Business Continuity
Is your business prepared for an emergency event?
If you are a Whanganui business, please complete the Whanganui Emergency Response Contact Information form.
The details you provide help Civil Defence, Emergency Management, and response agencies reach you quickly, share accurate updates, and coordinate support when it matters most. Keeping your information up to date strengthens communication, improves response efforts, and helps ensure our business community stays connected during an emergency.
Thank you for doing your part to support a prepared, connected, and resilient business community.
Connect. Grow. Advance
Business Whanganui is the leading independent business association in the Whanganui region and an Accredited Member of the New Zealand Chambers of Commerce network. We champion the interests of local businesses, ensuring your voice is heard at local, regional, and national levels.
We provide support, learning, networking, and promotional opportunities to help businesses of all sizes, ages, and stages connect, grow and advance. Our community is vibrant, dynamic, creative, and well-connected—a place where businesses thrive through collaboration and shared success.
Join us and be part of a stronger, smarter business future.
Upcoming Learning & Events
BOOK NOW
Book Club for Business
Ideas. Perspective. Conversation.
Thursday 19 February 10.00-11.00am
FRANK. 60 Ridgway Street
A relaxed Book Club for business owners and leaders, focused on ideas, meaningful conversation, and connection — with theme-led discussions, no set reading, and no homework required.
Safer Business Whanganui
Retail & Business Owners/Managers Forum
Monday 23 February 2026 5.30-6.30pm
Business Whanganui 139 Guyton Street
Safer Business Whanganui brings together Business Whanganui, Safer Whanganui, Police, Mainstreet, and local businesses to support a safe and secure business environment in Whanganui.
Smarter Ways to Improve How Work Gets Done
Continuous improvement matters because there is almost always a better way to work — to reduce friction, cut down on errors, and get more from the effort you are already putting in. It’s not about fixing something that is broken, it is a mindset and a discipline you build over time as your business grows and changes. Whether you are a sole operator or leading a larger team, the fundamentals are the same: clearer processes, fewer mistakes, better problem-solving, and people aligned around how work gets done.
Our productivity and continuous improvement workshops with Darcy Mellsop from ciLab are free to attend for Whanganui businesses and are designed to help you and your team work more efficiently, reduce rework, and improve consistency — without adding complexity or extra workload.
Unleashing a Productivity Mindset
Continuous Improvement 2-Hour Workshop
Thursday 12 March 2026 9.00-11.00am
Business Whanganui 139 Guyton Street
Improving productivity through continuous improvement. Practical training for manufacturing and product-based teams, helping your people spot problems, improve processes, and lift performance.
Unleashing a Productivity Mindset
Continuous Improvement 2-Hour Workshop
Thursday 12 March 1.00-3.00pm
Business Whanganui 139 Guyton Street
Improving service performance through continuous improvement. Practical training to help individuals and teams work smarter and deliver more consistent outcomes across service-based organisations.
Mindset to Method
Continuous Improvement 1-Day Workshop
Friday 13 March 2026 9.00am-3.00pm
Business Whanganui 139 Guyton Street
A full introduction to continuous improvement, delivered through a practical simulation. Covering process mapping, root cause analysis and problem solving — from mindset to action.
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Personal Leadership: The Blog
When Your Mind Is Working Overtime
A Practical Reset for Business Owners using The Three Circles
If you own or run a business, worrying or feeling unfocused or overwhelmed isn’t a sign you’re doing something wrong. It means you are carrying a lot – decisions, responsibilities, people, and uncertainty – often all at once. When pressure builds, your thinking can start working overtime. You’re busy in your head, struggling to focus, feeling frustrated and sensing that progress is slower than it should be. That is not a capability issue. It‘s more likely the result of problem-solving energy being focused in the wrong place…. read more
In the Loop: News from the Community
Key Insights from our Gathering with the Employment Court Judges
Business Whanganui recently brought together local business leaders, HR practitioners, and New Zealand’s Employment Court judges for an important discussion on workplace challenges, opportunities, and trends.
This unique information-sharing session offered perspectives from both ends of the spectrum – businesses applying employment law in practice and judges interpreting it at the highest level.
The insights captured here highlight common pitfalls, emerging issues, and practical ways to strengthen workplace practices.…. Read more
Advocacy Latest
Advocating for Business
Business Whanganui, as part of the New Zealand Chambers of Commerce (NZCCI), has made a submission on the Retail Payment System (Ban on Merchant Surcharges) Amendment Bill. We support the goal of a fair and transparent payments system for consumers but have serious concerns about banning surcharges on all in-person Visa and Mastercard transactions. Read our full submission…. read more
Good Business
Putting Customers First
Strengthen your business through customer focus: No matter the size or stage of your business, customers are at the heart of what you do. In today’s environment of shifting expectations and tighter competition, it’s not just about offering a good product or service – it’s about delivering real value in ways that build trust, loyalty, and long-term success… read more
Connect , Grow, and Advance your Business with us
Be Part of Business Whanganui
We host a range networking and learning events to help you to be more widely known, connected, informed, inspired, and more successful in your business.
From our biennial regional business awards, business for breakfast or lunch and after 5 gatherings, factory tours, just-for-fun events, thought leader guest speakers, and learning sessions, we’re sure you’ll find something to interest you.
We also have promotional opportunities for you to raise awareness of your business, products, services, and the value you deliver to your customers, including hosting a Business Whanganui networking event.
It’s not just who you know in business, it’s who knows you. Contact us to find out more.
