As the owner of Fantail & Turtle at The Goodside, Smales Farm, Travis Field meets a lot of people. When he began meeting locals who were members of the North Harbour Club, he was struck by what an amiable bunch they were. Learning more about the Club and how its AIMES Awards support young people in the region sealed the deal for Travis to sign up as a member and to bring Fantail & Turtle on board as a sponsor. He tells us more about this decision and the desire to be exceptional…

How did your involvement with the North Harbour Club come about?

The Club was socialising a lot at Fantail & Turtle, and I met lots of lovely people who belong to the NHC. I chose to support the organisation for two reasons: I saw the good that AIMES was doing for young people, and so many Club members are lovely and they support my business.

How are you & the business recovering from the past two years and in what ways have you had to adapt to a new normal?

Lockdowns were a costly time for hospo but now we are lucky that so many of our regulars are back. Also, Smales Farm has had a lot of exciting new businesses move in and that’s great for our business. Smales Farm were amazing to us during lockdown and now it is a vibrant, positive, and fun place to have a business.

What’s exciting you most about your business at the moment?

We are able to pay our staff more and that means that some of them can realistically chose the great industry of hospitality as a professional career.

What are the highlights of your involvement with the North Harbour Club so far?

Nick Mowbury’s speech at a recent function had some great takeaways. Whilst I don’t have a desire to become a billion-dollar business, I did love some of his ideas, particularly the power of compounding improvement, and just a general desire to be exceptional.

If you were to have won an AIMES Award in your youth, which category would you most likely to have won one in and why?

Not likely, but if any, probably service. I really believe that service brings contentment and happiness.  I served as an Army Officer as a young man and, today, I’m the Chair of the Big Buddy charity. Hospo is ultimately about serving and caring for others.

Why would you recommend other Shore businesses get behind the North Harbour Club?

If you’ve got a choice, always do business with good people. Most NHC businesspeople are good people and want to help others.

Anything else you’d like to add?

A quote by William Wordsworth: The best portion of a good man's life - his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness.