Bridget Snelling: Xero Country Manager on small business sales growing 8.6% year on year, led by agriculture
episodeTranscript
jump: chapters · speakers · find in transcriptTranscript
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
How much did small business sales grow year‑on‑year in the June quarter?
Now, if you want more evidence that a recovery is most certainly on and the growth is real, then look no further than this morning's Xero data for SME sales, up 8.6% in the year to June. Is that good? Yes, it is. Strongest in almost four years. Agriculture's up over 16, construction up 11. Bridget Snelling is Xero's country manager and is with us. Bridget, very good morning to you. Good morning, Mike. Are you going to rain on my parade and do your tale of two countries story?
Well, look, I mean, I think we can be really positive about these results, actually. We are, as you said, up 8.6% year-on-year for small business sales, and that is the strongest quarter that we've seen in almost four years. So we can celebrate the result, but you're right, it is a bit of a two-speed recovery, unfortunately.
Having said that, isn't it always, I mean, the tide doesn't literally lift everybody ever, does it? There's always somebody, there's always some laggard somewhere.
Well, that's right. And I think we know agri is up 16.3%, which is a really strong result. But of course, you know, agri is a sector that's had some benefits with export prices and the Fonterra payout. So we can expect agri would be propping up that recovery. But it is really pleasing to see that, you know, we are up across the board for many industries. So construction is up 11%, manufacturing 8.6%. Even retail up 6.4%. And hospo, which is obviously an industry that's really struggled, still struggling, but has gone up 2.9%. So while it's behind the other sectors, it's still pleasing to see that there is some growth.
Which industries led growth and why is agriculture up 16.3%?
How do you explain it in your area of the world that you live in? See, in the media, retail's a dog. Retail's miserable. There's endless stories about all the people who are closing. You can't make ends meet. It's the end of the world. And yet I'm looking at 6.4 and you can't argue with your numbers.
Well, you know, the data comes through our platform. It's aggregated and anonymised. So it is real data. It's real retail data. So we know that this figure is true. But I guess we can look at the regional differences and that does tell a little bit of a different story. We've got the South Island really winning this one. Canterbury up 12.3% year on year. Southland up 9.6%. But we have got growth in Auckland and Wellington in the biggest centres in the North Island. You know, Auckland's up 7.2%, Wellington just behind at 7.1%. So solid growth, but more moderate than the South Island.
Any sense of where we go from here or not?
Look, I think there is obviously still ongoing uncertainty around fuel costs and geopolitical events that will continue to influence small businesses when it comes to those hiring and investment decisions. And consumers are also going to still be a little bit circumspect with their discretionary spend as we come towards an election. But I think we should definitely take heart that there is some positive news.
Fantastic. Bridget, always good to have you on the program. Bridget Snelling, who's the Zero Country Manager this morning.
No segments match your search.
Select any passage to copy it with its citation or turn it into a shareable card.
Chapters
2 chaptersSpeakers
2 identifiedMore from The Mike Hosking Breakfast
Mark the Week: Supermarkets have become the obsession of the campaign
Mike's Minute: Council amalgamation – something else this Govt didn't deliver
Richard Arnold: US Correspondent on the meeting between Trump and Xi, return of the White House press pool
Wrapping the Week with Kate Hawkesby and Tim Wilson: Critiquing Mike, school holidays, ageing
Full Show Podcast: 25 September 2026
Chris Medland: Formula 1 Journalist on Liam Lawson's return to Racing Bulls, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix