Audit Senior Manager in Auckland - would you recommend it?
 

My husband and I both work in a Big4 in London as Audit Senior Managers and there is an opportunity for us to go to Auckland office for 2 years. Was wondering if anyone could share their thoughts on the various issues we are considering:

-Salary + cost of living: I have read similar threads on the topic and would appreciate your thoughts. Google search seems to suggest that we would be on annual salary of c. $120k per person plus car allowance so that would be around $240k salary + car allowance. We currently have a 2-year old and a baby due in January 2011. We would like at least a 5-bedroom house in a decent area but near the business district for short commute. Is that do-able with the income level?

- Getting around without a car: My husband can't drive. Have heard public transport is not fab. Will it be a deal breaker? He does need to go and visit clients, etc and in London, we use the Tube very frequently....

- Childcare: We currently have a nanny in London and when we go to New Zealand, would like to continue an arrangement where we have a full time nanny and also the older one can do 2/3 days of nursery for extra fun. What's childcare like in Auckland?

Many many thanks in advance for all your advice.

Re: Audit Senior Manager in Auckland - would you recommend it?
 

crikey on that salary you would have a ball, public transport is not bad, a 5 bed house yes you can
we live up in Torbay on the Shore, I work out at Grafton OH in CBD I drive as I need the car for work he catches a fast bus on the bus lane one every 10 mins to Albany takes 25 mins we earn a lot less than you are proposing with one child and we have a good standard of living, not rich by any means. Its worth looking at Trade me to see the type of houses etc
Other areas that are close for commute and have a good housing stock are the Eastern suburbs Parnell, Mission bay etc
I presume you meant 2012 for your due date good luck in that, I have several friends who have children at nurseries and like anywhere there are good and bad and also waiting lists. children do not go to school here until their 5th birthday. having said that once at school I find childcare great far better than I had in the Uk and holiday schemes in abundance.

Re: Audit Senior Manager in Auckland - would you recommend it?
 

If the company is paying your relocation/visa costs and you would have the option of returning to your jobs in UK or similar at the end of the 2 years, you really have nothing to lose.
Getting the visas could still be a pain though. Best to keep your UK property and rent while in NZ though if you have no intentions of it being a permanent move.

Definitely try to lock in the benefit of a short commute by picking the area where you live carefully.

Re: Audit Senior Manager in Auckland - would you recommend it?
 

Getting around Auckland for business purposes if you don't drive will be one massive headache. Assuming the type of work you do means you'd potenially need to be back and forth to clients all over town and beyond. Clients I guess potentially being almost anywhere North of Hamilton, as I doubt any of the big four have offices north of Auckland.

You'd be relying mostly on buses and that's no blooming fun with Auckland weather. Getting drenched five times or more during a bad day and sitting on a bus would just about finish me off.

Taxi fares and traffic are horrendous.

If thinking of walking or cycling, some of the hills in town are like the streets of San Francisco.

Getting a bus from A (Home) to B (City Centre) and back to A might not be so much of an issue, you'll most likely struggle with the subsequent B to C and C to D type of journeys.

Re: Audit Senior Manager in Auckland - would you recommend it?
 

Yeah without your own wheels visiting clients could be a real problem. Getting to most places on public transport is not going to work as you'll be looking to get to client on time and presentable - rain comes down in Auckland by the bucketload and with little warning, even in Summer.
All public transport, apart perhaps from Wellington, can't deliver that. Personally I'd look at learning to drive and get in some city experience in the meantime.
Some of my friends use dial-a-driver services when they can't drive so I suppose that could be an alternative to taxis but it will be expensive.
Otherwise it's pretty much a breeze on a decent salary. Plus there are plenty of nannies/au pairs/etc around and child care is not too expensive on the baseline so those sorts of costs are not too bad.

Re: Audit Senior Manager in Auckland - would you recommend it?
 

Thank you for all the replies everyone. Very helpful indeed. I think the driving issue could be a deal breaker for us - hubby has bad eye sight so can't get a licence you see. Am I right in thinking public transport is a lot better in Wellington? Company has an office in Wellington too so that could be an option. How does Wellington compare with Auckland for lifestyle, etc?

Many thanks again

Re: Audit Senior Manager in Auckland - would you recommend it?
 

If he were only seeing one client a day, he could probably use taxis to get around.
Wellington (if you exclude the Hutt Valley) is very compact and you could get a 10 minute commute into CBD easily from any central suburb. As you probably know it is the seat of Government and has lots of nightlife/cultural stuff going on and more restaurants/cafes per capita than New York.
If it weren't in an earthquake zone, it would be almost perfect lol. It has higher sunshine hours than Auckland and less rain but is colder in general and certainly windy. Compared to South Coast UK I find the weather much sunnier.
I have toured extensively in NZ and think I could only be happy in the larger centres such as Auckland and Wellington.

There seem to be plenty of buses in Wellington and everywhere in CBD would be walking distance if his clients were located there. The airport is a short taxi or bus ride from the CBD.

I'm sure it must have one somewhere (is it Queen Street?) but I find Auckland lacks a proper obvious town centre and is obviously much more sprawling than Wellington.

Re: Audit Senior Manager in Auckland - would you recommend it?
 

Hi, I am a Risk Exec Director at one of the big 4 so have an idea about all the stuff you are asking.

Getting around will not be too much of a problem. Taxi's can be charged back to clients usually or you could car share from the office. If you are in FS then most client will be within the central business district anyway.

I would check the car allowance though it is quite unusual for big 4 to offer this to anyone but a partner.

As for places to live again no problem really as long as you have your joint salary. If you lose one for maternity then it could be a bit of a struggle. The salary levels look a bit low to be honest probably another 20 - 30 unless you have only just got to the SM level. We live in St Heliers and its 15 minutes on the bus at rush hour and most places have reasonable bus links - trains though are not too good with limited coverage.

Not sure who you are with but PM me if you want to know anything about the market as it is a bit different too the UK.

Re: Audit Senior Manager in Auckland - would you recommend it?
 

i think wellington is the most european feeling city in nz much more so than auckland and much more compact. smaller than auckland but brcause the parliament is there still a fair bit going on proff wise and reasonable nightlife. prob more cultural feel to it conpared to auckland

if client meetings are limited to one a day in around the cental cbd should be ok in akl but if you are expected to meet a client in say pakuranga at 11 and one on the north shore at 1 type arrangement you will struggle in auckland.

because wellingtin is so much more compact (hutt valley exluded) it is easier to get around without a car.

sounds like a great opportunity i would go for it but negotiate relocation costs and a job to return to

Re: Audit Senior Manager in Auckland - would you recommend it?
 

Take the car allowance and spend on taxis or hire a driver!

Re: Audit Senior Manager in Auckland - would you recommend it?
 

Thank you everyone. Having discussed the driving issue with the Auckland office, we have been assured that it's unlikely to involve more than 1 client a day and that taxis can be used readily so it's back on the table!

Just so that I can start looking at housing, what areas would you recommend for a short commute but decent outside space?

Re: Audit Senior Manager in Auckland - would you recommend it?
 

Look, with the sort of income you are talking about ($250k) , you would be in the top 1% of NZ families at least and earn more than the prime minister.

Most families in NZ live off nearer $40k a year, and plenty far less than that.
You could afford just about any property in Auckland. If you are worried about cost of living, go and have a drive round south auckland.

Re: Audit Senior Manager in Auckland - would you recommend it?
 

yeah, if you can handle or don't mind 69 km/hr. sort of damn strong wind,, :rofl: NOt a joke eh,,,
and its 10°C here,, bloody freeezing. ..:eek:

Re: Audit Senior Manager in Auckland - would you recommend it?
 

grey lynn. ponsonby. herne bay. westmere. mt eden. kingsland. st marys bay. parnell are all good and easy to the cbd.
if you are on 120 each thats around 1600 per week each so you should be able to afford a fairly good rental which you may need in some of those suburbs.
the north shore gives you bigger houses but commute across the bridge is a pain... ferry from devonport may be an option..

trademe.co.nz is a good place to start when looking for housing

Re: Audit Senior Manager in Auckland - would you recommend it?
 

bridge traffic could be problem but actual distance - its not that far like East or South. East Motorway is worse than the bridge I would say.

City to West or City to North Shore - not too bad.

but city to East and city to South - pretty bad - toooooo far.