12 | Hawke’s Bay Business Awards - Brittin Builders T T Russell Fredric Focus on excellence reaps reward Brittin Builders has a blend of traditional craftsmanship and cutting-edge technology. REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Whether restoring heritage homes that echo the stories of generations of families or building new architectural houses, Brittin Builders gives every project the same careful attention it deserves, with a blend of traditional craftsmanship and cutting-edge technology. Owned by Jason and Emily Brittin, the Havelock North company incorporates Brittin Painting and Parkhill Joinery, with Emily working as chief executive and Jason having a hands-on role supporting the trade staff. “Often, we’ve done work for not just a client multiple times, but generations of clients,” Emily says. Over many decades, Brittin Builders has built or renovated some of Hawke’s Bay’s most exceptional homes, experience that has enabled its team to hone the skills needed to deliver bespoke, artisan-level quality for exacting homeowners. As one of New Zealand’s leading heritage restoration experts, Parkhill Joinery’s specialty in high-end projects goes as far as making its own metal machining knives, including custom making them to create a bespoke profile for anyone who needs it. “[The knives are] the special attachment to different machines that allow us to do things like heritage coving, skirting boards and architraves and that kind of thing,” Emily says. “By combining traditional methods with modern technology, we can create bespoke joinery that looks authentic, but has all the functionality of a modern home.” Reflecting its relentless pursuit for excellence, Brittin Builders was named a finalist in the 2024 Pan Pac Hawke’s Bay Business Awards. “It’s very much focused on the operation of the business and I think that’s where we’ve done well,” Emily says. “It’s looking at not just your profit and loss, but also that your KPIs (key performance indicators) aren’t just about money, they’re about doing things really excellently, from looking after your staff to being involved in community projects to having an amazing customer experience; doing your business as well as you can possibly do it.” This focus has included recruiting great people with the right skills and having them in the right place in the business. “I’ve done a huge amount of work in that space and we’ve used technology to support that in a really strategic way.” This technology includes an app that, as well as providing health and safety documentation, displays geo-fences that electronically create a virtual perimeter around a specific area, which, in Brittin Builders’ case, is a work site. The app makes it easy for Brittin’s staff and subcontractors to review the health and safety documentation before starting on a job, and for this to be logged as being completed, while also showing who is on site at any given time. “This is just one example; there’s lots of different things [such as] about how we communicate, how we treat our staff and how we manage people’s budget.” When a friend suggested entering the Pan Pac awards, Emily felt it would be a positive learning curve, regardless of the result. “You get feedback, that’s really why I did it. Somebody putting their eyes on our business that isn’t me would be amazing; that was my motivation for doing it, and as our first crack at it I thought I would give it my very, very best shot and try to see where we end up. “ I’m just really wowed for us to be in this position of being a finalist.” PH. 0-6-835 6240, CELL 027-240 5970 30 SIMLA TERRACE, NAPIER 4110 EMAIL: gwrobinson@xtra.co.nz CONGRATULATIONS TO BRITTIN BUILDERS LTD EXCELLENCE IN BUSINESS FINALISTS Craftsman Plumbers & Regd. Drainlayers Proudly Supporting Brittin Builders Domestic & Commercial Plumbing Gerard Kerins Office: 021 658 930 201 Pakowhai Road, Frimley, Hastings, 4120.
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