| 95 BUILDING JB Allan Builders JB ALLAN BUILDERS T T Hugh de Lacy Demand drives growth in Motueka JB Allan Builders specialises in architecturally designed homes but also takes on work across the residential spectrum. “The company today is just the right size, both for the market and our own sustainability.” There was such demand for Jamie Allan’s work in his hometown of Motueka that his JB Allan Builders company burgeoned to 13 full-time staff before Jamie said “Enough’s enough,” and scaled the operation back to its present six, including himself. Jamie’s reputation as a quality builder grew from his entering the residential construction as a carpentry apprentice fresh out of school at 16, working under the guidance of Roger Kenning of local firm Roger Kenning Builders. Jamie continued working for Roger for a further 15 years before finally launching out on his own as JB Allan Building in 2016. Roger, who has since sold his business and gone into retirement, was hugely respected in the Nelson district as a builder, and much of that rubbed off on Jamie, who has now racked up 25 years in the industry, building as solid a reputation as his one-time mentor. “We specialise in architecturally designed homes, and we generally have a couple of jobs on the go at a time across Richmond, Motueka, Abel Tasman and Golden Bay,” Jamie says. “We regularly build houses under contract to Mike Greer Homes – three last year alone – and another for the Nelson firm, Design and Build, and we’ve got a large renovation job in Kaiteriteri at the moment.” A much-valued, year-on-year client is Wilson’s Abel Tasman, a company operating two tourist lodges in Abel Tasman National Park. JB Allan Builders’ task every year is to spend two weeks in the park doing maintenance on the lodges: the original Meadowbank Station homestead, built by William Hadfield in 1884, and the beachfront Torrent Bay Lodge, a refurbished cottage. “It gives the boys two or three weeks up there working away in the park, and they appreciate it,” Jamie says. Though his reputation ensures the work would be there if he wanted it, Jamie is adamant he’s not looking to expand his company – he’s been down that road before. “I know what I’m comfortable with, and having more than a dozen staff as I did once was just too stressful, verging on the unmanageable at times,” he says. “The company today is just the right size, both for the market and our own sustainability: big enough to take on several projects at a time, but small, flexible and manageable enough to be run like a family business with the focus firmly on quality. “Our particular forte is the architecturally designed home, but we build right across the residential spectrum and extend into light commercial as well.” Jamie sees the residential housing market as being in a state of recovery from its recent softness, though the uncertainty created by the war in Iran isn’t helping. “That said, I’ve never had to advertise, most of our work coming by word of mouth, and it’s hugely satisfying to see the houses round here that I’ve built. From where I’m sitting right now, I can see five of them.”
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=