Closing out 2024, a year most of us look forward to seeing the back of, signifies the ending of a full two years of New Zealand being in the largest per capita recession in this country’s history. It will get better from here!
2024 has come and gone in the blink of an eye. It’s hard to believe we’re at the end of the year already. Over the course of the past 12 months, Bay of Plenty Business News has covered a wide range of business stories and topics that reflect the diversity of the dynamic Bay of 
Plenty region. Infrastructure, kiwifruit, interest rates, people, international travel, local government and culture are just a few of the areas we have covered, which you can see summarised below in our 2024 – Year in Review.
> JANUARY 2024
With the new coalition government installed, senior writer David Porter took a look at what’s in store for BOP businesses with the planning and execution of infrastructure, housing and transport projects across the region, in addition to the key focuses of the coalition in 2024: rebuilding the economy, addressing the cost of living crisis and improving law and order, NZ-wide. The New Year also started with a raft of new appointments at Tourism Bay of Plenty’s board of trustees, further bolstering the tourism body’s good stewardship talent pool.
> FEBRUARY 2024
Our third edition of the ever popular Women Leading Bay Business proved to be an in demand, popular as ever issue profiling 12 women and the contribution they are making from a variety of differing industries in the BOP region – tourism, local government, manufacturing & export, recruitment, property law, regional investing & infrastructure, accounting & advisory, financial services and intellectual property law. Always inspiring!
> MARCH 2024
The last month of the first quarter of 2024 provided an insightful story on the New Zealand Cleantech Mission. Led by Callaghan Innovation for 12 Kiwi ventures in the cleantech space, they attended the Cleantech forum in North America to vie for a slice of the $80 billion invested every year in cleantech start-ups. This issue also profiled local Tauranga Business – Rapson Loans & Finance, experts in loans, finance, insurance and Kiwisaver.
> APRIL 2024
It’s always encouraging when a pillar meeting point of the community receives a sustainability award. Bay Fair Shopping Centre, Mount Maunganui achieved the accolade of a Four Star Green Star Performance rating by the New Zealand Green Building Council (NZGBC) for its sustainable operation, signifying best practice and making it the first shopping centre in New Zealand to achieve a coveted four star rating. April also marked the arrival of a new fertiliser heavyweight into Tauranga with Australian company Marnco making its first play in the high volume NZ farm fertiliser market.
> MAY 2024
We love Zeros was an integrated marketing campaign through which Bay of Plenty Business News and Lexus of Tauranga partnered together to promote the amazing, all-new electric RZ-450e dynamic.
We had the privilege of branding the Lexus with the campaign and Bay of Plenty Business News signatures and drive it across the region as we distributed our May 2024 issue to businesses, encouraging our readers and influential businesspeople to test drive this amazing, high tech and high spec Lexus. If you have not driven a Lexus, I encourage you to – you won’t look back!
> JUNE 2024
Following the success of our 2023 Wealth Builders edition, we brought back this special focus in June 2024. Featuring specialists in various investment asset classes, it provided advice about building wealth in a challenging economic environment best suited to our needs and goals. We also acknowledged the outgoing commissioners in the final column from commissioner chair, Anne Tolley, and the great contribution they have made in progressing Tauranga City forward. The June issue also announced the planned launch of the inaugural PLENTY Magazine 2024.
> JULY 2024
Everybody loves a good news story, especially in the middle of bleak economic times. The kiwifruit industry marked a new record with 193 million trays harvested, benefiting from a return of both quality and quantity. The news sent Dan Mathieson, CEO of Zespri, out on a high note as he embarked on his next venture at global berry company Driscoll’s, and to be replaced by incoming CEO Jason Te Brake. It’s a golden glow result for the kiwifruit industry to have such a great turnaround after a few years of various and significant challenges.
> AUGUST 2024
Four years on and we have a new Mayor of Tauranga as former double Olympic Gold medallist, Mahé Drysdale, cruised to a solid win in the local body elections. Surprisingly, there was a low voter turnout. We covered the movers and shakers in 40 under 40, and Bay of Plenty Business News received a GOLD – Pride in Print Award 2024 for our new-look publication, about which our team were really chuffed.
> AUGUST 2024
The inaugural launch of PLENTY Magazine – Business + People 2024 in August was a result of the amalgamation of our Year Book and 100 People Magazine formats rolled into the one, newly titled celebration of businesses and the people behind them across the Bay of Plenty Region.
After five years of publishing our annual celebration of Bay businesses – Year Book 2019-2023 and then last year’s 100 People Behind Bay Business 2023 we felt a new title that reflected the region, in addition to adding a personality on the cover – newly elected Mayor of Tauranga, Mahé Drysdale – was the way to go and it proved to be a smart and popular move.
PLENTY Magazine – Business + People 2024 has been a huge success with advertisers and readers alike. All the copies distributed have been taken up by business readers across the region and the feedback we’ve received has been very positive.
> SEPTEMBER 2024
Hallelujah, the first OCR cut in four years! While it was a minor, immaterial 25 basis points cut, it signified the start of easing the monetary policy restraints that were kept in place to curb inflation, giving the whole nation a sense of hope that there is light at the end of this very long and dark tunnel. ChargeNet celebrated the opening of New Zealand’s largest EV charging hub at Tauranga Crossing and we marked the changing of the guard at the helm of Bay of Plenty Business News, so owner Alan Neben could take his adult O/E to Europe for the year ahead.
> OCTOBER 2024
Off the back of the first interest rate cut, more good news in that we’ll have new trans-Tasman flight options in the golden triangle, Jetstar scheduled to take flights to Australia from Hamilton Airport in June 2025. This is a huge win for the Waikato and BOP regions giving people across both regions a second international option to fly to Australia in addition to Auckland Airport. Eastern Bay of Plenty hosted the HEG Business Excellence Awards 2024 and Tauranga Club reopened after a two-year refurbishment. We love good news!
> NOVEMBER 2024
The government’s much celebrated Fast Track Approvals (FTA) bill list saw the Bay scoring a dozen approvals across housing, roading and infrastructure. The Bay sees need for speed with key projects now being on a faster track to completion. We celebrated the property pros, movers and shakers in the Central Property People Awards 2024 in addition to getting a first-hand experience of the Wai Whakaora restorative journey experience at Wai Ariki Hot Springs and Spa, Rotorua, which we highly recommend.
> DECEMBER 2024
The popularity of our last issue of the calendar year is proven by its continuation as the fourth edition of the annual Regional Business Leaders Review – 2024/2025. Our ‘heavyweight’ edition of the year provides leading commentary across the economy, politics and business from a variety of business leaders and industries. Always an insightful read, we’re buoyed by news that the fourth quarter of 2024 is the first quarter in two years New Zealand will be coming out of a recessionary setting, paving the way for brighter, more optimistic times. The lag effect of the recession will probably continue until the end of the first quarter 2025, but the good news is that we’re heading in the right direction. Let’s thrive together in 2025!
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New year, New region, new people, new inspiration
The mighty Waikato is a region of significant importance to the alliance of the ‘golden triangle’ and it deserves to be celebrated.
Off the back of the success of PLENTY Magazine – Business + People 2024, we are launching MIGHTY Magazine – Waikato Business + People 2025 to celebrate and profile the amazing businesses and businesspeople across the length and breadth of the Waikato region. The publication will be an annual and is inline to be published at the start of the FY25/26 year.
Many businesses have a presence in both the Waikato and Bay of Plenty so it makes sense to bring these two regions even closer together with this annual MIGHTY publication.
