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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...

ChargeNet operates more than 400 charging stations nationwide. Photo: AFP Power company Genesis Energy is planning to pump money into ChargeNet to speed up the growth of its nationwide electric vehicle charging network. Genesis has taken a 65 percent stake in the network for $64 million, as it looks for new income sources. ChargeNet operates more than 400 public fast-charging points across the country and chief executive Danusia Wypych said the new deal will help build more ports faster. "The Genesis investment gives us core investment into our site delivery program. So. putting more chargers in the ground. If I look back on a 12 month period under our current program, I'd be putting in maybe up to 150 charge points with the Genesis investment I can put in over 270 charge points per ann...