50 | ENGINEERING ET Engineering T T Richard Loader Structural steel key part of business Since taking ownership of a well-established Richmond based general and structural engineering business in early 2018, Charlie Brownrigg has maintained a strong forward momentum in the business’s growth and evolution. “Our first step was to rebrand as ET Engineering 2018 Ltd, which is a nod to the first initials of the original two owners who formed the business in 1997,” says Charlie. “Last Christmas we also took the opportunity to relocate from the original Beach Road site, to Main Road in Hope, which is just on the edge of Richmond on State Highway 6, and has fantastic access. “The new site gives us a 1400sqm workshop — five times the size of the old one — and has 2000 square metres of yard space. There’s huge opportunity, and potential to grow, particularly in regard to our growing structural steel projects.” From its early beginnings, the original business developed a strong reputation for work within the logging industry, and building towbars and trailers within the local community. When Charlie took the business over it has already complemented general engineering with work in the structural sector, accounting for about 50% of the business. “We have continued to develop the structural sector, as we see that as a real growth area for the business. We have now ordered a structural steel Beam Line, which is a CNC plasma cutter, from Italy, to support that growth. No other engineering business in the Top of the South has one of these machines. With the growth of the structural engineering part of our business, we have decided to rebrand to IFC Steel Ltd and are now well in the process of doing that. The new name will be supported with a new logo. This process will be completed in the coming weeks.” Employing a team of ten, including a mix of tradesmen and three apprentices, ET Engineering’s (IFC Steel) projects are predominantly based in the Nelson/Tasman region, extending to Marlborough and the West Coast. Charlie, a qualified aircraft engineer by trade, acknowledges the importance of training apprentices, saying that it is very hard to find good qualified tradesmen. “For the last few years the apprentices have carried us along just as much as the tradesmen. We have been quite selective in who we take on and have had some very good apprentices.” While work within the structural steel sector is a key part of the business, Charlie says the company’s general engineering roots have not been forgotten and play a very important role in the business. Proudly supporting ET Engineering www.tdca.co.nz | richmond@tdca.co.nz PROUDLY SUPPORTING ET ENGINEERING
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