Website among NZ's best

FRIGHTENING SUCCESS: Greg Miller (left) and James Alder of Bookme.co.nz clutching their NZ Deloitte Fast 50 success while poking fun at the notion that Whangarei was a zombie town. PHOTOS/DAVID MACKAY

A Whangarei-based web company has been ranked 20th in the NZ Deloitte Fast 50 for its furious growth in the last 12 months.

Adventure and tourism activity booking website, Bookme.co.nz, was awarded the ranking after a 345 per cent growth in the last 12 months.

CEO James Alder, who operates from his Ocean Beach home in Whangarei Heads, said he moved from Queenstown for the lifestyle and as his partner's family are from here. He also wanted to open up more business opportunities with Northland and Auckland operators.

"With my job, I travel a fair bit, whether driving to Rotorua or flying to Oz. I don't find the driving a problem."

He said he doesn't get to surf as often as he would like, but family time had better quality thanks to what the region offered.

"I take my 3 year-old to Urquharts Bay and we can get right in there and look for crabs. I can maximise the time I have with my family," he said.

The site was launched by the surf-loving Gisborne man in 2010, as a "shoestring start-up".

"I don't see why more companies cannot work from Northland like we do," he said, adding that six of the dozen Bookme.co.nz team work remotely in Whangarei.

He said "zombie towns" could compete with larger, urban areas for tech-based companies.

Mr Alder said his team did not have ultra-fast broadband and was still booming, but the site would require that band boost as it continued to grow.