Got business news? Email carmen.hall@nzme.co.nz or zoe.hunter@nzme.co.nz Photo / Getty Images
Bayleys announce 2022 annual awards winners
Mount Maunganui's Kay Ganley has won Success Realty Overall Top Salesperson of the Year for the second year in a row.
Success Realty Limited, which operates Bayleys franchises in the Bay of Plenty, Waikato and Taranaki held its annual awards evening earlier this month.
The annual awards celebrate the top-performing individuals and offices for the 2021/2022 financial year.
More than 350 people, including salespeople, property managers, management and support staff from eight offices across the three regions attended the event at Baypark Arena. The event was MC'd by Kiwi comedian Ben Hurley.
Heath Young, Realty Group chief executive officer, said the awards evening was a special night full of good energy and an amazing atmosphere.
"It allows us to bring our local Bayleys businesses together and recognise the performances and efforts of our people.
"The night was also a chance to reflect and stay true to our ideals of delivering continued outstanding levels of service to our clients."
Success Realty Overall Top Salesperson of the Year was won by Kay Ganley from the Bayleys Mount team, for the second year in a row.
Ganley also won Bayleys Residential Salesperson of the Year, while Karl Davis of Bayleys Waikato Country won Bayleys Country Salesperson of the Year. Brendon Bradley of Bayleys Tauranga won Bayleys Commercial Salesperson of the Year.
The Success Realty, Bayleys Top Office of the Year was awarded to Bayleys Commercial.
The Rookie of the Year award was won by Melissa Langsford from the Bayleys Cambridge, recognising an excellent first year in real estate.
The Bayleys Marketing Campaign of The Year was awarded to Phil Mangos from the Bayleys Bay of Plenty Country team for his excellent promotion of Teihana Subdivision, Te Puna.
The Property Excellence Award was given to Evie Heald of the Commercial Property Management team.
The Commercial Property Management team was given the award for most referrals to Rothbury.
Emma Waddell from Bayleys Tauranga won Administrator of the Year. Kristin Bainbridge won the Realty Services Excellence award.
Karl Davis from Bayleys Waikato Country was awarded the Bayleys Auction Cup and Brendon Bradley received the Bayleys award for Greatest Number of Deals Settled.
Josh Smith from Bayleys Hamilton was given the award for Individual Auction Growth, increasing his number of auctions from the previous year.
The award for Greatest Year on Year Individual Growth was given to Jordan Metcalfe from the Bayleys Waikato Commercial team.
A special mention to Stephen Shale and Jim McKinlay on their 20-year service awards.
Free digital skills training for SMEs
The Tauranga Business Chamber has an opportunity for small business owners and sole traders to improve their digital skills – for free.
Under the new Digital Facilitation Scheme, the Chamber can provide small businesses support and encouragement to adopt and practically use the Digital Boost Platform.
The Chamber is calling for expressions of interest from small business owners, sole traders and managers at SMEs from around the Western Bay of Plenty, who are interested in taking part in a free, facilitated and fully supported digital learning programme with other likeminded people.
In these sessions, you will be guided through the Digital Boost programme so that you can walk away from the programme feeling empowered and confident about how to use a wide range of digital tools. These sessions will start in mid-June and will take place over nine to 12 months.
It is an opportunity for business owners who have been thinking about improving their social media skills, website knowledge, understanding of e-commerce and more, but do not know where to start.
Registrations of interest are now open. Places are limited and therefore individuals will be selected based on their eligibility for the programme.
It is a chance for business owners to connect with other people in business, who are at a similar stage of their business journey and have their burning questions answered in a supportive and engaging environment.
Port of Tauranga announces sponsorship of new rescue centre
The Port of Tauranga is the new naming rights sponsor of the Port of Tauranga Rescue
Centre, which will serve as a hub for surf lifesaving operations in the eastern region.
The new centre is close to completion at Golf Rd in Mount Maunganui and has the capability to act as a rescue coordination point for any major beach and surf rescues undertaken by Surf Life Saving Eastern Region.
The Eastern Region comprises 19 surf clubs from Hot Water Beach in Coromandel to Tairawhiti/Gisborne.
The building will also accommodate clubrooms, offices and storage space for Mount Maunganui Bridge Club, Surf Life Saving New Zealand and Omanu Beach Surf Life Saving Club. The Bridge Club has had clubrooms on the site since the 1970s.
Port of Tauranga chief executive Leonard Sampson said the company was delighted to announce the partnership.
"The Port of Tauranga Rescue Centre will provide a purpose-built, well-equipped base for the many volunteers and staff that do an extraordinary job in keeping people safe on the beach and in the water.
"The Port of Tauranga Rescue Centre will be there to support these first responders whenever they need to act in an emergency or coordinate a large-scale search and rescue."
Donal Boyle, a trustee of the Omanu Beach Charitable Trust, said the support of the Port of Tauranga was a game-changer for surf lifesaving in the region.
"It means that we can get on with saving lives and supporting our many volunteers, without worrying about the ongoing costs of running the centre.
"The backing of Port of Tauranga, such an iconic company in this region and nationally, is very much appreciated by our community."
The Port of Tauranga Rescue Centre will be officially opened in the next few months and will be fully operational in time for the 2022/2023 summer season.
Council nabs silver in Australasian management challenge
A team of Western Bay of Plenty District Council's emerging leaders have placed second in the New Zealand leg of JLT Australasian Management Challenge.
Western Bay's team, 'Fresh Take', featuring Roxanne Booysen, Katy McGinity, Calum McLean, Sarah Bedford, Megan Wakefield and Tom Rutherford faced off against other Aotearoa councils in the simulation-based team building, learning, and networking programme.
The annual competition, run by Taituarā, sees teams representing different departments of councils come together to act as a fictional council management team.
They are tasked with issues involving community engagement, risk analysis, presentation, conflict resolution, report writing and teamwork.
Each team is marked on its performance over several challenges designed to simulate real council and community issues.
Council chief executive John Holyoake said the award was a testament to the high calibre of staff who work for Western Bay of Plenty District Council.
"The management challenge uses real local government themes and puts teams to work in a fast-paced environment. It is exciting to see our team, who have real potential as leaders, recognised for their mahi."
Kiwibank recognised at prestigious INFINZ Awards
Kiwibank was awarded the Hunter Campbell ESG Award at the prestigious Institute of Finance Professionals New Zealand (INFINZ) Awards this month.
The INFINZ awards celebrate excellence and innovation in the financial sector.
Kiwibank accepted the ESG award, which celebrates an organisation-wide commitment to sustainability.
Judges said they were particularly impressed with the company's B Corp certification and its focus on looking after its people.
"As part of being a purpose-driven business, we know that we need to run our business in a way that supports our customers, our people, the communities we operate in and the environment," Kiwibank's head of sustainable finance Tom Williams said.
"As B Corp companies well know, the work doesn't stop here, we are about constant improvement so we can continue to play an impactful role in creating an inclusive and sustainable economy where what we do results in benefits for everyone."
Kiwibank was also a finalist for the Guardian Trust - NZ Debt Market Issue of the Year with its $250m issue of Perpetual Preference Shares (PPS).
It was one of the first Additional Tier 1 (AT1) capital deals completed in New Zealand since 2015, meeting the Reserve Bank's new requirements for capital instruments as well as Financial Market Conduct Act regulations for disclosure purposes.
Kiwibank worked with its regulators to achieve practical disclosure, appropriate for an AT1 capital instrument.
Kiwibank's head of funding Geoff Martin said this was critical to its ability to operate, and an important part of meeting its regulatory requirements.
"Raising capital every few years is important as capital is needed to fund Kiwibank's growth and ultimately fulfil its purpose of supporting more Kiwi and their businesses to thrive."
Police reveal the identity of Tauranga pedestrian fatality injured in Pyes Pa crash.