Hamilton & Waikato

It wouldn't be a bad job. Surrounded by makeup and perfume all day but one of New Zealand's biggest retailers can't seem to get anyone to do it.

As the unemployment rate reaches a 10-year high, with the number of unemployed people now standing at 168,000, Farmers is struggling to fill 30 jobs manning its beauty and fragrance counters.

The human resources department has been reduced to running recruitment evenings in Hamilton and Auckland to inform candidates about a career in the beauty industry and to identify the qualities that make sales professionals.

"We're interested in hearing from new beauty graduates, seasoned industry professionals and sales professionals looking for a change in industry," says Sheila Naidoo, head of HR for Farmers. According to recent statistics from the Department of Labour, there should be an overload of retail workers in the job market, said Ms Naidoo.

"Even if they don't have beauty industry experience, if they have a passion for beauty products and a desire to work with prestigious brands, we can train them," she said.

Lorraine Reay, Clinique counter manager at Farmers, Hamilton city store, prides herself on being able to connect with people.

"Being a counter manager is a bit like being a successful real estate agent. You have to think of yourself as being self-employed, even though you work for Farmers."

Ms Naidoo said Farmers was looking for staff like Ms Reay who had come to Farmers with previous experience in hospitality.

Ms Naidoo said Farmers was willing to look beyond an applicant's immediate work experience to fill the positions.

She said while beauty may be considered more of a female industry several men were doing well at Farmers.

David Marris, fragrance sales professional, celebrated his sixth anniversary at Farmers Hamilton store this month.

Asked what type of person is suited to a career in fragrance or cosmetics, Mr Marris said: "A focus on customer service is essential . . . and of course a love for the product certainly helps."

Ms Naidoo said the recruitment drive would start at the new Farmers store opening at The Base, in Te Rapa, Hamilton on May 4.

--------------------

CAPTION:
Vacancies galore: Lorraine Feay, of Clinique, and David Marris, of Fragrance in a Farmers store where their products are sold. However, Farmers is struggling to get good employees for its beauty departments.
Picture: KATRINA BIELESKI

Waikato supermarket owners are "blown away" by figures showing a 42.5 per cent rise in food prices since 2000.

The news has prompted Labour consumer spokeswoman Carol Beaumont to call for the Government to encourage more competition in the supermarket sector.

New Zealand grocery prices have risen 42.5 per cent between 2000 and 2009, followed by Australia which pays 41.3 per cent more, Britain's prices rose 32.9 per cent and America's were up 28.4 per cent, according to a study out yesterday.

Pak `n Save Mill St owner Glenn Miller said he was trying to obtain a grocery bill from nine years ago as he and his staff doubted the cost of many grocery items had risen to that extent.

He said a can of spaghetti cost 90c in 2000 and now customers would pay $1.09 for the same can. "At Pak n Save the margin we enjoy is lower than many other countries in the world and we think we are still very competitive given manufacturing cost and we try and keep our overheads down," said Mr Miller, who believes Pak `n Save is extremely competitive.

Vege King owner Swaran Singh said prices at his Fairfield fruit and vegetable shop would have risen by up to 10 per cent at the most. In some cases prices had not changed. He said the price tag on asparagus had stayed at $3.99 since 2000.

Progressive Enterprises, which owns Countdown, Woolworths and Foodtown, blamed international events such as drought as the main drivers of food inflation. Progressive spokesman Bill Moore said the group was consistently striving to offer the best prices and its profitability had remained at between 3 and 4 per cent since Australian-owned Woolworths Limited purchased Progressive four years ago. The group said there was plenty of competition between supermarkets, delis, butchers, green grocers and bakeries.

But Ms Beaumont has questioned why New Zealand is not following the example of Australia's Competition Minister, Craig Emerson, whose government was taking "hard measures" and lowering the barriers to other retailers competing with Coles and Woolworths on that side of the Tasman.

She was critical of Consumer Affairs Minister Heather Roy's suggestion that New Zealanders "shop around" to combat some of the fastest-rising food prices in the developed world, saying it had attracted widespread criticism. It was "poor advice" to families struggling with soaring food bills, Ms Beaumont said.

Public comments on news websites and on talkback radio produced a stream of consumers critical of grocery pricing, with many calling for overseas chains such as Aldi and Costco to compete against New Zealand's Foodstuffs (which owns Pak `n Save and New World) and Progressive Enterprises.

Hamish Wilson, of Consumer New Zealand, said there had been some attempts by other companies, such as The Warehouse, to break into the supermarket sector "but it's pretty difficult". The controversy arose in the wake of the Australian study which says the price of food in New Zealand has risen faster than in any other OECD country other than Korea.

- With NZPA

While one company prospers from tenders, another has to sell buses, business editor Chris Gardner writes.
--------------------
Hamilton-based Go Bus will double its North Island depots in January when it puts 130 new buses into operation.

Managing director Calum Haslop, who joined Go Bus three months ago, told a business audience at PricewaterhouseCoopers' Clever Companies function in Hamilton this week that the secret to winning a sizeable Education Ministry contract was nearly five years of planning to match the ministry's tendering cycle, which comes in rounds of six to 12 years. The contract, being formalised this month, means the operator, formed from several small family-run businesses about four years ago, will double its depots from 12 to 24, with significant expansion in charter, school and urban operations in Hawke's Bay.

Construction is under way on 130 new buses, which will increase the fleet by between 30 and 40 per cent in January. The number of drivers will increase from about 200 to 300.

"There's a lot of work to do, but we are quite confident in our ability to deliver this," Mr Haslop said.

Go Bus, and Ritchies Transport Holdings in Christchurch, are two of the clear winners in the tendering process. Go Bus drivers are on the road for 60,000 man hours a year. They drive 10 million kilometres a year and burn 2.5 million litres of diesel. Mr Haslop said the company handled 3000 customer complaints a year, mostly related to buses not running on time.

Nationwide, more than 100 operators have lost their contracts for 2400 school bus routes servicing 65,000 pupils, which is reducing the number of operators from 205 to 92.

Waipawa Buses, which has operated in Central Hawke's Bay since 1970, is among the biggest losers, with all but four of its 70 routes going to Go Bus. It will sell 120 buses and lay off 100 staff.

Neil Dobson, who runs Dobson Motors in Te Kuiti, said his bus company was losing eight school routes but retained five. "I have already told eight of my 22 drivers that I will not be able to keep them on. While they don't like it, they understand it is not my doing," Mr Dobson said.

The company was told by the ministry that to have a chance of renewing its contract it would have to upgrade its fleet, so it ordered two new buses. The first, which cost $245,000, arrived two weeks ago.

"It is going to be hard to absorb the cost when we have effectively lost more than half of our business," Mr Dobson said.

"One guy, Clarrie Hanson, who does the Otewa School bus run, has been with us for 28 years. He was part of the community, he knew the kids, their parents and the community. It is the personal touch they are going to lose with these big companies."

Mr Dobson said his company gave donations to school galas and prize-givings every year, because it was rooted in the company, but couldn't imagine Go Bus doing the same.

Dobson Motors had not heard why it missed out from the ministry. "We were in the top two per cent back in April. We have done everything the ministry asked, and we still missed out."

Allan Turley, who runs Turley Motors in Te Aroha, said his business would lose two out of seven routes and two drivers. One would retire at the end of the school year, and the other had found work with a Morrinsville bus company. Karyn Coxhead, who operated Bus With Us, in Thames, with her husband Chris, said the business would not be affected by Go Bus's expansion.

Mr Haslop said during his presentation: "We knew this (process) was going to happen and we have been planning for that for four or five years." His favourite saying, quoted by Harrison Ford in the latest Indiana Jones movie earlier this year, was "you don't take a knife to a gunfight". "We don't do that," he said.

"We have taken a systematic approach. We don't pick our growth targets by throwing a dart at them." Another secret, Mr Haslop said, was hiring "high octane" staff with "fire in the belly".

He could have been talking about himself, captivating the audience with joke after joke at the presentation, explaining that he had left his pin-striped suit at home because the last time he had worn it was at a funeral. "I'm hoping for a better outcome tonight," he joked.

"There's a lot of irony in having a bus operator talk at a seminar on clever companies. I am not sure that people relate to bus companies as being clever, and I am not sure that we would see ourselves as being clever. The main driver is on the need to lift the game in passenger transport. "Passengers are needing more in quality and service and the Ministry of Education has demanded a higher quality of vehicle."

Mr Haslop said Go Bus would not have been able to attract equity partners, as it did last year, had it not had a guaranteed cash flow from contracts or a strong, clear, definitive business plan.

"We do put a lot of stock in the detail of our planning. Without that plan there would not be Go Bus."

Mr Haslop would not be drawn on the split between ministry and regional council contracts across the North Island, nor would he say how many services Go Bus would operate from January. He said the company had won the contracts because it was competitive and capable.

But Garry Hetherington, regional transport organiser for the National Distribution Union, said the company was paying drivers between the $12 an hour minimum wage and $13.51, and the union was about to start negotiations seeking more than $17. "We are talking about drivers who have been with the company a long time and who are expert drivers," Mr Hetherington said. "You are not going to keep them if you are paying them a minimum wage."

Mr Hetherington, who represents about 70 per cent of about 200 Go Bus drivers, said the coverage clause in the collective agreement would need to be updated to include depots outside of Hamilton.

"What it means for our drivers is more opportunity," he said.
--------------------
CAPTION: GOING PLACES: Go Bus drivers are on the road for 60,000 man hours a year. They drive 10 million kilometres a year.
Picture: Iain McGregor

Recycler Metal Man is making hay out of old car parts.

The Auckland-based company, which compresses and re-sells scrap metal, has 64 staff throughout New Zealand and an annual turnover of about $40 million.

Metal Man picked up several prizes at the recent Westpac Manukau Business Excellence Awards, winning the business of the year supreme award, and awards for excellence in manufacturing and exporting.

General manager Clark Proctor said the company's scrap metal came from a range of suppliers including boat builders, sheet-metal workers and automotive repair garages.

Metal Man exports about 50 per cent of its recycled metal, mainly to countries throughout Asia but also to Europe. The "top-grade furnace-ready" metal is used to make a variety of products, such as pots and pans, engine components and aluminium plates for boats.

Mr Proctor said the boom in scrap metal prices this year - they have risen by about 140 per cent - was "unbelievable", but not the windfall some might think. "I'm actually happy when prices are low. Because it doesn't promote thieving [of scrap metal], and removes those people from the fringes of the industry who are bad practitioners and rear their heads when prices are high."

Metal Man operates out of Auckland, Hamilton and Christchurch.

A Rotorua bus company says it will go under when out-of-town contractors take over some of the district's school bus services.

Contracts for school bus routes in Rotorua, Reporoa and Rerewhakaaitu have been given to bigger firms from Auckland and Hamilton. These firms will take over these runs next year.

Rotorua's Reesby Buslines, Reporoa's Nirvana Coachlines and Rerewhakaaitu's Cave Coachlines have confirmed their contracts with the Ministry of Education have not been renewed. Reesby and Nirvana spokespeople would not comment but Cave Coachlines owner Ian Cave said he would be out of business when his contract runs out at the year's end.

The 46-year-old man owns six buses and employs two staff, in addition to himself and his wife.

About 60 bus companies throughout the country face severe cuts to their operations after the Ministry of Education changed its school contracts for next year and awarded them to different providers following a tendering process.

"The main thing is finding new jobs for my employees. Then I've got to sell my buses,'' he said. ``I also need to find a new job for myself. I'm still going to have bills to pay."

Mr Cave said most of the contracts were awarded to two big providers, Auckland-based Ritchies Transport and Hamilton- based Go Bus.

Co-owner of Ritchies Transport, Glen Ritchie, confirmed the company had acquired ``some contracts'' for Rotorua although he wouldn't say which services his company would be running. "We will be bringing some new buses to Rotorua and there will also be the opportunity for locals to apply for jobs."

He said the company would take over the contract next year and new buses would operate out of the existing Ritchies depot in Rotorua.

Mr Cave said his bus company had been operating for 20 years but he was not surprised bigger companies got the school contracts. "The big companies just keep getting bigger, they can afford to do things a bit cheaper than we can. It is disappointing after all this time. We have been a part of the community for so long."

Contracts for school bus services with the Ministry of Education come up for tender every six years.

Anne Jackson, deputy secretary for the ministry, said the tender process was in line with Government guidelines. "The ministry consulted with the transport sector on the rules for the tender and ran workshops open to all providers at the qualification phase and the pricing phase of the tender rounds."

She said the workshops were designed to ensure all providers had access to impartial advice about submitting a tender to the ministry. "To ensure impartiality, representatives from Land Transport New Zealand and the School Trustees Association sat on the qualification tender evaluation committee, and an independent observer was a member of the committee throughout the process. The ministry updates transport provider contracts quarterly to take account of increases in labour, fuel, other transport and road user charges. Providers are aware that this quarterly price adjustment will continue on with the new contracts."