78 | New home, renovation experts Erin and Elise Pope hand over another completed home to happy clients. Pope Homes T T Sue Russell BUILDING Erin and Elise Pope own and operate Rotorua-based Pope Homes, establishing the business 20 years ago. They began working in surrounding rural districts while living in Ngakuru, undertaking farm building projects then concentrating on growing their residential new home/large alteration portfolio. “Back when we started there were a lot of one and two man building teams working in Rotorua, so we put a lot of time and energy into establishing connections and building business that way. It took us a good five years to build the business up well,” says Elise. Joining the NZ Certified Builders association in 2006 was a good decision, creating a strong platform for information, for and learning about contract structure. In fact for the past five years Erin has occupied the seat of President of the local Certified Builders. “He enjoys that work. It’s a great way to connect with other builders and suppliers. Erin, along with Lee-anne, their office administrator organise regular breakfasts for our local NZCB members which also supports local businesses. “We are very big on shopping local”. They really value being part of the organisation and believe it adds trust and assurance to their clients to know that they are in good hands!” Through COVID work continued well, however, the perennial issues of price increases and supply delays has had quite an impact says Elise. “Post COVID issues have certainly bought challenges. Having honest and transparent relationships with clients is vital. Communication is the key!” Providing clients with additional support in order to get their project over the line is important too. Elise says most people have been realistic and are well informed when making big decisions. Work has been steadily busy and when Business North spoke with Elise late June, they had three new homes nearing completion. “We’ve also got a couple of large alterations on the go, one just completed and a new home in the design phase going through Council as well as other projects in the pipeline.” A somewhat unusual project that Pope Homes is currently doing is the large-scale refurbishment of a 100 room hotel in town. There is also other refurbishment work planned for Rotorua hotels post covid-isolation. Pope Homes currently employs 10 staff, including two part-time administrators. Included in this number are five senior qualified licensed building practitioners and two thirdyear apprentices and a hammer hand. “We had been advertising for some time for an additional qualified carpenter and were very fortunate to have recently recruited a builder who had relocated here from Hawke’s Bay.” Apprentices are students with Te Pukenga NZ Institute of Skills and Technology t/a BCITO. Elise says they like this model of learning; training on site and keeping a record of learning which is logged into an online portal. “A training advisor visits every five or six months to check off progress and gain a sense of where the apprentice is at, offer support and to set new goals. On the ground they are mentored by our senior builders and we’ve found this balance works very well.” They solidly believe that a cohesive team who feel valued is the key to maintaining a healthy and positive working environment. “In the past five or so years we’ve become quite engaged with the rural sector building farmers’ forever homes.” We’ve been fortunate to build some beautiful homes on some equally beautiful landscapes and appreciate the stunning views. Elise is one of the part-time administrators in a more ‘behind the scenes’ role managing payroll, paying the bills, and completing the accounts while Lee-anne takes care of more of the compliance and council related work and keeps tabs on subcontractors! Erin’s role is to oversee the general day to day management of the business and to support the project manager and site foreman. “I meet with potential clients and link them with our preferred architects. In fact about 50% of clients make contact first with Erin before an architect, which is definitely an advantage for the overall success of the design and planning stage for people,” Erin explains. Both Erin and Elise say they are pleased with what they have achieved and the point at which the business is now at 20 years since beginning. As a family focused business they say the values they carry into the business have been a large part of why they continue to succeed in a competitive environment. 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