• Home
  • News
  • Hawke’s Bay Company Wins EIT-Sponsored Award

Hawke’s Bay Company Wins EIT-Sponsored Award

December 15, 2014
Celebrating  Catalyst’s win at the Westpac Hawke’s Bay Chamber of Commerce Business Awards, from left, Erin and Jared Maloney and Nick and Sophie Sowman.

Celebrating Catalyst’s win at the Westpac Hawke’s Bay Chamber of Commerce Business Awards, from left, Erin and Jared Maloney and Nick and Sophie Sowman.

Award-winning Hawke’s Bay company Catalyst Fuel Refunds is aiming to treble its client base in two years – and it recently added EIT to its list.

The company won the EIT Small to Medium Business Award in the 2014 Westpac Hawke’s Bay Chamber of Commerce Business Awards – just 20 months after it was established by managing director Jared Maloney and director Nick Sowman.

The company helps those working in the primary industry sector to make fuel tax claims.  Businesses operating petrol vehicles and machinery off-road are eligible for a fuel refund of 63 cents per litre.

These businesses can include forestry operators, spraying contractors and golf courses, although farmers are Catalyst’s No 1 target.

Jared, who met Nick working in the meat industry, says that while primary industries are the engine room of New Zealand, many eligible for the refund found the claim process complicated and time consuming or were even unaware they could claim.

More than $100 million goes unclaimed every year.

To simplify the process, Catalyst created a hassle-free process providing online application, prompt payment through a trust account, regular email and phone reminders to keep clients on track and friendly and knowledgeable customer support.

Catalyst has registered 3500 clients throughout New Zealand, paid over $5.5million back to farmers and businesses in the primary sector and, going into 2015, was intending to add two further staff to its mix of 15 full and part-timers.

“We could operate from anywhere,” Jared says, “but Hawke’s Bay is a pretty good place to be doing this and it is home for us.”