Latest / Best of Business / Bridget Snelling: Xero Country Manager on small business sales growing 8.6% year on year, led by agriculture

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Bridget Snelling: Xero Country Manager on small business sales growing 8.6% year on year, led by agriculture · Best of Business

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from News Talk SEDB. Follow
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  Speaker 2: Now. If you want more evidence that a recovery is
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  Speaker 2: most certainly on and the growth is real, then look
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  Speaker 2: no further than this morning Zero data for SME sales
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  Speaker 2: up eight point six percent in the year to June.
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  Speaker 2: Is that good? Yes, it is strongest in almost four years.
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  Speaker 2: Agriculture is up over sixteen, construction up eleven. Bridget Snelling
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  Speaker 2: is Zero's country manager and as well, it's Bridget. Very
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  Speaker 2: good morning to you.
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  Speaker 3: Good morning mate.
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  Speaker 2: Are you going to rain on my parade and do
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  Speaker 2: your tail of two country story?
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  Speaker 3: Well, look, I mean I think we can be really
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  Speaker 3: positive about these results. Actually we are, as you said,
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  Speaker 3: up eight point six percent. You're on here for small
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  Speaker 3: business sales and that is the strongest quarter that we've
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  Speaker 3: seen in almost four years. So we can celebrate the result.
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  Speaker 3: But you're right, it is a bit of a two
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  Speaker 3: speed recovery.
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  Speaker 2: Unfortunately, having said that, isn't it always I mean, the
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  Speaker 2: tide doesn't literally lift everybody ever, does it. There's always somebody,
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  Speaker 2: there's always some lagged somewhere.
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  Speaker 3: Well, that's right, and I think. We know, Agris up
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  Speaker 3: sixteen point three percent, which is a really strong result.
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  Speaker 3: But of course, you know, agris a sector that's had
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  Speaker 3: some benefits with the export prices and the Fonterra payout,
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  Speaker 3: so we can expect AGRI would be popping up that recovery.
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  Speaker 3: But it is really pleasing to see that. You know,
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  Speaker 3: we're up across the board for many industries, So construction
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  Speaker 3: is up eleven percent, manufacturing eight point six percent, even
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  Speaker 3: retail up six point four percent, and in HOSPO, which
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  Speaker 3: is obviously an industry that's really struggled, still struggling, but
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  Speaker 3: has gone up two point nine percent. So while it's
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  Speaker 3: behind the other sectors, it's still pleasing to see that
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  Speaker 3: there is some growth.
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  Speaker 2: How do you explain it in your area of the
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  Speaker 2: world that you live and see in the media retails
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  Speaker 2: a dog, retail's miserable, there's endless stories about all the
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  Speaker 2: people who are closing. You can't make ends. It's the
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  Speaker 2: end of the world. And yet on looking at six
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  Speaker 2: point four and you can't argue with your numbers.
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  Speaker 3: Well, you know, the data comes through our platform. It's
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  Speaker 3: aggregated and anonymized, so it is real data. It's real
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  Speaker 3: retail data, so we know that this figure is true,
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  Speaker 3: but I guess we can look at the red differences
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  Speaker 3: and that does tell a little bit of a different story.
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  Speaker 3: We've got the South Island really winning this fun Canterbury
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  Speaker 3: oup twelve point three percent. Year on your self fund
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  Speaker 3: up nine point six percent, but we have got growth
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  Speaker 3: in Auckland and Wellington in the bigger centers in the
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  Speaker 3: North Island. You know, Auckland's up seven point two percent,
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  Speaker 3: Wellington just behind at seven point one percent, So solid
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  Speaker 3: growth but more moderate than the South Island.
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  Speaker 2: Any sense of where we go from here or not?
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  Speaker 3: Look, I think there is obviously still ongoing uncertainty around
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  Speaker 3: fuel costs and you know, geopolitical events that will continue
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  Speaker 3: to influence small businesses when it comes to those hiring
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  Speaker 3: and investment decisions. And consumers are also going to still
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  Speaker 3: be a little bit circumspecce with their discretionary spend as
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  Speaker 3: we come towards an election. But I think we should
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  Speaker 3: definitely take heart that there is some positive news.
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  Speaker 2: Fantastic Bridget, Always good to have you on the program.
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  Speaker 2: Bridget Snelling, who's the zero Country manager this morning?
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