Admittedly her business Sequel Events hasn’t been around as long as the iD Dunedin Fashion Week but she has been intimately involved in a good number of the iconic shows now, even mixing her modeling abilities with her organisational duties.

Victoria, an old girl of St Hilda’s Collegiate, remembers being more inclined towards maths, science and music but couldn’t decide on a career direction.

“I had always been interested in having my own business one day but didn’t know what area that was going to be in. But I liked the idea of being my own boss and being in control.”

Victoria headed off to the University of Otago to tackle accounting, with management, marketing and even tourism papers thrown into the mix.

She took time out to get a taste of professional modeling in Auckland – something she had begun doing in her final year of school – but she didn’t enjoy the waiting and not knowing when her next job would be, so she returned to finish her B.Com.

“I now do all the accounts for my business and all the events I do. Event management allows me to do lots of varied and diverse things which is something I have really done all my life.”

Degree in hand she began searching for opportunities, including event management, something she had developed a taste for after having been involved in stage productions and modeling shows.

The opportunity for work experience with Annemarie Mains soon led to a full-time position, working on a range of projects, including the iD Dunedin Fashion Week, where Victoria was even able do a little bit of modeling.

“It was quite interesting – having to brief the security team while I was standing there in full hair and make-up, ready to model.”

Like many young Kiwis, Victoria had the travel bug and headed to London for a year, hooking up with one of her sisters and several school friends in London.

Although she looked at modeling as a work option it soon became clear she could make more money in accounting.

“I ended up with the London Ambulance Service’s purchasing department. They were working on a new multi-million dollar computer system for all their call centres – so it was pretty interesting.”

Victoria had planned to stay longer and do more travelling but was contacted by Annemarie who was planning to move out of event management.

“I knew that if I didn’t come back and take up that opportunity, someone else would. It is not a very big industry in Dunedin.”

Sequel Events now has a number of high profile events on its books, such as the iD Dunedin Fashion Week, the Rhododendron Festival, Go Otago and the Otago Career Festival.

The iD show is the biggie – an iconic event that is run by a committee which basically employs Victoria to be its arms and legs.

“It’s a huge team of people involved and the great thing is that most of the contractors, like the sound and lighting and staging, have been working on it for quite a few years. They all absolutely love the event and want it to stay in Dunedin and it does seem to be getting bigger every year.”

This year, for example, the railway station show, with its unique 110-metre catwalk, had to be repeated on a second night to cater for demand, with 1500 people both nights.

“I think some people from out of Dunedin don’t realise it is a week-long event, not just the railway station show. There are the iD Dunedin Emerging Designer Awards, which is an international competition – and I really love that event,” says Victoria.

“It attracts designers from all over the world. Last year it was won by someone from Israel and this year a guy from Croatia won it.”

There were 25 local designers in the iD railway station show and 28 finalists from ten different countries in the Emerging Designers Award show at the Lion Foundation Arena in front of 1000 people.

Local designers enjoy the twin spin-offs of greater exposure and getting more orders. There are also great spin-offs for Dunedin with about a quarter of the people at the show coming from out-of-town, as well as extensive media exposure.

Victoria says she loves the challenge of the events she is involved in and finds the city council, the business community and the wider community extremely supportive.

“I love working here and living in Dunedin. If you’ve got a good idea or someone comes to you with a good idea you generally will make it happen.”

Catwalk photographs are from the iD Dunedin Fashion Show, 2010; Photos – Chris Sullivan, Seen in Dunedin; Models @ AliMcD Agency

His wife Anne Mannion, a senior speech therapist, has a strong connection with the city, having lived here for a number of years after initially emigrating to Invercargill 20 years ago, before moving to Dunedin, which quickly became her spiritual home.

Former university friends, the pair reconnected about 10 years ago and Anne always made it clear that a return to Dunedin was high on her wish list.

Tim, who had founded the highly successful UK-based industrial design company Canard Design Limited in 1995, required little persuasion to take on the challenge of setting up a New Zealand branch of the company and is convinced he has picked absolutely the right place to do it.

A large part of Canard’s core business is within the healthcare and scientific industries, says Tim, so he feels right at home working out of the University of Otago’s Centre for Innovation.

“I cannot believe the wealth of capability buried in this city. The medical and clinical research output is astonishing,” he says.

“For the past 25 years I have been working with universities and latterly with the National Health Service in the UK but I have never experienced a place like Dunedin before.”

Canard, with its core staff of five plus a number of specialised associates, has worked with a wide range of clients over the years, from what Tim describes as the ‘Fred in a shed’ inventors, all the way through to large companies and organisations.

That has meant working within a diverse range of specialties with equally diverse specifications, outcomes and deliverables. This has ranged from the extensive redesign and development of existing products in order to improve performance, ergonomics and economy all the way through to leading edge innovation in new and original products.

Most recently Canard Design worked in close collaboration with a UK client in the design, development and implementation of an industry leading particle sensing unit. The final outcome resulted in a lower cost but higher performance product which thoroughly met the needs of the end user.

Collaborating with a health industry supplier they developed an injection moulded plastic arm splint to remove the need for costly and time-consuming wet plaster casts. Invisible to x-rays it also has the added bonus of a special lining that can move and change shape to allow for swelling and avoid complications.

Virtual reality products have also figured large in their work, designing virtual cricket and football challenges, including the special helmet, equipment and interface required to make the game playable.

Tim is equally excited by Dunedin’s already well established design culture which has been brilliantly nurtured by both the University of Otago’s Department of Design Studies and Otago Polytechnic’s School of Design.

He is also impressed by the engineering resource and capabilities of local companies such as Scott Technology and Farra Engineering who already have an established international reputation.

“The capability and resource is here to make a huge impact on the local and national economy.”

Tim admits it would be simple to make a reasonable living by supplying his skills back into his UK clients but that is not what drives him.

“It is the opportunity to collaborate with local individuals and companies to legitimately explore and mutually exploit the resources, intellectual endeavor and capability that are here that challenges and excites me.”

Tim says that having office space in the University of Otago’s Centre for Innovation has given him stimulating daily contact with other innovators, as well as feedback and support.

“The people you meet and the technology you come across just blows me away. It is the most fertile environment I have ever been in.”

Tim and Anne are also enjoying the positive lifestyle change, choosing to live about 30 minutes north of the city on a half-acre section in the seaside town of Waikouaiti.

“I used to take 55 minutes to drive just 12 miles to work in the UK – even though half the trip was through countryside.

“I now have a beautiful journey in and it is no distance at all.”

ADInstruments beginnings go back to the 1980s when a young Michael Macknight finished high school and headed for the University of Otago to tackle the time-honoured science of physics and the new fangled discipline of computer science.

Casting round for a third year computer science project in 1985 Michael was aware that his father, Professor Tony Macknight – who was at that time the head of the Department of Physiology at the University of Otago – was unhappy with the performance of their old oscilloscopes and paper chart recorders. Developing a computer-based data acquisition system seemed like the perfect challenge.

“The Macintosh had just come out and I felt that here was a computer simple enough for people to use, without needing to understand DOS and other command language,” says Michael.

As he set about designing the electronics and writing the software it became apparent they could actually replace the paper chart recorders and offer a complete recording, display, storage and analysis system.

By September 1985 Michael had built his first MacLab and began to refine it into something that could be manufactured.

His father took the prototype to a conference in Washington DC where the system was soon spotted by Australian electronics engineer Boris Schlensky, who could see its possibilities for the world market.

Boris and Michael soon founded ADInstruments and worked together to develop the system, making them a market leader in the life sciences data acquisition area.

The company continued to grow and expand with the addition of Windows-based systems in 1997. A year later their entire range of PowerLab data acquisition systems had been made both Mac and Windows compatible.

Boris has now retired but ADInstruments continues to have its marketing and manufacturing operations in Sydney, while Michael has a team of more than 30 research and development people based in Dunedin.

The company has sales offices in the United States, UK, Germany, Japan, China, Brazil, India, Pakistan, Chile and Malaysia. Aside from the Dunedin contingent they also employ 40 people in Australia,15 in the US and others around the world. They also have company has distributors around the globe. The company has now grown to the stage where it will have over 100 staff and distributors attending the next company conference in Las Vegas.

PowerLab systems are largely used in life sciences, with about a 50-50 split between teaching and research across a range of fields ranging from biology, physiology and physical education to psychology.

ADInstruments have systems in hundreds of Universities world wide, including both the Oxford and Cambridge Physiology Departments.

The company also has industry sales, covering areas such as agresearch and pharmaceuticals.

Michael says ADInstruments’ focus now tends to be on developing more and better software.

“We are mainly a software company that also builds hardware. Software-wise there is more that we can do in the area of analysis.

“In science, techniques are always changing so there are also challenges. But there are also changes in technology that we can use to our advantage – for example huge hard drives that can store more data,” he says.

Technology is also allowing them to integrate video and data recording, and these sorts of innovations can be done more cheaply now with the development of simple USB cameras.

“Web-based technology also allows new opportunities with remote access to data and greater collaboration.”

It is this very same technology that makes it easy for a company like ADInstruments to be based in Dunedin, Michael explains.

“Being in Dunedin is not an issue. A lot of the technology documentation is available on the web, so being in Silicon Valley would make no difference to our access to technology.”

Running costs are much cheaper in Dunedin, which gives them a significant advantage when working in the software industry, and staff tend to live in the city for lifestyle reasons, giving the company a greater level of staff stability.

ADInstruments has also become an important focal point for the Macknight family. Michael’s wife Kelly is involved in business as an HR and administration manager, while his father is involved as a consultant, writing educational material.

The University of Otago is an enormous resource for the company. It provides new talent for ADInstruments, who offer a number of internships each year, and it is also a great place to trial new software and equipment.

“Our customers there are a microenvironment of the rest of the world. If they have problems, people elsewhere must be too,” he says. “The great thing is we can get there quickly to sort it out.”

Michael says if he didn’t live in Dunedin, he really doesn’t know where he would live.

“I live on the outskirts, just 15 minutes away and I can walk everywhere here to do business. There are no huge disadvantages – we have everything we need.”

The ‘happy living’ survey, put out by the Auckland-based ASB bank, put Dunedin well ahead of any other city, scoring 650 points out of a possible 800, almost 100 ahead of the Rodney District, north of Auckland, with Wellington coming home in 3^rd. The other main centres Christchurch, Hamilton and Auckland ranked 7^th, 8^th and 11^th respectively.

The survey looked at a range of factors including a sense of neighbourhood community, feelings of trust, community support, contact with neighbours, sense of pride, and having a culturally rich and diverse arts scene.

Dunedin scored particularly strongly in areas such as availability of support, lack of loneliness, trust, culture and arts, and pride in how the city looks.

Waitakere City languished at the bottom of the survey in 12^th with a mere 120 points, just five adrift of neighbour Auckland City in 11^th. The greater Auckland area did not fare well with North Shore and Manukau cities in 9^th and 10^th respectively. The remaining rankings were taken by Porirua 4^th, Hutt City 5^th and Tauranga 6^th.

The survey used data from the current Quality of Life Survey which examined people’s perceptions of their own wellbeing.

His role as vice president of global marketing for the major global computer graphics company Sapphire Technology involves leading a “virtual” marketing team of around 80 staff in 18 countries. That means traveling extensively, living and working half-a-world away from his old home town.

After leaving Otago Boys High School he began studying marketing at Otago but the desire to get hands-on saw him head overseas, working in various roles before moving into the computing field in the mid-90s.

Since then Adrian has worked for some of the major computing companies such as Nvidia – another major graphics company – and as a consultant for computer components manufacturer ASUS.

He tries to get back to Dunedin about three times every year, visiting his father Mike, who is the project manager on the Milne and Bremner building in Cumberland St.

But Adrian sees the project as a way of putting something back into Dunedin.

“I wanted to do something that will last longer than I do. It should be there for another 100 years with the amount of steel strengthening, high quality materials and workmanship that’s gone in. It’s a legacy I can leave.”

The fine old building has three basic levels: There is retail, light industrial and storage space on the ground floor, professional spaces on the second and two spacious luxury apartments on the third.

“You need to have mixed tenancy in a building,” says Adrian. “You invest in the future and the vision you have.”

Both apartments feature spacious master bedrooms with ensuites up on a mezzanine floor which sits snugly under the peak of the roof.

The main floor below features two large bedrooms, a luxury bathroom, modern kitchen, a dining/living area and an ‘entertainment’ room all hardwired for high-speed Internet and a complete home theatre package.

Clever design has allowed for an atrium between the two apartments to bring natural light down into the reception area shared by the spacious second floor offices below. As well as lighting, Dunedin’s ample sunlight is also harnessed by solar panels that provide water heating.

Other modern adaptations include a lift and a suitably industrial looking steel staircase designed to meet current building standards.

But many of the bond store’s original features have been cherished, such as the original strong room and some fascinating Chinese graffiti, seemingly the work of one Hung Chang, which appears to date back to 1914.

At the time of writing the building was ready to accept new tenants.

While Adrian has had properties in other parts of New Zealand it is the Dunedin one that has been closest to his heart.

“There is something about Dunedin – it’s in your blood. It gets in and it stays in.”

His hope is that with endorsement from his French wife Magali, at least some of his children will go to University at Otago, even though they are growing up so far away.

Adrian is bullish about Dunedin’s prospects because of its still untapped potential and the way people here go about their business.

“It’s the Scottish influence – they ferret away money for hard times.”

But his bullishness also comes with a timely warning.

“Dunedin needs a lot more investment put into it,” he says.

“The city has a real soul to it – but you have to put things back, you have to invest.”

Adrian believes that the key to the city’s future lies in developing the waterfront.

“Dunedin needs to capitalise on that beautiful harbour. Anywhere else in the world they would spend millions developing it,” he says.

“You need to capitalize on what you have now, while at the same time looking 20 years into the future. Investment in the long-term assets is like people – it sometimes takes time to materialize, but if done right secures the future.”

As managing director of Perreaux Industries, he oversees the manufacture of high quality audio amplifiers and other components that are sought after by high end audio aficionados throughout the world.

Relocating the company from the hustle and bustle of Auckland, Martin and two other key engineers made the move south in search of a higher quality of life.

“I’d been here on business several times in the past and always thought ‘wow! What a great place’,” says Martin.

Fortunately for Perreaux the manufacturing model has changed dramatically in the last ten years. In today’s electronically connected world, components and services are sourced from all four corners of the globe, effectively negating any potential benefits that a larger city like Auckland may offer over a smaller centre such as Dunedin.

“The move south has brought massive lifestyle benefits,” says Martin.

“Our business has also gained from increased visibility within the local community and government.”

To explain how the business operates, Martin says the greatest effort takes place at the design and prototype phase.

“This intensive and iterative process is where all the major decisions are made. One of our key advantages is in the fact that each member of our specialist team is highly skilled and plays a major part in all decisions.

“You’ve got to have a thick hide at times” adds Martin.

The process, which works superbly for the small company, has been honed over many years and is a direct reflection of Martin’s management style and the results speak for themselves.

For complex products, the design, prototype phase can start and stop and interleave with other more pressing projects over several years, Martin explains.

Once everything is finally locked in place they can then move into the production phase by ordering components, building and testing and packaging products. Naturally someone needs to market and sell products and that’s another one of Martin’s many hats.

“Our vision of producing highest quality internationally competitive products designed and manufactured in Dunedin does not necessarily mean we need make any compromise.

“Our current focus is on utilizing world class design and assembly techniques to enable our company to focus as much as possible on the design and assembly and quality control processes with as little manual soldering in our factory as possible. These are lofty ideals and soldering components by hand in our factory tends to neatly compliment the robotic assembly outwork that takes place in specialist contract manufacturing Australasian based factories,” he says.

“This gives us the luxury of living in Dunedin. We don’t desire a large unskilled workforce; we want to remain a niche manufacturer and hence are ideally suited to the Dunedin infrastructure.

“When you’ve experienced living in Auckland with its rapidly increasing population and competition for diminishing resources as I did, Dunedin is a paradigm shift of the best type.”

The balance of life that he now enjoys includes an easy commute from the company premises on the edge of Mosgiel to their nine-acre lifestyle block on the Taieri Plain.

“As opposed to a 45min stop start bumper to bumper crawl across the harbour bridge to work each day … actually there is no comparison. I stopped thinking of Auckland the day I came here and we have never looked back.

“The quality and price of housing is a delightful change. Infrastructure such as hospitals, roads, schools and rates combine with markedly reduced business lease costs and more stable Dunedin climate act as constant reminders of what an excellent decision this has been for us all.”

His wife Vicki and five kids aged one to ten love their new lifestyle and have forged new friendships easily.

“People here are easy to deal with and very upfront. If you play a straight game, life runs smoothly.

“There are plenty of good companies in Dunedin boxing well above their weight but they’re not screaming it from the roof-tops. There is a quiet easy confidence about the place,” he adds.

Martin says the future for Perreaux lies in designing even better products, keeping as much of the smart design and assembly as possible in-house while also having the best possible sub-component suppliers.

“We are on a journey to make high quality, touchstone products that people will enjoy for a lifetime. It’s a journey we are all enjoying.”

To find out more about Perreaux,  visit www.perrreaux.com

Davies was filling the dual roles of guest speaker at the Otago Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Awards and the University of Otago Business School’s Distinguished Visitor.

Since leaving Otago Boys High School in 1963 he has amassed an impressive list of credentials, including numerous business awards, and roles such as Director of the British Chamber of Commerce; Director and Council member of the Agricultural Engineers Association; and Chairman of the Farm Equipment Council.

Davies’ CV includes a BSc(Hons) and MSc from Manchester University, and a Postgraduate Diploma from Keele University. He is also Vice President of an American NYSE listed company, Alamo Incorporated, and Managing Director of a group of Alamo-owned agricultural and commercial mowing equipment manufacturing companies spread through Britain, France, the Netherlands and Russia. He has also received an OBE from the Queen in 2004 for services to British agriculture.

His family had originally come to New Zealand under post-war immigration schemes when he was a child. They lived on a farm in Otautau to begin with, before moving to Dunedin and tackling the grocery trade.

From this Davies developed a love of rural life but also enjoyed his first taste of business and entrepreneurship, watching his father develop their Caversham shop.

After his time at OBHS Davies headed for the United Kingdom to train as a naval navigation officer, gaining his qualifications from Manchester University in the process.

The business world eventually beckoned and he completed his postgraduate diploma in management studies at Keele University before applying for a position with the Rubery Owen Group which eventually took him into the world of agricultural equipment manufacturing and his current role with Alamo.

Already a keen supporter of the school, through his Senior Fellowship membership of the Otago Boys’ High School Foundation, Davies is keen to extend his involvement with OBHS, the University of Otago and Dunedin by way of an intern programme.

His company already sponsors five undergraduates a year and Davies told the Otago Daily Times that he is keen to establish a similar programme here.

The aim would be to have an OBHS pupil sponsored to study at the University of Otago and then go on to an internship with one of the 17 companies in Alamo Group Europe.

Davies is also interested in building his business contacts with Dunedin by buying a manufacturing business in the city.

Barry was at Otago Boys’ High School between ‘83 and ‘87 before going into the air force, pursuing an interest in flying which included him going solo at the tender age of 15.

However, at the same time he had also begun to develop an interest in business and accounting through OBHS teacher Brian Ashwin.

“Eventually I came to realise my passion was actually business not flying,” says Barry.

To cut a long story short, Barry stayed on the Air Force path, ending up spending a year at the Australian Defence Forces Academy in Canberra as a University Officer Cadet.

As you would expect the degree included plenty of maths and physics but Barry crammed in as many business-related papers as he could get away with.

After about 18-months he decided to head back to Dunedin and take on a B.Comm at the University of Otago.

Once he had graduated, Barry landed a job with Deloittes working in audit for about four years before getting the opportunity to move to Canada.

“I had two years in Vancouver doing a range of audit and also stock exchange work such as IPOs, capital raising and reporting to the stock exchange.”

Barry returned to Dunedin in 1997, eventually moving to Price Waterhouse Cooper in 2003 to take on more of a business advisory role.

He has clients all over New Zealand and is heavily involved in Price Waterhouse Coopers’ South Island Technology Group, supporting new tech companies at the start-up and early stage level.

Barry is also involved in corporate finance, particular buy-side due diligence with companies in Sydney, Melbourne and New Zealand.

“I feel I have the best of both worlds. I get to live and work here but I also get to work with businesses in other parts of New Zealand and Australia.”

He is extremely positive about the business opportunities Dunedin presents.

“Historically the area has been strong in farming and forestry etc but on top of that we are also making great strides in other areas. There are new technology companies with enormous potential and a number of companies being launched out of technology developed at the University.”

He also points out that companies that were once working to individual order are now creating their own range of products.

“That’s an important step. We need to be asking how do we create new products or market opportunities off the back of those things.”

Dunedin’s business renaissance is also matched by its cultural one, Barry claims.

His own personal favourite is the steamer basin area of the Dunedin waterfront where he has opened the Customhouse Restaurant in late 2006.

“I saw a lot of waterfront development when I was living in Vancouver. I think Dunedin’s waterfront will go from strength to strength with the addition of the Chinese Gardens and the Otago Regional Council’s planned office building,” he says

Barry is on the board of Tourism Dunedin and is delighted by the way people seem to be re-engaging with Dunedin’s heritage, such as Olveston, Speight’s and the railway station.

“I think Dunedin is well-positioned for the future with its heritage, its ecology and the fact is has Central Otago on its doorstep,” he says.

“It’s time to set some objectives and set some goals.”

Like many OBHS alumni Brendan had happily headed to the University of Otago when he left school, tackling a combined BA/BCom majoring in marketing and economics.

After taking a job in Christchurch as a financial planner he found himself feeling a bit disillusioned with an early 1990s New Zealand that seemed mired in land claims, nasty politics and Rogernomics, so he headed overseas for new opportunities.

A stint in Japan teaching English was followed by time in Western Australia working in a pub while looking to land a job in the mining game. Before he made it into the desert proper, a call from an Auckland-based friend saw him heading back across the ditch to project manage a business running underground TV and Internet cables for Telecom NZ.

After two successful years running a contracting firm with his best mate, the plug was, almost literally, pulled overnight with the development of ADSL technology, so Brendan found his way back into part-time pub work while the next move was contemplated. Here he started to meet many people working in IT.

Seeing the possibilities, Brendan headed back to Otago to complete a Postgraduate Diploma in Computer Science, before heading to London in 1999 where his project management skills were in demand.

“I went into IT project management,” explains Brendan. “This was right in the middle of the dot com boom. It was bloody exciting actually – it was all free lunches and fast cars,”

Brendan ended up at a Hampshire-based company called NTL for five years and during that time met his Australian wife, Rebecca, and had two children, Sam (3) and Charlie (2).

Despite the exciting lifestyle, the desire to return to New Zealand, and more specifically Dunedin, became stronger.

“I came home so the kids could grow up knowing their grandparents and cousins,” he says. “I also got very sick of working for someone else and wanted to be able to build something for myself.”

The opportunity to return home and take over the family business Marlow Pies ticked a lot of boxes for him.

Brendan and his family arrived back in December 2006 and he began almost immediately getting to know the business.

“Learning in a stable business has been a good thing. I have been fortunate that the family business is long-standing and after looking at a number of other businesses that my wife and I could have become involved with, it was a no-brainer to enter one in which we knew the entire history. It would have been a lot more daunting to enter a similar sized business trusting all of our life-savings to the integrity of people we didn’t know.”

For Brendan that has already involved adding a wholesale bread bakery called ‘The Doughbin Wholesale Bakery’ to the once predominantly pie making business. The expanded company now employs more than 40 people.

He has enjoyed being back in the Dunedin business scene, catching up with old school and university friends who are doing very well in Dunedin and Central Otago.

Brendan is also amazed by the changes in the city’s business and economic environment.

“It’s striking. There was never a Porsche or a Mercedes dealership of any consequence before I moved away,” he says.

“This tells me that there is money about and is a good sign on the health of the local economy.

“A lot of people have done very well out of Dunedin and Central Otago. It gives me great optimism because I know if I work hard enough, some of it will come my way.”

Brendan is also enjoying seeing his children taking in the city’s parks, playgrounds and recreational facilities, as well as the fantastic Otago outdoor environment.

And, like all good OBHS alumni, he recognises that the city’s educational environment will give them a great foundation for later life.

“The facilities in Dunedin are really good for a city of its size.”

Rod, his wife Shelley, daughter Ali and son Ciaran returned to Dunedin 5 years ago and set about turning a former Christain Brothers Residence  perched above central Dunedin into the 15-room ‘The Brothers Boutique Hotel‘, which features superb views over the city.

For many years Rod – a former Contiki guide in Europe – had been based in Arrowtown running a variety of tourism-related businesses, from a tour company to a market research company specialising in tourism.

“I actually had no intention of coming back to Dunedin. It’s not that I was negative about the city, it was more I really didn’t see us living here,” he says.

“We returned for the children’s education and have no regrets about the move”.

While Rod is actually an ex-Bayfield High School pupil the fact that his daughter was at boarding school in Dunedin and his son had a strong desire to go to Otago Boys’ helped Shelley and him to make the change.

“Ciaran has actually wanted to come to Otago Boys’ since he was five. We watched a game of cricket at Littlebourne one day and he was adamant he wanted to come here, As it turned out he has already played 2 seasons for the 1^st Eleven with a year to go,” he says.

“The School has provided him with huge sporting opportunities and a recent trip with the Willows Cricket Club to India and Oman is a testament to this. Music has become a passion for him as well and it has flourished due the environment here.”

“Dunedin has an almost ‘Bohemian’ feel to it with the students and the University and there are always plenty of things happening, It is a very balanced place” he says.

What followed probably seemed anything but balanced, as Rod and his family worked to turn the stately old 1930s brick building into a friendly Boutique Hotel.

“The building had all the right attributes for what we thought would be a good use.  We had no aspirations of doing anything else with it,” says Rod.

It now offers a selection of ensuite rooms ranging from $135 to $305/night.

Rod’s daughter Ali has joined him in running the business and they are thoroughly enjoying being able to share their city with visitors.

“There is a growing awareness about Dunedin’s environment and heritage” he observes.

“We find Europeans in particular frequently book two nights but end up staying for three – they find much more to do here than they expected.”

He thinks the key to that is that the city has a feel and atmosphere they can identify with.

“You don’t see it anywhere else in New Zealand. It’s a huge competitive advantage Dunedin has and we need to make sure we don’t lose sight of that.”

If there is one thing he would like to see to strengthen that it’s a tram system, connecting the main street with the University, the proposed new Carisbrook Stadium, the railway station Chinese Gardens and back into the Octagon.

“I believe it would enhance Dunedin’s reputation as a character City.”