The Influencers

It has been fantastic to see the influx of visitors around our city over summer. Our city is now welcoming a wide variety of visitors, including cruise ship passengers, leisure travellers and those visiting for business. In recent weeks, it has been great to see the support for our “Taste of Te Pae” […]

It’s February already, and we are straight back into it. February is when our council puts together our draft Long Term Plan (LTP)—the city’s budget for the next 10 years. This plan proposes council’s priorities for the next decade. We, all 17 members of council, have been working hard to strike the right […]

Christchurch businesses are embracing some exciting opportunities this year. Tāwhaki, the innovative indigenous-led aerospace venture on Kaitorete Spit, officially opened the Tāwhaki National Aerospace Centre earlier this month. This major development is home to a new 1km-long long runway and supporting infrastructure. This local testing, flight and launch facility will accelerate the fast-growing […]

I hope that you had an enjoyable summer, and the new year has started well for you. I would like to take the opportunity to outline Business Canterbury’s advocacy priorities for what is going to be another big year for local businesses. As we start 2024, Business Canterbury is focused on ensuring the […]

In my last column, we announced that our name was changing from Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce to Business Canterbury. Since then, we have received overwhelmingly positive feedback from our members and business community about how our new name better reflects what we do and who we support. On behalf of Business Canterbury, […]

I hope you have had a chance to relax and unwind over the summer break. The weather finally came good, and Chrissy and I enjoyed plenty of time on the water with the kids and grandkids, fishing and swimming, as well as spending some quality fun time over the hill in Akaroa. It […]

If you’ve been in the central city this past week, you will probably have been lucky enough to experience the vibrance of the World Buskers Festival. It’s one of the highly anticipated events on Ōtautahi’s summer calendar, and, since 19 January, the city has been buzzing with its gasps and laughs. Something we […]

Since opening in May 2022, Te Pae Christchurch has hosted almost 450 events, driving significant economic benefits to the city and wider region. With direct international flights almost back to pre-Covid levels, we’re attracting visitors from all around the world to our city for business events. In November, Te Pae Christchurch held the […]

As we countdown to Christmas, it is great to see our city buzzing with national and international delegates attending a variety of events we’ve hosted in our venue recently. With that comes the opportunity for our chefs at Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre to showcase Canterbury’s finest food and beverages to the world […]

Christmas is just around the corner. Can you believe it! Every year seems to disappear quicker than the last. As 2023 draws to a close, I can’t help but reflect that there is so much we can be proud of as a city. I was chuffed to see the figures from ChristchurchNZ which […]