Brits Line Up In Thousands To Live In New Zealand

Auckland, Monday 17 October 2005: More than 6000 people voted with their feet in the weekend with hope of employment and a better lifestyle in New Zealand.

Held in London, the Opportunities New Zealand Expo gives New Zealand employers the chance to court skilled British and expatriate workers. Over 300 New Zealand employers flew to Britain for this year’s event.

Hayley Roberts, a director of Opportunities New Zealand Expo, said they were very pleased with the crowd especially the number of quality candidates, particularly given a main rail line in to the event was down and they were competing with two huge English soccer matches.

“The research from our previous Expo showed people want to migrate for a better lifestyle. This is combined with a New Zealand skill shortage in key areas such as healthcare, accountancy and engineering has forced us to schedule another Expo early next year to meet demand,” said Roberts.

The high calibre of candidates is one of the reasons New Zealand employers are looking to the UK to solve their staffing shortages. The employers who travelled to the event were thrilled at the response.

Geoff Balmain from Transit New Zealand received over 50 curriculum vitas for specialised positions in the first day. Colin Gilchrist from Fisher and Paykel Appliances said they were looking for quality rather than quantity and had interviewed up to 15 employable candidates.

Queues were backed up to get to the Rotorua stand, said Jo Gargiulo who was promoting the tourist city. Those showing interest included doctors, physios, midwives, engineers, fitters and welders.

Another exhibitor, Hamish Mitchell from Bayleys Realty, said Auckland and Christchurch were the most popular destinations for British migrants followed by Bay of Plenty, Hawkes Bay then Wellington.

Shaun Gilhooley from Positively Wellington helped 62 families migrate as a result of last year’s Expo and Barbara Arnott, Mayor of Napier, has assisted 80 families move to her region.

Both attended this year’s event and were impressed with the excellent candidates. “Every year it is overwhelming the quality people who are dedicated and informed regarding migrating to New Zealand,” said Gilhooley.

Roberts said they spoke to many Kiwis keen to return home who said the Expo was excellent for making contacts and for information they hadn’t been able to source from extensive research on the Internet.

Based on last year’s figures nearly 65 percent of the visitors had a Bachelors degree, 13 percent were trade trained and only 2 percent had a minimum qualification from secondary school. Most were aged between 36 and 40 years of age and majority expected to arrive in New Zealand six months to a year after the Opportunities New Zealand Expo.

Most were skilled in the areas of healthcare, engineering, accounting and finance, trades, IT/telecommunications and business/marketing/management,

Opportunities New Zealand Expo has increased five fold in the last five years with 120 exhibitors showing in the UK this year. This weekend the Manchester Opportunities New Zealand Expo opens, with an additional London session scheduled for March next year.

ENDS

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