The Influencers Column: Tony Mounce
The relatively flat housing market in Christchurch is fuelling interest from first home buyers keen to capitalise on the largely stagnant prices. But buying your first home is far from easy, although KiwiSaver and HomeStart grants are fantastic tools to help get onto the property ladder. A young couple recently came […]
The Influencers Column: John Bridgman
Ōtākaro recently ran a series of walking tours around the central city as part of Explore Christchurch, a campaign to encourage locals to come and see what’s going on in town. With around 300 people joining us across the eight tours, the level of interest surpassed our expectations. At first glance, […]
The Influencers Column: Ivan Iafeta
The Christchurch City Council recently announced the development of an action plan to increase the pace of regeneration in Christchurch’s city centre. The stimulus was an assessment by Regenerate Christchurch of progress in the central city and five key recommendations regarding leadership, growth, people, activation and implementation. The council’s action […]
The Influencers Column: Matt Harris
One of the repeated issues that we see in NZ business is the ongoing difficulty in attracting skilled labour. In the construction sector, an area often in the news lately, we are faced with a continual shortage of trained and experienced engineers, architects, planners etc. If left unchecked, this can impact […]
The Influencers Column: Dr Megan Woods
Following the release of the Independent Ministerial Advisor’s report in June which found that things weren’t up to scratch at the Earthquake Commission, it is great to see some positive changes being made in progressing claims and communication with claimants. Most of these changes have been really practical and directly addressed […]
The Influencers Column: Leeann Watson
One of the key parts to making Christchurch’s downtown a great place to live, work and play is ensuring strong investment from private developers in residential development within the four avenues. Without great projects catering to all sections of the property market, we won’t deliver on the bold ambition to see […]
Marian Johnson: The Influencers
Most Cantabrians won’t know that they live in a city that boasts the country’s second largest tech sector, contributing around $2.4 billion of GDP and exporting $1.1 billion annually. Next time you’re driving through central city, you might look out for the EPIC Innovation Campus on Manchester Street where more than 250 ICT […]
John Bridgman: The Influencers
As a recent arrival on the regeneration scene, the most common question I have been asked is naturally – why did you want the job as Ōtākaro Limited Chief Executive? As an engineer I have worked in New Zealand, Australia, UK and Asia in a variety of project and business leadership […]
Ivan Iafeta: The Influencers
When we released our vision for Cathedral Square two months ago, we highlighted the significant investment already being made in the area by the private and public sectors. Since then, that investment has become even more evident. Nexus Point’s Spark building on the south side of the Square is now out […]
David Schoones: The Influencers
Whether you are a small or large organisation, change begins with leadership. Your brand reflects your organisation. How is your business perceived? How do you want to be perceived? Do you stand out in a competitive world? Returning to Christchurch after working in Sydney, it is very apparent that these are key […]










