130 | BJOLI Builders Never mind the building downturn of the past couple of years, John McGregor and his BJOLI Builders company in Whitianga have been flat out through the worst of it and are now looking to ride the recovery by moving up from renovations and repairs to spec-building baches. The population at the seaside holiday town of Whitianga bulges from Labour Weekend onwards, and John and BJOLI Builders have been inundated with everything from building fences and decks to doing up bathroom and kitchens, and renovations and extensions to existing homes. BJOLI Builders gets its name from the nickname John’s wife Olivia gave him, ‘Big John’, and the first three letters of her own name. They pronounce it Be Jolly – and it was the jolly seaside life of Whitianga, with its fishing, diving and hunting that had John setting the lifetime goal of moving there from Auckland by the time he was 45. And he did – just: by two weeks. That was in 2021, when he formed BJOLI Builders and found himself immersed in an extraordinary variety of work upgrading baches and residents’ homes. It was a big change from a background BUILDING Opportunities abound John McGregor and his BJOLI Builders company in Whitianga have been flat out. T T Hugh de Lacy completing a Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation carpentry apprenticeship with block courses at the Manukau Polytechnic. Coming out of his time in 1998, he made the usual OE pilgrimage to London where he spent two years renovating lofts or building under-floor basements for existing homes – “crazy stuff in old homes,” as he describes it. John returned to New Zealand in 2003 and went to work for his previous employer, specialising in light commercial building in Auckland, and which has gone through a couple of name changes over the years but is now known as SMC Construction. John served that company as overseeing manager, handling projects in a range between $2 million and $15m on multiple sites, from tender to handover. But he always had this deadline plan to move to Whitianga, and it was that which prompted him to launch out on his own as BJOLI Builders, and make the big shift south. Today, the company comprises John and two apprentices, plus part-time workers and subbies, and while the demand for bach upgrades continues unabated, he’s planning to take advantage of the recovering residential construction market to get into speculation building and meet the seemingly bottomless demand for holiday homes. RB Thomas Simple designs the key T T Sue Russell Based in Te Kuiti, certified builders R B Thomas Ltd has established a new brand, Affordable Homes Waikato, to provide high-quality, cost-effective, small-footprint homes, which company owner Jake Thomas says are very much needed if the aim to have more people living in safe, comfortable houses is ever to be achieved. “My wife Faye and I are establishing Affordable Homes Waikato as our way of contributing to the housing solution. We’re in the process of setting up this dedicated brand for new homes based on simple designs we developed with our architect. It’s fortunate that council is very supportive of new housing in this district,” he says. The Kirikiriroa plan Jake has developed offers three bedrooms, with the master having its own ensuite at one end of the home, a comfortable dining/living space in the centre and bathroom, laundry and two bedrooms at the other end. The kitchen even includes a good-sized scullery. “We’ve attempted to make the very best use of space in a home designed for efficient construction.” To help the process of establishing the brand, Jake approached his team of subbies asking them, from their specific speciality, what elements they would include in a home. This seemed a logical way to arrive at the very best outcome in terms of design and materials used. “I just said to them, if you were building a home for your mother as cost-effective as possible, but really good quality, how would you go about this. “t’s meant we’ve got really smart around the use of aluminium joinery, plumbing, electrical elements in these builds and that’s where the value for money comes in.” Aside from this new initiative, as its core activity, R B Thomas Ltd targets renovations. Working with Jake are two other builders, one new to building, who came through the school Gateway programme, an initiative Jake says works very well. “When you start out on renovations and the like in your building journey it is initially very challenging, but you become a better builder for it in time. “I could teach anyone to build a new house, but you don’t get the same variety of challenges when you have to match your work to an existing structure.” Jake says he enjoys the challenges that come with restoration, recladding and repurposing spaces. “It’s great to see what a difference we can make to a much-loved home that just needs modernising to breathe new life into it.” Prior to moving to Te Kuiti, a town Jake says is full of potential and a great place to call home, he and wife Faye were living in Cambridge. He says housing affordability was what brought them down to the town, though they still work in Cambridge and Te Awamutu. 02 74 7 1 2 2 47 matarangipl umbing@gmai l .com 1 matarangipl umbing@gmai l .com Based in Whitianga Proudly Supporting BJOLI Builders 10 Dakota Drive Whitianga 0800 Dominator office@domwhitianga.co.nz “Proudly supplying our local builders” On the Coromandel Peninsula Peter Lloyd Roofing Ltd Peter Lloyd Roo ng is proud to support RB Thomas 717 Morrinsville Road, RD6, Hamilton 3286 P: 07 829 5322 M: 027 246 5228 E: peter_lloyd12@hotmail.com Fascia • Spouting • Long Run Roofing • Wall Cladding Transform Your Space with Waikato’s Premier Renovation Experts Projects on spec, on time, on budget. Every time. 0800 722 736 contact@rbt.co.nz rbt.co.nz
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