Business Central February 2021

74 | Hawke’s Bay Homes Pre-fab buildings come into their own Sue Russell to page 76 BUILDING From small beginnings fromWhanganui in 1957, Britton House Movers has forged an enviable reputation within the industry, delivering houses, safely, on time and to budget across most parts of the North Island. Elwyn Fryer has been with the business for ive years and knows just why the company has thrived in a demanding and competitive industry. “The family have been shifting houses all their working life, irst with founder Ted Britton, then passed on to his three sons who have now retired,” says Elwyn. Just how physically, technically and logistically challenging removing often substantial structures is can’t be over-stated. “We’re working often on challenging sites with extremely sophisticated gear and there’s a huge amount of planning that goes into every move.” To achieve their objective of delivering the very best quality service, Britton House Movers invests heavily in sta training. Ideally, says Elwyn, they take on some-one fresh out of school who just loves the idea of being involved in the industry and who is prepared to learn from the ground up. “It’s de initely a sign of our success that we have so many sta who have been with us for a very long time.” The company’s main sales yards are situated on SH58 Wellington, SH1 Bulls, Devon Road New Plymouth and Omahu Road Hastings. Today, with increasing cost of building new homes more and more people are turning to removal and relocation or buying already removed homes as the Relocation experts since 1957 most cost e ective method of housing and a signi icant part of the company’s work is the removal, upgrading and reselling of homes destined to be settled on a new site. “We don’t hurry into any project as each new site is speci ic and there’s no room for error.” The house broker side of the business has been operating 30 years and is a direct result of market demand. Shifting and settling accommodation blocks for RSE workers built by Hawkes Bay Homes on to land at various locations around the North Island was just one of many projects Britton House Movers has undertaken for the company. “Just recently we have become Hawkes Bay Homes dedicated house mover. Working with John and Mark Roil has been something we have enjoyed for many years. I get involved early on in the process of relocating a home built by them on to a piece of land as I can assess any speci ic challenges that may present.” And looking ahead, Elwyn says the future looks very positive, with demand for their o ering growing. “We’re a very popular option of house-movers. It’s the sort of industry where word-of-mouth is the way your reputation is established and business comes.” Elwyn says, as a nod to the past, a photo of the company’s very irst home move in 1957 is proudly displayed on their website. “We think that’s pretty cool to see where we started and what we have become. I think Ted would be very proud.” 62 Irongate Road, Hastings www.brittons.co.nz 0800 274 886 / 06 879 6099 hawkesbay@brittons.co.nz THEREWHEN YOUNEEDUS Britton Housemovers is an expanding business but still small enough to care. J ohn Roil is proud of what Hawke’s Bay Homes has achieved during its journey over the last 20 years. Today, son Mark, owns the company which specialises in designing and building a range of prefabricated residential and commercial buildings. “In the very early days we used to build cottages and prefabricated Police Stations for rural areas but as time went by we diversified to include larger dwellings, holiday homes, granny flats as well as classrooms for the Min- istry of Education and early childcare centres. “More recently we provided a prefabricated building as a Covid-19 screening facility at the HB Hospital,” says John. Hawke’s Bay Homes is a member of Prefab NZ and NZ Certified Builders Assn and all its projects are undertaken at its large pur- pose-built workshop on Maraekakaho Road, Hastings. John says there are many benefits from building inside a factory. “We are able to do bearers-up construction and they are built in an extremely controlled environment. “We’re not having to deal with the elements and can stage production inside our factory to have several builds on the go at the same time.” An approved variation to Hastings District Council’s proposed district plan, mid-August, has allowed employers, wishing to accom- modate Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) workers, to home them in new purpose-built precincts.