Business North Harbour (BNH) would like to thank the members, associate members and all interested parties who attended the 2020 Annual General Meeting of BNH Incorporated on October 22nd at 4pm. Attendance was such that the AGM had to be held at the new hockey stadium on Bush Road as our own office venue couldn’t cater for the numbers registered to attend which was a great problem to have.
Peter Lamberton as chair and Kevin O’Leary as general manager both reported back on the challenges and highlights of the 2019/20 financial year as BNH navigated it’s way through the challenges of COVID – 19. They also outlined the overarching strategy and business plan for the current year through to June 2023.
The 2019/20 financial year proved to be unique in nature as BNH, like all our members, grappled with the pandemic and experienced unprecedented challenges including lockdown and a variety of Alert Levels. Prior to the unforeseen global pandemic BNH was on track to put the trials and tribulations of the previous year, outlined at the 2019 AGM, behind us. Our organisation grew as we introduced two part-time BNH Ambassador roles to improve member awareness of and engagement with BNH. The appointment of a new Marketing and Events Manager and a part-time Digital Marketing Coordinator meant that we were better placed to improve our communications across a variety of platforms.
Despite the unforeseen challenges of the pandemic the 3 C’s, Connect, Communicate, Collaborate continued to drive programmes and services and we were able to offer a full calendar of events and workshops, tailored to the identified needs of members based on feedback form our annual Member Survey.
BNH was and remains very pro-active, devoting a great amount of time and resource to supporting all our members during the pandemic. We were able to make a series of informative videos with subject matter experts covering financial and legal implications, business implications, working from home and mental resilience. Our new and much improved website had a page dedicated to COVID – 19, containing all the videos, the latest business news and links to all the Government initiatives and resources available, both nationally and regionally.
We introduced consistent messaging about supporting local business by shopping local, buying locally produced goods and utilising locally available services. We also started a BUY NORTH HARBOUR Facebook page where all members can post details of their goods, services and offers.
Advocacy was again high on our list of priorities as BNH provided feedback to Auckland Council and Auckland Transport on a variety of topics including the Annual Budget and Emergency Budget 2020/21, Auckland Climate Action Framework, Food Safety Information Bylaw and a variety of specific transport initiatives, the most significant once again being the Rosedale Bus Station project.
The chair and general manager both noted that, despite our best efforts, as a lone voice our influence will always be limited so the formation of a collaborative, business-led advocacy group is important if we are to have any influence in the corridors of power. This is one of the key objectives as explained in the Shore Unity Final Report, which supersedes the initial Bridge to the Future discussion document. This is an extremely important piece of work moving forwards which members fully supported, the full details of which can be found on the BNH website.
The Annual Financial Reports to June 30th 2020, were presented to the satisfaction of attendees along with key performance measures for the current financial year. Additionally, the draft budget for the 2021/22 financial year was approved, as was the motion to re-sign the BID Programme Agreement with Auckland Council, effective to 30th November 2023.
There were three changes to the Executive Committee as Kate Chivers, Neil Tuffin and Robert Elcombe all stepped down from their positions to be replaced by Bronwen Newcombe (Davenports Law), Alisha Abercrombie (Trio Events) and Ashley Baldry (Work Test). BNH sincerely thanks the retiring members for their work and contributions to the organisation and extends a warm welcome to our new Executive Committee members.
Click here to see all the AGM 2020 documents
