| 55 Elite Passive Fire T T Sue Russell Experts in fire prevention Juanita Fuatavai and Jeremy Tiumalu - Elite Passive Fire offers an array of fire prevention and protection technologies. CONTRACTING When Auckland couple Juanita Fuatavai and Jeremy Tiumalu established Elite Passive Fire on the brink of the Covid lockdown, they knew their combined skill sets would provide the foundations on which to build a successful business. On the back of years of hard work, getting operating systems established and forging valuable relationships with their clients and suppliers have been key focus areas for Juanita and Jeremy. In terms of qualifications, Juanita has a Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in finance, and a Master of Business Management, which she has put to good use in the formative years of the company, while Jeremy was the third person in New Zealand to gain the NZ Certificate in Passive Fire Installation qualification under a new apprenticeship pathway established in 2019. Elite Passive Fire offers an array of fire prevention and protection technologies for the wider construction sector, developers and building owners. “We’re fortunate that with Jeremy’s long association with the sector and innate understanding of how to apply passive technologies in any given situation, we’ve grown our reputation and our business, even through the ups and downs of the Covid years and beyond,” Juanita says. Passive Fire, she explains, is a very niche industry within the broader construction framework. Business is split comfortably between remedial projects and maintaining building WOFs, as well as project management and consultancy services. “One of our key strategies was to target the remedial builders’ sector, who were often struggling to find people to do the smaller work. We deliberately chose not to compete with the much bigger players, who were tackling new and large projects such as aged care facilities, and this strategy paid off.” Today, the business engages a team of 12 and has expanded into new regions, including the Bay of Plenty and Coromandel. Juanita says it was always the plan, if opportunities presented, to go wider than Auckland. The couple’s dedication to advancing the business, whilst balancing bringing up a young and energetic family, has been recognised at this year’s Auckland Business Awards named finalists in the Best Emerging Business and Excellence in Customer Service categories. “We actually attended the awards last year just to get a taste of what they were about and to better understand what the judges saw as important criteria in a successful business. After that experience I felt it was a good time for us to enter.” Juanita says the awards, held on 7 November, were “a fabulous experience”. “While we didn’t win in either category we were nominated for, the event itself was just wonderful to be a part of and we were proud to celebrate our growth and wins over the past four years.” Juanita says, Elite Passive Fire has always placed service value for its customers as one of its key pillars, offering them opportunities to become more educated about all that’s involved in addressing passive fire responsibilities, systems and technologies. “We offered our customers modules where Jeremy provided them with a much better understanding of all the basics in passive fire management right through to what council inspectors would look for when undertaking building inspections. We’ve also provided learnings to architects so they can better understand design principles around passive fire management systems.” Juanita attributes Elite Passive Fire’s growth since its establishment just before the first lockdown, to the fact that she and Jeremy bring complementary skills to the table. “Jeremy’s great with what he can see on site and find solutions, while I bring the administration, systems and standards protocols into the business.” Your Business, Your Industry, Your News. Each edition priority delivered to your door. i i i i li . www.waterfordpress.co.nz/subscriptions . t f . . / i ti 03 983 5525 Stay informed; we work with business owners and decision-makers across all economic sectors, profiling their success. t i f r ; r it i r i i - r r ll i t r , r fili t ir . businessnorth While acknowledging the earlier part of the year was a stressful time, as many businesses experienced, Juanita says the bounce back has been profound, and they are now hitting some great numbers and there is a pipeline of projects stretching well into next year. “When you take on responsibility with employment of your team, we’re aware how important it is to them that we have new projects coming in. It’s not only sustaining our business and family but all the families in our team.” Both Jeremy and Juanita are aware of how important balance is when nurturing and growing a new business. They’re both involved in the community and ensure good time is spent with the children and supporting their interests. “We offered our customers modules where Jeremy provided them with a much better understanding of all the basics in passive fire management right through to what council inspectors would look for when undertaking building inspections.” NZ’S LEADING PASSIVE FIRE SUPPLIER NZ MADE NZ TESTED www.ryanfire.co.nz 09 443 0362
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