58 | Engineering Repairs (2012) Ltd T T Hugh de Lacy Three generations of experience Ashburton based Engineering repairs has grown into general engineering and the manufacture of earthmoving attachments. Other specialised equipment includes hedge cutters and tree toppers. REGIONAl DEVELOPMENT Three generations of Mid-Canterbury’s Hunt family are behind the heavy machinery repair and manufacturing business Engineering Repairs Ltd. With a current staff of 22 qualified tradespeople working in its two big workshops in Ashburton, Engineering Repairs has a major stake in the wider Canterbury transport and agricultural sector. The company is descended from the engineering workshop of Burnetts Transport/Construction, an Ashburton company that no longer operates but for years ran an earthmoving and transport repair and maintenance facility, overseen by Henry Hunt, as part of its regular business. Burnett’s later sold the engineering facility to Henry Hunt’s son Gavin who went on to employ a handful of family members, including his brother Colin and Colin’s son Matt. Matt and Colin then bought the business off Gavin in 2012, and both continue to be involved in the day-to-day running of it. Engineering Repairs continues to carry out transport and heavy machinery repairs, but has also grown into general engineering and the manufacture of earthmoving attachments, fertilizer spreaders – both trucks and tow-behinds – and transport truck and trailer bodies. We’ve grown from our maintenance roots to become a leading Canterbury provider of specialised engineering requirements for a range of industries, from transport and earthmoving through to waste management and agriculture,” Matt Hunt says. “We’ve got a strong regular client base for both aspects of our business, including many leading companies in Mid-Canterbury and further afield. “We are always keen to tackle projects of all types and sizes, with our team of top-quality fabricators and welders capable of turning out bespoke, high-quality solutions,” he says. Matt left high school to join Gavin’s firm alongside its skilled team and established his creds under them as a heavy machinery engineer. Colin joined the team in 2005, bringing with him many years of experience in heavy earthmoving engineering and manufacturing. And at the moment the business is steady, despite the nationwide economic downturn, and is jammed up with work for the immediate future. “We’re flat out at the moment, but overall business has been patchy,” Matt says. “It’s no problem, of course: we specialise in urgent repairs and would prefer to get straight onto them.” Engineering Repairs is poised to expand to meet any lasting surge in the market, but Matt thinks the current slow period could last till at least until the end of this year. Among the other specialised equipment the company manufactures and repairs are forestry-specified digger attachments and protection, recycling/waste compactors, hedge cutters and tree-toppers, and roadwork equipment. Engineering Repairs services include CNC plasma cutting, a full machine shop with CNC lathes and matching centre, hydraulic cylinder repairs and re-builds, and transport repairs to LT400 requirements. “With the experience of three generations in the business behind us, we’ve become a goto destination for such work,” Matt says. Mid-Canterbury is becoming a growing hub for businesses like Engineering Services, given the steady growth of the region’s pastoral and arable farming, backed up more intensive forms of agriculture from horticulture to viticulture. PROUD TO SUPPORT ENGINEERING REPAIRS (2012) LTD
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