Best of Business

Would you be up for sleeping in a pod hotel? Tourism company Jucy is expanding its Jucy Snooze operation and opening a 300-bed pod hotel in Auckland. Managing director Tim Alpe says it will be the largest backpacker accommodation in New Zealand and he joined Roman Travers. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government is making some significant changes around migrant investor visas They are creating a whole new category called Active Investor Plus, which will replace the current investor 1 and 2 categories. Stuart Nash says the current system resulted in passive investment in shares and bonds, rather than directly into Kiwi companies. Former Business NZ boss and director at Iron Duke Partners Phi...

A win for anti-water bottling campaigners after a long-running battle to overturn consents letting two companies extract billions of litres of water from Christchurch aquifers. The Court of Appeal has quashed an Environment Canterbury decision to let Cloud Ocean Water Ltd and Rapaki Natural Resources Ltd extract water for bottling. Aotearoa Water Action's Peter Richardson told Heather du Plessis-A...

Builders have resorted to sleeping on construction sites to prevent raids by brazen thieves. Building materials costs are skyrocketing - and timber, Gib, reinforcing steel and heat pumps are among the most popular targets. Crosbie Security Services Managing Director, Joshua Parsons, told Heather du Plessis-Allan more than 70 offences were reported to police last month, forcing some builders to cha...

Hairdressers are calling for a return of the Covid wage subsidy. Client numbers are down by 30 to 40 percent, while Covid and the flu hit staff and clients. It comes as Australia reinstates its $750 pandemic leave payments for workers without access to sick leave. Hair and Barber New Zealand deputy co-chair Simone Jones joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for...

Resignations forcing counter offers are becoming more prevalent and inflating wages. Marsden Inch recruitment specialist Barry Williamson says people are being offered silly money to stay and labels it 'horse trading'. Barry Williamson joined Roman Travers. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Concerns some businesses are using inflation as a good excuse to raise prices higher than they otherwise would. Industries dealing with things like food, beverage, and tobacco products have been raking in profits upwards of 85 percent on last year. PWC tax partner Geof Nightingale says New Zealand is unlikely to follow the UK and Spain who have imposed taxes on excess profits. He told Tim Dower it...

A transport leader says ideology is at play over the decision to not increase car capacity through a second Mount Vic tunnel. A new tunnel is coming to the capital, with the current one being transformed for just walkers and cyclists. Responses to written parliamentary questions estimate 6,000 pedestrians and cyclists will go through each day, compared to 55,000 drivers currently. Transporting New...

You have to invest in a way that adds value to New Zealand. That's the Government's message to cashed-up foreigners seeking residence, as it replaces the Investor 1 and 2 categories with a new Active Investor Plus visa. Eligibility includes having a $5 million dollars, with limits on some investment types. Economic and Regional Development Minister, Stuart Nash, says they want every dollar investe...

Toy company Zuru appears to have won a US legal battle to force review site Glassdoor to reveal the identities of aggrieved former workers who posted scathing reviews of the company. It intends to sue for defamation here. Barrister Chris Patterson says it's not often a company runs to an American judge seeking an order for a potential defendant to hand over information, so they can be sued here. L...

Kiwis are being told to consider putting off their travel to the Cook Islands this week due to extreme weather. The Rarotongan beach resort says they've been calling the 300 guests that are set to arrive this week, to let them know the island won't be fully operational. General Manager of that resort is Bob Taylor and he joined Andrew Dickens from the Cook Islands. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/...

So inflation is at a 3 decade high and the Reserve Bank is scrambling to kill demand by raising interest rates. We've all heard that it's the fault of the Government for spraying around money during the lockdowns.  This is money that was either borrowed or created by the Reserve Bank through money printing. Money we then spent willy nilly because there was nothing else to do.  I've lost track of t...

It’s occurred to me that the old phrase “what goes around, comes around” pretty much sums up inflation in five words. The more money going around, the more it comes back to bite us with higher inflation. And it’s happening in countries all over the world. Our latest inflation rate came out yesterday - 7.3 percent. Certainly not the lowest, and certainly not the highest. The most recent inflation f...

There are landlords and then there are landlords. There are those who do it for a living, they're professional, they're onto any problems, they treat their tenants with respect and in turn they are rewarded with great tenants. It's a symbiotic relationship in the best possible way.  Then there are the complete amoral Rachmans of the renting world. Slum landlords who care nothing about the state of...

The desperate need for affordable housing in the Waikato has driven a local charitable trust to launch an ambitious development in the Waikato town of Cambridge.   The Bridge Housing Trust, set up by The Brian Perry Charitable Trust, is to develop a brand new, 42-home community in Cambridge. Peake Mews will offer affordable, architecturally designed housing in an innovative, vibrant, and connected...

There is disagreement over how much the Government can do to address rising inflation. Consumer prices have increased 7.3 percent in the year to June, the highest inflation rate in a generation. National Finance Spokesperson Nicola Willis told Roman Travers there are five things the Government could be doing, to stop prices from spiralling out of control. “Reduce government spending, fix the immig...

Even at the end of our lives, the cost of living hits us one last time. Funeral directors have surveyed councils and in some places the cost of a burial plot has gone up by nearly half in the past two years. Gillian Boyes is CEO of the Funeral Directors Association and joined Tim Dower. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Inflationary pressures are likely to keep compounding for some time to come. The inflation rate has hit 7.3 percent, its highest point in a generation. Terry Collins, fuel spokesperson for AA, told Tim Dower petrol prices have risen 32 percent, pushing up the price of everything else. Vegetables New Zealand Chairman John Murphy says the rising cost of fuel and labour is pushing up the price of foo...

Inflation has hit 7.3 percent, the highest in 32 years. It's driven mostly by rising rents and construction costs. Some good news though, yesterday the government announced an extension to the fuel tax cuts and half price public transport, until next year. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Grant Robertson joined Andrew Dickens. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informat...

A senior economist says even if inflation's peaked, that is little consolation for stretched households. Stats NZ figures show inflation has hit 7.3 percent in a three-decade high. Grant Robertson says economists think inflation may have reached its upper limit. But Westpac senior economist Satish Ranchod told Newstalk ZB's Drive that doesn't mean financial pressures will ease. He says a drop from...

Warnings of pain when petrol tax cuts end. The 25-cent reduction, alongside slashed road user charges and half priced public transport fares, have been extended until the end of January. Stats NZ data shows inflation to June sat at 7.3 percent. Waitomo Fuel's chief operating officer says when the Government stops fuel relief - suppliers and customers will need ample warning. Simon Parham told Andr...

Inflation has hit a 32-year high of 7.3%, with housing costs said to be the biggest driver. In the past three months, the cost of building a new home rose 18-percent and renting a home went up 4.3 percent. Transport was the next biggest factor, with petrol prices increasing 32-percent in the past year, the biggest annual increase since 1985. NZ Herald Business Editor at Large Liam Dann joined Kerr...

The fuel sector says it's supportive of the Government's latest transport cost relief. Reductions to fuel excise tax, public transport fares and road user charges will be sticking around until the end of January next year. Z Energy Chief Executive Mike Bennetts says a lot of the high cost of fuel is because of tax. He told Roman Travers their profit margins aren't that flash. He says they only mak...

Ongoing action to cool prices at the pump may be a bid to get in front of new inflation figures. The Government has revealed it will retain cuts to fuel excise tax, road user charges and half-price public transport until the end of January. Stats NZ is set to announce the Consumer Price Index for the June 2022 quarter this morning. Infometrics principal economist Brad Olsen says the move appears t...

Prices are set to keep rising sharply for a while yet. Figures out this morning are expected to show the inflation rate has reached about 7.1 percent in the year to June, the highest inflation rate in a generation. ANZ economist Finn Robinson says the inflation rate isn't likely to get any higher. But he told Roman Travers economists expect inflation to remain relatively high for at least another...