Business News

A billion-dollar Queenstown development has been given a green light by an independent fast track consenting panel. It was referred to the Government’s expert consenting panel last year under the Fast Track Consenting Act 2020.

Boom times are back and while it should be a celebration for local businesses it looks like chronic labour shortages will ensure the busy summer predicted ahead may look more like a minefield for employers. However, it’s not all bad with some temporary help on the way for the peak season, in the form of working holiday visa holders from overseas.

Max Norton, 34, born and raised in Queenstown, has returned as a remote worker with wife, Marianna, and their two-year-old daughter Florence. For Max, who’s worked overseas since graduating from Otago University, remote work is not a new concept.

Arrowtown-based economist Benje Patterson has been working remotely from Arrowtown for six years now – long before it was fashionable, and the young father of three wouldn’t have it any other way. “Ironically, I now travel a lot less than I originally did, which is awesome,” says Benje, 35.

Life’s too short not to work remotely and get the best out of it, or so it seems for a new generation of highly focused professionals who don’t need to be in the office from nine until five. Increasing numbers of professionals are settling in Queenstown, many attracted by the events of the past two years, or simply wanting to escape the city and head for the mountains.

They’ve been the face of fresh and specialty food in Queenstown for almost 30 years, but Nathan and Angela Imlach recently hung up their grocery aprons for a well-earned break. The Imlachs sold their long-standing Raeward Fresh Queenstown, originally Queenstown Wholesale Market, then Mediterranean Market, to Picton supermarket owners Jono and Jess Ettema.

Memories of childhood strawberry picking expeditions warm the heart for many - once a highly-sought after family day out, and strawberry picking with all its trimmings is back on the menu this summer.

Olivia Wensley is moving on from Startup Queenstown Lakes after a hard-fought but bruising mayoral campaign. Hers is one of a number of changes in key business support positions across the district. Jim Boult stepped down as mayor, Ruth Stokes is on her way out of Queenstown Chamber of Commerce, while Mat Woods has only been in charge of Destination Queenstown for five months.

Remarkables Park Ltd has lowered the height of its planned tech hub building, but the company’s plans for the area remain as lofty as ever. The $45 million Research & Innovation Queenstown facility, backed by a $22.5m Government loan, has been redesigned in the face of rising construction costs.

Nestled away in majestic Queensberry you’ll discover a wee haven – SuziQ’s Garden. Here you’ll find an abundance of specialised Christmas trees, stunning peonies, and locally-made lavender products. Suzette van den Boom is at the helm and has grown it into the beautiful garden servicing the local community that it is today.

After a successful year of events, the Women in Business Series morning tea will continue in 2023. The events are a partnership between Queenstown Business Chamber of Commerce and Queenstown Airport, who wanted to support women in business, once a month. Each event has a female speaker who talks about their experience in business and the challenges they’ve overcome.

The produce the restaurant gardens grow virtually writes the menu on a daily basis for executive chef Chris Scott at Sherwood Hotel, where the planet comes first.

Memories of childhood strawberry picking expeditions warm the heart for many - once a highly-sought after family day out, and strawberry picking with all its trimmings is back on the menu this summer.

Regenerative practices have been applied since the inception of Queenstown Community Gardens 13 years ago, where demand has continued to increase for plots as produce prices soar.

The quest to farm regeneratively and produce food on scale has become a labour of love for New Zealand celebrity chef and TV presenter Nadia Lim and husband Carlos Bagrie, who hails from a generation of Wakatipu farmers, working their 460ha Royalburn Station on the Crown Terrace.

While the housing market is slowing due to inflation and interest rates, money continues to flow through Queenstown Lakes’ commercial and industrial property sector. And the annual 2022-23 Colliers Otago Market Review and Outlook shows it’s not just downtown that’s shaking off the pandemic blues.

Shane Manners Wood’s uniquely local lavender has enhanced everything from five-star restaurant brûlée to upmarket gin, while also soothing cuts, burns and stings, and calming the soul.

Goldfields Jewellers is something of an institution in Queenstown. It’s celebrating its 21st anniversary under the ownership of long-term locals Trond and Anna Johansson, the only Queenstown CBD retail store and onsite workshop with a working jeweller.

Despite closed borders the Queenstown Lakes film industry has still had a pretty strong year and there’s a positive vibe amid hopes of even better times to come.