48 | Rapid growth behind purpose-built facility The Hautapu warehouse facility provide more space for staff, vehicles, and stock and also provide capability for future growth. CONTRACTING Comins Plumbing T T Kelly Deeks STRUCTURAL ANDCIVIL ENGINEERING Registered Chartered Professional Engineer Kearney Consulting Ltd was founded by Ian Kearney in 2019 to provide a more personalized structural engineering consultancy service. All our client’s project structural design and documentation requirements are taken care of directly by myself as the principal CPEng Registered Engineer and Director or an associate Registered Chartered Professional Engineer with senior level experience. STRUCTURAL AND CIVIL CONSULTING ENGINEERS Consulting Ltd E kearney.engineer@gmail.com M 021 269 5441 W kearneyconsulting.co.nz For all your bathroom and plumbing requirements, specialist knowledge and expertise, talk to our experienced team today. PlumbingWorld Hamilton plumbingworld.co.nz Proud to support Comins Plumbing &Gas Leaders in Commercial & Residential Construction 07 848 1101 | constructltd.co.nz | info@constructltd.co.nz - Proud to be building Comins new workshop - A new premises for Comins Plumbing at Hautapu brings the company a range of new efficiencies, setting it up to cope a bit more comfortably with what could be some tough times ahead. Started in 2003 by Joe Comins, Comins Plumbing offers a multitude of services to commercial, industrial, and residential clients for existing and new builds, including plumbing and drainage reticulation systems, gas fitting, fireplaces, and central heating. Over the years, Comins Plumbing has rapidly expanded to a talented team of 25. It has grown out of two locations in Cambridge and moved to its purpose-built facility at Hautapu at the beginning of July. With a diverse client and project base, its new building needed to provide more space for staff, vehicles, and stock and also provide capability for future growth both for the business and the industry. “We went from 1000sqm to 3200sqm, with more offices, more space for our staff, and more room in the yard for them to get in and out,” Joe says. “This is a great location for us. Being close to the highway is really important as we have a lot of customers in Hamilton, and it helps us get on that State Highway really quickly. We have definitely gained some efficiencies with that.” The new Waikato expressway means Comins Plumbing can get to Hamilton projects in similar timeframes as other businesses in Hamilton. “It has opened up doors for competition and for business. We believe it will help us immensely in the future.” With forecasts of a predicted turndown in the industry, running a more efficient business will be key going forward to maintain and grow the business. Joe says the past three years have been pretty manic thanks to the post-Covid construction boom, and Comins Plumbing’s turnover has been up by 40-50% for the past two years. “With that comes issues,” he says. “Balancing work loads to keep our existing and new clients happy has been stressful at times due to the large increase in demand in such a short time. It’s been the same for most trades in the country, but that’s coming to a stop now and we are in for some more normal times ahead.” Joe has already made his way through the Global Financial Crisis which started when his business was only five years old. “The GFC was brutal. We were coming to work with literally not one job. We got there but very slowly; it took until about 2011/2012 before the workflow became steady again.” During the good times, Joe has managed to future-proof his business by replacing his whole fleet during the past three years, so when things get tight, he won’t have to try to replace vehicles. In fact he could go for another four or five years before having to replace a vehicle. “That was something I was pretty hot on,” he says. “I’ve resisted the urge to remove too much capital from the business and have invested a fair bit back into the business instead. Now I’ve got a good reliable fleet and up to date plant so I’m not expecting any unforeseen costs with those.” Comins Plumbing’s new premises has offered another belt-tightening measure, with the increased amount of space allowing for more accurate inventory control. “We’re checking existing stocks before making any unnecessary purchases which will mean we wont have as much capital tied up in stock.” “This is a great location for us. Being close to the highway is really important as we have a lot of customers in Hamilton, and it helps us get on that State Highway really quickly.”
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