Blog

Chief executive Michael Steckler said he would remain part of the company along with staff. Photo: Supplied A British software giant is set to swoop in on New Zealand tech company Tradify. UK-based Access Group will take full control of Tradify in a deal potentially worth more than $100 million, though the value has not been disclosed. The deal is subject to approval by the Overseas Investment Office. Tradify provides job management software for trade businesses and has operations in Australia, New Zealand and the UK. Chief executive Michael Steckler said the acquisition by Access - a group specialising in business management software for small and mid-sized companies - allowed it to meet its "ambitions as a company more quickly". "With us certainly [being in] the trades industry, there...

Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon Air New Zealand is cutting back capacity on three domestic routes by flying smaller planes or flying fewer times a day. This comes after Monday's announcement that the airline would cut flights between Invercargill and Wellington from January next year. It is now changing the aircraft for two routes from a 171-seat Airbus A320 jet to a 68-seat ATR-72, a reduction of 100 seats, citing a decrease in customer demand. Queenstown to Christchurch The smaller plane will be used for the first flight of the morning from Queenstown to Christchurch. It will also depart later - just before 9am. The Queenstown to Auckland jet service will be increased by two more services a week. Dunedin to Wellington Flights from Dunedin to Wellington will also now operate using the small...

By Chris Keall of Curtis Bailey - the West Auckland electrician who founded Tradify after finding he was spending too much time on admin. He owns 9% of the firm ahead of the $100m-plus deal. Photo: Supplied / New Zealand Herald Curtis Bailey, who left school for an apprenticeship at a small electrical engineering company in South Auckland, is in line for a $9 million-plus payday. UK firm The Access Group has entered an agreement to buy Tradify, the firm Bailey created in 2010 after becoming frustrated there was no app for tradies to manage and book jobs. The price is confidential, but the deal is subject to Overseas Investment Office approval, implying it sits above the regulator's $100 million threshold. The Access Group, based in the Midlands and backed by a compl...

Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone New Zealand blueberry growers have the green light to enter the South Korean market for the first time. Minister for Trade and Agriculture Todd McClay has unveiled the long-awaited duty free agreement, with the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) working behind the scenes to gain biosecurity sign off. Blueberries New Zealand chief executive Kelvin Bezuidenhout said growers expected positive spin-offs and a good deal of competition from local producers and rival southern hemisphere exporters. "We know there are good opportunities for our window," Bezuidenhout said. "There are not sufficient blueberries for them to supply their market all year so it's really up to us to exploit the opportunity we have been given." New Zealand sells about 80 percent of its ex...

Photo: RNZ A growing number of commentators are calling for the Reserve Bank to cut the official cash rate by 50 basis points next week - and for rates to come down much faster than previously predicted. Kiwibank, ASB and HSBC now say a 50 basis points cut is likely in October - and BNZ expects one in November. Westpac and ASB then expect another 50bps cut in November, and Kiwibank expects one in February. "I'm calling quite strongly for two 50s," Kiwibank chief economist Jarrod Kerr said. "Businesses and households need rates to keep falling, they need the Reserve Bank to maintain momentum. "The only way it can do that is to deliver 50 - the market has pretty much got that fully priced in now, if they don't there's going to be a spike in wholesale rates." Kiwibank chief economist Jar...