Chris Peppercorn with his son: wants to return from the UK. Photo / supplied
Chris Peppercorn with his son: wants to return from the UK. Photo / supplied
A New Zealander stuck in Britain and unable to win an MIQ lottery place has been trying for months to return to Northland to establish his business there.
Chris and Emma Peppercorn, who own the Koru Clinic in Weston-super-Mare, said he and his wife wanted to open in Whangārei.
Butthe MIQ system, with so few rooms in each lottery, had defeated them and this week's try left the couple and their young son, Kacey, disheartened and holding out little hope of getting back.
"We are laser practitioners with a clinic and new training programme for people wanting to enter the laser aesthetics industry, specialising in laser tattoo removal, laser hair removal and around another 16 treatments," Chris Peppercorn said.
"We have had our business for seven years and want to move all our machinery and treatments with us to set up in New Zealand. We were hoping to launch our business in Whangārei in April," he said today.
Facebook, Instagram and website pages were almost ready to go for KJ Beauty & Aesthetics in Northland.
But the MIQ lottery has left them stuck and plans to return meant some existing business vanishing, making things worse.
Nearly 11,000 people queued online yesterday for MIQ spots but most left disappointed.
Thursday's lottery was the busiest since November, as officials grappled with how to address the threat of a Covid-19 Omicron variant outbreak, and there was three times as much interest as the previous one on December 16.
After the lottery concluded, acting deputy secretary of Managed Isolation and Quarantine Andrew Milne acknowledged the frustration.
Chris Peppercorn was left feeling defeated, with all of his family's plans up in the air due to shut borders.
"We have had at least half of our clients move to other clinics to continue their treatments because we told them we were closing and leaving the UK. We have even closed down our website," Peppercorn said.
They left New Zealand in 2012 but want to live in Northland where his family all live, where they once lived, and where they got married before moving to the UK.
"We started entering MIQ back in August. We were allocated queue numbers over 12,000 for the first few we entered, I think one room release we were allocated around the 4500 mark but that has been the closest we [have been] in the queue."
Last June, before they knew about MIQ, they booked and paid for flights on January 11.
Peppercorn wants to get into a New Zealand MIQ hotel. Photo / Michael Craig
Then they found out about MIQ and continued to try each week to get a room.
"Each week we were getting more disheartened but then came the announcement in November that we were going to be allowed to enter from Valentine's Day, 2022.
"What a great day that was. I called up our airline to change our flights, contacted our shipping company and paid for our shipping. Finally, we were coming home to be with my parents, sister and nieces again after being away for over nine years," Peppercorn said, telling how his mother had just had a knee replacement.
"We had everything sorted and organised. We told our clients, suppliers and handed in the notice to our landlords for the business and our house," he said.
Then in December they were crushed by border delays with no new dates.
"I had to call the shipping company to delay our date for pickup, our airline to say we were having to change again," he said.
Kiwis stuck in Britain like the Peppercorns are not the only unlucky ones.
The rise of the highly infectious Omicron variant in many countries, including Australia, has resulted in the Government delaying plans for a self-isolation pathway from Australia, which had been set to begin January 16.
Addressing the Australia issue yesterday, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment indicated that there will be more MIQ rooms available for March and April that will be released at a future date.
The next voucher release is set for January 20, but officials haven't yet released details of what it will entail.
