* Welcome to Dream Catchers, a series about New Zealanders living in the United Kingdom. I'm Hilary Timmins. This is a series that will enthral and inspire us as we meet some of those Kiwis living their dreams and taking a little piece of New Zealand to the rest of the world. Copyright Able 2018 For over 30 years, London-based New Zealander Barrie Neilson has run Sailing Holidays. It's the largest flotilla holiday specialist in the world. The flotilla is run out of Gouvia Marina in the beautiful Greek island of Corfu, and this is the start of the summer season, when all 160 yachts are together. In two days' time, the boats will peel off into groups of 10 or 12 and spread out amongst the Ionian islands, carrying thousands of holidaymakers from around the world in pursuit of their holiday of a lifetime. Flotillas work as a way of allowing people to have a go at sailing safely in non-tidal waters, with boats that are set up for the job, and under guidance and supervision. It's only daytime sailing. And each evening, you tie up at a local village or harbour. Although sometimes, people, after a day or two, once it's quite clear they're capable, they'll wander off and do their own thing. The lead boats have a skipper, an engineer and a hostess on them. And their job is to guide and advise people through the week or fortnight. We have spent most of the time we've been operating developing the ways of making boats easier to sail. Everyone can handle the boat from the cockpit area. We're full-on on our maintenance programme, and our engines, these days, are push-button start and push-button stop. People like flotillas. Even very experienced sailors like flotillas, because it's social. And particularly if they're coming as a family. The essence of what we do is a holiday. When there's wind, it's great. When there isn't, we've got an engine. We go to the most beautiful places ` little bays around the place. And we're very proud to be supporting Greece in this difficult time. Barrie grew up in Dunedin and later moved to Invercargill. And though never a qualified engineer, he always loved taking something apart and putting it back together ` something he still does in his London shed. In New Zealand, I used to race motorbikes, believe it or not, against old Burt Munro up and down Oreti Beach in Invercargill. I loved motorbike racing. I did it for six years. Oh, I did my best and got second New Zealand Senior TT in Christchurch at one stage, which was up there amongst things. But I couldn't afford the new machinery for the following year. Working in the freezing works in Invercargill, a mate of Barrie's announced he was going to sail his concrete boat around the world. This sounded like a good idea to Barrie, so he sold his seven motorbikes and joined him. They ended up selling the boat in Australia, and Barrie decided he'd come that far, he may as well carry on. So he booked a ticked on the Trans-Siberian Railway, which, in Barrie's own words, is a whole other story. And eventually, he arrived in England with the princely sum of �32. My first job when I got to England was as a swimming pool minder. It was actually technically lifeguard, but the engineering people at the pool had no idea how the engineering of the pool worked. So I ended up` They made me pool supervisor because I knew how to organise the water. Then I decided to build a boat. And, uh, so I used to raid the skips of Hampstead. And in those days, they used to throw hardwood away, just 'pfft', get rid of it. I sailed that round the English coast for a year, and then I wrecked it on the coast of France. And I thought, 'Well, since I've just wrecked my own boat, maybe I'll sail somebody else's.' (LAUGHS) So Barrie went to work for Flotilla Sailing Club in Corfu as an engineer and would work as a skipper for six years in Greece, Florida and the former Yugoslavia. He would meet his English wife, Heidi, in 1983, when she was on holiday. And in 1987 they took over the small flotilla of 27 boats, changing its name to Sailing Holidays. We're very much a family business. Heidi and I have worked together now all those years. What is it, 33 years, 34 years now. And she's brilliant in the office, and I'm still a boatie, really. And between the two of us, we've managed to make it work. During the summer months, we have roughly 80 people working for us here in Corfu, plus we have two fleets in the Sporades Islands and two fleets over in the Saronic Islands on the other side of Greece. So we're quite spread out. Our London office, we have 25 people full-time. That's largely the flights, the transfers, the paperwork. Our daughter works in the office doing the marketing and sales and all the electronic gadgetry. In the sense of a family business, we treat everybody like part of the family because that's the way, in our view, it has to be. Like many entrepreneurs, Barrie has a philanthropic side, and amongst other things, supports the Orokonui Nature Reserve in Dunedin. Dunedin will always be home. But actually, an equally special place to me is Invercargill. Because that's where I grew up, in both those places. And I just love 'em both. I'm a Southerner. A Southern boy/man. (CHUCKLES) And the biggest highlight for this intrepid Kiwi? Biggest highlight in my career? I suppose... it's now. Because I feel I've actually really achieved something special. I've introduced thousands and thousands of British people to sailing and given people who aren't necessarily hugely well off a chance to have a go at sailing. I'd say that's the reward. I think that's the easiest way I can explain it. Because the whole thing's been a highlight. (LAUGHS) The port of Southampton is one of the United Kingdom's busiest. Located on the South Coast, it is one of 21 ports around England operated by Associated British Ports that has been part of a billion-pound investment to create and improve services, facilities and safety. And they are just one of the many global clients of Kiwi Katherine Corich and her innovative consulting and management company Sysdoc, a company she started based on the principles of aviation, which she learnt training as a commercial pilot. I didn't fly for an airline. I went on after getting my commercial and instructor's rating and I decided to throw in an OE. Came to London, and I started working in the London Stock Exchange the year of Big Bang in the London Stock Exchange, which was the moment in time that they computerised all the records of the stock exchange of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. And it was during that time that I accidentally started a company. Recognising that the three principles of aviation ` understanding everyone's role on operational processes, learning by simulation, and most importantly, communication, especially in times of emergency, she saw how they could be assimilated into business practice during the changeover. There was definitely a gap in the IT world at the time around how people thought about the role of the end user and the people who are actually the ones that will need to change their ways of working, their behaviours, learn new systems, and maybe adapt to working in different ways, communicating with each other differently. Now, today, in modern speak, we call that change management. But at the time, programmes or projects were very focused on the technology ` what do we need to do to introduce new systems, new information technology. So it was really the dawn of an era. We've been very lucky over the years to work with some of the most impressive brands on the planet, and when we get to work with them is at times when they're changing. They're growing, they're expanding, they're moving to a wider global footprint. They may be introducing new technology, changing ways of working. And what they want to do in the changing of the ways of working is they want to make sure that their processes are robust, that they have safety systems in place, and that they can avoid the types of things that we've seen in some of the global disasters. Kapiti Coast Katherine graduated from the University of Canterbury with a degree in sociolinguistics and French. Now based in Oxfordshire with her family, she maintains strong links to New Zealand, and as a world-class New Zealander is a member of the global business network Kea. I think being a New Zealander just gives you an openness to whole-world thinking and a resilience. So if you can talk about our attributes of being a Kiwi as what makes us able to just say, 'Hey, we'll globalise our business,' then, yes, being a Kiwi is the greatest gift on the planet. Sysdoc now has four offices around the world, including New Zealand, working with high-profile brands such as British Aerospace, McLaren, Land Rover, and Associated British Ports. Our high-flying Kiwi Katherine has been acknowledged both personally and professionally for her altruistic and business endeavours. But there is one award you could say doesn't just embody her but also gives an unintentional nod to the principles of aviation she based her business on. The Flying Kiwi award is given to New Zealanders who have grown global businesses, made a real difference in the industries they're working in, and been able to sustain business growth and innovation and many of the other challenges that we see in growing businesses. So it's very special to be named as a Flying Kiwi and to be inducted into the Hall of Fame with 16 other phenomenal Kiwis who I've admired all my life. Every recognition you get as an entrepreneur is wonderful, because it gives you such strength and courage to carry on. Sometimes, at times when` You know, business can be tough, and it's just really nice to get the recognition so that as a team you can say, 'Wow, we're doing OK.' Next up, we take a coffee break and serve up a flat white with the Kiwi who brought them to London. * In the heart of London's West End, just two minutes from Piccadilly Circus, you'll find the celebrated Carnaby Street. Actually made up of 14 little streets, it was the epicentre of the swinging '60s and is still a destination for street style tribes today, with more than 100 named and bespoke boutiques and some of the best eating spots in London ` including a very special cafe with an Antipodean twist that gained its reputation in 2005 as one of the best places to get a coffee in London. Coffee houses have existed in the UK since the 1600s. In fact, Lloyd's of London started as a coffee house. But it would be another 300 years before Tubbs Wanigasekera would bring the iconic Kiwi flat white to London. he was surprised to find its coffee scene was lagging behind what he was used to getting in New Zealand, and his favourite flat white was something requiring explanation. Since setting up his first Sacred in Carnaby Street, it is now a staple offering in most cafes and restaurants. It does feel pretty cool now. Especially when I sit back now, it's now 11 years later and you see the likes of the mainstream brands, from your Starbucks, Costas, Neros, all sort of jumping in on the bandwagon and trying to, sort of, create a story around it. And it makes you feel warm and fuzzy that, 'OK, I brought this before even it was, like, famous.' Now with four cafes and 16 franchises across London, a Sacred coffee lives up to its name, roasted in Ireland and made from a blend of Nicaraguan, Ethiopian, and Brazilian coffee beans. When we were doing the construction of the first cafe in Carnaby Street, we thought, 'How do we sort of mention`? 'How can we get across the whole emotion of the coffee being the most important product in this venue?' The critical thing of Sacred is I always wanted a brand or a name that could have extensions. So whether it was Sacred coffee or Sacred tea or, for example, sacred life, sacred sport. With its sacred icons and Sacred coffee, the Carnaby Street cafe is consistently voted as one of the best in London by a worshipful following. The biggest highlight for me with Sacred has been when we were shortlisted by Time Out magazine as one of the best cafes in London, quite early on when we opened the cafe. And so that was quite exciting for the brand. And, 'OK, we're doing something right.' That is the validation, and that was great. and his parents moved him to New Zealand because of the civil war. Arriving in New Zealand, it was a complete different shift from Asian cultural values to suddenly quite a European country. Going to high school was very different for me initially. I mean, I was fortunate because I think in Sri Lanka, I went to a private school, and so English was my first language anyway. So I could adapt quite easily and quickly into sixth form, seventh form, which I did simultaneously, and then, just the rest of it, I just sort of observed and adapted, as you do. Those 10 years, those were the formative years ` from university, finishing high school, first job ` and all that was done in New Zealand. Victoria University in Wellington, where he studied industrial design, and on graduating, went to work for appliance giant Fisher & Paykel, where he headed up the team who designed the revolutionary DishDrawer that helped establish Fisher & Paykel as a global brand. To this day, if I go to Harrods or Selfridges, John Lewis, they still sell them there, which is quite cool. Some of the components I designed back then, almost, now, 18 years later, are still the same. They haven't been changed. It's quite cool. Alongside his love of design and coffee, sparked by his Hamilton-based foster father ` motor racing. It's always been a balance for me. Even when I was designing at Fisher & Paykel, I was still racing cars on the weekend. I've always done it. Even at university in my last two, three years, I was club racing. It's always been, like, a bit of a switch-off mentality for me, cos I love it. It also pushes me to do things that are out of my comfort zone. one step further, and not only supports emerging talent in the motor sport industry but Sacred is into its tenth year of partnership with Porsche Motorsport hospitality. So the relationship just grew. And I was just talking to the Porsche guys one day at a race, and said, 'You know, I think we need to have my coffee here, 'cos it's better than whatever this is you're serving right now.' And they were like, 'Well, we don't have a partnership with a coffee brand.' I said, 'Well, let's do it.' Sacred is now an official partner of motor sport cars Germany, putting it alongside the big-name brands like Red Bull, Chopard and Michelin, for the Sacred brand. Uh, the plan now is to obviously work with Sacred, take it to another level. It's gonna take another three to four years for that. will have for a while, then, is a coffee break, at least he can have some of his other favourite New Zealand treats to go with it. Apart from introducing the flat white, the most important product that we brought is the lolly cake, and also cans of L&P. It's a loss-leader, but the Kiwis that come for it, including Anton Oliver, for example, has one a week. I know that cos he emails me or texts me every time he's had one. And it's really nice to have, sort of, really lovely products like that. And rocky road and Anzac cookies. They're really special. And even if some of them don't make economic sense, I still have to have them there. One of our most successful entrepreneurs is businessman and philanthropist Kent Gardner. As CEO and partner in Evans Randall Investors, he has completed more than �8 billion worth of commercial property transactions in London and Europe, and his property portfolio has included many of London's landmark buildings. One of 11 children, Kent showed an early aptitude for entrepreneurship, earning extra pocket money as a schoolboy in Dunedin. But it was a gentle nudge from a teacher that set him on his career path. I remember a teacher in the classroom asking me, and I was about 14 actually. I was having a bit of batting to and fro about an exam question and whether I'd answered the right question or not. And the teacher told me what the answer was, and I said to him, 'Well, if you wanted that` 'If you wanted that answer, you should've asked a different question.' And he shot back at me, he said, 'Are you gonna be a lawyer, Gardner?' And actually, that placed the idea in my mind about being a lawyer. Going on to study law and commerce at Otago University, on graduating, Kent was offered a job in Wellington, where he would work for six years, and at just 28 was offered a partnership at top legal firm Russell McVeagh. It was a difficult decision to leave Russell McVeagh, because I loved working there. But I also knew that I had, sort of, unfulfilled ambition in business and that being a lawyer, I didn't feel, would necessarily allow me to fulfil it at that time in my life. And also, I hadn't travelled overseas. You know, at the time, my father had just passed away, and I was really thinking whether I wanted to stay on and become a partner or whether, actually, I wanted to go off and do something else. And it was through that process that I decided, no, I wanted to come and work in London and seek my fortune here. Kent was offered a job in investment banking at Evans Randall. And seeing the marketplace changing, he and his partners re-formed the business to focus on commercial real estate in 2004. Initially, it's making an investment, adding value to that investment, increasing the cash flow and the rents from that investment, and then ultimately to be able to sell it for more than you purchased it for. I was able to call on my core skills ` the things that I'd learnt at Russell McVeagh ` how to make a deal happen, how to structure things, how to put it together. And I was able to bring those skills to a new business area ` commercial real estate. We New Zealanders, we have a different approach, I think. We're not shy. We don't hold back. We're straightforward, so if we think it's possible to do it, we'll give it a try. And, uh, I think we're quite good as well at getting people to come together to do things. A fiercely proud New Zealander, Kent did just that when he used the iconic Gherkin, part of the company portfolio at the time, to create a charity stair-climb, raising NZ$650,000 for Christchurch after the earthquake. During the 2012 London Olympics, he organised a giant silver fern flag to be unfurled down the facade of New Zealand House, leaping the hurdles of branding and sponsorship restrictions and drawing maximum attention to New Zealand. In his role overseeing aspects of Crown land, Kent is the guardian of the memorial statue of Sir Keith Park, the fellow New Zealander who led the Battle of Britain. And the beautiful family home, decorated by his interior designer wife, Gaye, is graciously used to host the many charitable organisations and arts and sports institutes they support both in the United Kingdom and New Zealand. For me, philanthropy is just an extension of what we're doing in everyday life, you know. As business is, as our family is, it's just part and parcel of it. Gaye is also a New Zealander, and their three boys, Freddie, Harry and Will, were all born in London. They love London, but they're told every day that they're from New Zealand as well, and we're lucky enough to have a holiday home in New Zealand, on Waiheke Island, probably one of the longest commutes to a holiday home that anyone could have. And so they've had a good chance to not only know what it's about in central London but also to run round in bare feet for weeks on end at Waiheke. Something the family will be doing a lot more of since deciding to relocate back to New Zealand. And while Kent will continue to have his business and UK interests, it will be a time for new beginnings for this charismatic Kiwi. I love London. And it's an always evolving city. The skyline's changing. There's been many more towers built even in the last 10 years; radically changed the face of London. But, you know, I'm thankful that I've had an opportunity to be involved with that, to fund some of those buildings, to finance the development of them, to develop some of them, to create them, and sometimes just to own and invest in them. I really think it's important that, you know, success isn't necessarily where you end up, or, you know, what you own or how much money you've got. Success is about how you deal with and treat the people that you're with, how they treat you, and that you're enjoying what you're doing. I think that's success. # And out here on the edge, # the empire is fading by the day. # And the world is so weary in war, # maybe we'll find that new way. # Welcome home. # Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2018