Business owners say avoid Wellington

The Herald reports:

A successful Wellington entrepreneur says if he was starting again he would not launch his business in the capital, describing it as a “talent repellent”.

John-Daniel Trask founded Raygun, a software products company based in Wellington and used by subscribers around the world. …

“I think Wellington is actually a talent-repellent system at the moment.

“We’ve had people in our own organisation who have left and said I’m going to places like Auckland because they are so tired — their own words — of the abject wokeness that is in this city.

“As an employer who is bringing money into this country, paying people who are spending in our city, the relentless — relentless — attacks from the keyboard warriors who never leave their house. It’s a very sad state of affairs.

“I moved here about 20 years ago, and I’d say Auckland was counter cycle then. Nobody really wanted to move to Auckland around 2000, and Wellington was amazing. That is now inverted, in my opinion.”

And another business owner said:

Jugnu Gill opened his first restaurant in Wellington in 1997, but like Trask, said he would not set up business in the capital today.

“Wellington is not in good shape. There are very few places that are doing really well in Wellington at the moment.

“To be successful in Wellington, with all of the work going on over the streets and the council not having good leadership, today you have to think outside the box to really set something up that will be successful.

The Council seems determined to make it impossible for people to find a park near businesses, so it is no wonder businesses are pessimistic.