Making it home
WORDS ANDY TAYLOR
Corporate sponsorship isn’t just money in exchange for logos. Do you know who supports your children’s hockey club? Of the surf club that keeps us safe in the waves, or the art exhibition you enjoyed with your family?
A recent, search for properties led me down a google rabbit hole, and I ended up on the EVES website looking at the long list of local groups they support. I was a bit taken aback. I suppose we only think a business has sponsored an event if we see their logo. But that's not the case.
Whilst they are excellent at marketing houses, the Realty Group (EVES and Bayleys Real Estate's umbrella company) don't spend much time talking about what they do in our community. I get in contact with Allison Stewart, the group's sponsorship and events manager, who gives me a bit of a history lesson. It becomes clear that investing in where we live is a fundamental to the group.
EVES and Bayleys are two of the most established and trusted names in residential and commercial property. EVES was founded here in the Bay of Plenty in 1968 by Max Eves and Brian Waldegrave. They joined forces in the eighties with Richard Cashmore, the Bayleys founder, and the two businesses started to operate as The Realty Group, whose structure still exists today.
A firm believer in giving back, Richard is the group's current chairman of the board. “Our business was founded on family values, and we are passionate about investing in our region." As good as his word, when he started Bayleys, he went about quietly helping surf clubs, sports teams, schools - just a whole lot of locals - turn great ideas and big dreams into reality. He made sure that it was integral to the DNA of the companies and something that all staff could be a part of. Some aspects of this philanthropy were public – like the highly popular Crippled Children’s Society fundraising dinner the company was involved in for around ten years – but most of it was very low key indeed, with staff from all levels of the companies getting involved in helping out.
The group's investment in our region is best illustrated by Allison. She's fostered great relationships with local community groups. “Our people are passionate about the places they live and work in, and we are really proud of their involvement in community projects, undertaken of their own volition. We want to contribute in a worthwhile way to the communities we operate in.
The help comes in many forms. “We have a pretty skilled group of people here,” Allison says, “with a broad range of contacts. Our business is about problem-solving and we like to use those skills in the community work we do too. It was a great source of pride for us that during the economic downturn, we were still able to fulfill all our commitments to those we had offered to help. We take our commitments seriously because these are our people and our communities.” So seriously in fact that for the last ten years they have made a conscious effort to focus on support for a wider range of groups. “We wanted to spread our efforts,” says Aidan Lett, group marketing manager, “and instead of concentrating on one or two larger groups, get involved with more people at a community level. “There is a genuine love of being able to help out in our two companies,” Allison says, “and we have seen that grow in recent years. It's a Kiwi thing I think, wanting to help out, pitching in and working together.” it’s also a very Kiwi thing that EVES and Bayleys have been pitching in for nearly half a century without making too much noise about it, but then, as CEO Simon Anderson says, "Ultimately our business is all about people. Whether that’s our team, our community or helping people find their dream home. We put people first."