NZME business breakfast set to ‘wow’ business minds

NZME business breakfast set to ‘wow’ business minds

PwC Herald Talks – Growth

The last business breakfast event for the year is set to ‘wow’ business minds, as four of the country’s top business leaders take centre stage at SKYCITY Theatre on 09th December to discuss the topic Growth.

PwC Herald Talks has seen much success after launching earlier this year its inaugural breakfast series developed by New Zealand Media and Entertainment (NZME). These events are designed to share the inside stories of New Zealand’s business leaders as they grow and diversify in the ever-changing landscape facing them.

Fran O'Sullivan, NZME’s Editorial Director Business, is confident the topic Growth will be interesting to all New Zealand business owners.

“Our economy is constantly changing and New Zealand businesses need to learn to adapt their business models to survive and thrive. The journey to improve business growth or to manage unexpected growth can be difficult. The speed and reactivity to ongoing change, is critical for success and this talk will provide a great opportunity for Kiwi business owners and management teams to learn about practical solutions that can be implemented to improve business performance no matter what size of business you have. That’s what makes these talks so appealing.”

Keynote speaker Kirsten Taylor, founder of SleepDrops is more versed than most in the challenges of a fast growing business. As a single working mum, Taylor has taken SleepDrops from a prescription only product to being the number one brand in New Zealand retail stores in less than five years. SleepDrops has three number one products and its rapid growth and popularity has come with the “to be expected” growing pains which most business owners can relate too.

“The online growth solution was important as I had to prove to myself that the products would still work even if I wasn’t there telling people what to do and how to use them. It was also a good way to start to build brand awareness on a shoe string budget and ascertain how many customers would come back.”

A panel discussion on Growth will round-off the event featuring entrepreneur Diane Foreman, Dan Alpe, Chief Operating Officer JUCY Group Ltd and Steve Maharey, Vice-Chancellor at Massey University. NZME’s Fran O’Sullivan is the adjudicator.

Foreman known as the “Ice–Cream Queen,” was named Earnst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2009 and made a Companion to the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to business in 2011.

Today, Ms Foreman’s investment vehicle, Emerald Group, has interests in commercial and industrial property in Waikato and Auckland, owns boutique hotel The Emerald Inn on Auckland’s North Shore and a 50% stake in executive recruitment firm Emergent. Today, New Zealand Natural’s Auckland factory produces nearly all of the ice cream for the company’s franchised network of more than 650 branded outlets in 33 countries.

Maharey is currently the Vice-Chancellor for Massey University, but many will be more familiar for his time as Member of Parliament for Palmerston North and a Senior Minister in the New Zealand Government. His portfolios included Education, Tertiary Education, Social Development, Research Science and Technology, Employment, Housing, Child Youth and Family and Broadcasting.

Alpe founded JUCY with his brother Tim in 2001. Starting out with just 35 cars, JUCY now boasts a fleet of over 3000 cars and campervans throughout New Zealand, Australia and the USA, a chain of Hotels, a cruise business Milford Sound and sales offices in the UK and Germany.

Today JUCY have a team of 300 JUCY Crew serving over 300,000 customers annually with a focus on delivering an exceptional customer experience through next generation innovation, product development and use of technology.

NZME Chief Executive, Jane Hastings says the company is thrilled with the success of the breakfast series and expects the discussion on Growth to be as equally well received by the business community.

“The motivation behind this business series is to provide an opportunity for key business professionals to share their stories and inspire innovation. Our goal is for everyone to walk away with ideas to leverage in their own business and the positive feedback confirms this is the case.”

PwC Chief Executive Officer Bruce Hassall says, "We are very proud to be involved with the PwC Herald talks series and the upcoming event focusing on growth is front of mind for all New Zealand businesses. The topics throughout the series have been designed to assist businesses tackle challenges we are all experiencing in this rapidly changing business environment, and align directly with what we at PwC are helping our clients with, ensuring New Zealand businesses are fit for growth and equipped with the best knowledge and insights available in the market."

The PwC Herald Talks series are brought to you by the New Zealand Herald, PwC, Newstalk ZB and event partners SKYCITY and Kea.

ends

© Scoop Media