Victor Strategy and Communications

Business / Trading Name: Victor Strategy and Communications Limited (trading as “Victor Strategy & Communications”). Often referred to as “Victor Consulting”.

Company Number: 7787118 (NZ Companies Office registration number).

NZBN: 9429047745094 (New Zealand Business Number).

Entity Type: New Zealand Limited Company. (Constituted under the Companies Act 1993).

Business Classification: Management consultancy and public affairs services (engaged in government relations, policy advocacy, and strategic communications). Exact ANZSIC code not publicly confirmed.

Industry Category: Professional Services – Government Relations and Public Relations Consulting. Focus on policy advocacy in sectors such as housing, transport, energy, and social issues.

Year Founded: 2019 – Incorporated on 16 October 2019.

Addresses:
- Registered Office: c/o All Accounted For Limited, Ground Floor, 271–277 Willis Street, Te Aro, Wellington 6011, New Zealand.

Website URL:

https://www.victorconsulting.co

– Official site “Victor Strategy & Communications” (outlining services, ethos, and contact).

LinkedIn URL: Clint Smith – Director at Victor Consulting (personal LinkedIn profile). (No dedicated company LinkedIn page; the director’s profile serves as the main LinkedIn presence.)

Company Hub NZ URL: https://www.companyhub.nz/companyDetails.cfm?nzbn=9429047745094 (CompanyHub is a third-party NZ companies database; direct link requires search on site.)

NZ Companies Office URL: NZ Companies Register: https://app.companiesoffice.govt.nz/companies/app/ui/pages/companies/7787118 – Official registry search result (public entry with filings and director/shareholder info).

Social Media URLs:
- Twitter (X): @ClintVSmith – Account of Clint Smith, Director (bio notes: “Director of Victor Consulting… Former strategist for @jacindaardern”).

(No separate corporate Twitter/Facebook; the director’s personal account is used for public commentary. No other active social media profiles disclosed.)

Ultimate Holding Company: None. Victor Strategy & Communications is an independent, privately held company with no parent or holding company.

Key Shareholders: Clinton “Clint” Smith (director) – 50 shares. The remaining shares (50) are held by a second shareholder (Casimira Ana Latimer Kerr). Clint Smith effectively holds controlling interest (either directly or via family trust). No institutional or corporate shareholders.

Leadership: Clint Smith – Founder and Director. (Sole director and principal consultant. No separate CEO/MD beyond Smith.) Clint Smith’s leadership is central, leveraging his political strategy background in running the firm.

Staff: Single-consultant operation. Aside from Clint Smith, no other full-time staff are publicly listed. The company appears to be a boutique consultancy led by Smith alone, occasionally collaborating with other contractors or researchers on projects. (No team page on website beyond the director.)

Staff with Previous Government Roles: Clint Smith – Yes. He is a former senior political staffer: ex-Ministerial Advisor to the Minister of Housing and Transport (in Jacinda Ardern’s first term) and former Senior Advisor in the Labour Leader’s Office. He also held various policy, research, and communications roles for the Labour and Green Parties. (No other staff; hence no others with government backgrounds.)

Past Employees: None known. As a very small firm, no public record of past employees exists. (Clint Smith himself previously worked at another lobbying firm, Capital Government Relations, before founding Victor, but that was prior employment rather than a past employee of Victor.)

Clients: Not publicly listed in full. The firm claims confidentiality for most clients (especially corporate) and publicly shares only select non-profit clients. Known or discernible clients include: Ockham Residential (an Auckland property developer) – Smith represented Ockham in meetings with Government on housing policy; Maritime Union of New Zealand (MUNZ) – Victor managed research projects for MUNZ on port policy; International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) – commissioned Victor for a report on port automation; and various NGOs (e.g. Pacific youth development groups, environmental or health coalitions) for whom Victor has produced policy reports. Corporate clients are not disclosed on the website, but the director has indicated work for “corporate clients” alongside unions and non-profits. (No official client list is published, reflecting industry norms of secrecy.)

Industries / Sectors Represented: The firm’s engagements span housing and urban development (affordable housing, developer interests), transport and infrastructure (e.g. ports and rail policy), energy and climate (electricity market, emissions reduction in building sector), labor and unions (workplace safety, labour rights in transport), and social/community development (Pacific community well-being, child poverty initiatives). The company emphasizes a focus on “green tech and innovation” and progressive policy causes.

Publicly Disclosed Engagements: In March 2021, Clint Smith (Victor’s director) spoke publicly praising the Government’s bold housing market reforms (such as removing tax perks for landlords) – without explicitly noting his consulting role – shortly before lobbying officials on behalf of a developer (Ockham) benefiting from those policies. On 6 May 2021, Smith formally attended a Ministerial meeting with Housing Minister (Hon. Megan Woods) on behalf of Ockham Residential to discuss housing policy. The firm also prepared and released a high-profile report on Auckland port automation failures in May 2023, in partnership with the Maritime Union, which was widely covered and presented to local policymakers. (Other lobbying communications – e.g. letters, submissions – are likely but not publicly catalogued.) Victor has not voluntarily published a client or meeting register, aside from examples of work for non-profits on its site.

Affiliations: No formal industry memberships publicized. (For example, Victor Strategy & Comms is not publicly noted as a member of the Public Relations Institute of NZ or similar bodies.) However, Clint Smith remains well-connected in Labour Party networks and the broader centre-left policy community. Informally, the firm’s director is affiliated with networks of former political staffers-turned-consultants (he previously worked at Capital Government Relations, another Wellington lobbying outfit run by ex-Labour staff). Victor has a collaborative relationship with union-aligned research organizations (e.g. working alongside Piko Consulting on union projects). No disclosed sponsorships or partnerships with think-tanks or industry associations.

Sponsorships / Collaborations: None disclosed. The firm does not list any sponsorship of events or partnerships beyond client projects. Collaboration is limited to project-based teaming (e.g. co-authoring a report with union researchers). There is no indication of Victor sponsoring political conferences or public events under its name.

Events (Organised or Hosted): None publicly recorded. Victor Strategy & Communications has not hosted its own conferences or events. (Its involvement in events is typically as behind-the-scenes support for clients’ events or as a participant in policy seminars via Clint Smith’s personal capacity as a commentator.) No standalone events are advertised on its site.

Political Donations: No known political donations by the company. A search of electoral commission records yields no listing of “Victor Strategy and Communications” as a donor, and the firm’s principal (Clint Smith) has not been reported making significant donations to political parties. (The influence exerted is through lobbying rather than direct funding.)

Controversies: Smith has been occasionally rebuked in political commentary circles as a purveyor of government “spin” – e.g. left-wing blog The Daily Blog lambasted his defense of a Labour policy as “desperate” partisan spin. These instances highlight the blurred line between Smith’s role as an “independent” commentator and as a paid consultant. There are no legal or regulatory violations known, but such episodes have raised questions about transparency and professionalism.

Other Information of Note: Victor Strategy & Communications explicitly markets itself as a consultancy with a values-based client filter, claiming it “only partners with clients who are working to help build a better New Zealand”. This positioning suggests an ethical stance – the firm avoids clients it perceives as working against the public interest. In practice, the firm showcases work for unions and NGOs on its website while keeping most corporate client work opaque. Clint Smith is frequently featured as a media pundit on policy issues (drawing on his political background), which bolsters the firm’s profile. Notably, Victor Strategy & Comms had its origins in the same period as increased scrutiny of lobbying in NZ. The firm has remained small and specialised, effectively making Clint Smith and the company one and the same in influence.

Recipient of Wage Subsidy Scheme: No. There is no record of Victor Strategy & Communications Ltd receiving the COVID-19 wage subsidy in 2020–2021. The company likely did not apply, being a single-employee consultancy that continued operations through the pandemic (no disclosure of any subsidy in official datasets). The absence of any mention in the Ministry of Social Development’s subsidy recipient list indicates Victor did not receive government wage support.

Sources:

Spot anything in this entry that is wrong? Please either leave a comment at the end or email, in confidence: bryce@democracyproject.nz