84 | CONTRACTING Taylors Pools and Spas Pool restoration becoming popular T T Sue Russell Chris and Carrie Taylor have been at the helm of Taylors Pools and Spas since taking over the Napier-based company from Chris’s parents Kym (The Poolman) and Jenni Taylor initially in 2009, and owning it outright by 2018. His time, however, goes back some 20 years in the industry. Taking over the family-owned and operated company provided Chris and Carrie with the opportunity to mark their own stamp, evidenced by tripling the size of the business under their tenure. “I put this success down to a lot of hard work and sticking with what we know well and delivering the kind of service Mum and Dad believed was important to provide to their customers.” The most recent expansion has been in the commercial and restoration spaces. Chris says the latter service in particular has seen impressive growth, given the ages now of many older pools in both the residential and commercial sectors. “We’re able to bring these tired and often unattractive pools back to life. The process always begins with a site visit to ascertain the current situation of the pool and to offer customers a range of options and relative costs involved.” Chris points out that there are two aspects to the restoration process, the aesthetics and the operation of the pool. Very often old infrastructure needs to be replaced at the same time the pool is getting a much-needed spruce-up. Understanding that customers want as little ongoing maintenance as possible and we tend to ‘Taylorise’ the project depending on the pools situation. In the rural context water is an expensive precious resource, so our aim always is to ensure that the water quality is the best it can possibly be, through the use of filtration and pump technologies. On the commercial side, Taylors Pools and Spas deals with a significant number of schools in the Bay and the quality of this engagement has been recognised with accolades at the NZ Pool Awards two years in a row. “A lot of school pools were built back in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s and they’re starting to have issues holding water. We provide schools with solutions so they don’t need to shut their pool down. There are a couple of NZ Standards that school pools must meet and we’re in a position, with our year’s in the industry, to bring them up to speed, ensuring they’re safer for the students and requiring less ongoing maintenance.” In all, Chris says, Taylors Pools and Spas have worked with over 40 schools in Hawke’s Bay. To add value for school clients, the company offers free training to school personnel, working with the understanding that knowledge is power and that everyone benefits from a well operated swimming pool. Aside from providing customers with their own expert advice, Chris says they have access to skilled pool construction and maintenance tradespeople. “We do also retail pools and spas, from your inground liner pool in the Paramount range to a fully customisable shape.” Discussions on site are always a good starting place when a customer is considering putting in a pool and Chris says their approach is somewhat different from other pool retailers. “We’ll go on site and ask them about how they intend to use the pool. Sometimes, the customer’s wishes are for a pool form that we can not offer, in which case I will still offer good advice as to options available.” The company is structured around four divisions; the retail store and office, a pool valet team, a technical team who install new pumps and filters or repairs existing infrastructure and the pool renovation team. Two years ago the company undertook a huge project in Wellington for the NZ Institute of Sport, in Trentham. “We were involved in all the plumbing for five pools. Work comes from all over Hawke’s Bay, from Wairoa through to Taupo. We’ve even done a job in Dunedin.” This year’s award was for a commercial pool liner installation, at Putorino, halfway between Wairoa and Napier. The pool was continually leaking and Chris and the team knew how the issue could be resolved. “We actually won the same award last year for a very old pool, built before the 1931 Napier earthquake. We’ve invested in new technology from the U.S. which pinpoints where the leaks are within a couple of hours.” Plans in the future are to expand a network of businesses around New Zealand. Chris says key to the company’s continued success is the quality of its people. He offers staff an internal training course and says he hires based on people’s core values. “We can teach the knowledge and skills required but its vital the person we employ has a great work ethic and can fit into a team well. We’ve got great employees on board.” Distributors of award winning Vapure Salt and Mineral Chlorinators and proud of our association with Taylors Pools and Spas SIMPLY RELIABLE • SALT OR MINERAL SALT COMPATIBLE • MULTI-FUNCTION MENU SYSTEM • EASY TO USE TOUCH PAD • EFFICIENT CHLORINE PRODUCTION • ULTRA LONG LIFE SELF=CLEANING CELL • FULLY AUTOMATED • SIMPLE SET UP AND OPERATION • VARIABLE SPEED PUMP COMPATIBLE • SMART TEMPERATURE SENSORS (POWER SUPPLY & WATER)
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