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If you've searched Terry's name online, you may have found media reports referencing the closure of Euro City and debts of approximately $4.2 million. We believe you deserve the full picture — not the headlines.

The construction project. Before COVID, Terry commenced a large commercial construction project — a logistics hub for Aramex International, forecast at $15 million including holding costs. When the New Zealand government locked the country down, materials became unavailable, supply chains collapsed, and tradespeople couldn't work. Costs escalated significantly. In parallel, a change of CEO at Aramex saw the incoming leadership attempt to exit the lease — they failed legally, but the dispute caused substantial delays to the project, resulting in material costs being added to the overall build. To get ahead of further delays, Terry pre-ordered materials and put them into storage.

The banking partner. In late October, Finance & Automation's underwriting partner — one of New Zealand's longest-established banking institutions — came under regulatory scrutiny. Amid that pressure, the institution's board made the decision to terminate all intermediary arrangements. Overnight, Finance & Automation lost $140,000 per month in income — through no fault of its own, and with no warning. With Christmas days away, Terry made the personal decision not to make his staff redundant over the holiday period. Redundancy procedures began in late January.

Cyclone Gabrielle. In February, Cyclone Gabrielle struck Hawke's Bay. It destroyed everything Terry had in storage for the construction project. While the goods themselves were insured, holding costs — running at approximately $120,000 per month — are not insurable in New Zealand. The building required a further fifteen months to complete.

The decision to close. For fifteen months, Terry continued — finishing the Aramex building, attempting to sell commercial property to recapitalise the trading business, and personally injecting capital to keep the operation running. The property market did not cooperate. When cash ran out, Terry made the decision to voluntarily close the business. The bulk of the $4.2 million in unsecured creditor claims is money Terry himself put in. He is his own largest creditor.

This was not mismanagement. It was an extraordinary and compounding sequence of events — a global pandemic, a natural disaster, and a banking partner's regulatory failure — that would have closed most businesses far sooner. Terry's response throughout was to keep fighting long after most would have walked away — finishing the building, keeping his staff on through Christmas, and injecting his own capital for fifteen months. The Aramex logistics hub was completed and occupied. Two and a half years on, most obligations have been settled or are nearing finalisation — a testament to Terry's tenacity and his determination to do right by those affected, even in the most difficult of circumstances.