My Way: Tim Nowell-Usticke

NICHE MAN: In 2016 Tim Nowell-Usticke wants East Coast businesses to engage with business incubator and trainer The Icehouse. PHOTO/PAUL TAYLOR Publication HBT

Hawke's Bay Today is running a series of questions and answers from leading Hawke's Bay business leaders. Business editor Patrick O' Sullivan talks to WineWorks founder Tim Nowell-Usticke.

Where did it all start for you?

It all started with the satisfaction of seeing the results of a hard day's work on the sheep farm in the Hawke's Bay hills. That set me on a road towards manufacturing, and the aha moment for me, having travelled overseas, was that Hawke's Bay was a world-class area for transforming primary produce into high-value products.

What is the best advice you ever received?

The best two ways to get ahead are to either a) train yourself in a skill or trade to sell your time for as much as you can get per hour, or b) find a niche that you can become the absolute best at, that means people want to come to you for those niche products. I went for the niche of wine bottling.

What was a major breakthrough?

The major breakthrough was the day that three local wineries said that they would bottle with a new bottling company, and the bank said they therefore finance me since I had industry support.

What goals have you for your business or yourself for 2016?

To help the management team of WineWorks run things as well as they can, while keeping our team wanting to come to work, which ensures that our wine industry trusts that their high-value goods will get to market how and when they want it.
I also want the businesses of the East Coast to get to know the Icehouse business incubator and trainer that has recently set up office in the Bizhub in Napier. This will ultimately benefit not only the businesses who upskill themselves, but also Hawkes Bay as a whole.

What needs to change in Hawke's Bay for better growth?

I don't see that we need a complete and utter transformation - our strengths are food and beverage production.
The thing that would be best is that we have entrepreneurs basing themselves here to make new food and beverage brands. It is these brands that then create new markets, new products, and new jobs.
So what needs to change is that we should make ourselves more attractive for entrepreneurs to base themselves here. I believe we are doing small amounts of the right things - Jetstar, the Ruataniwha dam, Napier Port expansion, excellent winery and café culture - all of these help producers feel Hawke's Bay is a place you can do business in.