At Red Steel, it’s all about creating efficiencies to ensure deadlines and budgets are met.

Since 2002 Red Steel managing director Bob Hawley and his team have honed their processes and focussed on increasing production from their Pandora workshop.

Red Steel has developed streamlined processes within its supply chain, introduced smart software to track all projects, and invested in equipment that enables a turnkey project solution.

Red Steel started work on the project in August 2019 in the very early stages of the construction of the 20,600m² post-harvest facility for Rockit Global.

The state of the art facility in Irongate was predominantly built of steel. In fact the building is made up of 33, 346 pieces of steel, which span a total of 57 kilometre and weighing 1012 tonne!

Red Steel managing director Bob Hawley says it’s been one of their major projects over the last year with the majority of the 39 strong workforce of detailers, fabricators and site crew involved in the project.

The steel was transported to the site and put together using 23,425 bolts. Working to a tight construction programme we staged our on-site activities to allow follow-on trades to commence work as we progressed down the building.

Bob says the Rockit project is the second largest food processing facility they’ve been involved with and he’s particularly proud that it was all done in house.

“We started on the project very early with our detailers working alongside the engineer consultants Strata Group, who did the design and by being involved early enabled us to tweak details, which made it more cost effective.”

“A job like this is about repetition. We love repetition as we get efficiencies going  that benefits all involved.

Detailing has been at the forefront of Red Steels quality procedures since it was brought in-house 15 years ago.

The business has gone to the next step introducing machinery on the shop floor that “talk” to the detailing software – parts are now cut, marked and drilled by machines that receive their instructions directly from software programmes removing the need to print drawings and risk human error when manually completing these tasks.

The latest machine is a PeddiWriter which adds layout marks on steel sections removing the need for fabricators to manually measure and mark out where items are to be welded together.

Only one other fabricator in New Zealand has a Peddiwriter, and they’re in the South Island.

Red Steel has some major projects on the go both in Hawke’s Bay and in Wellington.

Hawke’s Bay projects include the new large format retail centre in Taradale Road – The Crossing and a new multi-story apartment living and retail building in Ahuriri on the site of the former iconic NJ Price Building. Red Steel has also started on the HB Regional Aquatic Centre at Mire 10 Sports Park.

“There’s a lot of work in the pipeline and it’s exciting to be part of building landmark structures in the Bay.”

Constant improvement and challenging the status quo is sage advice that siblings Barbara Brittin and Richard Kinnear took from their father Gordon, a pioneer in the development of refrigerated food storage facilities in Hawke’s Bay.

Gordon never went looking for accolades and he wasn’t one to conform but instead, he always looked for how things could be done better.

He was regarded as a risk-taker, willing to take a punt on business opportunities that came his way, and this led to him being at the forefront of atmosphere-controlled storage facilities within the horticulture and meat sectors.

Gordon was a lateral thinker who would challenge the status quo – so-called experts as well as bureaucracy – as he always strived for improving performance.

His first controlled-atmosphere storage complex was in Napier Road, Havelock North, in the early 1980s, and he followed this up by partnering with some American investors to buy the Whakatu freezer storage facilities following the closure of the meat works. Next up was a cool store in Caroline Road, on the opposite side of the railway tracks to Heinz Watties Ltd.

Gordon sadly passed away in 2016 but he had mentored Barbara and Richard well, each taking on his business smarts as well as bringing their own skills to the business, Britkin Construction, which had until then gone under the radar.

Today, what gives Britkin a point of difference to other industrial and commercial construction businesses is that they have skin in the game.

The pair say it’s easy to tell a client that their building will be built well and perform as expected, but Britkin can back it up with a track record of owning and operating food storage facilities.

As well as designing, project managing and building storage facilities, Britkin also has ownership in large modern facilities such as the Henderson Road Coolstores and Hill Road Coolstores used by horticulture leaders such as Bostock New Zealand.

Henderson Road cool store

“We have a vested interest. Not only have we built facilities for others but we’ve also built storage facilities for our family business interests, firstly beginning with Dad and the Napier Road cool store through to our latest projects at Hill Road and Henderson Road.

“It’s that experience that makes us different; we’ve worked out through trial and error what makes storage facilities and industrial and commercial buildings function as expected. We also understand the technology and innovations in the storage of food products, the logistics of moving products and the importance of ensuring that a storage facility is efficient and highly productive.”

Richard says Britkin adds more value to a client than just constructing a building.

“We like to be involved very early on in a project, when the client decides to build but they might not have found land to build on.

“We can help them identify the most suitable piece of land, help them navigate through the council consents process, offer advice on financing the project and then provide input into the design, based on years of experience. We then project manage and build the facility.

“We’ve been walking in and out of industrial and commercial buildings since we were kids and from our teens, we worked for Dad in storage facilities to now operating storage facilities.

“We’re not a construction company that just hunts out a tender and builds the complex; our value to the client starts much earlier and we can lead them on a journey to creating a high-performing and cost-effective facility, whether it be a cool store, a commercial office or a chicken farm.”

Britkin has been a long-standing construction partner to the Bostock Group of businesses, which includes fruit and squash facilities through to large-scale chicken farm buildings and a chicken processing facility for the Bostock Organic Chicken brand.

More recently, Richard has also been involved in the construction of a Recognised Seasonal Employment (RSE) accommodation facility in Irongate.

“There’s been a variety of projects that we have done for Bostocks and it’s been wide ranging, from fruit and vegetable processing to a chicken factory to worker accommodation.”

In the last year Britkin has also built a 2,900 m² cool store in Pakowhai Road and a storage facility for animal food nutrition business Ruminate.

Richard says Britkin has strong contractor relationships across all aspects of construction, including geotech, structural engineering, surveying and planning through to technical and equipment specialists.

“We have long-standing relationships with many local firms and we always pull together the best team for the job.”

www.britkin.co.nz 

Agnew Transport owner Willie Agnew understands his customers’ needs like no other.

Willie started his career as a fruit and vegetable farmer and to this day is still involved in the industry as an orchard owner.

“Coming from this background, I needed trucks to come and cart my own produce. I understand the importance of having a reliable carrier who can pick up and deliver produce in the best possible condition, on time and at a reasonable rate,”

This led Willie to purchase a truck for his own carting needs. He soon expanded and carted for other growers, establishing Agnew Transport Services Ltd.

“My relationship with Rockit started on the ground floor when they started distributing the unique apple that they sell today.

“We are proud that Agnew Transport continues to be Rockit’s main transport service provider for carting apples from their orchards to the packhouse, and local coolstore/packhouse work.

“Our transport dispatchers are focused with helping all our customers, including working with Rockit, to maintain the constant supply of apples from orchards to their packhouse.”

Agnew Transport offers a fleet predominately to service the horticulture sector but also has suitable equipment to do other commodities, including fertilizer, aggregate, silage. hay and general freight.

To support the transport division, Agnew Transport has diversified the business into two divisions – earthworks/civil and agriculture contracting.

“This has enabled us to assist our horticulture clients (including Rockit) with their new green field developments and any re-development within their orchards and vineyards.

“This has been a huge help to assist with our staffing requirements with work all year round, as the harvest season happens in a very small window of the year.”

As a smaller local company Agnew Transport takes pride in offering customers the personal touch a larger corporation cannot deliver resulting in the company catch phrase: big enough to deliver, small enough to care.

Willie says that as Agnew Transport is an established local business it offers an excellent knowledge of the area. Competitive pricing and flexible hours are other hallmarks of the company to meet customer needs.

This is especially important as every year Agnew Transport carts large volumes of fruit and produce to various packhouses and processing facilities.

“We have the systems and people in place to gear up to manage peak season requirements for our clients. Our experience means we understand their business and we know how to deliver what they need when they require.”

Hot off the completion of a $21 million indoor sport facility in Rolleston, Apollo Projects are simultaneously building two of Hawke’s Bay’s most prominent sport facilities. 

Apollo’s Hawke’s Bay Regional manager Steve Bailey said the team is in the early stages of the multi-million dollar Olympic-sized indoor swimming complex at Mitre 10 Park in Hastings and is about to start preparation of the construction site for the indoor court extension at Pettigrew Green Arena in Taradale.

Apollo Projects launched their physical presence in Hawke’s Bay recently, announcing the establishment of an office and appointment of key staff, including Hawke’s Bay lead Steve Bailey.

The Apollo Projects team will be based at the Sports Park in Hastings and will service projects across Hawke’s Bay, Poverty Bay, Taupo, Manawatu and Wairarapa.

The business isn’t new to the Bay, completed projects include a cool and dry store complex for Bidvest and a processing facility for ENZA Foods.

Steve has made a permanent move from Christchurch, a move that he’s incredibly excited about.

“I’m hoping this is my last move. Hawke’s Bay feels like an awesome place, the climate is better than I’ve been used and the people I’ve met so far have incredibly helpful and friendly. We’ve got a couple of fantastic projects to start on and there’s plenty of opportunities that match our expertise across the food and beverage sector as well as sport and aquatics facility development.”

Steve and his family moved from the United Kingdom to New Zealand in 2013. He started his working career serving in the Royal Marines before getting involved in construction, initially as a roofing contractor, before moving into construction site management and has since achieved qualifications in architecture and project management.

Steve and his family were looking for a lifestyle change and New Zealand appealed as a great opportunity.

What the family didn’t know was that Steve was about to put them into an environment that was similar to a warzone, following the devastating Christchurch earthquake in 2011.

“Initially I took on a role working on the earthquake building recovery programme. It was shocking and sad to see the devastation that the earthquakes had caused, but I feel proud that I could play a small part in the rebuild of Christchurch.”

More recently, Steve has just handed over the Selwyn Sports Centre in Rolleston, complete with an indoor running track, eight indoor multi-use courts, and New Zealand’s first interactive digital wall that blends sport and education.

Steve says Apollo Projects has developed a reputation as a problem-solving business, starting with an involvement at the design stage with a focus on optimising and getting the best out of the building, whether it be an indoor multi-sport facility or dairy plant, winery or cold storage facility. “By engaging early with our clients, we can provide guidance at the right time to achieve the desired outcome within budget.”

When directors and CEOs Craig Waghorn and Paul Lloyd started Apollo Projects in 2001, they were determined to break away from the traditional management process and do things differently.

They saw an opportunity to partner with clients from the very start, taking their ideas right from concept all the way through to completion – something that had been poorly executed in the industry.

At Apollo, they’ve never been afraid to challenge the status quo.

Apollo Projects has an enviable track record and has been involved in some of New Zealand’s most significant build projects.

Today, Apollo is a leading New Zealand design and construction company with professional project delivery and support staff across the country,  having worked on projects for clients including Fonterra, Goodman Fielder, George Weston Foods, Ngai Tahu, and Lion Co as well as private owner-operated businesses, sports organisations, and Government/Council entities.

“Even though Apollo has grown over twenty years, we’ve never lost our core value that a ‘client’s trust is everything’.

“Apollo is different simply because we operate as a partner with our clients – our goal from the very beginning has always been to build strong relationships from which we can deliver successful projects.”

Steve sees huge opportunities in Hawke’s Bay and the wider central North Island.

Hawke’s Bay is a major food producing region, possibly the best in New Zealand, due to the variety of fruit, vegetables and protein foods produced.

It’s also a physically active region, with many sport facilities and investment in new developments and upgrades such as the swimming pool complex, being led by the Hawke’s Bay Community Fitness Trust under the watchful eye of Sir Graeme Avery and the six new courts coming to the PGA complex.

“The Sports Park is an amazing multi-use facility and along with the likes of PGA indoor sport complex and other sport facilities, it is the envy of other regions.”

The swimming complex is expected to be finished mid-2022. It will boast a 50 metre pool with a movable bulkhead that enabled the pool to be split into a range of configurations including two 25 metre pools.

It will also have a hydrotherapy pool and 25 metre learn to swim pool that can also be used as a warm-up pool for swim meets.

To gain Fédération Internationale de Natation (FINA) accreditation, the 50m swimming pool can only have a margin of error in length of just 5 millimeters. To ensure this is met, the pool is made from Stainless Steel, which is precision laser cut in the United States and welded together onsite, overlaid with a durable PVC membrane (pool liner).

“There’s a wave of construction projects and we’re very well placed to take these on as a ‘One Stop Shop’ fully integrated delivery solution tailored to the individual client.

“We get a huge buzz when we hand over new or redeveloped community facilities such as a sports complex. We know that they are going to be well utilised, especially by youth and that there’s many positive outcomes for the community.”

Apollo Projects is investing in Hawke’s Bay, creating jobs, using local businesses as sub-contractors and supporting local causes – since 2019, Apollo has sponsored the Hawke’s Bay Wine Auction, which raises funds for Cranford Hospice.

www.apolloprojects.co.nz

Office lease rent accounts for only around a third of your total cost of occupancy, so you can see there are some hidden costs in leasing your own office. Costs that you may not understand upfront, but be locked into for at least three years, sometimes much more.

So before you make up your mind between leasing an office, or renting in a shared space, have a look at our comparison, which shows that serviced offices in a shared space are around half the total occupancy cost.

Furthermore, in a shared office you pay for the space you need and when it comes time to grow – you can up-size by taking a larger serviced office, or expand into the interconnecting office next door.

And if you need to down-size? That’s just as simple, move to a smaller office or even a dedicated workstation in our co-working area. Recent COVID-19 lockdowns demonstrated how important rental flexibility is for small and large businesses.

Now your business might only need a small office for four or more staff, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make a big impression with your clients or new staff.

You might only need a 20 or 40m²  serviced office but this comes with full use of over 512 sqm of beautiful architect designed shared facilities, for you and your staff to enjoy.

This is a major benefit of co-working spaces, that provide unbeatable sqm occupancy costs, when compared with leasing your own office.

At Hastings HIVE this works out around $75 per sqm for an eight person private serviced office, which includes all outgoings (like rates, maintenance and landlord insurance) and most of the OPEX items like IT and networking services, power, cleaning, rubbish, office and kitchen supplies and so much more.

As well as getting an affordable workplace, you will also get the best of what an office should have with fantastic break-out spaces and meetings rooms, superior internet fibre connectivity, luxury style bathroom with showers, and a well equipped kitchen/cafe with free espresso coffee.

All of this with only your printing as an additional cost!

New Zealand’s leading engineering firm Beca are recent arrivals at Hastings HIVE. Matt Sanders, Beca Hawke’s Bay Market Leader says the HIVE ticked the most boxes as a suitable office.

“We wanted a space that was going to be quick and easy to set up with all the facilities we needed.

“The Hive has this and more! We have our own serviced office with the flexibility to scale as we need, ultra-fast fibre and IT server capacity that we can utilise as we grow and fantastic break out areas including a café/kitchen and all the meeting rooms we could need. For a detailed comparison please see: https://www.hastingshive.co.nz/servicedofficecosts