Here at FBNZ, we understand that you live and breathe 'family business' 24/7, 365 days a year. Even though the end of 2021 is grinding to a halt, we are confident that many of you are preparing for next year already and we wanted to stop and bring to you some highlights from 2021.
Your contribution to FBNZ allows us to host events, advocate and create cutting-edge educational courses that are curated and designed specifically for you and your family business peers.
Although we have faced national and regional lockdowns during the year, we were still able to hold a number of events and our premier half-day conference – Family Business Insights.
Our first event for 2021 was in March when our new National Gold Partner, Grant Thornton hosted us at their downtown Auckland offices right in the middle of the America’s Cup.
There was a generally buoyant mood in the city, and attendees were in the mood to relax and have some fun, which they did. We have also been hosted by two fantastic family businesses at their respective businesses, we had a huge turnout at St Pierre’s International’s brand-new sushi train restaurant in Ponsonby, Auckland and again at Swiss-Belhotel International’s Swiss-Belsuites in Victoria Park.
Mid-year we held our first Family Business Insights half-day conference at the Sofitel in Auckland in with some guests from Australia being able to join around 60 of our members to hear some great insights from family businesses and advisors. We also inducted our first family business into the Family Business Hall of Fame, the Hynds Group, started in 1973 by John and Leonie Hynds.
Brad Scott from EWM Group (National Gold Partners) was able to come over from Australia to join us and the night before our conference, he very generously hosted a roundtable dinner for a small number of family businesses where Brad facilitated an intimate discussion about the challenges and opportunities for families in business.
This year also saw us go live with our first Forum Group, facilitated by Jo Clayton. This is a valuable programme and feedback from participants has been extremely positive. Demand for more Forum Group’s is strong, and we are confident we will have more up and running before long.
Some of our members also took up the opportunity during the various lock-down periods to engage in our online education offerings deep diving into their succession plans, financial acumen and reviewing their family business governance structures.
Our membership continues to build, finishing the year with 232 members. Our retention rate of 100% is very pleasing and speaks to the value we are providing to the family business and
advisor community.
FBNZ already has our first event in the calendar for 2022 so please join us on the 16th February 2022 and meet the owners of The Jones Family Business at their Kitchen Things Luxury Showroom. We are also crossing our fingers and toes that our Trans-Tasman travel will open up and we can join our collegiates from across the water on the Gold Coast for the Family Business Conference.
Thank you to our National Partners, EWM Group and Grant Thornton for your continued support this year. A big thank you to our two new National Partners who came on board in the second half of 2021 – Crombie Lockwood and Jackson Russell. Our strong relationship with our partners enables us to add greater value to our family business members offering thought leadership and expertise advice.
With the ongoing efforts of the FBANZ team and a little luck, we’re confident 2022 will see us cement our place as the peak body for family businesses and family business advisors in New Zealand.
Thank you for riding this COVID wave with us and we encourage you to make the most out of your membership next year and we look forward to seeing you at an upcoming event next year.
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Greg Griffith Chief Executive Officer, FBNZ | Nicole Oswell Country Manager, FBNZ | Iain Blakeley Chairman, FBNZ |