Tim Calder

Jonny Love’s much anticipated album release has been annonced for the 30th of June (”The Last Day of June“). Jonny studied with me at Otago University before moving to Auckland to make a name for himself. While studying Jonny was the most popular performer in Dunedin playing at bars such as Two Bears, Brimstone, and Soal Bar to name a few. His talent doesn’t just end with his ability to make great music, Jonny has since started his own production company Limelight Records Limited which has produced his first album. Check out Jonny’s blog and listen to his popular single “Not The First Not The Last” which is being played on MoreFM and JuiceTV. Come and share the evening with Jonny Love at the album release party on the 28th of June at The Grange on Ponsonby Road.

New Zealand Trade & Enterprise Escalator is holding two workshops in June (11th in Auckland and 18th in Wellington) to help those of us interested in developing successful Web Based Businesses. ”The internet continues to provide an untapped opportunity for business wealth. Yet it is also one of the biggest money pits, creating many businesses that are not investible” (NZTE). Our local Dunedin web success is Vouchermate which allows people to cut & paste a range of vouchers onto an online form which can be printed out and used at a wide variety of New Zealand businesses. Vouchermate is a great example of what the Dunedin Business Incubator “UPSTART” can do to help your business successfully grow. I have a couple of Web Businesses in early stages of conceptualisation so am keen to learn from four of NZ’s rising stars (Torpedo7, Sonar6, PlanHQ, StarNow) which will be presenting on the day.

Last night I was elected onto the committee of the Light Blues which is an Association of former players, officials and supporters of the Otago University Rugby Club for the purpose of fostering interest in rugby at the University of Otago and in the Club. The Light Blues were always very supportive while I played rugby and have given generously to the club for many years. My aim for this association is to promote their membership to younger past players and those non-playing members that have supported the club while studying at the University. Our Club is the greatest rugby club in the country, as I have finished my rugby career I feel it is important for me to continue my support as a non-player so that others can share the enjoyment I have had.

Last night I attended Mike Taylor’s talk about “The New Zealand and Global Economy” and his boutique investment company piefunds [Pie Australasian Growth Fund] at South Bar on Frederick Street. Portfolio Investment Entities (PIEs) have become increasingly popular with the change in tax laws on 1 October 2007. In particular, natural persons will be taxed differently where they invest in a PIE as capital gains derived by PIEs in relation to New Zealand and certain listed Australian companies are not subject to tax. Mike stipulates that Pie Funds investment philosophy is “simple, uncomplicated and based on finding value in growth oriented companies”. Mike has worked for a number of large financial institutions both domestically and in the UK, including institutional equities dealer for ABN Amro NZ, FX Derivatives, Merrill Lynch UK, and recently as a Manager for Bank of Scotland NZ, supporting private equity bidders and large property developers with bespoke debt solutions.

The Start.Manage.Grow event was a great way to get introduced to the new business services on offer from our well known government departments and to meet their local representatives. Hon Clayton Cosgrove introduced the National Launch of these new business services in Dunedin last night where he highlighted the significant value of SME’s to the overall New Zealand economy and how the government plans to support their development with the new publication & website ”Start, Manage and Grow your business“. Local entrepreneur Nigel Bamford from Escea explained how these services were fundamental to the sucess of his firm and how providing cash grants for R&D were particularly important. 

It is surprising how many different uses people can find for our EZY STOR Self Storage garages. Although we only promote the uses of storing furniture and household goods (as these are the most conventional) people have found many more. As all garages contain power points and lights this has attracted Bands which use the garages for practice rooms where they can make as much noise as they like without bothering anyone. We also have several Small Businesses that use the garages for minor assembly and distribution of their products as our storage facilities are all located in central, convenient locations. There has also been one case where someone decided that they would LIVE in one of our garages! This only lasted a couple of days until our security system noticed irregularities with entry and exit times. Sadly this person was asked to leave. I have just recently shifted all my sports and recreational equipment into one of our 3×3’s at EZY STOR St Albans. All of my toys are now kept safe & secure and dust free while still being accessible 24/7 which is excellent for a late night trip to the driving range

While in Dunedin for my graduation my parents couldn’t help partake in the Otago Hunt Club 125th Jubilee. Hunting is a sport that I have been involved in my whole life. My mother and father, Bruce and Tessa, are life members of the Rotorua and Bay of Plenty Hunt Club where my father has recently retired from the position of Master of the Hunt. Bruce is the Treasurer of the New Zealand Hunt Clubs Association as well as a past New Zealand 6 Year Old Showjumping Champion. Tessa is an experienced Dressage rider and recently competed in the National Dressage Championships in Gisborne. Today they have left for home but plan to hunt again with North Otago and Christchurch Hunts on the way.

Travelling as a Koru Club member has made the whole experience much more enjoyable and productive. Being able to jump the long check in lines, and having your bags produced first on the baggage carousel helps make tackling the airports and proceeding on your way easy. When in between flights the luxurious lounges with vast resources create an excellent business environment. Special thanks needs to be made to Air New Zealand Global Lounges Manager Kieran Turner for his support with helping my business partners and I to develop our business interests around New Zealand and abroad.

It was great to be part of the 10th of May Graduation Ceremony where I graduated with my Bachelor of Commerce and Master of Entrepreneurship. The best part was the address from the guest speaker the great David Kirk who talked about the need for us graduates to try new career opportunities that confront us. I will graduate with the Otago MBA that I am currently studying for in 2010 which will complete my University Education. The only disappointment of the day was that the Highlanders were beaten by the Blues in front of their home crowd. Our party made the second half after a perfect dinner at Plato. 

For the past six months Pierre-Em De La Bussiere and myself have been putting together a deal to purchase and grow Dunedin based company Kiwitub Ltd. In 2004 Steve August was granted a patent for his innovative invention called the Kiwitub. Since then the product has been developed into a seriously portable hot tub which is light weight, requires no chemicals, no plumbing, and no electricity and is easily run on gas or firewood. We will be showing this truly unique product at the Waikato Fieldays in June where we will be located in the New Invention Section. For those of you that enjoy the outdoors and don’t have the time for the routine maintenance of a spa the Kiwitub is for you.