House It and Shed It partners Alan Hockly (left) and Giles Bayley.
House It and Shed It partners Alan Hockly (left) and Giles Bayley.
Te Awamutu businesses Coresteel Waikato and House It/Shed It have one to two years work following Fieldays.
Coresteel Waikato director Trina White says Fieldays is an amazing opportunity for buyers to compare different products and systems before making choices.
She says it is absolutely vital to her business to be at Fieldays.
Coresteel Waikato has a regular locations, which she says works in their favour.
Four days of hard work generates about two years work for the company — and it isn't all farm sheds.
Coresteel Waikato director Trina White and salesperson Brent Pottage. Photo / Dean Taylor
We get some interesting jobs," says Trina.
"Three years ago we secured and built a 2000m2 marae."
Alan Hockly and Giles Bayley, who own Shed It and House It, are still working through their contacts and enquiries from Fieldays and expect a lot of work.
"We had a better location this year than last year, and we are still doing jobs from Fieldays 2017," says Giles.
He says there was more foot traffic past their site this year, generating more enquiries about both their rural sheds and modular housing packages.
"And we gave away 1200 sausages off the barbecue thanks to Placemakers," he says.
"A bonus this year was satisfied past clients visiting and giving positive feedback about the products they purchased."
Later this year the Fieldays 2018 Economic Impact Report will be released — and chances are it will match or better previous years.
The 2017 report, prepared by independent economist Dr Warren Hughes and Professor Frank Scrimgeour of the University of Waikato Management School's Institute of Business Research, highlighted a significant increase in Fieldays' contribution to the New Zealand economy.
Fieldays' brand value increased from $380 million in 2016 to $465m in 2017, signalling the Fieldays platform is increasing in value for manufacturers selling to primary producers.
It was also identified that Fieldays broke the half-billion dollar barrier for the first time, generating $538m in sales revenue for New Zealand firms.
Up by $108m on 2016, this significant increase in spending was a good indication that New Zealand's economic growth is in a strong position compared to recent years. At the report launch ANZ chief economist Cameron Bagrie commented on a strong rural community showing strength across the board.
"It's going to be a big economic tailwind for New Zealand over the next two to three years," he said.
The report identified the creation of over 2300 fulltime equivalent jobs in 2017, up from 2021 in 2016. Of those, 900 were created in the Waikato, a 27 per cent increase on the previous year.
These jobs have been sustained either side of the four day event, including site preparations, freight and hospitality, with the report showing that for every dollar spent during the event another $1.37 of sales revenue is generated somewhere else in the New Zealand economy.
