| 83 T T Sue Russell Newmachines bring time, cost benefits Superior Excavation was nominated as a finalist in this year’s Horizon Energy Group Business Excellence Awards 2024. Superior Excavation CONTRACTING Leigh and Kiri Carter established Superior Excavation in 2005. Based in Whakatane in the Eastern Bay of Plenty region, the business provides specialist earthmoving and contracting services right across the region. When Business North spoke with Kiri in August, she admitted that winter presents as somewhat of a challenge, impacting both the earthmoving and the landscaping-supply divisions in equal measure. “This is something we are used to. We don’t have a huge number of staff, with currently seven of us, so there’s enough work to keep that number busy,” Kiri says. She is based daily at the company’s depot, which doubles as the landscaping-supply space. Having the two arms to the business makes sense, Kiri says as given the types of projects they get involved in, they complement each other. Leigh is actively engaged in the earth-moving division, a sector he is passionate about. He started back in 2005 with just one digger, then a year later he purchased a truck, and he has gradually increased the fleet so the company now offers the latest and widest range of earthmoving and excavation services and equipment in the area. “We have GPS and laser technology on the earthmoving gear, bringing the benefit that land isn’t being worked over twice unnecessarily,” Kiri says, “which results in a quicker job, more efficient work and savings for customers and lowering carbon emissions into the environment.” Leigh and Kiri are happy with what has been achieved over these past nearly two decades. “We’ve got a great team working with us and we’re fairly full-on with industry training and training on the machines. You find that everyone has a particular machine they most enjoy, and we’ve encouraged our team to be versatile, really skilled machinery operators and to pursue their particular interests,” Kiri says. Asked whether they were looking for more staff at this time, having employed their most recent team member back in June, Kiri says they would be interested in growing their number as demand and opportunity presents. “Despite the new housing market being slow, we have been busy of late with work in Whakatane, so that we haven’t needed to travel for work. Around these parts there’s a lot of kiwifruit development and farm work we get involved in.” The landscaping-supply business is expanding all the time, based on the fact that there’s a willingness to give any product a go to test the market’s response. “We supply a variety of barks, mulches, topsoil, compost, riverstones, decorative stones, peastraw, pongas, sleepers, and we will be stocking pavers too. With Leigh involved in preparing house sites, to have the landscaping offering as well works really well for us.” Kiri says that if customers want to undertake major developments on their sections, there are some very good local landscapers they recommend. Superior Excavation was nominated as a finalist in this year’s Horizon Energy Group Business Excellence Awards 2024, which was a real thrill for them to be considered, Kiri says. The company went on to take out the Productivity People Ltd Impactful Medium Business Award. Kiri sums up their reaction: “Entering the awards has been a huge learning and growth opportunity for us both personally, and also within our local business community. Our success is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our team, as well as the support of our valued customers and clients.” “ This award celebrates our efforts in outstanding customer service, innovation, growth, community involvement, sustainability, and how we care for our people, and it inspires us to continue striving for excellence in all that we do. We look forward to building on this achievement and contributing even more to our vibrant local economy.” Leigh says that with the economy the way it is currently, he and Kiri and the team are happy just working through the next six months or so, to see how demand picks up. “We’ve just decided to construct a new shed at our yard. Currently, we’ve got containers with a shelter extending between them, so it will be good to have a new shed with a proper office area included.” “We have GPS and laser technology on the earthmoving gear, bringing the benefit that land isn’t being worked over twice unnecessarily. 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