| 95 T T Hugh de Lacy Apprentice takes business to new heights Most of Keith Paton Joinery’s work these days is in high-quality kitchens and cabinetry for both new and existing upmarket homes. JOINERY Keith Paton Joinery The man himself may have retired after 40 years in the business, but Cambridge’s Keith Paton Joinery continues to serve the wider Waikato community under the ownership of Keith’s former apprentice, Jamie Harding. Jamie and his schoolteacher wife Bailey bought the business off Keith in 2021, taking over the 300qsm showroom and workshop at Carters Flat so Keith could retire. Jamie started a joinery apprenticeship with Keith fresh out of school, sticking with him after coming out of his time in 2018, during which he distinguished himself by winning the Highest Achievement Award in Stage Two Cabinetry. When Keith hired a consultant to help him ease his way out of his long-established business, Jamie, who by this time had been promoted to foreman, put his hand up as a possible buyer, an outcome that suited both parties. “I probably couldn’t have picked a worse time to take over the company than I did: two months later the second Covid lockdown came along and that was a kick in the guts, but we pulled through,” Jamie says. Jamie’s employed the same advisor Keith had used to plan the business’s future, and they came up with the idea of investing $100,000 in a new CNC cutting machine, a WDMAX DN-3409DE. “It was a pretty hefty outlay at the time, just a couple of years after Bailey and I had bought the business, but it’s paid off big-time, more than paying for itself in saved time,” Jamie says. “A job that would take two hours to cut and drill on the old equipment we inherited from Keith can now be done in 15 minutes, which releases my guys – I’ve got three qualified tradesmen working with me – to spend their time more productively. “The new machine has a 10-spindle drilling head that speeds up that side of the cabinet-making operation, and an automatic tool change facility that chops more time out of the process.” Earlier this year Jamie added another arm to the business, buying another joinery company that does a lot of commercial work, giving him a slice of that market. “It also means that when one of the businesses is flat-out we can bounce off each other,” he says. Most of Keith Paton Joinery’s work these days is in high-quality kitchens and cabinetry for both new and existing upmarket homes, of which Cambridge is richly endowed. “Houses here tend to be in the $3m to $4m market range, and they continue to be built round here in small numbers despite the overall downturn in the housing industry elsewhere, though for the past year or two the bulk of our work has come from renovations,” Jamie says. One factor in the steady workflow has been Kaith Paton Joinery’s association with local residential building company Transportable Homes. “They build homes of all sizes, anything up to 300sqm; we fit them out with kitchen and bathroom cabinetry here in Cambridge or onsite and they transport them in large pieces,” Jamie says. “The new machine has a 10-spindle drilling head that speeds up that side of the cabinet-making operation, and an automatic tool change facility that chops more time out of the process.” Attention to detail, reliability, and experience P 021 577 082 E info@fvdab.co.nz W www.fvbui ld.co.nz Award winning Master Builders National supreme award winning builder 2023 New Builds + Renovations Residential, Commercial, Rural Services Your Local Registered Electricians With an eye for finesse and a friendly attitude, Cambridge Electrical have the experience and professionalism in meeting your electrical needs. RESIDENTIAL | NEW BUILD | COMMERCIAL | RENOVATION | MAINTENANCE | RURAL 07 823 1500 office@cambridgeelectrical.co.nz cambridgeelectrical.co.nz
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