| 65 Craig and Les Black. RURAL SERVICES » Kings Mechanical Bicycle repairs were also a large part of the operation in the days before motorised transport became the norm. John’s son Leslie was brought into the partnership in 1970 and after many decades of successful operation, and now aged 77, he is now looking at semi-retirement, leasing out Black’s Garage to Craig and Abby and continuing to work for them. “Les, or Blackie as he’s known by the locals, is an absolute gem,” Abby says. “He has a wealth of local knowledge and there isn’t a farmer he doesn’t know, or a vehicle he doesn’t know. We are so happy we can help him stay working in Orawia without all the stress of owning the business.” Kings Mechanical and Black’s Garage have worked together a lot due to the proximity of Kings Mechanical’s Pukemaori workshop, sharing customers and looking after their requirements together. Black’s Garage now adds cars and light vehicle repairs, servicing, and Warrants of Fitness to King’s Mechanical’s heavy transport and machinery service, maintenance, Certificates of Fitness, and mechanical and engineering services. “We do a lot of work for the rural sector, looking after all the heavy farm equipment and trucks, and now we can look after their cars as well,” Abby says. Craig has recently upskilled himself and gained his Warrant of Fitness vehicle inspector’s certification to allow him to support Les at Black’s Garage. Craig and Abby continue to build Kings Mechanical up on its firm foundations and they look forward to doing the same with Black’s Garage. With workshops in Invercargill, Pukemaori, Riverton, and Otautau, and running the daily freight service between Invercargill and Tuatapere, servicing the local community is a huge driver for the couple. So is the provision of employment opportunities for people from the local community where possible. PH ALEX 021 277 5308 HOME 03 225 5377 www.alexreidcontracting.co.nz Aerating • Direct Drilling • Ridging • Mulching • Strip Till Planting Paddock Cultivation from Ploughing to Sowing Dry Hire available Sheep Conveyor (Drenching, Vaccination etc) • 3 way draft Dairy Lane Maintenance • Tip Trailers • Vibrating Roller • Effluent Services Large Skid Steer for calf shed cleaning, loading Muck Spreaders etc ( 4 Muck Spreaders) • 16,000 litre Slurry Tanker • Pond Stirrer • Umbilical Slurry System Currently running 17 staff across the four workshops and five apprentice, training is a huge focus for Craig, who completed his own apprenticeship at DT King and Co. “Craig knows if he doesn’t pass the knowledge on to the young ones, it will just disappear. So he’s really staunch on teaching our apprentices and more than happy to give back to the industry.”
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