Editorial: Our firms can thrive in the big city

Lindsay Faithfull, chief executive officer of the McKay Group.

Much of the discussion surrounding Auckland's impact on Northland involves the property market.

Specifically, the rising property market, and how cashed up Aucklanders can invest in Northland and get more provincial bang for their big city buck.

It's great for local realtors, great for the local property market.

But there are other Northland businesses profiting from Auckland.

Northland's McKay Group has expanded its Auckland operations and bought out Cervina Marine in Blockhouse Bay.

Cervina is an industrial and marine electrical design company which specialises in superyachts.

McKay already has a base in Devonport, where it has a 30-year naval contract.

In July, McKay announced it had also bought up the Downer Tenix branch in Kawerau, in the Bay of Plenty.

Then there's the success of Whangarei Engineering, which has created jobs for 24 Northlanders through a contract connected to the construction of a new Countdown supermarket on Waiheke Island.

Their success comes from having skilled and experienced staff, and good commercial and contractual systems.

Whangarei Engineering's success has also led to flow-on work for local companies.

Here we have two companies setting the benchmark for Northland, who have not only survived challenging times in our region but have also created opportunity in larger markets.

As Lindsay Faithfull, chief executive officer of the McKay Group, says: "If a business can survive in Northland, it can survive anywhere."