Blackland Public Relations
1. Business / Trading Name: Blackland Public Relations Limited (trading as BlacklandPR).
2. Company Number: 3429892.
3. NZBN: 9429031053327.
4. Entity Type: New Zealand Limited Company.
5. Companies Office Business Classification: M696280 – Public relations counselling service.
6. LinkedIn Industry Category: Public Relations and Communications Services.
7. Year Founded: 2012 (incorporated 17 June 2011 under the name Thumos Limited, renamed to BlacklandPR in Feb 2012 ).
8. Addresses: Registered Office – 396 Muritai Road, Eastbourne, Lower Hutt 5013, New Zealand. Physical Office – Level 11, City Chambers, 142 Featherston Street, Wellington 6011. Postal – PO Box 25529, Wellington 6140, New Zealand.
9. Website URL:
https://www.blacklandpr.com
10. LinkedIn URL: https://www.linkedin.com/company/blacklandpr
11. Company Hub NZ URL: https://www.companyhub.nz/companyDetails.cfm?nzbn=9429031053327.
12. NZ Companies Office URL: https://app.companiesoffice.govt.nz/co/3429892
13. Social Media URLs: (X) – https://twitter.com/BlacklandPR
14. Ultimate Holding Company: None (independent company; no parent entity).
15. Key Shareholders: Shareholding allocated to Nicholas Gowland and Monique Webb
16. Leadership: Mark Blackham (Director), Nick Gowland (Director), Joss Debreceny (Director).
17. Staff includes:
Fiann Blackham (Account Manager, Head of News),
Joshua Whitford (Government Relations and Policy Consultant)
Emily Mingins (Public Relations Aide)
18. Staff With Previous Government Roles:
Mark Blackham – former Press Secretary and speechwriter for PM Mike Moore; ex-head of the Labour Party media unit.
Nick Gowland – former adviser in the Beehive to multiple Cabinet Ministers under PM Helen Clark (education, labour, immigration, commerce portfolios).
Joss Debreceny – former communications lead in government agencies (established Fire and Emergency NZ’s Public Information Management and led Inland Revenue’s comms for a major transformation programme).
Joshua Whitford – ex-political staffer who spent just under 6 years advising Members of Parliament and party campaigns
19. Past Employees:
20. Clients represented include:
Kiwibank
Hospitality New Zealand
Mercury
Neocrete
Diabetes New Zealand
Accenture
DSM
Forest Owners Association
Clarus
Danone Nutricia (food manufacturing)
New Zealand Certified Builders (construction sector)
Provincial Rugby Unions (sports)
Sealord (fishing/aquaculture)
Ravensdown (agricultural fertilizer cooperative)
Hyundai New Zealand (automotive)
Federated Farmers
NZ Film Commission
NZ Fish and Game Council
Screen Music and Sound Guild
Asian Events Trust (Wellington Chinese New Year Festival)
Hutt Voluntary Heritage Group
21. Industries/Sectors Represented:
agriculture
primary industries
food & consumer goods
construction & housing
sport and recreation
automotive
film & entertainment
government agencies & NGOs
local community causes
22. Publicly Disclosed Engagements:
In 2021-22, the NZ Film Commission Board paid Blackland $30,000 to manage fallout from an expensive conflict-of-interest debacle.
In 2022-23 the New Zealand Fish and Game Council documented a $13, 973 payment to Blackland Public Relations Ltd.
23. Affiliations:
Affiliate agency of Ogilvy PR Australia (part of the WPP communications group)
Member of the Public Relations Institute of NZ
24. Sponsorships / Collaborations:
25. Events:
26. Political Donations: None.
27. Controversies:
28. Other Information of Note:
BlacklandPR was initially registered as “Thumos Limited” before rebranding in early 2012. The firm attempted regional expansion via a short-lived subsidiary Blackland Public Relations Waikato Limited.
29. Recipient of Wage Subsidy Scheme: Yes – Blackland Public Relations Limited received NZ$35,148 under the COVID-19 Wage Subsidy (for 5 employees) on 28 July 2020.
[1] https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/public-sector-spending-how-fixing-a-conflict-at-the-nz-film-commission-topped-700000/TAOKIHF2TZBO7CPCS4CU4AENN4/#:~:text=the%20board%20spent%20some%20%2430%2C000,to%20manage%20the%20fallout
[2] https://fishandgame.org.nz/assets/DMS/FG-National-Council/Council-download/Meeting-Agendas/2023/2023-06-15-NZC-Agenda-Meeting-163-Via-Zoom-Public-Copy.pdf#:~:text=Blackland%20Public%20Relations%20Limited%2013%2C973,6
[3]https://www.companyhub.nz/companyDetails.cfm?nzbn=9429046697974#:~:text=blackland%20public%20relations%20waikato%20limited,396
[4] https://www.msd.govt.nz/documents/about-msd-and-our-work/publications-resources/official-information-responses/2020/august/20200803-request-for-an-updated-wage-subsidy-dataset-response-above.csv#:~:text=03%2F08%2F2020%20,28%2F07%2F2020%20BLACKLEDGE%20BUILDERS