About Us

We are a business 100% owned and operated by West Auckland. We exist to sell alcohol responsibly, and do so in a way approved of by the community who owns us. Profits from our retail and hospitality businesses go back to the community in the form of grants, donations, sponsorships and household distributions.

A brief summary of our strategy can be found here.

The community continue to chose this model over the alternative because of the benefits to West Auckland. There are many but the main reasons are:

• 100% of the profit from alcohol staying in the community
• Much more community involvement in the management of bottle stores by electing local people who directly oversee The Trusts stores resulting in less bottle stores on street corners and nicer stores.
• More responsible sale of liquor where profits are counter balanced by best community outcomes.

We are owned by the community of West Auckland.

The West Auckland community elects representatives from the community as part of the local body elections held every three years. These elected members make decisions on how we operate and how profits are given back to the community.

Our profits are given back to the community in the form of grants, donations, sponsorships and household distribution. Learn more.

We have robust systems in place to prevent the sale of alcohol to minors and refuse to serve to people who are intoxicated. We also ensure that the number of alcohol stores in the community balances customer convenience with community responsibility (we have 25 stores in West Auckland, other parts of Auckland have upwards of 150 stores).

No, we apply for a license through Auckland Council, just like anyone else.

This money is from profits from our retail liquor stores, bars, eateries and from our investment portfolio. It does not come from gaming machine proceeds. We are able to do this because of your patronage and ongoing support. We gave back more than $1m in the 2017/2018 financial year and we will give back $2m in the 2018/2019 financial year. We have committed to growing this to $5m per year as quickly as possible.

Gaming machine proceeds are distributed by The Trusts Community Foundation – a separate organisation to The Trusts.

We have set up our budgets so that we can give back some money now and we are putting some away so we can give back more in the future. As business owners we need to spend some on developing our people and the businesses that serve our community.

You can download Portage Licensing Trust’s Financial Statements here and Waitakere Licensing Trust’s Financial Statements here.

As per the Supply of Liquor Act, section 3.3.4 we are legally obligated to, and we do willingly, have our accounts audited by the Auditor General each year. The financial statements are audited by Grant Thornton annually (on behalf of the Auditor General).

We also hold monthly meetings of our Elected Members any member of the public can attend. Find out about Waitakere Licensing Trust meetings here and Portage Licensing Trust meetings here.

You can find a list of elected members for Portage Licensing Trust here and Waitakere Licensing Trust here.

Absolutely. We do not prevent or have any control over others opening a licensed restaurant, nightclub or cellar door across West Auckland.

West Auckland enjoys a variety of venues not owned or managed by The Trusts including Brickworks in New Lynn, Little Creatures in Hobsonville and The Grounds in Henderson.