Chanui owner and founder Doug Hastie was born and raised in Gisborne. This year he bought Coates & Associates and has renamed it Rochdale Advisory Group. Photo / Cody Keepa
With a reputation for turning businesses around and increasing profitability, Doug Hastie is bringing the latest in a long line of business ventures to his birthplace.
In March this year, the founder of Chanui tea company bought the Gisborne based accounting firm Coates & Associates.
The purchase is part of a bigger plan to create a network of accounting businesses across New Zealand under the name Rochdale Advisory Group.
He shared his story with the Gisborne Herald as part of NZME’s On The Up campaign, which presents stories of success, inspiration and possibilities.
Hastie now lives in Christchurch with his Japanese wife Kuniko and three children aged 18, 16 and 13.
After many years living away from his childhood hometown, he said regular visits to his accounting business there were “the icing on the cake” as he has “such fond memories of Gisborne”.
“There’s a lot of cool things happening there and great people,” he said.
He bought his first accounting practice in Christchurch in 2024, naming it Rochdale Advisory Group because it was situated on Rochdale St.
“But actually, Rochdale is a town in the UK just outside Manchester known for its free thinkers.
“We like to think of ourselves as free thinkers, so by chance we’ve come up with a great name,” he said.
Hastie attended Central School, Gisborne Intermediate and Gisborne Boys’ High School. He then studied civil engineering at the University of Auckland and used to return to Gisborne for the holidays to work on roading at the quarry for Cook Country and Gisborne City Council.
He spent many years travelling and working overseas, involved in a broad range of projects and expanding his skillset.
“After university, I travelled to South Africa to play rugby and worked on a 100km four-lane highway through the middle of South Africa.
“I then hitch-hiked up through Africa making my way to London where I worked on projects such as the Channel Tunnel, Houses of Parliament, and some housing developments, and then in France at the Temple du Peril roller coaster at Disneyland Paris.
“During this time, I came back to Gisborne and obtained my private pilot’s licence through Air Gisborne, which I used flying around Canada, including the Niagara Falls.”
When he returned to New Zealand, he worked for James Hardie building all of the Burger Kings in the country. He then completed a two-year MBA at Yale University in the US.
“While in the US, I worked in private equity as an equities trader for Goldman Sachs in New York.”
After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, he decided to return to New Zealand and set up Chanui (originally called Chai), a tea company.
“To find suppliers and understand the business, I spent a few months in Asia, visiting countries such as Japan, China, India and Sri Lanka.”
He said it was extremely tough at the beginning, and he needed to supplement his income by doing management and strategy consulting work for large corporates in New Zealand, Australia and Asia.
“Over time, Chanui grew and became a successful business, primarily driven by TV advertising with our infamous ads. We then diversified into biscuits,” Hastie said.
In 2012, he took over Syft Technologies in Christchurch, which was on the verge of bankruptcy.
“Our products were real-time mass spectrometers: extremely high-end gas sniffers, technology developed at the University of Canterbury.
“Over eight years, we grew this business from $3 million to $30m, selling to customers including Samsung, Micron, Harvard, Stanford, Ford, Dow Chemicals, Australian and Canadian customs in fields such as semiconductors, breath research, border patrol and industrial safety.”
He left this business in 2020 and after a break, set up Rochdale Advisory Group in 2024. The plan is to buy three to five more accountancy businesses in the next six months throughout New Zealand.
“Accountants provide valuable advice to their clients that can make a significant financial difference,” he said.
“Often, advice provided is reactive, based on tax compliance, but they could also offer more proactive advice as they have the advantage of seeing multiple businesses, in diverse fields and situations.
“Given my experience as a business owner, I see the value of this advice and simply having someone to talk to, as I know how lonely and hard it can be operating a business, especially in the beginning.”
He invested in Coates & Associates because of the high quality of the people.
“All businesses are about people, but accounting businesses are even more so due to the very personal relationships they have with their clients. All the people at Coates [Rochdale] are highly competent as well as being good, trustworthy people.
“Initially, we are only looking to make minor changes as it is such a good business, but over time, we will be looking to add resources to grow the business.”
His aspirations for Rochdale Advisory Group were for each practice to become “bigger than just an accounting firm but a whole business support network”.
Chanui remained the highlight of his career because it was so tough at the beginning and he learned to be innovative.
“Working with a tight budget means you have to be innovative,” he said.
“This can just be the little micro-changes you make that can be the difference between success and failure.
“The most important part of the Chanui business is obviously the quality of our tea, our brand and the relationships with our customers.”
Most of the tea is grown, processed and packaged in Sri Lanka. Chanui has a warehouse in Auckland.
Hastie said that, because a large part of the logistics was outsourced, “it has become a lot easier to run”.
When the Gisborne Herald talked to him, he was in Japan with his wife and children.
“I always wanted my kids to know they’re half Japanese, so they go to Japan at least once a year and I visit every two to three years.”
He says a typical day always starts with exercise.
“I’m an early riser and love the outdoors and sport.”
In the winter months, he spends a lot of time supporting his kids’ sports. In summer, he enjoys hiking and doing other outdoor activities with his family.
At the moment he is training for iconic multisport race the Coast to Coast, held in February. He will do it with his two oldest kids.
“It’s both exciting and scary because it was painful when I did it last time, 20 years ago, and now I’m older and heavier.
“But it’s great to get out there and just do it with the help of a big support crew.”
Hastie also mentors individuals and businesses in his free time.
“I get a lot of satisfaction helping people grow.”
