“I can’t  emphasise enough the  importance of having the right people on your team,” says Malcolm Hammond,  structural steel fabricator and founder of MJH Engineering.

The idea of co-working, different businesses and individuals operating side-by-side under the same roof, is an on-the-job style which has gained momentum and converts over the past decade.

While The Settlement co-working space may have more mature businesses than its sometimes perceived hotbedness of start-ups, that may be about to change.

The socialisation, all-in-one bill and lack of loneliness aspects of co-working are some of its many benefits.

The often barely noticed fire detection control box at the entrance to commercial buildings is sometimes referred to as a ‘grudge purchase’.

Before embarking on spending serious money making a product, “make sure there is a market for it,” says Pertronic founder and owner David Percy.

An ‘aha’ moment for Technology Valley Wingate-based Pertronic was a decision to concentrate much less on the China market.

Continual research and development is one of the key factors behind Pertronic’s growth to number one in New Zealand fire detection control equipment.

“It’s with a degree of sadness that I don’t see other specialised manufacturing carried out in New Zealand,” says David Percy, founder and owner of Pertronic Industries.

Until recently, as sole owner of fire detection control equipment Pertronic Industries, David Percy’s given himself the lone role of decision-making.