MEDIA RELEASE
9 February 2004
Minister to launch book that helps businesses strangled by red tape
Today (9 February) in Wellington, Minister of Small Business Hon John Tamihere will launch a book and website designed
to help owners and managers of small to medium sized (SMEs) businesses in New Zealand cut through red tape.
Mr Tamihere has committed to reducing compliance costs for small and medium-sized enterprises in New Zealand, and the
new book represents support for that drive from Brookers, Minter Ellison Rudd Watts, and Bank of New Zealand.
Compliance and your Business and the website www.businesswise.co.nz has been published by legal publisher Brookers Ltd,
who partnered Minter Ellison Rudd Watts (MERW) with a team of business reporters to ensure the information is credible,
highly readable and practical. The key benefit is that the book and the website bring together information which people
normally have to go to a range of sources to get.
Bank of New Zealand is the principal sponsor of the book, as part of its commitment to small and medium enterprises.
Neil Story, Managing Director, Brookers says that more than 95 percent of businesses in New Zealand are SMEs and the
majority of these simply cannot afford the time and money of a tailored legal compliance programme.
“The risks to these businesses of non-compliance are significant and a tool such as this book and website go a long way
to meeting the needs of the sector,” he says.
Bank of New Zealand has also recognised the need for an authoritative resource on compliance for SME’s.
Mike Skilling, General Manager, Business Financial Services, with Bank of New Zealand says both customer feedback and
research in the public sector underlines the compliance challenges facing SME’s.
“The range and complexity of legislation, along with time and costs associated with compliance, are proving a very real
burden for businesses. It is our pleasure to support this initiative which we believe will ease the way to compliance
and in turn, allow business leaders to focus on what they do best …. running their businesses. This book will complement
our business managers’ expertise in working with clients to achieve greater business success,” he says.
Karen Price, Partner, Minter Ellison Rudd Watts, says they were keen to be involved with the project because they saw
the information resource as a great first step for the many business owners and managers that are currently not well
equipped to tackle the issue of red tape.
“Just keeping on top of the sheer volume of compliance issues can be a major resource issue for SMEs, as can keeping
abreast of new legislative developments, recognising the potential impacts on the business and taking appropriate
actions early enough to satisfactorily mitigate the compliance costs, says Ms Price.
These businesses still face the same compliance requirements as the corporates and Robert Falvey, MERW partner
specialising in due diligence and risk management, says this can be a huge challenge for them.
“Issues small and medium sized businesses get tangled up with are most likely to be those not core to their particular
business. Many business managers are unaware of either the need to comply or the extent of compliance required resulting
in large fines and potentially imprisonment,” says Mr Falvey.
The book costs $90 inc GST and can be ordered by visiting www.businesswise.co.nz
Further, Bank of New Zealand business banking managers will be providing 10,000 abridged versions of the book to some of
the Bank’s business customers.
ENDS