Best of Business

Allbirds, the sustainable footwear maker co-founded by ex-All White Tim Brown, says it has sold its 'intellectual property and certain other assets' for $68 million.
The process is expected to be completed by April 24, followed by a distribution to shareholders.
Its fourth-quarter earnings call was cancelled and no financials will be released for the period.
Massey University marketing professor Bodo Lang unpacks what went wrong with Allbirds - after the company began with such a strong start.
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Some restrictions on Good Friday and Easter Sunday alcohol sales could be gone as soon as this long weekend.
A member’s bill from Labour MP Kieran McAnulty would amend the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act to allow premises that are already open on Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Anzac Day morning, and Christmas Day to sell alcohol under normal licence conditions.
Epic Hospitality CEO Greig Wilson says these laws are 'archaic' and they're difficult to enforce on public holidays.
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All signs are pointing towards inflation going up as the Middle East conflict causes business confidence to plummet.
ANZ's latest Business Outlook survey shows most firms expect costs to increase as economic insecurity sets in.
Most anticipate they'll raise prices in the next three months.
Retail and construction had the sharpest slides in confidence.
Auckland Business Chamber Chief Executive Simon Bridges told Ryan Bridge after the tariffs last year, this feels like a sense of deja vu.
He says this survey was from early days of the war - so things will likely get worse.
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The Middle East conflict continues on for another week, and it's led to economic forecasters revising their predictions for recovery.
Significant cuts to growth, higher inflation, lower investment, household consumption, and higher unemployment appear to be on the cards, according to new reports.
HSBC chief economist Paul Bloxham says it's unclear how the central banks on both sides of the Tasman will proceed.
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Power bills are set to go up from tomorrow, from as high as 5 to 10 percent.
Electricity lines charges are set to go up, following an earlier Commerce Commission decision to allow for the charges to go up.
Consumer NZ's Paul Fuge explained that these increases will vary across households, with some seeing higher increases and some seeing lower ones.
"Because it is so convoluted and so complex and the maths is so hard, we have to run the service we've been running for 25 years now to try and help people make heads or tails of this."
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