Richard Walker
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Waikato Business News editor, gully restorer, Hamiltonian.
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Articles by Richard Walker
Stocks vs Bonds: What’s the Difference
Understanding the difference between stocks and bonds is one of the most important steps in building real wealth. Both are popular investments, but one makes you an owner and the other a lender. Each carries its own risks, rewards, and rules. Whether you are just starting out or rethinking your portfolio, knowing how these two assets work can change the way you invest forever. What Are Stocks? A stock is a small piece of ownership in a company.
Is Common Stock a Debit or Credit? A Quick Guide
Most accounting students get debits and credits backward at least once. It happens to everyone. So when you land on a question like Is common stock a debit or credit, it is completely fair to feel stuck. The answer is not obvious unless someone walks you through the logic behind it. Here is the good news. Once you understand where common stock fits in the accounting equation, the answer clicks fast and stays with you. This post covers everything you need.
Benefits of Investing for a Stronger Financial Future
Your savings account is losing money right now. Not because someone stole it. Because inflation is quietly eating into it every single day. That is the uncomfortable truth most people ignore. Keeping money idle feels safe. But over time, it actually costs you. The benefits of investing go beyond growing a number on a screen. Investing protects your money from inflation, builds wealth you can actually use, and gives you options when life gets unpredictable.
What Is Additional Paid-In Capital: How It Works Explained
Every share sale creates a balance-sheet split: the nominal value goes one way, and the investor’s premium goes another. Investors always pay more than a share’s nominal value, and that surplus has to go somewhere. That somewhere is additional paid-in capital. It quietly sits in shareholders’ equity, representing investor belief in a company’s worth beyond its basic accounting value.
Are Home Repairs Tax Deductible?
Most owners never find the full truth about whether home repairs are tax-deductible, and the IRS isn’t exactly making it easy to find out. It all comes down to rules and fine print that can cost or save you more than you think. Before your next return, keep these helpful tips in mind; they’ll make the process easier and ensure you’re all set. You’ll feel more confident and relaxed knowing you’re well-prepared. Home Repairs vs. Home Improvements: What’s the Difference?
How Long Does It Take to Build Credit
Building credit is one of those financial milestones that everyone talks about, but few people fully explain. So, how long does it take to build credit? The honest answer is that it depends, and the timeline looks different for everyone. What you do in the first few months matters more than most people realize, and understanding the full picture can make the difference between years of waiting and months of real progress. What Does Building Credit Actually Mean?
Is private equity secretly running your life?
Did you know that a secretive thing called private equity owns almost 10 per cent of the UK economy? Did you know that it controls the jobs of several million people and may well own your local hospital, water supply, children’s school or even your home? No? Here is a book that aims to straighten you out on all that. Private equity is one of those things that you either know about or don’t. If you are in the finance business you know, because it is the story of the past quarter century.
What Do Finance Jobs Pay? A Complete Salary Guide
Finance is one of the most well-paying fields in the US. But salaries vary a lot depending on the role you’re in. Entry-level positions typically start around $60,000–$80,000 a year. Senior and executive roles can easily push past $200,000. And some specialized positions can go well into the millions. So what do finance jobs pay, really? The short answer is: it depends. Your role, experience, location, and the industry you work in all play a part.
13 Best Personal Finance Books to Read
Money decisions often feel small in the moment but add up over time. A single choice, saving, spending, or delaying, can shape long-term outcomes. For many readers, understanding where to start is the hardest part. Personal finance books step in as quiet guides, offering structure and clarity without pressure. They present ideas in ways that feel practical and grounded in real life. Certain books focus on mindset, while many emphasize habits and systems.
Sabrina Wind Quartet - Saturday Morning Music
Church Stretton Methodist Church 10:15 - 11:30 Sabrina Wind Quartet will be playing Church Stretton Methodist Church on Saturday 4 October 2025 as part of Saturday Morning Music in the Strettons. Free admission from 10:15am Promote Your Shrewsbury Event Get your event featured in our What’s On calendar and reach thousands across Shrewsbury. Whether it’s a community gathering, concert or pop-up, we’re here to help you spread the word. Individual events are £35+VAT.
Code Vein 2 TGS Trailer Confirms Late January 2026 Release Date
Bandai Namco has announced that Code Vein 2 will be launching in January 2026, serving up another instalment in the action RPG series, the first entry of which released back in 2019. Taking place in a future where humans and Revenants coexist, Code Vein 2's world is on the brink of total collapse, as a mysterious force known as ‘Luna Rapacis’ emerges from the ether.
Forrester Boyd Celebrates Leeds Launch
Last night’s launch event brought together clients, contacts and colleagues to celebrate this exciting new chapter. Held at our newly opened premises, the evening was filled with energy, conversation and a real sense of anticipation for the future. We were thrilled to see so many familiar faces, along with some new ones, and we’re grateful to everyone who joined us in raising a glass to this next step in our journey.
Q&A with US Ambassador Roger Nyhus
Richard Arlin Walker Special to ICT Roger Nyhus, a citizen of the Chinook Nation, has served as U.S. Ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean since January. His length of service could depend on what happens in the 2024 presidential election – he’s a Democrat appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden. Nevertheless, Nyhus may be remembered for the energy he brought to the job.
Travel of a humble shopping cart
How the humble shopping cart found its way everywhere They may not be a thing of obvious beauty, but shopping trolleys do the business – until they’re abandoned. Norm Hill regularly paddles downriver through Hamilton. As he does so, he takes note of the debris on the banks. Supermarket trolleys, Lime scooters, bikes, clothing, rubbish, you name it. Claudelands Bridge is a particular hotspot as people toss stuff over the edge, especially on the city side.
Travels of a humble shopping cart
As important and honourable as these volunteers’ efforts are, the mountain doesn’t appear to be getting any smaller. What about the city council’s role? The council has no policy on trolleys, says Tania Hermann, acting unit director of operations and maintenance. She says if staff come across trolleys in parks or waterways, they return them or notify the store owners, and City Safe team members contact the supermarket when they see abandoned trolleys.
LaMelo Ball has big 4th quarter, Hornets beat Spurs 124-120 to end 6-game losing streak
Seattle Post-Intelligencer LogoHearst Newspapers Logo By RICHARD WALKER, Associated PressJan 19, 2024 CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — LaMelo Ball scored 16 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter and the Charlotte Hornets beat the San Antonio Spurs 124-120 on Friday night to end a six-game losing streak. San Antonio rookie star Victor Wembanyama sat out for the sixth time this season. The No. 1 overall pick sprained an ankle Dec. 23 at Dallas, and the Spurs have been cautious with him.
Transformation that will define internal audit in the next five years
Richard Walker | Director | Advisory | BDO South Africa | mail me | While the internal audit function has undergone significant transformation, the rapid pace of change is only set to accelerate in the foreseeable future. I shed some light on some key industry trends that have emerged, and the some key areas of transformation we can expect to see defining the sector over the next five years.
Worn flags being accepted for disposal
| Special to The PREVIEW Badly worn, torn or otherwise distressed U.S. flags should be disposed of properly by burning with a ceremony. Town and county residents may turn in flags for disposal by the American Legion at any Vets 4 Vets meeting, held each Tuesday at 10 a.m. at the Tennyson Building Event Center; at the Hometown Insurance office located at 818 Rosita St.; Town Hall; or at Pagosa Fire Protection District Station 1, located at 165 N. Pagosa Blvd.
How to Invest in Yourself and Take Control of Your Career Path
Anxious that your current job isn’t as secure as you would like it to be? With so many companies implementing or considering layoffs, employees can’t be blamed if they are nervous about their short-term or long-term prospects for continued employment. But there’s also no reason for workers to leave their fate in someone else’s hands, says Richard Walker, CEO of York Solutions (www.yorksolutions.net).
Orchard Digital Marketing
Orchard Digital Marketing After nearly six years in its Main Street, Over-The-Rhine location, Orchard Digital Marketing is moving to their new multi-floor offices in Cincinnati's central business district at Walnut & 7th Streets.
Online Content from ConstructorMagazine
WHY EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT IS THE KEY TO EVERYTHING BY RICHARD WALKER, CEO, XL CONSTRUCTION AN AGC OF CALIFORNIA MEMBER The future of our industry is in a state of flux. From an increased demand for talent to more focus on cost competitiveness, disruptions are afoot. While analyzing your business model and tightening operating procedures are important, it is even more important to focus on one critical asset: your people. The importance of prioritizing employee development cannot be overstated.
Private sector can contribute to solving the climate crisis, but only if business leaders put nature front and center
Credit: Edy Susanto/FFI There can be no doubt of the critical importance of the COP26 conference in setting global, political decision-making on the right path to tackle the climate emergency. Yet, the conference is also a pivotal moment for the private sector, the delivery partner in addressing the existential challenge of climate change and nature's destruction.
Private sector can contribute to solving the climate crisis, but only if business leaders put nature front and centre
There can be no doubt of the critical importance of the COP26 conference in setting global, political decision-making on the right path to tackle the climate emergency. Yet, the conference is also a pivotal moment for the private sector, the delivery partner in addressing the existential challenge of climate change and nature’s destruction.
How Business can use COP26 as a key moment for change
In September we at Capita announced our road map to take us to net zero by 2035. With COP26 bringing together world leaders to discuss the biggest environmental challenges facing our planet, I caught up with one of our key partners - James Meacher, Associate Director at Corporate Citizenship - to talk about five key trends, challenges and opportunities for businesses. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.
The day soaring energy prices caused by Westminster hit home
It’s a strange feeling. Something you simply take for granted suddenly disappears from your life, leaving you uncomfortable, somehow shifting from your bearings. I received my letter from my energy provider just moments after hearing it had ”ceased to trade”. It was just days after receiving details of how much I would have to pay in my latest bill. I’d been with Igloo Energy for just over a year and after making my decision to sign on with them I had given the company precisely no thought.
Grassroots groups in fight for funds
Gurpreet Bassan helped found the Waikato Punjabi Badminton Club, and has seen it flourish since. A stray comment at a social gathering eight years ago brought Amit Kumra back to the sport he first picked up as a six-year-old. Kumra had not long shifted to Hamilton from Rotorua when someone asked him what he did after work. “I said, ‘I've never thought about it’. And he just said, ‘I play badminton’.” That was the spark.
Waikato community groups tighten belts
Holly Snape says Community Waikato is experiencing a significant increase in requests for advice and guidance. Clubs and community groups are facing a Covid-19 squeeze as pressure goes on funding streams. Community Waikato chief executive Holly Snape says challenges range from declining sponsorship to cancellation of fundraising events. In last year’s lockdown, sponsorships started dropping off as businesses under pressure had to make tough decisions, Snape said.
The hawk, the plover and the birdwatcher
Charles Riddle is a keen observer of the birdlife in an estuary near where he lives. The hawk glides in, harbinger of death, cruising the estuary, alert for any morsels below. It works a patch near the shoreline, where there is a swamp that may hold mice and rats. Down the wetland, along the edge of the estuary. If it’s lucky there might be a pukeko chick. Lately, however, it hasn’t been lucky.
This lockdown life
Colette Arnold and her three young children, from left, Remy, Ophelia and Willow are making the most of lockdown. Monday Day 6 of the Covid-19 Delta outbreak and the usual 1pm media conference is delayed till 4pm. Latest figures show 35 more cases of Covid in the community, bringing the total to 107, and there is no surprise when the prime minister announces level 4 lockdown will be extended till 11.59pm Friday, except for Auckland where it is pushed out till the following Tuesday, August 31.
RICHARD WALKER: It’s not a black swan, it’s blinkered planning
In the space of the past 18 months two mass-scale events have rocked the country — the arrival of Covid-19 on our shores and July’s looting, which caused loss of life and damage running into the billions. Many have labelled them “black swan” events, after Nassim Taleb’s 2007 book of the same name, because on the surface nobody could have predicted they would occur, nor what effect they would have on the wellbeing of the country and economy. In truth, that’s not what’s happened here.
The power of a page-turner
Browsers Bookshop owner Rachel Pope with one of six volumes of The Ancient History of the Maori, part of a diverse range of titles in the second hand book store. There’s a rumour that Sean from New Plymouth could be back in town tonight. If so, the competition should be worried. Last year Sean made the trip north and cleaned up at Hamilton’s Literary Pub Quiz. Or so the story goes, though not everyone streaming into The Londoner pub on this mid-August Thursday evening has heard it.
Gully workforce swells as funding boosted for nature in city
Mangaiti gully restoration will be boosted by the appointment of four paid staff. Hamilton’s beleaguered gullies have been given a shot in the arm, with an extra 10 paid staff set to start working on restoration projects around the city. The boost comes as one expert warns of the stresses faced by native wildlife in the gully system. Hamilton City Council is more than doubling its staff on the ground, adding six workers to its current five, with appointments likely in the next few months.
Out of sight - the wonders of an overlooked urban wilderness
Rex Bushell wants to create a home for native wildlife in suburban Hamilton. Drop below Hamilton’s surface and you’ll find hidden pockets of native bush. Following a massive funding boost from council to restore nature in the city, Richard Walker caught up with some of the people working in the gully systems to provide homes for our flora and fauna. Rex Bushell is a fauna guy. Tūī, pīwakawaka, kōkopu, eels, bats – those are the native species that spin his wheels.
ESG is an investment driver for real estate and construction
The pandemic has reshaped the real estate and construction sectors. As organisations embrace remote or hybrid working models, the need for physical office space and industrial buildings is decreasing. Many companies, on both the occupier and owner side, have had to quickly shift into revenue-protection mode as cash flows have slowed.
Making It Stick: The Post-pandemic Data Imperative – Top Business Tech
Richard Walker, Partner for Data and Insights, Agilisys, shares his five tips on sustaining and building on improvements in local government data-led decision-making. In the recent Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation’s (CDEI) report examining local government’s expanded use of data during the pandemic, several local authorities discussed their use of data during the pandemic, barriers to data-driven innovation, and hopes for the future.
Call to council: Spend local
Hamilton developers are leading the way when it comes to supporting local businesses, and the council is being urged to play its part. With an annual procurement spend of about $420 million, the council’s impact is potentially profound, but lack of data means no one can be sure how much is being spent on local suppliers. The lack of data also makes it difficult to measure any possible improvement in the wake of Covid, when shopping and supporting local became a mantra and even a campaign.
‘Driven, strategic, relentless’: Livewire boss bowing out
Seven years ago, Richard Briggs was appointed chief executive of Hamilton City Council. He had two years as council CFO under his belt when Barry Harris – “one of the best chief executives in the country for local government” – stepped down in 2014. Briggs wasn’t so keen on working for an unknown quantity, so he threw his hat in the ring and got the job. The announcement didn’t quite go as he had expected.
Stage set for bumper Fieldays
Chief executive Peter Nation, speaking four weeks before the June 16 opening, said exhibitors are suggesting this year could be “a purler” as social media buzz indicates high visitor interest. With exhibitors continuing to place high value on the four-day physical event, spaces were almost fully booked out and Nation didn’t discount having a record year. Nation said the feedback they are getting through social media and other channels is that it will be well attended.
‘I want to be part of a great city’
Developer Matt Stark has a simple wish for his city. He wants Hamilton Kirikiriroa to be distinctively different from anywhere else in the world. Stark looks ahead 10 or 15 years to a city with a Tainui Māori undertone, in which the buildings articulate its history and stories through their design. He wants Hamilton to become an iconic city, just as Christchurch has been – or for that matter the great European cities like Prague or Barcelona, where he says you know instantly what city you are in.
Cambridge roaring ahead
Cambridge firms made a strong showing at the Waipā Networks Business Awards, headed by Rocketspark taking out the Supreme Award. The awards were held during a flurry of high-profile activity for the town as it shakes off the effects of Covid, with earthworks well underway on two growth cells, a new pool facility opening and the establishment of a trust to promote a heritage building in the heart of the town.
Part of city’s fabric for 50 years
For five decades, people from around the Waikato have been walking up a flight of stairs off Hamilton’s Ward Street to get their clothing altered. It is a remarkable run of continuity for the city business. Early on Monday morning, May 9, 1971, Margaret Wallace walked up the stairs at 25 Ward Street in central Hamilton.
Hamilton's northern gateway - Waikato Business News
Perry Group are poised to press go on their flagship mixed-use Te Awa Lakes development in north Hamilton, with earthworks likely to start mid year. The 62 ha riverside site will be a highly visible city gateway for motorists arriving from the north along the expressway. Resource consents have been lodged with Hamilton City Council, with the response due by mid April.
Malaysian links boosted
Waikato business links with the lucrative Southeast Asian market have been boosted with the arrival in the region of the NZ Malaysia BusinessAssociation. With almost $3 billion in annual bilateral trade, Malaysia ranks as New Zealand’s 10th biggest trading partner and provides a gateway to the wider region.
Case study: Volution CFO on sustainability-linked financing
When the time came to revisit financing arrangements, Volution CFO Andy O’Brien decided to launch a £150m sustainability-linked revolving credit facility as a way of demonstrating the ESG commitment of the firm, which specialises in ventilation systems for homes, offices, hospitals and schools. The process, undertaken between August and November last year, replaced a previous financing of £120m.
Four lanes to Piarere: regional plan
A commuter train to Auckland is locked in and now attention turns to the road connection to Piarere, south of Cambridge. Pressure is mounting on the Government to complete an expressway to Piarere, with a key regional committee making the extension its number one priority. The expressway could be completed through to Piarere within three years, once the Regional Transport Committee’s draft long term plan is adopted.
Tech trailblazer giving back to Waikato
The Waikato man who designed the Covid tracer app is adapting the technology to help automate medical centres’ reception areas, while marking a significant milestone in the IT sector. It is 35 years since Alan Chew founded Houston Technology Group, a notable record in a sector that has experienced successive waves of change. He is now also heavily involved in philanthropy, building on his personal experience of education as a pathway out of poverty. Chew’s is a remarkable journey.
‘We're working with some incredible people’
Waikato unemployed are being helped into work through a pilot programme that draws on the experience of elite sport in Australia. The programme, established by Hamilton brother and sister team Scott and Toni-Anne Lee, has a focus on health and wellbeing, and is supported by the Ministry of Social Development. The Change Within is currently working with its first intake of 20 participants.
Waikato gains $40 million venture fund
Waikato tech entrepreneurs have a significant new fund to pitch to, with the arrival of venture fund founder Rob Vickery in the region. A “maelstrom of stimulation” brought Vickery to the Waikato when he decided to leave the fast lane of Los Angeles for New Zealand. Vickery set up $40 million venture capital fund Hillfarrance, headquartered in Hamilton, a year ago.
Labour in charge
This electoral term marks the first time since 2005 that a Labour Government has held both Hamilton seats. What can Waikato business people expect? At the start of a new term and a new year, Hamilton East MP Jamie Strange and Hamilton West’s Gaurav Sharma talk to Waikato Business News. The train link to Auckland is top of mind for Hamilton’s two Labour MPs, with a crucial report due this term into the viability of fast rail.
Innovative tablet connects seniors
An easy-use tablet to help older people connect them to their families and loved ones has been launched by two entrepreneurs based in Matamata. It comes after Matamata woman Julie Caldwell discovered there was nothing on the market suitable for her mother. Julie Caldwell had been supporting her mother, Lois, who was living independently but was no longer able to use an iPad to stay in touch with family.
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