22 September 2025
Traffic management company wins top gong at Southland Business Excellence Awards
Southland’s largest specialist traffic management provider, Traffic Management Services, has won the supreme award at the 2025 Southland Business Excellence Awards.
The company was one of many celebrated at a sold-out gala at Invercargill’s Ascot Park Hotel on Friday night, bringing together more than 400 business leaders, supporters and sponsors.
A Southland Business Chamber statement announcing the winners said Traffic Management Services, which also won the Workplace Safety Award, had grown its staff from four to 27 people in the past four years.
It had introduced a planning division, invested in new technology including automated portable traffic lights to remove workers from high-risk positions, and embedded robust health and safety systems that contributed to a record of zero notifiable incidents under the current ownership.
Judges’ comments said the company, under Kerrian and Lara Simpson’s leadership, stood out as the overall winner for its clear leadership, robust systems and genuine people-first culture.
“The application was comprehensive and well evidenced, showing a business focused on performance and growth.”
The Small Business of the Year Award went to WM Environmental, which delivers environmental planning and compliance services to Southland’s primary sector, supporting farmers, processors and transporters.
WM Environmental also won the Primary Industry Excellence Award.
Recent advances included launching a Pond Drop Test workstream, strengthening technical partnerships, and rolling out a team wellbeing programme, the statement said.
Judges’ comments said WM Environmental had impressed with a courageous reset and disciplined execution, turning a clear strategy into measurable results, and the business had “strong growth potential”.
Other winners were Road Runner Panel & Paint, which took out the Trade Industries Award; Hayz at the Anchorage, winner of the Consumer Services Award; and The Headache Clinic, which won the Professional Services Award and the Innovation Award.
The Insert Coin to Play Charitable Trust took out the Not for Profit Award; Finance Now Ltd won the Workplace Wellbeing Award; and The Florence Society, an Invercargill hair and beauty salon, won the New and Emerging Award.
Grant Lightfoot, the man behind Kiwi Econet, received the One to Watch Award; Haylee-Chanel Simeon won both the Local Food Champion and Reece McDonald Local Legend awards; and Calvin Claridge of South Fish won the Individual Excellence in Export Award.
Business chamber chief executive Sheree Carey acknowledged the calibre of entries across the region and said the sponsors made the biennial celebration possible.
Source: The Press – 19 September 2025