Brenda Newth

Hawke's Bay

Freelance Writer at Bay Buzz

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baybuzz.co.nz

Articles

What the doctor ordered?

1 month ago | baybuzz.co.nz | Brenda Newth

[As published in May/June BayBuzz magazine.]Hospital waiting lists are in the news, with Health Minister Simeon Brown choosing to outsource more elective surgeries to private hospitals in a bid to reduce waiting lists. How does this play out in Hawke’s Bay’s health sector? Who are the players, and what are they doing? Is outsourcing good, or does it create problems?
Ready, set, grow?

Mar 20, 2025 | baybuzz.co.nz | Brenda Newth

[As published n March/April BayBuzz magazine.]Last year, New Zealand came top of the world’s developed countries for all the wrong reasons, recording the largest contraction of GDP. One local media outlet used the term ‘GDP-ocalypse’ to describe the 2 percent shrink in our economy that happened in 2024. Our economy has been doing it tough. Business confidence has been increasing since the middle of last year, off the back of cuts to the official cash rate.
Big ideas for HB – Part 1 | BayBuzz

Jan 22, 2025 | baybuzz.co.nz | Brenda Newth

[As published in January/February BayBuzz magazine.]Hamish WhiteCEO, NowSolar, service and SaaSLocal telco CEO Hamish White doesn’t have just one big idea, he has three. His vision for Hawke’s Bay 50 years into the future is a region with a markedly different and much bigger economy. We’re still earning export dollars from tourism and the primary sector but have developed significant new industries that are infinitely scalable.
Matters of import

Dec 3, 2024 | baybuzz.co.nz | Brenda Newth

[As published in November/December BayBuzz magazine.]In the previous issue of BayBuzz, we profiled non-primary produce exporters. In this article we look at two Hawke’s Bay importers, and the import business of Napier Port. David Kriel, Napier Port’s General Manager Commercial, says that Napier Port is an export-focussed port.
Hawke’s Bay exports that?

Sep 24, 2024 | baybuzz.co.nz | Brenda Newth

[As published in September/October BayBuzz.]When you think about Hawke’s Bay exports, apples, logs, wine and meat spring to mind. But there’s a whole lot more to our exports than just primary production. In this article we meet four lesser known Hawke’s Bay and East Coast exporters, all finalists in the recent Export NZ ASB Hawke’s Bay Export Awards.
WineWorks: adding value sustainably

Jul 25, 2024 | baybuzz.co.nz | Brenda Newth

[As published in July/August Baybuzz magazine.]WineWorks has an impressive sustainability story to tell. But unlike the first company covered in our sustainable companies series – Napier Port – WineWorks doesn’t have a high profile with the general public. In fact, WineWorks might be one of the biggest companies in Hawke’s Bay that no-one has ever heard of.
Sustainable progress at Napier Port

May 28, 2024 | baybuzz.co.nz | Brenda Newth

[As published in May/June BayBuzz magazine.]Three years ago Napier Port launched its sustainability strategy. At the time, BayBuzz described the initiative as setting a high bar for all commercial and public institutions in the region. In this article we catch up on progress and some of the key initiatives.
Unison: A century in the making

May 14, 2024 | baybuzz.co.nz | Brenda Newth

[As published in May/June BayBuzz magazine.]In 1924 the founders of Hawke’s Bay Electric Power Board could not have imagined what their fledgling utility company would become. One hundred years on, Unison is a successful, respected specialist electricity group, with a footprint and reputation that extends far beyond Hawke’s Bay.
Green shoots of recovery

Mar 28, 2024 | baybuzz.co.nz | Brenda Newth

[As published in March/April BayBuzz magazine.]Twelve months on from the cyclone, BayBuzz takes a look at some of our key sectors – how they are doing, and the challenges faced. TourismTourism is the number three industry earner for Hawke’s Bay, accounting for one in ten jobs, and prior to the cyclone generating $1.3 billion in direct and indirect value. The cyclone led to massive cancellations across accommodation, attractions and activities.
Hawke’s Bay’s mystery businesses … Part 1

Jan 25, 2024 | baybuzz.co.nz | Brenda Newth

Our region hosts some very familiar companies – Bostock, Rockit Apple, WineWorks, Now, Furnware, Unison, Yummyfruit, Pan Pac. But for every one of those, a host of remarkable – but largely unknown – others are beavering away, some proven, some at the exciting starting gate. All evidence of Hawke’s Bay’s full business depth and potential. Here are some lesser-knowns, profiled by Brenda Newth.