Tim Calder

Wednesday night at 6pm the rescheduled University A’s verse B’s Rugby game will kick off. There has been only once in History when the University B’s has beaten the University A’s. It has been quite a rough start to the year for both teams as the A’s are third to bottom of the table and the B’s are bottom. Never before have both teams been so close to being equal. This has been helped by the good recruiting skills of the B’s coaches along with the collapse of the local Rugby League competition providing the team with an injection of fresh talent.

An enjoyable weekend was spent on the family drystock farm in Pikowai. This year is looking promising as there is plenty of grass for our Sheep, Cattle, and Deer as well as for the 1000 Dairy Cows that we graze. Over the summer we managed to produce a large supply of meadow and lucerne hay which we use to keep our horses well feed over the winter along with supplying our regular equestrian customers. It was also good to see, while on a horse ride through the forestry, that our pines are almost ready to harvest. Many hours went into pruning and thinning those trees on summer holidays so it is good to see our efforts beginning to pay off.

The Carisbrook Stadium Trust is now beginning the process of re-zoning the land where they plan to build the new multi-purpose stadium. This is going to be an arduous task which will hopefully go though without any appeals being lodged with the Environment Court. If appeals are lodged this would mean that the stadium construction could be delayed which means that the stadium would not be ready for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. The land will need to be re-zoned from an industrial zone to campus zone so that the stadium can be built.

BioSouth is Dunedin’s network of biotechnology and technology-based businesses. Through the Otago MBA Business School I received an invite to their biannual showcases held in in the Conference Room of the Dunedin Art Gallery. I thoroughly enjoyed this showcase as someone interested in business with out having a background in science. The next upcoming event is the Student Function on the 28th of May. This event will showcase some of the exciting career prospects that students have in Dunedin and will be held at the Centre for Innovation on the University of Otago campus.

It was great to be able to attend my first Alumni AGM of St Peter’s School, Cambridge on the weekend. It has been a long time since I have been back to have a good look around at all the new buildings and facilities. Friend and fellow CSG director Hugh Taylor was voted onto the committee to represent our year. I am now looking forward to the next event which will be the Otago University reunion of St Peter’s School Alumni in August at Eureka Bar & Cafe, Dunedin. 

It has been a long two months but my MBA Syndicate group and I have finally completed our Financial Investment Report on publicly listed, Dunedin based company Scott Technology. We have received excellent assistance from Chairman Stuart McLauchlan, CEO Chris Hopkins and former CEO and Director Graham Batts who have helped us gain great insight to form our opinion and recommendations. Our report is being assessed by Forsyth & Barr analysts Ken Lister and Lynette Scott as well as Otago University lecture Garry Heaton.

EZY-STOR Self Storage’s new facility at St. Albans Street, Kaikorai Valley has met the growing demand for Storage in Dunedin. Within two weeks the new facility has gained an occupancy rate of 20% which is set to reach its target of 90% by mid May. EZY-STOR Self Storage’s point of difference from other Dunedin storage companies is that customers can enjoy 24/7 drive-up access to their belongings, which means no traipsing down long corridors. Our customers also have the use of individual power points and lights which come with all garages.

This is a new light industrial development that we are in the final stages of completion with. Stage one of this development has sold well and now stage two is continuing that success with only one remaining. Ross Rainsford and Stephen Hughes have done a great job at selling these to those in Wanaka short of space for their boat or car, warehousing for business, or for an investment property.