Q: When did you come to New Zealand?
A: My family and I arrived in New Zealand on the 27th of April, 2001, to start a new life here in Rotorua. We used to live and farm in Oxfordshire, England, which is approximately one hour northeast from London. Being used to the great outdoors and enjoying most sports we wanted to live somewhere with plenty of action for all of us! While we were on holiday in New Zealand earlier in that year, we saw that Off Road NZ was advertised for sale. We viewed and experienced it a couple of times before being the successful bidder when it was finely sold at auction. We came to a wonderful home and an established business, which we could focus on and grow with.
Q: What do you strive to achieve at Off Road NZ?
A: We always strive to give our customers a first-class experience that they will go away talking about for a long time. We have such a multitude of products on-site that there is sure to be excitement for all. We have 150 acres of land, including our own lake, which enables us to not only run our own product but also bring in outside operators for those specialised corporate and incentive programmes.
Since owning Off Road NZ we have:
• Improved and enlarged the main reception and offices
• Established a dedicated claybird shooting range
• Developed a new and improved lake
• Expanded and landscaped our forest ‘Bush Camp’ dining area
• Introduced a second monster truck to the fleet
• Become Qualmark registered
• Initiated a planting program to replace non-native trees and plants with indigenous species
We have also started the development of New Zealand’s first international-standard kart racing track. We are working with Rotorua Karters Association to develop a standard of racing never to have been seen here before. The access road and car parks are nearly complete, the site drainage is about to take place, and we hope to start the earthworks to form the track this coming summer.
Any development plans here at Off Road NZ are always planned to be able to cater for not only the small incentive groups but also the large corporate clients. This is an area that we are getting an increasing number of national and international inquiries from.
Q: And the future?
A: Both Carol and I believe that New Zealand as a whole has to work together to attract business, whether it is new or return visitors. Let’s work harder on providing a safe, friendly environment that visitors can go away raving about their time in and around this beautiful country. Rotorua is growing and I’m sure shall continue to grow in the future. With this in mind we must ensure that the high level of customer service we provide continues.
New Zealand as a whole has blown us away with the high standards achieved in this area.
Rotorua with its accessibility to such natural beauty and its high standard of cultural and adventure attractions make it very hard to match anywhere in the world. We as a family love living here and plan to stay put for a long time yet.
Q: What’s been the hardest part?
A: The hardest part of coming away from England was of course leaving behind family and friends. Our staff at the business were fantastic at making us feel welcome and helping us to adjust to a new business and industry. The previous owners, Graham and Dianne Foote, worked with us for the first month and introduced us to the industry. A lot of people we have met have now become not only colleagues but also friends. For us, our great staff and the exciting industry we have entered into, has made the move here a much easier one than expected. We have had so much genuine encouragement and help from our new friends and this is a great opportunity to say another ‘Thank You’.
