Business North October 2021

24 | Heron Construction MARINA INDUSTRY Family at the core of firm’s success Richard Loader Raw material: 3000t of basalt rock arriving into Napier after a trip down the coast from Whangārei. YOUR #1 SOLUTION FOR NATIONWIDE LOGISTICS Quality fabrication for industrial and domestic use Marine engineering: additions, repairs and innovations! Pipe manufacturing and installations One o s or production runs (09) 438 8860 info@ept.nz www.ept.nz 7 Hewlett Street, Whangarei Design and creation of unique parts for any purpose For all your mobile hydraulic crane requirements Northland wide 10 tonne rough terrain crane to 130 tonne all-terrain cranes available. Locally owned & operated www.atlascranes.co.nz 25 Gumdigger Place, Whangarei T here is an age-old adage that the suc- cess of a business is about having good people —they are a business’s greatest asset, and that is absolutely true of family owned and operated Heron Construction. From the moment in 1964 when Dutch immigrant Willem Kroef founded the bones of the business, a strong work ethic chiselled a reputation for getting the job done and done well. “You can buy as many pieces of good plant as you like, but unless you have the right people operating that plant and managing the projects you wont last very long at all,” says Greg Kroef, the current Managing Director and whose ‘Opa’ started the business. “The involvement of the successive directors has also been a key to the company’s success. While at 76 my father is semi-retired, up until two years ago he would still be in the work- shop or yard working every day. “My uncle at 71 is still there every day — if he’s not driving a truck he’s driving a crane. That work ethic has been instilled into my brother and myself as we grew up.” From its roots building concrete pump sta- tions, culverts and bridges, in the late ‘60s Her- on Construction got into dredging using cutter suction dredges working on projects in rivers, lakes and harbours and was involved in the building of many of New Zealand’s marinas between the 1970s and 90s. There was also a pipe thrusting division for sewer and storm water where pipes would be thrust deep under hills, railway tracks and even a Fijian runway in the early ’70s. Progressively the business focused more on the marine side of things getting into bigger dredges, plant and equipment and expand- ing into tugs and bigger barges, bringing the business to where it is now. In 2018 the company bought a shipyard in Whangārei. Called Heron Ship Repair, the yard boasts a large 1800-tonne commercial slipway where it maintains tugs, barges, fishing ves- sels and ferries. “Essentially we support the marine industry throughout New Zealand,” says Greg. “With our work on marinas we offer a turn- key solution where we can do the dredging, build and install pontoons through our marine construction divisions.” Earlier this year Heron Construction completed a major reclamation project for Westhaven Marina.