Sustainable 60 Series Awards - Finalists Announced

27 November 2009
For immediate release

Sustainable 60 Series Awards - Finalists Announced

Finalists have been named in the Sustainable 60 series, a Fairfax Media Business Group/PricewaterhouseCoopers programme designed to uncover New Zealand's most future proof companies.

They range from a merino wool marketing company which reinvented the wool industry to an insurance company with an innovative risk reduction strategy.

More than 110 entries were received for the inaugural Sustainable 60 Awards, from 48 companies across five categories:. Strategy and Governance, Marketplace, Workplace, Community and Environment. Companies were able to submit entries for one, many or all of the categories with several of the companies being named finalists in more than one category.

"We are extremely impressed by the calibre of entries," says Fairfax Business Group General Manager Julie Gill. "Embarking on a strategy to build a sustainable business model in this climate isn't easy, but these companies have proved they have a vision and a plan for the future and are not just working on profit, planet, people and culture but much more…."

"These companies represent the best thinking in New Zealand on building sustainable business models," says PwC partner Julia Hoare. "Sustainability isn't simply about being green, it means examining every aspect of a company to ensure it is built to last, from the supply chain through to company culture and the way a company interacts with its marketplace."

The finalists were chosen as a result of a two stage judging process designed by PricewaterhouseCoopers and Fairfax Media Business Group, with critical input from a panel of selected stakeholders, utilising a set of specially designed criteria. The first tier involved assessment of entries against a set of quantitative criteria and was completed by Massey University. The second tier involved the validation of selected entries by PricewaterhouseCoopers through one-on-one interviews and clarification of original materials.

Finally a panel of business experts completed the final part of the judging process to select the winners. The judges were:

Rachel Brown - Founder and Chief Executive of the Sustainable Business Network
Rick Christie - Chairman of Ebos Group Ltd
Rob Fenwick - Company director and co-founder of Living Earth Ltd
Jane Henley - Chief Executive Officer, New Zealand Green Building Council
June McCabe - Director, Sustainable Prosperity
Justine Munro - Chief Executive Officer, NZ Centre for Social Innovation
Lester Oakes - Chief Executive Officer, Career Services Rapaura
Rod Oram - Business Journalist
Alison Sykora - Company Communications & Corporate Responsibility, Vodafone New Zealand
Simon Upton - Chair of the OECD Roundtable on Sustainable Development and advisor to PricewaterhouseCoopers

The series is sponsored by Andrew.Stewart, HSBC, Massey University, Maven and Ricoh.

The winners will be announced at an awards cocktail function to be held in the Grand Tearoom at the Heritage Hotel, Auckland on 2nd December. This will be a night of celebrating and showcasing the journeys of the finalists and the winners.

The finalists are as follows:
Strategy/Governance
carboNZero programme
Landcare Research NZ Ltd
Nomad Safaris
State of Grace
Watercare Services Ltd
Westpac

Workplace
Auckland Regional Council
carboNZero programme
Landcare Research NZ Ltd
North Shore City Council
Urgent Couriers
Westpac

Marketplace
carboNZero programme
Corporate Express
IAG NZ
Kokako
Moxie Design Group
Sinclair Knight Merz
Westpac

Environment
AMP Capital/Bayfair Centre
Landcare Research NZ Ltd
Mighty River Power
North Shore City Council
Urgent Couriers
Westpac

Community
Accor Hospitality
Fonterra Ltd/Sanitarium
Hayes Knight
IAG NZ
Locus Research
Westpac

Overall Small Exemplar
Locus Research
Nomad Safaris

Overall Medium Exemplar
The New Zealand Merino Company
Urgent Couriers
Yealands Estate Wine

Overall Large Exemplar
Auckland Regional Council
IAG NZ
Landcare Research NZ Ltd
Northshore City Council
Westpac

ENDS

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