship in environmental management for business from the University of Hertfordshire.”

Where do you want the carboNZero programme to be in the next five years?

“I would like the programme to be world leading through its credibility and integrity.

I would like our programme tools and guidance to be easily accessible, practical to use and able to be integrated with existing business systems. I would like our brands to become symbols associated with clients and consumers who have made the environmentally responsible decision to reduce their footprints. I would like our programme to be making a difference for organisations and the environment on a world wide scale.”

How do you intend to get it there?

“By being science-based, robust and practical, ensuring that we continue to lead the world with our certification rules, tools and guidance. If participation in our programme helps our clients to reduce their emissions and costs and helps them meet stakeholder demands for sustainability action then it makes good business sense to do this. We are also working on some big projects, which will get attention. But in general, with commitment to our programme principles and hard work, we believe we can be the next New Zealand success story.”

If you would like to know how carboNZero certification could help your business call 0800 CNZERO or visit www.carboNZero.co.nz

Issue | Peak Oil

Staring down

the barrel

By Corazon Miller

In its simplest definition peak oil is defined as the point in time when the global production of oil will reach its maximum rate, after which production will gradually decline. Add the range of differing opinions and this definition manifests itself into a highly complex and volatile mix of political, economical and geological issues.

A common misconception is peak oil is what happens when oil runs out; unfortunately it’s not so black and white. Yes oil is a finite resource, but long before we hit the bottom of the well experts say the cost of extracting this oil will simply become unaffordable.

The debate According to the founding Director of UKbased Peak Oil Consulting, Chris Skrebowski the peak oil debate has been ongoing, between economists and geologists for years. “Geologists maintain that peak oil is a geological imperative imposed because reserves are finite, whereas economists claim there is no shortage of oil or oil substitutes.”

“

Geologists maintain that peak oil is a geological imperative imposed because reserves are finite, whereas economists claim there is no shortage of oil or oil substitutes.

- Chris Skrebowski, director Peak Oil Consulting

Chris says the reality is both sides hold part of the answer. Peak oil is a complex phenomenon that occurs at the point when the cost of incremental supply exceeds the price economies can pay, without destroying the growth at a given point in time. He elaborates that geologists hold a grain of truth in the fact that the depletion of low cost oil will indeed produce peak oil however, the economists are also right as there is no shortage, but they have failed to recognise there is a price where oil can no longer be afforded.

“The problem is that the remaining oil is in extreme environments, it is technically challenging to develop or is difficult to refine,” he says. The increased difficulties make it more problematic to mobilise the oil in a cost-effective manner.

An inconvenient truth A professor at Otago University, Bob Lloyd says until recently the availability of fossil fuels has not been a problem and the high energy returned on energy invested for coal, oil and gas have ensured continued world economic growth for the last 200 years or so.

26 | September/October 2012 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

”

The energy invested is the amount of oil, or energy, that is needed to extract and process oil.

Early US oil (in the 1930s) and Middle East oil was very easy to get, with one barrel of oil needed to get 50 barrels of oil or greater.

This good fortune, along with the ratios of 80:1 for coal, meant that the high economic growth of the 20th century could be maintained.

However, today oil is getting more and more difficult to extract with ratios closer to 12:1 for deep sea oil and even lower for the nonconventional oils, such as the Canadian tar sands 4:1.

Bob adds that the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, with BP’s well drilling in 5,000 feet of water and going down to 30,000 feet, illustrates the risk and energy now needed in the extraction process.

He agrees entirely with peak oil commentator Richard Heinberg, who recently suggested that the 2010 problems in the Gulf of Mexico will be typical of the

difficulties of extracting oil, post peak; and we may now have reached peak oil.

A Ministry of Economic Development spokesperson agrees on the whole that oil is a non-renewable source and that a decline in production is inevitable however, the department says it is difficult to pin-point when exactly this decline will occur. It says the problem with accurately projecting when a decline will occur, lies in the fact that there are basic questions about the quantity of the world’s oil resources that remain unanswered.

“The International Energy Agency (IEA) has no official estimate of when a peak in oil production will occur, but the IEA World Energy Outlook 2010 argues that even if conventional oil production does peak in the near future, known reserves of natural gas liquids and unconventional oil are, in principle, large enough to keep total oil production rising for several decades if necessary.”

However, travelling soothsayer and Canadian economic analyst Nicole Foss, who foretold of the Global Financial Crisis in our last issue, claims the world as we know it is rapidly coming to an end. She is of the opinion that peak oil, which is knocking on our door as we speak, combined with the current unsustainable financial system are part of a perfect storm that we are ill-prepared to weather and will give us a century of challenges to look forward to.

She does acknowledge there is a decent amount of oil and gas left, but nowhere near enough to sustain us until a solution is

Issue | Peak Oil

“

We are going to be looking, at the end of this big energy period, not instantly but over a long period of time, that there is going to be much, much, less energy. It will force a simplification of society.

”

- Nicole Foss Canadian economic analyst

found, especially when we have used all the cheap easy supplies and all that is left is the difficult, expensive fraction, which requires a lot more reinvestment to get. “We will reach an impasse of net energy long before we develop a substitute.”

The implications

The ostrich approach University of Otago lecturer Bob Lloyd said in his 2011 paper titled The end of Oil and Implications for NZ, it is difficult to report on peak oil with the same level of supporting technical material as climate change, since oil availability and economics is a highly under-researched topic.

Nicole points out that the access to oil we have enjoyed has brought us to today’s stage Though it has a history as long as climate of economic and cultural prowess - but we change, peak oil has nowhere near the can’t stay here without energy. background documentation, or for that matter any national or international “Every availability dictates the socialbureaucracy dealing with its investigation. economical complexity we can sustain.

There is an international association for the We are going to be looking at the end of study of peak oil (ASPO) and an NZ branch of this big energy period; not instantly, but ASPO, but in terms of numbers and scientific over a long period of time there is going to credibility there is no comparison with be much, much, less energy. It will force a climate change. simplification of society.”

To illustrate how this simplification will manifest itself on New Zealand soil, let’s look at the area of transportation. Dr Ralph Samuelson, vice-president of the Asia Pacific Energy Research Centre, points out that oil plays a crucial role in our transportation network. “Transport accounts for at least 80 percent of New Zealand’s oil consumption.”

Already in today’s economic climate we are feeling the squeeze as petrol prices go up.

Imagine if this went up to an unaffordable price – what then?

Transportation is a focal point in our lives, it gets us from A to B so efficiently that many of us no longer live and work within the same suburbs. You even hear of people commuting on a weekly basis to a different city. None of this would be possible if oil runs out.

However, the Ministry of Economic Development spokesperson says the government does take the issue of peak oil seriously. At the international level, New Zealand is actively engaged with international organisations like the IEA and

“

the International Energy Forum to improve international energy data transparency and help provide greater clarity around remaining global reserves. It also has partnerships via the IEA which help improve or develop new alternative sources of energy.

“The Government is ensuring that policies are in place [in New Zealand] to support the transition to alternative sources of energy, particularly in transport. Such alternatives are already beginning to enter the market such as biofuels, hybrid and electric vehicles.

Through the Petroleum Action Plan the Government is also committed to further development of our domestic petroleum resources,” the Ministry of Economic Development says.

Nicole Foss points out that the ‘renewables’ people hope will save us face different, but just as relevant problems. Though sun and wind used in solar and turbine energy are infinite, steels which are created to make these energy sources useable are not.

“It is a fantasy to say that we can have energy in perpetuity because the sun will

be around for billions of years. It requires a certain amount of affordable fossil fuels to deliver renewable energy.

“You can’t build wind turbines with wind; you don’t make solar panels with solar energy. We are good at telling ourselves stories that we don’t need to change, but change will come and it will be uncomfortable.”

Although Nicole paints a rather despondent picture, she is not the only one to blow the whistle on the problem of peak oil. It is a concept, which as has already been illustrated, is quickly gaining traction in the world of academic research.

Bob says the solution lies in changing the underlying belief in continual growth.

“Ecological economists such as Herman Daly have been saying for many decades that the only hope for the world is to give up the doctrine of never ending growth and to move towards a steady state economy, but the allure of never-ending growth has usually been all pervasive and such pronouncements mostly ignored.”

You can’t build wind turbines with wind, you don’t make solar panels with solar energy.

- Nicole Foss - Canadian economic analyst

”

Bob says it now seems difficult to conceive a future outside of the oil driven life-style that has enabled economic growth. “Energy is necessary for economic growth. In the absence of any other resources becoming available the world economy must decline.”

Chris points out the current failure of most Western economies to achieve anything more than minimal growth in 2011 was most likely because oil prices are already at levels that severely inhibit growth. He adds research by energy consultants Douglas Westwood concludes that oil price spikes of the magnitude seen in 2011 correlate, onefor-one with recessions. www.canterburytoday.co.nz September/October 2012 | 27

Initiative | Rio+20

An environmental

ultimatum

By Corazon Miller

This side of the millennium has seen its fair share of green placard waving, so much so that many have become immune to the call of the environment.

But even here in New Zealand, with our vast expanse of green pastures and huge spreads of marine environment, there are problems left over from generations of slow action.

One New Zealand teenager has taken matters into her own hands; challenging the global community to step up and protect the planet from further environmental and economic decay. At this year’s United Nations conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro, Wellingtonian Brittany Trilford gave an impassioned speech for change in front of some 140 delegates.

The 17-year-old told the leaders to think why they were there; “Why are you here and what can you do here? I would like you to ask yourselves: are you here to save face? Or are you here to save us?”

As Brittany concluded her speech she delivered an ultimatum to those listening; “You have 72 hours to decide the fate of your children – my children’s children and I start the clock now.”

The conference commonly called Rio+20 was held over three days from June 20 – 22 and was the place where governments, international institutions and NGOs hoped to generate change; forming measures to reduce poverty, promote decent jobs, clean energy and a fairer use of resources.

Broken promises Brittany kicked off the conference by criticising the 140 leaders present for failing to live up to promises made at the first conference held in Rio 20 years ago.

“They made great promises; promises that when I read them still leave me felling hopeful. These promises are left not broken, but empty. How can that be? When all around us is the knowledge that offers us solutions, nature as a design tool offers insight into systems that are whole, complete that give life, create value, allow progress, transformation, change.”

The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon himself acknowledged the world has made little progress on environmental issues since that first meeting two decades ago. “Twenty years ago, the Earth Summit put sustainable development on the global agenda. Yet let me be frank: our efforts have not lived up to the measure of the challenge,” he told delegates.

“Far too long we have behaved as though we could indefinitely, burn and consume our way to prosperity. Today we recognise that we can no longer do so.

“The old model for economic development and social advancement is broken. It is time for all of us to think globally and long term, beginning here now in Rio.”

New Zealand at Rio New Zealand, while traditionally having a reputation for being clean and green has problems of its own. Many regard our green paddocks and blue waters as part of the status quo – but if critics are right, change may soon be afoot, and action is needed now.

World Wildlife Fund New Zealand executive director, Chris Howe says his organisation’s recent Beyond Rio report highlighted New Zealand’s poor environmental performance since the original Rio Earth Summit 20 years ago.

“While the New Zealand government has little to be proud of, we urge the New Zealand delegation at Rio+20 to be a constructive part of the negotiations and to put true environmental protection at the heart of decision-making.”

However, environment minister Amy Adams at her opening address at Rio says New Zealand is committed to safeguarding the future environment.

“New Zealand has come to Rio with a hope – that in reaffirming and renewing the world’s commitment to sustainable development we will address the future of the planet and aspirations of future generations,” she says.

As proof at by the closing of Rio+20 New Zealand had solidified its commitment to the global ocean partnership at Rio+20 and gave support to an indigenous network which was also launched at the conference.

In Adam’s speech she highlighted the range of other commitments New Zealands brought to Rio+20: • Phasing out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies: These are said to be in the range of US $400 – $600 billion a year. Money spent on fossil fuels is money that could be spent on other sustainable development priorities, health and education.

• Protecting the oceans: Sustainable management, conservation and protection of our oceans are an area that New Zealand feels deserves a more ambitious collective action. The oceans provide jobs, resources, food and impact on the global climate.

The problems At times it is certainly easier to sit in the comfort of our first world homes without a thought as to who will be left to tidy up our mess. We can quite easily pretend the third world does not exist, poverty is a choice, climate change is a myth and rising sealevels are fiction.

But the signs are there; our actions or lack thereof have consequences. Marine life is suffering, the water is being sullied, poverty

28 | September/October 2012 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

“

The old model for economic development and social advancement is broken. It is time for all of us to think globally and long term, beginning here now in Rio. - UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon

is rampant, famines are starving nations, droughts prevail and islands in the Pacific and the Caribbean are literally drowning.

The director general of WWF International, Jim Leape says nations need to set a new direction and mindset at this year’s conference. “Over the past few years we have seen how reckless mismanagement of the world’s financial capital can wreak havoc in society and yet we are treating the Earth’s finite natural capital in a similarly dangerous way,” he says.

“Rio+20 needs to set a new course for the global economy… in order to meet the food, water and energy needs of the future.”

Director of the French humanitarian organisation Charles Leopold Mayer Foundation (CLF), Pierre Calame, echoes Jim’s sentiments, saying it has taken some time for humanity to begin to understand that we are sharing a planet that has a finite supply of natural resources.

“By the time of the first Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, the global community had begun to realise humanity had the potential to destroy the planet – not by war – but simply through our way of life.

“The first decade of the 21st century has witnessed repeated failures of international negotiations.” Part of the problem Pierre says is that the big powers are often reluctant to change.”

Pierre points out the former United States president George W. Bush once said, “The US way of life is not negotiable”. But Pierre says it should be negotiable, the big-shots need to be challenged to create radical change.

He adds Rio+20 is the place where change

”

for the better must happen. “It is a historical opportunity not to be missed.”

Small steps As the three days of discussing, debating and formulating plans came to a close, there were no miracles but there were promising signs of change.

An outcome document, titled “The Future We Want”, formed the foundation of the global leaders’ renewed promises to change.

Countries renewed their political commitment to sustainable development, agreed to establish a set of sustainable development goals and established a high-level political forum on the issue.

It called for action including; detailing how the green economy can be used as a tool to achieve sustainable development, to strengthen the UN’s Environment Programme, as well as promoting corporate sustainability, steps to assess the well-being of a country outside of the normal GDP rating strategies for financing sustainable development, a focus on gender equity and the need to engage civil society and integrate science into policy.

However critics, environmentalists and anti-poverty campaigners have blasted the document as lacking both detail and ambition, saying more definitive action is needed – now.

As young New Zealander Brittany Trilford put so succinctly without change “our future here is questionable… time is ticking”.

“We, the next generation, demand change.

We demand action so that we have a future and have it guaranteed.”

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Society | Behind the lens

“

silver screen

Greening the

New Zealand is fantastically poised to be green and sustainable compared to others as we have a small, educated population.

By Corazon Miller

Walking into the front yard of a house on the side of Christchurch’s Cashmere hills, I find Kathleen Gallagher, peace activist, poet, playwright and environmental film director lying stretched out across her sofa.

Situated in an ideal setting, under a small alcove beneath her house, surrounded by the untamed shrubbery and a shining sun – it’s the perfect image of someone living the story she tells.

It is clearly evident this successful documentary maker immerses herself in nature, in reality, just as much as she does on the films she makes.

Kathleen who is Christchurch born and bred began her rise to prominence as a film maker in the early 2000s. In recent years her films have taken on a strong environmental focus that challenges the norms we have come to accept in modern living.

The first in her series of environmental films began with a unique poignant look at 10 New Zealand cancer survivors. He Oranga He Oranga; Healing Journeys, which received a commended accolade at the Lucknow Film Festival in India, shares these survivors’ stories and looks at how they drew strength from their natural environment.

Her subsequent films, Earth Whisperers: Papatuanuku and Water Whisperers: Tangaroa delved deeper into this environmental theme collecting their own share of accolades.

Kathleen’s latest film Sky Whisperers: Ranganui, released earlier this year, follows along in the same vein. Filmed in New Zealand’s beautiful natural setting, Kathleen and her team use simple filming techniques that create an on-screen beauty; a breath of

fresh air in an industry that is full of grandiose special effects and animations.

Sky Whisperer’s starts with a haunting combination of music and swooping imagery that carries you on a journey through the earth, sky and stars. As the film continues Kathleen introduces us to a mixture of scientists, ecologists, celestial navigators, writers and astronomers, from a Canterbury academic and mechanical engineer, Susan Krumdieck, to the Nobel Prize Winning scientist, David Whitehead and the more controversial “Moon Man”, Ken Ring; who all give their view on the environment.

”

The film challenges us to look at the impact we’re having on the planet and urges us to make real changes to how we live and reconnect with the environment.

It is a mixture of science and what some would label as astrological mysticism – it may not be everyone’s cup of tea – but it is undeniable that there is plenty of food for thought in this environmental tale.

Corazon Miller talks to Kathleen about her inspiration, the challenges and the rewards of the job.

What inspired you to look into environmental documentaries?

“Over the years the environmental theme has grown and is more implicit in my work now. I am digging deeper with it, trying to understand how to get to where we need to. We are facing too big a shift to get to the point where we are no longer poisoning the water and the air – What do we need to do to shift?

“New Zealand is fantastically poised to be green and sustainable compared to others as we have a small educated population.

“I think the government needs to try and reduce the fossil fuel consumption by 10 percent; all governments and cities should commit to this. We can make changes by designing wind and solar forms of energy at an adequate price.

“We have got all the technology we need.

It is not hard, yet we still keep building the motorways. We all know that with traffic when we build more roads we get more

traffic; why don’t we build more cycle ways in order to get more cyclists on the road?”

What is it that we, as individuals, can do?

What messages are told in Sky Whisperers?

“Sky Whisperers begins with a relationship with air, with people who discovered the ozone hole, with those who are working to stem climate change. The first part of the movie dealt with the problem of air pollution and what others are doing in regards to it.

“I think at the moment we have to interact more with the environment. People do live in different ways, but most of us can see the sky; it gives us a sense of wonder that things are bigger than us. Beauty can be found in the “The second part is about the relationship that unexpected. How we can interact and protect we do have on the land and the effect it has on our air and how we treat our forest. the beauty of the environment?

“We are the last kids on the block so to speak, “Try not to use petrol, bike to get where you are going, on the way you will be able to see so we should respect what came before us [nature]. a lot that you don’t see from the car. Wander through the forest and the mountain, watch “The third part of the film looks at the clouds. astronomers and celestial navigators. Celestial navigators are those who make their way “Pick something to grow, grow what you like across the sky by reading stars in the sky; to eat, learn how to grow pumpkin. currently there are nine celestial navigators in the Pacific. When they start on this journey “We are often inside cars, houses, staring at they have to learn 260 stars; they go out screens. We don’t walk into the environment every night to learn to read the sky.” as we should, we don’t watch for changes in our environment. We rush around relating to What were some of the challenges and people but we have lost touch with the earth, rewards you faced in making the film? even when it comes to simple things such as “It was a challenge working while dealing the basic gardening. with all the earthquakes because we were all “I think it is difficult to change, unless we dealing with it in different ways while making change our paradigm – that is what these the film. films I make try to do – show us how we “But it was most satisfying to bring together can change. scientists, businesses and people. There was “I wanted to find people who watched [the such a diverse range of people – listening to them and filming them has been a privilege.” environment] and I did; I found them.”

www.canterburytoday.co.nz September/October 2012 | 31

News | Hot Spots

Southern escapes

By Corazon Miller

Winter, summer, rain, snow or shine - there will always be a situation when some time out is called for. Personally there is nothing better than just a short weekend trip away to leave me feeling rejuvenated and ready to face the week ahead.

Here are four hotspots within a short distance of Christchurch that will give Cantabrians in need of a break the perfect quick holiday fix.

From luxury lodges to mountain retreats – there is something here for every taste.

Claremont Estate This luxury lodge is a holiday gem in the heart of Canterbury’s Waipara wine region.

It is a luxurious but quiet natural sanctuary in a 2400sqm nature park and estate setting.

Claremont Estate and Nature Park is more than just a place to stay; without even leaving its expansive boundaries there is a lot for guests to see and do. The nature park is a fascinating world; with its claim to fame as the home of the first significant find of dinosaur fossils in New Zealand.

Maison de la Mer has certainly established a reputation as the place to stay in this charming village full of French history and character. The Maison de la Mer offers a peaceful elegant resting place that exudes both romance and luxury. Guests can stay in one of the four individual suites that are dressed in French Country décor with fine art, antiques, Persian carpets, crisp white linens and fresh flowers.

Take a walk in the surrounds, or take part in a 4WD tour to see the precipitous Waipara Gorge, cascading waterfalls, exotic birds, plants and even the odd dinosaur fossil.

The lodge itself is one of Canterbury’s few historic stone homes, built back in 1866 out of hand-cut limestone that was quarried onsite. Its interior setting is elegantly furnished with its generous suites and rooms as well as the charming Claremont Cottage.

Claremont Estate promises a holiday getaway, away from the world, giving you a naturally ambient setting in a quiet, beautiful, country sanctuary.

Maison de la Mer This picturesque bed and breakfast in Akaroa’s quaint harbour setting has earned great accolades thanks to its wonderful service and surrounds. Ranked number one on TripAdvisor’s website, out of all the Akaroa B&B’s, and also labelled as a Travellers’ Choice 2012 winner.

It is rich with history, geology, palaeontology, wondrous landscapes, 65-million-year-old limestone spheres, the Bishop’s Head natural rock sculpture – to name just a few of the exotic sights.

For more information email relax@claremont-estate.com or visit www.claremont-estate.com

It is both comfort and style for visitors looking for something just that much more personable than your typical hotel.

During the day trail through the village, swim in the harbour, learn to cook at the local cooking school, take a cruise, watch the whales, swim with the dolphins and eat to your heart’s content – before coming back home to this little home away from home by the sea.

For more information email maisondelamer@xtra.co.nz or visit www.maisondelamer.co.nz

Azur Luxury Lodge Located just out of Queenstown proper this lodge is perfect for city slickers who want a taste of nature but still want the comfort of the urban jungle on hand.

It offers nine identical 75 sqm freestanding open-plan villas and a main lodge that houses the lobby, breakfast dining room and stunning guest lodge.

Azur, is a little luxury lodge that has earned a five-star rating on TripAdvisor’s website, due to its dedication to its customers. Azur is set overlooking the crystal waters of Lake Wakatipu, against the majestic backdrop of the Remarkables, Cecil and Walter Peaks.

Its hosts offer personalised and friendly professional service from in-room spa services to a fully planned daily itinerary, leaving for a stress-free comfortable holiday.

For more information email rsvns@ azur.co.nz or visit www.azur.co.nz

Arthur’s Pass Wilderness Lodge This wilderness lodge is nestled in mountain beech forest, midway between Greymouth and Christchurch. Discover wild nature in this spectacular mountain setting and experience life on its 2,400ha nature reserve and high country merino sheep station.

Walk straight from your room into a natural paradise of beech forest, tussock clearings, moss-lined streams and lakes.

On arrival the lodge gives you an activities programme, maps and information around its walk network, forest and tussock nature trails. Take advantage of the naturalist guides who will give you an insight into the high-country life and explore nature in this special place the first Maori visitors called “Te Ko Awa a Aniwaniwa – Valley of the Mother of the Rainbows.”

32 | September/October 2012 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

You can also explore further afield in Arthur’s Pass National Park, Craigieburn Forest Park and Torlesse Conservation Park or join a canoe trip on one of the nearby lakes and see the natural wild life.

This coming spring, take advantage of the Wilderness Lodge discovery weeks, being held in September and October. Join a tour group at Christchurch Airport and finish in Queenstown with three nights at the Arthur’s Pass and Lake Moeraki Wilderness Lodges. In small personalised groups you will discover Tawaki penguins, easy kayaking, spectacular Southern Alps mountains, alpine flowers, wilderness seacoast & rainforest walking, great food and lovely accommodation.

For more information email arthurspass@wildernesslodge.co.nz or visit www.wildernesslodge.co.nz

News | Lifestyles

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Mirabelle rings

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Premium computing

These gorgeous rings are part of the Mirabelle collection of rings and earrings designed exclusively for Kate Sylvester, inspired by the cult film and soundtrack Reality Bites; think Gen Y, first love, first heartbreak.

Each piece is hand-made in New Zealand and available in gold or silver. When it is not shining on a finger, keep this ring safe in its cute, red leather, love heart pouch.

HP all-in-one PC It’s the best of the tablet and smartphone realm rolled into one bigger and better package on the HP TouchSmart. HP promises that its latest touch screen computer will deliver some of the best touch technology that you will ever experience on a PC, on its biggest screen yet. Its cutting-edge touch technology with a sleek all-in-one design has resulted in a revolutionary PC experience. With its Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium system and tilting monitors, it is designed to be both comfortable and high functioning. An added bonus is the integrated apps and games that keep you entertained, informed and in touch.

RRP: $238 Available from: shop.katesylvester.com or Kate Sylvester shops nationwide

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RRP: $2499 - $2899 More information go to: www.hp.com

Island Wine Obsidian Viognier 2011 This boutique wine made on New Zealand’s own Waiheke Island is a must-have. With its pale straw colouring, this wine has floral aromas of honey suckle and citrus blossom with a subtle apricot and vanilla undertone. It has a refined but focused palate with sweet fruit, subtle oak giving it a unique complexity. Quite simply, it is the perfect partner to an evening meal.

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Tech savvy bottle opener

Ring ‘blingin’ fashion

iPhone bottle opener The iPhone claims to do just about anything, from waking you up in the morning to recording your heartrate. But there is one thing it hasn’t been able to do – until now; open a beer bottle. The solution is simple use this funky case turned bottle opener.

Go to: www.obsidian.co.nz

RRP: $39.95 Available from: www.notsocks.co.nz

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Sustainably fashionable Chica Rosa Clutch Bag in Silver

It’s the perfect clutch for any girl interested in protecting the environment. This beautifully designed bag has been hand-made in Brazil from recycled aluminium pull tabs. Made as part of an initiative to create work locally in Brazil, each bag is signed by the person who made it and you can also go online and read all about their lives.

This makes for a great clutch purse with a difference, one that is the perfect size for a phone, lippy and credit card.

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“Green” tea Eco Cup – tea lovers edition An Eco cup for tea lovers, this cute version of re-usable coffee cups are made of stylish porcelain, which provides an alternative to the disposable coffee or tea cups. Take it to your local café, use it at home or show off your stylish earth-loving ways at the office.

RRP: $19.90 Available from: www.funkygifts.co.nz

RRP: $89.99 Available from www.boltofcloth.com

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34 | September/October 2012 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

News | Lifestyles

Indonesia’s Island Collective

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Gili T Islands Just a short two hour, exciting (or terrifying – depending on how much of a thrill-seeker you are) fast-boat trip away from the Bali shores, are a set of picturesque atolls which promise a tranquil island holiday.

Bugatti diva espresso machine The Case Bugatti Diva espresso machine is the queen of all fine Italian design.

Available in striking red or stunning chrome, this product features a 12-bar pump, 16bar steam pressure, thermo block heating element, one litre water tank, a steam nozzle for frothing and heating milk and can be used with both coffee pods or ground coffee for 1-2 people. An innovative drop system stops any coffee escaping. With a quick warming time of two minutes this is truly an investment for your morning fix.

Crossing the Wallace line from the Oriental region over to the northernmost tip of the Australasian region, you will find the West Nusa Tenggara province and three of its most attractive gems – the Gili Islands of Gili Meno, Gili Air and Gili Trawangan.

However unique characteristics aside, all three idyllic atolls are home to the powdery white sand beaches and sparkling turquoise waters, which provide an idyllic time away from the rowdy shores of Bali. With its clear turquoise blue waters and stretches of white beach, with the land and island marine life it’s a holiday that is both relaxing and exciting.

Go diving or snorkelling, watch the marine life dart by, see the pretty corals in their glorious colour and watch the turtles laze in the warm tropical sun.

Cat-haters beware, being trapped on the island these feline creatures have bred and now rule the roost basking on the beach or in a café chair – just look before you sit.

Being car free may seem like another problem to city slickers, but these islands are so small going for a walk around doesn’t take long at all; and if you do get tired on your way back there is always one of the horse-drawn taxi carriages.

Zuric Partime This swiss-made timepiece is a geometric version of the hourglass, which shows both the elapsed time and the proportion remaining. It is a work of art that is uncomparable; no ticking, no trickling, and no blinking digits.

A right angle within the circle shows the hours horizontally and the minutes vertically. The elapsed time is shown in white and the blue represents the hours left in the day. For those wanting a more traditional timepiece, never fear, a push of a button reverts the hourglass into a digital display of time.

SERVICING NORTH OTAGO, CANTERBURY & WESTLAND

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For more information go to: www.gili-paradise.com

Did you know? <

Bolt of Cloth cushions Choose from one of the many unique designs (linen or cotton) Bolt of Cloth has wrapped around its nice comfy cushions; from the New Zealand-inspired Tui in red cushion cover, to the more exotic las senoritas. If these don’t fit your style – call Bolt of Cloth and it can, more often than not, custom-make a design to suit your needs.

RRP: From $39.99 - $89.99 Available from: www.boltofcloth.com

Swiss Time

RRP: $ 981.55 Available from: www.partime.ch

For those staying the night there is a range of accommodation suited to all budgets; from the five-star villas with all the perks, to a small beach-side bungalow.

Chic cushion wear

RRP: $2,099 Available from: www.whare.net.nz

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Gili Meno is the smallest of the three islands, and with its castaway feel is perfect for honeymooners or those simply wanting an escape from civilisation. Gili Air is probably the least developed of the three and provides a real Indonesian island community experience for those who fear the tourist masses, with Gili Trawangan the most popular of the three atolls and as a result is commonly called the party island, with its spattering of bars and restaurants.

Coffee art

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Having qualified first aiders and a suitable first aid kit could save a life or minimise a situation.

You need at least one First Aid Kit in each place people are working, including vehicles.

“Written tests are not necessary, learning what to do is!”

Ph: (03) 6849179 | Mob: (027) 7400825

E: garry@meditrain-sc.co.nz www.meditrain-sc.co.nz

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Mob. 021 744020 | Ph. 03 3663051 | Fax. 03 3663052 E. sales@canterburyrefreshments.co.nz | www.canterburyrefreshments.co.nz www.canterburytoday.co.nz September/October 2012 | 35

Tomorrow’s workspace a reality today Smaller office spaces, flexible working, distributed workforces, wireless technologies and the rollout of Ultra Fast Broadband all combine to make Canterbury a breeding ground for new ways of working.

Current thinking in workspace planning is about reducing real estate footprints to cut costs and increase productivity.

It signals a move towards more flexible workspaces and distributed workforces.

New technologies – particularly wireless technologies – are enabling these changes.

Christchurch, almost by default through the earthquake events has been thrown into flexible and distributed workplace models.

Over 60 percent of the city’s office space or some 390,000 square metres of space was based in the CBD; somehow these staff had to be accommodated and businesses made operational in the ensuing months.

Businesses were forced into distributed working arrangements, working in anything from garden centres to re-locatable classrooms to containers.

They had to deal with all the accompanying technology and communication challenges.

When leases and space did become available, in many cases, there wasn’t the floor space available compared to what they’d once occupied.

It meant downsizing space, using it more effectively and changing the way people worked. Some staff worked from home, others used central hubs for work and hot-desking became the norm.

As an example, Westpac has effectively halved their footprint. Westpac accommodated 500-plus employees across nearly 10,000 square metres over 13 levels at the Canterbury Centre in Cashel Street prior to the earthquakes. Today, the same staff occupies just over 4,000 square metres over six floors in two buildings at 2 and 7 Show Place.

Refurbished and fitted out late last year

by Context Architects and Higgs Builders, the Show Place fit-outs offer collaboration zones where people can gather informally, and these zones mitigate what are otherwise tight floor layouts.

“We worked with Higgs Builders, often through the night to complete the fit-out.

Westpac staff had to work around the construction work during the day which wasn’t easy. The end result though is an innovative and collaborative work space and one that works for everyone,” says Context Architects director Stephen Voyle.

Trending towards flexible workspaces In Australasia, flexible workplaces were spearheaded by the banks. Today the likes of National Australia Bank offer flexible working to their 10,000 staff at Docklands in Melbourne. Staff don’t have their own desks – they each have a locker and a laptop which they store overnight. They have the ability to move around each day. Like other corporates nowadays, the bank employs more people than they have desks for.

The average workspace occupation ranges between 40 to 50 percent and peaks between 70 to 80 percent. For many businesses, at any given time in the day, half the staff can be out of the office, and the ‘real estate cost’ tied up in fixed desks is wasted.

“At present, Christchurch simply does not have the commercial space available to meet businesses’ demands. According to the Reserve Bank, over $1 billion of commercial property was damaged or destroyed in the quakes. We simply don’t have the workspace that we used to have,” says Context’s Christchurch Manager Karen Manson.

Communal spaces where staff can gather are vital to Westpac Show Place’s success

“Going forward, Canterbury is in a unique position to capitalise on what has happened, and turn adversity into opportunity by adopting these new ways of flexible working,” she says.

Distributed workplaces – where staff work from peripheral locations and often from their homes –meeting in a central workplace hub for face to face time is fast becoming a reality in Canterbury.

All of these Tomorrow’s Workspace models are heavily reliant on 24/7 connectivity. The rollout of Ultra Fast Broadband (UFB) throughout Christchurch this year will be a critical enabler for these new ways of working, increasing productivity for many businesses.

Helping businesses get the most out of their space

“It is important to think about how people will use space at the design stage,” says Manson. “You have to be more innovative and effective with the space you have. We work with clients to help them create flexible workspaces where collaboration, connectivity and productivity are key aims.

“Internationally, it is where workplaces are heading. Because of our unique situation in Canterbury, I think it just means we are going to get there first!”

Context Architects have offices in Papanui, Christchurch. Their team of skilled Architects have been working in Canterbury for five years, covering the residential, commercial and interior sectors. Visit Context at www.context.net.nz

“We work to help businesses get the most out of their buildings and workspaces,” says Manson. “Out of the chaos comes an amazing opportunity to create collaborative and productive workplaces that run on lower costs.

Context Christchurch manager Karen Manson, & Context director Stephen Voyle.

Power savings Lighting up a home or business is often an expensive business; from the power bill to constantly replacing the bulbs. Not to mention the impact it has on the environment. According to Consumer NZ approximately 20 percent of the world’s energy consumption is in artificial lighting.

But there is a lighter option for the environment – light emitting diodes (LED). This more energy efficient form of light can replace up to 70 percent of the more traditional light sources.

Despite being around since the 1960s LED lights were not always seen as the better option; but their continuous development has made them better, brighter and cheaper.

Liberio Riosa, founder of LED lighting specialist LZ New Zealand, points out that 95 percent of the energy consumed in running an LED is transformed into light, as opposed to the 10 percent of energy that the standard incandescent lamp uses to make light – the remaining 90 percent produces heat.

In addition Liberio points out LZ New Zealand has a replacement LED light that only uses nine watts to produce the same amount of light as a standard 50 watt halogen light bulb; that’s a huge 82 percent savings in your energy bill.

Creating Light Liberio founded his company on this premise of saving energy and the environment. “I had a strong interest in energy savings and the environment. After working in the corporate world I wanted a change.”

And so LZ New Zealand was born.

Today it holds pride in its place as a leading New Zealand manufacturer and supplier of LED lighting solutions for residential, commercial and industrial markets. “We believe in providing a quality product that we can guarantee.”

While the company is New Zealandbased, in the years since its conception, it has expanded and now caters for New Zealand, Australia, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Philippines and for countries around the Pacific.

Light bonus The reasons for going LED are numerous; it’s environmentally friendly, robust and longer-lived, dimmable and cost effective.

Environmentally friendly LEDs reduce the impact on the environment even once they have stopped working, thanks to the luminaire which is made from 85 percent recyclable materials.

Robust LEDs are physically robust; where incandescent bulbs contain a fragile filament and a compact fluorescent lamp has easily broken glass-tubes, LEDs are made from semi-conductor material often encapsulated in clear plastic.

Longer lived The lifespan of an LED light is 50,000 hours (20 – 30 years) versus, the 2,000

LZ New Zealand, LZ International (Asia Pacific) C/o PO Box 303474, North Harbour, Auckland 0751, New Zealand LZ New Zealand, Unit C, 238 Bush Road Albany, Auckland, Free Phone 0800 FOR LED, Phone (09) 950 6371 Fax (09) 950 6372, Email info@lzled.co.nz

– 6,000 hours of a typical incandescent light bulb. An LED’s long life makes it a practical option for areas where it is difficult to replace bulbs – such as stairways or in houses with high ceilings.

Dimmable There is no need to be blinded by the light, LED lights can, with a compatible dimmer fitting, be turned up or down as much as you please.

Instant on LEDs provide full light instantly, without the warm-up time other forms of lighting need.

Cost effective LEDs are cost-effective because of their low running costs and long life.

A 7W LED bulb costs $35 and uses $40 worth of power in its 25,000 hour life – a total cost of $75. The running costs for the equivalent 40W incandescent bulbs are much higher; you will need 25 incandescent bulbs at a dollar each, which in turn will consume $230 of power over 25,000 hours – a total of $255.

Flick the switch Doing a changeover to LED lighting can be easy with LZ New Zealand who provides a range of products for anyone wanting to save the planet and their wallet from feeling the pinch.

LZ New Zealand service at a glance LED Fittings / Strip Lighting Module lighting Strip lighting Round recessed down lights Square recessed down lights LED Flood Lights 10 watt – 100 watt 120 watt – 320 watt Highbay Lighting LED Retrofit Options: T8 Linear Tubes GU10/MR16/G24 Par30/Par38 Edison Screw / Bayonet Other Energy Saving T8/T5 Adapters Fluoresave New Products Arriving Large-scale LED display screens LEC Exit Signs

Goods & Services | Digital Imports

Canterbury firm leading the way in digital television distribution A Canterbury firm is leading a digital revolution which will change the way owners of multiple tenancy buildings, such as hotels and motels, rest homes and retirement villas, apartment buildings and hospitals will receive and supply digital and internet television signals to their occupants.

Digital Imports has become the sole New Zealand distributer for world leading television distribution technology manufacturer, Danish giant Triax.

Among the company’s leading products is the Triax TDX headend, which, combined with Triax’s revolutionary TDX Pool technology, simplifies the setting up and handling of headends, which handle the distribution of digital signals.

The technology makes the input and output modules mutually independent. All input signals, regardless of whether they are received via satellite, terrestrial, cable, audio/ video or via the internet, can be flexibly and independently distributed from a ‘pool’ to each and every output module.

In simple terms GONE: Metres of unsightly cabling, wiring and electric cords attached to a multitude of receivers and set top boxes often posing a fire risk.

IN: A TDX headend unit supplying from 10 to 10,000 or more connections.

As well as simplifying a customers’ television distribution system and providing a quality digital television or IP sourced picture, the Triax system will save money. The Heritage Hanmer Springs, which has benefitted from such an installation, has estimated it has slashed the number of decoders it requires by 50 percent, allowing the company to make a significant annual saving while supplying their guests with a high quality digital picture.

The birth of digital imports Testimonial

“The original TV system at the Heritage Hanmer Springs relied on a Sky decoder to receive each of the 12 Channels provided. The TV channels are then cabled throughout the resort complex.

“We were experiencing very poor quality reception on a number of our channels, particularly in our Garden rooms and Villa’s which are situated the furthest away from the source of the signal and rely on a long length of cable.

“This not only resolved the issues we were having with our TV reception but also enabled us to reduce the number of Sky decoders required by 50 percent, which ultimately provided a monthly cost saving.

Tony Howlett, general manager Hanmer Management Ltd at The Heritage Hanmer Springs

”

Digital Imports has rapidly become a leader in products and services for the television installation industry. The company has been an innovator in products, being the first to design and spec a micro satellite receiver so small it is mounted on the back of the television so it cannot be seen.

Many have now started to copy this concept so always keeping ahead of its competition, Digital Imports designed and released a HDMI version. Most shoppers for digital television componentry will recognise the company’s successful Starview receiver brand

Providing for the future Last year Digital Imports was chosen to be the sole distributor of Triax products for New Zealand. Triax is a Danish company which is a world leader in television distribution products.

With the support of Triax’s cutting edge technology, its own engineering and the Starview brand, Digital Imports can now offer total television distribution solutions.

38 | September/October 2012 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

Digital imports can design specific systems of any size, from the basic motel system to large hotels and multiple tenancy areas such as rest homes and gated communities.

Digital Imports offers the latest in fibre optic technology, pushing both television and satellite information down fibre optics or cable systems. “With the Triax products being world leaders – this is giving New Zealand finally the ability to provide guests top quality pictures.

Digital Imports has established a strong presence in the South Island providing solutions and products to most major electrical wholesalers. “I am sure if you walk into any electrical wholesaler in the South Island they will have heard of Digital Imports, and most likely have products on the shelf.”

Digital Imports does not sell direct to retail, but chose to sell to the wholesaler and installer market. However by contacting the company’s friendly staff, customers will be directed to a good installer or place to purchase products.

“For years many installers have been putting incorrect equipment into commercial sites.”

So to change the industry Digital Imports has started an Alliance partner program. This Alliance partner program is training installer companies to use the latest and best equipment.

“This has already started paying dividends with the solving of many systems issues around New Zealand.”

Chris Tonkin loading software into digital satellite products

Seeing is believing Digital Imports offers a full design service and can assist architects, designers and developers to keep ahead of the game by designing reliable and future-proof television systems for a multitude of multiple tenancy dwellings, such as apartment blocks, retirement villas and hospitals.

“I would suggest consultants and designers come and talk to Digital Imports to see the latest technology at work,” Lambert says.

Digital Imports has fully operational systems running in their main office and are able Louise Rua working on accounts at Digital to show the quality of pictures and signals Imports reception over large systems. “In this modern age of television – there is no excuse for bad picture quality. In fact for the last 10 years any system that has bad TV pictures has not been looked after to the level that would be expected.”

Digital Imports has rapidly grown in a challenging time, having to leave a quake damaged building and running the company from the director’s home address in the weeks after the February quake.

“The staff pulled together during and after the Vikki Lambert showing the Starview range quakes to form a team, this has been one of Digital Imports Ltd the major successes of Digital Imports.”

Unit 4 And through this time the company has 37 Foremans Road grown and employed new staff. It now has Islington seven staff members in Christchurch and one Christchurch providing design and technical solutions T (03) 344 5417 from Auckland.

F (03) 344 5419 www.digitalimports.co.nz <

“The system was installed with minimum disruption to our guests and has been completely reliable to date, we found Paul and his team to be very professional and efficient, and I would have no hesitation in recommending his services.”

“Television around the world has been going digital and with the introduction of internet television this would be a great time to shake up the television distribution industry,” company founder Paul Lambert says.

“We have already started to solve reception problems and digital upgrade issues at major hotels and hospitals,” Lambert says.

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“Paul Lambert and his team from Digital Imports provided a solution which involved a new Head unit enabling us to view freeview channels and broadcast a much stronger signal across the complex.

Digital imports was started in the middle of 2010 after recognising there was a lack of understanding in what the move to digital television in New Zealand meant and that there was only a basic range of products available to assist commercial and multiple tenancy customers with this big change in television.

Digital Imports Managing Director Paul Lambert, left, and sales manager Martin Howell with the latest commercial fibre head ends.

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“

Each of the input signals can be converted to any output signal (PAL, QAM, COFDM or IP), and because the input signals are not fixed to any particular outputs, an input signal can be assigned to several output modules.

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Not only will Digital Imports be able to supply these owners with cutting edge technology in terms of television distribution systems, it will save the owners and operators of these builders thousands of dollars a year in operating costs.

Specialising in the developing and importing of digital technology.

Designers of some industry firsts for digital television.

MATV Systems design & specification service.

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Goods & Services | EcoCentral

Ethical trash In today’s society consumerism is rampant, especially in our first world country, but when our personal level of consumerism starts to clutter up our lives, overfilling our wardrobes – what next?

EcoCentral, which is the umbrella name for the business is made up of EcoDrop, EcoShop and EcoSort, has a guiltless solution for those who are reluctant to fill up landfills with unwanted, but still useable goods.

Shop n drop Business Development manager Richard Simpson says at the EcoDrop people can bring in their pre-loved goods. “We call it a dating programme for used goods. People bring their unwanted things here and we find someone else to fall in love with it at the EcoShop.”

To keep it stocked Richard says the company has been running a number of campaigns designed to highlight consumerism. “We are highlighting the way we hold on to things and showing how there is an ethical, easy way to get rid of things that others can get value from.”

With “Reclaim Your Wardrobe”, “Reclaim Your Kids Room”, and “Reclaim Your Lounge”, Richard says the company has been able to gain an understanding of what would drive someone to use the EcoDrop, by highlighting familiar situations.

“You have just bought some new clothes, but your wardrobe is too full and nothing fits… you have so much stuff in the kitchen, or the kids room, but you just can’t find anything.”

How it works is people can come into one of the three EcoDrop sites around Christchurch to drop off some of their goods. “Drop in to EcoDrop, drop off your stuff and unload – you feel great as you’ve just reclaimed a whole room for free or for cheap. It is an ethical and easy way to get rid of things that others gain value from.”

Richard says EcoDrop plays a major role in diverting trash away from our landfills.

Sorting through the rubble Ever wondered where the contents of your yellow and red bins end up? Well it is this company who also receives and sorts the contents of all the yellow bins from Christchurch, Selwyn and Waimakariri Districts, plus recycling from as far afield as, Marlborough, the West Coast and the

Yellow Bin no-goes: • Clothes • Nappies • Hose pipe • Coffee machine, toaster (take it to the EcoDrop) • Wood • Ammunition • Paint tins • Gas Cylinders (take it to EcoDrop) • Furniture (take it to EcoDrop) • Oil Containers (take it to EcoDrop)

Mackenzie districts. They also receive the red bin refuse where it’s processed and prepared for removal to landfills.

The EcoDrop, EcoShop and EcoSort make up EcoCentral which runs the whole operation under Christchurch City Holdings Limited and owned by the Christchurch City Council (CCC).

Running under the mantra of “Canterbury’s rubbish lovers,” EcoCentral’s mission is to sort through this waste and divert as much from landfill that can be economically converted into resources and products, which themselves can be reused with minimal environmental impact.

Large range of children’s wooden toy’s from Kilmarnock Toys

Kilmarnock Toys, 32 Riccarton Road | Ph: 348 5162 | www.kilmarnocktoys.co.nz

EcoCentral has also taken the innovative move of turning the recycled glass into a new business. Its EcoCrystal product range uses engineered sands made from glass which are used in everything from the average garden to a sports field.

The sands are designed to work as effectively and in some cases, more effectively than conventional materials. They have proved their worth in a wide range of applications, from the Riccarton Golf Park to the Sandyhurst Winery in Lincoln.

It assists the CCC in helping and encouraging the community to recycle surplus waste and to understand and embrace the concept of waste minimisation and resource recovery, and assist in developing a more sustainable community.

Richard says EcoCentral is committed to reducing the amount of waste going into landfill and finding ways to ensure Christchurch leads the way in recycling.

“Anything that is not sent to the landfills gets reused or recycled. We are passionate about recycling and having a great time at work.”

ALL NATURAL

Glass into crystal

After the trucks wander through the early morning streets they trundle into the EcoSort where the waste is automatically sorted through by the machines. Each pile is pushed onto a conveyor belt and all the items are separated into paper, plastic and metals.

Once sorted, they are compressed and bound with wire and then loaded onto containers or onto trucks to start their journey towards becoming new recycled products.

EcoCentral Ltd Level 1 9 Baigent Way Middleton T (03) 336 0080 www.ecocentral.co.nz EcoShop 191 Blenheim Road Christchurch New Zealand T (03) 381 6495 E info@ecocentral.co.nz — Advertising Feature

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40 | September/October 2012 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

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Goods & Services | Ashby’s Butchery

A cut above Ashby’s Fine Meats and Deli, which was predominantly serving the hospitality industry, previously had its enterprise in Papanui.

Owner Corey Winder had moved into a factory three years ago to supply to the wholesale market, including noted clients the Copthorne, Crown Plaza and Millenium hotels. He also supplied small goods to renowned food retailer Rare Fare to cater to the retail market.

However, with the demise of many restaurants and cafes after the September and February earthquakes, owner Corey had to rethink his business strategy to ensure he could keep his operation running. “I’ve gone back to the grassroots now,” he says.

The wholesaler market’s loss is definitely the everyday consumer’s gain, as Corey is now supplying award-winning meat and delicatessen items to the public from his newly opened Ashby’s Fine Meats and Deli in Sydenham.

Corey always tries to source his products from local producers. His beef comes from Harris Meats at Cheviot and the Hereford Prime Brand from Wellington, lamb from farms in Central Otago (including the Sweet Briar Merino which is a fine textured, full-of-flavour meat) and chicken is sourced from Canterbury Food Wholesalers. Pork is sourced from Murrellen Pork which runs a free-range pig farm in Canterbury.

For those who want something quick and easy, Ashby’s also has a range of ready-made casseroles – saving preparation time and mess. There is also a variety of condiments to transform the produce bought at Ashby’s into your own culinary delight as well as Annie’s free range eggs on sale.

It is evident Corey has a passion for his trade.

He is always looking at ways to improve the meat while holding on to traditional tastes and textures. “The product that we produce is of the highest standard. We still do traditional

“

The product that we produce is of the highest standard.

We still do traditional dry cured bacon. We produce sausages that are like sausages used to taste like.

- Owner, Corey Winder

”

dry cured bacon. We produce sausages that are like sausages used to taste like.”

He is able to prepare specifically cut meat for customers’ requirements as well as offer helpful advice on how to best cook the meat.

Ashby’s has just been made a member of the New Zealand Butchery Guild – one of only three butchers in the South Island which has met the strict criteria neededto receive the honour. Corey is also a member of the New Zealand Butchery team.

Despite the upheaval of the past two years, the butchery has maintained its exceptional standards. The proof was when Ashby’s was named the Supreme Award winner at the

Supreme Award winner at the 2011 Devro New Zealand Sausage Competition.

<

An award-winning butchery has opened up in the regenerated suburb of Sydenham.

2011 Devro New Zealand Sausage Competition as well as the People’s Choice Award winner.

Ashby’s Italian Casalinga Pork Sausage beat 470 other sausages in the competition.

Ashby’s was also crowned the 2011 New Zealand Bacon of the Year supreme winner for its Murrellen dry cured loin bacon and received a gold medal for its middle bacon.

The Colombo St store is open from 7am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday and 7am to 3pm on Saturdays. A full range of Ashby’s meat is still available from Rare Fare in Papanui as well as selected items from FreshChoice, Merivale and the Lyttelton Farmers’ Market.

Ashby’s Fine Meats and Deli 357 Colombo Street Christchurch T (03) 366 8394 E ashbys.butchery@xtra.co.nz — Advertising Feature

Pleased to support Ashby’s Butchery Colin & Karen Battersby 84 Roecombe Road, Sheffield 7500 Ph: 03 318 3726 | Mobile: 0274 730 976 Email: murrellen@xtra.co.nz Web: www.murrellenpork.co.nz

www.canterburytoday.co.nz September/October 2012 | 41

Goods & Services | Havoc Farm

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Ian’s policy has always been minimal intervention milling all his own feed on the farm. He takes pride in saying “I would not feed my pigs anything I would not eat myself”.

That means letting them run free-range. “We use minimal intervention - no antibiotics, no growth promotants and a healthy diet of locally-grown grain with cider vinegar and garlic to keep them healthy.

“Our pigs lead an idyllic lifestyle. They have room to roam and their own specially-built shelters. Their food comes from specially selected suppliers. Piglets are weaned later than normal, at six to eight weeks.”

Ian takes his pigs to be turned into pork and bacon in his own specially designed truck, known as the “Havoc Hog Hauler.” This is to avoid the risk of disease from stock trucks on the farm, and minimise the shock of transportation on the pigs.

Havoc owners, Linda and Ian McCallum-Jackson

<

Linda, a human-resources consultant, had For the Havoc pigs of South Canterbury it is exactly the life they lead – a happy, stress-free spent most of her life in Auckland. She learnt patience when she came to the farm, because life where they are allowed to just be. pigs do things in their own time.

This pig farm is the result of Scotsman Ian They called the farm “Havoc” because havoc McCallum-Jackson’s life-long love of pigs. happens occasionally. Like when the piglets Growing up on a pig and poultry farm (the less said about the poultry the better) he then get drunk on the ripe cherry plums (despite graduated from Usk Agricultural College in the all efforts to keep them away), or when a sow United Kingdom where he specialised in pigs. decides to farrow in an unusual place. Or there was the time when Yuri the boar jumped the After working in the UK in the pig industry, gates. Or the time they had to call in a pig he set off to see the world. He travelled hunter to shoot a wild boar that had come on overland from the UK to New Zealand working the rampage. Ian and Linda are now known as on various pig farms, and when he arrived in Lord and Lady Havoc.

New Zealand worked on many more. All along From his travels and work experience he he was hatching plans for his own farm and knew he was going to breed his pigs outside formulating how he would do things when in the open air where they would be free to the time was right. display their natural behaviour, have plenty to When he set his eyes on this piece of stony eat and drink, and room to frolic at will. From ground at the foot of the Hunter Hills in South his life experiences Ian always knew how he Canterbury, he knew he had at long last found did not want to run his farm. the place to make the dream a reality. The In 1991, when just setting out, Ian was fact that there was a house on the property considered a bit of an oddity to be farming was of no consequence to Ian, he would his pigs outside, but he persisted and now in have lived in a tent if it had been necessary the South Island of New Zealand it is quite a because he knew this place was the place he common occurrence. had waited all his life to find - he was home.

A little while later, when he met the love of His farming process can best be described as his life Linda, the place became “Havoc”. a continual improvement. This is achieved by trying to out-think the very innovative and sometimes plain old crafty pigs that make up the breading herd at Havoc.

At Havoc Farm, they believe that happy hogs are healthy hogs.

But what does this mean for the consumer?

This better lifestyle is reflected in the flavour of all the pork and bacon products that Lord and Lady Havoc sell through their website, at markets, at retail outlets throughout the country, Waimate factory shop and at their newly-opened Dunedin Havoc Farm Store.

Their range of pork and bacon products are renowned for their taste and have been recognised as having flavour reminiscent of the good old days. Customers continually seek them out at markets and hunt down cafes and restaurants where they know they can enjoy the wholesome taste of Havoc pork and bacon.

Where to get Havoc pork and bacon

Bringing home the bacon The various awards and accolades the McCallum-Jacksons have received during the years is testament to the incredible time, energy and love they and their staff put into the business of growing their pigs.

Last year Havoc Pork was rewarded when it received the Cuisine Supreme Artisan Award for its Yorkshire Black Bacon In 2011, the South Canterbury Chamber of Commerce also recognised Havoc Farm Pork with three awards at the Hospitality and Tourism Awards – the Local Food Producer Experience Award, Sustainability Award and The Supreme Award.

The continued success is down to the passion of not only the couple who own Havoc Pork but their many staff who are all dedicated to giving the pigs the best life possible.

Christchurch Rare Fare Liberty Market Mt Cook The Hermitage The Old Mountaineers Tekapo Astro Café Peppers Clearwater Timaru Timaru Farmers Market Aoraki Polytechnic St Andrews Masonic Hotel Waimate Te Kiteroa Lodge Oamaru Riverstone Kitchen Whitestone Cheese Oamaru Bed and Breakfast Pen-Y-Bryn Lodge Online www.havocpork.co.nz

Havoc Farm Factory Shop 39 Belt Street Waimate South Canterbury T (03) 689 8288 F (03) 689 8292 E havocfarm@farmside.co.nz Havoc Farm Store 135 High Street Dunedin T (03) 474 5901 Monday - Friday: 9am - 6pm www.havocpork.co.nz Saturday: 9am - 4pm Sunday: 10am - 4pm — Advertising Feature

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42 | September/October 2012 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

Goods & Services | Mill Orchard

The flavour of a nation Capturing the crisp taste of pure New Zealand fruit in a bottle is down to the dedication of one Kiwi family, who wanted to ensure they were growing fruit and using it in a sustainable way.

The White family have been orchardists in the picturesque Canterbury area of Loburn for a number of years, but the demise of the New Zealand fruit export market saw demand dwindle. However, they held onto their vision to use up all the fruit they were producing These two factors set the scene for them to continue to make a livelihood from the land they’d nurtured for so long.

Right from the beginning Carey and Nick White, along with Nick’s brother William and his wife Gay, knew they wanted to create a product that used only New Zealand fruit and was as natural as possible.

They first manufactured the product and sold it through the Raeward Fresh stores. “At the beginning it was all family hands to the deck – we’d screw the caps on and put the labels on by hand,” Carey says.

Soon customers who had tasted the juice but weren’t living near where it was sold, began to ask where they could buy it; and so it was they launched Mill Orchard in 2001.

As orchardists and proud New Zealanders the Whites want to support other fruit growers in this country, as well as maintain a 100 percent fruit content – with absolutely no use of concentrates (which come mostly from China), in their juices.

They source boysenberries from Nelson, lemons and oranges from Gisborne, blackcurrants from around the South Island,

grow 20 percent of the apples they use themselves, as well as buying them from other South Island growers.

It is a refreshing change to see only three ingredients listed on the bottle’s packaging.

The only ingredient they add to their juice is the small amount of vitamin C which is lost during the production process.

They also insist on using as many goods and services from New Zealand businesses as possible – hence the use of companies like Alto Packaging, Accutemp Refrigeration and Air Conditioning and Gravure Packaging.

Since beginning, the Whites have developed products, marketing strategies and, through the help of visionary William, created the machinery which now sees them producing their juice in a more automated way. Their production has grown to about 2.9 million bottles of juice each year.

Mill Orchard juices: • NO added sugar • NO added preservatives The juices can also be used in a variety of ways. Check out the website www. millorchard.co.nz to see how they can be included in a multitude of recipes.

Mill Orchard products are available in Four Square, Pak’nSave and New World supermarkets as well as sold under the Wild Bean label at BP service stations.

• NO added colours • NO added flavours • NO concentrates • 100% New Zealand made!

It still remains a family business with Nick and Carey’s daughter and her fiancé now promoting Mill Orchards in the North Island.

The popularity has grown such that visitors to New Zealand are now asking if the juice can be supplied to their countries – opening up new markets in Malaysia and Australia.

When all is said and done, the proof of the pudding is really in the taste and these pure juices not only provide a thirst quenching liquid, but one that is packed full of the flavour of beautiful fruit; fruit that has been carefully looked after right from growing to bottling.

The juice comes in a variety of flavours including apple lemon, apple currant, apple orange, apple berry and classic apple. They are also in a multitude of sizes 3lt, 1lt, 400ml or 250ml sipper bottle.

Mill Orchard 31 Rossiters Road Rangiora T (03) 3128 333 F (03) 3128 370 E info@millorchard.co.nz www.millorchard.co.nz — Advertising Feature

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Goods & Services | Hurrell Apparel

Working highlights In Christchurch’s current landscape, fluorescent yellow and orange has become for many a frustrating, but normal sight as our city rebuilds, repairs and restructures.

But rather than just moan about this necessary, though admittedly bothersome, intrusion into our daily lives; with traffic jams, detours and workers galore, a Christchurch uniform company has utilised the situation to improve business.

Walking into Hurrell Apparel’s showroom your eye can’t help but be distracted by the just as bright fluoro colours taking up most of its central space.

Hurrell Apparel is a uniform clothing company that, once upon a time, sold a mere 10 percent of the fluoro coloured uniforms. Preearthquake, Hurrell Apparel provided mainly corporate uniforms, many of which went out to cafes, restaurants and bars.

But as the CBD came tumbling down, it took with it a large percent of the company’s business. Though the hospitality industry is now well on its way to a full revival, sales rep Josh Hurrell says in the initial phases it was certainly a case of sink or swim.

He says after the earthquakes the only way to survive as a company was to start selling more of this hi-visibility clothing, which has become a uniform for many workers on our city streets. “We had to adapt,” Josh says.

Business Advisors, Financiers and Chartered Accountants Taurus is proud to be associated with Hurrell Apparel Level 1, 22 Foster Street, Tower Junction, Christchurch 8011 Ph: 03 3666 087 | Fax: 03 3666 807 www.taurusnz.co.nz

Today the company now sells more than 50 percent of the fluoro clothing. “Seventy percent of our new customers are looking for high visibility clothing,” Josh says. “The uniform in Christchurch is now high-vis. We sell hundreds of units in a week compared to the ten a week we once sold.”

Be it rain or shine, whether you are a firefighter, a police officer, a construction worker, a surveyor or the children holding the traffic lollipops – safety when working on the road is of utmost importance. One of the best ways to prevent avoidable mishaps is by making sure you are seen – and what better way than with hi-visibility safety clothing.

“

When customers come in we help them, offer advice and help them to select what it is they need based on their requirements.

- Sales rep Josh Hurrell

”

He points out, in today’s environment safety has reached new levels and many companies are now being more stringent when it comes to the safety requirements of their workers.

Josh says Hurrell Apparel has now branched out its networks to provide customers with a wider range of high-vis gear. It sources its clothing from a range of leading stock service brands such as Safe-T-Tech, Protex, TWZ, Visitec and Bisley along with its corporate suppliers like Biz Collection, Lichfield Shirts, Essentials Apparel, Unlimited Editions, Headwear and in-house brand Hurrell Teamwear specialising in custom-made sports uniforms.

The clothing is then ordered from the distributor and given the company brand on the Hurrell Apparel site in Christchurch’s Sydenham. Because the whole team works together from the one place, with both screen-printing and embroidery services on site, turn-around for orders are quick. Josh says most uniforms can be ready within five days, but depending on current demand it can take up to 10 days.

The high-vis clothing is available as polo shirts, safety vests, day and night garments, hard hats, overalls, shirts, pants – anything on the clothing side of the safety flouro gear.

If you don’t see it in the Hurrell Apparel showroom, they will endeavour to source or custom-make your team something fit for your requirements.

Hurrell Apparel 54 Brisbane Street Sydenham Christchurch 8023 T (03) 366 0760 E sales@hurrells.co.nz www.hurrells.co.nz — Advertising Feature

In addition, with its 14 years of experience in the business, the company is well equipped to meet each and every customer’s specific needs. “When customers come in we help them, offer advice and help them to select what it is they need based on their requirements.”

Big Enough to Count, Small Enough to Care If you’re looking for a team that prides itself in top performance, and is totally focused on supporting your business, we welcome your call!

0800 081 443 | Ph: 03 366 7536 | Fax: 03 379 5395 | E: enquiries@abbott.co.nz

44 | September/October 2012 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

Initiatives | Christchurch Transport Plan

Moving the city into the future The Christchurch City Council has adopted a 30-year vision, the Draft Christchurch Transport Plan, to keep the city moving forward by providing transport choices to connect people and places.

It arrives as a realisation that an effective transport network is critical for Christchurch to recover from the recent earthquakes and for the city to attract new investment, businesses and people, Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker says.

But the draft plan is not about repairing the roads following the earthquakes, he says.

“While the first decade of the plan’s implementation will no doubt be focused on replacing the damaged infrastructure, the key during this phase will be looking for opportunities to enhance the network, protect future corridors and target investments to support the long-term vision of the plan.

“As the city is rebuilt, we also have a unique opportunity to develop a safe, connected cycle network that will make it easier for people to cycle and to address the great ideas that have come through the Central City Plan and the Suburban Centres Master Plans.”

The plan is aimed at creating a city which is easier to move around by improving access and providing travel choice to support a vibrant economy, create stronger communities and a healthier environment.

Mr Parker says the greatest challenges facing the city’s transport network are earthquake damage, the change in travel patterns, traffic congestion, the city’s aging population and increasing fuel prices.

He says through the draft plan, the Council will also look to develop local freight routes to improve access to and between the Christchurch International Airport, Lyttelton Port and freight hubs, and a freight strategy to manage growth and improve reliability of regional freight movement.

Implementation of this plan presents one of the greatest opportunities for Christchurch to create a world-class cycle network.

“The draft plan looks to strengthen the integration of land use and transport planning, while at the same time looking to create opportunities to adapt to climate change and peak oil.

Draft Christchurch Transport image kindly supplied by the Christchurch City Council

“What we are looking to achieve is more efficient use of the road network, as well as ensuring that cars, freight, public transport, cyclists and pedestrians are catered for where they are most appropriate. A key change in our thinking is to match transport solutions to land use needs, rather than simply creating road networks which are solely focused on shifting vehicles about the city.”

Mr Parker says fundamental to the development of the plan is a long-term commitment from council and its partner agencies to fund the projects which will improve the city’s transport network.

He encourages the community to take time to comment on the draft plan as the final document will determine how the city’s transport network evolves and develops during the next 30 years.

A consultation process will be held from July 18 to 5pm on August 23, 2012. People can make a submission online at www.ccc.govt.nz/HaveYourSay, by email to CTP@ccc.govt.nz or in writing.

For more information visit www.ccc.govt.nz/ christchurchtransportplan

Goods & Services | The Jewel Wardrobe

Trinkets and

treasures

The Jewel Wardrobe is a new boutique jewellery store set in Christchurch’s Tower Junction Mega Centre which promises an array of quality, uniquely designed products at a competitive price.

With an eye for detail, owner Kirstie Dobson has used her natural flair and impeccable taste to lighten up the shop with an array of designs including gemstones, crystals, pearls, sterling silver and stainless steel jewellery items. There is a range of quirky, contemporary and fashion pieces, many of which are sourced from Europe as well as New Zealand. She also has a selection of handbags from London and scarves as recently featured in Simply You magazine.

Kirstie has been in the jewellery industry for the past 10 years, liaising with European designers and talented local New Zealand artists - her knowledge for jewellery is extensive. From as young as 13 years of age, Kirstie has been creating and selling her jewellery designs. With her retail outlet being so busy, these days she doesn’t have time to make jewellery, but is a jewellery designer for an upcoming jewellery brand.

“My favourite pieces of jewellery at the moment that are on-trend are crystal fever black and mustard moment necklaces, a long chain with three keys and tassel pendant all from the jewellery brand Royance & Jeannie.”

When a space came up in Riccarton’s Tower Junction, Kirstie decided it was a great opportunity to develop her jewellery business.

Owning her own shop was never something she planned on doing – but she has seized the chance and developed the “cute” space that once housed an ATM. Kirstie has had to literally think outside the box to transform the space, but a few stylish, white, strategically placed shelves

and timeless purple coloured wallpaper – the space has been transformed into the boutique shop it is today.

The name is a nod to the retail space, but it also means that when she expands the business to larger premises and incorporates scarves, bags and clothing, it will be a true depiction of what every woman would really like to see contained within their own wardrobe. Expansion plans which are, hopefully, soon to be launched out of the closet.

The Jewel Wardrobe Tower Junction Mega Centre Shop 9 66 Clarence Street Riccarton, Christchurch T (03) 348 5500 www.thejewelwardrobe.co.nz

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The Jewel wardrobe Unique + Quirky + Beautiful Jewellery We stock a wide variety of Royance & Jeannie Jewellery.

Shop 9, 66 Clarence Street, Riccarton, Christchurch | Ph. 348 5500 | www.thejewelwardrobe.co.nz www.canterburytoday.co.nz September/October 2012 | 45

Initiatives | Business Christmas Functions

Ten tips on planning a Christmas function The festive season is also called the silly season for good reason; with loads on it can sometimes be a crazy time. Planning the annual staff Christmas party should be fun, but it can also be stressful.

John McKenzie, chief enthusiast from events and entertainment company enthuse has a look at some planning tips.

“As waiters they were hilarious and as entertainment they were fantastic” Richard Hoskin, CEO, Sport Southland Entertainment and improvisation including the singing waiters Professional MC and Speaker Event theming Event development and management

to use ‘if appropriate’ for staff newsletters and sharing afterwards.

1. Decide on a theme

5. Book good entertainment

Just because it’s Christmas doesn’t mean it has to be a Christmas theme. Themed parties are loads of fun help build excitement and anticipation. You can build elements of your own industry or business into the theme and it gives you another reason to hand out fun awards. Is it just a party, is it to show appreciation to staff for their efforts, or is it an incentive for an extra drive to launch into next year?

Mix it up a bit, do something a bit different and book entertainment. It doesn’t have to be for the whole function, it can just be an entertaining and memorable ‘character’ that adds a fun, surprise element. Good entertainment can really add something fun and unique. Just remember, entertainment doesn’t have to be confined to a stage!

2. Decide on where you want to have it as early as you can

This will ensure everyone is happy and make sure you cover special dietary needs. It also means you are being a responsible host. Make • Mingle, take the opportunity to mix with staff you don’t have much to do with. sure there is enough food for everyone and serve it sooner rather than later.

This means whether it’s held in-house in your building or in an appropriate venue that can be themed well or at an entertainment venue.

The earthquakes have not made bookings in Christchurch easy, but there are still some good options that even include cruising on Lyttelton Harbour, so don’t limit your search to just urban areas .

6. Book good catering

• Don’t skip staff Christmas functions, it’s a bad look • It always comes up and you should really take notice; keep a lid on alcohol intake, especially if you are keen on a career in your business

Consider how staff will get home after the function. Purchasing taxi vouchers to hand out as required is a good option to make sure staff get home safely.

8. Provide non-alcoholic beverages

Your budget should cover catering, including beverages, theme, entertainment, invites and any additional activities and gifts. Divide your budget by the number of staff coming so you have an idea of cost per head. It’s important to remember this is actually an investment in staff, so just how much per head it costs should equal how much value you put on your staff’s wellbeing.

Make sure you have drinks such as coffee, soft drinks and punch available for those who don’t drink alcohol.

The invite sets the early standard for the function, so make it good and memorable.

• Get feedback afterwards – to make next year’s even better again

7. Consider transport options

3. Work out a budget early

4. The invite sets the scene early, so make sure it’s good

Also consider:

9. Presents Either set a dollar value and have each staff member buy a secret Santa gift, or if the business can, purchase gifts for everyone.

Make sure you have a few extra just in case someone is missed.

10. Take photos and celebrate Make sure you take lots of good photos – maybe even show some during the evening –

Two time NZ entertainment company of the year, enthuse, has an award winning track record of adding an enthusiastic creative spark to conferences and events all over NZ. Enthuse provides leading entertainment, themed band, theming, team building and MC services and can help develop and manage your event if required www.enthuse.co.nz

Christmas at the races

Christmas at the Races is back and ready to roll out the red carpet for guests this coming festive season. With Riccarton and Addington both offering a range of unique Christmas party options you need look no further - we have it all covered.

Christmas at the Races has a simple, but effective goal – to provide Christmas party options that are easy to organise, hosted at a unique venue, with fresh festive food and superb entertainment.

For those with the task of organising their company’s end-of-year party, it proves to be an ideal option. There is something to cater to everyone’s taste, whether it be great entertainment, Christmas food or exciting racing action.

Customer research from previous attendees has been overwhelmingly positive, with people enjoying an exciting racing element that made for a Christmas party unlike any other. Christmas at the Races was voted by the public as the ‘Best Nationwide Christmas Party’ option in the 2011 Corporate Events, People’s Choice Awards.

One new race-goer commented that “the whole package was amazing – I had never been to the races before but I had a fantastic time out!”. Another attendee was delighted to see his “never-hada-bet” staff taking a punt and sharing their “joy and excitement when it came in”.

Both venues are already taking bookings, so we suggest you book early to avoid disappointment.

With a limited number of venues in Christchurch currently, we expect a sell-out crowd once again.

For further information please visit theraces.co.nz or email info@theraces.co.nz 46 | September/October 2012 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

Horse racing has its origins in ancient Babylon, Syria and Egypt and both chariot and mounted horse racing events were in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648BC. It has earned the title as the “Sport of Kings” so when looking for a Christmas party where you want to treat your staff, friends or family like royalty, then look no further than the Christmas at the Races.

Christmas at the Races ticks all the boxes when it comes to providing the perfect ingredients to create a memorable and exciting party. There is entertainment, activities, beautiful food and delicious refreshments as well as the fantastic spectacle of horse racing, which all combined provide a brilliant experience.

Addington Raceway is holding its harness racing party on Friday, 30 November, with the gates opening at 5pm (racing starts at 5.30pm). It promises to be bright lights, fast horses and fabulous food all topped off with some late night entertainment after the last race.

Riccarton Park is the home of gallops, and whether or not you are a regular punter, doesn’t really matter. Get a group of staff

members together, all put in an amount of money and share in the delight as you pick your horses and watch in suspense to see if you will win your fortune - great for team building. Riccarton’s event is on Friday December 7, with the gates opening from 2pm (racing beginning at 4pm).

Both raceways have a plethora of different packages available to suit a wide range of budgets. What’s even best about the day’s festivities is that once you’ve booked, all the hard work is handed over for someone else to organise.

With bookings already being taken, don’t miss this fabulous opportunity to provide a wonderful party at Christmas at the Races promising to be fun, festive and fantastic.

For more information visit www.theraces.co.nz or email info@the races.co.nz

— Advertising Feature

At A Glance | Supa Karts Indoor Raceway

Radio Network

Covering Christchurch The need

The award, presented in New York on June 18, recognised Newstalk ZB’s coverage as “world’s best,” with entries coming from 27 countries and only a limited number of gold medals awarded. The medal was won in the Best Coverage of a Breaking News Story category.

“This is yet another acknowledgement that Newstalk ZB’s coverage in the minutes, days and months following the earthquake was as good as it gets,” says general manager of talk Dallas Gurney.

Radio was the primary source of information for many people, with power out to much of the city following the February 22nd earthquake. “While this award is extremely gratifying, we also recognise the Christchurch earthquake story is far from over,” Dallas says.

“We remain as committed to Christchurch today as we were in February last year.”

Coupled with this major international award was the recent win for local talkback host Mike Yardley in the New Zealand Radio Awards announced on May 10.

Mike picked up the award for “Best Talkback Host” in the hotly contested category against some of his colleagues in the industry. Each year the New Zealand Radio Awards celebrate the best in radio for the previous 12 months.

The coverage provided by Newstalk ZB Christchurch after the earthquakes became a lifeline for many, with power, phones and other infrastructure often severely compromised.

In terms of bang for your buck, you can’t beat karts. They’re easy to drive, great to race and have cornering speeds to make your hair stand on end; what this all adds up to is about as much fun as you can have with your pants on.

Dallas Gurney General Manager of Talk Programming for the Radio Network

<

Newstalk ZB’s Christchurch earthquake coverage from the devastating 6.3 magnitude earthquake of February 22, 2011 has recently won a gold medal in the New York Festivals International Radio Program and Promotion Awards.

for speed

“

This is yet another acknowledgement that Newstalk ZB’s coverage in the minutes, days and months following the earthquake was as good as it gets.

”

- General manager, Dallas Gurney.

Newstalk ZB provided the link that people needed and even now stories still come through about people sitting in their cars for hours tuned to the radio to hear the latest news and information as it developed.

Mike Yardley was the credible voice throughout the entire year; bringing regular updates to listeners, challenging decisions made and giving people a forum to air their views, their frustrations and their fears in what have been extremely challenging times.

Even now, Mike regularly features one hour specials with EQC, CERA and Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee, as the rebuilding of Christchurch continues.

Never before has “local radio” been so important, and the accolade that Mike Yardley has received is testament to his professionalism both on, and off the air.

The hottest spot for this kind of four wheeled adventure in Christchurch is the newly reopened Supa Karts Indoor Raceway on the corner of Byron and Buchan Streets.

Just look for the go kart man and chequers on the side of the company’s new home.

The business is up and running again after loosing its familiar Moorhouse Ave home in the September 2010 earthquake, and then having to complete repairs to the new home following the February 2011 event.

in mind and also manufactured in Germany by Rimo Karts, are children’s karts; just a smaller version of the adult karts for children aged eight to 13 years.

Of course one huge benefit is the track being indoors, so you can roll up and start racing in any weather. You can walk in off the street, get strapped in and start to rumble, or go along as a group. There are casual rides to full blown Enduro Teams racing packages, which are race meetings for 10 to 60 people. These are a fantastic way to spend an evening, as well as being great for team building exercises, conference groups, stag and hen's nights, sports teams, social clubs and very popular for those end of year break ups.

Now you know where Supa Karts can be found, what you’re looking for is exactly what you’ll find - the place to fuel your need for speed.

Wicked wheels Supa Karts delivers exactly what it says it does - a place where you find super karts. “We use what we think is the best concession kart available on the world market,” owner Grant Smith says.

These happen to be the Rimo Karts Grant bought directly from Ralph Shumacker’s kart centre in Bispingen, just outside Hamberg. “If Rimo is good enough for the Schumachers, they are definitely good enough for us. When I purchased this business, it was my aim to give the public the absolute best that there was to offer in the way of indoor karting.”

A toe to toe racing experience is something most of us come across very rarely. But when you do, it is a whole heap of fast, furious fun. Designed with the entire family

Supa Karts Indoor Raceway 91 Buchan Street Christchurch T (03) 374 9425 E supakarts@xtra.co.nz www.supakarts.co.nz

— Advertising Feature

Chartered Accountants & Business Advisors

Robert Purchas & Associates are pleased to be associated with Supa Karts and wish them every success with their new premises.

Please contact us for personal assistance with your accounting and taxation requirements.

Our new address is 96 Shands Road Hornby Phone number 377 6996

For more information visit www.newstalkzb.co.nz

— Advertising Feature

www.canterburytoday.co.nz September/October 2012 | 47

Property & Construction | quarrySCAPE Rock & Pave

Specialty porous paving quarrySCAPE Limited is a highly skilled landscape company specialising in providing quality porous paving to customers throughout New Zealand.

The company was formed in 2007 by Fraser Donnelly, who had extensive experience in managing a landscape construction business for 15 years in Australia prior to establishing quarrySCAPE. His goal was to create a business that provided a unique service that complemented existing landscape companies within Canterbury.

Today quarrySCAPE is renowned for its quality porous paving products, which Donnelly says are the company’s point of difference. “Our product is unique to New Zealand and is made from natural stone sourced from sustainable quarries within the South Island,” he says.

“Our resin is imported from Australia but we’re currently trying new resins in an effort to keep the price down and be more competitive in the market. We aim to support the local market where we can.” quarrySCAPE’s porous paving can be used in many applications, including interior flooring, showrooms, retail environments, patio flooring, courtyards, around pools, driveways, carparks, tree pits and paths. They also supply and install anti-slip systems for industrial and commercial applications. The company has been involved with earthquake repairs using polyurethane concrete injection systems.

Resin-bound surfacing systems are made up of a two-part thermo setting UV stable resin binder, which is homogenously mixed with carefully selected and graded aggregates to form an attractive and durable decorative coating system.

Porous paving is particularly suited for water-sensitive urban design, which includes

decorative tree pits in public spaces. It is vandal resistant, easy to clean and allows the tree to breath and gather water, while being extremely hardy and almost maintenance free.

The company has completed tree pits for city councils in Wellington, Christchurch, Ashburton, Auckland and Dunedin, as well as for other commercial and residential clients. The polyurethane resin system allows a certain amount of flexibility, which was tested during the Christchurch earthquakes, with the tree pits at AMI Stadium remaining remarkably intact.

Huge range of stone products All stone used in quarrySCAPE’s paving products is 100 percent natural, with pebbles generally under 10mm in diameter for high strength and high porosity. Depending on the design application the client is requiring, decorative, indoor, outdoor, on concrete or asphalt along with a fully porous system.

The company carries over a dozen varieties of gravel, pebble and chip, as well as river and beach stone.

Beneficial working relationship quarrySCAPE owner Fraser Donnelly is grateful for the support of Diggalink in Rolleston.

“John and Ann Giltrap have been very helpful in supporting us during our start in business as a newcomer to the local market,” he says.

“It takes time to build a network of people around you.”

Building and paving stone includes West Coast building stone and schist. “We have a variety of materials for hard and soft landscaping,” says Donnelly. “We have been involved with water features, large boulder installations and retaining walls for supply or supply/installation.”

The talented team at quarrySCAPE can design any decorative paving feature customer’s request.

Pleased to be associated with quarrySCAPE

The Pebble-pave Company proudly support quarrySCAPE

Porous paving is ideal for beautifying public areas.

quarrySCAPE has the perfect stone products for your home landscaping.

· Yuchai Excavators 1-30t · Chenggong Loaders · Attachments · Excavator Hire

www.westlandschist.co.nz

021 498 136

E: jfordyce@xtra.co.nz www.pebblepave.co.nz 0800 344 425 | www.diggalink.co.nz

quarrySCAPE is a Canterbury based Landscaper & Trade Supplier specialising in decorative porous paving systems. We are the preferred supplier of porous paving systems to numerous New Zealand Councils.

We carry a huge range of New Zealand Natural Decorative stone to add that extra edge to any landscaping project.

Tel: 03 307 0428 E: mail@quarryscape.co.nz W: www.quarryscape.co.nz

48 | September/October 2012 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

Proud to support quarrySCAPE

A Hokitika based Company that processes and supplies local stone throughout New Zealand and overseas.

P. 03 755 7687 M. 027 353 1534 State Highway 6 Ruatapu, Hokitika

Property & Construction | quarrySCAPE Rock & Pave Innovative designs Quality products from quarrySCAPE • quarrySCAPE was formed in 2007 by Fraser Donnelly.

• quarrySCAPE is renowned for its quality porous paving products.

• The company’s porous paving is unique to New Zealand and is made from natural stone sourced from sustainable quarries within the South Island.

• Porous paving can be used in many interior and exterior applications.

• quarrySCAPE also supplies and installs anti-slip systems for industrial and commercial use.

• Porous paving is particularly suited for water-sensitive urban design, which includes decorative tree pits in public spaces.

• All stone used in quarrySCAPE’s paving products are 100 percent natural.

Owner Fraser Donnelly says quarrySCAPE has the experience and skills to create any landscape feature, with the ability to follow the project right through to completion.

However, Donnelly is a true believer of networking with skilled tradesmen and specialty craftsmen to achieve the best result for the client.

Donnelly and his team are continuing to grow the business with the support and assistance of the local community.

Any enquires please don’t hesitate to contact Fraser or the quarrySCAPE team by phone or email, and please check out the website.

Stone products Decorative gravel, pebble and chip quarrySCAPE carries over a dozen varieties of decorative gravel, pebble and chip in different sizes. Whether it be a traditional or more contemporary look, it has the range to suit.

What they don’t have in stock they will get in for you.

Stone

Dairy Shed anti slip.

River Stone, Beach Stone, stone from the Alpsthere is a range of stone to complement your landscape design.

Decorative boulders

quarrySCAPE can design and construct any decorative paving project.

From Central Otago to the remote West Coast we carry a broad range of boulders ranging in size from 20kg to five tonnes - the bulk of these are stored at our site in Weedons, Christchurch. We are constantly sourcing new products from our network of contacts across the country. The website is updated regularly with what is in stock - arrange a time to meet with us at Weedons or select from the web, our aim is to keep the process of purchasing simple and cost effective.

Building and paving stone West Coast building stone, Schist paving stone – if you need it quarrySCAPE has it and at the right price.

quarrySCAPE Limited 145 Mitcham Road Ashburton.

T (03) 307 0428 E mail@quarryscape.co.nz www.quarryscape.co.nz — Advertising Feature

For all your Paving and Landscaping needs Ph: 03 359 5393 www.smartprecast.co.nz

PROFESSIONAL DECORATING & PLASTERING INTERIORS & EXTERIORS

“Our clients are our best advertising. We like them to have great things to say!”

Proudly supporting quarrySCAPE

SERVICES INCLUDE Wallpapering & Decorating Factory Lacquer Finishes Textures & Specialist Coatings Licensed Rockcote Plasterers Level 5 Spray Finish Plasterboard Stopping Project Management

15 GREY STREET, ASHBURTON | FREEPHONE: 0800 TFC ASH (832 274) | OFFICE: 03 307 8870 | CRAIG BISHOP: 027 444 4856

www.canterburytoday.co.nz September/October 2012 | 49

Property & Construction | Fleetwood Construction

Delivering better building With Christchurch staring down the barrel of a building boom, picking the right company to create, renovate or repair your home is an important decision.

It is here where experience comes to the fore and Fleetwood Construction has it in spades.

The company is celebrating its 10th year in business under the leadership of director Sam Fleetwood, who heads an experienced team of staff and subcontractors.

The Christchurch-based business is a specialist in building up-market new homes and undertaking high-quality repairs and renovations.

Located in Merivale, it offers a wide range of residential building services, including new architectural homes, renovations and repairs.

The company is able to accommodate full contract, fixed price labour only, or charge up contracts, all with Masterbuild Guarantees.

It is also accredited by Fletchers Construction and available to do earthquake repairs or rebuilds.

An area of specialty for the company is building on hill sites, which require a high level of expertise and experience. Fleetwood expects his company’s knowledge in hill sites to be in demand during earthquake repairs and rebuilds on the Port Hills.

Alterations and renovations The team at Fleetwood Construction has a particular passion for restoring older homes and has extensive experience in the renovation of character villas and weatherboard homes. The company can extend, restore or renovate an older home in keeping with its character and style, while ensuring it is warm and comfortable for modern family life.

Sam and Charlotte Fleetwood, of Fleetwood Construction in Christchurch. >

“

We try to help people with design and often point them in the right direction with an architect, depending on what sort of project they’ve got.

- Owner, Sam Fleetwood

“We do EQC repair work and specialise in servicing people who opt. We’re mostly doing repairs at the moment, but full rebuilds should start in the future,” Sam Fleetwood says.

”

Residential and light commercial building services Light commercial fitouts: • Bars • Cafes • Shops • Offices Residential building services: • Architectural homes • Renovations

New homes

• Repairs

Fleetwood Construction excels in building new architectural homes and works closely with several architects in Christchurch. New homes can be built in any style required, with a wide range of materials and finishes available.

• Design advice

• Earthquake work • Units/flats •Inspections Special competencies:

“We do a lot of architectural work and my background is in higher-end homes,” Fleetwood says. “We try to help people with design and often point them in the right direction with an architect, depending on what sort of project they’ve got.”

• Villa restorations and renovations • Construction on hill sites • House levelling • Landscape construction <

Fleetwood Construction works closely with several leading architects.

John J. Clark Proudly Supporting Fleetwood Construction Ph: 03 373 6049 F: 03 376 6049 E: info@dyersroaditm.co.nz 291 Dyers Road, Christchurch. www.dyersroaditm.co.nz

Assisting the Christchurch Rebuilders with financial advice

architectural homes and renovations 50 | September/October 2012 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

P. (03) 355 8645 F. (03) 355 8024 john@johnclark.co.nz

356 0085 021 449 558 info@fleetwoodconstruction.co.nz www. fleetwoodconstruction.co.nz

Property & Construction | Fleetwood Construction

<

“

Fleetwood Construction is able to accommodate full contract, fixed price labour only, or charge up contracts, all with Masterbuild Guarantees.

Sam was efficient, reliable and had excellent standards of workmanship. Importantly for me, he was able to offer helpful and sensible advice when I was unsure which decision to make. It was this ability to listen to what was important to us and then advise, and work, accordingly that particularly impressed me.

We were extremely happy with the work carried out by Sam and his team and I will continue to use Sam for further building work.

- Legal Options director Karen Dennison

”

Communication is key Communication is a key focus for the team at Fleetwood Construction, which helps guide clients through the sometimes daunting building process. The company is practical and creative and can manage any building project from the start of construction right through to completion.

“We are true professionals and understand the importance of clear communication, delivering projects on time and within the desired budget,” director Sam Fleetwood says.

“No matter the size of your project, we are here to work with you in the building of your new home.”

The Fleetwood team prides itself on being hands on with their customers.

“We’ll run through a lot of the building terms and give the client a good understanding of the building industry and some of the technical things that go over their heads.”

Fleetwood is still very hands on with his business and likes to be actively involved on site, as well as working in the office. He employs a team of qualified and experienced subcontractors to supplement his own team of builders. “We deliver on time and we make it easy. We help people through the early stages when they’re unsure of what to do.”

< Fleetwood Construction specialises in architectural homes

A professional building company Sam Fleetwood has a passion for building, with a strong personal interest in architectural homes, villas and traditional weatherboard homes.

Fleetwood has been in the building industry since 1992 and has successfully operated his own business since 2003.

He believes in taking time to ensure all work is completed to the highest standard, using high-quality materials and a team of skilled and experienced tradespeople.

To back this up, Fleetwood Construction is a registered Master Builder and a Department of Building and Housing licensed building practitioner.

The company is also a member of both Site Safe and HazardCo and promotes health and safety systems on its work sites.

Fleetwood Construction Limited 35 Gordon Avenue Merivale Christchurch 8014 T (021) 449 558 E info@fleetwoodconstruction.co.nz www.fleetwoodconstruction.co.nz — Advertising Feature

www.canterburytoday.co.nz September/October 2012 | 51

Property & Construction | Foothold Developments

Award winning company offers simple solutions Be it a small $100,000 kitset house through to a $1.5 million architecturally designed home Foothold Developments can meet any residential building requirement.

Wide range of building expertise

fitouts. Significant projects completed by the company have included multi-storey buildings on medium to steep terrain.

Foothold Developments was formed in 2004 and since then has become a name associated Foothold Developments is experienced at with building substantial architecturally a variety of different construction types, designed homes and high-quality light including tilt panel, concrete block, major commercial buildings. retaining walls and geotechnical engineering.

The Nelson-based company, owned by Alistair Its average project size is around 300 square Middleton and Mick Waterworth, also does metres with a price range from $450,000 up quality renovations and light commercial to $1.5 million.

<

Foothold Developments can meet any residential building requirements, from million dollar homes through to small kitset houses.

ModuleNZ

Foothold Developments can offer a total residential and light commercial building package, including:

• Foothold Developments is now offering cost-effective Module NZ kitset homes, which are smart, functional and quick to build

• High-end architecturally designed homes • Quality renovations on older homes

Focus on quality

• Foothold has been a licensed distributor of Module NZ homes for the past year. Director Mick Waterworth says supplying the kitset homes helps Foothold Developments offer a housing solution to every sector of the residential building market

Foothold Developments employs only qualified carpenters and apprentices who are committed to achieving the best result possible for their clients.

• Module NZ’s plans range in size from 45-165 square metres. The homes are made up of pre-cut, pre-framed and preclad wall sections and trusses

Middleton and Waterworth achieve quality through constant communication and consultation with each project’s foreman, owners and architects on a daily basis, and are hands-on in their approach to the company.

• The panels arrive on site direct from the factory and are ready to be positioned directly onto the floor. Each home comes with an installation guide that enables it to be at lockup stage within seven days

As directors and owners with extensive experience in residential and light commercial construction, Foothold can take ownership and monitor quality, budgets and time frames. This eye for quality and detail is reflected in the awards it has won and the respect it has gained within the Nelson building industry.

• All building materials are manufactured and supplied by New Zealand companies

• Cost-effective kitset homes from Module NZ • Multi-storey townhouse construction • Homes on difficult and steep sites.

Part of the team supporting FOOTHOLD DEVELOPMENTS BUILDING PROJECTS

Proudly Supporting Foothold Developments

Active Electrical · New Housing · Installers/Suppliers · Home Control · Alarms · Central Vacuum Systems · Heat Pumps

• Mick Waterworth says Module NZ homes are ideal for anyone on a budget • Foothold Developments recently showcased its kitset homes at a show in Blenheim, where they received a high level of interest in the product

Foothold Developments believes it is paramount that the relationship between the architect, builder and client is one of open communication to achieve high-quality sustainable housing, utilising the combined skills and strengths of its staff to help meet the quality and budget expectations of a project.

• “It’s affordable housing. The homes are smaller, but people are realising they’re not going to get the big quarter-acre properties any more; they’re just not affordable,” Waterworth says.

52 | September/October 2012 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

03 541 0680

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Dion Griffith (Director) Ph: 03 544 6001| M: 027 495 9090 | F: 03 544 6008 info@fairviewnelson.co.nz | www.fairviewnelson.co.nz

Property & Construction | Foothold Developments

“

We can tailor any of our customers’ requirements, from architectural homes to cost-effective housing - we cover the full range.

”

The Totara Grove subdivision in Nelson.

Foothold Developments is a leading Nelson residential building company.

<

<

- Foothold Developments director Mick Waterworth

High quality housing development Foothold Developments is busy completing two more high-quality homes within Nelson’s Totara Grove subdivision, with strong interest coming in from prospective buyers. Totara Grove is located in Grove Street and will eventually include 24 townhouses, with four built to date.

Director Mick Waterworth says the first two houses built in the subdivision have already sold, with the following two about to go on the market. “We’ve had quite a lot of interest and people are just waiting until we’re finished,” he says.

Award winning ways <

Totara Grove is offering Nelson residents high-quality, cost-effective housing.

Foothold Developments has won a Master Builders’ House of the Year award for every home it has entered into the prestigious awards. This 100 percent success in the awards confirms Foothold’s position as a builder of highquality homes The Nelson company has won Gold and Silver medals for its homes, as well as twice winning Best in Category. A Silver award means the quality of work is at least 65 percent above industry standards, while the Gold is at least 80 percent Last year’s entry into the Renovations over $500,000 category did exceptionally well, winning the Supreme Award for renovation of the year, the Gold Award, the Local Category winner, the Gold Reserve Award and also the Lifestyle Award.

“Totara Grove is a project that we’re quite passionate about. We specialise in architectural work and we saw this opportunity to actually do cost-effective housing, but to a higher quality.

“We’re keeping the quality from our architectural housing and bringing it down.

We can get the same quality by doing it smarter. There’s nothing else in that market around at that price range - you’re getting a brand new house.”

Affordable luxury The 112 square metre townhouses are ideal for professional people, retirees or families anyone wanting a low-maintenance, highquality home. Built on two levels, Totara Grove townhouses offer three bedrooms, one or two bathrooms, open plan kitchen/ dining/lounge, laundry, single-car garage with internal access, one car park and a courtyard area.

The gardens are landscaped and there is ample space to enjoy the Nelson sunshine and a barbeque. Buying early means customers will have the flexibility to choose their own interior decor or make minor modifications to the plans.

Foothold Developments Building Projects Limited PO Box 3812 Richmond Nelson 7050 T (03) 544 4222 F (03) 544 4225 E info@foothold.co.nz www.foothold.co.nz — Advertising Feature

Melissa Craig

Commercial Manager

e: melissa.craig@flooringxtra.co.nz We offer a wide range of expertise and experience in the world of business and taxation.

COMMERCIAL 6C Champion Rd, (Raeward Fresh Complex), Richmond 7020 m: 027 654 6676 www.carpetnelson.co.nz

We believe in the value of relationships and are committed to providing close, personal attention to all our clients and take pride in working alongside Foothold Developments.

Nelson 03 548 2049 | Richmond 03 543 7040 E wayne@tdca.co.nz | 266 Hardy Street, Nelson | 3 McGlashen Ave, Richmond

www.canterburytoday.co.nz September/October 2012 | 53

Property & Construction | A1Comms/First National Mid Canterbury

Boosting business with better communications The advancement of technology has had a huge impact on all industries.

Twenty five years ago computers were a luxury item, where now they are a necessity.

People can jump online and find out about almost anything; mobile devices have created instant connectivity and tablets provide an office no matter where you are.

One industry that has been heavily influenced by technology is real estate. Those looking to buy a home no longer have to spend hours trudging around open homes to create a short-list of “possibles”.

A1Comms managing director Sherma Kala says it became quite clear after talking at length with Jill and her team, what their requirements were. “They needed to ensure the technology was working for them, that the service they were providing was enhanced by the technology they were using.”

The technology that Sherma has installed includes fibre optic cabling supplied from Electricity Ashburton’s new Super fast Fibre Network, which has been installed into the Ashburton First National building, and Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP).

First National Mid Canterbury director Jill Quaid says the research clients have done prior to even getting in touch with a real estate firm puts them streaks ahead of where From a PABX, a VoIP system gives Jill and they would have been if they were looking for her team telephone extensions through a a property 10 years ago. computer Local Area Network over internet cables, freeing up analogue telephone lines “Not only have they looked through the property a number of times on the internet and reducing operating costs. For example they have usually had a look at Google Earth one of the agents can log into the telephone as well to get its location.” system while working from home and can make and receive calls on the same telephone number and extension as they would have in Taking the lead the office.

Now most of the groundwork is done prior, once a client does make contact the First National Real Estate agent knows they’re seriously interested Mid Canterbury in a property. This has necessitated a need to ensure Jill’s team members are always With offices at Ashburton, First National Real available – and to do this she has introduced Estate Mid Canterbury’s services span the some cutting edge technology. entire mid Canterbury area, including Rakaia, “Building that relationship between client Hinds, Chertsey and surrounds. and agent is imperative in order to have a The company’s real estate expertise includes successful transaction. We know that when urban and rural, residential properties, people are going through the process of lifestyle properties, commercial, subdivisions, buying or selling a home, they have many bare land and rural farms - both dairy questions that need to be answered. It and arable. is so important that we keep the lines of communication open no matter where we are or what we are doing.”

In order to ensure Jill’s team were always available, she enlisted the help of A1Comms – a leading company providing cutting edge telecommunication solutions for businesses.

The company also has a large rental management division which takes over the day to day management of properties, including regular inspections during a tenancy and, when necessary, arranging important repairs and maintenance.

54 | September/October 2012 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

Jill and her team take great pride in providing a personal and dependable service for their clients – ensuring they have their needs always at the forefront of any property transaction.

First National Ashburton - Mid Canterbury Real Estate Ltd is a member of the First National Group MREINZ LICENSED AGENT (REAA 2008).

Tips for selling your home First impressions last

Make them comfortable

From the moment prospects arrive at your home, it should be evident that the gardens and lawns are well presented.

Garden rubbish should be disposed of and paths and porches kept clear of debris.

Toys, sporting equipment and garden tools should be stored away to enhance the appearance of your backyard and garden.

A warm, comfortably heated home on cold days adds a feeling of cosiness. On a hot day don’t forget to turn on the air conditioning or fan, or simply let the breeze flow through.

Let the sun shine

Working as a team

It is imperative to let plenty of light into your home. Nothing improves atmosphere more than brightness. On a dull day it is advisable to switch lights on prior to the arrival of prospective purchasers.

The First National Real Estate agent and you should always work as a team. If you feel your agent has overlooked some important selling points, feel free to discuss them privately.

Open for inspections: three is a crowd

Avoid having too many people present during inspections. First National Real A tidy home is a welcoming home Estate agents are familiar with and Your home should be kept neat and tidy understand the buyer requirements during the period of inspections. The home and can therefore better emphasise the should create an inviting atmosphere by features of your home in line with buyer ensuring the arrangement of furniture needs and priorities. is in a comfortable position. Utilise fresh flowers, indoor plants or paintings as they Silence is golden always brighten up a home.

As a general rule, it is advisable to turn off the radio and television during Repairs can make a big difference an inspection. If you have pets, it is Make sure that all minor repairs are advisable to keep them out of the completed. Sticking doors and windows, house. Let the First National Real Estate loose doorknobs, faulty plumbing, peeling agent and potential buyer talk, free of paint may affect your sale. disturbances.

Property & Construction | A1Comms/First National Mid Canterbury

A1Comms With more than 20 years of experience in the telecommunications industry, A1Comms is one of Christchurch’s leading companies providing consulting on and installation of telephone systems, office cabling, video conferencing and larger communication solutions.

It is a specialist in data and voice cabling for complete home or office networks and its experienced and certified design and build engineers will design your network to best meet your needs.

A1Comms supply, install and maintain telephone systems ranging from simple small office and home office (SoHo) solutions to a complex Private Branch Exchange (PABX) with up to 600 extensions.

A reliable, up to date and future proof telephone system is central to the smooth operation of your business, and A1Comms will work closely with you to insure that your telephone system best suits your business.

Its specialist staff can advise you on the best possible communication solution for your needs and expertly install it to the highest quality.

“

What other clients say about A1Comms

A1Comms can also provide systems that have the following features: Phone Roaming While out of the office, your staff can travel with their laptops and make and receive calls direct from the phone installed onto their computers. They can use the same number and extension they would use while in the office. This will allow staff to work from home as if they were in the office.

Voicemail to Email Each office extension that receives a voicemail will have that emailed direct to their email inbox, a real time saver. This will allow you to check both your voicemail and email in one action, also you will never miss a voicemail message when you are on the move again.

SIP Trunks Enables you to use SIP VoIP trunks for outgoing calls, leaving your current analogue lines free for incoming calls. Fewer callers will get a busy tone when they ring you.

The SIP VoIP trunks will enable you to make multiple outgoing calls at any time. There is no monthly rental to pay for these SIP trunks and calls are cheaper than you pay now. You could be saving more than 50 percent on your national calls.

Softphone

Sherma, I would like to thank you for the overall experience of dealing with your firm; from the solution you came up with, to the service provided and the installation of the phones.

What impressed me the most was that you: 1. Listened to what I required.

All PCs can have Softphone installed. This software gives you information of who is on the phone before you transfer them through an intra-office phone system. This will also function with phones that are roaming remotely as well. This avoids expensive cellphone calls made to the office only to find that the person that you wish to talk to is already on another call. Great for staff that are working from home or remotely.

Technology doesn’t sell houses, good salespeople do.

But technology enables purchasers to research the property more fully and enables better communication with both vendors and purchasers.

2. Asked the relevant questions.

We pride ourselves · On our excellent website with at least 10 good photos of the property, showcasing your property to the market.

3. Answered my concerns.

· Being able to connect the enquiry directly with the salespeople involved to enable faster responses. · Systems that keep in touch with our database of purchasers and sellers.

4. Explained the solution you felt would best suit me in a way that I could understand.

To compete in this industry successfully you have to be ahead of the game, so when you work with us you are already one step ahead for buying or selling.

5. Understood the urgency with which I needed the phones installed and once I had my internet up and running, you delivered!

The phones themselves are great and best of all simple to use. I will have no hesitation in recommending your services to my clients and friends.

Jarrod Ross

Rural Consultant Auctioneer 021 249 4644

Alan Jarvis - Director Jarvis Accounting Solutions Limited

”

First National Real Estate Ashburton 96 Tancred Street Ashburton 7700 T (03) 307 8317 F (03) 308 9056 E enquiries@ashfirstnat.co.nz www.ashfirstnat.co.nz A1Comms T 0800 671 671 E sales@a1comms.co.nz www.A1Comms.co.nz

Jill Quaid Manager 027 437 6755

Annette McCully Richard Quaid Urban Consultant 027438 2328

Veronica Monaghan Property Manager 027 697 6918

Urban Consultant 027454 4745

Margaret Wilson Mike Grant

Urban Consultant 021 221 2544

Sue Houston

Narelle Usmar

Administration Manager 03 307 8317

Administrator 03 307 8317

Urban Consultant 021 272 0202

Cindy Hayward Urban Consultant 027 389 7955

Kim Miller

Urban Consultant 027 236 8627

Mandy Marsh

Urban Consultant 021 239 4418

Contact us for sections, house and land packages, rentals, urban and rural. www.ashfirstnat.co.nz | E. jillquaid@ashfirstnat.co.nz | Licensed Agent REAA 2008

— Advertising Feature

www.canterburytoday.co.nz September/October 2012 | 55

COMMITTED TO CHRISTCHURCH While LSDC 2011 Ltd as a company was formed following the February earthquake, its directors have for decades called Christchurch home. Their commitment to the city extends beyond the current rebuild.

The pair was heavily involved in the design, development and construction of Sol Square and Hotel So in Christchurch as well as working on the development of the Living Space Accommodation brand.

“The earthquakes provided us with the impetus to form our own company, one that is committed not only to the rebuild of Christchurch but one which can provide the people of Christchurch with quality construction and project management for years to come,” Ferguson says.

An example of their commitment to the city was their decision on where to base their head office.

Ferguson and Scarlett decided to buy a category 4 listed heritage building in Burnside which was slated for demolition and are in the process of restoring the former residential property.

LSDC was named as a Fletcher Accredited contractor very early on in the earthquake rebuild and is now closing in on completing its 800th EQC related contract. While residential rebuilds are a significant part of the company’s work load it is by no means the only avenue of work for the company.

“With experience in jobs from small house alterations, new builds, EQC repairs and hospitality fit-outs through to multi-million dollar commercial projects we are able to be involved at any stage of a building venture from project management, construction through to painting and decorating,” Scarlett says.

“We set up our own painting and decorating division because we didn’t want to be in the hands of sub-contractors in terms of the timing of finishing a job and because we wanted to be able to sign off a contract knowing we have been involved from start to finish and know the job has been done right.”

LSDC prides itself in being involved every step of the way in a new or rebuild project, from initial consultation with the clients right through to signing off on all aspects of the project.

While starting with just the two of them, Ferguson and Scarlett now employ over 20 staff and the pair behind LSDC construction see their staff as one of the keys to the company’s success.

“When we came to pick our staff it wasn’t just about whether they could hold a hammer or a paint brush, it was also about how they would relate to our customers and whether they would fit in well with the rest of the team,” Ferguson says.

“As a team we need to be sympathetic to our clients’ needs during a very difficult and often traumatic time in this city’s history.”

On the commercial side of their construction business, Ferguson and Scarlett have been involved in the rebuild and fit out of a number of hospitality venues around the city including the Carlton Country Club and music venue Dux Live and is currently working on the new Dux Dine restaurant in Riccarton.

The company has also been heavily involved with CPIT’s Faculty of Creative Industries and F3 Design company’s innovative Artbox Project by building the prototype for the modular design project.

The adaptable modules can be stacked, oriented and arranged in various practical configurations to build a functional space for use by artists.

Although designed for temporary use, the modules have been engineered to such a high level that they can be used as buildings for years to come.

It is this commitment to the future of Christchurch which helps LSDC 2011 Ltd stand out from the crowd.

“Some companies are looking to take advantage of the opportunities presented by the devastation caused by the Christchurch earthquakes and will disappear once the rebuild has been completed,” Ferguson says, “but we are here for the long haul.

“Christchurch is our home and by ensuring our work is of a high quality and finished to the highest standards we give our clients, both residential and commercial, what they deserve.”

Commercial: “LSDC Construction provided us with invaluable assistance in creating Dux Live. While I was project manager for the development I had very little experience and Gregor and Simon provided crucial guidance throughout the project, providing sound advice and recommendations on how to speed up the process. They were highly professional in their approach and reacted to plan changes in a positive way, nothing was a problem and they just got on with the job.

It would be fair to say the finished product exceeded our expectations and we have had no hesitation in using them again for our next project Dux Dine.”

Dux Live Bar, Addington Residential: “I recently had LSDC complete kitchen renovations to my house here in Christchurch.

I would like to thank Gregor and Simon and their team for the great service they provided, nothing was a problem and the workmanship was to a very high standard, thanks again.”

- S. Young, Christchurch “I have used LSDC for several earthquake repairs, large and small, and they have been done promptly to a high standard. I have found them to be extremely professional at all times.”

- S. Jackson, Mairehau

LSDC can assist you with: EQC rebuilds and ‘opt-out’ work Building Consents Building Information Building Inspections New Homes Decking Demolition Driveways Fencing Fires and home heating solutions Garages/Sleep-outs/room remodeling Insurance Claims / Quotes Planning Information Plumbing Resource Consents

EQC emergency repair work

- Ross Herrick, Dux Group Operations Manager “LSDC did a great job helping to set us up after the earthquake, they had a great team of guys and positive can-do attitude to get the job done.

I would not hesitate in recommending them to anyone needing construction work done.”

- Alex Watson, Carlton Country Club

DESIGN PROJECT MANAGEMENT CONSTRUCTION

Directors of LSDC 2011 ltd, Simon Scarlett and Gregor Ferguson

L.S.D.C LIMITED

www.lsdc.co.nz Director: Gregor Ferguson 021 965 518 | Director: Simon Scarlett 021 365 144

2011

Director Gregor Ferguson, LSDC’s Construction Manager, has almost 35 year’s experience in the building industry, while fellow director Simon Scarlett, who is the company’s Project Manager, has 12 years in the field with an extensive background in architectural design.

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THE MOST COST EFFECTIVE WAY OF FINDING STAFF LET US ASSIST YOU TO BUILD YOUR WORKFORCE! Would you like to have a steady flow of interested, high calibre candidates calling / emailing you?

If you would like complete control over your recruiting process and not have to pay the thousands of dollars others may charge you to find the same person, then this is the solution for you.

It’s becoming more and more obvious to everyone within the Construction industry that recruiting is getting harder. With the bulk of the Christchurch rebuild work yet to commence the situation is only going to get worse!

So why is recruiting getting so hard?

The biggest obstacle you face is marketing incest. Everyone goes to the same seminars, reads the same publications and looks in the same places for staff.

Breakthroughs come from looking outside the rectangle and looking at new, proven methods of advertising for staff.

Imagine how easy your life would be with great staff. Imagine if you were able to promote yourself and your company so people can actually see what it would be like to work at your place.

Imagine if you were actually able to view CVs, and actual work wanted ads, so you could see what job hunters want. This way you know when you employ them that you’ve got someone who wants to work in your environment. You’re not squeezing a round peg into a square hole, as many of us do, only to find they move on after a few months.

If you would like to see some of our clients please log on to our site and view. We also have over 16,000 registered jobhunters who are actively looking for new employment

and many of them receive email alerts as soon as jobs are posted.

But our major benefit to you is that we only charge $595+gst per year for unlimited use.

I’ll repeat that because it does sound too cheap. $595 for an entire year to advertise as many jobs as you like.

Your next question is no doubt, how can we do it so cheaply? We prefer the expression “cost effective.”

Because we don’t need to pay huge overheads or the over-the-top salaries.

In fact there’s only a handful of full time staff, and the rest are part time. Just shows you how much the foreign owned corporations are over-charging.

To give you a comparison, if you were to run five ads over a year and have a company profile next to your ad it would cost you a minimum of $3225 on one of these sites.

On our site it is $595+gst. And of course if you don’t, or you’re not happy with any part of our service, we’ll refund you in full.

There’s absolutely no risk! So we’ll at least make one expense low, constant and risk free.

It’s been said you can be the greatest manager in the world – but that won’t do any good unless you can attract enough of the right people. www.myjobspace.co.nz may be the solution.

So if you’re ready to save time and money call now or log on to www.myjobspace. co.nz. In less than seven minutes you can have your first ad ready, and when/if you need to run your second ad in the future it will only take a few minutes. In fact many employers think our site is the easiest site for loading jobs.

Gary Collins, Managing Director

“ From time to time we do an evaluation of our service providers. We have been working with your company since 18/12/08 and would like to advise the following: • Staff including yourself (Damien) are always professional but friendly.

• The can do attitude of customer service is a pleasure to work with.

• Requests are welcomed and actioned in a timely manner by staff that we have liaised with over time.

As the key contact person for our organisation I am pleased to provide the above information and please pass on to your colleagues.

Noho ora mai

“ One of the things that impresses me the most about MyJobSpace is their attention to service and after sale care. The entire staff has been willing to go above and beyond the call of duty to handle every issue and make sure things are right. In some cases, they’ve done MORE than I expected.

”

Steve Skobel — Marketing Manager

PROUD TO BE THE ONLY KIWI OWNED & OPERATED MAJOR JOB SITE! P.S. WE PROVIDE AN UNCONDITIONAL MONEY BACK GUARANTEE! P.P.S. Special offer! Mention this ad when you sign up for an advertiser account this month and receive two priority listings FREE (value $160.00).

These will keep your ad at the top of the search page for seven days which will ensure your ad won’t be missed.

The launch site for every Kiwi career

LOG ON TO WWW.MYJOBSPACE.CO.NZ OR PHONE 0800 4 TODAY (0800 486 329)

”

Paula Parkin HR Manager Te Whanau o Waipareira Trust

*

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Property & Construction | Lighting Plus

Lighting Plus

- where it all comes to life While choice is generally considered a good thing, sometimes too much of a good thing can be a tad overwhelming. Sometimes you just want a simple solution to suit a basic need and this is where a smart retailer, like Lighting Plus on Moorhouse Ave, can help.

The owner of Christchurch’s Lighting Plus franchise, Tom Jeffrey says that entering a lighting store can be an overwhelming experience for some people. Tom wanted to ensure that while his company continued to provide an extensive range of lighting products, they are easily accessible to their customers.

Tom and wife Keri Jeffrey have just completed an extensive remodelling of their Moorhouse Avenue store. “The new look store is much simpler and user-friendly,” Keri adds.

The two lighting studios in the store, one for interior lighting and the other for outdoor lighting, give customers a clear idea of what they can expect.

“In the studios, customers can experience how the lighting works and what it does. They give the customers a very clear idea of how it will look in place.”

Tom says with building regulations, on how lighting can be used changing all the time, it is hard for their customers to keep up.

“That is where we come in. For instance the regulations regarding recessed lighting have changed quite significantly in recent years and it is difficult for our customers to know exactly what is going on. We can interpret the regulations for them, then give them advice on which lighting is the best for the job they want.”

It goes without saying Tom and Keri are passionate about lighting. “Lighting creates moods and emotions, it turns poorly lit areas

into dynamic spaces both inside and outside,” Tom says.

And good lighting is not only conducive to good living but can add value to any space.

“Our experience shows us that one of the leading components to selling a home is outdoor lighting. Outdoor lighting adds immensely to both external living areas and street appeal, it is inexpensive and really enhances the natural environment.”

“

Lighting creates moods and emotions; it turns poorly lit areas into dynamic spaces both inside and outside.

- Christchurch Lighting Plus owner Tom Jeffrey

Tom and Keri are equally passionate about their staff of eight and that goes beyond ensuring they are knowledgeable and kept up to date with current lighting trends.

“In many ways our staff is the life blood of this business. It is their knowledge, and how they communicate that knowledge to our customers, which make this business really tick,” Tom says.

Keri says without the commitment of their staff they would have struggled to open again so quickly after the devastating February earthquake.

“They were absolutely fantastic in the week following the quake. We were able to reopen on the Saturday following the quake and that was all down to the commitment of our staff and friends,” she says.

All Lighting Plus staff are trained in line with a strong company culture. “This is accumulated knowledge which has been passed down over the 20 years Lighting Plus has been going in this country,” Tom says.

CALL TO ACTION! Quality, Price & Advice...Nice!

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by Arran Installation Visit our Showroom 42 Durham Street, Sydenham, Christchurch

Phone: 03 3668 187 Email: sales@brymactiles.co.nz Fax: 03 365 2057

NEW WEBSITE: www.brymactiles.co.nz

58 | September/October 2012 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

”

Property & Construction | Lighting Plus Clients and friends enjoyed the reopening of Lighting Plus’s new extensive, plush refurbished premises in Moorhouse Ave.

“

Testimonial

My wife and I have been looking for help to select different types of lighting.

We have visited both of your stores in Christchurch. We really feel that the assistance that Jamie (Moorhouse Ave Branch) offered was worth mentioning.

“There is a strong emphasis on training, both in product knowledge and customer service, which is regularly updated. We want our customers to have a great shopping experience, from when they are greeted on entering the store for the first time, right through to our after sales service.”

Helen Lucas, Graeme Riach (Harman Lawyer).

Nicky Wagner, Kirsten Chambers.

<

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Lena & Bryan Doull (Dwell Homes).

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Claire & Mark Quinn (AD Fence).

“Often people have ideas on what look they want in their lighting but are unsure whether the product will do the job and that is where we come in. We know how much lighting is required to adequately light spaces, whether that be indoors or outside.”

He was not pushy. Nothing was a problem. He willingly sourced a particular product, which you apparently were out of, to match the other fittings which he had just sold to us. He did not have to tell us that this was available.

He was extremely helpful and offered to call me when the product was sourced.

He called us within 15 minutes.

Overall we were extremely happy with Jamie’s service and we will be recommending both Jamie and your store in the future. Please pass on our thanks to Jamie. Marlene, please pass on our comments to whom you think should be notified in H.O.

- Ron & Debbie Morrison

”

“

Testimonial

I just wanted to let you know how impressed we were with staff at the Christchurch Lighting Plus Shop. We have recently bought some pendant lights from the Christchurch Lighting Plus Shop and when they were hung it was apparent the glass shades were uneven.

We called into the shop to explain the situation and were impressed with the customer service we received. The staff have been very helpful, especially Bruce and Rob, and we thought it would be nice to acknowledge this in an email. Many thanks and keep up the good work.

”

Tom says the knowledge staff can impart about lighting products is key to ensuring customers leave satisfied and come back for more. “Many times a customer can come in with a fixed idea on what they want but often they will leave with a different perspective but just as satisfied.”

- Mr and Mrs Barber from Lincoln

The product range at Lighting Plus is extensive, and very different from what was on offer when Tom first began managing the Lighting Plus store back in July 2001.

But as lighting technology has grown so has the range at Lighting Plus. As well as the introduction of technological developments, such as LED lights, Lighting Plus has been quick to grasp the ‘green’ concept.

Wingman. Advisor. Whiz-Kid Meet Sidekick.

“We are always thinking green with the emphasis on energy saving as well as utilising the growing array of natural fibres being used in light fittings and shades,” Tom says.

Manufacturers of: 3 Timber windows & doors 3 Wall Units 3 Vanities 3 Stairs 3 Kitchens 3 Shop fitting

Lighting Plus provides a free lighting design service for both residential and commercial developments.

“People can bring in their plans and we can work with them on their lighting requirements or they can use our online design service which is available on our website www.lightingplus.co.nz,” Tom says.

With several fully trained lighting designers in store, customers can just drop in or call to make an appointment to discuss their lighting requirements.

Proud to supply Lighting Plus

Lighting Plus 166 Moorhouse Ave Christchurch T (03) 365 5881 F (03) 365 5882 Email: christchurch_mgr@ lightingplus.co.nz — Advertising Feature

Fixed-fee monthly accounting service like you’ve never seen before

03 377 0700

sidekick@djca.co.nz

www.djca.co.nz

Phone 388 8111, Fax 388 8864 101 Shortland St, Christchurch joinery@xtra.co.nz www.batesjoinery.co.nz

FREE DESIGN CONSULTATION MEASURE & QUOTE

www.canterburytoday.co.nz September/October 2012 | 59

Property & Construction | Inhaus Developments

Building a home is much more Since the days when our than just bricks and mortar forebears painted the walls of their caves, our homes have maintained their position as a vehicle for self expression. While our dwellings have evolved, the intrinsic desire to create homes which align with our hopes and dreams have remained the same.

Russell & Tanya Campbell

While the ability to build a house is a learned skill, the ability to translate a stranger’s hopes and dreams into a reality is an ability few can master. It’s an innate skill which involves attention to detail and commitment to quality.

Russell Campbell joined the industry in 1987 with quality, not quantity as his main goal and the resulting business, Inhaus Developments has maintained this objective since its subsequent establishment. “My background was as a qualified joiner and carpenter. One of the things a joiner carpenter brings to the industry is quality,” Russell explains.

“One of the key things our clients get is attention to detail and personal style.”

Boutique builders Russell and his wife Tanya make the ultimate team with Russell’s trade training and Tanya’s extensive experience as an interior designer, ensuring clients receive style, quality and excellence in their home design and construction.

The company was a lot bigger however the size didn’t sit well with its owners. “We didn’t enjoy it; we didn’t want to be just another building company. Being better is more important to us than being bigger.”

It’s a competitive industry, but the company competes well, with a range which extends from modest, economical houses through to luxury holiday homes. Regardless of the budget, quality is always the top priority.

“That quality extends to every facet of the job.

We don’t just hire the cheapest subcontractors; we use contractors which we have worked with for a number of years. We’re locally owned which means we take ownership of our work; we can’t just hide if we do a poor job.”

Our services range from Corporate and Commercial, Buying and Selling Property to Business and Farming Law Trust Issues and more!

Proud to be associated with InHaus Nelson: (03) 548 2154 Richmond: (03) 544 9845 Takaka: (03) 525 0020

It’s a small area; you don’t stick around for long if you’re not doing a good job. “If you do your business well, keeping your nose clean doing things properly, and leave satisfied happy customers, you don’t need marketing, your work speaks for itself.”

After 23 years of business, Inhaus Developments has a minimal marketing expenditure.

“

Testimonial

My wife and I approached Inhaus after purchasing a section in Kaiteriteri.

We wanted a quality holiday home which maximised our view, provided spacious outside living and was visually appealing. Inhaus immediately understood our needs and came up with a stunning concept design, taking care of all the council planning requirements and engineering issues. Although we were seldom able to be on site, Inhaus maintained excellent communication with us and took care of all the details, resulting in a high quality home that far exceeded our expectations. On top of their excellent work we were thrilled that our home received the local Gold and Supreme House of the Year Award and a Gold Reserve Award nationally.

- Paul Fraser

”

Terry Westley Drainlayer ltd Quality Installation of all types of Wall and Floor Tiling Timber Flooring

Waterproofing

Underfloor Heating

Premium aluminium windows & doors

Residential Architectural Commercial

Ph 547 0562

www.insitenelson.co.nz

showroom @ 2 Braeburn Lane, Stoke

Proudly supporting InHaus Developments

Ph. 027 496 9902 westley.drainlayers@xtra.co.nz

60 | September/October 2012 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

Paul McEntee 027 373 2093 or A/H 528 0039

Property & Construction | Inhaus Developments

The measure of success If national awards are a measure of success, Inhaus Developments is just that, a success story. In the 2011 National Master Builders House of the Year Awards, Inhaus won two national awards and nine awards in the Nelson regional finals.

The company took out the national BRANZ Sustainable Homes under $500,000 award plus the Nulook ‘Builders Own Home Award’ for Russell and Tanya’s own holiday home at Boundary Bay, Abel Tasman National Park.

It’s an impressive abode. Nestled comfortably between a golden sand beach and the edge of the Abel Tasman National Park, the holiday home was designed as a

low impact, back to basics Kiwi batch. With no services and access by boat only, the batch is an intentional effort to get back to a more simple way of life.

The rudimentary kitchen and bathroom, rather than inconvenience, reflect this desire for simplicity. “The house is completely off the grid, completely self-sufficient. To get all the building materials on site they had to be taken by barge then by helicopter on site.

The house basically operates itself, solar hot water, no power use; it’s a great concept.”

Simplicity hasn’t come at the cost of comfort.

The batch is double glazed with well insulated flooring walls and roof space, and a large wood fire which doubles as an oven. Power

comes from a 240v solar power system, hot water is heated by solar wetback, rainwater is collected and household water is treated with a Biolytix system.

their homes, so it’s our job to exceed those expectations. We have to ensure we complete the job to the highest standards regardless of the budget.”

Its design was focused on tying the building with the environment and materials were chosen for both their durability and their low environmental impact. The physical building features timber which was used extensively throughout the house, with naturally-durable untreated cedar cladding, untreated ply lining for walls and ceiling, and sustainably harvested, untreated hardwood decking.

While Inhaus Developments has built its name building houses, 50 percent of the company’s workload is houses developed for sale. “The beauty of our business is we’re not just a housing company,” Russell explains.

Aesthetically, the holiday home features an open plan living space, two bedrooms and a bathroom, while indoor outdoor flow remains the key focus with a large deck that crosses through the house, separating the living space from the sleeping areas. The deck includes an alfresco kitchen where meals can be cooked and dishes done.

“The whole point of the project was that the property was set on three acres of native bush in the Abel Tasman, so we wanted to create a house which was sympathetic to the area and a place which was timeless but not overstated.

“That is certainly what we have achieved.”

While the house itself earned two national awards, the company’s accolades have not been limited to the couple’s own home. In the seven years Inhaus Developments has been entering the Registered Master Builder Awards, the company has won 53 awards and regularly features in the top 100 in the country at the national finals level.

Sustainable business While Inhaus Developments won the sustainable award for its construction capabilities, it’s also about having a sustainable business as well, Russell says.

“We have a couple of talented gangs of builders who work for us exclusively, so we can confidently build award winning houses; we have the right recipe for doing it.”

So what is the most important aspect of building a house for someone? “Their trust,” Russell explains. “Our clients trust us to build

“It speeds up the process for people, enabling them to get a new house without the timeframe. We are cutting down the design, pricing, consent and build process for them, so they can purchase and be in it almost immediately.”

Currently the company has a three bedroom property with ensuite, walk in robes and double garaging, priced from $430,000. There is also a four bedroom executive style housing option in the Daelyn area, including dual living areas, priced from $635,000.

Following the Christchurch earthquakes, the company identified the nationwide need for housing and is well aware of Christchurch residents’ love of Kaiteri, it purchased a number of sites in the area for development.

“A lot of Christchurch people go to Kaiteri for Christmas; they have fond memories of good times away. We bought a number of sites in Motueka because the land is cheaper, so for people who are having a hard time with getting insurance payments sorted there is an opportunity to purchase in Motueka and it’s a popular place to retire.”

What about plans for the future? Well, if it’s not broke, don’t fix it. “We want to continue to do what we’re doing and looking forward to continually providing quality builds and getting recognition for what we do well, and that’s building houses.”

InHaus Developments 293 Ranzau Road Hope Nelson T (03) 544 4124 E Russell@inhaus.co.nz www.inhaus.co.nz — Advertising Feature

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0274 421 328 OFFICE PHONE: 544 40522 544 4347 EMAIL: morriselect@ts.co.nz

OFFICE FAX:

Pleased to support InHaus Developments Plumbing Plus New Zealand members are dedicated to providing you with the best New Zealand and imported bathroom fittings at very affordable prices, all with professional service and helpful advice.

75 Kingsley Street Sydenham, Christchurch T: (03) 366 7199

293 Cranford Street St Albans, Christchurch T: (03) 366 7137

Mon-Fri 7.30am – 5.00pm | Sat 9.00am – 12 noon

www.canterburytoday.co.nz September/October 2012 | 61

Property & Construction | Timbercore & Epic

Calling for more engineered timber structures The use of engineered timber is in its infancy in New Zealand, but since the Canterbury earthquakes, it is enjoying an increased profile as one of the strongest construction materials, ideally suited to withstanding seismic activity.

Canterbury-based Timbercore director Kevin Barron and Hastings based Kanuka Engineered Wood Products (KEWP) owner Peter Roil have between them more than 60 year’s collective experience in project management in the New Zealand building industry.

They are committed to producing high quality, timber framed buildings to compete with steel alternatives, primarily through the use of engineered glulam (glue-laminated) technology using locally harvested pinus radiata.

“Of the 30 Timbercore buildings constructed in Canterbury before September 2010, none sustained earthquake damage,” Barron explains proudly. “They performed a great deal better than steel and concrete in buildings from Darfield to Brooklands, and from Kaiapoi to the Horotane Valley.

“Laminated timber products are a proven technology in which graded pieces of timber, either finger jointed or solid, are bonded together with structural glue whilst being held under pressure until cured,” Roil continues.

Glulam is manufactured to a list of New Zealand and Australian standards. As well as meeting these exacting standards, the NZ Timber Federation tests manufacturer licensees on a six monthly basis. These standards and the regular testing ensure all product is of the highest quality.

Timbercore’s construction methods allow builders to erect a structure themselves without having to bring in additional subcontractors. This saves significant time on site because all materials have been pre-cut and prefabricated offsite and delivered ready to be erected.

It’s nail technology system favours nails over bolts, not only for a smoother finished

appearance, but because it offers less slippage and reduced costs.

“We prefer the use of nails or dowels as fastenings rather than bolts,” Barron explains.

“They perform better under loads and leave a cleaner finished product. Depending on the loads, bolts may be required if the joint can’t take sufficient nails to hold the load and if appearance isn’t critical.”

Roil manufactures the engineered timber for Timbercore buildings, and is a keen supporter of glulam - his own purpose-built factory won the Commercial Engineering Excellence Award in the 2008 Timber Design Awards.

Dedicated to seeing Christchurch back on track Jamie Paull

The large roof trusses make up the majority of the 300m3 of pinus radiata glulam used in the building. “One of the many benefits of trusses is the ability to cover the required building width using smaller pieces of timber,” Newton explains.

In line with this need, the purlin span in the roof framing has been divided using an intermediate beam. The gravity load of the trusses has allowed for smaller columns, at a width of just 575mm. Metal components in the shed have been kept to a minimum, with timber used for the framing and the majority of the bracing.

Congratulations to the Epic Centre and Timbercore for another great contribution to timber construction and re-establishment of Christchurch

Director

12 Mowbray Street | Phone 03 377-2778 Fax 03 377-2774 | Mobile 021 382-499 Email pioneersm@clear.net.nz

Timbercore is also building the twostorey, 3,800sqm office complex for the Enterprise Precinct and Innovation Campus in Manchester Street Christchurch, on the edge of the Red Zone. “In considering what is ‘best’, EPIC will, amongst other things, take account of build cost efficiencies, an inspirational and innovative design, efficient use of land, room for growth, and sustainability principles,” the brief says.

Timbercore’s solution was cost competitive, simple and speedy to construct, and will be built to a standard to withstand 130 percent “The design is a modern twist on a 60 metre, of Christchurch’s current seismic codes. The clear span, bow string truss in glue laminated temporary building will house 15 tenant timber and with nail plate connections. The areas, shared meeting rooms, a cafeteria, solution required extensive collaboration three toilet blocks, a BNZ Business Edge centre between designer, builder and manufacturer, and one passenger lift. Baron says with a and is impressive for its size made from price tag of around $4 million completed, relatively small pieces.” it is a significant project for Timbercore Structural engineer Garry Newton of Structural to showcase the benefits of engineered construction.

Concepts was tasked with designing the wide span building with GL8 strength; a 6 Yet the total foundation depths are still just metre stud height with an 11 metre apex. “It 500mm. “This is one of the benefits of using wouldn’t have been possible to achieve the timber,” he says. “If you want to take cost dimension or the lengths required, using solid out of a building, one way to do this is to wood”, he says. reduce the mass. Timber is approximately

Structural Engineers to the Epic Centre and Timbercore Specialists in the fabrication of stainless steel, mild steel & aluminium-CNC punching & folding

EPIC Sanctuary Building

Head Office Ph (06) 842 0111 E info@structuralconcepts.co.nz www.structuralconcepts.co.nz

62 | September/October 2012 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

“Concrete and steel are a mindset of most engineers in New Zealand because they work and it’s relatively easy to construct from start to finish because it’s commonplace.

Most people will take the quick and easy route rather than trying something new. As a company, we used to build in steel but swapped to engineered timber because of the benefits to the New Zealand environment as well as the look and feel of the finished product.

four times lighter than steel or concrete for the same strength, and hence the foundation requirements reduce. Most buildings in Christchurch are pouring tonnes of concrete into holes in the ground to support heavy building systems, or driving piles down to meet the earthquakes standards.

“As more and more engineered timber buildings go up, more and more people will see the benefits of using it. Construction methods and engineering techniques will become more mainstream and timber will gather a groundswell of support not because steel and concrete are bad – it’s just that people haven’t realised what can be built in timber. As time goes on I believe the ratio of timber buildings to steel and concrete will increase, because concerned New Zealanders will see the benefits.”

“We have competed against steel and concrete and been awarded the projects, based on price, as well as the use and benefits of constructing in engineered timber,” he says. “The use of engineered timber in New Zealand is still in its infancy, but it can be substituted for most steel and concrete buildings for any span that steel can provide, and go up to four storeys without difficulty. Overseas, 12-storey engineered timber buildings are commonplace and up to 30-storey ones are on the drawing board.

Timber is also sustainable and energy efficient, both Barron and Roil agree. It requires 10 percent less energy to produce than alternatives, such as steel and concrete and the growth and production of one net tonne of timber absorbs a net 1.7 tonnes of C02 from the atmosphere, compared to the production of one tonne of steel which emits 1.2 tonnes of C02 into the atmosphere.

“Timber is the sustainable building solution and we stand under our Timbercore buildings, not by them.”

Property & Construction | Timbercore & Epic

Helping hands

Enterprise Precinct and Innovation Campus – innovation in action “The EPIC build in Manchester Street required tenderers to demonstrate, “build cost efficiencies, an inspirational and innovative design, efficient use of land, room for growth, and sustainability principles”.

Timbercore’s solution meets all of these requirements and more. When finished, this two-storey office complex will house 15 tenants with varying space requirements on a small site. It will also provide shared meeting rooms, a cafeteria, three toilet blocks, a lounge and one passenger lift.

The design needed to allow for the building to be relocated after five years. Timbercore’s solution provides a mixture of black metal exterior claddings broken by painted panels and windows, delivering an attractive façade reflecting the creative ideals of its tenants, and defying the ‘big box’ look of typical CBD buildings. The large internal public spaces

created by the pitched roofs give a feel of permanence and grandeur, with staircases and bridges connecting tenancies.

Timbercore’s elegant engineering solution features screw fixing technology, contributing to the low mass of the timber structure.

Foundations could therefore be kept to a minimum, with only 500mm-deep pads required. Construction materials included 800 m3 of engineered timber plus 200 m3 of conventional timber framing, with composite timber flooring at both levels and exposed timber panels as bracing walls.

Plywood linings provide the final architectural touch to this truly sustainable building. For just $1,100/sqm, Timbercore’s solution is cost competitive, simple and speedy to construct, and will be built to a standard to withstand 130 percent of Christchurch’s current seismic codes.

The EPIC team has a strong group of advisors supporting and guiding the initiative. This group has provided its time at no charge to EPIC prior to the formal signoff. Their support and expertise has been greatly appreciated.

BNZ will join the following firms as tenants of EPIC: • Brush Technology • Cerebral Fix • Concentrate • Effectus

• Duncan Cotterill (Lawyers) – Oliver Roberts, partner and AJ Rossouw, senior solicitor

• Fraame

• Octa (Construction Project Management) – Ian Martin, project manager

• Left Click

• Adam Naiman, senior economist, Strategy & Planning, Christchurch City Council • Financial and banking advice / assistance from the BNZ • Canterbury Development Corporation – Chris Kirk, project advisor to EPIC & Tom Hooper, CEO

• Hand Multi-media • Industrial Research (IRL) • Memia • Paua Productions • Pilot Consulting Group • RPM Retail • SLI Systems • Spore Tools • Stickmen Studios • Treshna Enterprises.

• Murray & Co (Financial Arrangers) – Andrew Carswell, director property advisory • Colliers International (Property) – Jonathan Lyttle, commercial leasing manager • Warren and Mahoney (Architects) – Graeme Finlay, principal & executive director

For all of your

longrun roofing & spouting requirements

• Deloitte (Governance) – Steve Wakefield, managing partner christchurch (now Cera GM Economic Development).

• Timbercore (Design) Kevin Barron Managing Director.

Proud to support Freespan Structural Buildings

(03) 349 7350 www.metalcraftroofing.co.nz

64 | September/October 2012 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

Timbercore 1304 Main South Road Christchurch T (03) 347 7079 E kevin@timbercore.co.nz www.timbercore.co.nz — Advertising Feature

Property & Construction | Prefab NZ/HIVE

Putting the Fab in Prefab Why the prefab revolution is arriving at a building site near you For more than 200 years they have been the strong, sustainable, adaptable, long lasting and rapidly assembled mainstay of our building solutions. Manufactured using cutting-edge technology, prefabricated buildings have earned a reputation for affordable homes which are both stylish and unique.

Cantabrians can now experience the beauty of prefab buildings for themselves at the Home Innovation Village (HIVE). The HIVE project involves a number of architecturally designed houses featured for two years in a virtual suburb at the Canterbury Agricultural Park showcasing the opportunities this housing option offers Christchurch residents.

History in the making “Prefabricated buildings have more than 200 years of history in New Zealand, since we brought out pre-cut cottages from the UK,” PrefabNZ CEO Pamela Bell explains. “But it’s all become a bit stereotyped and associated with school classrooms. The thing that’s holding prefab back is that people think it’s cheap, flimsy and temporary.”

That’s where Bell’s organisation steps in.

PrefabNZ is a not-for-profit design and construction industry organisation, educating and informing the industry and the general population about the benefits of building offsite.

Prefab has had a long history in New Zealand – some of our most loved homes like historic

villas and bungalows were prefabricated.

Early settlers imported component-based housing kits to New Zealand from the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1800s.

roof trusses. “The goal of PrefabNZ is to help people understand these buildings are high quality, permanent, architecturally-designed, sustainable and affordable,” Bell says.

A timber kitset method was used for the 1833 Treaty House in Waitangi. By the end of the 19th century, United States pattern books had spread populist designs, including bay villa and bungalow styles. The railway housing scheme began in the 1920s using a combination of prefabricated components and standardised planning through pattern books.

That’s why HIVE, the Home Innovation Village Expo, has been developed. “The whole idea of creating several showhomes in a park is that people can experience it for themselves.”

Today, pre-nailed roof trusses and wall frames are in most new built homes. About 20 percent of New Zealand homes are prefabricated and over 95 percent of new homes use pre-built wall frames and/or

“You’re not just showing people pictures in a magazine or on a website, they can go there and touch and feel and experience it – architecture is meant to be experienced. For us, the main advantage is the quality and the main disadvantage is the misperceptions. I hope HIVE will blow those misconceptions out of the water for Christchurch people and for the industry too.”

“

The pressing motivation here is to put these pre-designed, ready to go options in front of a community who are hungry to see more innovation happening on the ground in response to the crisis in Christchurch.

- PrefabNZ CEO Pamela Bell

”

www.canterburytoday.co.nz September/October 2012 | 65

Property & Construction | Prefab NZ/HIVE

HIVE visitors can experience prefab housing which is: • Architecturally designed and attractive • Affordable • High quality • Fast delivery • More sustainable.

The HIVE houses HIVE is open to the public for tours Wednesday to Sunday, 12-4pm at the Canterbury Agricultural Park (Curletts Road entrance).

Stage One - currently open to the public: • The Smart House – a collaboration between Laing Homes and Wilson & Hill Architects • Rakaia house – a collaboration between Falcon Construction and Allied Concrete • Park Terrace – a collaboration between Keith Hay Homes and Architex

HIVE housing HIVE, New Zealand’s first Home Innovation Village, was inspired by Canterbury’s urgent need for well designed, quick to build, strong and affordable homes following the devastating series of earthquakes that have ravaged the region since September 2010.

Facilitated by PrefabNZ, HIVE is focused on promoting the benefits of prefabrication in building design and construction. The organisation spent nine months assessing sites to secure the best location. With the help of the Christchurch City Council (CCC), the ideal site was found at Canterbury Agricultural Park: a high visibility site with easy public access on solid ground.

The CCC granted approval for the village in December 2011. The resource consent allows up to 10 houses on the site at the Canterbury Agricultural Park until February 2014.

“HIVE will show Cantabrians that by using prefabrication technology new homes can be affordable, personal, and well-designed.

House hunters can experience up to ten completely different styles of homes. Many of the houses at HIVE retail between $200k to $300k and all of the houses offer variations or can be adapted to meet your preferences and needs,” Pamela says.

“The pressing motivation here is to put these pre-designed, ready to go options in front of

HIVE objectives a community who are hungry to see more innovation happening on the ground in response to the crisis in Christchurch,” Bell says.

The HIVE was officially opened in April this year with four houses on show as part of stage one of the village. The six final teams have now been confirmed and will be rolled out at HIVE during the coming months.

Building partnerships Pam says turning the concept of HIVE Home Innovation Village into a reality would not have been possible without the growing number of industry supporters. More than 20 sponsors are part of the HIVE family, including Platinum sponsors Resene, Meridian Energy, Winstone Wallboards and Homestyle magazine.

Gold Partners are: Octa Associates, Signtech, Lifemark, Superloo, The Radio Network Silver Partners are: Go to Events, Gardenmakers, Anthony Harper Bronze Partners are: BoffaMiskell, The Marlborough Snug, Homestar, Native, Phoyo, Assembly Architects, Philips Lighting, Wai-ora Landscapes, Allied Concrete, Treetech, Firth, Devan, Plumbing World.

66 | September/October 2012 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

HIVE’s main objective is to provide a low stress option for Cantabrians to see a number of housing options in one place, but it also serves to alter people’s perceptions of prefabricated housing.

• Little Wing EcoSmart house – a collaboration between Lockwood (Canterbury) and Strachan Group Architects (SGA) Stage Two and Three – teams are at various stages of the design and building consent process and will be appearing at HIVE during the coming months. These teams are:

Most of the houses at HIVE are partnerships between architects, housing companies and manufacturers, many of which are local Canterbury based companies. These collaborations have led to high quality, architecturally-designed houses that are also affordable. The houses have all been designed with sustainability and lifetime design principles in mind and use prefab technology in their construction.

• Ekokit by Hybrid Homes and Living

What you see at HIVE is the tip of the iceberg – each of the houses can be adapted to meet clients’ needs and preferences, the housing teams also have whole ranges of different designs and options available.

More information about the houses at HIVE can be found at www.homeinnovation.co.nz. Questions and comments can be sent to info@prefabnz.com

• Bainbridge Homes and Module NZ • Beacon Pathway with New Zealand Steel, Rollforming Services and Salmond Architecture • Touchwood (Christchurch) / Unique Timber Homes • Force 10 New Zealand.

Now, after many aftershocks, I conclude I live in the Safest home in town. Tracey Knox, Christchurch. March 2011 There is no other house as strong as Lockwood.

Lockwood homes are renowned for standing strong against whatever nature throws at them - and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been quite alot lately. Not only are Lockwood homes tested in a lab to withstand earthquakes up to 7.0 on the Richter Scale, but recent events both in NZ and abroad have provided us with further evidence of the strength of Lockwood.

Lockwood homes are locked together, not just nailed together. Our precision engineered X shaped aluminium profiles slot into machined corners of solid pine, locking the wood into position (see below).

Should we not be able to rebuild here due to the land damage, we would not rebuild elsewhere in anything other than a Lockwood.

This is the uniqueness of a Lockwood home - so whatever nature throws at you, your Lockwood home will keep you safe. Furthermore because timber is a natural breathable product, our homes are warmer and drier, and are made from a renewable resource to help protect the environment.

Lockwood is a proud kiwi owned company with over 60 years innovation and history. Take a look at our website www.lockwood.co.nz, for a fresh look at Lockwood homes. Listen to what others have to say about their Lockwood home.

Imagine a warm, contemporary home built specifically to suit your lifestyle. Solid, Secure, Natural.

To find out more just call 0508 LOCKWOOD

M&D Taylor, Christchurch. March 2011

When houses around us were badly damaged we felt so fortunate that ours was so strong. We love our Lockwood home, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tough for the kids, so so warm and now the only place we would want to be in an earthquake!

Steph, Christchurch. April 2011

New Zealands home for good

Property & Construction | Prefab NZ/HIVE Unique timber homes Peter Tucker of Unique Timber Homes Ltd became a Touchwood building partner three years ago, initially in the Bay Of Plenty and took on the opportunity to work with Touchwood in Canterbury.

Both parties saw this as a chance to be involved in the rebuild of the city using “solid wood” as the eminently suitable and sustainable material for the job.

“Having experienced the devastation first hand of the February 22 Earthquake, I felt that my experience and knowledge of building, and in particular the Touchwood product would be a practical solution to providing an alternative housing package to the people of Canterbury,” Tucker explains.

Team: Hybrid Homes and Living House: Ekokit – Toi Toi design

feature rooms that can be relocated in design phase, to clip together to give you a home that suits your requirements and your site.

Hybrid Homes and Living was formed in 2004, This standard-based approach also allows the designs to be built in phases – you can grow when founders Jamie and Natalia Harrington from a one bedroom to a three bedroom started searching for their new home. They wanted a modern home in a city environment home as your requirements and or that was eco-friendly, self-sufficient and future budget change. proofed. They soon realised that the only way The frames and trusses are prefabricated from to get what they wanted was to design and local materials in Nelson and shipped to site build their own home. Through this process for assembly by your nominated licensed the passion for sustainable building and Hybrid builder. There are a further two shipments of Homes and Living was born. materials to complete the Ekokit build – all Hybrid Homes and Living deliver homes that both look great and are built smarter. They require much less energy to run, are healthier to live in and are easier on the environment.

timed to ensure the materials are there as the builder requires them.

All Ekokit designs including the Toi Toi design include passive solar design, thermally broken joinery, double glazing with Low Emissivity, Ekokit is a range of pre-designed houses that woollen insulation in excess of the building have been specifically created to be flexible, standards, local building materials with no sustainable and within the price range of chemical treatment, zero VOC paints plus ordinary New Zealanders. The Toi Toi design energy and water efficient appliances – will represent the Ekokit range at HIVE. including taps, shower, lights, oven, hob, When you choose an eco-friendly Ekokit home, rangehood and dishwasher. you are making a choice based on more Hybrid Homes and Living holds its designs to a than the lowest up-front cost and the lowest high standard, its features repeatedly exceed allowable standards. the New Zealand Building code standards with Hybrid Homes’ sustainable home designers overall insulation levels over two times the work hard to make Ekokit homes affordable required standard. and ensure they exceed current NZ building standards. They also aim to reduce the environmental impact of building your home and minimise its consumption of resources throughout its life – so that your home (and you, its owners) will leave a healthy and valuable legacy for future generations.

Every Ekokit home is designed with the following five principles in mind:

The Guardian Unique Timber Homes and Touchwood are working together on their show home for HIVE - The Guardian home.

Deon Swiggs, Pamela Bell and Lianne Dalziel in front of the Snug

Team: Touchwood and Unique Timber Homes House: The Guardian The Touchwood construction/building system was developed by Corgi La Grouw, Ivan Scott and Brooke La Grouw, three passionate business people devoted to the utilisation of abundant Pinus Radiata timber products that are being grown and produced in New Zealand for both local and export markets.

They developed a revolutionary simple method of solid wood panel construction taking into account the total use of timber, reduced wastage, optimised production and simplicity of onsite construction to save time and money and to create a pleasant natural product into a hardy practical building product.

Touchwood precision machine and join the selected pine boards into complete wall panels at their factory. The panels are then wrapped and delivered to the building site where the wall structure can be assembled in a matter of hours.

The Guardian uses energy and water efficient appliances and fittings, it has an estimated homestar rating of at least six stars and a Lifemark rating of five stars.

Specs: Building length: 13.442m

The building system needed to reach a standard that not only met the New Zealand standards, but exceeded these while at the same time being cost competitive with conventional building products and economic during the onsite construction period.

Building width: 7.992m

Touchwood homes are:

Bath: 2

• A solid wood product

Price: $240,000 (Incl GST) – Excluding consent fees, relocation, connection of services, landscaping and on-site remedial work

• Carbon positive

• Take advantage of passive heating, cooling and ventilation

As with all Touchwood homes The Guardian uses solid wood construction including a panel wall system and Touchwood’s patented wall bracing system. The wall bracing method performed better than most bracing systems available in New Zealand when tested at Scion in Rotorua. The solid wood system permits a high degree of natural insulation and the wooden walls resist the harshest form of living styles.

Floor area: 100.86m2 Deck areas: 36.76m2 Bed: 3

• Environmentally friendly • Cost effective

• Optimise energy efficiency

• Hard wearing

• Optimise water efficiency

• Naturally beautiful

• Minimise toxic building materials and waste

• Extremely strong

• Use locally made (Australasian) building materials where possible.

• Quick to construct

Ekokit homes have been designed with flexibility in mind. The standard designs

• Factory quality controlled.

Do you want a Warm, Energy Efficient, Affordable Home?

▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

▪

Passive solar heating, cooling and ventilation Thermal, energy and water efficiency Non-toxic, locally made building materials (where possible) Comparable pricing, incomparable benefits Insurance registered design and builder of new homes and rebuilds (conditions apply) Showhome being built at HIVE, Curletts Road, see us there from October

See what we can do for you 68 | September/October 2012 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

0800 435 6548 www.ekokit.co.nz

Property & Construction | Prefab NZ/HIVE Team: Module NZ and Bainbridge Homes House: Waipaoa Module NZ and Bainbridge Homes are working together on the Waipaoa house soon to be on site at HIVE. Module NZ is made up of approximately 17 distributors throughout New Zealand. Module NZ approached Bainbridge Homes to become a Module NZ distributor in early 2012 after hearing about their good reputation and history of quality workmanship. Bainbridge Homes is now the Canterbury distributor of Module NZ homes.

Module NZ homes are ideal for a first home, a new home, a bach for the beach an investment property or just about anything you’d like to use them for. Module NZ offers quick and simple steps to get you into your new modular home as simply and quickly as possible.

encourage their clients to take the plans as a jumping off point rather than the finished product.

Bainbridge homes will build the Module NZ Waipaoa home at HIVE. The Waipaoa is a pitched roof, three bedroom home with an ensuite and a large main bathroom, with open plan living areas and a separate laundry.

One thing that will be different about the house at HIVE from the standard plans will be an attached carport. The team wants to clearly show that its plans are adaptable and can be changed to suit the owner.

All styles of Module NZ modular pre-clad kitsets feature: • Pre-primed timber bevel back weatherboard preclad modular external wall frames • Pre-nailed trusses with preclad end gables • Verandah post and framing

The point of difference for Module NZ is the speed in which they can build their homes.

All of the external wall sections arrive on site pre-framed and pre-clad, this enables the team to have the home at lock up stage in approximately five to seven days. The average on site time is just six weeks from start to finish. Module NZ prides itself on being completely 100 percent New Zealand owned and operated along with all materials used in their homes manufactured and supplied by New Zealand companies. Module NZ offers plans ranging in sizes from 45sqm up to 165sqm.

• Pre-cut internal framing

Module NZ and Bainbridge are totally open to suggestions and changes to their plans and

• Width: 7.18m

• Purlins/soffit linings/facias • Ceiling battens • Roofing underlay • Marley spouting • All finishing timbers and fixings to close in • Double glazed aluminium joinery and flashings.

Specs: • Length: 13.18m

• Floor area: 95m2

About PrefabNZ PrefabNZ is the hub for pre-built construction in New Zealand. PrefabNZ is passionate about how prefabrication can offer innovative high-quality buildings on time and within budget – it feels there is a clear need for a radical paradigm shift to improve building quality in a sustainable way by decreasing defects, while also decreasing costs and timeframes.

An increased uptake of prefabrication is for the good of New Zealand’s wider design and construction industry.

PrefabNZ is a self-sustaining, non-profit, incorporated society representing the interests of a wide range of materials and stakeholders in the design and construction sector. It’s made up of a mix of companies and agencies, from clients through to designers, specifiers, manufacturers, contractors and government.

PrefabNZ’s mission is to double the uptake of prefabrication in New Zealand by 2020. BRANZ has measured this as 17 percent in 2010 (by overall cost of the prefabricated components of residential and non-residential buildings), so it is aiming for at least an increase to 40 percent by 2020.

PrefabNZ has three roles, as: • A catalyst for prefab collaboration • A front-door-portal for prefab information • An incubator for prefab innovation.

PrefabNZ works at the interface between government, industry organisations and members. It aims to provide a forum for members to make wider contacts, form collaborations and learn new skills. PrefabNZ promotes and re-educates about the benefits of prefabrication to a wide audience.

Find out more at www.prefabnz.com

PrefabNZ PO Box 19-063 Courtenay Place Wellington 6149 T 021 972 635 E info@prefabnz.com www.prefabnz.com — Advertising Feature

www.canterburytoday.co.nz September/October 2012 | 69

Focus | Town & Country Vet

Precious Paws Before

After

High pressure oxygen chambers might sound a bit sci-fi, but the reality is this technology has been around since the 1600s and has been used to treat disease successfully for more than 200 years.

More recently the U.S military saved the lives of thousands of sea divers suffering from decompression sickness. Now those very same chambers are being used to help our furry, four-legged friends.

In conjunction with an inspirational hyperbaric paramedic, Peter Young, Town & Country Vet became the first, and only, vet clinic in the South Island to install a hyperbaric oxygen chamber. According to head nurse, Annette McFadgen, hyperbaric oxygen therapy is not as outlandish as it seems.

What is hyperbaric oxygen therapy?

“Well most people have heard of divers getting the ‘bends’ and going into a ‘decompression chamber’ to get better – that is hyperbaric oxygen therapy. But we do it for dogs, cats and other small animals for all sorts of different reasons,” she explains.

“In simple terms, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) is a treatment where patients breathe 100 percent oxygen inside a chamber where the pressure is raised above normal atmospheric pressure.

“While breathing pure oxygen at an increased pressure, the normal haemoglobin mechanism for carrying oxygen is quickly saturated and the extra oxygen is then dissolved directly into the body’s tissues. The ultimate combined result is a tissue oxygen level 15 times that of normal – everything works better in such an O2 rich environment especially healing.”

HBOT is most often used as an “adjunctive treatment” - in conjunction with other forms of treatment and is a part of your total medical treatment or care regimen.

Neurological problems, blunt trauma, orthopaedic problems, skin graftings and a whole raft of other problems do better with a little extra oxygen.

“We’re kept pretty busy doing these high pressure treatments which range from as few as three to as many as 40 or more for each animal,” Annette says.

A vet for town & country Town & Country Vet is made up of a team of people who really care and want to do everything they can to make your pets better - which is why they use HBOT to speed up healing of all sorts of conditions.

The oxygen in the animal’s system after hyperbaric treatment remains in the tissues, as well as in the blood’s haemoglobin and keeps working for 12 hours after the treatment has finished. “So besides feeling ‘pumped up on O2’ they continue this supercharged healing process even when they’re out of the chamber.”

Initially some dogs are a little reluctant to get in the chamber, but after their first treatment they hop in often with very little “For the bunch of sceptics that we were when encouragement. Cats seem to settle quickly and snooze. the chamber was first installed – we have all become converts by what we have seen,” What can be treated?

Annette says.

Veterinarians most frequently use the One of the most spectacular visual chambers for cases of severe tissue damage, transformations was a dog from Christchurch infection and bone fractures (as the extra rd called Fletcher who had 3 degree burns from oxygen stimulates new bone cell activity), a house fire. “He only had four treatments and as well as for brain and nerve damage and the improvement and change in the depth of arthritis. However, infections and wounds of the wounds was amazing.” any type are the most common.

Burns, smoke inhalation, factures, spinal injuries, stroke type illness, wounds that “just won’t heal”, skin grafts, swellings, cellulitis, ulcers and gangrene have all been treated by the HBOT.

Town & Country Vet Recommend and Use

“We have even treated a wallaby with great success when she had an osteomyelitis of her lower jaw – one which had failed to respond to antibiotic therapy alone.”

So ask your veterinarian about Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy today and they can recommend you go to Town & Country Vet to help your furry friends.

“...for all creatures great & small...”

Total care for happy healthy pets! & Home to the only Hyberbaric Oxygen Chamber in the South Island

Ph 544 1200 info@tcvet.co.nz * www.tcvet.co.nz

35 McGlashen Avenue, Richmond, Nelson

70 | September/October 2012 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

Town & Country Vet 35 McGlashen Avenue Richmond Nelson T (03) 544 1200 E info@tcvet.co.nz www.tcvet.co.nz — Advertising Feature

Focus | Nelson Tasman Tourism

A delightful

destination

Nestled comfortably with the Tasman Bay to the north and mountain ranges to the east, south and west, Nelson Tasman serves as a gateway to the riches the South Island has to offer. Sitting at the top north-west corner of the South Island, it is consistently rated the sunniest region in the country with a geography which boasts everything from long golden beaches to untouched forests and rugged mountains.

Nelson city serves as a gateway to the three national parks on its doorstep and has firmly established itself as a popular ecotourism and adventure tourism town. Many areas within the greater Nelson Tasman region boast beaches, forests, pristine bodies of water and magnificent cave systems.

Inland Nelson Tasman is equally as exciting, in a wonderland of water adventure, including kayaking, rafting and boating. If frozen water is a preference, skiing and even ice skating make the Nelson Lakes National Park a popular winter destination, well served by some exquisite luxury lodges hidden away among mountains, lakes and exotic native bush settings.

“Nelson Tasman is very family friendly,” Angela explains. “We have three national parks; the Abel Tasman should be a number one must do on everyone’s list. We’re the country’s sunshine capital for 2011, but we’re also earning a title as the creative arts capital with more than 250 local artists, including traditional, contemporary and Maori.

“We have 11 craft breweries, 26 wineries and we’re the birthplace of the World of Wearable Art event. The World of Wearable Art & Classic Cars Museum is a great rainy day option for the family to view the fusion between the clothing and cars in the region.”

Nelson is also emerging as a culinary destination with an abundance of local flavours. Local restaurants can tempt the most discerning palate with their superb seafood including mussels, scallops, oysters, seasonal whitebait and many fish varieties. The Taste Nelson festival is held each year to celebrate these culinary delights.

The city features a Farmers Market on Wednesday, a large Saturday market and on Sunday there is a flea market style event.

Te Waikoropupu Springs > Some of the clearest water ever measured can be found at Te Waikoropupu Springs, near the GoldenBaytownship of Takaka. Set in a reserve that protects gold workings, regenerating forest and a fine patch of mature bush, the area is a taonga or treasure and a waahitapu, a place held in high cultural and spiritual regard for Maori.

Nelson, blessed by nature as a destination which offers almost everything, is not to be missed in any tour of New Zealand. The region is easily accessible, being one and half hours drive from Picton, the gateway to the South Island via Cook Strait, or five hours from Christchurch, and is served by regular flights from all over New Zealand.

Nelson Tasman Tourism 75 Trafalgar Street Nelson T (03) 546 6228 E info@NelsonNZ.com www.nelsonnz.com

— Advertising Feature

According to Nelson Tasman Tourism’s Convention & Incentive marketing manager, Angela Hunter, Nelson truly is the best of both worlds. “It’s large enough to offer all the services and amenities of a large city, but at the same time it is small enough to be welcoming and friendly.

The beautiful coastline from Nelson to Golden Bay and the Abel Tasman National Park is famous for its clear blue waters and pristine golden sand beaches. The park itself can be explored by guided walks, sea kayak, cruise boat, water taxi or freedom walking, allowing you to see penguins, seals, dolphins and native birds, all set in lush native forest and beautiful beaches.

Farewell Spit

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“Nelson is New Zealand’s largest fishing port and the gateway to a major forestry and horticulture industry. There is the attraction of fine foods, great wines, an innovative craft industry, spectacular scenery and traditional Kiwi hospitality and the combination makes Nelson Tasman a place holiday-makers flock to all year round.”

At 35km, Farewell Spit is New Zealand’s longest sand spit and a bird sanctuary and wetland of international importance. With more than 90 bird species recorded in the area, thousands of wading birds from the northern hemisphere arrive every spring and penguins also breed in the area.

Seals breed at Wharariki Beach and its caves, islands and arches are among the most dramatic in the country, with constantly shifting dunes and a series of lakes and swamps in the background.

www.canterburytoday.co.nz September/October 2012 | 71

Focus | Independent Forklifts

Giving business

a lift

The Independent Forklift Company Limited in Timaru can supply a turnkey forklift service to any South Island business, including new and used machines for sale, short and long-term rental forklifts with a complete service package.

Independent Forklifts specialises in the supply, support and servicing of new and used forklifts, including the renowned Yale range of forklifts.

New and used forklift sales Independent Forklifts general manager Mervyn Dore says the Yale brand of forklifts is tried and true. “Yale is a world-renowned leader in warehousing in all aspects of the forklift industry,” he says.

“It’s one of the leading forklift brands in North America. It’s owned by NACCO Industries and the backup service and technical ability we get from them is great.”

Yale offers a range of forklifts designed to meet every warehouse need, including electric counter-balanced machines, warehouse lift trucks and combustion counter-balanced forklifts. In addition, Independent Forklifts offers a range of used forklifts for sale, including Yale and other leading brands.

Forklift rental The company has a fleet of low-hour, modern forklifts for hire, including a large range of forklift attachments. Rental forklifts range in size from 1.5ton to 12ton.

• Independent Forklifts is a 100 percent New Zealand-owned and operated company that offers first-class service on new, used and rental forklifts • The company operates 12 branches or serviced locations throughout the South Island • With its own specialised forklift transporters, forklifts can be supplied anywhere across the region • New and used forklifts are available for purchase, while high-quality rental machines are also available for shortand long-term hire • Independent Forklifts offers full service packages on both large and small forklift fleets, with technicians available to service anywhere in the South Island.

Independent Forklifts sells new and used forklifts, and has a large fleet of hire machines.

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The company was formed 16 years ago and is today owned by Grant and Tracey Davie, who employ more than 30 staff across branches in Timaru, Christchurch, Nelson, Dunedin and West Coast. Service agents are also located in Invercargill and Central Otago, with a new branch expected to be formed in Central Otago within the next year.

The company at a glance

Yale is a worldrenowned leader in warehousing in all aspects of the forklift industry -Owner, Grant Davie

”

Rental requirements can be met at short notice, with fast delivery times available for short-term requirements.

In addition, long-term contracts can be negotiated, with rent-to-own options available.

All rental forklifts are maintained and serviced to a high standard to ensure consistent performance and reliable operation.

Dore says customer service is a major focus for Independent Forklifts, which is able to offer a total fleet management service to clients.

Proud to be associated with Independent Forklifts

0800 925 328

E: stevegordon@yale.co.nz

72 | September/October 2012 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

Independent Forklifts offers full service packages on both large and small forklift fleets.

<

SG Equipment combines integrated servicing solutions with highly dependable maintenance and parts support, through our extensive and highly dedicated independent Dealer network.

We are proud to be associated with the team at Independent Forklifts Ltd as their accounting and business advisors…

We are specialists in… … Business Consulting … Business Advisory Services … Taxation Planning … Risk Management … Succession Planning

For enquiries please contact: Graeme, Paul, Andrew, Richard or Belinda chch@markhams.co.nz Ph: 379 6710 Fax: 379 6754 PO Box 13 104 Christchurch 8141 www.markhams.co.nz

Focus | Independent Forklifts

Close working relationship • Independent Forklifts works closely with SG Equipment in Takanini for the supply of its new Yale forklifts • SG Equipment is the dealer principal for Yale forklifts in New Zealand • Independent Forklifts general manager Mervyn Dore says the company has built a close relationship with SG Equipment and its owners, Steve and Lornette Gordon, during the past 10 years. “We’re like a brother and sister company. We do the South Island and they do the North Island for new Yale forklifts, but our machines are bought through them.”

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Yale forklifts are world leaders in materials handling equipment.

Service is a specialty Independent Forklifts provides a comprehensive service offering to all customers, with qualified and skilled technicians available to service electric, LPG, diesel and battery powered forklifts.

General manager Mervyn Dore says while the company started out in forklift sales, the service department has grown substantially and is today a major part of the business.

Independent Forklifts employs about 20 service technicians, who are all New Zealand qualified and fully mobile through the company’s fleet of service vans. These are equipped with all the specialised parts and tooling required for a fast and comprehensive repair.

“

”

”

All service vehicles are equipped with satellite tracking in order to give customers accurate arrival times and proof of time charged while on site. Dore says all technicians undergo regular training in Auckland and Australia in order to stay at the forefront of changing technology within the industry.

“Most of our forklifts come with onboard diagnostics and a fault code on the dashboard. Our technicians plug in their laptops and find out what the fault is and often it can be fixed from the laptop.”

Independent Forklifts can regenerate used forklift batteries, regaining lost run time and increasing the life span of the battery.

Forklift parts Independent Forklifts imports its own parts from various suppliers throughout the world and is committed to supplying only quality parts at competitive prices.

It stocks a wide range of parts at its Timaru head office, with urgent parts delivered overnight and weekly stock orders dispatched for non-urgent replacements.

Major service contracts Independent Forklifts provides forklifts and service contracts to a range of large South Island customers.

The company services all of the distribution centres for Foodstuffs in the South Island, all forklifts at Port Otago and Port Timaru, as well as many Mitre 10 outlets, concrete plants, rural supply companies and timber yards.

<

It’s one of the leading forklift brands in North America. It’s owned

by NACCO Industries and the backup service and technical ability we get from them is great.

“

Most of our forklifts come with onboard diagnostics and a fault code on the dashboard. Our technicians plug in their laptops and find out what the fault is and often it can be fixed from the laptop.

Independent Forklifts PO Box 895 Washdyke Timaru T (03) 687 4187 F (03) 688 1106 E sales@iforklift.co.nz www.iforklift.co.nz

Independent Forklifts in Timaru has a forklift for every application.

— Advertising Feature

Proud to support Independent Forklifts

Another Successful Independent South Canterbury Business Leading the world in quality material handling products for lift trucks

Ph 09 273 9136 Fax 09 273 9137

Proud to be associated with Independant Forklifts

1 Latter Street, Timaru P. 03 684 4888 | F. 03 684 4889 E. sales@indeng.co.nz

www.canterburytoday.co.nz September/October 2012 | 73

Focus | Kalamazoo Wyatt & Wilson

Strength in numbers

As the world came tumbling down on February 2011, the Kalamazoo Wyatt and Wilson printers literally came to a shuddering halt for the next seven months.

With printers having jumped a metre in the wake of the quake, lights hanging off the ceiling by a thread and huge cracks in the concrete floor and gaps in the wall, the production side of the business was out of action – for the next eight months.

General manager Chris Taitimu says after February all the printing gear was gone and the workflow stifled, but in spite of this he managed to keep all 55 of his staff employed.

“

We are the biggest New Zealand owned printing group. All the other larger printers are owned offshore. We are proud of the fact that we can say that we are New Zealand owned.

- General manager Chris Taitimu

”

“No-one was made redundant, everyone was paid. I did lose people, 65 percent of the staff fled Christchurch as the aftershocks continued but I re-employed 50 percent of these. We have a no redundancy policy. We manage to save by looking carefully at how the dollars are spent; we put the emphasis on people to do their best.”

Chris admits it was not an easy time, not much work was coming in because A; the company was not able to do it and B; there was a lot of uncertainty for its clients.

Kalamazoo’s umbrella Wyatt and Wilson is a part of the Kalamazoo group, a wholly New Zealand owned company that specialises in the provision of total print solutions for organisations in New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific.

“We are the biggest New Zealand owned printing group,” Chris says. “All the other larger printers are owned offshore. We are proud of the fact that we can say that we are New Zealand owned.”

He says thanks to the rest of the Kalamazoo group throughout the country he was able to keep the workflow going. “We had most of the work produced outside of Christchurch and brought them in here to be finished.”

Kalamazoo, which is owned by Steve and Odelia D’Souza, has multi-million dollar production plants based in Auckland and Christchurch with regional offices located throughout the rest of the country.

Its vision is simple – to make your business look better. Kalamazoo ensures each product is designed to meet the client’s needs, from the publishing of children’s books, to the exceptionally high-quality, commercial print solutions that give a company its professional look.

Though there are a range of print companies that are under the Kalamazoo umbrella, management is integrated across the board.

Each company, while maintaining its unique identity, is able to produce the same work flow, so in times of need they can help each other out as needed. “There is not much we can’t do, we can do pretty much everything,” Chris says.

If it’s worth protecting, do it right!

Proud to support Kalamazoo Wyatt & Wilson Print

74 | September/October 2012 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

Focus | Kalamazoo Wyatt & Wilson

Room for all Chris says since Steve has taken over the helm of Kalamazoo he has brought a lot of local printing businesses “into the Kalamazoo way”.

A lot of these businesses were in trouble and needed bailing out.

Chris says Steve does not like to see people suffer so he steps in to help. “It may cost him financially but he still tries to help them out and work together with them. If we can help we will.”

On offer • Principal products and services

From rags to riches

• Promotional print

Steve himself came from a relatively poor family in Mumbai, India. His rise in the corporate world is a real “rags to riches” story.

Born into a Catholic family in Bombay in the mid sixties he often went hungry as a child, walking 12 – 15 kilometres to save bus money so that he could buy bread to eat.

• Appeal envelopes • Promotional games • Photo wallets • Speciality gluing and folding • Books

Fresh out of school at 16, Steve started working in a Mumbai diagnostic company as a filing clerk, enrolling at the same time for a degree in business administration at Bombay University, a course which takes eight years to complete.

• Inkjet numbering and coding • Direct mail package • High volume die-punched labels • Contract magazines

At 17 he joined the multi-national Technova Imaging Systems a leading company with a major market share for print consumables like plates, chemicals and films as a junior technical sales executive. He eventually left the job at 31 as head of its digital division, before heading off to the Middle East.

• All forms of general, colour and business printing • Internet design • Web design • Advertising/marketing campaigns and consultancy

In 2001 the D’Souzas moved to New Zealand where Steve began with Kalamazoo as an account manager then a sales manager.

Today he is the proud owner of Kalamazoo.

• Appeal Calendars • Full Design service including logos and packaging.

However despite his success, Steve is unable to forget where he came from and has a soft touch for those in need. “He thinks of us as one big family,” Chris says. “He tries to keep families alive like Mother Theresa did.”

Wyatt and Wilson today Wyatt and Wilson was one of these families that Steve helped by bringing into the Kalamazoo fold in 2008. Established in 1910 Wyatt and Wilson have a long and proven history of service and commitment to the changing needs of its clients.

Thanks to Kalamazoo who stepped in to help, the company has been able to continue its legacy. Like all those in the Kalamazoo group Wyatt and Wilson has kept its unique identity.

“We keep it that way due to the history, people know us under our old name; we have old alliances.”

Chris says despite the earthquake the signs are good, people are coming back. “But we have to act and do things ourselves.

Christchurch has strong people, we believe in everybody here.”

He says the strength of his company does lie in his team who are dedicated to getting the job done. Combine great people with the latest technology and Wyatt and Wilson can offer the best solution, inline with the budget.

Not only does the company take care of the printing, but it offers a service that integrates design, printing, warehousing, insurance and distribution requirements all under the same roof.

New products • Clingz – electrically charged paper that will cling to any surface • MagneCote – Printable magnetic paper • Skinart Tattoos – Safe and fun, wearable, removable tattoos • Appeal Calendar – Promote and fundraise at the same time.

Secondary Services on offer include • Internet web page design • Newspaper magazine, radio and television journalism and copywriting • Communication consultancy.

Wyatt & Wilson 14 Mary Muller Drive Heathcote PO Box 4261 Freephone 0800 70 30 70 T (03) 963 0510 W www.wyatt-wilson.co.nz — Advertising Feature

www.canterburytoday.co.nz September/October 2012 | 75

Focus | Shoreline Fitness

A sure way to a

better lifestyle A realisation that prompted a life change for Shoreline Fitness director Steve Livesey, has led him to helping others lead a healthier life.

For 16 years, Steve was managing cemeteries in the Gore district, Southland. While working in the job he noticed how many were dying before their time. “There were so many people who were coming in that had died from preventable diseases. A lot could have been prevented by health and fitness.”

In the latter years of his time managing cemeteries, Steve was also recovering from a shoulder injury. The gym assistance he was receiving wasn’t that great and at times would even aggravate his injury. “It was from someone who wasn’t really qualified,” he says. Since Steve was looking for a change of career he decided that he would train to become a personal trainer.

Steve became a personal trainer at the Heritage Hotel in 2005. Realising he wanted to spread his wings even further, he started looking for larger premises and in 2006 purchased Shoreline Fitness in the centre of New Brighton.

The gym, which boasts 780 members, caters for all ages; from secondary school to those in their 80s. It provides an environment where all members feel comfortable regardless of their fitness goals. “It doesn’t matter your shape or size or fitness level – we make sure that everyone feels welcome and are well supported in achieving what they set out to do.”

Proud to support Shoreline Fitness We can assist with advice in all areas of law including EQC, Insurance Business, Property, Employment Resource Management, Trusts, Wills Family, Civil and Criminal

NEW CLIENTS WELCOME Christchurch City: 379 4660 Kaiapoi: 327 8159 New Brighton Mall: 388 6136

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“Most people succeed by having a personal trainer supporting them. It’s hard to do it on your own. When you’ve got someone there to talk with about how you’re feeling or when the struggle comes. It’s like having a lifestyle coach available to get them through – keeping them on track,” Steve says.

Your personal trainer is also able to discuss more than just exercise, they are able to give advice on making healthy choices with regards to lifestyle.

“I couldn’t give up smoking for 25 years before I started running,” Steve says. “I know what people go through – that’s where I feel that I can relate to them when we talk.”

Join a class People more interested in joining others for their workout also have many options to choose from, with an extensive group fitness schedule. Whether it be Sweat Storm Boxing, BTT (bums, tums and thighs), Step, Pump, Zumba, Circuit, Total Body, Yoga or Gentle Exercise classes for the older age group, there is definitely a class to suit everyone.

An indoor cycling room has been added so people can enjoy an intense group workout on the bike to motivating music. To avoid disappointment at this popular class – participants can book online by clicking SHOREfast on the exercise timetable.

There is a supervised children’s area so mums and dads can ensure their children are being cared for while enjoying their workout.

Shoreline also works closely with community groups to provide a venue where people are encouraged to lead a healthier life.

Canterbury Sport uses the venue to run a Green prescription programme and the Go Active programme. The Canterbury District Health Board fund Pacifica fitness classes which are run by one of its personal trainers.

“We try and get as much involvement in to the community as we can. We sponsor the local schools and sports clubs.”

One on one attention

But wait there’s more

Those who sign up to become members are given six personal training sessions by a qualified specialist. This enables new members to become comfortable in their programme and establish good practices when it comes to using cardio and weights equipment while getting the most benefit from their exercises.

Shoreline Fitness also has its own onsite massage therapist Julie Wardle (Dip. Massage Therapy, RMT, RN), who is able to offer treatment which takes into consideration your personal health and fitness goals.

Shoreline’s personal trainers will take into consideration any health or injury complaints and design a specific programme which caters to the individual.

Once the six sessions are up, the personal trainer can be hired to continue to provide support and expertise.

76 | September/October 2012 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

Whether you need deep relaxation, injury rehab, sports conditioning, relief from chronic pain, OOS, migraines, postural alignment there are massage therapy techniques that she can use to help you.

Shoreline Fitness is a Fitness New Zealand Registered Facility, and all its personal trainers are registered exercise professionals.

Both casuals and members are welcome at the gym.

“

Personal experience Natasha Connor knows exactly how beneficial having a personal trainer is.

With the help of Steve, she’s gone from a size 14 to a size 10 since February this year.

Although she had been going to Shoreline for about eight years, it wasn’t until this year she decided to enlist Steve’s help.

“I’m more focussed now. I’m a person who likes being told what to do. I have one session a week with Steve but go between four and five times a week. He gets me to do something different every session so I’m more motivated and focussed and enjoy it a lot more.”

Steve has also offered her dietary advice which has helped in the weight loss. “Right at the start he said to cut out preservatives – I lost 2kg in the first week.”

In total Natasha has lost 13 kilos which she puts down to the assistance she gets from Steve. “If anyone is serious about doing it you’ve got to make a commitment to get a trainer. It doesn’t have to be every week but it’s someone you know you’ll be accountable to.”

She finds Shoreline Fitness an incredible environment. “The trainers all care about the people going there. You get to know them and have a laugh with them which makes it so much more fun.

It’s just a lot more personalised a really encouraging place to go.”

Natasha, who breeds and shows dogs now notices a real difference when she is showing her German Shepherds.

“It requires a lot of fitness and a lot of running. On competition day now, I can compete and feel fine whereas beforehand I would compete and then wouldn’t be able to move for two days.”

”

Shoreline Fitness 55 Hawke St New Brighton Christchurch T (03) 388 3006 F (03) 382 3101 E shorelinefitness1@xtra.co.nz www.shorelinefitness.co.nz — Advertising Feature

Focus | Multimedia Communications

Rolling out the digital carpet Infrastructure was once a simple construct built up by a network of roads, buildings and electricity – forming the foundation of our functioning society. In today’s society there is a newcomer to the platform – digital infrastructure.

No longer is it enough to just have the basic infrastructure to run a business; to truly be able to reach clientele across the globe, a high-speed Internet connection is essential and as technology is constantly evolving, keeping on top of things can be a challenge.

As broadband, run over the typical digital network, is quickly becoming the less superior option in the digital world, those who refuse to make the change will fall behind.

The newcomer to the game for residential services – fibre optic connection – provides broadband users with the speed, reliability and functionality that will propel New Zealand to the top of the digital infrastructure ladder, making us all locally and internationally competitive.

Expert service This is where the experts, Christchurch-based MultiMedia Communications, can help. The company is a New Zealand leader in the delivery of large-scale fibre optic and data

Hayes & Milne Automotive Ltd We are your specialists in truck and bus repairs, lubrications and all mechanical repairs and fleet maintenance.

We can repair any COF problems. Friendly staff to help you.

Ph: 03 3796208 | Fax: 03 379 6207 22 Byron St, Christchurch e. bruce@hayesandmilne.co.nz or sales@transportparts.co.nz

www.hayesandmilne.co.nz

Hospitality | Three Cows

A local haunt lives on

Networking explained

It is an icon, part of the colourful tapestry that makes Kaiapoi as unique as it is; The Three Cows Cafe, Bar & Restaurant, is a relaxing place to go to meet friends for coffee, or to sit and browse through a magazine, or to partake in some deliciously tasty sustenance before or after a busy day.

MultiMedia Communications provides both copper and fibre optic data networks; with its guys out in the streets installing and joining the cables and connecting customers for all its telco clients.

This charming restaurant has been a part of the neighbourhood for many years now, but in the last year it changed hands with a new owner, Edison Lee now at its helm.

network projects, throughout the country, to the telco and power sector.

It utilises its extensive network design innovation and its 50-strong team, to provide its clients with advanced technology systems, from design, through to commissioning of the network.

The business was established in 2000 by two tech entrepreneurs, Mike Gardiner and Andrew Fowler, who had the vision of creating a technical company with a point of difference.

MultiMedia Communications delivers a range of technical services including security, video and access control systems, PABX, electrical and heat pump installation and of course fibre and copper cable solutions.

Structured cabling networks are the distribution cables that computers and telephones connect to within commercial and campus environments. They are star wired from a central point and built to internationally recognised standards.

These copper cables use electricity based transmission.

Fibre optic cables on the other hand are typically used on network backbones where high volumes of data speed are required.

Fibre uses modulated light instead of electricity. Unlike copper wire, optical cable does not suffer from electrical interference and has much higher bandwidth.

However, despite the changes the Three Cows continuing, excellent, commitment to serving exceptional, original food and providing friendly efficient service to its customers means all goes on as usual; much to the delight of the many regular customers.

This restaurant is known for its wide variety of food choices. The menu is extensive and varied with the world famous seafood chowder and the to-die-for Foccacia melts.

Or if you are really keen on a big feed; try tackling the T-bone steak with a wine or beer! Other favourites are the scrumptious

To make the decision even harder, there is also a blackboard specials menu that changes daily according to the chef’s whim.

To top that all off, the Three Cows has a range of decadent desserts; from the all-favourite crème brulees to the traditional sticky date puddings, chocolate overloads and cheesecakes.

Enjoy a glass of dessert wine, a port or a nice hot coffee and you’re all set!

The Three Cows opens seven days a week from 11:30 till closing. Lunches are available from open till 4pm; dinner follows shortly after at 5pm.

The restaurant can accommodate approximately a hundred or so patrons, making group bookings a popular choice for lunches or even evening dinners.

Speeds to home subscribers are limited only by the transmission equipment installed by the network owner and their own budget.

Whatever time of day you pop into Three Cows, you can look forward to fresh tasty food, quality coffee and quiet efficient service.

It has become a Kaiapoi tradition.

Speedy benefits A higher network speed means businesses can send data to locations around Christchurch faster than they previously could within a single building. This enables companies to operate seamlessly from a number of locations throughout the city and take advantage of technology that requires ultra high-speed or data intensive connections.

3 Cows 194C Williams St Kaiapoi T (03) 327 5009 E 3cowskaiapoi@gmail.com

Whatever you choose, good digital infrastructure, professionally designed and installed, will provide users with the endless potential for expansion and development.

— Advertising Feature

dry goods · frozen foods chilled foods · ethnic products

MultiMedia Communications 3 Te Rama Place Christchurch T (03) 963 0840 E info@mmcltd.co.nz — Advertising Feature

pork belly or the delectable rib eye steak.

But be warned; the meals here tend not to be for the weak hearted.

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Phone: (03) 768 0816 | Fax: (03) 768 0818 Email: arnoldproducts@xtra.co.nz

Service Foods is proud to support 3 Cows Kaiapoi

www.canterburytoday.co.nz September/October 2012 | 77

Hospitality | Totally Gluten Free Baker

Totally tasty

temptations

“

We have had a number of new and very popular products come from customer ideas so we are only too happy to try out any requests.

- Baker, Wendy

How it all started

Gluten free doesn’t normally conjure up the thought of melt-in-your-mouth delights or tasty treats but at the Totally Gluten Free Bakery this is exactly what they are creating.

Ensuring that the gluten free food on sale at the aptly named establishment is delicious, and is easy for the team of bakers – no-one there is gluten intolerant. All the baking goes through a rigorous development and quality control to make sure it tastes as “normal” as possible.

The Totally Gluten Free Bakery, situated just beside the Wild West mini-golf on Blenheim Rd, is a testament to how fantastic gluten free products can actually be. With an array of biscuits, slices, breads, pizzas, ready-made pastry, pies, scones and baking goods there is definitely something to tantalise even the fussiest of taste buds.

As well as gluten free, the company also offers a range of nut free, yeast free, egg free, dairy free and soya free products as well. Most importantly customers need not be worried about cross contamination as only gluten free products are baked on site.

The company was started by Wendy a passionate baker who decided to answer the call of patrons who were continually asking for more gluten free products. She started the flagship bakery in Worcester St, in October of 2006.

The business was growing in popularity and many were enjoying the marvellous selections on offer, until Mother Nature dealt a swift blow in February 2011.

They also stock selected wares from the Tastes Divine range – a medley of gluten free pantry products including, stocks, seasonings, breadcrumb coatings, batters, glazes, dips and baking mixes.

The Totally Gluten Free Bakery also carries a range of pastas and empanadas.

Along with the assistance of new business partner Lori, they were able to relocate to the Blenheim Rd premises (beside Vast Interiors) and carry on providing quality goods for their customers.

Wendy also says they are open to customer suggestions. “We have had a number of new and very popular products come from customer ideas so we are only too happy to try out any requests.”

Cooking up joy

Where can I get it?

One of the biggest joys in owning the shop is when children who are often extremely restricted in what they can eat, come and see what’s on offer. “It’s like having a lolly shop.

They can’t quite comprehend that they can have anything they can see. When they find out they’re eyes light up.”

For those unable to get to the Blenheim Rd store, Wendy and Lori offer a delivery service.

All customers have to do is jump online and chose from the vast selection on offer.

The bakery now specialises in gluten free cakes for weddings, birthdays, anniversaries or any special event. Specialist decorator Yulanda uses her artistic ability to create a cake custom-made for the client’s needs.

Wendy likes to point out that they haven’t fallen into the normal realms of gluten free baking – instead wanting to offer customers treats they won’t find elsewhere. “There’s no friands or anything with almonds,” she says.

As well as a delectable array of baked fare, there are also a range of other gluten free products for sale which are supplied by likeminded business people.

78 | September/October 2012 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

”

Golden Goose produces a range of gluten free frozen products including battered fish and chicken strips, hot dogs and other items which are available for sale.

They can either have it couriered to their door, or they also offer customers a pick-up service for those living near Va Voom Café, situated in the Christchurch suburb of Parklands or Hibbards Butchery in Linwood Village.

Totally Gluten Free Bakery 477B Blenheim Rd Sockburn Christchurch T (03) 341 1172 F (03) 341 1173 E bakery@glutenfreebakery.co.nz www.glutenfreebakery.co.nz — Advertising Feature

Hospitality | Coffee Worx

Award winning flavour In today’s world being a good business is often defined by more than just having a healthy bottom line. Suppliers and consumers alike are taking ever more notice of the choices companies make when conducting their business.

As owners of the Coffee Worx brand, Deb and Ian Riach seem to be making solid decisions, both ethically and commercially.

The pair also picked up a silver award for their Heartland Brew Norwester coffee in the same awards competition.

of our focus – it is a good viable business and has become most of what our business is about.”

As well as owning Coffee Worx, its roastery, supply business and a couple of cafes, Deb and Ian are the New Zealand partner of the ethically traded La Mai charity coffee brand.

“I am proud of our quality of product and we have been recognised in the industry over the years with a range of awards.”

But despite having years of success in the coffee industry, an earthquake to shake things up was not something that any amount of experience could prepare them for, especially when the earthquake wiped out their Yellow Rocket chain, leaving its flagship store in the CBD marooned behind the cordons.

It is their way of helping the Thailand farmers who produce the beans used in La Mai Coffee climb out of poverty and into self-sustaining livelihoods.

Yes, the Christchurch company has taken on the challenge of moving beyond just generating business revenue however, business is still business and when it comes to coffee, flavour is the name of the game.

It is here where Deb and Ian are equally as successful, building Coffee Worx into an award winning market success.

In recognition of Coffee Worx effort and the quality of the coffee, it was awarded a bronze medal for its La Mai coffee in the ethically traded section of the 2011 Coffee Awards.

“This has given us the confidence that this coffee is a winner,” Deb says.

Deb and Ian have both been in the coffee industry for years so are not short on knowledge when it comes to coffee. They know what they are talking about, having owned and run eight different cafes of their own. “We were one of the founding partners of Coffee Culture; we came in at the beginning of café culture growth.”

Ten years in business Deb and Ian started Yellow Rocket in 2001 and in 2008 they began the Coffee Worx brand after having bought and redeveloped a roastery in Sockburn. “We brought the existing roastery which we rebranded into Coffee Worx to change its focus and bring it out into the market,” she says.

“We began to look at the wholesale and supply side of the business. It has taken most

But shakes aside, Deb appears un-phased, saying plans are in the works to launch Yellow Rocket into franchises elsewhere in the South Island. At present they have simply merged it into their Coffee Worx café in Northlands Mall.

In addition they are continuing to work on building up the Coffee Worx brand through their roastery, which currently supplies and distributes to 100 customers in cafés, bars and restaurants throughout the South Island.

X marks the spot In a crowded market like the café industry, Deb admits making your mark and standing out is a great challenge. But where they do

make a difference is in their desire to make their customers succeed.

“For us what is different is that through our customer’s success we make our success.

The pursuit of excellence can be a process.

How you can be good at what you do is to challenge yourself continuously.”

For more information email: deb@coffeeworx.co.nz or visit: www.coffeeworx.co.nz — Advertising Feature

Hospitality | City Central Motel Apartments

Comfort and convenience in the city centre With accommodation at a premium in Christchurch it is always wonderful to find somewhere that is not only available, but also contemporary, clean, quiet and centrally located. City Central Motel Apartments offers all this and more for its guests with 26 well-appointed rooms at the handy Barbadoes St site.

Hosts Christine and Chris Stevens have a variety of accommodation to suit all needs – with roomy studio, family and two bedroom units. The ample room size means corporate guests who stay for extended periods of time, are not hemmed in. “It’s a spacious environment where people can relax and feel at home, not feel like they’re cooped up in a box,” Chris says.

Each unit contains its own kitchen and ensuite, is double-glazed and centrally heated. All rooms open out onto a balcony or a covered walkway if on the ground floor.

The apartments have been well received by guests with four and a half dots out of five from 173 guest reviews on TripAdvisor and being ranked 11th of all Christchurch accommodation reviewed on the site.

Constant comments were how clean, comfortable, roomy and affordable the rooms are, and the friendliness of the Stevens going way beyond the normal duties expected of hosts. This obviously impressed TripAdvisor enough to award Chris and Christine with the 2011 Certificate of Excellence.

The reason these guests have enjoyed their stay so much obviously has something to do with the standards the Stevens’ insist upon. These standards mean guests enjoy fresh milk instead of plastic long-life pottles, branded coffee, DVD and book collections and being able to assist visitors with whatever challenges or questions they may present.

One guest even said that when his car broke down, Chris organised its repair at a reputable garage.

What is most astonishing is the affordability.

With rooms priced from only $140 per night – it really makes these apartments not only a wonderful place to stay but great value for money.

Facilities include: • 50-plus Sky channels • Free WiFi • Access facilities (3 units) • Off street parking • Airport transfers arranged • Double glazing and central heating • Guest laundry facilities • Fax/scanner facilities • Guest computer • Cot and high chairs available • Same day dry-cleaning service • Assistance with tour planning and booking • Babysitting by arrangement • Rental cars available for hire • Groups welcome.

City Central Motel Apartments 252 Barbadoes Street Christchurch Central T (03) 379 0540 F (03) 366 4700 E stay@citycentral.co.nz www.citycentral.co.nz — Advertising Feature

LAYBURN HODGINS BARRISTERS

&

SOLICITORS

We have recently relocated to the Sydenham area and are committed to providing expert legal advice to our local community

LAYBURN HODGINS ARE PROUD TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH CITY CENTRAL MOTEL APARTMENTS Directors: •Trevor Quirk •John Abbott •Duncan Macintyre 03 366 2332 | layburn@layburn.co.nz | www.layburn.co.nz

Level 1, 47 Montreal Street, Sydenham, Christchurch

Warm, clean rooms, comfortable beds with friendly, helpful service.

Currently one of Christchurch's top ranking motels.

Freephone 0800 379 0540 | Phone 03 379 0540 | Corner of Hereford and Barbadoes Street www.canterburytoday.co.nz September/October 2012 | 79

Hospitality | Editorial

New online map of things to see, eat and do in Christchurch Christchurch’s ongoing state of flux means more than the odd event, restaurant or hoedown have become hard asks to find.

But hopefully a Christchurch City Council launched online map called Find:Chch will allow people to access up to date information about what there is to see, eat and do in the city.

CCC marketing manager Richard Stokes says Find:Chch is a quick and easy way to find what you are looking for – from markets to places to stay, free Wi-Fi spots, parks, accommodation and shopping. The map is located on the Findchch.com website.

“The map is regularly updated which means residents and visitors now have accurate and current information on hand. Find:Chch is also available on mobile devices such as tablets and iPhones,” he says.

Mayor Bob Parker describes it as a dynamic tool that sends a clear message Christchurch is open for business with lots of great experiences and attractions on offer for residents and visitors alike.

“Find:Chch has been set up to be responsive to the current fluid environment – things to see and do can easily be updated or added at any time. This online map will be an invaluable tool for connecting people with these places as the city’s rebuild and recovery continues.”

Enquires about being added to the new online map can be made by clicking the contact and feedback link on the www.findchch.com web site, or by emailing Christchurch@ccc.govt.nz For further information visit www.findchch.com

Hospitality | The Church Mouse Holiday Accommodation

Sacred haven “

“You have taken a church and turned it into heaven. Thank you for your hospitality.” Heather and Susan

”

For a relaxing retreat in the midst of the Central Otago plains look no Peaceful beauty further than the village of Naseby’s Susie says inside The Church Mouse, is a peaceful relaxing setting for people to enjoy Church Mouse – a spiritual abode and take time out in. Walking into the church in a century old church, turned you are greeted by a beautiful stained glass rose window. “It’s quite stunning, the open holiday home.

Found 2,000 ft above sea level in the forests of the Manioto plains, this little church house is a hidden gem in an already charming holiday village.

space gives a big calm feel,” she says.

The open plan nave features two comfy sofas, a dining table and a modern kitchen fully equipped for self-catering. The mezzanine floor with a king-size bed gives a fabulous Winning heart view down through the nave to the entrance lobby and its stained glass window. Down Formerly known as the Sacred Heart Church (1902), it was put up for tender by the Catholic below there are two single beds in one bedroom, and a third “Harry Potter” style Church in 2009. Builder Phil Flangan had a bedroom hidden under the staircase. love for old buildings and so he, along with partner Susie Farrell, decided to bid and won Inside the bathroom is a weary traveller’s the church. dream – a true godsend – with a deep freestanding, double-ended bath where you can They wanted to retain a lot of the originality get lost in the bliss of a hot sublime tub. of the church, so Phil did some minor renovations and Susie turned the little church interior into a creative space – without performing a complete overhaul on the church’s architecture.

For those fortunate enough to stay at The Church Mouse in the lovely summer months a sheltered courtyard is accessed by gorgeous French doors.

“It’s a very beautiful building,” Susie says.

“No-one had done anything to it, so it’s still very much in its original form. If anyone wanted it to be put back together as a church, it could easily be done,” she says.

And for those who fear being cut off from civilisation – there is a general store, pubs and a café, all within walking distance.

It’s a home away from home.

“

“An utterly magical stay, a truly peaceful place and your retention of the architectural aesthetic is impressive.

Susie, your welcome, hospitality, understanding and friendship has been extraordinary and shall hold a special place in the album of my memory.”

- James Nesbitt, Ireland

The Church Mouse 8 Foyle St T (03) 444 9440 E Susie.phil@xtra.co.nz www.holidayhouses.co.nz

”

— Advertising Feature

THE

CHURCH MOUSE HOLIDAY ACCOMMODATION IN NASEBY

For Reservations and Information Please Contact: Susie and Phil (03) 444 9440 or 027 714 1209 (txt) | Email: susie.phil@xtra.co.nz | www.holidayhouses.co.nz keyword: church mouse

80 | September/October 2012 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

Hospitality | Wunderbar

Defining weird and

wonderful The look

Hidden off a Lyttelton side-street sits a unique bar. From the outside it doesn’t look like much, with its plain wooden box-like exterior sitting above a pair of black, steel, yellow-edged staircases – but we all know not to judge a book by its cover.

Walk through the Wunderbar’s doors and you are met by a wild range of décor; from the human hair hanging in a corner, to the cat hair sculpture on the wall, the former saw turned crocodile sitting on a ledge, to the bar’s elusive toilets. It’s certainly an eclectic mix of interior design, but Andrew Bishop, who coowns and runs the bar with his wife Deborah Coupland, says it works.

“People come from afar to see the infamous doll heads and other strange items scattered throughout,” he says. “It is tucked away in the shadows, you’ve got to find it.”

But Andrew says that is part of the fun and people seem to enjoy the challenge. In the daytime the place looks out of this world, but it’s at night that things really jump to life, with a one-of-a-kind vibe. “It is totally unique both in décor and music and the people who come here,” Andrew says. “It is constantly changing.”

Andrew is a former patron turned Wunderbar co-owner who fell in love with the place well before he took charge at its helm. Established 21 years ago the bar developed a reputation for its “oddity” factor, something he chose to keep as a legacy.

Taste and listen Andrew says when it comes to the music, as long as the musicians offer good quality sound it doesn’t matter what genre it is; from emerging artists, to rockabilly, travelling acts, hard rock and psychedelic swamp blues, there is an option for just about everyone.

Alongside the standard range of drinks the uniquely Wunderbar menu includes the all-time favourite nachos, to home-made macaroni cheese, pita breads and dip, party savouries and a bowl of popcorn.

Labour of love Wunderbar is what you’ll find in the dictionary right next to weird and wonderful, a factor that has certainly paid off. Even being shut for nine months post the June 2011 earthquake did nothing to stem the tide of people flowing through the doors as soon as the Wunderbar re-opened, for the third time, in March 2012.

“It has been a labour of love with the old girl.”

Wunderbar 19 London Street Lyttelton 8082 Open Weekdays 5pm – late Weekends 1pm – 3am T (03) 328 8818 www.wunderbar.co.nz — Advertising Feature

Live Music & Functions The Wunderbar prides itself on oddity and is one of the most unique bars in New Zealand.

People come from afar to see the infamous dolls heads and other strange items and antiques scattered throughout. Others just want to be part of the great atmosphere that the bar, staff and live entertainment provides.

Weekdays 5pm - late | Weekends 1pm - 3am | To find out more visit us at www.wunderbar.co.nz or ring us on 03 328 8818

www.canterburytoday.co.nz September/October 2012 | 81

Hospitality | Mt Difficulty Wines

In search of the

perfect pinot noir

Stretching across the Cromwell basin in its beautiful and historic Central Otago setting, is an artisan winery and its vineyards - well known for its ability to produce a great pinot noir.

Mt Difficulty is a modern, boutique winery proudly claiming to be one of the few places in the world outside of Burgundy, France, where the pernickety pinot noir seems to truly flourish.

Its unique microclimate of the Bannockburn area provides hot summers, a large temperature variation, along with cool autumns which coax the best of the pinot noir grapes out of the vine.

This, along with a mix of clays and gravels, provides an ideal area for viticulture and an excellent ground for its pinot noir, riesling and chardonnay.

From here to there Cellar Door restaurant manager Carol Henderson says people from all over the world are coming to the winery for the experience of place and product.

Mt Difficulty has been cultivating a reputation for its good quality wines both nationally and internationally. “We are well-known and trusted. People, while they are here, like to see the place that makes the wine they drink.”

At Mt Difficulty’s Cellar Door, visitors are welcomed into its warm setting for an elegant restaurant-style lunch menu. Carol labels it as a “grown-up” menu, designed to mix and match with the winery’s wines; all hand-picked by Mt Difficulty’s executive chef, Werner Hecht-Wendt, who began at Mt Difficulty in 2008.

He came to the winery after having worked at Nugget Point and Amisfield bringing with him his focus on fresh, locally-sourced ingredients. Werner is a keen gardener and has established a small vegetable garden at the cellar door.

Carol who has worked at the winery for ten years says the whole atmosphere of working in a beautiful place, managed by good staff, makes for a relaxing atmosphere that reflects on the service. “You couldn’t get a better view from an office window,” she adds.

Historic beauty She couldn’t be more right, with a window full of vineyard – but the beauty of the area is not limited to the vineyards. As just up the road is the historic gold-mining town of Bannockburn.

The tiny town has a current population of 126 people, today it is well known for the vineyards that now dominate the landscape once sluiced by the early gold miners.

However the main centre retains its original gold-mining town charm with many of the original buildings still intact – including the Bannockburn Hotel, the post office, Stewart’s store and various miners’ cottages and an old orchard. It’s an area that speaks volumes about New Zealand’s gold-mining history.

“The whole location is great,” Carol says. “It is just an amazing and unique place to visit.

It encompasses it all – scenery, history, food and wine.”

Growing vines The Mt Difficulty brand started back in 1998 with a small produce of pinot noir and chardonnay. The start-up winery quickly propelled to success with its first pinot noir winning a gold medal at the 1999 Air New Zealand wine awards and the chardonnay winning silver.

The Mt Difficulty name came from the mountain overlooking Felton Road and the southern Cromwell basin. This mountain is

“

The whole location is great. It is just an amazing and unique place to visit. It encompasses it all – scenery, history, food and wine.

a very important part of the Bannockburn microclimate, providing shelter from the cool winds of the Wakatipu Basin and the Gibbston Valley.

In early 2001 the winery, commissioned a state of the art winery among the vines, on its Templars Hill vineyard on Felton Road. The winery was specially designed to produce the hand made pinot noir along with a specific barrel hall for the chardonnay, and separate facilities for the other varieties.

Carol says the winery’s current general manager and winemaker Matt Dicey, who has been with Mt Difficulty since 1999, is a “brilliant” wine-maker who ensures the job is done right. “He is quite particular and won’t put fruit into the mix that is just not up to scratch.”

As a fourth generation wine-maker, Matt has a lifelong association with the industry. He earned a Masters Degree in Oenology and Viticulture, worked overseas for four years before returning to Bannockburn, “to try his hand at the ultimate winemaking challenge, making the best wines possible in a region with infinite potential”.

Quality brand All the wines carrying the Mt Difficulty label are subject to strict criteria; they have to be sourced from vineyards under the umbrella of the Mt Difficulty management team which are situated in the Bannockburn area south of the Kawarau River.

This is done in order to reap the benefits of the area’s special qualities that are reflected in the quality of the final product.

The winery believes that diversity and complexity are essential elements that go toward the production of a well-balanced

wine, including the actual soils the vines grow in, for this reason Mt Difficulty wines are made from grapes that have been grown in a wide variety of soils in the region. To ensure the full potential of the region is realised, the winery has a policy of very low cropping levels.

Today Mt Difficulty Wines has grown into a leading New Zealand boutique winery with export markets in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.

Its latest pinot noir is the third Long Gully Single Vineyard Pinot Noir, with its classic red to black forest berry characters with a warmer blackcurrant and boysenberry shining through.

These same berries dominate the entry onto the palate and flow in a rich and sensuous vein of fruit through the mid-palate. The wine finishes strongly with lovely fine grained tannin integrating seamlessly.

And the next one due to hit the Cellar Door’s shelves soon is the 2010 Pinot Noir Packspur, aromatically this wine leads with soft, velvety, raspberry and cranberry notes, to add to its complexity and intrigue are details of clove and anise spice.

Rich, full red fruit of the forest palate entry leads into a well-textured, lush mid- palate.

Finally, lovely finely-structured tannins round out this dense and concentrated wine.

Mt Difficulty 73 Felton Road Bannockburn Cromwell T (03) 445 3445 Ext 1 E cellar.door@mtdifficulty.co.nz E info@mtdifficulty.co.nz www.mtdifficulty.co.nz

Because fine wines deserve the finest seafood.

Southern Seafood Products is proud to be the Mt Difficulty Cellar Door Restaurant’s preferred supplier of premium seafood.

133 Clyde Street, Invercargill | (03) 218 7425 82 | September/October 2012 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

”

Cellar Door restaurant manager Carol Henderson

— Advertising Feature

At A Glance | Joe’s Garage

Gunyah Country Estate

A country escape

Sumner survivors

In an idyllic setting, right at the feet of the grandiose beauty of Mt Hutt, sits an elegant historic country estate, where guests to the region can come to relax, unwind and escape from life.

Like many parts of the city, Sumner has found itself bruised and battered and is now in the process of putting the pieces back together.

Its owner, Simonetta Cottrell says its historic beauty, combined with its lush country surrounds and mountain views makes for an alluring holiday destination.

“Gunyah Country Estate has a relaxed but cosy atmosphere, where you can come to unwind. You can sit by the fire reading books or sit somewhere out in the garden. It is elegant, but not pretentious, understated but well-done.”

Antique chic The estate, which reaches its centenary this year, has an Edwardian elegance, with its rich mahogany panelling, native timber beams and floors of jarrah and rimu woods; all this combined with the generous fireplaces, creates a warm and inviting atmosphere.

The estate was first built back in 1912 for the son of former Prime Minister, Sir John Hall.

Today it is recognised by the National Business Review as one of the country’s “Top 100 Houses” for its historical significance and is endorsed by the New Zealand Historic Places Listing.

Outside the homestead are 13 acres of garden, which have been lovingly restored and expanded by Simonetta herself. Guests can sit on the homestead’s veranda and listen to the resonant song of the native bellbirds that flitter around the estate.

A tale of chance Simonetta who bought the place 10 years ago says it was simply love at first sight that led her to buy the classic homestead. “I was tired of my current job,” she says. Having previously worked in the hospitality industry it was an arena she knew well and wanted to return to.

Like the rest of the city, this isn’t going to happen overnight, but helping the area find its old groove is the reopening of one very hip institution - Joe’s Garage.

Gunyah Country Estate • Exclusive Accommodation and fine dining in one of Canterbury’s best historic homes • Winners of The People’s Choice 2011 for Best Nationwide Private Retreat • Winners of the Selwyn District Heritage and Natural Environment Award 2008

At the time Simonetta was living in Auckland but when she saw the advertisement for the estate in the Sunday Star Times she decided to go for it. “On the Sunday the ad was in the paper, I went down on the Thursday to have a look at it, the auction was on the Friday and I went home that evening on the plane having acquired it.”

Home away from home Today it is run as a country lodge by Simonetta who ensures all guests are made to feel at home in their surrounds. She says she works to ensure all the needs are met, from breakfast to planning day excursions – everything can be arranged under the estate’s roof.

The cuisine has a flair of French, English and northern Italian refined country style.

At each meal, an array of classic, refined silverware is beautifully laid, which just adds to the overall, historically beautiful, ambiance of the lodge.

Gunyah Country Estate Sleemans Road, Glenroy Canterbury T (03) 318 6800 E relax@gunyah.co.nz W www.gunyah.co.nz

— Advertising Feature

The cool café is back in its old spot at 19 Marriner St, just across the road from the iconic and thankfully undamaged Hollywood picture theatre. It is a place designed for visitors and locals alike with an emphasis on creating a relaxing vibe for any and all.

It is the ideal spot for a coffee, a bite and beverage in either of its outdoor areas.

Or if you’re looking for somewhere to host a special occasion, Joe’s is available seven nights a week from 6pm - simply call Joe’s manager, Sandra Van Hout and tell her what you need and let her take care of the rest.

If you fancy just popping in, Joe’s is open seven days a week from 7am.

It’s all about ambiance

Joe’s food

Joe’s Garage started out in Queenstown’s old post office sorting room come garage. The idea right from the get-go was to create a place everybody could go to and have fun.

Joe’s menu has been designed around the ‘go fast’ philosophy of serving a great tasting meal without the wait. It includes simple kiwi classics and has something to cater to all tastes and needs. With organic yoghurt, free range eggs, freshly baked buns, Vogels toast and exceptional coffee you get “quick, clean and tasty” food in a great atmosphere.

This set the tone for all Joe’s Garage and the Sumner incarnation is no exception.

It’s a place designed to create a relaxed atmosphere where anyone can hang out, listen to great music, read a fringy mag or catch up with friends and enjoy wicked coffee and food in an understated “garage” environment.

Joe’s coffee The quality of coffee can make or break any café so Joe’s approach is simple; making the perfect espresso is an art. That’s why the team at Joe’s is committed to producing the best espresso around. The blend is 100 percent Arabica, roasted medium dark and displays smooth, intense complexity with full, earthy body. Subtle notes of caramel and highlights of spice and milk chocolate are in the finish, which will appeal to true coffee connoisseurs and purists throughout New Zealand.

Joe’s Garage 19 Marriner St Sumner Christchurch T (03) 962 2233 E sandra@joes.co.nz www.joes.co.nz

— Advertising Feature

MILES CONSTRUCTION NEW BUILDS • RENOVATIONS • EXTENSIONS • COMMERCIAL Chartered Accountants & Business Advisors

Robert Purchas & Associates are pleased to be associated with Gunyah Country Estate.

Please contact us for personal assistance with your accounting and taxation requirements.

Our new address is 96 Shands Road Hornby Phone number 377 6996

Proudly Supporting Gunyah Country Estate Shelter, Forestry Native Re-vegetation Edible tree crops Animal fodder Specimen trees Hedging P. 03 347 9221 F. 03 347 9223 PO Box 16148 Christchurch, 8441 Main South Road Templeton

Build • Design • Project Management We are proud to be the selected builders for Joe's Garage coffee shops throughout New Zealand PO Box 36680, Christchurch, New Zealand P: 03 374 8000 M: 0274 648 007 F: 03 379 6997 info@milesconstruction.co.nz

www.milesconstruction.co.nz www.canterburytoday.co.nz September/October 2012 | 83

Hospitality | Ostler Vineyards

Golden harvest One of New Zealand’s youngest wine regions is showing that, despite being short in the tooth, it is just as capable as the golden oldies at making a name for itself in the international wine industry.

The Waitaki Valley’s most recent award winner is the Ostler Caroline Pinot Noir 2010, which recently won the trophy for top pinot noir at the Shanghai International Wine Challenge.

limestone, alluvial greywacke and schist; ideal parameters for the production of high-end pinot noir and aromatic white wines.

Ostler’s award-winning pinot noir was produced in one of this valley’s relatively warm seasons and came out with all the hallmarks of a great wine – balance, finesse, complexity and concentrated flavours.

Being singled out by a panel of judges, including seven Masters of Wine, is a sign of a job well done, indicating this relatively new entrant on the wine market is already standing out from the global crowd.

Ostler Vineyard’s managing director and co-proprietor, Jim Jerram, says it is “truly gratifying that this wine was seen to stand out against global competition, which included examples from the ideological home of the grape – Burgundy in France”.

The valley The win was that much more gratifying considering the valley where it came from is the newest wine region in New Zealand. The Waitaki Valley, which straddles the boundary between North Otago and Canterbury, was first planted in 2001. Today many of its vineyards remain small, intensively managed businesses which produce a range of distinctive, cool climate wines.

Its key viticulture characteristics are its cool climate, with warm summers and long, usually dry, autumn seasons, as well as a complex geological origin, scattered with

“We are pioneers in the valley,” says Jim. He points out that in the early years there was much scepticism around whether or not this region was up to producing top-end wine.

But Jim says valley producers are proving the sceptics wrong. “The region sits ‘on the climatic edge’.” He elaborates that though it can be harder to produce higher grape yields, the resultant wine quality is at the premiumplus end.

Jim says the advantage of the Waitaki Valley region is prolonged, mild autumns, which provide a slower, longer ripening characteristic. “We do pick quite late in the season – which does result in a lot of chewed fingernails – but the results are distinctively different.

A British wine writer, Tom Cannavan spoke highly of the valley’s special characteristics.

“Waitaki is an extraordinarily beautiful, but remote and marginal vine growing valley, between Canterbury and Central Otago where the destructive power of frost is a constant danger in the spring months. But big names Overlooking the turquoise waters stunning Lake Tekapo and the region’s have been drawn toof the area in search of historic place of worship, the Church of the Good Shepherd, the Godley fruit…the draw has venue beenin an pinot noir Resort Hotel is specific a uniquely well established extraordinary location. because Waitaki’s secret is limestone soils – Just one hour from Aoraki Mt Cook National Park and 2.5 hours driving the holy grail of pinot growers.” time from Christchurch and Queenstown, the hotel is also only 40 minutes

nzie Country Inn the region. The cenery surround

The Heritage Gateway Hotel welcomes you to Omarama, a small township situated the crossroads three spectacularly scenic areas Omarama, a atsmall townshiptosituated at the cross– the MacKenzie basin, Lindis Pass and Waitaki Valley.

nly 53km from estic heights of

Perfectly located for access a rangePass of exciting Heritage the MacKenzie basin,toLindis andactivities, WaitakitheValley.

Gateway Hotel is an ideal stopover for exploration of the Mackenzie Country connections to Aoraki Mt Cook National Park (just 60 minutes Take and pleasure in the friendly, southern country-style scenic drive).

hed guest rooms ’s interior design bar, with timber ay in our bar (by ous food choices

With 98 guest rooms on offer, the Hotel is accessible from Queenstown and Christchurch and close to excellent local ski elds. Relax and enjoy the warm ambience of the Four Seasons Restaurant and the welcoming Anglers Reach Bar, featuring excellent cuisine from an extensive buffet or a la carte menu.

Quality not quantity

events and for group bookings. Larger meetings and conferences can be co-ordinated to meet in our sister Hotel in the township – The CountryTime Resort Hotel – while staying at the Heritage Gateway just a few minutes walk or drive along the road.

For conferences the Godley provides two meeting areas catering for 5-50 delegates in naturally lit, spacious rooms. Weddings are a speciality with a fulltime on-site co-ordinator and spectacular backdrops and views ensuring your special day will be unique and unforgettable.

roads to three spectacularly scenic areas –

service and hospitality.

wn or holidaying outhern welcome

869 within NZ.

Heritage Gateway Hotel, Omarama, Free call 0800 809 805 within NZ. Phone: +64 3 438 9805 Fax: +64 3 438 9837 The Heritage Gateway Hotel provides facilities for small conferences and Email: heritagegateway@xtra.co.nz intimate seminars and meetings. An ideal base for attending local meetings,

drive from local ski elds. Take a tour with Earth & Sky to the Mt John Observatory and you’ll appreciate the clear night skies and panorama of the galaxy of stars.

With 80 guestrooms The Godley offers all the private facilities and services

Jim producing of the highest to givesays you a comfortable stay. Awines large restaurant and cosy bar, spa pool, gymnasium, outdoor swimming pool and indoor children’s play area with calibre isDVD Ostler’s priority. business not television and player providing options “Our to entertain the children is while enjoying some time beside the re and a drink before dinner. producing mass-market, commodity wines.

Take pleasure in the friendly, southern country-style service and hospitality.

Dome Hills Luxury

Heritage Gateway Hotel, Omarama, Free call 0800 809 805 within NZ. Phone: +64 3 438 9805 Fax: +64 3 438 9837 Email: heritagegateway@xtra.co.nz

Godley Resort, Lake Tekapo, Free call 0800 835 276 within NZ. Phone: +64 3 680 6848 Fax: +64 3 680 6873

Email: info@tekapo.co.nz The luxury of Dome Hills Station is not just about the indulgent accommodation, but rather the luxury of the experience.

Proud to offer guests Ostler Wines, the perfect wine to escape with. ph e

w

03 4312585 escape@domehills.co.nz www.domehills.co.nz

84 | September/October 2012 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

As well as Ostler’s range of boutique wines, there is also a range of many other local Waitaki wines on offer at the shop.

“

We are a small boutique operation that focuses totally on quality.

”

- Ostler’s managing director, Jim Jerram

Our wines are hand-crafted to be enjoyed with fine food and may be found in some of the best restaurants in New Zealand and overseas.

“We are a small boutique operation that focuses totally on quality.”

Ostler originally planted 8ha of densely spaced pinot noir and pinot gris vines on a limestone-rich slope overlooking the braided Waitaki River. In addition grapes are now sourced from two other small vineyards spread over a span of 25kms up the valley, for a total of 14ha.

The wine-maker is Jeff Sinnott, Jim’s brother in-law, who co-founded the Ostler site with Jim. “When we selected this unique site for itstrue limestone sub-soil, north Hotel. facing exposure Enjoy country hospitality at the Countrytime Located in Omarama, gateway township to the MacKenzie Basin, Lindis Pass and the extended growing season our goal and Waitaki Valley. Whatever the season the scenery here is stunning andwas breathtaking. not to produce ‘show stopping’ wines,” With 50 guestrooms the CountryTime is idealthat for family Jeff says. “But rather Hotel wines arebreaks, a true conference delegates and the budget conscious traveller. Local reflection ofthetheir andwith true to activities abound and team atvineyard the Hotel can assist bookings and advice. themselves – wines with character”.

Two grass tennis courts, a pool table and hearty homebaked meals in our country style restaurant and bar provide guests an opportunity to rejuvenate after a big day out under the sky of the MacKenzie Country.

Jeff uses traditional Burgundian and Alsatian techniques to produce the winery’s flagship Caroline Pinotvenue Noir and the Audrey Pinot Looking for a conference away from the stress and pressures of Gris. everyday worklife? Countrytime Hotel offers exclusive venue bookings for conferences of all sizes, with tailored menus and packages available and a speciality of the Hotel.

<

The Heritage Gateway Hotel welcomes you to

For those wanting a taste of the wine, in the old Kurow Post Office, The Vintner’s Drop is open during the summer months, five days a week, for tastings or by phoning for an appointment at other times.

Ostler Vineyards Ltd runs under the mantra “wines of distinction” emphasising the name it has quickly made for itself as a boutique wine producer from the Waitaki Valley.

Wines in this region frequently possess a notable lingering finish on the palate which adds to the fragrant aromatics as a result of the combination of slow-fruit ripening and the unique geological make-up of the area.

“The resulting complexity and minerality are being written up the by the wine critics as something quite special.”

ted naturally lit and lawn space,

Window to the valley wines

Cultivating distinction

Jim Jerram

In addition he also oversees the production of another label of pinot noir, two more pinot gris, two riesling labels, some rosé and the soon to be released range of dessert wines.

All wines are vineyard-specific to reflect their differing sites of origin.

Ostler Vineyards Ltd 45 Bledisloe Street Kurow Waitaki Valley M 021432559 T (03) 436 0545 E sales@ostlerwine.co.nz info@ostlerwine.co.nz www.ostlerwine.co.nz — Advertising Feature

Wonderful for weddings, Countrytime Hotel’s beautiful grounds, full banquet capability and clear alpine air make it the perfect location for your big day.

Countrytime Hotel, Omarama.

Phone: +64 3 438 9894 Fax: +64 3 438 9791 Email: countrytimeresort@xtra.co.nz

Liquorland Oamaru are proud to support Ostler Wines Suppliers to Hotels, Bars, Restaurants, Sports Clubs & Cafes througout North Otago

Liquorland Oamaru, 261 Thames St, Oamaru Ph 03 434 9883...

Owned & operated by the Oamaru Licensing Trust for the community

Hospitality | Hapuka Lodge & Tree Houses

of luxury

The height Nestled 30 feet above the ground in the canopy of a native Manuka grove is a distinctive, one-ofa-kind accommodation venture that appeals to both the young and the young at heart.

Big yawning windows open onto spectacular views of Kaikoura’s stately mountains and surf-washed Pacific coastline. Each house, clad in native wood and copper shingles does its best to sit unobtrusively within the natural beauty of the environment.

The allure to just snuggle and curl up inside by one of the log fires is quite compelling – exactly what its owner had in mind when building Hapuku Lodge and Tree Houses.

Its idyllic setting just adds to the allure, with the paddocks of deer wandering on the nearby farm, olive groves and a vineyard – all set up against the picturesque backdrop of the Kaikoura ranges.

Owned by Tony Wilson and managed by Chris Sturgeon and his wife Fiona, the lodge was built 10 years ago to provide visitors to the region with a luxurious yet comfortable stay.

Chris says Hapuku Lodge and Tree Houses provides the perfect escape from the challenges of our day to day lives. “Hapuku is a treat and it is a luxury but it is not pretentious, it has a genuine and real feel.

You can come here and nestle in one of the tree houses and block out the everdemanding world.

“Hapuku Lodge offers a genuine level of luxury in both the unique surrounding of Kaikoura and the Hapuku farm. We offer accommodation that is exquisite and stunning with a focus on a high-quality ecosustainable experience.”

Climb on in There are five tree houses available for guests; two family-sized tree houses and three upper branch single roomed ones.

The family-sized tree house is made up of two storeys; with an upper bedroom tree house for the parents and a lower sized one connected by an interior staircase for the children, or the extended family.

All tree houses host a range of top-class features, including a wood-fire, extra large custom-made king bed, LCD TV, DVD and CD player, iPod sound system, free wireless, and a deep couple’s spa bath.

The lodge For those who like to live a little closer to the ground the main lodge offers an alternative, but just as luxurious option, with its four 900 square feet suites and the New York apartment style Olive Suite.

“Quite simply they are stunning rooms,” Chris says. With ultra spacious living areas, just as spectacular views, wood furnishings, fireplaces, balconies and a large bathroom with a Japanese style soaking tub for two.”

delicious options aplenty. Fish and game feature highly on the menu as well as a wide range of seasonal vegetables – many of which come from Hapuku’s own farm.

As part of the lodge’s overall eco-vision it endeavours to source over 75 percent of its ingredients and products from its own property and local farmers with whom it has a direct relationship with; ensuring almost everything on the plate is sourced locally.

The Olive Suite with its big open plan area and its own cooking facilities has the added bonus of a gorgeous view overlooking Hapuku’s own olive groves and further out to the breathtaking beauty of the Kaikoura mountain range.

Its wine list also features an extensive allNew Zealand selection list alongside a wide range of traditional cocktails and local and international beers and nonalcoholic beverages.

Guests to the entire lodge are also privy to its luxury lounge, with the large open fire, deluxe seating and the large, 4.5 metre native Kahikatea dining table.

Eco-vision

MasterChef service If guests choose to dine at Hapuku, they will be greeted with a meal just as naturally decadent as their surroundings. The Lodge’s executive chef and former MasterChef finalist, Fiona Read, has on offer a menu full of New Zealand’s best produce.

From the continental or cooked breakfast to the three-course dinner menu there are

Its eco-vision travels further than just the kitchen in a range of environmentally friendly initiatives. Chris says sustainability is something the lodge’s management continuously focus on and “we do our utmost to sustain and regenerate the local surroundings and reduce our own impact on the environment”.

“Much of our hot water is heated by solar heating. All the grey water is sent out to water the paddocks. In the kitchen everything is composted and recycled. We reuse the vine trimmings and pressed grapes to feed our deer, as well as using deer

droppings in our lodge garden.”

In addition they plant on average 2,000 native trees per annum, already having planted around 12,500 in their efforts to rejuvenate the natural surrounding native bush.

“We recognise that for every guest there is a residual carbon foot-print from their visit to us.

So for every guest we have we plant a tree, on their behalf and send the guests an email card when they return home with the GPS of their tree so they can look it up on Google maps and see where it is.”

To celebrate its vision Hapuku Lodge also has a range of eco-packages on offer, from two nights in one of tree house’s surrounded by the canopy of the Manuka grove, to a night sky tour which introduces guests to the beauty of New Zealand’s star-filled sky.

Kaikoura, which has 80 percent more stars than the sky of the northern hemisphere, is one of the most idyllic spots in New Zealand to partake in the mystery of the night sky.

Hapuku Lodge and Tree Houses State Highway 1 Station Road RD 1, Kaikoura T 0800 KAIKOURA T (03) 319 6559 E info@hapukulodge.com www.hapukulodge.com — Advertising Feature

Wisheart Macnab BARRISTERS & SOLICITORS

Wisheart Macnab and Partners congratulate Hapuku Lodge on their success

RESTAURANT • CELLARDOOR OPEN 7 DAYS FOR BRUNCH • LUNCH • WINE TASTINGS WINE SALES • GIFTS

“It’s your own little haven,” Chris says. “Light a match, sink in the tub and away you go.”

Chartered accountants dedicated to providing the highest quality services.

Offering experienced legal advice and high quality service Wisheart Macnab and Partners Blenheim

03 578 7269

Proudly Supporting Hapuku Lodge & Tree Houses

www.winkerr.co.nz

03 578 0180

Jacksons Road Blenheim RD3 Marlborough New Zealand Ph. 03 572 9054 | Fax. 03 572 9053 E. info@allanscott.co.nz | www.allanscott.com

www.canterburytoday.co.nz September/October 2012 | 85

Hospitality | Menumate

A recipe for

success

There is nothing more disheartening for a restaurant, café or bar owner than running a great business with great staff in a great setting, but the financial rewards don’t reflect the effort put in.

Menumate’s point of sale (POS) system focuses on resolving these issues.

Its range of inbuilt solutions that improve the operational aspects of order-taking, delivery of meals and easy payment of customer bills – frees you up to deliver stress-free and efficient service with a smile.

In addition, Menumate tools work to increase your turnover and reduce costs

in all areas of your business. With 20 plus years experience in delivering systems to hospitality businesses, the company has refined its solutions for many of the day to day challenges of running a restaurant, café or bar.

Menumate is one of Australasia’s largest POS companies for the hospitality industry, operating through 10 branches in Australia, New Zealand and in South East Asia, with offices in Thailand, Philippines, Malaysian, and Singapore.

It also works with clients throughout the Pacific, South East Asia and the United Kingdom.

Inventory management Menumate’s CEO Andrew McClerg says many hospitality businesses invest a considerable amount of capital in its stock, some of which is very expensive. Menumate helps to manage this stock through its stock module function; enabling businesses to ensure that stock variances are better monitored

and managed to reduce overstocking and maximise capital.

“Industry analysis calculates that a mediumsized restaurant with no stock management can be losing close to $20,000 per annum in stock shrinkage; this focus in itself will ensure a return on your investment in a Menumate POS system,” Andrew says.

Loyal patrons Andrew says Menumate also has an in-built loyalty system which enables businesses to build up its database and market directly and cost-effectively to customers. “Globally the statistics report that a customer with a loyalty card will visit a business four times more often and spend 50 percent more than a customer who is not a loyalty member.”

TUTTO BENE Italian - Restaurant - Pizzeria Fully waitered service for food and beverage awaits you at our tables and all meals are prepared individually by highly experienced chefs in our large modern kitchen.

Open from 5pm 7 days 192 Papanui Road Merivale, Christchurch Ph (03) 355-4744 Fax (03) 355-6470

Proud to support Menumate Becks Southern Alehouse 155 Colombo Street, Christchurch or call us on 03 337 2233

Misceo /ital/ adj.

1. a collection of good times.

2. to collect your friends and join us.

3. to mix with your neighbours.

4. a collection of art and interest.

5. a composition of great foods

Call in to check out our fantastic winter menu!

Cnr. Ilam & Clyde Roads Fendalton Ph. 351-8011 | Fax: 351-9942

Dining

In the month of August JDV Merivale continues to offer outstanding culinary cuisine uniquely created by Executive Head Chef, Lawrence Harvey. Accompanied with some of the country’s finest wines with a touch from abroad completed with the finest service.

JDV now has the option to book direct on-line container bar

THE HOURS OF POWER

Functions

From your intimate dining experience up to 70 people, to an unforgettable birthday experience and everything else in between, we and the “Verandah Bar” can cater for your needs.

Upstairs at JDV Merivale is the perfect space for any event or private function holding up to 120 persons comfortably. For more information contact Sarah Crossley.

JDV Merivale | (03) 964 3860 | www.jdv.co.nz

Punjab – trained chefs, Authentic dishes Dine-In, Takeaways & Home Deliveries Christchurch Merivale Mall, 189 Papanui Road. Ph. 3558330 Shop 4/ 7 Halswell Road. Ph. 3389030

Order online www.littleindia.co.nz

86 | September/October 2012 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

$6 Macs Pint s, House Wine and House Sp irits Everyday 7pm till 9pm 94

et

tre ia S

or Vict

revivalbar.co.nz facebook.com/revivalbar

77 Main North Road, Northlands Phone 352 4242 Email fbbnorthlands@xtra.co.nz

Hospitality | Menumate Efficient service

The training includes:

Peak service times in restaurants and cafes, can certainly impact how fast and efficient the business runs. But Andrew says with a Menumate system in place the whole process can become considerable easier, as it makes processes easier and ensures customer satisfaction levels remain high.

• Menumate Office, how to add and edit products, prices and use the reporting module • Menumate POS, how to use the POS terminals • Menumate handhelds, how to use the handheld terminals.

Through its mobile waiter terminals, Menumate enables service delivery to be both In addition Menumate also offers an personable and efficient. additional medium term training programme to ensure that the return on investment in the • Wait staff can stay on the floor, looking POS system is achieved as quickly as possible. after more customers in less time Even after the initial training has been • Wait staff can see when tables are waiting completed Andrew says the company will to be served provide ongoing 24 hour a day, seven days a week support.

• The kitchen and bar will get clear and accurate orders “At Menumate we believe that our responsibility is to work with you and your • Everything ordered is sent to the kitchen staff to use our tools and experience to and bar and is then paid – nothing will be deliver on the areas described. Our software missed off the bill is developed by ourselves and everything we • Less staff will be needed to man the busy focus on is intended to improve the profit in floor your restaurant,” he says.

• When customers leave it is easy to process and even split the bill however they want.

Smooth transition Andrew promises a smooth transition for anyone seeking to change to Menumate’s POS system, through its full and comprehensive training package that is a part of its standard proposal.

Menumate serves • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Little India Bicycle Thief Monteiths Merrin Street Peppers Clearwater Resort Coffee Culture Underground Coffee Crafted Coffee Company Equestrian Hotel Becks Southern Ale House Woolston Club Papanui Club Woodend Hotel Parklands Tavern Sydenham Bakery Rangiora Liquor Centre Ivy & Aikmans Restaurant and Bar Winnie Bagoes.

“

Testimonial

We sell 300 takeaway coff­ees every morning as well as running a packed restaurant for breakfast. Menumate is fast and easy to use and without it we would not survive the day.

- Jason Coolen, The Gun Shop Café

Menumate T 0800 657 300 M 0294 369 588 E andrewm@menumate.com www.menumate.com

”

— Advertising Feature

gor:lla good simple local

Comfort, Craft and exceptional service in a west coast style.

Featuring the exceptional range of Monteith’s draft beers, it recreates the legendary hospitality of the west coast, friendly, fun, great food all at your “local on the corner”.

2 Waterman Place Ferrymead, ChCh Ph: 03 384 3186

P. 03 3588 184 | www.mbbmerrinst.co.nz

www.localgorilla.co.nz

Shop 4/5 Avonhead Mall, 210 Withells Road, Christchurch

Smash Palace is on the corner of Victoria Street and Bealey Ave. Rosie’s Cafe is open 8am-4pm Monday to Friday.

The Bus is open 4pm-11pm Sunday to Wednesday and ’til 1am Thurs, Fri and Sat.

284 Lincoln Rd, Addington, Ph. 03 335 0095 | Fax. 03 335 0092 Email. info@thepedalpusher.co.nz www.canterburytoday.co.nz September/October 2012 | 87

Hospitality | Rata Dining

Southern delight dining done right

He’s a Michelin star chef, she’s a revered restaurateur; as far as dining duos go, it’s a recipe for success. But then there’s little surprise when he’s MasterChef New Zealand judge Josh Emett and she’s award winning Amisfield Wine Company businesswoman Fleur Caulton.

The reviews are out The striking abilities of the pair have culminated in a new and exciting place to eat out, nestled comfortably in the Te Nuku precinct in the stunning town of Queenstown.

Officially opened in May Rata Dining is more than just a little bit Kiwi, taking inspiration from the southern landscape and everything that epitomises New Zealand.

The pair are passionate about creating that hard to find ‘real’ restaurant experience and designed Rata as a relaxed eating-house with a neighbourhood feel, great service and delicious food. With several dining spaces including a sunny courtyard and a bar perfect for all day dining, Rata is a great place to unwind.

Hamilton-born Emett is best known for his role for more than a decade working as executive chef alongside Gordon Ramsay and achieving four prestigious Michelin stars.

In addition to overseeing North American operations at the London, New York and West Hollywood restaurants, he was head chef at the renowned Savoy Grill and more recently opened Gordon Ramsay’s first two restaurants in Australia.

Locally, Emett is a familiar television face as the MasterChef New Zealand judge and as a MasterChef Australia celebrity chef.

Caulton’s tale is equally exciting; at the age of 21, she launched the successful Solera Restaurant in Queenstown, establishing it as a distinctive dining spot. She has had a high profile as general manager of the Amisfield Wine Company since it opened in 2003 and is credited with the outstanding success of the internationally acclaimed wine label and the award winning Amisfield Bistro.

“The discreet location of our Queenstown restaurant adds to the intrigue and the venture is inspired by a joint passion to create that hard to find ‘real’ restaurant experience.

In simple terms, one that combines a relaxed dining room with a neighbourhood feel, great service and delicious food,” Caulton says.

While the pair have both worked and lived overseas, they are proudly Kiwi.

Both are North Island born and have been independently drawn to the South Island and more specifically the energy and natural beauty of Queenstown. Their restaurant will

88 | September/October 2012 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

represent Central Otago and New Zealand in a modern and subtle way using textures of native New Zealand flora and fauna to create something quite unique.

Rata has been drawing the crowds in its first few months of operation and now the reviews have started filtering out. One diner says “We tried just about everything on the menu. And not one person could fault the quality and taste.”

Another said of her birthday experience, “Excellent service, excellent food, excellent experience, a great way to start my second half century in life!”

Many plan on returning every time they’re in the area. “All this food wrapped inside excellent friendly and helpful service, lovely glassware and cutlery puts this restaurant on a must visit list each trip we make to Queenstown.”

“I would definitely go back. The service was seamless. I will visit again,” and “We enjoyed Rata very much indeed and will be back there in a flash the next time we are in Queenstown,” are just some of the closing remarks which suggest you should try Rata for yourself.

Hospitality | Rata Dining

Master of Michelin Underneath his Michelin stars, Josh Emett is a typical Kiwi. Brought up on a farm outside Hamilton in New Zealand, his love of food was fostered at a young age. A typical active farm boy found him always hungry and he was encouraged to cook something rather than complain.

Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s with good friend and colleague Mark Sargeant.

The opening was a huge success and, based on that, 18 months later Josh was asked to be Head Chef alongside Chef Patron Marcus Wareing to reopen The Savoy Grill, following the much talked about refurbishment. In By the end of his schooling he knew what he January 2004, Josh and Marcus’s efforts didn’t want – a nine to five job – and instead, were rewarded when The Savoy Grill won a Michelin star, its first in more than 100 years he pursued his love of food. He trained at Waikato Polytechnic in Hamilton and spent 18 of operation. months at Cin Cin on Quay in Auckland – the In late 2006, Josh moved to New York to jewel in the city’s food scene in the 90s. oversee Gordon Ramsay at The London NYC and later opened Gordon Ramsay at The Like so many New Zealanders, Josh had a London West Hollywood. Within 10 months, yearning to see the world and in 1994 he Gordon Ramsay at The London NYC was headed overseas. He spent two years in awarded two Michelin stars and later Gordon London and specifically a year working at Coast restaurant in Mayfair with Steven Terry. Ramsay at The London West Hollywood one Michelin star.

His next move took him to Australia where he worked under Donovan Cooke for three Josh received exceptional reviews for his years at Est Est Est, one of Melbourne’s most cooking in both the American and British highly regarded restaurants at the time. press. Additionally Josh was also named In 1999, Josh left Melbourne and headed back New York Rising Star Chef in 2008, appeared to Europe, this time for the south of France to in Hell’s Kitchen USA as a guest judge and cook on luxury yachts, save money and make appeared in Food Network’s new show “Chopped” which he won hand’s down it possible to get back to London. Once back against three other NYC chefs. in London he boldly headed to the kitchen of Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in Chelsea and In 2010 Josh moved to Melbourne to open asked Gordon Ramsay for a job.

Gordon Ramsay’s first two restaurants in Australia – Maze and Maze Grill, along with At the time this was considered one of the the entire food and beverage operation in most ferocious kitchens in London but this did not intimidate Josh. He joined Restaurant Crown’s newest and largest hotel in Australia, the Crown Metropol.

Gordon Ramsay in Chelsea as Senior Chef de Partie and quickly worked his way up Josh appeared on MasterChef Australia as the ranks in the kitchen. Restaurant Gordon celebrity chef and later in the year as guest Ramsay was awarded three Michelin stars, judge on MasterChef NZ. These appearances making it the only three-star restaurant in caught the producer’s eye and soon after was London. This further fueled Josh’s drive for asked to join MasterChef NZ as full time judge perfection and success. for the second and third seasons. The second series totally exceeded rating expectations, In 2001, Josh was selected to be included in the third aired in January 2012. the team to launch the critically acclaimed

“

The discreet location of our Queenstown restaurant adds to the intrigue and the venture is inspired by a joint passion to create that hard to find ‘real’ restaurant experience.

In simple terms, one that combines a relaxed dining room with a neighbourhood feel, great service and delicious food.

- Fleur Caulton

”

European Bakery The taste • The crunch • The texture Proud to supply Rata Restaurant and other businesses in Queenstown and Otago

European Bakery Ltd Ph: 03 442 3909 • Fax: 03 442 3509 Mob 027 33 99 673 email: europeanbakery@xtra.co.nz

www.canterburytoday.co.nz September/October 2012 | 89

Hospitality | Rata Dining

Point of sale software & systems that enhance your business Menumate Point of Sale System will improve your business! It will improve order taking, delivery of meals and the payment of customer bills. It allows you to increase your turnover by creating more efficient table turn, accurate billing and a focused loyalty system. It can reduce your costs by reducing costs to run your business, reducing wage costs, reducing stock variances and reducing administration costs.

Revered restaurateur Fleur Caulton has an intimate knowledge of the hospitality industry and has teamed up with Josh Emett to open Rata Dining, bringing with her a reputation as one of Queenstown’s leading restaurateurs.

As a 21-year-old Fleur opened Solera Vino Restaurant in downtown Queenstown and during the next nine years built it into a highly successful business with a big local and international following. The wine and tapas bar was well ahead of its time, but quickly became the place to be to enjoy a great selection of wines and new and innovative food.

For the next nine years Fleur developed her skills and reputation as general manager of Amisfield Wine Company, one of Central Otago and New Zealand’s leading wineries.

Fleur played a key role in creating and developing Amisfield into an internationally recognised brand. That same flair saw the Amsifield Winery Bistro win national acclaim in the first 12 months, with it named Best Winery Restaurant in the 2006 Cuisine Restaurant of the Year Awards.

Fleur is passionate about a “great experience!” and describes Rata as “an opportunity to take 20 years of experience in the food and wine industry and showcase one hell of an experience, great wine, outstanding food, friendly professional service and the perfect environment.

“There is nothing better than the discovery of food and wine, uniqueness and New Zealand is very important at Rata. We anticipate the experience will be unique and fabulous with a hint of New Zealand left on your palate.”

Queenstown’s cooler climate lends itself to Josh’s love of slow cooked dishes and robust flavours; the discipline of his Michelin star background ensures elegant well balanced and inspired cuisine.

Tantalising tastes

The wine list will proudly showcase wines from the Otago region, greater New Zealand and afar with an emphasis on an eclectic mix of the highly regarded and little known gems, including a large selection of wines by the glass to give diners variety and match easily with the style of food.

The Rata menu, which ranges from “bites” to “feasts”, had been inspired by regional flavours, with an emphasis on what Central Otago and the surrounding regions have to offer, Josh explains. “Queenstown’s cooler climate lends itself to the slow cooked dishes and robust flavours I love.”

With Josh’s impeccable pedigree people can expect elegant and well balanced dishes. “The Queenstown market is a discerning one, but we are confident our restaurant will have a lot of appeal, because it will have a significant point of difference with several dining spaces including a sunny courtyard and a bar, perfect for all-day eating.

“The restaurant will have an edgy, quirky charm that gives it a modern feel, but we have not ignored comfort. We want this to be a place people come to unwind.”

The restaurant, which employs about 30 people and has a capacity for 80, was intentionally located in a discreet spot, benefiting from “amazing sun,” good shelter and an outdoor dining area. Lunch, dinner and bar grazing is served at Rata and the menu showcases Josh’s impeccable cooking skills.

The décor uses warm earthy tones and influences from the Otago scenery, local polished stone and natural woods and combines this with very modern industrial components; concrete, glass and steel.

Throughout the space there are salvaged items, restored and given a chance to live again and give the space quirky charm and character. This deliberate ‘mix and match’ feel reflects the clientele they are looking to attract, the young and hip, the wiser well-heeled adventurers alongside the regular local crowd.

Rata Dining 43 Ballarat St Te Nuku Queenstown T (03) 442 9393 bookings@ratadining.co.nz www.ratadining.co.nz — Advertising Feature

LOWBURN FERRY HOME BLOCK PINOT NOIR Crafted from vines growing in deep organic and loess soils, this wine is the product of hard hand labour in an environment where fantastic success or complete failure can balance on a knife edge.

0800 657 300 email: sales@menumate.com www.menumate.com

Proud to support the Rata Dining Restaurant

Lowburn Ferry from Central Otago is a consistent winner of Gold medals and Champion trophies demonstrating an exceptionally successful commitment to quality and careful management.

Lowburn Ferry is proud to be associated with the Rata fine dining experience.

www.lowburnferry.co.nz Phone 0800 682469

90 | September/October 2012 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

Hospitality | CPR Coffee

A premium roast

to get you going

In today’s competitive market it is no longer enough to be good at what you do – you need to have a point of difference, something that screams “look at me”.

Which is exactly what Christina Mackey, owner of the CPR (Coffee Premium Roast) boutique coffee roastery business, set out to do when she first went into the business nine years ago. .

She started off by building up her business in a region which was not highly saturated with coffee roasters – in fact there were none.

“There was no-one roasting coffee in the Marlborough region,” she says.

“

The Blenheim-based business started small, with just one 5kg roaster inside a cold 11sqm warehouse. Today she owns a much larger 15kg roaster, distributes coffee and coffee equipment nation-wide and has cafes dotted throughout the South Island.

We roast 100 percent Arabic beans and fair-trade organic beans.

- Owner, Christina Mackey

”

The CPR factor CPR has a hands-on roasting and post blending process which ensures that each single bean is roasted to produce their individual taste prior to blending. “We roast 100 percent Arabic beans and fair-trade organic beans,” Christina says.

Its range of blends includes; Body ‘n’ Soul: is a blend of Peruvian, Ethiopian and Sumatran, a highly aromatic coffee with a medium body and full citrus flavours offering a sweet finish.

Resuscitator: is a well-rounded plunger blend with a full bodied, earthy Sumatran sweetness and Papua New Guinean sigri mango and papaya flavours.

Accelerator: which is the blend served in CPR’s cafes, offers a full bodied flavour with a vibrant acidity and a sweet finish, meaning no sugar is required in this espresso.

Dr. Ropata: the Guatemalan in this blend makes it a big bold coffee with rich chocolate and spice notes.

CPR also prides itself on being an environmentally and socially conscious company. It is fair-trade registered and uses only the finest organic green beans to produce quality roasted beans and cultivates valuable relationships with its growers, clients and staff which enables a unique coffee and a satisfied customer.

Flying the flag CPR’s flagship café is out at Marlborough airport. It was first opened in December 2009 after Christina successfully bid for the contract.

She says it offers a “café and retail experience with a difference”.

The café itself, as well as CPR’s trademark coffee blend, provides delicious, fresh seasonal food for travellers. Its on and off licence also means customers are able to enjoy a glass of Marlborough’s finest wine or beer before purchasing a bottle to take home as a gift or to enjoy themselves.

The retail shop also offers a wide selection of other Marlborough products including exquisite olive oil, liqueurs, books, jewellery and works from celebrated artist Fran McGuire. Weekly wine tastings ensure every wine company featured on the shelf has the opportunity to offer the travelling public a sample of its product.

For those just wanting a quick coffee fix they can get CPR at its HQ site, which is conveniently attached to the roastery.

Rewards card The CPR rewards card is a great incentive for locals and commuters providing immediate and exclusive benefits.

You can use the rewards card at the all three outlets CPR Airshop, CPR Espress and CPR HQ; it offers faster transactions, special offers, special privileges, a text order service and membership is free.

CPR Coffee Premium Roast CPR HQ 18 – 20 Wynen Street Blenheim T (03) 579 5030 E Christina@cprcoffee.com www.cprcoffee.co.nz — Advertising Feature

Business success In 2011 Christina’s hard yards were recognised, as she came home with the Best Small Medium Enterprise, Most Sustainable Business and the Marlborough Businesswoman of the Year awards.

The judges gave high praise of her work and commitment within each award Best SME: “A well-planned business with a proven management, great product, strong brand, strong culture and team philosophy, good growth history, financial strength and clear vision, strategy for the future. This was a very impressive entry and a well-deserving winner of the Best SME award.”

Most Sustainable Business: “Founded in 2003, this Marlborough business has shown steadily increasing turnover and profitability since 2006, with a focus on maintaining good margins all the way.

It also has very aggressive forecasts for growth which due to the proven leadership and management, excellent business planning and strategies; you can believe will be achieved. This business has proven its sustainability through steady growth and demonstrated convincing plans for future success.”

Supreme Winner: “By far the most outstanding entry. A well planned business with a proven management, great product, strong brand, strong culture and team philosophy, good growth history, financial strength and clear vision, strategy for the future. It’s exciting, proven and totally believable. You can see this business achieving its goals, which are clearly articulated and planned for. It’s also in a growing trend at the right time.

It is an increasingly crowded niche – but the judges believe the strength of the business planning and commitment to executing the strategy will carry this business forward.”

“Intensely Rewarding Ales for the Enlightened Palate” Ultra-premium ales crafted using local ingredients to yield the “Terrior of Aotearoa”

03 579 3400

www.renaissancebrewing.co.nz

Pleased to support CPR Coffee www.canterburytoday.co.nz September/October 2012 | 91

Hospitality | The Pedal Pusher

Letting the

good times roll

Turning everyday ordinary food into something extraordinary is an ability which eludes most, but for one Christchurch couple it’s a talent developed from a love of travel and a desire to create a memorable gourmet experience.

It’s classic Kiwi pub food you’ll find on the menu at The Pedal Pusher Restaurant, but it’s pub food with a gourmet twist. It’s not just the food that draws people into the recently opened Addington restaurant.

Madlen and Wayne Shaw have designed the place as a whole dining experience.

“

The reviews are in Addington, once the industrial hub of Christchurch, is now home to an increasing number of businesses from the CBD. Its popularity has just increased with the addition of The Pedal Pusher, at least if the reviews are anything to go by.

“Had a great meal last night,” one diner wrote in his review. “Going back for another meal tonight before the rugby!”

Another describes the “great atmosphere, great service,” and if she lived a little closer “would definitely be a local.”

“A superb lunch. Thanks Pedal Pusher... we will return (and spread the word to our friends and work colleagues),” was the comment from one online review.

“All in all, a nice meal and good service with the right smiley attitude. A place I would return to.”

And another reviewer “couldn’t fault the service or food and I can’t wait to take my family back here”.

” Point of sale software & systems that enhance your business Menumate Point of Sale System will improve your business! It will improve order taking, delivery of meals and the payment of customer bills. It allows you to increase your turnover by creating more efficient table turn, accurate billing and a focused loyalty system. It can reduce your costs by reducing costs to run your business, reducing wage costs, reducing stock variances and reducing administration costs.

0800 657 300 | email: sales@menumate.com | www.menumate.com

92 | September/October 2012 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

The story goes that the restaurant’s Lincoln Road premises used to be a cycle exchange.

“Christchurch has a really big cycling community,” Madlen explains.

“We thought it would be a great idea to build on that theme so we’ve incorporated cycling elements wherever we could. We’ve had bar stools and chandeliers made out of old bike parts. We even have a replica Boneshaker bicycle from 1867 hanging on our wall surrounded by our slogan, ‘Let the good times roll’.”

It’s more than just a little Kiwi. The Pedal Pusher is the newest member of the NZ Pub Company, a concept designed by DB Breweries based around the idea of “New Zealand kind of pubs, for New Zealand kind of people”. The network is a band of gastrostyle pubs which each provide their own unique home away from home experiences, only better.

The restaurant’s interior aligns well with this “local” focus, with warm carpets, modern wallpaper and creative lighting forming the an ambience only the best Kiwi hotspots can boast. The menu also has a distinct local flavour thanks to locally sourced ingredients.

It was important to the pair that Christchurch had access to good, honest food again.

“We like to support Canterbury suppliers as much as possible,” Madlen explains.

“We create quality meals because we use quality suppliers and supporting the rebuild is important to us, so it’s important to us that we use Canterbury produce whenever we can.

“We’re all about honest, well priced homestyle dishes with a modern Kiwi twist.”

Classic Kiwi There’s the classic Kiwi brunch menu featuring favourites like eggs benedict and pancakes; there’s the quick lunch which is a popular feature for local businesses including fish and chips and salads; then there’s the more elaborate winter menu with the likes of lamb shanks and pasta meals. An authentic wood fire grill allows for a stunning offering of meat cuts with the classic grill flavor. The pair also enjoy introducing unique foods and flavours, with rabbit and venison just some of the popular choices.

For big groups or small gatherings, a tapas menu is available which includes popular nibbles such as teriyaki salmon and crispy calamari; easy things to share. “We make all our deserts ourselves, so we don’t buy anything in; even our sauces are made onsite,” Madlen says.

“It’s great to finally be able to open our doors and welcome customers to our new restaurant and bar. We hope our customers will love our new interior decor and the overall experience as much as we do. It’s a great design fit-out with lots of quirky items to look at.”

Hospitality | The Pedal Pusher

At a Glance| Cycleways

Going the extra mile

Hospitality heaven It’s not their first foray into hospitality.

Their former inner city business Suede was demolished during the earthquakes and they are excited about their new venture.

on the QEII. They met, they married and the rest, you could say, is hospitality history.

Sometime later they purchased Ferment and then Suede. “We just love being around people, meeting new people every day. We Born and bred in Akaroa, Wayne completed his apprenticeship at the Crowne Plaza, known love our regular customers, getting to know them, their lives and their families. then as the Park Royal. Soon after he was off to London and he quickly found employment “The service is very important to us; the on the QEII, where he was the youngest chef reward is getting good reviews and having to manage the kitchen. He spent some time happy customers. But the real reward is the in France where he worked on private charter people, both customers and staff and they yachts travelling the world. have both played important roles in Madlen was born in Germany where she completed her apprenticeship before moving to London where she too found employment

“

our success.”

Well, they do say love what you do and you’ll never have to work a day.

We create quality meals because we use quality suppliers and supporting the rebuild is important to us, so it’s important to us that we use Canterbury produce whenever we can.

- Owner, Madlen Shaw

What’s on

”

There’s the quiz night on a Monday, live music Thursday to Sundays, regular food and drink specials, a wine appreciation club and wine and food matching events. Regulars will also no doubt appreciate The Pedal Pusher’s loyalty programme which offers instant discounts on food and beverages.

Open seven days a week from 10am Monday to Friday until late and from 9am on the weekends until late, there’s always something new and exciting happening at The Pedal Pusher.

The Pedal Pusher Restaurant 284 Lincoln Road Addington Christchurch T (03) 335 0095 E info@thepedalpusher.co.nz www.thepedalpusher.co.nz — Advertising Feature

dry goods · frozen foods chilled foods · ethnic products Suppliers to Restaurants, Cafes, Hotels, Caterers, Fast Food Eateries, Retailers, Establishments and Distributors

Six years ago, bike shop owner Matt Bailey had a dream; to provide topof-the-range service to cycle enthusiasts in the Garden City. He opened up shop with one thing in mind – service.

It is a concept which has turned into a mantra for his business. “It was our dream to bring a service orientated store into the industry. We wanted to give customers the best quality service and products on offer,” he says.

• Bike Service • Safety check • Annual service • General service and tune • Complete service • Fork servicing • Shocks • Brakes • Linkage service • Gear Tune • Wheel repairs and Builds.

Bike brands: Trek | Giant | Gary Fisher | Bauer

Successful service

Tried and true

Despite facing scepticism about whether a business plan based on achieving good service could, or would, drive success, Matt says it worked. Today, almost two decades on, Cycleways is a thriving business with a strong, loyal customer base.

Matt says everything he sells in his shop he has tried and tested. “I’ve tested and tried all these products to ensure they are second to none and that we are providing quality and value for dollars.”

Even an unplanned move to new premises (thanks to the earthquakes) on Garlands Rd in Woolston, has hardly put a dent in the road.

Admittedly the winter off-peak season is not the best season for sales, but Matt says things are looking promising. With a bigger shop and more room for stock, the move has given it the potential to expand business and provide customers with even better quality service.

“Service is what we are about,” Matt says.

“We always go that extra distance to get them the correct information.” He points out that every client who walks through the door gets a personalised experience, whether they are three or 83 years old; whether they are pro cyclists or just in need of a bike for day-today use.

Cycleways carry a wide range of bikes from kids, hybrid, road and mountain and including what Matt believes is “the most comprehensive range of 29inch mountain bikes in Christchurch”.

Cycleways 1 Garlands Rd Woolston Christchurch T (03) 384 0355 E info@cycleways.co.nz www.cycleways.co.nz

— Advertising Feature

It certainly helps that the five-member strong team at Cycleways, not only know how to sell bikes, but are keen cyclists themselves.

Matt adds that Cycleways also prides itself on its professional bike repair service which is a significant part of the business. “Our aim is to deliver quality, timely and value for money repairs,” he says. “All Cycleways’ mechanics are Shimano, Sram, Fox and Rockshox workshop certified and with a combined mechanical experience of 35 years we really know our stuff.”

Proud to support Cycleways

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Service Foods is proud to support The Pedal Pusher Bar Phone: 03 389 9909 | Fax: 03 389 9699 220 Cumnor Terrace, Christchurch

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www.canterburytoday.co.nz September/October 2012 | 93

Export | Shape Technology

Making ideas

take shape

The advent of the communication age has contracted our world significantly and as a result, good ideas can be delivered to international markets more easily than ever before.

There is a catch though; this global contraction makes for a more competitive playing field, so any idea wanting to find international favour needs to be a good one.

But one New Zealand specialist manufacturer is doing just this. It is a company that has extensive in-trade and management experience and will take your visionary concept and translate it into a tangible result.

This company is Shape Technology.

Offering a contract manufacturing service, from design through to full production, the 70-plus employees at Shape Technology are the vehicle for your technology to take shape.

SELECTLOK

Innovation makers

In the words of business development manager Nick Cairns, “At Shape Technology we focus on delivery of high end technology, quality and service to all of our customers”.

Fast facts

As a high-tech sheet metal manufacturer, Shape Technology offers clients a full range of services, from punching and folding sheet metal through to total technology-based manufacturing solution.

• Shape Technology is innovation linked to manufacturing • Shape technology has extensive intrade and management experience

The company has a growing customer base, both domestically and into the Australasian market, providing manufacturing and assembly solutions for such diverse industries as telecommunications, traffic control systems, transport, gaming technology, high security windows and doors through to hightech parking meters. But these services are just the tip of the technology iceberg for this Christchurch company.

While touch screen technology and robotics were once limited to the realm of science fiction, today these technologies are revolutionising the way we do business.

Shape Technology has ensured this through its manufacturing and assembly of touch screen kiosks for industries including the technology, education, information, ticketing and retail sectors.

• Seventy-plus employees work for the business • Shape Technology has a 3,500 square metre factory • Multiple key departments include design, assembly, purchasing, fabrication, powder coating and robotics Of the business’ operational nature, Cairns says Shape’s main specialty service is being able to offer its clients a complete package of capabilities from concept to reality. “This not only offers clients a one-stop shop, it gives them flexibility to utilise Shape’s high-tech manufacturing facility as well as expertise from partner alliances throughout New Zealand.”

• A machining centre and sheetwork shop also operate out of the company’s Christchurch base • Shape Technology is the New Zealand agent for Nachi Robots • Shape Technology was the winner of the medium to large enterprise producer/manufacturer prize in the 2009 Champion Canterbury Awards.

SELECTLOK is proud to be associated with Shape Technology PLEASED TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH SHAPE TECH TM

38 Paramount Drive, Henderson, Auckland Tel: +64 9 836 0964 Fax: +64 9 837 0264 E: msaunders@selectlok.co.nz www.selectlok.co.nz

A Division of SELECTRIX INDUSTRIES PTY LTD

FASTENING

S O L U T I O N S

• Fully RoHS Compliant Manufacturing Plant on Site • Engineers and CAD are available for design and development

Proud to be associated with Shape Technology

• Rapid lead times with direct from manufacturer pricing

We are proud to support New Zealand’s leading manufacturing companies in all areas of research and development through to procurement of their fastening requirements

• We are specialists in Custom Screws, Clinch Fasteners and Turned Components – all other fasteners are available

CHRISTCHURCH: P. 03 365 2243 | F. 03 365 9623 E. sales@fasteningsolutions.co.nz | www.fasteningsolutions.co.nz

2nd Floor, 137 Victoria Street, PO Box 4160, Christchurch 8140 T. 0064 3 359 0829 | F. 0064 3 366 7144 E. office@marriotts.co.nz | www.marriotts.co.nz

PLATING TO YOUR SPECIFICATIONS PO BOX 10 178 CHRISTCHURCH PHONE ROSS: 027 289 2641 EMAIL. platingsolutions@xtra.co.nz

Providing innovative freight solutions for “Mainland Icons” is our business Competing in the global marketplace for local manufacturers means meeting delivery expectations of customers while at the same time retaining a unique New Zealand identity. Cameron Air & Seafreight has a long and proud association with many iconic South Island businesses, such as Shape Technology Ltd, who have taken on the world and succeeded. We provide the freight forwarding expertise that connects LOCAL with GLOBAL. We always look to offer freight options that meet a companys specific needs, while understanding the particular requirements of their overseas markets.

Tel: 03 358 0800 Email: info@cameronfreight.com Website: www.cameronfreight.com AIRFREIGHT | OCEANFREIGHT | EXPRESS COURIER | CUSTOMS | LOGISTICS

The team at Marriotts is proud to be associated with Carolyn Schuitman, John Campbell and Shape Technology Ltd.

Graeme Marriott

94 | September/October 2012 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

Christine Johnston

Export | Shape Technology hatches, lock boxes and vision panels are some of the many items available, in addition to a full range of locks and hinges supplied by the company for institutional and security departments.

Shape Technology has incorporated a security resume into its website, detailing the major, medium and minor projects it has been involved with. This portfolio includes correctional facilities, hospitals and police stations throughout New Zealand and the company’s manufacturing services have been utilised in youth facilities, remand areas, police cells, health centres, safe cell upgrades and visitor centres, to name but a few.

The breadth of the company’s professional experience is indicative of the enduring relationship Shape Technology has developed with New Zealand industries. In a rapidly changing world, success is dependent on remaining highly flexible and having the ability to respond effectively from product concept to manufacture, Cairns says of the company’s evolving services.

The secret to success

Shape Technology will also conduct preliminary research to address any potential One would be hard pressed to identify a industrial or governmental regulatory singular secret to success when it comes to constraints. In addition, the after-market evaluating the professional evolution of Shape support, engineering solutions and full service Technology. Truth is, there are multiple method to complement the contract manufacturing and mode components to the company which expertise offered, results in cost and time work in an integrated fashion to produce the effective results. results that attract the continued custom of new and existing clientele.

Shape Technology was a small staff of two when it first opened its doors 21 years ago, but today the business has multiple key departments including design, assembly, product procurement, fabrication, powder coating, engineering and robotics.

The 3,500sqm factory also features CNC machining capabilities and a sheetmetal shop. Dedicated to producing aesthetically pleasing results and practical functionality, when engineering precision based component solutions, Shape Technology has worked with high profile clients such as Tait Communications, Eaton Powerware, Bombardier, Global Integrated Solutions, Ainsworth Gaming Technology to name but a few. The company is also the agent for Nachi Robots.

The innovative and analytical approach the company takes towards evaluating project feasibility is also a key business ingredient for ensuring successful results as it adjudicates and measures the likelihood of product success.

Award winning success

As the winner of the medium to large enterprise producer/manufacturer prize in the 2009 Champion Canterbury Business Awards, Shape has earned a reputation of innovation and prides itself on being able to offer clients a total one-stop engineering facility. Technology, innovation, flexibility and diversity have been keys to success.

“Shape has a genuine passion to solve clients’ problems with the most efficient solution,” he adds.

Growing business The utilisation of experienced designers and tradesmen, as well as advanced threedimensional modeling software, ensures quality results and project success. Shape Technology has become an industry leader in the design and manufacture of security doors and windows.

Institutional steel clad doors, standard hollow steel frames, institutional system security windows and institutional proprietary items are all manufacturing solutions offered by Shape Technology.

Institutional proprietary items available through the business are of the highest quality and designed for easy retro fitting to new or existing doors or windows. Food

Strategic solutions, contracting manufacturing, servicing industries from all sides of the business board; there isn’t much Shape Technology doesn’t do. So what is the definitive key for this company’s success, beyond its wide range of first class business attributes? In the words of Shape Technology: “It’s our ‘can do’ attitude, when it comes to working with our customers”.

Shape Technology 44 Clarence St Christchurch T (03) 338 6386 E sales@shapetech.co.nz www.shapetech.co.nz — Advertising Feature

Shape Technology acknowledges its staff as being a primary factor in its success. “We are lucky at Shape to have a fantastic team,” Cairns says.

“This is also well represented by Shape’s very active social club, which regularly organises social events such as cricket, clay bird shooting, dinners out, winery tours and horse races.”

This team spirit makes Shape an excellent place to work. There are also opportunities for its staff to increase skills through training as well as a diversity of projects. Shape currently has several staff completing apprenticeships.

PPS Industries Are Pleased To Be Associated With Shape Technology

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0800 ALL METALS (0800 255638) 0800 FAX MICO (0800 329642)

www.canterburytoday.co.nz September/October 2012 | 95

Transport & Motoring | Edgeware Automotive

Total tune-ups The friendly team at Edgeware Automotive Limited in Christchurch will take care of all your vehicle’s mechanical repairs while offering a high standard of personal service.

Edgeware Automotive was formed in 1994 by owner Duane Holmes, who today leads an enthusiastic, skilled and professional team. The company’s five mechanics have many years of combined experience in the automotive industry, particularly with Toyota, Mitsubishi, Holden and Ford dealerships.

The St Albans business offers a full range of mechanical services and repairs, including Warrant of Fitness (WOF) checks, servicing, electrical work, motor reconditioning, tyres, punctures and cam belts.

Edgeware Automotive operates a large workshop in Canon Street, which includes all of the latest diagnostic and fault-finding tools for late-model vehicles.

For WOFs, customers can relax in the comfortable reception area, have a coffee and read the paper for 20 minutes while their WOF is being done. Three courtesy cars are available, if booked in advance, for those who can’t wait, while drop-offs and pick-ups can also be arranged in advance.

Edgeware Auto prides itself on the service it offers customers, as well as its quality workmanship and competitive prices.

Holmes says Edgeware Automotive has a strong loyal customer base, which was evident following last year’s February earthquake. While work initially dropped off,

by June the business was busier than ever.

“We thought we would lose a lot of clients because they worked in town and dropped their cars off on the way to work, but loyalty has been really great,” he says.

“We’re now probably up 20 percent on the previous year. There’s a lot of loyalty around the area. St Albans has a variety of people living in the area and we have a lot of new clients as well. We’ve always had a really diverse customer base because we’re in such a great location.”

Edgware Automotive would like to employ additional mechanical staff, but is struggling since many qualified people have left the city.

“

However, Holmes is thrilled with the team he currently has. “Our staff are really friendly and we really look after our customers. Our manager Wayne Crabbe is excellent. We offer a follow-up call service to make sure everyone is happy with our work and we do WOF and service reminders,” he says.

<

Range of mechanical services

Customer loyalty and growth

The friendly team at Edgeware Automotive, from left, Duane, Corey, Leanne, Wayne and Will.

Our staff are really friendly and we really look after our customers. Our manager Wayne Crabbe is excellent. We offer a follow-up call service to make sure everyone is happy with our work and we do WOF and service reminders - Owner, Duane Holmes

“Generally things are happy in the workshop and that reflects onto the customer.”

”

Edgeware Automotive offers: • Warrant of Fitness checks while you wait • Free courtesy cars • Drop offs to work or home • WOF and service reminder letters • Follow-up calls to ensure customer satisfaction • A range of service packages.

<

“Proud preferred supplier to Edgeware Automotive” Partmaster remains a family owned and operated business, focused and determined to be the largest independently owned Automotive Parts Wholesaler & Retailer in New Zealand.

0800-808-568

W: www.partmaster.co.nz

A wide range of mechanical services are available at Edgeware Automotive.

Motor Trade Association Edgeware Automotive is a member of the MTA, which helps ensure quality workmanship and customer satisfaction. The business is regularly assessed to make sure it meets MTA standards and complies with legal requirements. It is trained to not just meet the minimum standards, but to exceed them.

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96 | September/October 2012 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

Transport & Motoring | Edgeware Automotive Edgeware Automotive in Canon Street offers top service at great rates.

Service packages Edgeware Automotive offers a range of service packages to suit any individual vehicle or fleet requirements. Service packages enable customers to pay a single fee for a number of specified services.

Edgeware Automotive services and repairs 4WDs, cars, trucks and vans, with of of us Holmes says there are four different service packages, ranging in price from $89.

“We specialise in servicing and WOFs - that’s our key area. We have a different variety of service packages that are good value for money. They give customers the option of what they want to do”, Holmes says.

Services available from Edgeware Automotive include:

The service A package ensures the engine is protected and the vehicle is back on the road with a minimum fuss.

• Warrant of fitness

Service B is the most popular package and includes changing and replacing the oil and filter, and checking a wider range of components, including air and fuel filters, brakes, fluid levels, clutch, radiator coolant, lights, tyres, belts, exhaust system, battery, gearbox and suspension system.

• Lubes and tune ups

New customer discounts

• Brakes

Edgeware Automotive is offering new customers a discount coupon for a $30 Warrant of Fitness or 10 percent off any repairs. WOFs are usually $40.

Service C is the premier package and involves a bonnet-to-boot inspection of the vehicle, including a full engine tune-up and cooling system service.

• CV joints

Service D customers receive the same, as well as a flush and renew of brake fluid, fuel filter replacement and gearbox and diff oil change.

• Suspensions.

• Tyres and punctures

• Clutches • Cooling system servicing • Cam belts

The discount coupon can be printed off the company’s website, or can be found on the back of the company’s brochure.

Commercial contracts

• Electrical repairs • Exhausts

Edgeware Automotive can offer commercial contracts to companies with large vehicle fleets. These contracts are fully negotiated with the customer. All vehicle services and repairs will be fully estimated before the job begins. Any additional repairs or costs will also be discussed and authorised before work proceeds.

Edgeware Automotive Limited 25 Canon Street St Albans Christchurch T (03) 377 1133 F (03) 377 3467 E edge.auto@xtra.co.nz www.edgeauto.co.nz

Free pickup and deliveries can be arranged, or use of a courtesy car and warrant and service reminder letters will be sent out to the company. WOFs are charged out at $35, which is a $5 saving per vehicle. Trailer warrants are $20.

— Advertising Feature

Edgeware Automotive will prioritise its commercial customers’ bookings if vehicles are needed urgently.

An after-hours breakdown service can be made available at an additional cost.

Holmes says an increasing number of companies are seeing the benefits of taking out a service contract with Edgeware Automotive. “We give a discount on general servicing and repairs and do priority servicing, because these customers need their vehicles back pretty urgently.”

Our team will have your business gain clarity around your systems and help control your finances.

Proudly supporting Edgeware Automotive Ltd

Hours of business: Monday to Friday: 7.45am to 5.15pm.

Saturday: 9am to 1pm. <

Edgeware Automotive owner Duane Holmes and receptionist Leanne Bell.

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Total engine

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Machinists of engines & components covering all makes & models, years & sizes Proud to support Edgeware Automotive Ltd Email. motorrecon@paradise.net.nz www.motorreconditioners.co.nz

8 Hills Road PO Box 26-033 Christchurch 8148 Contact Jared Hanson Ph (03) 366-0914 Fax (03) 366-0912 Mob 027 308 1292

www.canterburytoday.co.nz September/October 2012 | 97

Transport & Motoring | George Stocks

Keeping

wheels turning

Established in Wellington 80 years ago, George Stock & Company Ltd, commonly called “Stocks”, has not only survived, but thrived in an industry traditionally known for its intense competition, both locally and globally.

Stocks is a privately owned importing and distribution company servicing the local automotive industry. Stocks is New Zealand’s leading importer and distributor of automotive workshop and tyre shop equipment and is a principal importer and distributor of automotive parts, accessories and tyre repair products.

STOCKS Christchurch Opening 2012

Knowing its industry The George Stock story began in 1932 when George Stock set up the business operating as a manufacturers’ representative. Today the company operates as an importer wholesaler and maintains the same passion and integrity instilled in it during those early years.

It has withstood several financial crises, including the more recent global recession and the Canterbury earthquakes, having to shift premises only to accommodate further growth.

Proud of our association with George Stock & Company

According to Christchurch branch manager Alan White, the company’s lifespan directly correlates to knowing its business. “George Stocks has been around for a significant length of time. More than anything this is because the company has stuck to its core products, specialised in what it does and does it well,” he explains.

“The company itself is also very people orientated. It’s a great place to work and that directly relates to the number of long serving staff we have working for the company.”

MONDIALE FREIGHT SERVICES LIMITED 77 RICHARD PEARSE DRIVE, PO BOX 53004, AUCKLAND INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT Tel: 09 256 4111 | www.mondiale.co.nz AUCKLAND - WELLINGTON CHRISTCHURCH

Since the Canterbury earthquake, Stocks moved to larger premises to accommodate its growth. Originally based on the corner of Gasson and Carlisle Streets, Stocks is now situated at 15c Byron Street in Sydenham. The new premise, which has a warehouse about three times the size of the original building, was officially opened on Wednesday, March 28.

98 | September/October 2012 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

“

George Stocks has been around for a significant length of time. More than anything this is because the company has stuck to its core products, specialised in what it does and does it well - Christchurch branch manager, Alan White

Stocks is a support sponsor to the V8 Super Tourers M3 Racing team. Drivers Greg Murphy, Paul Manuell and Richard Moore were at the new home to meet customers and display their new vehicles for the first time in the South Island.

It was a great night enjoyed by all who attended. “The move allowed us to carry more stock and we now believe we have the largest suspension and steering range in the South Island,” Alan says.

Stocks is an agency company and has spent decades securing the best automotive brands in each sector of its business.

Today the company is the NZ agent that directly imports KYB shock absorbers, largely from Japan. KYB is the world’s largest manufacturer of original equipment shock absorbers producing up to five million shock absorbers a month.

”

H&R springs from Germany, Koni shock absorbers from Holland and America and Superpro polyurethane Bushes from Australia.

Stocks are also a leading supplier of automotive workshop equipment and again market great brands such as Hunter wheel aligners from the USA, Corghi wheel balancers and tyre changers from Italy, Maha brake testers from Germany, and leading brands of hoists such as Rotary, Stenhoj, RAV and JIG. An equipment display area is another benefit of the move to the new Christchurch premises.

It’s a fiercely competitive industry, however according to Alan, this just means it is essential that the company imports the right product. “We only import the strongest, most reputable brands, so we’re selling good product and we stand by what we sell.

“We have unsurpassed product knowledge and we have our own electronic catalogue that is developed and maintained by the An industry leader in specialist fields of company. Our key attribute is that we suspension and steering, Stocks compliment specialise; we don’t sell a vast range of the 30,000 KYB shock absorbers stocked at product, we sell the best product and have a any one time with King Springs from Australia, vast range of specialist knowledge on call.

Transport & Motoring | George Stocks Humble beginnings Like all good Kiwi success stories, George Stocks comes from humble beginnings. At just 21 years of age, George Stock travelled from England to Australia to take up work with the National Bank of Australia.

In 1927, George formed a partnership with a fellow bank employee, Harry Humphrey, and they commenced business as “Manufacturers’ Representatives” trading under the name Humphrey & Stock in Melbourne. By 1930 the business was trading simply as George E. Stock. Soon after, George moved his family to New Zealand and established a New Zealand branch of the business.

He closed the Melbourne branch soon after and the New Zealand business began to prosper. George E. Stock (NZ) Ltd grew to

become one of New Zealand’s most respected automotive and industrial product suppliers.

George Stock became one of the elder statesmen of New Zealand business. Highly regarded as a man of his word, he had a long and distinguished association with the New Zealand Chambers of Commerce and the British Trade Association, serving for 12 years as its president. George Stock died in 1972 and his son-in-law, Jan Okkerse - who had joined the company in 1947 – succeeded him as managing director.

“

representative to importer and distributor.

We only import the strongest, most reputable brands, so we’re selling good product and we stand by what we sell.

The business continued to be managed with the high standards of integrity set by George Stock. In 1980, George Stock’s grandson, Wellington Barrister Michael Okkerse, returned to New Zealand from a teaching position in the USA for the purpose of securing the father’s move into retirement. Michael was future of the business and assisting his committed to ensuring that the future of the company should be entrusted to executives who would move the business forward in the new business environment while maintaining the high standards of personal and business integrity set by his grandfather and father.

”

Bill Strand, formerly general manager of Repco Automotive and Industrial Sales NZ Ltd and Wibroc New Zealand Ltd, an accessory manufacturer owned by Repco, joined the company in August 1980 and was appointed managing director at the time of the retirement of Jan Okkerse.

In July 1982 Brian Foley joined the company.

Brian was a specialist in garage and workshop equipment. His extensive experience in that field included various sales and marketing positions with Motor Specialties Ltd. As a result, Brian was well known and respected by many of the world’s leading equipment manufacturers.

The company remained wholly owned by the Stock family until 1982 when Michael arranged a buyout of the business by interests representing his family and the families of Bill Strand and Brian Foley. Bill Strand, Brian Foley and Michael Okkerse were appointed as directors.

In response to the economic changes of the 1980s, George Stock & Company, as it had by then become known, moved its head office from Wellington to Auckland and began its transformation from manufacturers’

In 1985, following the purchase of its distributor Andrews & Bevan Ltd, by Repco, Stocks established Automotive Equipment (NZ) Limited to market Crypton Diagnostic Equipment directly to the trade. Around the same time, the leading equipment specialists from both Motor Specialties Ltd and Andrews & Bevan Ltd joined the company.

Stocks now had the most qualified and most experienced equipment sales team in New Zealand. In June 1990, Stocks purchased W E Lewisham (Merchants) Ltd. Lewishams was a supplier to the automotive and tyre industries, but of particular interest to Stocks was the company’s exclusive agency for Italian Corghi tyre fitting and balancing equipment. Corghi was a world leading brand and was the leading supplier of equipment to the tyre industry in New Zealand. The purchase also brought with it a number of other automotive agencies and products, most being sold directly to the retail motor industry through garages and service stations.

In September 1990 Wayne Fowler joined the company as finance director representing his family’s interest in the business. While Stocks Equipment was now established as a major supplier of garage, workshop and tyre equipment, the acquisition of Retread Supply & Development Ltd (“RSD”) in April 1992, with agencies including Rema Tip Top and B & J Rocket, established Stocks as a major supplier of consumables to the tyre industry as well.

At the same time, Stocks’ AutoParts Division was expanding rapidly by the focused marketing of key brands, including Camelot (now Transteering), Power Plus and Roulunds, through a strong national network of wholesale resellers. A major strategy at this time was to establish Stocks as a leading specialist in vehicle suspension.

The acquisition in August 1996 of the Suspension Division of NZ Transport Supplies Ltd (NZTS) was a major move in this direction.

It provided Stocks with the agencies, the support staff and the services for Stocks to achieve that goal. Most significantly, the acquisition brought to Stocks the exclusive agency for the KYB and KONI range of shock absorbers, King springs and SuperPro bushes.

Streamline 81 Treffers Road, Sockburn Phone 03 343 1929 | Fax 03 343 2931

Since its inception Streamline has continued to consolidate it’s position as a niche freight forwarder, specialising in the transportation of general goods, consumable and fragile products on behalf of its large customer base of commercial and industrial clients

FREIGHT

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www.canterburytoday.co.nz September/October 2012 | 99

Transport & Motoring | George Stocks

Collaborative efforts • Mondiale is George Stock’s storage and freighting company based in Auckland. “Mondiale is involved with co-ordinating the storage and freighting of our products,” Alan explains.

• “Streamline has been our bulk freight company for many years and has provided a great service.”

• NZ Couriers provides delivery for smaller parcels, both daily and overnight, delivering to customers throughout New Zealand. “They deal directly with our customers, so it’s important to have a strong company in that position.”

Coming to Christchurch

• Koorb Consulting look after the company’s computer programming.

“We are a very computer focused business and they are great to deal with.”

In August 2000 Stocks was appointed as a Capricorn Society supplier. To support the increasing Capricorn membership and the marketing of all its products, Stocks opened branches in Wellington and Christchurch in 2003.

• Orix Vehicle Leasing supplies all George Stocks managers and representatives with their vehicles.

“Again, we have had a very long association with Orix and they do a great job.”

STOCKS Christchurch Equipment showroom

“

Our key attribute is that we specialise; we don’t sell a vast range of product, we sell the best product and have a vast range of specialist knowledge on call.

- Christchurch branch manager, Alan White

”

The branches stocked a full range of suspension and cooling products and provided a base and support for Stock’s Equipment Division and Tyre Repair Division specialist sales representatives. In 2010 Stocks withdrew from the Wellington region leaving distribution to a strong network of resellers and focused its attention on developing a strong distribution centre in Christchurch.

February 2005 saw Stocks establish Corghi Equipment (Aust) Pty Ltd. Corghi Equipment (Aust) Pty Ltd (“Corghi Australia”) is a specialised national distributor of the Corghi range of wheel service equipment and complementary lines to the Australian market.

It is wholly owned by Stocks.

In May 2008 Barry Reid was appointed as a director of Stocks, representing his family acquired interest in the business.

• Stocks with its partners in business are committed to servicing the South Island customers from the New Byron Street distribution centre.

Scheuber looks after the parts division, Paul McKenzie Tyre Repair and William Singleton the equipment and service division.

Eighty years since its establishment, Stocks continues to maintain its position at the forefront of the automotive industry, supplying top brands and service for which the company has become renowned for. If the enthusiasm of developing the expanded Christchurch Distribution centre is anything to go by, Stocks could well be around for another 80 years.

George Stock & Company Ltd is committed to preserving the high business principles on which it was founded while continuing to be an innovative, successful and profitable supplier of specialised automotive products and services.

George Stock & Company Ltd 15c Byron Street Sydenham Christchurch Today the four Stocks Divisions have dedicated T (03) 366 2500 managers planning the course forward for F (03) 366 2700 the company. Andrew Cornwell heads up E chparts@georgestock.co.nz Corghi Australia, while in New Zealand Grant www.georgestock.co.nz — Advertising Feature

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100 | September/October 2012 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

View these photos and more online at www.canterburytoday.co.nz

been seen

Images taken and supplied by Lynne Puddy-Greenwood.

MORE PHOTOS ON PAGE 102

If you have an event that you’d like covered, email Lynne at lynne.p@academy.net.nz

An international based Christchurch company, Carrickmore Infant Formula range was launched at the Westpac hub.

A number of Canterbury business leaders attended along with customers from China.

1. Chris Claridge (Carrickmore), Phil Lemon (Trents) 2.

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Hayden Jones (Matsons Brewery), Michael Arlidge (Trents), Susan McAuley (Leadership Management)

3. Sam Fisher (Green Eggs), Barry Corbett (CCC) 4. John Barr (Ayrshire e.b.a), Rod Templeton.

5. Bruce McKenzie (Lincoln University), Paul Saunder (ANZ Foreign Exchange)

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6. Hayden & Jessie Dorman (River Stone Friesians), Neil Brown (Grow Mid Cant).

7. Kate Nattrass (Torix), Stephen Cohen 8. Bary Corbett, Rob Davidson (Davidson & Associates), Deon Swiggs (Rebuild CHCH founder)

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9. Blair Cottam (Cant.Development), Craig Latimer, Gregg Wafelbakker

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A special evening for clients and friends was held at The Store in Tai Tapu, where drinks and nibbles were enjoyed by all.

10. Bruce & Jane Bascand (Caxton Press), Maria Gold (Energize NZ), Pam Gallagher & David Brown (Woolover ltd).

11. Jeanette Ormandy, Nicky Leen-McNeish, Janice Porter-Hoare.

13. Jenny Cations (NZ Sugar), Val Isherwod, Arni Henderson (PGG Wrightson).

14. Jude Gray, Belinda Edmond.

16. Trish & Neil Olliver (Café Mint).

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A large group turned out to see the ribbon being cut by John Key at the opening of the Silverstream Estates in Kaiapoi 17. Karen Hamilton (360 Degrees Events), Gerard Blank 18. Rob Cope-Williams, Melissa Haberfield (Silverstream) 19. Damien, Dominic and Sebastian Hayson 17

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20. John Hayson (Silverstream Estates) Tim Blake (Spanbild) 21. Kirsten Rowe (G.J.Gardner), Leah McIvor (Westpac), Katherine Willmott (Ashley Law) 22. Rachelle Hunt, Logan Townsend, Roy Hamilton

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23. Terry Grocott (Styx Mill), Colleen Beattie, Trevor Laplanche (Metropol) 24. Jackie Watson, Jocelyn Larsen.

25. Murray Francis, Adolph Marmetschke (Heb Construction).

26. Fred, Kate Wilkinson, John Hayson.

27. Kate Wilkinson, John Key, Gerry Brownlee 28. Rebecca Knight (Harcourts), Danny Broom (Devon Construction).

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www.canterburytoday.co.nz September/October 2012 | 101

View these photos and more online at www.canterburytoday.co.nz

been seen

Images taken and supplied by Lynne Puddy-Greenwood.

If you have an event that you’d like covered, email Lynne at lynne.p@academy.net.nz

A group of clients and staff were on hand for the launch of BSmart Accounting Group at the Cargo bar in Addington.

29. David & Carl Aiau, Sarah Charlton (BSmart Dunedin) 30. Janelle Kesha, Ray Kesha (Director BSmart)

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31. Nigel Dixon (MediaWorks), Stacey James, Debra Kesha- Lloyd, Lyndon Lloyd 32. Robert Taefu, Tala Kele 33. Jess Ngahooro, Lynne Mason (BSmart) 34. Carl Peterson, Renee Peterson (BSmart)

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35. Joseph Ransfield (Harcourts Grenadier), Steve Wright (Abracadabra Cleaning Services) 36. Mike (Mike the Builder), Tony French (Total Lawn Solutions) 37. Dave Crowther (MediaWorks), Stacey James,Nigel Dixon,Keshia Lloyd (BSmart)

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38. Gary Binnie (Tower), Cate Greaves (Peak Property Management).

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A gathering of guests and staff attending the opening of Generation Homes’ new show home at Lincoln were impressed with its style.

39. Donna Lee Fry,Paula Duncan (Generation Homes) 40. Dave Andrew,Graeme Hockly, David Mansel (Generation Homes) 41. Dave Andrew (Generation Homes), Jim Datson (St John’s) 42. Mark Kopke (national operation manager for Generation Homes).

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Christchurch Star Home Show held at the CBS arena was a huge success, with a large number of visitors.

43. Nick Smith & Steve Waring (Simply Heat), Monique Maynard (Christchurch Star) 44. Clive Greenwood (Media Sales Group), Phil Brooke (Teco Heatpumps) 43

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45. Kate Fahey, Victor Cattermole (Consumer Advocate Ltd) 46. Steve McCaughan (Christchurch Star), Roger Simpson (PS Marketing) 47. Ros & Graeme Brenssell, Jacquie Victor (Love Moochi) 48. Paul & Nicola Fitzsimons (Vanson Steel)

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49. David Gordon (Hebel Supercrete) 50. Gerry Thompson, Tim Lawton (Smith & Sons) 51. Mark Keagan, Darren Rule (Bespoke Shower & Doors) 52. Tazio Wilson, Dougal Strang, Paul Golder (GWA Bathrooms & Kitchens) 53. Mark Uden (Kiwi Mortgages)

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102 | September/October 2012 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

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54. Barry Paterson (Metro Glass Tech).

Lyttelton Main School has a brighter outlook with a new solar energy scheme.

Lyttelton school steps into solar spotlight Peter Ye

alands p

Out of the rubble of Lyttelton’s quake damage a school has risen stronger and brighter with its new solar energy scheme. After entering the Yealands Estate Winery competition for environmentally friendly initiatives, Lyttelton Main School was awarded a $50,000 grant, of which a significant portion will be used for the new scheme.

Lyttelton was hit hard by the earthquakes of 2010 and 2011, but the Lyttelton Main School, on Oxford St has turned disaster into opportunity by embracing smart energy solutions as part of its repairs and development plans.

The children are now able to see smart, clean energy production first-hand. They will be able to monitor and model real-time energy output and sunshine data from computers at the school.

There is potential for great educational benefits as the scheme seeks to train future energy consumers to make smarter energy choices and reduce New Zealand’s carbon footprint.

03 575 7618 www.yealands.co.nz

resentin

g the ch

eque to

Lyttelton

Main Sc

hool.

Canterbury Power Solutions is providing the system at a lower than normal rate, as well as making a $250 donation to the school’s operating fund for every subsequent solar installation carried out for customers connected with the school.

This small family-owned and operated business is quietly working away at making a big difference to energy consumption across the South Island, all the while donating some of its proceeds to the Earthquake Relief Fund.

Enasolar – the company that manufactures and exports worldwide the inverters that convert the sun’s energy into useable AC current, is donating three of their inverters, worth $7,500 each, to get the school up and running.

Having local companies and schools working together to find innovative solutions in the face of the disaster is an optimistic sign of community resolve and cooperation.

0800 277 548 info@canterburypower.co.nz www.canterburypower.co.nz