| 7 T T Russell Fredric Innovation underpins strong growth Tuapeka currently employs a staff of about 450 in New Zealand and 90 in the Philippines. BUSINESS Tuapeka P 03 488 2922 | E info@clearwatercivil.co.nz 7 Brighton Road, Green Island, Dunedin Drainage | Asphalting | Roading Earthworks | Demolition Commissions of storm water, wastewater and water reticulation Underground power, gas and telecommunication infrastructure. Dunedin promotional products company Tuapeka continues to experience exponential growth underpinned by innovation, strong market demand and the people it employs who are its greatest asset, chief executive Greg Jolly says. “People are the essence of Tuapeka’s hard-working culture, which empowers innovative thinking while rewarding success. We are constantly growing and there are always exciting opportunities for people to join and grow with our team.” The company reached a major milestone in the last financial year by achieving an annual turnover of $100 million. However, in a ‘but wait there’s more’ moment, its rolling turnover for the past 12 months has already increased again. “The secret to our success is having a suite of branding capabilities that can all be done in-house, and at a scale and pace that no-one else can match in Australasia,” Greg says. He believes the relentless growth is also being driven by a change in the industry where companies want to give their staff and clients promotional products that last in terms of both their quality and branding. Through TRENDS, the customer-facing brand the company is transitioning to, it offers more than 6600 individual stock lines supported by more than 15 branding processes, including digital printing and transfers, embroidery, laser engraving, pad print, debossing and embossing. Drinkware is one of the most popular product categories, and the introduction of apparel to the range is seen to be the last piece of the product puzzle in which a comprehensive range of low to high-value items are available seamlessly from one source. Nine years ago when the company was based in Lawrence, Central Otago, it had two product categories and 50% of its turnover was pens. “We are very innovative around our website, TRENDS.nz, our product offering to our customers, and the systems we run as well; there’s a lot of bespoke systems and a lot of investment in IT.” Tuapeka currently employs a staff of about 450 in New Zealand and 90 in the Philippines, and with the growth comes an almost insatiable demand for more people, both skilled and unskilled who it provides comprehensive training and wrap-around support for. This is contrasted with skilled occupations such as information technology, research and development, engineering, logistics and supply chain, administration, accounting, human resources and sales and marketing. Although the TRENDS brand has a strong presence in Australasia, its sales team is New Zealand based. T T to page 8 ““The secret to our success is having a suite of branding capabilities that can all be done in-house, and at a scale and pace that no-one else can match in Australasia.”
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