Two specialist consultancy businesses, Height Project Management and Tagai Management Consultants have signed a Memorandum of Understanding outlining a collaboration which will support First Nations export and trade opportunities across Australia and New Zealand.
Height is a Māori-owned business with offices in Auckland and Sydney and Tagai Management Consultants (TMC) is a Torres Strait Islander-owned business based in Brisbane.
Good things take time. Like all things in Indigenous culture, relationships take time to grow and mature. Over the past two years, respective CEOs Warner Cowin and Murray Saylor have discussed and developed their business relationship, which is grounded in cultural protocol and focused on social impact. Both businesses share a common passion for equity, service, and community. And as they are also veteran owned, they actively support veterans and service people.
Height and TMC will embark on a collaborative journey to explore mutual business opportunities, leveraging shared knowledge and adopting a reciprocal, place-based, and culturally appropriate approach across New Zealand and Australia.
Applying their combined experience and expertise, they will provide specialist services which include:
- Impact-based procurement
- Indigenous business capabilities uplift
- Developing tools to support the application of social procurement, which creates impact for Indigenous communities.
Founded in 2013, Height has specialist expertise in construction procurement and in creating social impact in large government infrastructure projects.
Height has successfully delivered a capability uplift programme supporting over 100 Māori businesses to be sustainable and to win work directly with government agencies. This programme has helped businesses win over $34 million worth of contracts since 2021. Height has been recognised for this work at multiple industry awards including the 2023 Engineering New Zealand ENVI Awards where, in partnership with Te Puni Kōkiri, they were the Supreme winner and winners of the Engineering Impact category.
Height CEO, Warner Cowin, says Tagai and Height values and Kaupapa are aligned. “We both care deeply about creating economic impact within our local communities through social procurement and Indigenous business capability uplift,” he says.
TMC was founded in 2014 bringing significant experience in social procurement across various industries including defence, government, technology, and renewable energy. Their support in this area has delivered social and commercial value of approximately AUD 1 billion since 2017. This was achieved through strong community relationships, small business education and training, and other social procurement endeavours.
"This MOU between Tagai and Height brings together two dynamic community-driven businesses, fuelled by their ancient seafaring cultures and focused on culturally appropriate on country engagement, and creating reciprocal social and commercial value,” says Tagai CEO, Murray Saylor.
Height and TMC will provide additional capability to support Indigenous businesses across Oceania. This exciting collaboration will deliver value and benefits to people and communities across the Pacific.