Madeleine and Simon found the confidence they needed to move at the expo

After a month’s holiday to New Zealand in 2002, a seed was planted with Madeleine Butler (31) and her partner Simon (36). “It’s such a nice place for a holiday and everyone is really friendly,” explains Madeleine. “That’s what attracted us.”

Six years later, Madeleine and Simon have moved to New Zealand, where Madeleine found work immediately with the Southland District Health Board (SDHB), swapping her Working Holiday visa for a Work to Residence visa, when she realised the opportunity was just too good to pass up.

Madeleine transitioned her health management skills easily from East Midlands,England, to New Zealand, and now works as a service improvement manager in the surgical division of SDHB by monitoring data trends and patterns, identifying instances of good practice and recommending service changes in line with good practice.

“The starting point for us,” says Madeleine, “was the expos. It may sound cheesy, but we’d been thinking of this since 2002. But the main thing that made us physically get up and do it was the Opportunities Expo. We’d done a lot of research – internet and books – but it’s actually physically speaking to people that made the difference. It gives you a bit of confidence.”

And it appears Madeleine’s enthusiasm has been contagious: “A colleague of mine from the UK, an occupational therapist, really wanted to do it. We told her to come to the expo with us, and now she’s applied and is coming too.”

Madeleine recommends her fellow health industry workers in the UK start their own research. “It’s not as intimidating as you think it is. It’s initially daunting, but it becomes easier. We got so much advice at the expo, we went twice. It was brilliant. And once you’re here, give yourself time to settle in. Don’t go back to the UK too quickly.”

Madeleine and Simon landed in New Zealand in November 2008, and already they hope the country will be their permanent home.