Plumbers zip up top award

By Graham Skellern
Successful bathroom and kitchen retailer Jeremy Thompson proudly collected the Tauranga Regional Business of the Year Award last night - and the first thing he thought of was his hard-working staff.
Today, Mr Thompson handed out thank you cards to his 23-strong staff at Zip Plumbing Plus Design and Trade Centre - and tucked inside was a bonus of $100 cash for each of them.
"They deserve it; they are a big part of why I'm here,'' said Mr Thompson, who started the retailing business with his wife and co-owner Karan 13 years ago in Tauranga's Second Avenue.
Their second fast-growing outlet opened at Mount Maunganui 10 years ago, first in Hewletts Rd and when the traffic got "too chaotic'' the Thompsons moved the business around the corner in to Newton St.
Clutching the sculptured winner's trophy, Mr Thompson said the win was unbelievable. "When I saw the other businesses like Seeka Kiwifruit Industries I thought no way would we be in there.
''I thought at best we might have a chance in our category because everyone has worked extremely hard to get to the point we are at,'' he said.
"We have always allowed our staff to take ownership of their work. And to be honest, we deserve it. We have set high targets and we have never let up.
It was third time lucky for Zip Plumbing Plus in the Westpac-sponsored business awards. The firm was named Small Business of the Year in 1988 and was runner-up in the Retailing category in 2001.
This time, the family company won the Retail Excellence category and went on to collect the supreme award, ahead of innovative Mount technology company, Vision Software (which has opened a branch in Sydney).
More than 500 guests attended the awards ceremony at Baycourt Theatre, moving to a huge marquee on the lawn outside for the gala dinner.
Television's Dancing With the Stars,/i> runners-up Nerida Lister and Shane Cortese compered the ceremony and did a little fling together when they entered the stage.
Zip Plumbing Plus, part of a nationwide buying group, is the only privately owned company operating in the plumbing, bathroom and kitchen retail sector in the Western Bay.
They decided not to compete head on with big stores such as Bunnings Warehouse and Mitre 10 Mega and instead added the personal touch and concentrated on superb customer service.
Their showrooms and design centres have been recognised by the national retail association as some of the best in the country. The Thompsons spent $200,000 upgrading the showroom at the Mount two years ago and another $150,000 on the new Tauranga showroom that opened six weeks ago.
The showrooms have a children's play area and a lounge with an open fire and coffee machine so customers can relax and take their time in deciding the right product for them.
"The prices are the same all around town but because of the service people feel they are getting value for money. They don't mind handing over money in an awesome shopping experience,'' said Mr Thompson.
Zip Plumbing Plus has more than doubled its staff since it first appeared at the business awards seven years ago. The company's business is shared equally between tradespeople and the public and its turnover has increased 25 per cent in each of the past five years.
Seeka, which listed on the main NZSX sharemarket in July, captured a main award: the post-harvest kiwifruit company based in Te Puke won the Manufacturing and/or Distribution category.
With total revenue of nearly $60 million, Seeka has become the country's largest kiwifruit supply company. It sorted and packed 27 per cent of the country's total production from this year's harvest. This totalled 23 million trays of green, gold and organic kiwifruit.