Business Rural Summer 2021

60 | Positive learning on leadership from the The 2021 Fencing Contractors’ Conference was well-attended at the at the Copthorne Hotel and Resort in the Bay of Islands. Kim Newth RURAL SERVICES » Fencing Contractors NZ • to page 62 H aving postponed their 2020 conference due to Covid, Fencing Contractors NZ (FCNZ) was relieved that this year’s event went off without a hitch. The conference and AGM at the Copthorne Hotel and Resort in the Bay of Islands was held in early August, just days before the country once again went into a nationwide lockdown. “You never know what’s going to happen; we made our plans for this year even though we were not sure if we’d be able to go ahead or not – thank- fully, we managed to pull it off,” says FCNZ Presi- dent Phil Cornelius. “We had good attendance and good involvement, with around 130 attendees at the conference and 250 to 300 people including local contractors, cockies and farmers for our fencing field day at the Waimate North Showgrounds.” The theme of this year’s conference was Leader- ship in Fencing and included tailored workshop sessions. Keynote speakers were Sue Pickering, Founder of Develop Ltd, who led a Leadership 101 workshop; and former fencing contractor and business development mentor Pete Gregory and experienced business coach Graeme Bratty, who gave a workshop on Nailing Your Quotes to Optimise Your Profit. Phil and wife Donna, who own Northland-based CPC Fencing, are acutely aware of how rising supply costs are putting pressure on their industry. “This is something contractors need to be very mindful of going forward so it was great to have that workshop as a reminder to check that quotes are realistic.” Contractors attending the Leadership 101 ses- sion also came away inspired with ideas on how to strengthen working relationships and build a motivated team. The conference’s charity auction dinner raised $18,790 for Northland Rescue Helicopters’ Northland Emergency Services Trust. “We had great participation from sponsors donating items for the charity auction. We even had a South Island contractor offer his services for a week as part of the auction!” The fencing field day, held on the Friday of the conference, was the largest ever for FCNZ and a chance for industry partners to come along and experience all that the fencing industry had to offer from trade stalls showcasing latest product through “We had great participation from sponsors donating items for the charity auction. We even had a South Island contractor offer his services for a week as part of the auction!” • Residential Fencing • Farm & Lifestyle - Stock Yards • Commercial & Security • Pool & Tennis Courts • Repairs & Replacements • Vineyard Development Mike - 021 416 798 Brad - 021 416 703 rennerfencing@hotmail.com www.rennerfencing.co.nz • High country fencing • Farm fencing • Line preparation • Deer, cattle and sheep yard construction • Interlock post and rail • Explosive/blasting certified • Roading/guardrail installation Proud to support FCANZ Ph: 021 523 291 Email: info@bhfencing.nz Ben Haugh Fencing Proud to support FCANZ