Business View Oceania | September 2022

15 16 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA VOLUME 4, ISSUE 9 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA VOLUME 4, ISSUE 9 Inspiring Sound & Lighting Solutions A passion for exceptional service & products www.directimports.co.nz SHI PLEYS the latest technologies to help you experience and deliver more), Creative Connections (creating more effective and deeper connections with your clients and your team), and Continual Improvement (striving to integrate and develop hardware and solutions to ensure New Zealand communities lead the world through innovation). Shipleys provides event technology services, production and installation for all things audiovisual within organisations across New Zealand’s South Island and beyond. The company has realised a number of unique accomplishments over the years, such as airing the first television broadcast in New Zealand (1952). Shipleys was also an early pioneer in video broadcasting for sports events, corporate training, and helped international aid agencies enter the New Zealand market. Most notably, Shipleys were the first to introduce integration of digital control systems into national education institutions that form the backbone of education technology today. As a largely business-to-business company, Shipleys spends most of their time supporting corporate events, conferences and seminars, trade shows, and product launches. Their enormous wealth and diversity of experience are key to the group’s ongoing success. Craig Whitnall is the current CEO of Shipleys. “We are one of New Zealand’s oldest companies, and we have remained New Zealand family owned since our beginnings nearly a century ago. Today, we maintain a really strong reputation as a professional, reliable audiovisual company. Internally our focus is very heavy on the well-being and fulfillment of our team- we are a tight-knit team of around 20FTE’s, with a very flat operating structure. We are nimble, responsive, and we’re all technical people, so our clients know that when they call us, they’re always talking to someone who has an in-depth knowledge of technological solutions.” Shipleys is committed to working collaboratively with their clients in everything they do, and understands the importance of maintaining their clients brand image and delivering their message exactly as intended. But it’s not just about collaborating with clients; Mr. Whitnall explains that industry relationships are just as important. “We use so many different brands of technology, so we meaningfully align with a number of experienced partners to ensure our solutions are reliable. Shipleys works directly with Panasonic, Sharp, Sony, Epson… New Zealand is a great test market and often we are the very first to trial the latest solutions. The support we receive is incredible. Often, we’re able to work directly with the engineering team to troubleshoot any issues or integrate the hardware in a new application. There are so many great, locally owned distributors in the industry- many of them smaller companies who have relationships with a lot of larger or niche brands. They are great people and instrumental to our success. No company can operate alone.” Mr. Whitnall showcases some major highlights