Pro Experts

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...

It’s Planning Time

What would happen to your business if you lost a server, had a hard drive failure or lost/broke a laptop, tablet or mobile phone? Would your business be able to pick things up and continue to operate the business? For those with a Disaster Recovery Plan, probably yes, and for those without one, possibly but with more difficulty than those...

Statutory acknowledgements & RMA

A number of different co- management initiatives have been established in recent times, however in the world of resource management it’s the Statutory Acknowledgements framework that is likely to be encountered on an everyday basis. Statutory Acknowledgements have arisen from a number of Treaty of Waitangi settlements around the country as part of cultural redress for Maori. They relate to...

When keeping calm and carrying on paid off

Recently I had the pleasure of traveling around New Zealand with economic commentator and journalist Bernard Hickey’ where we have been presenting to AdviceFirst clients and local professionals about themes important to today. We have also been joined by fund managers Fergus MacDonald of Nikko Asset Management and Craig Stent of Harbour Asset Management. Our event series included a Hawke's...

Show Me The Money

After a long period of low inflation and low wage and salary rises pressure is building in the remuneration market. There are a number of factors having an impact, most of which have featured prominently in the media. The new Government’s pledge to increase the minimum wage will be good news for those on low wages and will undoubtedly also...