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2022 Business of the Year Awards: Sock-maker wins supreme award

May 29, 2022

An Ashburton business that has turned sock-making into a science was crowned supreme winner at the Ashburton District ANZ Business of the Year Awards on Friday night.

NZ Sock Co, established by the Sparrow family in 1980 after they took over a local hosiery, also won the Technology and Innovation Award. Their history of making socks spans across three generations.


Eight category winners were also announced at the awards’ formal gala dinner, held in the Mt Hutt Memorial Hall. The awards were sponsored by ANZ and hosted by the Ashburton District Council and Ri Ra Events.


Ashburton Mayor Neil Brown chose the supreme winner and said most people in the district likely had a pair of NZ Sock socks.


“It’s a privilege to give this award to such an outstanding and locally-grown family business. Your socks have been worn by winners on the sports field, in the boardroom and by armies on the march. You have shown that sock-making is a real science and one that can happen in our own town.”


The inaugural awards attracted 70 entries, which went before a judging panel last year.



Council Community Services Group Manager Steve Fabish it was plain to see that many businesses had taken a step forward, in spite of some challenging times in the past two years.

“The awards have shown just how innovative and world-leading some of the businesses in this district are. It was our first time running the awards and we’ll consider all the feedback we have gathered along the way and look at how we might improve them for when we next run this event.


“There will be regular updates on our website and lots of information to share ahead of the next awards.”

Ashburton district event wins prestigious national award!

September 8, 2024
Mid Canterbury’s event management and promotions company Rí Rá Events, working in partnership with the Ashburton District Council has picked up a prestigious New Zealand Events Association (NZEA) award for, “Best Local Government Event” for their production of the ANZ Business of The Year Awards 2024. Rí Rá Events attended the NZEA awards gala dinner in Palmerston North on Tuesday 27 th August to collect the award. The event also received “special mention” in the “Best Business Event” category on the evening. The ANZ Business of The Year Awards was held in February 2024 at the Ashburton Aviation Museum and 375 guests attended the gala awards dinner. The overall objective of the event was to promote the Ashburton District as a great place to do business. Rí Rá events have already commenced work on the 2026 Business of the Year Awards event welcoming ANZ Bank onboard once again for the journey. Speaking about the awards, director Colm McGrath said, “We’re delighted to win a New Zealand Event Association Award for this event. We believe it proves that Mid Canterbury can and does deliver great events. It was a pleasure to work with the economic development and events team from Ashburton District Council on this project” Rí Rá events & Ashburton District Council were shortlisted as finalists in July and competed against the following events, Local Wild Food Festival, Whakatāne District Council, Taste Hastings, Hastings District Council , TSB Festival of Lights Winter Pop Up, New Plymouth District Council and Waitangi Day 2024, Porirua City to win this award. Founded in 2019 by two Irish kiwis, Gary Manning & Colm McGrath Rí Rá Events produces and promotes events predominantly in the Mid Canterbury region. It’s key clients include The Embassy of Ireland, The Ashburton District Council, ANZ Bank, Ashburton Toyota and The New Zealand Law Society. The phase Rí Rá roughly translates from Gaeilge to English as ‘fun’.

ANZ Business of The Year Awards 2024 Event has been shortlisted as finalists for the 2024 NZEA Awards

July 8, 2024
The ANZ Business of the Year Awards, a joint venture between Ashburton District Council & Ri Ra Events has been shortlisted as a finalist for Best Business Event and Best Local Government Event in the New Zealand Event Industry Awards 2024.

ANZ Business of the Year Award winners fly high

February 24, 2024
Ōpuke Thermal Pools and Spa, sourced by the mountains and powered by the sun, has been crowned the Ashburton District's supreme winner at the ANZ Business of the Year Awards 2024.
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