Two Southland women were amongst the winners of NZI Rural Women NZ Business Awards 2021, announced on Friday, 26 November at a gala event in Queenstown.

The awards celebrate the innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurial excellence of New Zealand's rural communities.

Tammy Taylor’s Fork and Spade Lumsden based business was a winner in the Emerging Business category sponsored by the Ministry for Women, while Harriet Bremner of Te Anau won the Rural Champion category, sponsored by Jarden Partners Ltd, with her children’s books publishing company Gurt & Pops Ltd.

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Fork and Spade supplies and implements environmental planting plans for farms in Southland. The northern Southland business now has a dedicated client base throughout the region. Tammy and her all women team are passionate about seeing their jobs through from the initial farm consult to an established, thriving and well-maintained planting. Building strong relationships and great communication skills are two of Tammy’s strengths and these have served her well in developing her customer base and in her dedication to her team. Success for Tammy is a happy team and the next step for Fork and Spade is continuing to upskill her team members through qualifications and opportunities to step-up within the business.

“I was truly honoured and thankful to my team to get us here when we knew there was so many talented entries this year,” Ms Taylor said.

“The awards ceremony made us feel welcomed and supported. We were so spoilt with a beautiful setting and venue. The team at rural woman pulled it together seamlessly even with having never ending covid curve balls.”

Harriet Bremner of Te Anau with the award trophy and her miniature dachshund, Poppy, the inspiration for her books. Photo supplied

Another Southland champion, Harriet Bremner, writes children’s books for New Zealand’s rural families, which she publishes by her own publishing company, Gurt & Pops Ltd. Harriet’s life was transformed after the tragedy of losing her partner in a farming accident. She decided to follow her dreams of becoming an author and wrote her first book called “Bob ‘n’ Pops” in memory of her late partner. Concerned that health and safety messages were not being heard, she produced two further books. 

“The award is a momentous realisation for myself and my business of how far I have come on a journey that has been filled with grief, love, grit, trauma and passion. I have been so determined to make the most of my life and I am so humbled to be acknowledged for the work that I have been doing,” Ms Bremner said.

She said she has loved writing since childhood, but was always terrified of failing, so never made the leap to writing a book until she has lost her partner and realised how quickly life can be taken from us. 

“I am determined to see a change in our behaviours when it comes to health, safety and well-being as we are losing too many people to avoidable farm accidents. To be able to win such an incredible award is an extremely special and unforgettable part of my journey and I thank all those who have supported me along the way as it is a dream come true,” she concluded. 

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Asked about her impressions from the NZRW Awards ceremony, she said “It was an honour to be standing alongside the other incredibly talented award winners last week, each and every one of them blew me away with what they have worked so hard for and what they have produced. It’s also a recognition of the massive role that women play in our rural communities and how resourceful they can be setting up businesses from home, sometimes in very isolated places.”

Gill Naylor, National President, Chief Executive Officer and International Portfolio Convenor for Rural Women New Zealand commented on the reasons why Harriet and Tammy were selected for their respective awards.

“With regards to Harriet, and her business Gurt and Pops, we were really impressed with her passion and drive to change the culture around safety on farm and wellbeing in rural New Zealand. Her children’s books provide innovative, useful resources for both children and adults on both safety and mental wellbeing and resilience. 

With Tammy and Fork and Spade, the development of her business, the quality service that she provides, including the ongoing support that she offers her clients, and her ‘success means a happy team’ workplace culture, were some of the attributes that made her stand out to the judging panel.”