The Icehouse and leading New Zealand law firm Tompkins Wake are thrilled to announce a regional partnership for the Waikato and Bay of Plenty regions with immediate effect.
Both organisations have long supported NZ entrepreneurs and SMEs by giving them the skills, clarity and support they need to grow their businesses and unleash NZ’s economic potential.
Tompkins Wake will contribute $15,000 in scholarships for the first year of the partnership. This will consist of 2 x Owner Manager Programme $5,000 scholarships and 5 x Taking Your Business Forward $1,000 scholarships.
‘We’ve seen several of our clients, Civtec, for example, go through The Icehouse programmes, describing the programme and experience as ‘game-changing’ for their businesses,’ says Phil Monahan, Partner at Tompkins Wake.
‘I’ve known Maryse Dinan (Customer Growth Partner in the Waikato and Bay of Plenty region) for several years, and really like what The Icehouse deliver, so when the opportunity came up to collaborate, it was a very natural next-step and easy decision.
‘The Icehouse empowers businesses to succeed, employ more people, do bigger and better things in the community, and make a real difference.’
Tompkins Wake has been a central figure on the region’s legal stage for nearly 100 years and Phil explains that while the firm has focused on working with corporates and large businesses over the past ten years, it has always had the local SME market at its heart.
As a result, Tompkins Wake launched AdviSME in May 2019 – a technology-driven legal service which uses automation and AI to provide innovative and affordable legal solutions for SMEs, to make access to legal information less daunting and more cost-effective for small businesses.
‘We wanted to create a legal product specifically for New Zealand SMEs with our goal to deliver value and help businesses grow. Every cent counts for SMEs, so owners and managers need to know exactly what they’re getting. AdviSME is built around a suite of free resources and automated documents and fixed pricing. We wanted to demonstrate to potential clients that there was real value in what we have to offer,’ says Phil.
‘We wanted to go with a partner who was equally trusted and had a good brand in the SME market, and was clear that it had a similar goal to us, which is essentially to help people,’ adds Maryse.
‘We play in the same space – offering great products to enable the local SME sector to flourish and grow. More than that, we think differently and innovatively to other organisations in how we find solutions for businesses, just like Tompkins Wake.’
‘The collaboration is so exciting because our values align, we’re community-focused, and take great pride in championing the incredible innovation we see every day within the Waikato and Bay of Plenty business community.’
The Owner Manager Programme is The Icehouse’s flagship programme for business owners to develop skills, address issues in the business, hone strategic plans and drive forward to greater success.
Taking Your Business Forward is The Icehouse’s interactive three-month programme for business owners – where you’ll have the opportunity to rethink aspects of your business and reset for the future.
Please note that scholarship recipients will need to meet The Icehouse’s qualifying criteria for each programme. For more information on these exciting scholarship opportunities, please contact Phil Monahan at Tompkins Wake or Maryse Dinan at The Icehouse.
Click on the links for more information about the Owner Manager Programme and Taking Your Business Forward.
Head to the AdviSME website for more information on its products and services.
For more business ownership and leadership advice, check out more of our blogs.