Show of support puts Canterbury on long road to recovery

BusinessNZ urges the public to get behind Christchurch businesses, while Fairfax sends over Australian printers to keep the pages pumping throught a city plagued by fear.

At a recent meeting of over 30 BusinessNZ-affiliated groups, chief executive, Phil O’Reilly said the Affiliated Industries Group believes the best way to help Christchurch get back on track is to buy from businesses in the area.
“People and enterprises elsewhere can help greatly simply by doing business with Christchurch firms,” he said.

Since the earthquake PrintNZ has been working with affected members to coordinate assistance where required including helping to match offers of assistance with those that need it.

Help has also come from offshore. At this week’s Pressgang gathering, Bob Lockley (pictured) of Fairfax in Richmond, said that while there was no damage to its new Christchurch press centre, printers from Ormiston had flown to New Zealand to work there.

“We’ve sent them over there to help out as a lot of locals don’t want to leave home because they’re worried they will be looted, among other probelms,” he said.

“It’s been pretty disasterous for the people over there. You can se fires, floods and cyclones coming, but you can’t tell when an earthquake is coming.”

Christchurch business owners affected by the earthquake can visit a new website, Recovery Canterbury, which offers recources and information on the tragedy.

PrintNZ chief executive, Joan Grace, urged affected members to make use of the wide range of Government assistance available. “This includes help with wage subsidies and other forms of support – contact us if you need assistance with the process,” she said.

“We have been humbled by the resilience and positive attitude of our members in Canterbury and we will continue to work closely with our members to provide any assistance we can.”