48 | Waitaki Business Awards: Plunket Electrical - Oamaru Kelly Deeks Company voted best trade business From left, Plunket Electrical’s Ryan Mountney, Mark Rawson and Josh Lewis with the Waitaki Business award. REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT redpaths.co.nz 0800 273 372 Suppliers of everything Electrical. We will help you create a winning culture, attract skilled workers and so much more! Oamaru Coquet Street, Oamaru 9400 03 433 0158 findex.co.nz Tradies Academy Dunedin 44 York Place, Central Dunedin Dunedin 9016 03 477 5790 IDEAL OAMARU ARE PROUD TO SUPPORT PLUNKET ELECTRICAL www.ideal.co.nz Phone: 03 983 5500 waterfordpress.co.nz Your Business, Your Industry, Your News. DO OUR READERS KNOW YOU EXIST? Plunket Electrical managing director Mark Rawson has passion for the industry and passion for people, and these combined see him running the best trade business in the Waitaki District, as voted by the public at the recent Waitaki Business Awards 2022. “This is really important for Oamaru, for our company, and for our people, and we are really thankful for it,” Mark says. “To have this voted by the public is fantastic. You don’t always know what people think about you. Yes we get complaints and yes we do things wrong, but it’s about how you fix it. You’ve got to be able to deal with it.” Mark says what is important to Plunket Electrical is customers, values, service, and support. “ If there’s a complaint or a query, we like to deal with them quickly and move on. It’s always been my motto that we go back to the next job for our customers.” Plunket Electrical has been servicing North Otago, Waitaki Valley, South Canterbury, and Mackenzie Basin since 1942. Started in Oamaru by local electrical industry stalwart Maurice Plunket, the business was built on good relationships and high quality work. Mike Rawson and Kerry Vincent bought Plunket Electrical in 1976, Robbie Julius joined in 1979, then Mike’s son Mark and his partner Kelly O’Driscoll bought into the business in 2001, allowing Plunket Electrical to open a second branch in Timaru. Mark and Kelly bought the business outright in 2014. “We cover all aspects of electrical servicing in residential, rural, commercial, and industrial sectors, and we cover a vast area from Palmerston to Christchurch. Training apprentices is a huge part of our business, with 13 apprentices in Oamaru alone, so the variety in our workload is great to get them the experience they need.” Training at Plunket Electrical is a team effort and everyone has some input, right down to the administrators chasing up their time sheets. “This is really important for Oamaru, for our company, and for our people, and we are really thankful for it,” “There is a severe shortage of tradespeople, especially electricians, plumbers, and builders, and if we don’t train, we won’t have sparkies to come into the industry,’ Mark says. “We’ve got our eye on the future, and I want to make this company 200 years old.” Plunket Electrical casts its net wide outside the region to take on new staff, and targets people looking for a lifestyle change with the chance to live the dream in Oamaru. “Oamaru and the Waitaki District is an absolute paradise. We live by the sea in a town with award winning restaurants, breweries, and Victorian streetscapes, with prestigious schools, fantastic sports clubs, a welcoming community, and affordable housing, so close to rivers, lakes and mountains for hunting, fishing, camping and watersports, and New Zealand’s longest and most spectacular Alps to Ocean cycle trail, and located centrally to areas like Dunedin, Queenstown, Tekapo, and Christchurch. We’ve got everything here you could want.” Mark says small towns are fantastic places to run a business too, with caring communities and plenty of recognition available for a job well done. Mark has now been voted in as vice president of the Master Electricians Electrical Contractors Association of New Zealand (ECANZ). He is excited about getting more heavily involved in the industry and says at 47 years old, he brings a younger perspective and some fresh ideas. “Member benefits is a really important one, making sure we are doing the best we can possibly do just to look after our members. I’m just a little guy in a little town but I love being part of the network. I want our members to know there is someone here who is willing to help for the whole industry.”
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