48 | Focus on people the key Graham Civil works on roading and earthworks projects throughout the ManawatuWhanganui region. Graham Civil Contractors T T Hugh de Lacy CONTRACTING 027 289 6363 nickcashell77@gmail.com Proudly Supporting Graham Civil Contractors Ltd Catering for all your transport needs Proudly Supporting Graham Civil Contractors Ltd +64 27 378 8002 cmchaulage@gmail.com CAT 2 We are New Zealands top leading experts in bitumen chip sealing practices with over 70 years experience working for Waka Kotathi, Local Authorities and private clientele. Creating a sense of belonging, of whanau, among their 17 staff has shielded Graham Civil Contractors from the civil construction industry’s labour shortages and has allowed the Manawatu/ Whanganui company “to just about run itself,” according to owner and director Richie Graham. Graham Civil works on roading and earthworks projects throughout the Manawatu-Whanganui region for local authorities – the Manawatu District Council in particular – and big construction companies, including Fulton Hogan, Higgins and Downer Construction. The company also has a busy branch in the Waikato. Richie started out building roads at the age of 17, initially under the supervision of his older brother Mike Graham, though Mike now works for Richie running the six-man crew in the Waikato. Mike has over 30 years’ experience in construction, 20 years of it in the Manawatu-Rangitikei region overseeing a range of civil projects. He recently completed overseeing the building of 22km of pavement on the Hamilton section of the Waikato Expressway for Waka Kotahi. Richie, however, still prefers to be out onsite with the machinery – he particularly likes operating graders and excavators - while the business side of the company is run by Managing Director Matt Mataki. Most of the staff and most of the work come from the Manawatu/Whanganui region, with Graham Civil Contractors having two sites in Feilding as well as the Whanganui base and the Waikato branch. When Richie decided it was time to go out on his own, forming his own company just two and a half years ago, he bought himself a 16-tonne Caterpillar 315 digger and hired two staff, doing sub-contract and private work round the region. Barely 30 months later the list of plant runs to three 6 x 4 trucks, one of them a water-truck, four diggers and a transport trailer, a grader, rollers, a tractor-powered road broom, a Bobcat, and assorted utes and trailers. “What we’re about is focusing on our people, who are our greatest asset, and maintaining a sense of family and involvement, creating a whanau space,” Richie says. “Yes, there’s a labour shortage in civil construction, but we’re all right precisely because of that focus on the family of people who comprise the company.” That focus has extended to Richie and his team helping key employees set up their own businesses while still working closely with Graham Civil as sub-contractors. There’s a double benefit for the company in this practice because while it inspires loyalty in the employees, their newly independent former work-mates provide a bulwark for Graham Civil Contractors against the construction industry’s continuing labour shortages. Most of the company’s work is for major construction companies, and Graham Civil Contractors sits at a level just below them where Richie first spotted the gap in the sub-contracting market that has been the key to the company’s subsequent rapid expansion. “We do quite a bit of work on our own account, which provides a good fit for us because we’re in a unique spot with our local authority work, especially with the Manawatu District Council with whom we were able to secure a road rehabilitation contract. “We believe that with our values and our strong leadership team we can hold and train our staff to their full potential, and this helps us ward off the effects of the labour shortage in the industry,” Richie says.
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