Physical Education New Zealand has moved to a largely virtual head office structure based in and managed from Tauranga.
Several locations were considered as potential head office sites, but the organisation said Tauranga was chosen above others for its reputation as a sporting centre with events such as the AIMS Games and a range of high performance facilities.
Richard van der Jagt, who recently succeeded Ross Merrett as chief executive, said during the four-month search for a replacement for Mr Merrett, the office effectively became virtual.
"The virtual office provided flexibility for the board around where a future office might be established," said Mr van der Jagt. "I was able to convince them Tauranga is a pretty good place to have a head office. "
He said the organisation was deciding on the best location in Tauranga for an office, but had decided to keep a good proportion of the office work virtual.
"Flexibility seems to be a trend in business with co-working spaces and virtual office businesses such as Invisible Office Chartered Accountants becoming more common," he said.
"It does provide cost savings and a range of new perspectives and expertise on everything from web design to project management. For a small organisation such as ours, that cost saving and the access to a wide range of resources enables more of our services to be channelled back to our members."
Mr van der Jagt came to the role from a secondary and tertiary teaching and educational management background. His previous experience includes business development roles at Massey University and the Bay of Plenty Polytechnic, and he was formerly business manager for setting up Massey Worldwide.
Physical Education New Zealand
- The national, professional organisation for physical educators in New Zealand.