One Platform. 30 Businesses. Near Real-Time Intelligence
Aotea Group is New Zealand's largest network of electrical trade experts, with more than 29 branches operating across the country for 50 years. Their services span electrical, security, communications, fire alarms, HVAC, plumbing, drainage, and solar. Aotea operates through a network of locally owned and operated branches, each majority-owned by Aotea Group, giving them the ability to deliver personalised local service while managing large-scale contracts nationally through Aotea National Services. With each branch operating as its own entity, consolidating data and reporting consistently across the network has been an ongoing structural challenge.
The Challenge: Disconnected Systems
Financial intelligence was highly manual, requiring dozens of touchpoints across Aotea Group and its investment companies each monthly benchmarking cycles.
Data was being interpreted inconsistently across branches, making like-for-like comparison unreliable.
Senior leadership, including the CEO, was spending days per cycle on consolidation rather than decision-making.
No centralised view existed to support group-level strategy or benchmarking across the network.
Our Approach
Aotea Group's branch structure meant the data challenge was significant in scale from the outset - 30 investment companies, each running their own financial systems, with no common language for reporting across the network.
Working closely with Aotea Group's CEO, Flock began with a structured discovery process to understand the full picture before a single pipeline was built. From there, the engagement moved through implementation and into an ongoing refinement phase as the platform's value continued to expand across the business.
Phases of Engagement
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We worked with Aotea Group's CEO to map the full picture - pain points, available data sources, strategic outcomes, and priorities. Together we defined the vision and built a roadmap and business case for the platform.
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Build of the data platform and developed individual data pipelines for all 30 OpCos across multiple source financial systems. Developed a mapping methodology and framework to standardise reporting across the network, establishing a common accounting language across all investment companies. Delivered an initial financial benchmarking report.
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Refinement of the initial reporting based on real-world use. Extended the platform into new use cases made possible by the consolidated data now available and rolled out access to a wider group of users across the Group and its branches.
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Active planning for the next phase - identifying how the growing data asset can support deeper analysis, lead indicators, and strategic decision-making across the Group.
Business Impact
Operational Efficiency
Reporting moved from a multi-day manual process to automated & near realtime.
+2 days gained
Financial and Strategic Value
Group-wide benchmarking across 30 investment companies.
30 Companies, 1 Source of Truth
Risk and Compliance
Standardised accounting a delivering consistent, reliable financial results group-wide.
People and Culture
Self-serving performance insights through dashboard for faster local decisions.
“Before working with Flock, pulling together a clear financial picture across our businesses was a significant manual undertaking, one that could take days and still left room for inconsistency. Now, that information is available in near real-time, standardised across all 30 of our investment companies, and accessible to the people who need it. We’ve only just scratched the surface of what this data can do for us.”
Outcome: Near Real-Time Visibility and a Platform Built to Grow
Aotea Group operates with real-time financial visibility across its entire network of 30 investment companies, something that simply wasn't possible before. With a consolidated, high-quality data asset now in place, Aotea Group is well-positioned to use historical performance as a lead indicator for future decisions and to continue extending the platform's reach as the business grows.