Kiwi entrepreneurialism

The Albion Air New Zealand team made a stop at Peregrine Wines in Otago. Greg Hay is the founder of the vineyard and won the Air New Zealand wine award for his pinot noir in his first year of production, creating a name for the Otago region. His winery is housed in a wonderful piece of modern architecture that is inspired by the falcon that is also the symbol of his label. Greg has also organised gigs on the the estate which he thought "wouldn't be too hard to pull off". He talked of the power and importance of the brand in winemaking and also what he does to protect his brand. He once declined an offer from a major fizzy drinks manufacturer to use his venue to launch a new product because he thought their brand did not fit with his.  Greg defines what it is to be a Kiwi - inventive, can-do and daring, whilst still being very humble and down-to-earth.

The Air New Zealand In-flight concierge in action

Its funny that given the business of flying is a service one, the approach to that service has barely changed in 50 years. If anything the low cost carriers have dragged things backwards. But like in a number of industries the kiwis are shaking things up and we are enjoying getting involved. The Albion Air New Zealand team have been flown around the world to be sheep dipped in the Air New Zealand culture and we are getting to meet these service innovators first hand. They are quite a bunch.

The In-flight Concierge is a unique service being rolled out by Air New Zealand and we met Jill Glazewski on board our flight from LA to Auckland. She is one of the first concierges. A problem-solver extroardinaire. She does everything from sorting out itineraries for you for when you land to comforting people who are not feeling great. Just think about it - classic cabin crew are busy sorting your meals and safety stuff - they rarely have time to stop and stare - never mind solve out of the ordinary concerns that you could have on a flight. When was the last time staff on a plane gave you their business card so that they can help you on your return flight or phoned on your mobile before a flight to make sure there was nothing that you needed? Typical of the kind of people they are hiring, Jill brings a wealth of experience in events and hospitality so has not spent her career in the airline industry. The concierges aim to make sure every passenger has the best experience possible. What makes the concierges so special is that what they provide doesn’t begin or end on the flight. They take personal responsibility to follow up on people’s problems and needs as they happen.

We met another two of the concierges, Joanne and Matthew today in Air NZ HQ in Auckland, along with Amy Bennet the Performance and Development Manager who has had the task of recruiting and training all the new concierges.

Each concierge has the power and autonomy to make decisions on how to keep a customer happy. And it’s this highly unusual personal responsibility that means the concierges take it on themselves to go the extra mile. Joanne makes shortbread cookies and hand-writes notes to welcome her most important customers. She does this in her own time because it’s her reputation.  Let's be completely clear about this - what's interesting about this innovative style is that it's anchored by a natural can-do attitude that's at the very essence of being a Kiwi.

Joanne and Matthew told us many stories from their first flights as concierges. Like a Canadian woman who moved her life to Australia to be with her online lover, only for it to all not work out when she got there. On her return the concierge upgraded her to Premium Economy to get some space and then ordered flowers for when she got home. And of course there was the man in the stubbies (that’s very short shorts to you) who had his, eh, parts on display. Well he was sorted out with a blanket quick smart before anyone even noticed. As Matthew put quite nicely, if you look carefully there is always someone on the plane who is need of a helping hand.

The importance of tea

Everyone at Albion knows the importance of making tea. It's a written law that we make a round of tea for each other when we are getting one ourself (with the exception of Nick Curnow in Creative Services who has only ever made one cup of tea for someone else which was so awful that everyone declines another offer of a cuppa).

So it was logical that as a sign of appreciation for their hospitality that Air New Zealand Auckland receive a hand made Albion tea pot and a bunch of nice tea and strainers to go with it.

Clearly the colonisation of New Zealand has not been thorough as we have had reports that the inaugural pot of tea was "a little strong" after a whole bag of tea was dispensed to make the brew! Next time we will include instructions.

New Zealand olive oil

New Zealand is synonymous with boutique new world wine but what you may not know is that the Kiwis are slowly chipping away at the olive oil market too.

The Albion Air New Zealand team stepped off a 26 hour flight from London but there was no time for sleep, we were off to Waiheke Island, a 45 minute ferry ride from the centre of Auckland. We were shown some of the tiny wineries clinging to the hills of the island, many which only produce 200 or so bottles. We stopped at Cable Bay Vineyard for lunch and were given the tour of the winemaking facilities by managing director and winemaker Neill Cully. But what really caught our attention was the small batch of olive oil that was also being produced by a husband and wife team on site.

Apparently the climate that grows grapes with complexity of flavors also does the same for olives. There was much technical information about centifugal force and acidity ratios which went mostly over our heads. But what we did get out of it was that non virgin or light olive oil is usually made from rotting fruit picked off the ground that is then processed and nuked to make it tasteless. We can report that New Zealand olive oil is good. Oh and the man holding the pipe in the pic above (doing the dog's body work as his missus put it) is one of New Zealand's top surgeons.

The Albion Cooie Factory

We've cranked up the Albion Cookie Factory to celebrate Christmas with our family and friends. Check out the blog:

albionlondon.typepad.com/albioncookiefactory/