Business Press Releases

An initial earthquake assistance package has been announced for Christchurch businesses and workers. The six week package consists of an Earthquake Support Subsidy to help employers pay wages, and an Earthquake Job Loss Cover to support employees whose jobs are no longer viable.

BBX New Zealand, a leading business-to-business barter community, is providing a conversion mechanism that helps businesses around the country contribute to the reconstruction of Christchurch. Donated goods and services will be traded for barter credits that will then be used to buy things that Christchurch companies specifically need to get back on their feet.

CEOs of 50 leading New Zealand companies today developed a Steering Group to co-ordinate private sector support for Christchurch following this week’s devastating earthquake. The members of BusinessNZ’s Major Companies Group CEO Forum were briefed by Prime Minister John Key, Finance Minister Bill English and Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee at a meeting in Auckland this afternoon.

Inland Revenue will take account of the impact of this week’s huge Christchurch earthquake when dealing with the tax matters of individuals and businesses affected, Revenue Minister Peter Dunne said today.

HiredGuns, a new Internet service for small-to-medium sized New Zealand businesses will help business owners find the experts and skilled professionals they need to stay ahead of their competition.

Overall activity in the service sector for the first month of 2011 displayed a fairly lacklustre beginning, while the newly established Combined Index shows a similar pattern to the end of 2010, according to the BNZ – BusinessNZ Performance of Services Index (PSI).

Minister of Labour Kate Wilkinson has welcomed new research showing trial periods had a positive impact on job numbers for small employers at a time of rising unemployment.

Enterprise Lake Taupō, Taupō District Council and Occam Consulting are providing the opportunity for local companies interested in doing business with the Chinese, to attend a workshop to get ideas on how to create business opportunities in this swiftly developing country.

NZ Department of Internal Affairs chooses Triquestra’s Infinity POS and Corporate Performance Management systems for public service transaction efficiency.

The unauthorised use of Telecom customer details is being investigated by the Privacy Commissioner’s Office. “We are talking to Telecom about how their customer data came into the hands of a competitor’s marketing contractor” said Assistant Privacy Commissioner, Katrine Evans.

Telecom has advised that it will announce a revised timeframe for the structural separation of its business, upon entering into a contractual arrangement with Crown Fibre Holdings for the Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) project.

Risk adverse New Zealand retailers are losing large amounts of online sales by not including Ratings & Reviews on their online shopping websites – 65% of consumers have indicated they are more like to purchase from a website if it has product Ratings & Reviews. Research by New Zealand ecommerce company Solutionists shows that even though most reviews are positive, even negative reviews can help improve sales and conversion rates.

Conceived and birthed in the Waikato town of Cambridge, mahu Mother and Baby skincare has gone from on-line to securing distribution of mahu baby to Countdown, Woolworths and Foodtown supermarkets New Zealand wide, to becoming nominated in four categories in the inaugural OhBaby! New Zealand Awards for creating outstanding pregnancy and baby products!

One of the world’s oldest and most revered walking tracks in Europe is now available to pilgrims in the form of 3D map technology.

Pivot Software has released “(DON’T) Show me the Money” highlighting the new reality of managing remuneration decisions.

The redevelopment of Auckland’s waterfront will generate $4.29 billion to the region by 2040, according to a report released today by the Minister of Transport, Hon Steven Joyce.

Made4Baby is excited to announce that 3 products in the Made4Baby range have been nominated in the OhBaby! 2010 Awards. These Awards relate to the best products and services in the pregnancy and baby market.

Rugby World Cup Limited has announced the appointment of Land Rover as an Official Sponsor of Rugby World Cup 2011 in New Zealand and a top-level Worldwide Partner of Rugby World Cup 2015 in England. As part of the deal for RWC 2011 and RWC 2015, Land Rover will supply vehicles to support the organisers, teams and officials. It is the first time that the leading car manufacturer has been involved with Rugby’s showcase tournament.

A Lower Hutt company has been fined $24,000 and ordered to pay reparation of $8,000 after a worker was seriously injured because the machine he was working on wasn’t adequately guarded.

The hugely popular Telecom Tree will again bring some Christmas sparkle to Aucklanders, with opening night scheduled for the evening of Saturday 27 November. Telecom is encouraging visitors to the Telecom Tree to bring gifts for children who will go without this Christmas. The gifts will be distributed around the country by Women’s Refuge – the official charity of the Telecom Tree – for the children to open on Christmas Day.