Champion happy others on board

GREAT THINGS: As an advocate for economic development, Furnware chief executive Hamish Whyte was an early champion of the brand. PHOTO/FILE

HAWKE'S BAY is open for business - with home-grown businesses championing the Great Things Grow Here brand.

While any Hawke's Bay business or organisation can now sign on to become a 'brand champion', one of its earliest supporters was Hamish Whyte, chief executive of Furnware.

"When [Hastings District Council] came to me about it I was on board," he said. "It was a no-brainer."

The entire concept of the brand, a platform to drive economic development in the region, attracted Mr Whyte. "I'm very much an advocate of economic development and this is a small way to drive that across the region. I'm very happy to be part of it."

When he first moved to the region, Mr Whyte said it was still being branded as wine country.

"I thought that really captured Hawke's Bay then, but this really encapsulates Hawke's Bay now."

Furnware is not only a brand champion - it is a case study for a "vibrant, exciting region" where businesses thrive and grow.

An image of Mr Whyte is one in a scrolling photo-feed which greets visitors to the website, from which the Furnware story is told. Videos explain 'How Furnware does business in Hastings', how their signature Bodyfurn brand was created, alongside the the history of the company.

While Furnware had not been able to use the brand's resources in marketing yet, when their new digital platform is unveiled in August, Mr Whyte said he hoped these videos, and other resources, would be on it.

The "core fundamentals" of Furnware were around people, and place, which Mr Whyte agreed aligned with the values of the Great Things Grow Here brand.

"We very much see the true value in any brand with people, and the environment you live in," he said. "From that perspective [the brand] tells a story and definitely Furnware can build around that, and utilise it."

With half the home-grown company's business now out of Hawke's Bay, Mr Whyte said with their use of the brand they could help promote the region.

"We do anything we can to promote Hawke's Bay," he said. "The fantastic thing is the whole region can use it."

The platform would help Hawke's Bay businesses as it covered all sectors, with businesses in the hospitality to horticulture industries able to use the brand's resources to promote both the region, and their own businesses, he said.

The Great Things Grow Here website, launched last Thursday, has sub-headings from horticulture and agriculture, to study, health and wellbeing. It also features links to the websites of brand champions, like Furnware.

Mr Whyte had been talking to Hastings District mayor Lawrence Yule and brand marketing adviser Sam Jackman about the brand for over a year now, and said he was "thrilled" the region's other councils had come on board.

"To my mind the brand, the councils, and the region need to work together. It's about making things happen in Hawke's Bay. Let's be proud of it and get behind it."