WREDA slims down

A restructure of the Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency (WREDA) is expected to save $500,000 a year.

The agency was formed in 2015, taking over major events promotion from the Wellington City Council and subsuming what was Positively Wellington Tourism, Grow Wellington, Positively Wellington Venues and Creative HQ.

When chief executive Chris Whelan took up his role in September 2015 he warned bringing the four organisations together would mean big internal changes.

The aim of amalgamation was not to shrink its overall budget, Whelan said, but to reduce duplication and focus on the ‘‘sharp end’’ supporting the economy.

‘‘By continuing to consolidate systems and premises, we’re projecting to recover at least $500,000 a year in operational costs, which will be invested into priority projects.’’

In the past year the agency has made seven staff members redundant and 28 staff members left ‘‘through natural attrition’’ Whelan said.

In April a new senior leadership team was appointed, made up of three external appointments and four existing staff.

WREDA now employs 142 staff members, which included shift workers in its venue business.

‘‘For me a key part of restructure was to get the collective organisation firing on all cylinders. It’s not about reducing numbers,’’ Whelan said.

WREDA has been operating from four separate offices but in March 2017 most staff will move into one building on Victoria St.

Some venue staff would remain at the Michael Fowler Centre and its subsidiary company, Creative HQ, would remain at its Dixon St premises.

Consolidating into one office would save the agency $60,000 in property rental, Whelan said.

He believed the agency had reduced almost all internal duplication. However, ‘‘One area I still think we can improve on is our back office system.’’