‘Kiwi invasion’ – Flintfox wins big on global stage with Microsoft.

Flintfox honoured by Microsoft for outstanding sales achievement and innovation.

(Auckland, New Zealand, July 28, 2020) – Flintfox International, a disruptive innovator in pricing and rebate management and Gold Microsoft partner in the development and implementation of Supply chain solutions , are honoured to receive the 2020 MSUS Partner Award for Retail.

Flintfox is also proud to have achieved prestigious 2020/2021 Inner Circle status. Membership in this elite group is based on sales achievements that rank Flintfox in the top echelon of the Microsoft Business Applications global network of partners. Inner Circle members have performed to a high standard of excellence by delivering valuable solutions that help organisations achieve increased success. For the 4th time, Flintfox has been selected out of thousands of partners for this elite membership.

“Each year we recognise Microsoft Business Applications partners from around the world for delivering innovation and driving unsurpassed customer success,” said Cecilia Flombaum, Microsoft Business Applications Ecosystem Lead. “Our Inner Circle members are chosen based on their business performance as well as capabilities as an organisation, whether that’s creating IP, developing solutions, or having an industry leading focus on digital transformation. Microsoft is honoured to recognise Flintfox for their achievements this past year, their dedication to our customers, and their innovation around the Microsoft Cloud.”  

2020/2021 Inner Circle members are invited to the Inner Circle Virtual Summits, taking place quarterly between July 2020 and June 2021, where they will have a unique opportunity to share strategy and network with Microsoft senior leaders and fellow partners.

The Microsoft US (MSUS) Award program was developed to recognise outstanding achievement by their US partners. Flintfox was up against a competitive nomination pool and rose to the top amongst hundreds of other partners and ISV’s.

Flintfox, with their best of breed solutions for managing supply chain revenue, together with Microsoft, enable companies to achieve more in the US and beyond. With Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain Management and the Flintfox pricing and rebate management solution, there has never been such a complete and powerful tool available for Supply Chain companies. Flintfox are proud to have had their achievements recognised by Microsoft.

Many clients have trusted Flintfox to implement Dynamics 365 along with their Revenue Management suite of products.

“Supply chains are complex these days and managing pricing and incentives accurately for companies can be the difference between profit and loss. With Microsoft’s commitment to ERP innovation, breadth of functionality, and ease of use, Flintfox complex pricing and rebate management provides a true competitive advantage. With our Dynamics 365 offerings and our deep domain expertise along with our revenue management software, we are not just competing, we are winning. To be selected as a top partner for the prestigious Inner Circle Award is another indicator of the success of Flintfox in sales and innovative, industry-leading supply chain software.

We are proud that our outstanding achievements globally have been recognised by Microsoft US.  All the more extraordinary is the size and scale of North America and thinking back to our humble beginnings in New Zealand. This is a fantastic reflection of the leading Dynamics implementation expertise we have in North America and is a great testament to our company as we continue to grow in scale and influence. Looking forward to achieving even more wins with Flintfox and Microsoft – we make an incredible team.” says Flintfox CEO and Chairman, Mike Ridgway.

Flintfox has over 15 years of leading collaborations with Microsoft as an ISV, resulting in dozens of happy Dynamics AX and Dynamics 365 ERP clients getting the solutions they need to succeed and grow. As well as bringing extended functionality to D365, Flintfox has recently developed the RMx hyper-speed pricing engine in the Azure cloud, that works with any ERP, to complement the Trade Revenue Management (TRM) Suite for Dynamics. RMx delivers 5,000 complex prices calculated per second in Azure. There is currently no other solution like it in the world.

-ENDS-

About Flintfox

Flintfox provides best of breed Trade Revenue Management (TRM) solutions for resolving revenue challenges across the supply chain. They have over 30 years of expertise delivering TRM solutions to over 125,000 users across 25 countries within the manufacturing, wholesale distribution and retail industries. Their TRM software, for both buy and sell-side operations, integrates with any ERP and enables accurate, real-time calculations for complex revenue activities including price management, promotions pricing, rebate management, claims and deductions. As a Microsoft Gold Partner, Inner Circle Member and one of only 10 software developers managed globally, Flintfox also provides consulting and implementation services for Microsoft Dynamics applications. Flintfox operates across North America, South America, Europe and Asia Pacific, with headquarters located in New Zealand.

www.flintfox.com

Five V purchases Totara ownership interest, setting the stage for Totara’s expansion into global HR technology market

For Immediate Release

Wellington, New Zealand, June 16, 2020 – Totara today announced that its owners have entered into a purchase agreement with Sydney private equity firm Five V Capital, under which Five V will acquire a majority ownership interest in Totara. The operations and management of Totara will remain unchanged with Richard Wyles continuing as Chief Executive Officer.

Since 2011, Totara has remained focused on helping organizations experience the freedom to innovate and adapt to changing circumstances through its open and flexible HR and Learning & Development software.

Today’s rapidly evolving workplace and the strategic imperative of having engaged and well-trained employees, further accelerated by COVID-19, has prompted corporations and organizations to adapt new working practices. Totara’s products – used by over 1,800 organizations like USDA, Indeed, Pepsi, Red Hat, JetBlue, Yamaha, and more – is well-positioned to meet this growing market.

“I am excited to welcome Five V Capital in Totara’s mission to drive a new era of innovation, workplace performance and productivity,” said Wyles. “Five V’s collaborative and growth-oriented approach will accelerate our efforts to build Totara’s presence in new and existing markets – at a time when the demand for remote workforce technologies is growing exponentially.”

Wyles said: “Totara’s enterprise-ready learning management system (LMS), user-centric learning experience platform (LXP), and comprehensive performance management system – which will be released in October 2020 as the Totara Talent Experience Platform – is a formidable challenger and strategic alternative to often over-priced and inflexible HCM systems. We’re here to shake things up for the better and it’s great to have experienced and aligned partners in Five V.”

“We are excited to be part of Totara’s future and to be partnering with Richard and his team,” said Srdjan Dangubic, Partner at Five V Capital. “Totara is a globally ambitious business with enormous potential. We look forward to supporting Totara’s international expansion plans to disrupt the global HR and talent experience markets,” Wyles said.

Vista Point Advisors, a San Francisco-based boutique investment bank, acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Totara.

About Totara
Totara builds employee engagement, learning, and performance management technologies that enable large multinational corporations, government entities, and mid-market companies to deliver enterprise-level talent and workforce experiences. Totara’s Talent Experience Platform (TXP) unifies an industry-leading learning management system (LMS), a user-centric learning experience platform (LXP), and a comprehensive performance management system under a single and highly adaptable architecture. Totara’s TXP and flexible architecture gives organizations the freedom to innovate, the freedom to choose, and unlocks critical resources for reinvestment into where it really counts. https://www.totaralearning.com/

About Five V
Five V Capital is a growth-focused private equity fund based in Sydney, Australia. Five V has in excess of A$450 million of capital available to partner with leading founders and businesses in Australia and New Zealand. With a focus on B2B and technology-enabled services, Five V’s current portfolio includes Education Perfect, Probe Group, Universal Store, Zenith Investment Partners, RateSetter Australia, Canva and SiteMinder. More information is available at www.fivevcapital.com/

Five V purchases Totara ownership interest, setting the stage for Totara’s expansion into global HR technology market

Wellington, New Zealand, June 16, 2020 – Totara today announced that its owners have entered into a purchase agreement with Sydney private equity firm Five V Capital, under which Five V will acquire a majority ownership interest in Totara. The operations and management of Totara will remain unchanged with Richard Wyles continuing as Chief Executive Officer.

Since 2011, Totara has remained focused on helping organizations experience the freedom to innovate and adapt to changing circumstances through its open and flexible HR and Learning & Development software.

Today’s rapidly evolving workplace and the strategic imperative of having engaged and well-trained employees, further accelerated by COVID-19, has prompted corporations and organizations to adapt new working practices. Totara’s products – used by over 1,800 organizations like USDA, Indeed, Pepsi, Red Hat, JetBlue, Yamaha, and more – is well-positioned to meet this growing market.

“I am excited to welcome Five V Capital in Totara’s mission to drive a new era of innovation, workplace performance and productivity,” said Wyles. “Five V’s collaborative and growth-oriented approach will accelerate our efforts to build Totara’s presence in new and existing markets – at a time when the demand for remote workforce technologies is growing exponentially.”

Wyles said: “Totara’s enterprise-ready learning management system (LMS), user-centric learning experience platform (LXP), and comprehensive performance management system – which will be released in October 2020 as the Totara Talent Experience Platform – is a formidable challenger and strategic alternative to often over-priced and inflexible HCM systems. We’re here to shake things up for the better and it’s great to have experienced and aligned partners in Five V.”

“We are excited to be part of Totara’s future and to be partnering with Richard and his team,” said Srdjan Dangubic, Partner at Five V Capital. “Totara is a globally ambitious business with enormous potential. We look forward to supporting Totara’s international expansion plans to disrupt the global HR and talent experience markets,” Wyles said.

Vista Point Advisors, a San Francisco-based boutique investment bank, acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Totara.

About Totara
Totara builds employee engagement, learning, and performance management technologies that enable large multinational corporations, government entities, and mid-market companies to deliver enterprise-level talent and workforce experiences. Totara’s Talent Experience Platform (TXP) unifies an industry-leading learning management system (LMS), a user-centric learning experience platform (LXP), and a comprehensive performance management system under a single and highly adaptable architecture. Totara’s TXP and flexible architecture gives organizations the freedom to innovate, the freedom to choose, and unlocks critical resources for reinvestment into where it really counts. https://www.totaralearning.com/

About Five V
Five V Capital is a growth-focused private equity fund based in Sydney, Australia. Five V has in excess of A$450 million of capital available to partner with leading founders and businesses in Australia and New Zealand. With a focus on B2B and technology-enabled services, Five V’s current portfolio includes Education Perfect, Probe Group, Universal Store, Zenith Investment Partners, RateSetter Australia, Canva and SiteMinder. More information is available at www.fivevcapital.com/

Regional and Rural Schools take out National Digital Titles

Smaller regional and rural schools from across New Zealand swept the National Finals for the Tahi Rua Toru Tech in-school challenge this year.

The 2019 National Winners were announced at a gala event at TSB Arena in Wellington, following 10 regional finals held across New Zealand in October. The National Finals were attended by the regional winning teams with students coming from around the country.

As part of the Tahi Rua Toru Tech Challenge, teams of 3-4 students find a problem in their local school or community and use digital technologies to solve it. Teams are paired up with tech industry mentors and given support and resources. Over 6500 students participated in the Challenge this year.

IT Professionals New Zealand CEO Paul Matthews said today that “Regional and Rural New Zealand were the winners this year, with winning teams coming from Hāwea Flat near Wanaka, Morrinsville, Rotorua and New Plymouth”.

At the Discovery level (years 0-5), Hāwea Flat School’s Team Happy Hawea took out the title, completing a set of challenges in the fastest time. It came down to split-seconds in the end and was hotly contested.

Morrinsville Intermediate’s Team Thunderbolts took out the First Challenge (years 6-8), creating an app game to encourage fitness by getting the user to move around Morrinsville to scan QR codes whilst seeing the ‘Herd of Cows’ (sculptures) on display within their town.

John Paul College, Rotorua’s Team ShumbaLeon won the Secondary level (years 9-10), created a website showcasing cultural diversity in their school and a platform for students to share their own stories and culture with other students.

And Sacred Heart Girls College, New Plymouth’s Team Red took out Senior Secondary (years 11-13), creating a medication box that sends bluetooth messages to your phone to remind you to take your medication, and has a motion sensor and lock and software designed to reduce under or overdosing.

The Ministry of Education’s Deputy Secretary for Early Learning and Student Achievement Ellen MacGregor-Reid helped announce the winners and was seriously impressed by the level of innovation. “A huge scale of learning has clearly gone on in the challenge. The majority of the students didn’t know how to write any code at the start – and yet that was such a stand-out feature of the innovations I’ve seen,” MacGregor-Reid said.

As part of the National Finals, the Digital Technologies Teachers Aotearoa (DTTA) and IT Professionals New Zealand recognised an influential teacher who has made a huge difference to digital tech. This year the Ali Chivers Teacher Influence Award went to Julie MacMahon from St Hilda’s Collegiate School in Dunedin.

“I’ve known Julie for several years, working with her on bringing about the changes to the Digital Technologies curriculum. She’s an inspiring and energetic teacher who contributes so much to her students and their profession,” Matthews said. “A very worthy choice.”

The Challenge will enter its third year in 2020 and is part of a suite of resources and tools to help teachers and schools implement changes to Digital Technologies and Hangarau Matihiko in the Curriculum in a safe and supported way.

ENDS

About Tahi Rua Toru Tech

Partnering with the Ministry of Education, the IT industry is supporting the introduction of the new Digital Technologies & Hangarau Matihiko (DT&HM) curriculum into schools and Kura with the 123Tech Challenge.

In the challenge, small teams of 3-4 students complete a project-based challenge either in-class in schools, or through a local Code Club. Most will complete it as a classroom activity, but the model caters to both. The 123Tech Challenge is for everyone, not just tech geniuses (although they’re welcome too!). Schools are also partnered with an industry mentor, and the Challenge provides all the guidance and support students need to make a real difference.

Tahi Rua Toru Tech is being delivered by a partnership of not-for profit organisations led by IT Professionals NZ and started in its current form in 2018. 

The National Finals were held on Thursday 5th December 2019.

To learn more about Tahi Rua Toru Tech visit https://123tech.nz 

To learn more about Digital Tech/Hangarau Matihiko, http://education.govt.nz/digitech.

Government’s proposed Landfill Levy increase will have no impact on plastic waste

This week the Government announced a long awaited and welcome proposal to increase the landfill levy in order to encourage behaviour change away from dumping to more recovery, recycling and reuse. However, the increased levy will have no effect on the volumes of plastic waste entering the economy, our landfills and the environment, according to plastic2parliament.

“Currently plastics account for around 8% of total waste by weight, but as much as 20% of landfill by volume and that’s an enormous proportion of the waste problem.” said Wade Bishop, initiator of the plastic2parliament letter writing initiative. (Ref. Recycle.co.nz)

“With the landfill levy based on weight there’s no incentive in this to move away from plastic packaging or other avoidable plastics that end up in our landfills and environment.” Wade Bishop said.

Plastic2parliament is encouraging New Zealanders to ask all political parties what their plastic reduction policies are by penning letters to MPs in Parliament, via the Parliamentary free-post address while also stuffing their large envelopes full of non-recyclable plastics to illustrate the plastic waste problem.

“We are asking political parties and Government to focus regulation on the producers of plastic packaging targeted at simply making less of it.” said Bishop.

The global oil industry is currently investing US$180 billion in new plastic production plants to increase production by 40% in the next 10 years. This immense supply-pressure will create a further explosion in plastic volumes here in New Zealand and the increased landfill levy will have zero effect on that. This is an over-production issue that needs urgent regulation where the problem starts: the producers.” he said.

The Plastic2parliament initiative believes that an immediate impact can be made on plastic waste by extending bans across wide categories of avoidable single-use plastics, such as cutlery, dishes, cups, takeaway containers and even bubble and pallet wraps.

The initiative also advocates a Plastic Tax on imported virgin plastics used to manufacture single-use packaging and on imported new plastic packaging.

“While the landfill levy will have a negligible effect on the cost of dumping plastic packaging for New Zealanders, it still gets under your skin having to pay even more to get rid of a toxic waste that you didn’t ask for in the first place.” Wade Bishop said.

Plastic2parliament continues to grow quickly with membership numbers of the Facebook Group reaching more than 1000 people sending more than 720 letters and plastic parcels to MPs since beginning in early October this year, including another 90 to Minister for the Environment, David Parker, this week.

ABOUT PLASTIC2PARLIAMENT

Plastic2parliament is a letter-writing initiative started by Wade Bishop of Christchurch which encourages New Zealanders concerned about single-use plastics to include these products with their letters to M.P.s using the Parliamentary Free-post address. The purpose of the initiative is to creatively emphasise how these non-recyclable products cannot be avoided by consumers and that the actual cause of plastic waste is over-production and use by manufacturers. We seek to have M.P.s advocate for meaningful plastic waste reduction policy within their respective Party focused on packaging producers.

Oil companies are investing US$180 billion right now to increase virgin plastic production by 40% before 2030. This enormous supply pressure has already created an explosion in single-use packaging globally. New Zealand will not be immune to these supply pressures and is poorly placed to deal with the waste volumes that will eventuate. (Ref. theguardian.com; and sciencemag.org)

Expat Brit Makes Extra $280,000 on Pension by Transferring to New Zealand

The on-going Brexit negotiations and subsequent demise of the UK exchange rate have left many British expatriots who have moved to New Zealand wondering what to do about their UK pensions.

Should they wait for a more favourable exchange rate, or bite the bullet and transfer their pensions now – knowing that it could get far worse before it improves?

Alison Renfrew, pension transfer specialist at Lyford Investment Management, has been advising British expatriots for 17 years on their options for transferring their pensions. She recommends that with some exceptions, transferring now is probably the better option.

Why?

“Firstly, if you’re worried about the exchange rate, you can keep your funds invested in GBP and convert them into NZD years in the future,” says Renfrew.

“More importantly though; pension transfer values seem to be really high at the moment.

“I advised a client earlier this month that her transfer value had increased by 25% in just six months. She now has another £145,168 ($281,776NZD) to transfer. This is phenomenal”.

Renfrew has not seen such a dramatic positive change in transfer values before.

On the very same day, Renfrew had a conversation with another client about her pension transfer value. She was offered a Cash Equivalent Transfer Value (CETV) of £59,731, or a pension of £900 p.a.

You would have to receive £900 p.a. for 66 years before you broke even – before you saw any investment returns from your retirement savings.

“It is 100% illogical to accept such a lousy deal,” Renfrew says.

When Renfrew compared current CETVs with promised pensions, she found little incentive to choose to have a taxable pension paid from the UK compared to receiving a far higher non-taxable income in New Zealand based on realistic investment projections.

“What Brits really don’t like is knowing that if they die prematurely their spouse will only get half of the income. In some cases, the spouse gets nothing”.

A major benefit of taking control and investing your transfer value to provide you with a retirement income is that you can access your money if you need to. Conversely, there’s no access to your retirement pot if you’ve elected to take a pension.

“Where is your financial security if you can’t access your money in an emergency?”  Renfrew asks.

There are a couple of exceptions, of course.

Renfrew cautions Brits and returning Kiwis not to transfer their pension funds if they are uncertain where they’ll live for the five years after they have transferred their pension funds to NZ, due to tax obligations.

Renfrew further cautions that before deciding to transfer you need professional advice to ensure that all your options have been considered.

“Maybe you are one of the few who have a very attractive pension, and converting to cash would be madness.

“You really need to seek independent advice from a New Zealand investment adviser specialising in pension transfers before making the decision to transfer, because individuals simply don’t have access to the same resources advisers do. It’s important to make informed choices.”

Alison and Richard Renfrew of Lyfords have been specialising in UK to New Zealand pension transfers for over 17 years. Visit their website to find out more.

‘Secret On-Set Celebrity Hair Formula’ Iles is Now Available Online in NZ

Sable Boutique, a Wellington-based online hair product store, is today releasing the Iles Formula Collection: a sought-after, salon-quality, three-step hair repair treatment that offers visible results from the very first use.

Sable Boutique owner Anthea Digby-Smith says that she wanted to stock Iles Formula because the results are so impressive across the board – but at the moment it is only available in a handful of salons in New Zealand.

“We think the Iles Formula is one of the most innovative and high-performing hair care products available, so we’re delighted to make it available to all New Zealanders online,” says Digby-Smith.

Iles representative Julie Fausett says that Iles Formula was once a secret ‘on-set formula’ used by celebrity hairdresser, Wendy Iles.

“These formulas will deliver the most sumptuous, lustrous hair you have ever had, from the very first use,” says Fausett.

A sophisticated blend of key raw ingredients, paraben free, cruelty free & sulfate free combined with high technology deliver instant results. The serum is a ‘one product does all’ giving volume for your root area, as well as smoothing the rough cuticles on mid-lengths and ends. No other foundation products are needed prior to blow waving.

Anna Kas (@kas_aesthetics) told her 18.2k followers on Instagram that Iles is:

“The best hair products ever. With amazing white floral boutique scent. My hair looks shiny, beautiful and sooo healthy with ILES FORMULA. Must try and then have it.”

“The formula is truly ground-breaking – it’s unlike anything else on the market,” says Digby-Smith.

The Iles Formula 3-step system is available to purchase now from Sable Boutique here, with options for LayBuy or Afterpay.

About Sable Boutique

Sable Boutique is an online store which is home to a beautiful curation of the highest quality international and local haircare products alike.

For anyone who isn’t sure about what products or accessories will be best for them, founders Anthea Digby-Smith and her team offer advice and assistance with finding the goods to get the results you’re after. They’re boutique and specialised – and right here in New Zealand.