2 days ago
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Longtime chairman made life member of national association
A pillar of the Oamaru Licensing Trust has received a national honour.
Longtime chairman Ali Brosnan was made a life member of the New Zealand Community Licensing Trust Association last weekend.
It was a great honour, he said.
"Especially coming from a wee licensing trust like Oamaru, we're one of the smaller ones of the 16 licensing trusts that are left in New Zealand."
Mr Brosnan has been on the Oamaru Licensing Trust for 23 years and has been chairman for the last 18.
He also spent eight years on the New Zealand Licensing Trust serving as president, immediate past-president as well as junior and senior vice-president in his tenure.
When asked for his favourite part of the role, the answer was simple — the people.
"We don't have a huge turnover but we've had some great people."
He first joined the Oamaru trust in 2002 because he wanted to give back to the community.
"I had always been involved in Excelsior Sports Club over the years and we were always applying for funding through the licensing trust.
"I sort of thought I'd like to get involved in that side of it but I was a wee bit naive in some ways in that once I got on to the trust I found there was a lot more to it than just giving out grants."
After he joined, the trust downsized in 2004 selling off small country pubs and investing in the North Star, upgrading the restaurant and building the motel.
It now owns four businesses with roughly 60 fulltime equivalent staff.
Mr Brosnan has seen it all in his tenure from the 2008 World Financial Crisis to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The pandemic put the trust back three to four years financially, he said.
"I'm pleased to say now we've turned the corner. We'll turn a profit this year.
"Tourism, which is a big part of what we do, is back up to about 80-plus-percent of what it was pre-Covid.
"If we can get it back to 100% or better, we'll be pretty happy."
The trust is "owned by the people for the people" .
"The board members are only representing the people of Oamaru.
"The more we can improve the value of our assets the better it is for the owners, the people of Oamaru.
"We just want people to be proud of the business they own."
Mr Brosnan will stand again in this year's election.
Nominations close next Friday.
"We'd like to see younger people involved in it as the trustees get older," Mr Brosnan said.
"A bit like all elections, all public office, there's not a queue of people lining up to take these positions."
