Westpac Business Awards

Every year, each Hobec team dedicates a day to community service. This is an opportunity for our people to spend time out of the office as a team, support initiatives they are passionate about and give back to the communities they care about. Hobec community days take many different forms and cover the whole Bay of Plenty. As the year draws to a close, it’s the perfect time to share some of the activities our people dedicated time to this year...  In May, Georgina Smith and her property team spent the afternoon at Tauranga Musical Theatre completing a wardrobe makeover, sorting and organizing (and trying on) costumes. TMT is run entirely by volunteers, and it simply wouldn\'t be possible for them to put on the incredible shows they do without the time and energy of their dedicated supporters. Georgina also helps out backstage on their productions, while you’ll find Jeremy Sparrow on stage in the limelight.  John Mackay\'s property and commercial team spent an afternoon at Mount Maunganui Main Beach, cleaning up litter from the dunes. Some interesting things were found, including a road cone and a barbie doll leg.  The corporate and finance team spent an afternoon in July with the Graeme Dingle Foundation’s Te Puke Highschool Project K, cooking up a storm of freezer meals for those in the community who might need them. Ruby Bell is also a mentor for Project K students, and this was another fun and rewarding way to work with them.  Tauranga\'s litigation team hit the beach in September and spent the afternoon planting with Coast Care Bay of Plenty, a coastal restoration programme that aims to restore and protect the sand dunes along our Bay of Plenty beaches. Fierce debates regarding optimal hole depth and fertilizer ratios could be heard, as well as Partners trying to find the best reception amongst the dunes to check their emails.  The wonderful women in our family team spent an October morning at Papamoa College for Kura Kai. Kura Kai is an organisation which lives by the value of manaakitanga (generosity and care for others) with a simple kaupapa of “Whānau cooking for Whānau”. They do this by raising funds to purchase chest freezers, which are donated to the High Schools they support. Local community volunteers then give their time, money and resources to cook nutritious meals to keep the freezers well stocked. Our team prepared 15 family-sized meals, which the school then distributes to rangatahi and whānau who need them.  Our Admin, Accounts and AML teams headed over to Rotorua in early October and spent the day clearing and preparing trails ahead of the Whaka 100. As well as getting stuck in with spades and hedge trimmers, Holland Beckett also sponsors the Whaka 100’s huge volunteer contingent, recognising and rewarding those who donate their time and vibes to the event. Many of our team use trails throughout Rotorua’s forests on a regular basis, walking and mountain biking, so seeing what goes in to keeping these maintained and safe to use year-round by so many passionate people was inspiring - not to mention, it’s a beautiful place to spend the day!  In October our HR team, along with some of our Admin and AML team, went across the road to the Tauranga Pregnancy Choice Centre to volunteer for the day. Pregnancy Choice provides information and support to women facing an unexpected pregnancy, including free pregnancy testing, counselling, information about abortion and adoption and support groups. Our people cleared winter clothing and replaced the racks with summer stock, with the winter clothing put out in boxes for people to take for free. They cleaned and disinfected toys, vacuumed and wiped down shelves, and organised the newborn baby donations. They also created baby boxes for expecting mums, and sorted, tagged and priced clothing donations for the Graced Opp Shop and Koha shop. All the earnings raised through the opp shop go towards assisting Pregnancy Choice and the Koha shop, and it is run completely by volunteers (aside from management). As spring growth took hold, our employment team put their green thumbs to use at Awhina House, clearing and tidying the garden to be enjoyed by the women who live there. Awhina House provides transitional housing support and wraparound services for women in need, working with a range of other local providers. The space is operated by He Kaupapa Kotahitanga Charitable Trust (HKKT). The mission statement of HKKT is to \"nurture, advocate for, and protect displaced women in Tauranga Moana\" with a vision that \"no woman in Tauranga Moana wake up in the morning without a hopeful future\" - Tania Lewis-Rickard, Board Chair, HKKT.  Our Whakatāne team spent a Friday in early November painting the new Whakatāne Kiwi Trust space on The Strand, which will be a fun and interactive space for locals and visitors to learn about the Kiwi Trust and the work they do to protect the precious kiwi who live right on the doorstep of Whakatāne. Our team is passionate about this initiative, Jayden McNeil is a trustee, and the firm also sponsors the Trust to help them continue their dedicated work.  To close out the year, our Rotorua office (along with some Tauranga additions) spent a day with Tipu Wai Trust on Tarawera Road. We purchased native seedlings and planted these, and then spent time clearing weeds around previously planted natives. Tipu Wai Trust are a hands-on not-for-profit, who work to restore, regenerate and rebuild the Waiāriki waterways and native fish species.  Community days are a rewarding and insightful part of Hobec’s community commitment, allowing our people to give back and be present in the communities they care about. These wonderful organisations are always on the lookout for help if you have any spare time on your hands. For more information or to get involved in any of the initiatives, see below: Tauranga Musical Theatre Graeme Dingle Foundation Coast Care Bay of Plenty Kura Kai Whaka 100 Tauranga Pregnancy Choice Centre Awhina House Whakatāne Kiwi Trust Tipu Wai Trust

We are proud to be one of the six founding signatories of the Framework for Collaborative Pro Bono in Aotearoa. The country\'s first pro bono network, the Collaborative Framework is a strategic group which aims to enhance access to justice for all New Zealanders, especially our most vulnerable communities. Along with the 25 hour target set for each lawyer, to motivate more pro bono work, the framework provides a network to align with, sharing knowledge to improve efficiencies and the impact of pro bono work nationally. Tim Conder contributed to the development of this initiative, led by Te Ara Ture, along with five other firms - Gilbert Walker, Simpson Grierson, DLA Piper, Russel McVeagh and Luke Cunningham Clere. \"As a litigator, I have seen first hand the challenges that many clients face in accessing justice. This is one of the reasons why I\'ve been so eager to see more lawyers providing Pro Bono (and Legal Aid) services. Te Are Ture has been doing important work in this area, providing Community Law Centres with a network of lawyers who can acheive positive outcomes for clients who would not otherwise have the assistance of a lawyer. But that depends on as many lawyers as possible putting their hand to the wheel.\" Tim sees cross-firm collaboration as key to creating more successful and impactful use of pro bono time. A structured pathway and a platform for collaboration, the group will share ideas and best practice, report on targets, and work together to solve challenges - ensuring pro bono work is more effectively tailored to serve those who need it and facilitating more high-quality services nationally. One of Holland Beckett\'s core values is community and pro bono work plays a key role in our committment to supporting the communities we are part of. This framework is a significant step towards improving access to justice for the more vulnerable and will support New Zealand lawyers to give back to communities in need. As one of the \'founding firms\', we look forward to many more joining the network to support each other and make a difference together. For more information on joing the collective, you can visit the Te Ara Ture website here: Pro Bono Framework - Te Ara Ture

It’s official. On the morning of 25 September William (Bill) Beau Holland was welcomed to Government House by Dame Cindy Kiro to receive his Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit award (CNZM) at an investiture ceremony.   After a lifetime of dedication to the Tauranga community and further afield, Bill was made CNZM for services to community governance and philanthropy in this year\'s Kings Birthday Honours. The ceremony was for Bill and others to receive their awards.   Having been born and raised, educated and spending most of his life in Tauranga, Bill has a very deep knowledge of the city, business and local community. Holland Beckett was founded by Bill’s late father and Bill was a partner in the firm for 40 years. From that position, he has acted as legal adviser to many of Tauranga’s leading businesspeople and community organisations, and gained recognition as a business leader himself and philanthropist.  He sees this experience as a lawyer as “one thing leading to another”, leading to over 20 years of governance in a range of community trusts and organisations.  Amongst his work, Bill helped found the Acorn Foundation (2003) which he chaired until 2011. He has remained an ambassador for the organisation, which has gifted almost $20 million to the community since its inception.  As the Chair of TECT, Tauranga Energy Community Trust, Bill led the organisation through the period of transformation from a consumer trust into a community trust when they needed a lawyer at the helm. He became a trustee of TECT in 2012 and has been chairperson since 2014.  Bill also serves on a number of national and local charitable trusts, voluntary boards, and advisory committees. He has been a trustee of the Assisting Different Abilities Peoples Trust (Adapt) Trust since 2018, the Wright Family Foundation since 2014, and he was a founding trustee of the Legacy Trust in 2007, established by former mayor Greg Brownless. He was also the chairman of the Tauranga Boys’ College Board of Trustees for 12 years.  Bill has always been and remains humble despite the honour, always shifting the acknowledgement back onto those he worked with. “In any successful organisation like TECT, you need to have a good team of people. Really all I’ve been doing is just part of the team, and I’ve played my role, other people have played their roles and between us, good things have happened.”  But fortunately, the lifetime that Bill has dedicated to his community has not gone unnoticed and his CNZM is the latest in a very well-deserved list of recognition, including being made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List 2012.  Holland Beckett is proud to have Bill as part of their team, inspiring the next generations in the legal profession to live the value of ‘community’ and dedicate time and effort to endeavors they are passionate about and benefit others. Bill explained that “All of the money that’s gone into community groups has transformed people’s lives” and that being a part of that transformation has made him lucky and given him a very fulfilling life. Finally slowing down in his legal work, Bill continues his community and philanthropic work and continues to inspire others to.