Pro Experts

Commercial property values under fire

From 1 July 2017, the Fire and Emergency New Zealand Act 2017 (FENZ) came into force replacing the Fire Services Levy. The Act replaces the Fire Services Act 1975 and the Forrest & Rural Fire Act 1975. It has been designed to ensure New Zealand has a modern, fit for purpose, and well-funded fire service that addresses long standing issues...

The art of letting go

When the time comes for employees to make a change and resign their employment it generally occurs under a shroud of secrecy. People go to great lengths to ensure their current employer is the last to know. This isn’t an ideal scenario for any of the parties. The employee has to sneak away to interviews, they can’t use the current...

Co-ownership agreements

You should always protect your investments as best you can and your entry into a new business venture is no different. Any new business always starts with good intentions and hope for a positive outcome. However, no matter how strong the bond between you and your business partner(s), every relationship goes through its ups and downs and you should try...

Diversifying more than your portfolio

As many readers will know, as well as being a Hawkes Bay based financial adviser who has been servicing Bay clients for over 10 years, I also have a national role with AdviceFirst. Today, AdviceFirst includes the now rebranded Spicers business and has a strong presence with 15 offices throughout New Zealand. As part of that amalgamation between Spicers and...

Recognised Seasonal Employer Scheme

The RSE Scheme allows the horticulture and viticulture industry to recruit overseas workers for seasonal work to supplement shortages of New Zealand workers. Across a number of regions’ the Scheme initially provided 5,000 workers, increasing to 11,100 during 2017/18 in response to worker shortfalls. Further labour shortfalls are projected for and beyond 2018/19, and the cap on RSE worker numbers...

Computing School Attuned To Industry Changes

EIT’s School of Computing is continuing to fine-tune its suite of programmes with robotics and automation as it responds to the changing needs of a fast-growing and evolving industry. Late last year, a Government-backed report warned of a growing IT skills shortage in New Zealand. The industry-driven Digital Skills Forum study, described as this country’s most comprehensive report on technology...

Too small for independent advice?

Many small business owners assume that company boards are for the big boys – yet the benefits of independent directors or advisors apply to all businesses, irrespective of size or structure. Owner-run businesses can be averse to appointing outside directors or advisors, driven by a mix of ‘she’ll be right’ mentality, a desire to keep everything in ‘the family’ or...

Valuing up the Napier Office Rental Space

Traditionally there has always been an oversupply of secondary office rental space in Napier and Hawke’s Bay in general. Tenants have favoured, new or well renovated office accommodation which has meant that landlords with second tier accommodation have always struggled to attract tenants. However, recent developments in June 2017 saw the Napier City Council identify the council civic buildings as...

Have You Got the Right Lease?

It is probably fair to say that most small businesses do not own their own premises and, in such situations, it is necessary to “lease” premises. An Agreement to Lease (ATL) is usually the preliminary document, prepared by a commercial real estate agent, that contains the basic information agreed on by the Landlord and Tenant. The formal Deed of Lease...

The Value of Longevity

I started working in HR a long time ago – I won’t say how many years because it ages me. Back then it was very common to have benefits in employment agreements to recognise length of service. There was long service leave, salary scales with automatic increments based on service, generous service-based redundancy formulae, extra annual leave after so many...