42 | Mana Scaffolding T T Russell Fredric Business partners share skills, ideas The pair makes up a complementary team with Terry handling design and Keith being operations controller. CONTRACTING Having directors with international experience, and being handpicked to construct a platform for the global Xbox console launch in Queenstown, Mana Scaffolding is living up to its name and reputation. The versatile Christchurch company is owned by Terry Pohatu and Keith Timmins, who worked in Canada and Alberta respectively, and the United Kingdom, before they started Mana Scaffolding in late 2019. Terry started scaffolding at the age of 17, gaining experience in New Zealand for about five years before working in Vancouver, British Columbia for eight years. He subsequently worked in oil fields in Alberta for three years before returning to New Zealand. “It was quite an eye-opener to the scope and size and the equipment available at that time. I was fortunate to work for a Kiwi-owned company over there, and they had a great range of scope of work.” This included residential, light, and heavy commercial, and events. “We were fortunate to deliver a lot of scope through the Winter Olympics in 2010 in Vancouver, and we did the Crankworx mountain bike expo in Whistler every year.” Keith hails from Wolverhampton, England, bringing 20 years’ experience to the business, and came to New Zealand in 2016 at about the same time as Terry and his family returned. “We met each other at another scaffold company that we both worked for, and we were presented a business opportunity late 2019 to purchase a company.” The pair makes up a complementary team that brings 45-plus years to the business and its clients, with Terry handling design and Keith being operations controller. “I believe that’s an advantage,” Terry says. “When it comes to pre-design or pre-proposal, it’s quite a luxury being able to bounce ideas off each other and support each other at the same time. We’re quite quick to see each other’s vision, or the way the other one’s looking at a potential problem.” Their skills came to the fore when approached about building a platform on the Queenstown waterfront, for the Xbox console launch in November 2020. Trees along the waterfront and in front of Eichardt’s Private Hotel and Fergburger were lit green to complement game play projected on to a 10-metre-high rectangular temporary structure built by Mana Scaffolding on Lake Wakatipu. Mana was offered the project through a Kiwi connection of Terry’s, who previously worked in events in Canada. The details of the Xbox launch were highly secretive and subject to non-disclosure agreement. “We went down to the site meeting for a reconnaissance on what they were trying to achieve and if it was practical to deliver.” To achieve what was needed a platform had to be built over the water, supported by a scaffolding structure secured to nine, onetonne concrete blocks on the lakebed. “It was one of those projects that required a lot, but the satisfaction, and especially the results of delivery too, were very satisfying.” The Xbox platform was shrink-wrapped to provide the projection surface with the same kind of material used for scaffolding encapsulation. In recent years Terry has seen a lot more encapsulated scaffolding in New Zealand, which offers the benefit of weather protection on projects and less interruption to a work programme. “Obviously there’s an extra cost that comes with it, but the benefits – depending on the project – outweigh the cost.” Selwyn Christchurch based builders specialising in: New Builds Decks Landscape Fencing Sheds Contact Us 021 029 44250 elementconstructionnwkd@gmail.com NICK GRIFFIN BUILDERDTL Mobile: 027 289 2214 Email nickgriffin@xtra.co.nz Architectural builders specialising in new homes, renovations and extensions
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