Hi,

Just to  let you know that you can hear your 8 candidates and 2 Mayoral Candidates speak (5 minutes each) at Picton Primary School

Tuesday  14th September 2010 7.30-9.30pm

For further information, please contact either

Hilary Colquhoun 03 573 6157 hjcpicton@yahoo.co.nz

or Chris Davies 03 573 8131 chrisdavies92003@yahoo.com.au

Looking forward to seeing you there,

Tika

Hi guys,

Just wanted to bring your attention to NZTradeNetwork, an online marketing site for small businesses. If you are a small business or someone wanting to find a company to do a job for you, this is the site for you.

Check out the Marlborough Express article today 19th August 2010:

Playing field levelled

Network brings buying power to small businesses

By Michael Berry – The Marlborough Express

“It’s hard out there for the little guy, so it’s time for small businesses to unite and save rather than divide and fall, says a Blenheim entrepreneur.

James Hedley launched NZtradenetwork.co.nz last week to create a network for small businesses to band together for the good of them all.

It was free to join and had about 300 members already, he said.

“It’s growing fast and it’s something that’s been needed in New Zealand for a long time.”

Running a small asphalt driveway company in Blenheim showed him first-hand how difficult it was for small businesses to be competitive and profitable in the face of large nationalised companies, he said.

That struggle sowed the idea in his mind of levelling the playing field.

“There are expenses that most businesses have in common … we negotiate deals with suppliers fortified by our collective strength, then we hand those deals down to the individual businesses giving them huge buying power that no one business could ever achieve.”

A group of small businesses could get the good insurance premiums, the cheaper pricing for materials and other benefits usually the domain of large businesses, he said.

And the larger the network’s membership, the more bargaining power.

click to enlarge for article

“Our main aim is to provide all the advantages to small businesses that big businesses have … buying power, marketing exposure, support, opportunity and networking.”

The network would also be a forum for more business, with members able to support other people in a similar position and post requests for products and services, he said. Members could then bid on doing the job. “As a small guy, you can be the best in your field, but if people don’t know you exist it doesn’t matter.”

Any Kiwi-owned business with a turnover less than $30 million could join the network, he said.

The website would make money from advertising once enough traffic went through it, he said.”

There was also an article in The Sun yesterday

So if you are a small business or a customer, join up! Keep abreast of the latest with NZTradeNetwork Facebook. Of course if you are in Picton or the Marlborough Sounds you should also be on here Picton Marlborough Directory, Picton Juice.

Spring is here, but we still enjoy snuggling inside under a good strong roof – an elemental need from way back.

If you are thinking of a new roof in either asphalt or shingle shakes, Marlborough Shingle and Shake Roofing Ltd is the company for you.

Owner Tim Newsham is the only Cedar Shake and Shingle Bureau Certified Installer of cedar roofing products in New Zealand, and he enjoys and encourages working with the owners and architects right from the concept plans. This gives the owners all the options to achieve the look they want and it can save significant time and costs by getting the drawings and consent applications correct the first time.

For all house building projects, it makes financial and practical sense to do it right the first time. Therefore, all the team at Marlborough Shingle and Shake Roofing Ltd are required to address every detail of the entire roof system to ensure absolute water tightness for the entire length of the roofing product.

Whether it be a roof penetration like a chimney, or a gutter detail, they go to extreme lengths to ensure that there will never be a chance of leaks.

Marlborough Shingle and Shake Roofing will also issue you with a Producer Statement guaranteeing its workmanship and have developed systems to ensure perfection of application, and our fine finishing detail ensures the best possible look for the materials.