We sat down with the CEO of Nāti Growth, Henare Walker (Ngāti Porou) to find out more about Nāti Growth and its experience at the B:HIVE.
Nāti Growth is the economic and wealth generation arm of Te Runanganui o Ngāti Porou, located in the East Cape and Gisborne regions. Henare Walker has been CEO of Nāti Growth for the last 18 months, after having served on the board prior. Nāti Growth’s focus is to grow and manage commercial interests for the benefit of Ngāti Porou, now and in the future, realizing the significant economic contribution Ngāti Porou has the potential to make for Tairāwhiti / Gisborne. Henare leads a team owning and administering $260m in commercial assets including financial investments in farming, seafood, tourism, forestry and Mānuka honey amongst others.
With a satellite office in Auckland, team members, including Henare, travel regularly between city and region.
Henare explains that being physically in Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland helps achieve many things for Nāti Growth including access to great talent, strengthening of relationships with partners and exploring business and investment opportunities beyond the East Cape. Collaboration and strong relationships are crucial to success and driving growth.
“Many of our key business partners and advisors were already in Auckland and it’s beneficial to spend time with them. Despite the ease of connecting remotely these days – regularly seeing people kanohi ki te kanohi (face to face) is important. Our set up in Auckland has enabled this to happen, plus connected us with other opportunities through the community right here in the building. I spend half my time back in Tairāwhiti and the rest of my time here. It’s made a significant difference to our growth trajectory. We’re physically putting ourselves in the best position to achieve our goals”.
Nāti Growth has been at the B:HIVE for nearly 10 months – initially with a small two person team at desks and recently moving into a private office. Says Henare “we reached 6 team members at desks before moving into an office. From realising we were ready for an office, to being moved in and all set up took no more than three days. Computers and everything were all set up – with no disruption for us. It’s quite a mindset shift having our own space now – our name is proudly on the door! We’re in growth mode now certainly. Whilst we are enjoying having our own space as a team, a space to make our own – we all really enjoy the breakout spaces here and the tangible vibe that exists at the B:HIVE. We are still a relatively small team – but, being in a space like this means we enjoy the vibe of a larger entity.”
To achieve desired outcomes, ultimately to drive positive social and cultural development outcomes for the Ngāti Porou rohe, it was important to Henare and the Nāti Growth team to be in the country’s busiest city but the choice to base the team on the North Shore was also a considered one. Takapuna Beach may be a fair way from the coastline of the East Cape, but as Henare says – “we tend to be going against the traffic with our commute. Everyone is heading in one way – we’re going in the other. That’s usually a pretty successful formula for us! So far so good!” With growth firmly in its sights, Nāti Growth is on a focused trajectory and is building a great team to realize its vision to drive positive outcomes for today and future generations.