The Action International Business Awards were held at Wairakei Resort in Taupo.
An ambitious Albany technology consultancy company, Digital Arena (2002), took top honours in the recently-announced 2005 Action International Business Awards. The business, coached by Action International business coach Pat Williams, won the supreme award - the Gilligan Rowe and Associates Action International Business of the Year.
Digital Arena (2002) co-owner and managing director Nigel Debenham said the award is a ’great pat on the back’.
"It is recognition of our hard work and the very high standards we set in our business. It is also a great springboard to take us to another level in the market, and a great morale boost to our staff."
Digital Arena is an IT consultancy that offers a wide range of IT and support systems for the pre-press, design, publishing and communications industries. The company, based in Albany on Auckland’s North Shore, has increased its staff from nine to 23 over the past three years and has a 95 per cent referral rate for new business. Sales leapt by almost 150 per cent last year, and the business aims to double its turnover within two years.
Judges were impressed that Digital Arena had put in place comprehensive human resources systems to ensure that each of its team members will ultimately work in a role that maximises their strengths and abilities ˆ a strategy that is assisting Digital Arena make the transition from being a small business to a medium-sized business.
Action International’s business coach Pat Williams has been assisting Nigel Debenham to grow Digital Arena.
"Pat rekindled our dream and helped us reset our vision for the business," says Nigel. "He instilled the belief that we could do it and this helped galvanise the staff. Once the necessary processes and systems were established we had fresh impetus to realise the dream."
Eight other businesses were honoured in this year’s awards ˆ all small to medium
enterprises that have either fought back from adversity, injected new life into their
business, or tackled business challenges in innovative ways. Many of the finalists have seen a transformation in their personal lives, too, achieving a better balance between work, family and wider interests.
Action International introduced the awards two years ago, to honour its coaches’ top business achievers and to recognise and publicly acknowledge those who have followed their dreams, taken action and received outstanding results through the Action International system.
Most are small to medium businesses, the kind that make up more than 80 per cent of New Zealand’s enterprises and which contribute substantially to the country’s economy.
This year’s awards ceremony was held on November 11 at Wairakei Resort, Taupo.
