Page 6 - HW Sept 2021

editorial
A note from island Auckland...
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NZ Hardware Journal is published 11 times per year (monthly except for January)
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2456 • 30/9/2018 www.abc.org.nz
DO
AS I WRITE, Auckland is an island in lockdown.
And it’s raining again.
The rest of the country has just restarted in Level 2.5, happy to be able to chip away again at recovering business lost and lifestyles foregone.
It’s probably sunny-as south of the Bombays.
Trouble is, with the City of Sales still locked down – and still the country’s centre of manufacturing and distribution for building products – businesses seeking products and materials to build homes with are being stymied.
Stress levels were already high.
Registered Master Builders had already released its latest State of the Sector Survey entitled “A stressed sector working hard for New Zealand”, reporting that
all but 5% of respondents has “issues
with increased costs, delays, customer complaints and product substitutions due to a lack of available building materials.”
Judging by the results of our own 2021 State of the Nation survey (see page 18) suppliers, DIY retailers and merchants were already all too aware of all this.
But then, while the rest of the country opened up a little, hotbed of infection Auckland stayed in Level 4.
And building-related businesses outside Auckland, became even more vocal
about immediate product and material shortages.
“Construction work will come to
a grinding stop within days unless
the Government allows Auckland to distribute supplies to the rest of New Zealand immediately,” said the Master Plumbers for example.
Well, the Government heard what was being said, and as I write MBIE will be communicating what it will take for some Auckland manufacturers to restart operations, having shown they’re able to meet what are expected to be quite exacting operational criteria.
As I write however, I’m sensing growing frustration, amid calls to allow not just manufacturers but also distributors of other core product types to reopen their Auckland operations.
For our part, due to our own ongoing uncertainty around Alert Levels, we have made the strategic decision to push the 2021 Hardware Awards Gala Dinner (original date Wednesday 10 November) out by a month.
The new date is Wednesday 8 December 2021, the venue remains Cordis Auckland.
With the pandemic continuing to put large gatherings at risk, and potential for
a widening gap between demand and supply, we hope and believe that this date change will enable us to celebrate together as an industry once again at the 26th annual Hardware Awards.
Take it easy out there.
Steve Bohling, editor steveb@mpm.nz
4 NZHJ | SEPTEMBER 2021
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