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

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