Businesses going global

When Karen first moved to Brisbane she originally planned to stay for just a few years. More than three decades later, when she and her English partner, Richard, found themselves working from home due to lockdowns, they realised the time was right for a move back to Aotearoa.

Karen’s dogs recover from their move to New Zealand

“I work for a specialised software company, and what I do is very specific. Before the pandemic our company did have a flexible work culture, but lockdowns had a big effect on that remote culture. It opened up opportunities for me and for my team. I moved back to New Zealand, one of my colleagues has moved to Portugal and we have just hired a new staff member in Sydney, it’s really changed the way our company operates for both current and future hires.”

Moving from Brisbane, a city of 2.6 million to the South Otago town of Alexandra which has a population of just over 5,000 has been a lifestyle change but Karen says she enjoys being back in small town New Zealand. While she has family within an hour, neither her or her partner knew anyone in the area where they settled so Karen has been making an effort to meet people.

“I have just started volunteering at Riding with the Disabled. Joining a club or charity is definitely something I would urge others to do as it really helps you meet people. There was a point where I thought ‘I don’t know anyone and I don’t have any friends’ but you just have to get involved and make an effort to put yourself out there, Kiwi’s are really friendly and it’s really easy to start making new friends.”

And while she’s making new friends in Central Otago, Karen says an important part of moving home was also making sure she stayed connected with her Aussie mates.

Karen and her partner Richard

“We had this big party planned to say goodbye but then we had to cancel at the last minute because of covid restrictions, so we didn’t get to say goodbye to a lot of people. It felt a bit like we abandoned them. I make a really big effort to stay in touch, that’s where social media is so good. I also make a point of sitting down and calling people every week or so who don’t use social media.

Karen’s advice to other Kiwi looking to return home is to make sure they plan ahead and allow lots of time for the move.

“I think our biggest challenge was organisation, relocating is such a huge job and there is so much paperwork. When we arrived we moved into a friend’s cottage with our three dogs while we waited for our shipping container of stuff to arrive. It took three months to turn up and during that time the cost of shipping changed and we were hit with another bill. My advice to others would be to allow yourselves plenty of time and plan everything out as much as possible.”

Commonwealth Games CEO Katie Sadleir says this year’s Commonwealth Games are shaping up to be the event of the European summer. 4,500 athletes from 72 nations and territories will head to the English city for 11 days of spectacular sport.

“What this games will be doing is, in the safest way possible, creating an environment where we will be bringing athletes, fans and support staff, from all across the world together for the first time in a long time. There is going to be a huge buzz of culture, sport and entertainment. the slogan of the games is ‘Bring it On’ and that’s exactly what’s going to happen.”

Get behind our NZ team this summer. Credit Getty Images

There are a number of Kiwi involved in the organisation of event. Along with Katie, UK New Zealander of the Year and world renowned choreographer Corey Baker will be choreographing the opening ceremony.

Birmingham 2022 takes place from July 28th to August 8th and New Zealand Team Supporters Packages are on sale now for a limited time. The packages include accommodation, event tickets and entry to the ‘pop up’ New Zealand House.

New Zealand House will be located at the stunning Edgbaston Golf Club in the heart of Birmingham and provides the perfect place to network with other Kiwi while supporting the NZ team on the big screen.

Katie is urging all Kiwi to get involved and support the NZ team. With borders reopening it’s hoped that Kiwi fans will be encouraged to make the most of the event.

“It has been challenging for everyone for all sorts of reasons over the past two years and we understand that. For our athletes just qualifying for the games has been so full of obstacles. I would urge fans to get behind the games and our team. Reach out, connect and support those who have made it, the Games are really all about the connection to people.”

If you would like to attend the event New Zealand Team Supporters Packages are on sale now, but these are only available until the 15th of March so get in quick.

Rebecca had always loved creating healthy snacks for friends and family but it was only when she struggled to find a job after taking 10 years off to raise her children that she decided to start her own business.

“‘Top Seedz’ is a play on a common sports term for the top ranked player or team in a competition because I have always loved the connection between food, sport and performance. I’ve always loved feeding my kids healthy snacks and I had been making the crackers and roasting seeds since forever and everyone loved them so I thought, ok I’ll give it a whirl.”

Investing $5k of her own money Rebecca rented space at a communal kitchen and began baking the organic crackers and roasting seeds to sell at her local farmers market.

Rebecca and her team helping out during the pandemic

“I know five thousand dollars doesn’t sound like a lot of money but to me it was so much, I would wake up in the middle of the night and think what have I done? I used that $5k to get the logo designed and the packaging created, I also bought the first batch of ingredients and rented space in a commercial kitchen. That kitchen allowed me to bake 8 boxes of crackers an hour, and I would just bake as fast as I could because I was paying by the hour and I didn’t know how profitable the business was going to be. The ovens were really old and the timers didn’t work so I had to keep turning the trays, it was hard work and there were a lot of times I thought this is mad, what am I doing?”

Not long after she started selling at the farmers market, her crackers began to make an impact and soon she was being approached by local businesses and then the supermarket chains came knocking.

“When I first sold to Wholefoods supermarket they said that I had created a new category. Most gourmet crackers on the market were tasty but weren’t good for you, and then the ones that were good for you didn’t taste great. Wholefoods said mine were healthy, delicious and also well packaged, so I was ticking all the boxes.”

Within the first year of operation Rebecca won $50k in a small business competition. The extra cashflow allowed her to say goodbye to hourly slots at the shared kitchen and move into her own space. She celebrated by spending $35k on a commercial oven which could bake enough crackers at any one time to fill 80 boxes.

Rebecca’s crackers can now be found in more than 300 supermarkets across the US

Five years on and Top Seedz is now producing around 50,000 boxes of crackers a month and can be found on the shelves of 300 stores across the US. Rebecca has also just won her second business competition and this one comes with a million dollars of investment which will help the company increase its production tenfold and build a bigger manufacturing site.

Despite her rise to success, it’s been a steep learning curve for Rebecca who is a first time business owner.

“I have been lucky enough to be profitable from day one, but that’s only because I didn’t realise I could take on investors or apply for a business loan! In hindsight it’s worked out well, and the two business competitions I have won have really helped the business grow. But as we have grown I have had to learn a lot. For example when I started out I didn’t think Human Resources was a big thing, turns out it’s huge!”

“I also find that one of the bigger challenges, when you have a small business, is getting people to listen to you without dismissing you. Last year we had been trying to automate some of our manufacturing and processing equipment. We were too small for people to pay much attention to us but we were too big to be doing a lot of the processes manually. I spoke to a few suppliers and I would have people come in and look and say ‘oh you are not ready for that or you can’t afford that.’ It’s really frustrating, they don’t know how much I have in the bank or what I’m ready for.”

While suppliers might not have been ready to listen to Rebecca, she found that her business community were. She is connected to several business networks and says her biggest advice to people starting out is to talk to as many people as you can.

“I have learnt that there is always someone out there who has been through the same thing. When I run into a problem I try to talk it through with other people. I usually find someone who has had the same problem and has an idea of how to fix it. I try to talk and share as much as possible. It can be lonely being the ‘top seed’ you are ‘the everything’. I do bounce a lot of ideas and thoughts off my husband but our family doesn’t want to talk about crackers all the time.”

Rebecca with her husband and daugther

Rebecca’s company isn’t just about making healthy snacks, she also plays an active role in helping others. Her company only hires female refugees and she works with a local charity to ensure those coming to her area are able to get a start on building new lives.

“We work with a local organisation that helps refugees settle in buffalo, they call us when they have people arriving and we will hire them if we have places available. Our staff are from all over the world, Afghanistan, Somalia, Syria. They have been through hell and back again, a lot of them have been in refugee camps outside of their own countries for a few years. Despite the challenges that their backgrounds create such as language barriers, I like welcoming people to this country and giving them an opportunity to start again.”

Rebecca is also an active part of the Kea Connect network and says no matter how long she lives offshore she will always consider herself a Kiwi.

“I will always be a New Zealander, sometimes I like to talk to another Kiwi just to hear the accent. From day one I have had so much help, so if my success or what has worked for me can help someone else I am all in. I think what comes around goes around and if I can help someone get a little further along then why not.”

For now Top Seedz is focused on growing its US business, building a bigger manufacturing plant and investigating options to export to Canada. Because the crackers are organic and preservative free their short shelf life makes exporting them further afield challenging but Rebecca says she’s determined to put them on Kiwi shelves at some point.

“I think my mum would kill me if I didn’t at least try to get them into New Zealand! It’s hard with the crackers as they are only good for four months and I can’t have them sitting on a boat for half that time. However we have just launched a boxed cracker mix that people can use to make their own, so who knows what the future holds.”

Rebecca is just one of Kea’s many ‘solvers’ – Kiwi who are keen to provide advice and mentoring to other Kiwi businesses through our free Kea Connect service. If you’d like to speak to Rebecca or any of our other solvers then get in touch with Kea Connect today

When Andrew Barnes and Charlotte Lockhart started 4 Day Week Global they had no idea what a worldwide phenomenon they were going to create. The couple had been researching productivity and had come across a four day week concept that they decided to trial at their business Perpetual Guardian. To cement the results of the trial they hired two researchers from the University of Auckland and Auckland University of Technology to document the experiment. The trial was hugely successful and Charlotte says the research immediately received international interest.

Charlotte Lockhart, 4 Day Week Global

“As soon as we released our trial results to the media we were contacted by researchers in the UK and the States, we met with some of these people and found out that the research we had done was quite unique. It also told us that there was a real interest in changing the way we work and reducing the time we spend at work. Because of this we decided to set up 4 Day Week Global.”

4 Day Week is a not for profit enterprise and works with businesses around the world to reduce an employee’s hours but not their productivity. The company works on a 100/80/100(™) principal. Which means employees get 100% of their pay, work 80% of their time and the business gets 100% of their productivity.

Research shows that In the UK 18million work days are collectively lost to mental health and stress every year. 4 Day Week has programmes in the US, Canada, the UK, Europe and this month launched their Australisia arm. Charlotte says the success of the concept shows that the future of work is changing and if businesses don’t adapt they will be left behind.

“We have been talking for decades about health and safety in the workplace but the manifestation of that has really just been safety. In the last few years we have shifted to understanding what workplace health truly looks like. We know that working the number of hours we are working is leading to burnout, and we accept that mental health is an issue for us all in an everyday way, not just for those who are clinically unwell. The way we are working is having an effect on people, on businesses and on society as a whole.”

Will Moffett, Associate Consultant at recruitment company Kerridge and Partners says businesses are increasing their wellness offerings to make sure they attract the top people.

“Flexible hours, remote working possibilities, wellness programmes and increased holidays are increasingly being offered by employers and intensified by COVID. Organisations have significantly raised the bar in the last two years in terms of wellness focus in the workplace. This has resulted in high expectations across the candidate pool for not only benefits but a genuine interest and exercise of manaakitanga towards a firm’s employees. People are increasingly tired, stressed and under pressure. To retain talent, firms must keep improving on what’s good – benefits, development, ways of working, and culture are never static; they should be constantly monitored to ensure the best fit for employee experience and retention.”

The corporate wellness market is a $60 billion dollar industry and it’s growing everyday. Offshore Kiwi Graeme Perry runs LVL, a company which brings wellness programmes into businesses. He says this can offer huge value to a business.

“Wellness goes a huge way towards increasing engagement and if you increase employee engagement you increase employee retention. And all companies will tell you recruitment and retention is one of the major costs in business these days.”

While achieving a perfect work life balance has been a challenge for many of us for quite some time, Dr Angela Lim says her company Clearhead has seen the problem increase exponentially during the pandemic.

“We have seen a 10 fold increase in people struggling to balance their personal and professional lives especially due to remote work and lockdowns due to the pandemic. We hear from a lot of people who are wanting to achieve better balance.”

Clearhead provides holistic, proactive, and cost-effective mental health and wellbeing support for workplaces and Dr Lim says it’s important for businesses to ensure their employees feel supported.

“How hard it is to achieve the balance will primarily come down to the employer and their commitment to setting culture norms on workload, expectation on response outside of standard working hours, flexible working hours, psychological safe space for employees to voice their concerns and challenges, mental health awareness, availability of proactive employee wellbeing support, etc. It is important to challenge the context that balance and resilience is solely reliant on the individual when most of the time, there are vulnerable to the systems that are in place. Therefore, we need to look at the support structures available in the workplace to determine if the person is set up for success or failure.”

Charlotte says people are starting to realise that overwork is fundamentally breaking down what they want in life and it’s time to look at other options.

Younger generations have watched their parents burnout from overwork, people are seeing their friends and colleagues burnout from over work and no one wants that life, it’s not good for any of us. We want families to grow up knowing their children and being able to spend time with them, we need people to have time for their health and interests and volunteer work. The good news is a lot of people are waking up and things are changing.”

LVL studio — Businesses can use strong wellness programmes to attract and keep top talent (LVL wellness offering pictured)

Will says for companies looking to attract top overseas talent flexible ways of working and better work life balance can offer incentives that people value more than high salaries.

In contrast to overseas financial incentives firms can make themselves competitive by selling the modern Kiwi working lifestyle. This could include flexible ways of working, wellness offerings at work, and appropriate support in times of uncertainty. There is no magic bullet to attracting and retaining talent – but the best candidate magnet is a firm’s reputation. It takes a constant graft towards doing the big and small things well, keeping your staff engaged, remunerated, and feeling safe and valued in their place of work. After years of investment in people and systems, a firm will earn its reputation as an employer worth working for. For firms that don’t currently have that reputation in the market, it is never too late to change.”

North America

This month the Super Bowl season came to a close for another year, and the half time show – which was watched by 112.3 million people featured some Kiwi inspiration. New Zealand dance star and Kea World Class New Zealander Parris Goebel choreographed the halftime show which was performed by superstar Rihanna. The spectacular performance confirmed why Parris is considered one of the best in the business. There is vast opportunity in the US for our creative sector; like any business, planning, and connection play a key role in success. New York is home to many NZ artists, musicians, opera singers, fashion designers, performing artists, and filmmakers.

It has been a quiet start to the month as the US economy has continued to twist and turn post-pandemic recovery. However economic commentators are now offering a more positive outlook around a possible recession this year, but are still advising people to tread with caution as they plan for the year ahead.

As we see more and more airlines come back up to full capacity there has been an excellent article published in the New York Times, singing the praises of New Zealand’s South Island and in particular the wonderful food and wine on offer. This is sure to conjure up interest from Americans looking to get back out and travel this year and is of course excellent news for our tourism sector.

Gary Fortune, Kea North America Regional Director

UK and Europe

This month the headlines have been dominated by the devastating earthquakes which struck Turkey and Syria killing tens of thousands and displacing many more. The European & UK community has given aid and support to the regions and at this time we think of our New Zealand Inc Partners and those from our community who have made their homes, families and lives in Turkey and Syria, as well as our New Zealand exporting community who work closely with these markets.

Although far from home, this month we marked the signing of the Te Tiriti o Waitangi – Treaty of Waitangi. In London, the NZ Society hosted the Waitangi Day Church Service and also The Waitangi Day Charity Ball, where 300 kiwi and friends of New Zealand joined together to celebrate the strong ties between the UK and New Zealand. Newly appointed New Zealand High Commissioner HE. Phil Goff, announced the U.K. New Zealander of the Year Award, an award that recognizes the achievements of New Zealanders living and working in the United Kingdom.

Kea World Class New Zealander, Craig Fenton won the award for his outstanding career within the tech sector. Craig has been crucial in leading and shaping the operations and strategies for the organisations that he is involved with both professionally and personally. He also offers time, insights, connections and support for fellow Kiwi, Kiwi exporters and businesses, especially those that work across the U.K., Ireland and European markets.

Next month we look ahead to sharing updates on the Youth Mobility Visa schemes and the ongoing free trade ratification process. These changes will provide additional opportunities for businesses in the future and the movement of people between both nations.

Sara Fogarty, Kea UK/Europe Regional Director

China

With the Lantern Festival sealing the Chinese New Year festival season in early Feb, China is officially heading to the year with speedy force. While 2022 saw weaker than forecasted economic performance, a recorded 3% GDP growth, it is estimated that China’s GDP growth will reach 4 – 6% in the year of Rabbit, which is consistent with the pre-pandemic trend line.

With the lifting of the Zero-covid strategy, the week-long Chinese New Year break resulted in a huge domestic consumption performance. 308 million domestic tourism trips were made during this holiday period, an increase of 23.1% year-on-year. The actual number of passenger flights operated on international and regional routes during the Chinese New Year holiday was 2,048, an increase of 144.39% year-on-year. Since the National Immigration Administration of China resumed the passport approval service for Chinese nationals, overseas visa service searches have increased 300% instantly. As one the most popular travel destinations, it is estimated that New Zealand will receive a large number of Chinese tourists. Hence, the New Zealand tourism industry will boom in 2023. Yes, the Chinese consumers are back in the market!

As for New Zealand brands operating in China, there are continued trends towards buying healthy products from Covid-conscious consumers. Many kiwi companies expressed optimism for China’s economy in 2023. They expect demand for premium food and beverage products to pick up quickly. Business travel is back on the agenda for many companies as a result of China ending on-arrival quarantine in 2023.

As a Chinese saying goes：The whole year is planned for in the Spring. As the very first Chinese solar term “Spring Commences” arrived on 4 Feb, it is foreseeable that 2023 will be an exciting and refreshing year ahead.

Rebecca Bao, China Regional Director

New Zealand

This February much of the Government’s focus has been on helping those affected by adverse weather events across much of the North Island, first the flash flooding which affected many homes and businesses in Auckland and then the effects of Cyclone Gabrielle, which saw a National State of Emergency declared for only the third time in the country’s history. A range of financial measures have been announced including an initial $4 million to help farmers, growers, whenua Māori owners and rural communities mobilise and co-ordinate recovery efforts from Cyclone Gabrielle and an $11.5 million community support package. Finance Minister Grant Robertson said Cyclone Gabrielle would have a “multi-billion dollar price tag” and that the amount of new money planned for this year’s budget was being reassessed. The full extent of the effects of these two weather events will take some time to be fully understood.

This month we also saw new Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hold their first bilateral meeting in Canberra. It was the Prime Minister’s first overseas visit since he took office, and focused on cooperation and engagement in the Pacific region. New Zealand and Australia working together is of particular importance to support our joint Pacific partners that are facing a complex and growing array of challenges, including climate change and security.

In welcome news for Kiwi investors, New Zealand has been granted excepted foreign state investor status from the United States, making it easier for New Zealand investors to invest in the US and deepening ties with our third largest export partner. New Zealand joins three other nations that hold this status: Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. New Zealand firms developing critical technologies or dealing with critical infrastructure such as renewable energy will benefit the most from this status, which also makes it easier for government investment funds such as the NZ Super Fund to invest in the US in desirable areas such as green technologies.

Saya Wahrlich, Global Director, Government & Industry

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Auckland born James Gemmell says he has always loved watching Kiwis perform on the world stage and being able to tell their stories to countries that admire them. But after years fronting sport for Sky UK, he was ready for his next challenge. So when independent television production company Whisper won a six year contract to produce coverage of the Black Caps cricket for Spark Sport, James jumped at the opportunity, and along with his English wife Olivia packed up and prepared to move their two young boys to Aotearoa, in the middle of a pandemic.

“I am not sure if I ever stopped and really thought about how hard it was, bringing my whole family halfway across the world. This was mid pandemic, we had two little boys. It was by no means a stress free experience, but it was an easy decision. The pinch point was probably the two weeks in quarantine that was hard, but Olivia and I knew we were doing it all for the right reasons.”

James and his wife Olivia have recently moved their young family to Auckland.

The opportunities for James’ two sons, Teddy (3) and Toby (1) were a big part of those ‘right reasons’ and while the boys are loving their new Kiwi lifestyle, James says there is always an added pressure on parents when they relocate their children.

“It’s taken an intangible toll on Olivia and I. Our inherent concerns for our boys have been heightened in the past few months. We want to make sure they are settled, to make sure they are happy. I think the displacement and the move definitely takes a toll on parents, but it’s fantastic to see them settling in so well.”

After more than a decade on camera, James was looking to transition into the business and management side of production, and had been impressed with the growth of UK-based Whisper. Global entertainment giant Sony recently invested in the company and James says it was pure serendipity that they chose New Zealand as their first international foray.

“Whisper saw opportunity in New Zealand and decided they needed someone down here serving the business in this part of the world. They felt it would be helpful to have a Kiwi at the helm, someone who knew the country and the culture and knows how things are done here. I was lucky that I fit all those requirements.”

The content creation market has exploded in recent years, and with that has come a changing broadcast model. James says this change brings exciting opportunities to engage with tomorrow’s sports fans, particularly in a country as sports mad as New Zealand.

James returned to New Zealand to take up a role with television production company Whisper.

“There is no denying that streaming is the future, it may not be the only way that people watch their content but it will be a part of it. Seeing Spark Sport and New Zealand Cricket commit to a six year partnership shows that forward-thinking organisations here are on board with this future. I definitely think you can sense the opportunity here. In my industry in particular there is as much opportunity, if not more, than I thought there would be. it’s really exciting to see.”

Like many Kiwi returning home, it wasn’t just the work opportunities but also the lifestyle that appealed to James and his family.

“It was great that we were able to move her over summer, the weather has been great and the boys have had lots of beach time. New Zealand is a vibrant country, it’s culturally diverse, it’s a little slower paced than the bigger markets, but we are past the point where we are going out and painting the town red! We can immediately see the benefit for us and our family. I think we both appreciate that if we throw ourselves into it, this will be a wonderful experience for our family.”

Jame’s wife Olivia is a personal trainer and teacher, and is in the process of launching a fitness club specialising in connecting new Kiwi and their families, many of whom will be making a life here for the first time. The ability to establish connections is important to James who says moving home has highlighted just how much New Zealand has changed.

James two young boys are enjoying the Kiwi lifestyle

“Auckland has changed out of sight in the last thirteen years, it’s bigger, it’s bolder, it’s more outward looking. New Zealand is going through some real demographic changes at the moment and it will be so interesting and exciting to see how things evolve as more long term expats come home.”

James and his family are looking forward to the rest of the New Zealand summer, but like many Kiwi who have lived offshore, he will always think of more than one country as home.

“My heart will always be in two places, we still have our family home in the UK and who knows what the future will bring, right now we are just going to see where this journey takes us. It’s fantastic to be in Aotearoa and with our two young boys and with all that is going on in the world we are really grateful for the freedoms and excited about this next chapter.”

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