Rabobank HQ shifting to Waikato from capital

A major rural bank is moving its headquarters from Wellington to Hamilton.

Rabobank’s move north will entail a purpose-built ‘‘centre of excellence’’ for the lender’s corporate head office roles. It will definitely be in the central city but Rabobank NZ chief executive Todd Charteris said the bank was yet to develop what it wanted.

Charteris said negotiations were well advanced with a particular developer but he wasn’t able to confirm anything at this stage.

‘‘We still have to go through the design phase and workplace strategy. But what we are wanting to develop is something our clients can utilise and potentially other like-minded businesses can utilise in terms of an agri-centre where people can come together.’’

The facility will eventually hold about 80 employees.

‘‘We are working through that; when we say 80 roles we have already got a number of people in Hamilton now so that will include the existing operation. We are working with our staff in Wellington for those that will be impacted by this; I am hopeful a large number will be able to move.’’

Rabobank was founded in the Netherlands in 1898. It began as a banking co-operative, to help farmers support each other in business and make sure rural communities were treated fairly when it came to getting the finances they needed. There are 32 Rabobank offices employing more than 350 people around New Zealand. They have about 5000 rural clients and 60,000 online, retail, deposit customers. ‘‘I think it is a big move for us but I think it is the right move in terms of positioning us for the future. We are a 100 per cent food and agri-focused bank and we think being in a really fast-growing region like the Waikato will serve us well,’’ Charteris said.

Rabobank will progressively relocate the corporate head office roles to Hamilton over the next couple of years. ‘‘I will be up there by January 2021 with my leadership team and then the other roles will transition up by January 2022,’’ Charteris said.

The business has been contemplating a move for some time and after discussions and a consultation process with their staff, the board confirmed the relocation decision early last month.

Charteris said two locations stood out in terms of size and access to compatible services – Christchurch or Hamilton – and Hamilton was the preferred choice.

‘‘I think its proximity to many other sectors, horticulture, it is obviously the heart of dairy, its proximity to services, its proximity to large metropolitan bases. We have got a large hub based in Christchurch, which is going to give us a really good balanced footprint in both islands which is important to us.’’

The bank will retain significant operations in Wellington for the foreseeable future through its IT and operations teams, totalling some 70 people.