Pan Pac Supreme Award winners, Vet Services Hawke's Bay |
Toitoi’s newly reopened Assembly Ballroom at the Municipal Building in Hastings was the perfect backdrop for the eagerly anticipated Pan Pac Hawke’s Bay Business Awards Celebration Dinner.
The awards are presented annually by the Hawke’s Bay Chamber of Commerce and celebrate resilience, community connections, innovation, tourism, leadership, emerging business, and sustainability.
Styled by award-winning local event stylist Suzanne Beaumont from Miss Frou Frou, the venue shone with beautiful, well-considered décor fit for the celebratory nature of the evening.
Young Enterprise East Coast Company of the Year for 2022, Pūkare Cards, pitched their teaching and well-being tool designed to encourage discussions around feelings and emotions. These amazing rangatahi from Taradale High School did an incredible job in front of a room full of business professionals and should be commended for their courage and hard work. Pūkare Cards will be representing the East Coast region at the YES National Awards in December – this start-up is one to watch!
Over 200 businesses were nominated for the prestigious awards ceremony this year, and from those, the independent judging panel was tasked with the challenge of whittling down to the top 15 finalists.
Thank you to all the businesses who entered the Pan Pac Hawke’s Bay Business Awards this year. With so many high-quality applications, the judging process was competitive. Join us in congratulating the winners of each category and the Supreme Award Winner for 2022.
Hastings Like a Big City, But Better, Best Emerging Business
M2 Overland
The judges were impressed with the way M2 Overland spied a gap in the market and then followed through with innovative product design and service execution, along with a dedication to the customer sales experience and the follow-on service. Understanding customer needs is at the core of the business, and the beginnings of sales data analytics showed a keenness to understand where and from whom sales would likely be coming. M2 Overland is a well-rounded start-up ready to take on the market and grow.
NZME, Outstanding Community Contribution
Manzis Build
Manzis Build are an organisation that pride themselves on a strong organisational culture and a desire to give back to the community. There are clear systems in place to facilitate career progression, learning and development. A well-organised mentoring system is put in place to help their staff progress and realise their full potential. Cultural competency is a clear strength of this business and their ability to bring a Te Ao Māori approach to the work they do in critical home repairs holds them in great stead.
Hawke’s Bay Regional Council, Excellence in Sustainability
Hōhepa
Hōpeha is a long-standing Hawke’s Bay business that has been able to enhance the lives of many. The judges were most impressed with their clear vision, mission and values. It is very clear that sustainability is at the heart of Hōpeha’s business decisions, and this guides every aspect of their activity, from the location of their site and their product and service offerings to their resourcing decisions and business strategy. All resulting in a fantastic business that will be here for many more years to come.
EIT Te Pūkenga, Excellence in Innovation
Vet Services Hawke’s Bay
The judges were impressed with the way that Vet Services weaves innovation throughout their business and at all levels. There are a multitude of examples of how innovation is a large part of their business, be that the development and deployment of an on-farm conveyor system to aid their customers, or simply asking their customers how they want to be communicated with and tailoring their communication to customer needs. There has been ongoing involvement and engagement through their product supply chain to influence production volumes and the types of products produced. The veterinarians are encouraged to develop their skills and knowledge in the areas that most interest them so they can be at the leading edge of veterinary care.
Napier City Council, Ultimate Visitor Experience
bloom’n loco
At bloom’n loco, our secret judge had an outstanding experience. The shop itself is very inviting, with gentle music playing and wonderful aromas swirling, making the shop appealing to anyone who visits. The product range is fantastic, especially in a small town. The variety means there’s something for everyone. The wonderful sales assistant – Gaylene – deserves a special mention, she was knowledgeable about the product range and went above and beyond to find a product that suited our secret shopper, making her feel like a valued customer while she was browsing.
2degrees, Leader of the Year
Barbara Arnott
Creating a connected community is something our 2022 Leader of the Year has spent her life working towards. Barbara is known for creating strong relationships throughout the Hawke’s Bay Region and has a long history of community-focused work in Hawke’s Bay.
With all her roles she focuses on bringing the right people on board. Being the right person comes easy when there is a strong, fair, and affirming person in the leadership position.
Pan Pac Supreme Award
Vet Services Hawke’s Bay
The highly anticipated Supreme Award Winner for 2022 is Vet Services Hawke’s Bay. The judges said that it was hard to put a finger on what makes Vet Services a great well-rounded business. Perhaps it is the 2-year new graduate programme developed to attract and retain talent, or the bespoke-designed premises in Waipukurau. It could be the thoughtfully designed work practices to keep staff safe tailored to working alone outside of hours, or the way they demonstrate their care for the community with a significant targeted contribution to community groups and scholarships to study veterinary sciences. Perhaps it is the way innovation weaves through their business, or their engagement with the product supply chain to forecast future demand and influence production. Maybe it is the change of veterinary systems to improve back-end reporting or that they engage with suppliers to recycle or reuse packaging.
Ultimately, all of the above factors aligned together led the judges to determine Vet Services Hawke’s Bay as the Supreme Award Winner for the Pan Pac Hawke’s Bay Business Awards 2022.
Congratulations to all award entrants, finalists and winners for the awards process this year, and a huge thank you to our sponsors, check out the video of all finalists on Hawke’s Bay Chamber of Commerce’s Facebook page.