Public Sector &
Local Government
Business Efficiency Specialists
Supporting Councils and Council-Controlled Organisations through operational change, restructuring, and service transformation, with practical, evidence-based solutions to drive growth, navigate reform, and expand service delivery.
Extensive experience across Regional and Local Authorities, and Council-Controlled Organisations
Strong operational capability spanning consents, compliance, subdivision, Local Water Done Well, and finance
Skilled in operating within complex and changing political and regulatory landscapes
Proven success in cross‑functional process integration and improvement
Focused on end‑to‑end organisational alignment
Driving significant savings and operational efficiency, reducing processing times and saving millions in costs
Why Councils Choose Unboxed?
Unboxed brings deep, practical experience across regional and local authorities, including CCOs, making us a partner of choice for councils navigating political and regulatory change.
Experience Across Councils
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Unboxed has partnered with Selwyn Water through its establishment as New Zealand’s first water services CCO under the Local Water Done Well framework.
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Unboxed Solutions is a trusted partner across the organsiation for its proven ability to deliver significant measurable results, combining insight with hands on execution to solve complex challenges, and drive lasting operational improvements.
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Unboxed Solutions delivered a 10‑week operational mapping programme providing a clear, practical blueprint for improving processing times and reducing friction between teams.
Selwyn Water
Subdivision process design: Mapped the current subdivision process and designed the future state for decoupling from council, ensuring full alignment with RMA legislation so it was fully functioning from day one.
Accounts receivable, end to end: Led the full accounts receivable journey as finance specialists on the engagement, from design through implementation, and trained the AR team to ensure a smooth handover.
Operating plans and policy design: Took a strategic role in designing operating plans and policies, including fees and charges and Development Contributions policy and alignment to Council.
Data integrity and alignment: Led hands‑on reconciliation of as‑built water meter and infrastructure data against GIS and billing system records. Working directly in the data to align physical assets with digital systems, safeguard revenue integrity, and establish a single source of truth. Provided analysis of data integration to clarify billing requirements.
ERP system implementation: Brought Project Management and ERP system expertise to ensure underlying platform supported how the business needs to operate and training users to optimise results.
Cross-functional integration: Bridged engineering, finance, and delivery so systems and processes worked cohesively from day one, often the area of greatest pressure in a CCO set-up.
Canterbury Regional Council (ECan)
Backlog Turnaround (2023): Created and led the “What Does Good Look Like” programme, improving consent application quality and reducing processing times by ~50%, saving thousands of hours and millions for ratepayers.
Fixed Fee Model: Designed and implemented a fixed fee approach for consents, improving efficiency, transparency, and reducing admin costs.
Customer Compensation Scheme: Delivered a Commerce Commission‑mandated refund programme, with 90%+ of customers refunded within one year.
FMIS Readiness: Supporting data cleansing and preparation for the new financial system to ensure a smooth, low‑risk transition and better reporting and invoicing.
Selwyn District Council
Operational Review: Conducted a deep dive into operational frictions, pain points, and risks.
End to End mapping: Mapped the subdivision process across resource planning, engineering, building and supporting functions such as 3 waters, roading, waste, and urban design.
Bottleneck identification: Identified key drivers and limitations impacting delivery.
Strategic Roadmap: Developed a suite of delivery options, including quick wins and longer‑term strategic programmes to enable scalable, efficient service delivery in a high‑growth environment.