Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Success at business awards

Bay of Plenty Times
16 Oct, 2016 04:06 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Private Training Enterprise EmployNZ took out the top award from a strong field of finalists on Friday night at the 2016 Westpac Tauranga Business Awards.

Fisheries company Sanford won the Waikato University Management School Corporate Leadership Award, while Tauranga businessman and property developer Tom Roper won the Powerco Excellence in Business Award (see story below).

More than 400 people attended the black-tie event at ASB Arena for the awards organised by the Tauranga Chamber of Commerce, which had a new focus this year on encouraging a wider range of small- to medium-sized businesses.

"You'd be amazed at how many successful businesses we have here who operate quite nicely under the radar," said chamber chief executive Stan Gregec.

"The awards are a chance to discover who some of these are, put the spotlight on them, and give them the wider visibility and recognition they deserve. I know the judges have been tested, and there were some robust debates to pick the supreme winner."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The judges noted there was an even spread of entrants into each category this year.

"There have been a large number of entrants representing a wide range of high calibre local businesses," said head judge and financial assessor Raimarie Pointon.

"There were some very strong contenders for Westpac Tauranga Business of the Year, resulting in five finalists. All five needed to reach a 90 per cent benchmark in excellence across their business, so this is indeed an excellent sign for businesses in the Bay."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The other finalists for the top award were Modern Office & Office Furniture Warehouse, which won the Innovation Award and the Manufacturing/Logistics Award, Nurtured at Home, which won the Service Excellence Award, YOU Travel, which won the Retail Excellence (Large) Award, and Z Retail Outlets, which won the Workplace Safety award.
Other winners included Waipuna Hospice (Digital Innovation Award), Fresh One (Customer Service Award), Pacific Coast Lodge & Backpackers (Tourism and Hospitality Award), and Furnish (Retail Excellence (Small) Award. (see box for full list of winners and sponsors).

As in previous years, the judging team said it was a positive experience visiting some of the dynamic and innovative organisations operating in the region. It was a pleasure and privilege to engage with people who are passionate about their businesses, the judges said.

Overall winner EmployNZ is a Private Training Establishment established in Tauranga in 2000 with the purpose of supporting people to obtain work and meet the labour market needs of the Western Bay of Plenty.

EmployNZ delivers individualised training courses to meet client and industry needs that ultimately place their clients into employment.

The judges said they were impressed with its collaboration with industry, the high level of staff engagement supported by the management, and high client satisfaction levels across all services.

They also noted EmployNZ's diversified income streams and growth, which were achieved despite working within a traditionally capped government funding environment, and its sound financial management.

"They have strong leadership, empowerment and succession planning evident across the leadership team, meticulous knowledge and understanding of their business," the judges said.

Westpac regional manager commercial, Central North Island, congratulated the winners.

"We're sure this is a stepping stone to even greater business success. As proud supporters of local, regional and national businesses, Westpac is delighted to help with a programme that inspires organisations to strive for and celebrate success."

The Bay of Plenty Times will be profiling individual award winners over the coming week.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty TimesUpdated

Substation fault cuts power to thousands in Tauranga

11 Jul 03:01 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

Theatre stalwart's triumphant return after PTSD recovery

11 Jul 02:00 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

'Moments are priceless': Silver Ferns stars reunite for TV reality show

11 Jul 12:00 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Substation fault cuts power to thousands in Tauranga

Substation fault cuts power to thousands in Tauranga

11 Jul 03:01 AM

Power was cut to 21,529 customers at 12.30pm in Tauranga.

Theatre stalwart's triumphant return after PTSD recovery

Theatre stalwart's triumphant return after PTSD recovery

11 Jul 02:00 AM
'Moments are priceless': Silver Ferns stars reunite for TV reality show

'Moments are priceless': Silver Ferns stars reunite for TV reality show

11 Jul 12:00 AM
Home-schooled students ride 755km to Parliament for equal sports access

Home-schooled students ride 755km to Parliament for equal sports access

10 Jul 11:07 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP