Business

Northport. Photo: Supplied Fletcher Building is warning its coming year's earnings will be hit by $10-$30 million because of problems with the ship transporting its cement around the North Island. The company said the Marine Vessel Aotearoa Chief (MVAC), owned and operated by a third-party provider, has mechanical problems and is stuck at Northport at Whangārei. The vessel carries cement from Fletcher Building's Portland plant near Whangārei to outlets around the North Island. Fletcher Building said the vessel was being inspected and repairs being made, although it was not known how long that would take, and in the meantime it was looking at greater use of rail and road, as well as coastal barging. "Our key priority is maintaining the supply chain and this is being actively worked throu...

A new experimental vineyard will be opened in Marlborough on Friday. Photo: RNZ / Samantha Gee A new experimental vineyard in Marlborough has been established to allow for more research into wine production - by controlling the environment in which grape vines are grown. The facility is the newest addition to the New Zealand Wine Centre. It is a large greenhouse that will soon be home to almost 50 grape vines. Plant & Food Research's viticulture and oenology science group leader Damian Martin said grape vines had long been studied, but the experimental vineyard, a living lab, would allow scientists to gain insights into what happened beneath the ground. "They are essentially vines growing in very large pots, so there's about two cubic metres of soil in each pot and they weigh about ...

A recent Reserve Bank survey found only 43 percent of us still are still using cash regularly. Photo: 123RF The bungled Crowdstrike software update that caused the recent global IT outage has revived calls for society to stop prioritising plastic cards over paper money and coins. A recent Reserve Bank survey found only 43 percent of us still are still using cash regularly. Roughly 3.5 percent said they never carry cash, and about the same number said they use it a lot. Eighty percent use debit cards, and would have run into problems earlier this month when much of the world's computer network was sent into disarray. Retailers reported angry and aggressive customers taking it out on blameless retail staff. Frances Cook, financial journalist and author of books Your Money, Your Future an...

It was important to tailor your CV for the role, personalise your cover letter and proof read them, Lee Marshall said. Photo: 123rf Job application numbers are at record levels, and recruiters say they are dealing with hundreds of applicants for some roles. So what can you do to stand out in a crowded employment market? RNZ asked the experts. Don't apply for everything and anything Shannon Barlow, managing director of Frog Recruitment, said people needed to be selective in what they applied for. "Recruitment agencies and a lot of businesses use applicant tracking systems so can see your application history. If you're applying for anything and everything they might overlook your application, even if you have relevant experience for the job. A bit like the boy who cried wolf, but rather t...

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 people into hi...

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 woman has since appealed that d...

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 markets rather...

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 Auckland's Pons...

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 households," consum...

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 said they had ...