Matt Cowley, CEO of the Tauranga Chamber of Commerce, is delighted to announce the winners of the Westpac Tauranga Business Awards 2019. This year saw increased numbers of entrants, and a very high standard making the selection of winners and finalists a very challenging prospect for the judges, but one that bodes well for business in the Bay.

Head Judge Andrew Hitchfield, speaking on behalf of the judges said, “Going into people’s business across the Bay and seeing the way they are conducting business is very rewarding.  There was a higher quality of innovation showcased in various forms, some making business easier to do, others with new and interesting products, services and business models.  Another aspect was the younger business people doing business differently, and standing out with their passion and ambition.”

The strength of the Awards sits with the high calibre of judges who all put in hours of time and expertise to visit each entrant. Their feedback on their assessment is regarded as one of the strong benefits to entering the awards.

The Chamber of Commerce thanks all their amazing sponsors for supporting excellence in business in the business community, and congratulates all the entrants in the Westpac Business of the Year.

ACC Workplace

• Winner: EastPack Ltd
• Finalist: Lysaght Consultants Ltd
• Finalist: Tika Interiors

Digital & Technology Innovation

• Winner: Proppy
• Finalists: EastPack Ltd
• Finalists: The Babysitters Club Ltd

Business Innovation

• Winner EastPack Ltd
• Finalist: House of Science NZ
• Finalist: Lysaght Consultants Ltd
• Finalist: The Babysitters Club Ltd

Customer Experience Award

• Winner: Bake Shack
• Highly Commended: LL WEDDING & EVENT HIRE
• Finalist: Eagle Ridge
• Finalist: The Relocatable House Company

Social Enterprise

• Winner: Acorn Foundation
• Highly Commended: Tauranga Volunteer Coastguard
• Finalist: House of Science NZ

Retail Excellence

• Winner: Fashion Island
• Finalist: Bake Shack

Sustainable Business

• Winner: The Kollective – TK
• Highly Commended: Why Waste

Emerging Business

• Winner: Collab Digital
• Finalist: Liv Light
• Finalist: The Babysitters Club

Service Excellence

• Winner: Liz van Wellie Aquatics
• Highly Commended: LL Wedding & Event Hire
• Finalist: The Babysitters Club Ltd
• Finalist: Bureta Physiotherapy
• Finalist: The Relocatable House Company

Tourism & Hospitality

• Winner: Good Local Pyes Pa
• Finalist: Manaaki Tours
• Finalist: Eagle Ridge

Manufacturing & Distribution

• Winner: EastPack Ltd
• Finalist: Bake Shack
• Finalist: Archway Group

Corporate Sponsorship

• Winner: Wave Agency
• Finalist: Trustpower

Corporate Leadership

• Winner: RoboticsPlus

Westpac Tauranga Business of the Year 2019

• Winner: EastPack Ltd

This year’s Westpac Business of the Year is EastPack Ltd, who also won a number of awards, including ACC Workplace Safety, Business Innovation Award and the Manufacturing and Distribution. All the judges who judged EastPack were really impressed with the overall way EastPack do business, how they amalgamated with Satara and knew they needed to make huge changes within their business and they did using all the innovation they could to make them business leaders in their field.

EastPacks journey to change their health and safety culture over the last few years is something the judge could not look past. They did not demonstrate mere compliance, but that they are a leader within their industry. Of the many things they have implemented it includes some technology solutions to eliminate people and forklift interaction risk by use of stacking robot and an automated storage and retrieval warehouse system, improved forklift training and assessment process and investigating new areas of risk that has not previously been considered such as conducting research into the combustibility of gold kiwifruit dust.

They have made significant reductions in discomfort pain and injury (DPI) to their workers by have a dedicated FTE over their peak season to work on this industry wide issue, and improving awareness amongst staff with training, two hourly worker checks and decals and signage throughout with DPI messages in multiple languages.

This could not be achieved if they had not worked with all levels of the business, giving them the training and confidence to be empowered to make and be involved in health and safety decisions.

“The Westpac Tauranga Business Awards have always been about taking time out to acknowledge business excellence – this is about recognising the smartest, strongest and most sustainable businesses in the community.  Congratulations to the 2019 Westpac Tauranga Business Awards winners – we’re sure this is a stepping stone to even greater business success,” says Clare Basire, Area Commercial Manager.

Salina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan PhotographySalina Galvan Photography