PwC Herald Talks is a business series designed to give you the knowledge, insight and strategies to grow and diversify your organisation in the ever-changing landscape of New Zealand business.

These breakfast events discuss current trends in innovation, growth and changing markets around the globe. Join us and key thought leaders to connect, knowledge share, grow and engage in New Zealand business.

Growth

The journey to improve business growth or to manage unexpected growth can be difficult. As businesses grow, different opportunities and challenges present themselves which require tailored solutions. What once worked a year ago may now not be the best outcome today. Understanding, planning and overcoming potential challenges is essential for businesses to create sustainable growth.

Being aware of what is required to support business growth – legal obligations, financial and through people strategies – can lead to easier navigation of the challenges.

Takeaways:

Find out what is needed to grow, identifying the right time, what support is needed and how to plan to facilitate growth – instead of firefighting through a growth stage.

Keynote

Kirsten Taylor – Founder, Sleep Drops

Kirsten Taylor is a qualified Medical Herbalist, Nutritionist and Naturopath. After 12 years as a business owner, and running her company NZ Health Shop Ltd and 7 years as a Naturopath in clinic whilst simultaneously supporting clients, consulting, product formulating and exporting NZ natural products to Japan, Kirsten stopped everything to concentrate on her SleepDrops range which launched in July of 2009. Since then SleepDrops have experienced fantastic success; they are now in over 900 Pharmacies and Health Stores throughout NZ and as of January 2015 SleepDrops is the number one selling brand in the sleep category with the number one adults, kids and baby sleep remedies in New Zealand.

Kirsten will be sharing her story of how she took SleepDrops from a prescription only product to being the number one brand in NZ retail stores in less than 5 years. SleepDrops has 3 number one products and its rapid growth and popularity has come with the “to be expected” growing pains that most business owners can relate to.

Panellists

Diane Foreman - Entrepreneur

Before becoming the “Ice–Cream Queen,” Diane Foreman showed her entrepreneurial instinct and tenacity at a young age. She sold chicken eggs to neighbours at the age of 10 and at 13 she ran a babysitting circle where, according to a recent interview, she arranged her friends to babysit the neighbours, taking a cut for herself.

Today, Ms Foreman’s investment vehicle, Emerald Group, has interests in commercial and industrial property in Waikato and Auckland, owns boutique hotel The Emerald Inn on Auckland’s North Shore and a 50% stake in executive recruitment firm Emergent.

Emerald Group sold its ice cream manufacturing subsidiary Emerald Foods to a foreign collective for an undisclosed sum in June this year. Emerald Group bought the loss-making New Zealand Natural ice cream brand in 2005 and merged it with Emerald Foods, which already had premium brands Killinchy Gold and Movenpick in its stable.

Investment success so far has seen Ms Foreman named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2009 and made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to business in 2011. She is also a member of the invitation-only organisation Global Women and a former deputy chairwoman of the Business Roundtable.

Steve Maharey - Vice-Chancellor, Massey University

Steve Maharey is the Vice-Chancellor of Massey University. He was the Member of Parliament for Palmerston North from 1990-2008 and a Senior Cabinet Minister from 1999-2008.

His main areas of academic interest include social policy (particularly social development), education, media and cultural studies, social change and politics.

Steve is the Chair of Committee on Universities Academic Programmes, the Deputy Chair Universities NZ and the Asia NZ Foundation Board. He is also Member of the Board of the BioCommerce Centre, the Board of the Riddet Institute, FoodHQ, AgriOne Board, Massey University Foundation, the Committee for Auckland, the Territorial Force Employers Support Council, and the Board of the Manawatu Cancer Society. Steve is the Director of Massey Global Ltd and was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM) in 2008. He has contributed to eleven books and is a very frequent contributor to all forms of media.

Dan Alpe - COO and Founder of JUCY

Tourism was in Dan's blood from an early age spending many a school holiday cleaning campervans for the family campervan rental business Maui. Following school, he studied Tourism and Marketing before joining Tourism Holdings working in both New Zealand and Australia until he founded JUCY along with his brother Tim in 2001. Starting out with just 35 cars, JUCY now boasts a fleet of over 3000 cars and campervans throughout New Zealand, Australia and the USA, a chain of Hotels, a cruise business Milford Sound and sales offices in the UK and Germany.

Today JUCY have a team of 300 JUCY Crew serving over 300,000 customers annually with a focus on delivering an exceptional customer experience through next generation innovation, product development and use of technology. Dan has a passion for product design and development and works closely with their vehicle manufacturing operation JUCY by Design.

Adjudicator

Fran O'Sullivan - Editorial Director Business, NZME

Fran O'Sullivan has written a weekly column for the Business Herald since its inception in April 1997. In her early journalistic career she was a political journalist in Wellington and subsequently an investigative journalist who broke many major business stories including the first articles that led to the Winebox Inquiry in both NBR and the Sydney Morning Herald.

She has specific expertise in relation to China where she has been a frequent visitor since the late 1990s. She is a former Editor of the National Business Review; has twice been awarded Qantas Journalist of the Year and is a multiple winner of the Westpac Financial Journalism Supreme Award.

Event Format;

7:00am Registration & stand-up networking breakfast
7:35am MC Welcome
7:40am Keynote Speaker
8:05am Panel Discussion
8:30am Q&A
8:45am MC Wrap Up
9:00am End

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