We once again kicked off the new year with our breakfast networking at Red Beach.
A huge thank you to the sponsors of our events during 2023 -
Venue: Red Beach Surf Life Saving Club, Time: 7.00 am to 8.30 am. Buffet breakfast provided
Speaker: Simon Bridges, Topic: Business in Auckland, Attendees: 43, Sponsors: NZ Sign Solutions, Bayleys Orewa and Hibiscus and Bays Local Board
An excellent morning with an ample buffet breakfast. Simon Bridges spoke well on the trials, tribulations and expectations of businesses in the Auckland region. Whilst there are a lot of pressures on businesses from interest rate rises, the rise in the minimum wage, continual recovery from Covid, the rising cost of living and issues with staffing and immigration Simon believes there is still some positivity in the market. He is working with both the current government and opposition parties to ensure he lobbies for support for Auckland businesses. Simon spoke well and fielded a few questions before everyone enjoyed some more networking and then heading off to work.
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Venue: India Village, Manly Village, Time: 3.30 pm to 5.00 pm, Attendees: 11 attendees, 5 apologies. Our last town centre meet up had been back in 2021 and a lot has changed in business since that time.
Along with presentations from Hibiscus Coast Zero Waste and BW we also talked about plans around -
Manly Fire Brigade had hoped to also present on safety points for businesses but were unable to attend at the last minute. Notes were subsequently distributed to 16 contacts with emails around the Village area and a small sub-committee was also subsequently formed to start some Manly Village incentives which included later in the year both a Village brochure and a Family Fun Day event.
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Venue: Mainsail Restaurant, Gulf Harbour Village, Time: 3.30 pm to 5.00 pm, Attendees: 13 attendees, 5 apologies
Along with presentations from Hibiscus Coast Zero Waste and Manly Fire Brigade, BW again talked about plans around -
Notes were subsequently distributed to 93 contacts with emails around Gulf Harbour district so a good reach. No sub-committee was formed however Gulf Harbour did become one of the venues for our Giant Family Fun Days later in the year.
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Venue: The Archer, New World Shops, Time: 4.30 pm to 6.00 pm, Attendees: 8 attendees, 1 apology
Along with presentations from Hibiscus Coast Zero Waste and Manly Fire Brigade BW again talked about plans around -
Whilst this was a low turn out a couple of excellent outcomes came from this including The Avenue Hair Salon and NZ Sign Solutions both becoming part of the Zero Waste Green Scheme project.
Notes were also subsequently distributed to 63 contacts with emails around the New World district of Stanmore stretching from Viponds Road to just past Arklow Lane.
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Venue: The Beer Spot, Coast Plaza, Time: 5.30 pm to 7.30 pm, Speaker: Lester Haycock, Topic: Pearls of Wisdom
Attendees: 23 (a lot of apologies through illness - winter and Covid was rearing it's ugly head for many)
Despite the low turnout Lester was an excellent speaker. He told us a little about his life and experiences which include being founder of many, many large companies that are all still operating today under various ownerships. It was a very enjoyable evening and Lester gave us lots of wonderful "Pearls of Wisdom".
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Business Whangaparaoa organised a Business Continuity Workshop alongside EMA.
The workshop was designed to support Auckland small businesses to prepare a Business Continuity Plan to build their resilience, giving them the necessary skills and confidence to prepare for future disruptive events. We had a small turnout but those who attended felt it was of very good value.
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Venue: Paraoa Brewing Co, Time: 4.30 pm to 6.00 pm, Attendees: 14 attendees
Along with presentations again from Hibiscus Coast Zero Waste and Manly Fire Brigade BW talked about plans around -
At this event we also had a presentation by Jug from the Whangaparaoa Community Patrol who assist police along the Peninsula and support local businesses with their regular patrols both day and night.
Notes were subsequently distributed to 64 contacts with emails around the Coast Plaza district of Stanmore stretching from shops at Thai Windows and Midway Carpets. This was a dynamic get together with a lot of enthusiasm.
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Venue: Spice & Soda, Karepiro Drive, Time: 4.30 pm to 6.00 pm, Attendees: 14 attendees
Along with presentations from Hibiscus Coast Zero Waste and Manly Fire Brigade, BW again talked about plans around -
This was one of our most dynamic events. Even though it was a small turn out from this subsequently a sub-committee was formed and Karepiro became our first venue for a Giant Family Fun Day and District brochure.
Notes were subsequently distributed to 55 contacts with emails around the Karepiro district of Stanmore and the database has also now expanded.
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Once again we enjoyed an evening of nibbles, drinks and casual networking at The Beer Spot. We had a good turn out and steady flow of people coming in including some new people.
The event was open to all local business owners but Members are entitled to discounted drinks.
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In conjunction with the O Mahurangi Penlink team, Business Whangaparaoa presented an opportunity for local business owners to find out more about how the project is presenting, full details and also an opportunity to drive the route in the Penlink simulator!
This was held in the Pohutukawa Room at Whangaparaoa Library and we had 17 attendees including the Penlink team. A further 10 were registered but were apologies or didn't arrive.
The meeting was very successful with many questions answered and a very good presentation. The driving simulator also had more detailed information boards which a number of people had a drive also plus the simulator attracted a curious member of the public!
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Ross runs his business, Growing Organisations, and showed us his skills and knowledge from helping support small business owners. Ross had 3 main points for us to take away –
Ross was an entertaining and informative speaker. The event was sponsored by iLender and Hibiscus and Bays Local Board.
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We held a very successful Meet the Candidates event on Sunday 27 August. With almost all of the candidates standing for Whangaparaoa in the upcoming General Election we had a good crowd of almost 100 attendees.
The event was MC'd by John Davies who did a good job and timing from Sarah. The event was at Manly Bowling Club and we self-catered with the bar also open after the event.
It was once again a very successful afternoon.
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Business Whangaparaoa held our first Giant Family Fun Day at Karepiro Drive (car park outside The Salvation Army Family Store) on Saturday 14 October from 11 am to 2 pm. We had good weather, no rain, although it was a little windy but it was a warm wind.
Turnout would have been estimated at over 500 or so with lots of kids. Popcorn, candyfloss and the sausage sizzle were very popular with continual lines at each. The bouncy castle was also a big and popular feature. There was also free lollies and chips handed out.
We provided a number of Giant games including 2 x noughts and crosses, jenga, connect 4, snakes and ladders, draughts and 12 x space hoppers. All games were popular throughout the event. These games had been provided for placemaking community use by Auckland Council in 2022 to Destination Orewa and Business Whangaparaoa.
One of the key purposes of the event was to drive more people up Karepiro Drive, many of whom would usually just drive past, and showcase the large number of businesses in the district and encourage locals to stay local and use these businesses. All businesses in the area were encouraged to come along and were welcome to hand out any cards/brochures if they wished. We also had our brochures for the District ready and handed out.
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Business Whangaparaoa held our second Giant Family Fun Day at Manly Village top carpark on Saturday 04 November from 11 am to 2 pm. Once again, we had good weather and it was quite hot.
Turnout would have again been in the region of 500-600 or so with lots of kids. Popcorn and candyfloss were very popular with continual lines at each. We didn’t have a sausage sizzle at this one as the idea was to encourage people to go to the cafes in the Village and they all did seem to have very brisk trade for the day. The bouncy castle again was also a big and popular feature.
And once again, there was also free lollies and chips handed out. We provided our games again.
Business Whangaparaoa also had available brochures promoting all the businesses located in Manly Village. Again, one of the key purposes of the event was to drive more people into Manly Village and to support the local businesses. Manly Village is already a popular destination but there are some businesses new or hidden away it is good to be able to highlight. All businesses in the area were, once again, encouraged to come along and were welcome to hand out any cards/brochures if they wished.
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To many business owners get consumed by the ‘busyness of business’, not enough time, not enough resource and not enough growth. In this session I will guide you back to why you got into business, how you can find that time that seems to go missing every day, reignite your passion for being in business and how to get it working for you in the next 90 days. All by being selfish about what you really want from life.
Grant spoke well. He got us to visualise what it is we really want in life and out of our business. It’s important not to be a slave to your business but for it to be working for you and also gave us tips on changing our mindset. A good way to end the year and head into the holiday break with some food for thought.
Simplicity + Purpose (Action) = Outcome
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Over 2023 Business Whangaparaoa and Hibiscus Coast Zero Waste worked collaboratively in –
Event Evening
Green Scheme Showcase & Awards – A Celebration of Local Sustainable Business, Venue: Manly Bowling Club, Time: 5.30 pm to 7.30 pm, Sponsors: Auckland Council, No of attendees: 24, Event cost: Free
We enjoyed an evening of networking, celebration, good food and drinks!
We celebrated some of our small Coastie businesses who are already taking some actions in their bid to help with climate change issues along with presentations about information and business solutions we have found along the way. We awarded Green Scheme Certificates to local businesses taking climate action, showcasing their work and providing information about how other attendees can get involved as well as providing information for our general community and households to be doing their thing too.
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Business Whangaparaoa held our third Giant Family Fun Day at Gulf Harbour, running alongside Vine Church Carols on the Canal event, on Saturday 02 December from 11 am to 2 pm. Once again, we had good weather and it was hot although the breeze from the canal helped but did hinder the games later in the day. .
Turnout was much higher than our last two events being combined with an already established event and estimates would be in the region of 2,000+ over the day. All our usual elements were popular in particular the games and just added to the atmosphere of the Christmas event and again free lollies and chips handed out and Santa was a bit hit coming up the canal on the Hibiscus Coastguard boat.
Business Whangaparaoa did not manage to organise a sub-committee for the area and therefore no extra promotions were available for local busineess.
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Once again we held our annual Christmas drinks and networking which was again very successful with a good turnout of approx. 18 coming and going and some good food from Paraoa Brewing.
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Monthly meeting of the Business Whangaparaoa Executive Committee. Held on the second Thursday of each month in the side room at The Archer from 4.30 pm to 6.00 pm If […]
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