Business

Sandwich boards could be on the chopping block in Nelson, sparking passionate cases supporting a ban and seeking their retention. Photo: LDR/ Max Frethey Sandwich boards may seem innocuous to the average shopper, but a battle is currently being waged over their presence on Nelson's streets. Nelson City Council is debating whether it should ban the boards on the footpath as part of an update of its Urban Environments Bylaw. Businesses see the boards as tools to boost customer numbers, but for those who are blind or low vision, or have mobility issues, they can be hazards as they travel around town. Tim Babbage from Beggs Music has been a retailer in the city for 39 years and said sandwich boards are more effective than his overhead sign or window advertising at enticing ...

By Jeremy Wilkinson, Open Justice multimedia journalist, Palmerston North of The complainant purchased the house sight unseen. (File photo) Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi Did a real estate agent know gang members lived next door to the property he was selling? That's the question a tribunal considered recently after the buyer, who bought the place sight unseen, discovered who was occupying the neighbouring Kāinga Ora property. Later, she found out that the agent had even cancelled an open home for the property when he saw gang members congregating nearby for a tangi on the same morning he was to be showing people through. The eventual buyer complained to the Real Estate Authority but it decided not to investigate the matter further. The w...

Photo: RNZ Got a question about personal finance or the economy? Email it to susan.edmunds@rnz.co.nz My older sister has been telling me to switch to her Simplicity high-growth KiwiSaver. She says the returns are excellent because it's an index fund with low fees. I'm not a fan of the build-to-rent aspect of Simplicity - it seems risky to me - and I'm not sure how this fits in to their KiwiSaver scheme. My KiwiSaver is a growth fund with the ANZ Bank. I feel like it's safer having my KiwiSaver with a bank rather than a newcomer like Simplicity. But I agree with her that the lower fees are tempting, and I like the sound of an index fund. Simplicity is a lower-fee option for KiwiSaver, with a passive investment structure that means that it largely mirrors the performance of m...

There's no perfect time to open a restaurant, the owner of new Māngere Bridge cafe The Gaff says. Photo: RNZ/Nick Monro The restaurant business is a notoriously high risk venture. Mix that with the worst recession in 15 years and you'd think you have a recipe for disaster. But there are plenty of food businesses showing that you can overcome tough economic times. RNZ speaks to four owners who said bugger the recession, and opened their doors anyway. San Ray now occupies the historic building that once housed Orphan's Kitchen. Photo: Instagram / San Ray 'It's all on the line and it's utterly terrifying' - Rebecca Schmidt, owner of San Ray, Ponsonby, Auckland After a year of searching, Rebecca Schmidt and her partner found the perfect home for their new restaurant on Au...

Photo: 123RF Higher-spending households are still feeling the biggest cost-of-living squeeze, but that may change next year, one economist says. The latest household cost price indexes show a 5.4 percent increase in costs in the 12 months to June, down from as 6.2 percent increase in the 12 months to March. That is ahead of the rate of inflation as measured by the consumer price index, which was 3.3 percent in the June quarter. The household cost price indexes show how inflation affects 13 different household groups, and a key difference from the CPI is that it includes the impact of interest payments. The CPI only includes the cost of building a new home. "Mortgage interest payments remain high, and continue to make a significant contribution to living costs for many househ...

Electrical work is required to be carried out by licensed workers. Photo: 123RF Consumers are being warned to stay away from unlicensed sparkies and not attempt to DIY their own electrical work. There have been six prosecutions against unregulated electricians so far this year. While there is no specific data on fires caused by unlicensed sparkies, figures up to last month from Fire and Emergency show there have been more than 900 fires caused by electrics in homes, garages and sheds. Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment Manager of Investigations Kathryn Young told Checkpoint they are noticing a rise in would-be sparkies. "I've got some stats for the last couple of years and we've had 51 complaints in the the 2022-2023 year and 65 in the 2023-2024 year." Young s...

Nearly 40,000 townhouses have been built since 2016. Photo: Supplied Changing taste and cheaper prices for buyers and better value for developers are driving the townhouse building boom. CoreLogic's latest report shows 39,600 townhouses have been built across the country since 2016, with more than half in Auckland. It said that accounts for 45 percent of all new dwelling consents recently, compared to just 6 percent in 2012. Chief property economist Kelvin Davidson said it was hard to tell if potential buyers wanted townhouses or if that was what developers are choosing to build - or if it was a bit of both. "Society's tastes have been changing a little bit, people wanting perhaps smaller dwellings without having to worry about maintaining a big section, so that's been part...

Photo: Consumer confidence has picked up and is suggesting the worst of the economic downturn may be coming to an end. The ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence index gained five points in July to 88 points, which remained deeply pessimistic. ANZ chief economist Sharon Zollner said consumers were still doing it tough because of high costs of living and interest rates. "It's still very low, but has clawed back about half the March-April fall that coincided with 'recession' headlines. The lift was driven by improving expectations rather than the here and now." The survey's future conditions index, which asks about future prospects and expectations, was higher with 20 percent of respondents expecting to be better off next year. Consumers were also more upbeat about the economic o...

Photo: Marika Khabazi Officials have embarked on a salvage job now that a hydrogen truck building project with a US firm that had faced fraud charges in the US has gone off track. US company Hyzon has pulled out of Australia, leaving a deal to modify 20 trucks for Auckland company TR Group hanging. The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) helped fund the deal, so far putting in $2 million out of $8m of public money, and its partnership manager Richard Briggs is in meetings over other options. "Of course it's gone off track because Hyzon's closed the door," Briggs said. "So we're now working with TR to put it back on track and make sure those trucks do get on the road ... as soon as possible." Hyzon was charged in the US with misleading investors about its bu...

Ben Buchanan with this year's pumpkin harvest. Photo: Foodstuffs A bountiful crop of pumpkins this year means prices have fallen, great news for consumers but not the best for growers. StatsNZs latest data shows pumpkin prices were down 57 percent in June compared to the same month last year. Foodstuffs North Island's Head of Meat and Produce Brigit Corson said whole crown pumpkins, one of New Zealand's most popular varieties with its large size offers a huge amount of value for customers. "It's fantastic to see pumpkins back on the shelf at great prices for Kiwis, Cyclone Gabrielle wiped out a lot of the crop in 2023 and they were in short supply leading to higher-than-normal prices "This year has been the complete opposite, with amazing growing conditions delivering huge ...