Last weekend Mayor Barbara Arnott and I spent the weekend in London at the New Zealand Opportunities Expo. This is an expo which seeks to attract UK people to relocate to New Zealand. The expo has nearly 50 stands with employers, bankers, recruitment agencies and some regions.
This is the fifth year we have done this and from a Hawke’s Bay perspective it is a very cost-effective way of filling some critical skilled roles within the region. Every year we have attracted around 60 families to live in Hawke’s Bay from this one weekend. It involves detailed follow-up work after the expo, but the people who have moved here love it.
This year the response was even greater than normal. Our region’s stand was swamped with people eager to find out more. This follows a similar experience the previous weekend in Leeds. Quite clearly we were one of the most popular stands at both expos. Mayor Barbara and I presented seminars to packed audiences of over 300 people where we shared lots of information about how we live and what we have to offer.
We are well-known in the UK market for three things. Our lifestyle, our wine and Art Deco. It is a pleasure to speak to so many people who have already done detailed homework on the region. Many have even gone as far as to check out individual schools.
I was amazed at the number of highly qualified and skilled couples who simply wanted to bring their children up in a better environment. They understand their incomes will drop, but are staggered at our reasonable cost of living. They believe they can have a far better quality of life in our region. And they can.
It is a courageous decision to up sticks and travel to the other side of the world to live, complete with children, furniture and pets. I respect that courage and if they have the skills we need then we welcome them with open arms. Over the two weekends we had over 600 expressions of interest in relocating. Not all will come, but I am proud to live in a region which is so attractive to others.
Those are my thoughts for the week.
I’m Lawrence Yule.
