Alan Hucks

Business Strategist | BA, Post Grad Dip Industrial Design

P: +64 4 381 4478 | M: +64 27221 8883

About Alan

Should Wellington ever suffer a major power outage, all the city fathers need to do is plug Alan Hucks into the national grid.

That’s because Creative HQ’s newest Business Adviser is a veritable powerhouse of energy.

A quick glance at his CV, for example, shows that the 41-year-old has turned his hand to everything from lecturing in industrial design and sailing the Caribbean to teaching snowboarding and starting several businesses.

So it comes as no surprise to learn that his favourite saying is: “A good idea well executed is a very powerful thing indeed”.

It is, he admits, a philosophy that he has always lived his life by.

Armed with a degree in philosophy and anthropology from Otago University, Alan detoured slightly from the business path when he spent two years at Red Mountain in Canada, and later in Chile, teaching snowboarding to tourists.

That was followed by stints in London and Amsterdam, before Alan returned to Wellington in 1999 and an introduction to the world of entrepreneurship via a government-funded small business development course.

“After travelling around the world for seven years, I came to appreciate how attractive and special New Zealand is. I wanted to showcase our creative talent in a business that was uniquely Kiwi.”

“A good idea well executed is a very powerful thing indeed”.
In 2000, Alan started his first company, Paua2thePeople, providing functional art and design pieces for the home, which he ran in tandem with completing a post graduate diploma in Industrial Design at Massey University Design School.

That segued into Hucks Design Limited, a company aimed at manufacturing and promoting innovative New Zealand design products to the international market.

One of his enduring successes was launching the designchain product, a revolutionary storage system that is currently selling in high-end design stores in 14 countries.

In 2008, Alan founded Design Initiative Ltd, a design consultancy that facilitates the implementation of new technology or products into commercial reality by utilising design methodology.

“By focusing on usability studies to build strategic partnerships and efficient business models, I was able to look at the big picture and determine the best way to plan commercialisation of new product concepts developed by a team of talented industrial designers with practical business experience.”

It's this kind of experience and skills that the father of two is hoping to bring to his new role at Grow Wellington.

“There's no doubt New Zealanders, and particularly Wellingtonians, are respected for their clever ideas. But they are often daunted by the massive challenge of taking an idea to the world. My recent experience of doing just this, along with consulting and mentoring others to do the same, has provided me with both the knowledge and a strong passion for fostering great ideas. I know Wellington companies are great – it's my mission to help them become brilliant.