Best of Business

A lot of the country's small businesses are feeling the end of financial year sting.
Data from Xero shows 75 percent of the New Zealand small business owners surveyed say the current financial year has been more stressful than past years.
Nearly half had considered giving up their business due to stress, with 67 percent citing financial management as their main worry.
Xero Country Manager Bridget Snelling says the biggest stressor impacting small business owners is financial pressure - and many are feeling the pinch.
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Signs of growing positivity from New Zealand's small and medium sized businesses.
A new report from MYOB reveals that 33% of SMEs polled have more work or sales lined up for the first quarter than usual, and a further 40% say they have the amount they’d normally expect.
The green shoots are showing up in sectors that have struggled of late, including manufacturers, retail, and construction.
ABC Business Sales CEO Chris Small told Mike Hosking the vibe is incredibly positive, especially in comparison to the last two years.
He says that this time last year they had high volumes of business owners saying their earnings were down and they weren’t going to take their business to market, but now those business owners are reporting strong previous quarters.
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A potential insurance policy for those who can't move away from gas for energy, as the Government charges ahead with its plans for an importing facility.
The terminal will be housed in Taranaki - with the Government aiming to have a build contract locked down mid-year.
It's imposing a levy to help pay for an import liquefied natural gas facility, which it says will save households $50 a year on power bills.
Mercury Chief Executive Stew Hamilton says New Zealand is running out of gas, faster than expected.
"We need to encourage consumers and households to get off gas, but not all forms of businesses, for example, can get off gas. So we need to come up with other forms of energy for them."
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A small West Coast town might be about to strike gold again.
Canadian mining company Rua Gold has discovered a 2.5 kilometre stretch of gold and other minerals at Auld Creek near Reefton - with plans announced to fast-track an underground mine.
The company aims to produce 60,000 ounces of gold annually by 2028.
Vice-president Simon Delander says they're also going after the antimony.
He explained that's a strategic mineral - and there's lots of interest in Japan and the US.
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The Justice Minister says his retail crime advisory group has been successful and productive.
It'll been cut short, ending in May - not the planned September - after three members resigned last month.
It leaves just two members, chair and dairy owner Sunny Kaushal and liquor retailer, Ash Parmar.
Paul Goldsmith says he could have appointed more people for the next six months or wrapped it up early.
"The simpler thing to do was say - look, you've got a couple of things you need to finish, you've got three months to do that and then we'll go off on our merry way. The Government's got lots of ideas to work with."
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