32 | Hopper Construction REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Expertise to the fore The Pauanui Waterways Canal Housing Development has involved Hopper Construction throughout the 30 years of its development, valued at $50 million and completed this year. T T Hugh de Lacy Since Leigh Hopper decided to revive the company in 1994 after it had been in hiatus for 20 years, Guy Jones has guided Orewa-based Hopper Construction into one of Auckland’s most experienced and highly regarded greenfields residential construction companies, with particular skills in the coastal marine environment. As Managing Director, Guy and Hopper Construction undertake civil construction contracts for Hopper Developments, with both companies owned by shareholders among the Hopper family. Guy’s wife Debbie Jones is the daughter of one of the four founding Hopper Brothers of Hopper Brothers Group, and is a cousin of Leigh Hopper, a major shareholder. Hopper Construction has leveraged its expertise in residential developments to the point where today it employs 60-to-65 people administered by nine staff at the Orewa head office. The company has a one-hectare block in Dairy Flat that’s currently under development as a depot/workshop with a staff of 19, and another base in Whitianga with a staff of 28. Rounding out the operation is a small depot at One Tree Point in Northland which has a staff of around six. “We maintain similar plant and equipment throughout the various locations that enable us to undertake general civil construction works that include, but are not limited to, bulk earthworks, stormwater and waste-water reticulation, road and pavement construction, landscaping, utilities installation and all general contracting works associated with residential, commercial and industrial developments,” Guy says. “We’ve got specialised equipment based at both our Coromandel and Northland locations, including de-watering equipment for canal developments. “We’re the only civil construction company in New Zealand involved in the construction works associated with Canal Housing Developments, and, besides work for the Hopper Developments group of companies, we do a vast range of outside work for other developers and councils.” Guy has been involved in the construction industry for 30 years, starting out in the trenches and on the machines, but for the past 15 to 20 years he’s been “entrenched in the office with managing the company, tendering, and client/contractor relationships,” he says. Hopper Construction’s range of major completed projects includes the Sandsprit Marina development for the society of that name, which between 2014 and 2016 involved the dredging of 100,000m3 of material to form a marina basin, followed by construction work for the carpark, timber walkways, erosion and sediment controls, and the supply and installation of the marina piles. The Pauanui Waterways Canal Housing Development has involved Hopper Construction throughout the 30 years of its development, valued at $50 million and completed this year. Other past projects have included the $26m Beaches Development at Matarangi comprising 350 lots and featuring three large lakes. In Masterton, the company in 2015 completed a three-years and $32m upgrade of the district council’s waste-water plant. Other projects it has worked on include the Whitianga Waterways Canal and Marsden Cove Canal housing developments, both of which have been multi-year jobs beginning in 2001 and 2006 respectively, plus residential 09 530 8906 www.stonemasons.co.nz sales@stonemasons.co.nz NEW ZEALAND’S LEADING STONEMASONS
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