This, our first Hill News for 2025, has a couple of headline articles that I want to highlight. The first relates to a series of acquisitions that will be completed essentially simultaneously at the end of this month. There is some complexity in the deals that we are doing, but essentially there will be two main outcomes – increased capability within Hill Labs, and a partnership we will be entering into via a separate company.  

The first outcome of the acquisitions is that we will create new capability within Hill Labs in the area of sample collection of municipal waters, particularly drinking waters. This capability will be based in Christchurch, but with the potential to grow into other parts of the country. With water testing being such an important part of our business, we are excited to be broadening our services in this area and are looking forward to leveraging this new capability as a fresh platform for growth.  

The second outcome of the acquisitions described in the article below is that we will be partnering in a separate business focused on delivering food safety audits and Environmental Health Officer services to councils. It is the adjacency with our food testing services in particular that drives our strategic intentions with this endeavour.  

Finally, as our business continues to evolve and grow, and my role along with it, I decided, in consultation with our Board, that the time had come to create a new executive role – Chief Operating Officer – to lead our Operational and Commercial functions (essentially the core engine of our business). We therefore ran a thorough recruitment process late last year and are pleased to announce that Peter Lord has been successful in being appointed to this new position. In an article below, we introduce Peter and give him an opportunity to share a few words about himself.  

2025 is set to be another big year for us. We’re still finding market conditions to be challenging, with continuing cost pressures and some markets remaining depressed, but despite the headwinds we are budgeting for a healthy combination of organic and inorganic growth this year.  

We hope that you all are managing to navigate any challenges in your markets successfully, and that you have exciting plans for the year within your respective businesses too. A number of us will have the pleasure of connecting with many of you through the course of doing business in the coming weeks and months, and we look forward to hearing about what your plans are for this year.