Hit enter to search or ESC to close
Icehouse partnership to grow Marlborough business talent
Crombie Lockwood and The Icehouse’s recently announced partnership, will offer scholarship funds to help senior business leaders in the Marlborough region get access to The Icehouse’s renowned capability development programmes.
Crombie Lockwood and The Icehouse recently announced a scholarship fund that will contribute $20,000 per year to the development of Marlborough’s business leaders through The Icehouse’s capability development programmes.
Laura Kidd, Branch Manager of Crombie Lockwood Marlborough, says the scholarship is the brainchild of Stephen Doecke, an alum of The Icehouse, and a passionate local business community advocate.
“Stephen founded Asset Insurance Partners and subsequently developed the IQM scholarship fund whereby he reinvested a portion of the company’s revenue to partially fund IQM scholarship applicants through The Icehouse programmes,” she says.
“In January 2022, when Crombie Lockwood acquired Asset Insurance Partners, I was introduced to The Icehouse and its renowned development programmes.”
Stephen Doecke
A leadership legacy
A catalyst for Stephen selling Asset Insurance Partners was his battle with cancer. Sadly, in March 2022, Stephen passed away.
Laura says that in reaffirming the IQM scholarship fund with the new partnership between Crombie Lockwood and The Icehouse, the two entities will contribute towards the creation of more success stories while ensuring that Stephen’s legacy of passionate business and community advocacy lives on.
“Stephen often said that it is more likely a business will fail not through a fire or earthquake, but due to poor leadership. Therefore, it makes good business sense to invest in leadership,” says Laura.
He established the IQM scholarship – where IQ stands for ‘intelligence’ and M for ‘Marlborough’ – to help create an environment where business people from throughout the region had the opportunity to access the development programmes, as Stephen himself had.
A partnership of like minds
After Stephen’s untimely passing, Liz Wotherspoon Icehouse CEO, met Laura Kidd and the Crombie Lockwood Marlborough team and felt a strong sense of alignment. It was clear there was the scope and desire for an extension of the existing IQM partnership.
“Insurance is Crombie Lockwood’s gig, but it was immediately obvious to me that Crombie Lockwood had the desire to engage with businesses beyond insurance,” says Liz. “Laura and her team understand that encouraging business owners to build sustainable growth is a good thing for their region.
“The partnership between Crombie Lockwood and The Icehouse will help the region’s business leaders continue to learn from the best, and from each other, and find further success for the benefit of both their organisation and the wider community,” concludes Liz.
Liz says the overriding goal of the 21 year-old business development organisations is to build an ecosystem that nurtures SMEs.
“Helping SMEs transform through knowledge, investment, and connection will always have a positive impact on the economy,” she says.
“The partnership between Crombie Lockwood and The Icehouse will help the region’s business leaders continue to learn from the best, and from each other, and find further success for the benefit of both their organisation and the wider community.”
Liz Wotherspoon, CEO, The Icehouse
Over 4000 New Zealand business owners, managers and leaders have experienced The Icehouse’s development programmes since 2001. As a result, these businesses go on to grow at a rate that is two and a half times the average, says Liz.
“Midsize businesses are the backbone of New Zealand’s economy. It’s not easy to run a profitable, sustainable business, and we believe there are a lot of humble, unsung heroes out there doing remarkable things. We want to instil in them the desire to never be satisfied and always be innovating so that their enterprise is ‘future fit.”
"Stephen often said that it is more likely a business will fail not through a fire or earthquake, but due to poor leadership. Therefore, it makes good business sense to invest in leadership."
Laura Kidd, Branch Director, Crombie Lockwood Marlborough
Published July 2022