Lifestyle block heaven in Te Puna

A profile of Nigel Rice of Acre PC

By Darren Greenwood, Auckland | Thursday, 28 July 2011
Nigel Rice of Acre PC is enjoying the good life in the fertile farming area of Te Puna, near Tauranga.

Originally from Surrey, England, Rice worked as a Red Hat Linux engineer based in Northamptonshire. But as he had to commute to London and frequently fly to Paris, Rice and his wife Sarah found life too demanding.

Rice, who has been in IT for more than 20 years, recalls a youth spent tinkering with computers and taking the backs off them, with his first device being a Sinclair ZX Spectrum.

He started his career as a government clerk, but moved on to IT, working for the IT department of the Budgens supermarket chain, before joining the AFX financial news agency in London, which brought all that long commuting.

Thus, the couple sought a "major lifestyle change", choosing a country that was "like a rose-tinted England" with mild winters and "perfect" countryside. The couple bought a half a hectare section in Te Puna and opened their home-based business in 2005, saying they have had fantastic support from the local community.

In addition to Nigel and Sarah, the business also employs Marius Andorge and can call on the support of other specialist experts when needed.

Acre PC offers IT support to businesses, institutions and individuals, covering the area between Papamoa and Katikati. Customers include architects, dentists, orchardists, a school charity, importers, exporters and kitchen manufacturers.

"They all run different systems and programs for their businesses. We don't ever get bored," Rice says.

In 2007 the company began designing websites, and finds clients just want to let them “run everything".

"They are busy people who trust us to make good IT decisions on their behalf," says Rice.

Around 60 percent of Acre PC clients are rural, many being small-to-medium businesses “in the hills”.

They will either receive visits or will call at the home office, something which helps keep overheads lower. Many lifestylers support the company, but it has some clients in town.

"Our honest, friendly, up-front ethos has helped our business grow as news has spread, mainly via word of mouth," says Rice.

The couple believe there is no downside to this, as their office has a separate door to the rest of the house, so work can be separated from home life. If business is quiet, they can take the boat and go fishing, but they can still be contacted; and they can still dial into a client's PC if there is an emergency.

Nigel enjoys kingfish fishing. Walking the dogs with Sarah is another passion, while Sarah also enjoys yoga, Pilates and playing the guitar.

The couple describe Te Puna as "really ready for us". It is developing, and though sole-traders come and go, there is enough work to go round. Friendly rural life also means picking up PCs to repair while picking the kids up from school and delivering them back the next day.

Acre PC uses Synnex and Ingram Micro as main suppliers but also Battery Store, Computer Dynamics and Webbase. It is also a reseller for NOD 32 AV and the Flexirent finance company, noting the credit crunch delivered more interest in lease-to-buy options. Delivery is "excellent", usually the next day, says Rice.

Though he offers a broad range of services, Rice says he can work most things out. Google also helps in discovering information so he is never stymied.

He can also count on local support from sub-contractors, including journalist Richard Rennie for website copywriting and Dave Holberg of Vivid Communications for cabling work. At present business is "great", but the credit crunch brought a quiet six months forcing him to send out a flyer encouraging people to upgrade their old PCs rather than buy new.

Nigel says that "really hit the mark" and business started building again.

"It is all about understanding where your customers are coming from, really. In this day and age, people can't function without their computer. We react to their need and listen to their concerns. Clients really appreciate it. At the moment, the websites are in very strong demand," he says.

A recent innovation is trialling Twitter on the Acre PC website.

"We're currently getting our heads around the Facebook phenomenon. I'm certain that social networking is only going to get bigger and more important as a marketing tool for business,” Rice says. “Some businesses will be more suited than others to this sort of marketing."