Business South March 2021

| 111 BUILDING Tasman - Build Picton A ‘small town’ approach to building T T Kelly Deeks Build Picton is completing new homes as well, with an architecturally designed home currently under construction at Redwood Pass. S teve Sharpe of Marlborough construc- tion firm and renovation specialist Build Picton takes a small town approach to his business, doing a good quality job for a fair price, and making the people he works for happy. “I’m from a small Central Otago town called Glenorchy, and there were 16 kids at my school,” he says. “That small town approach is what I want to bring into Build Picton. “We want to make sure the people we meet and the people we work for are happy and are going to remain our friends for the foreseea- ble future.” Even down to the loyalty shown to the sub- contractors Build Picton uses. They are small, local businesses, and if they do a good job, Build Picton continues to use them. Steve shifted from Queenstown to Marl- borough 10 years ago, having completed his apprenticeship working first on large commer- cial projects with lots of concrete and lots of tilt panels, then moving on to cottage builders completing new homes and renovation pro- jects. “That’s given me a very good grounding into the whole industry, and building is a massive industry,” he says. “I feel sorry for some of the apprentices today, working for group housing companies, they only experience a fraction of what the trade is about.” As well as a variety of experience, Steve brings with him some sound advice from his apprenticeship days. “The guy who trained me always told me a person’s home is the biggest investment of their life, and it needs to be treated with the respect it deserves. We take that ethos into the work we do, and it shows.” Steve started Build Picton three years ago, starting by himself with one other staff mem- ber doing contract roofing and renovations, and by delivering good outcomes, got really busy really quickly. A steep growth curve has seen the company now grow to six staff, two of them taken on at the end of last year as demand continues to increase in the renovation sector post-Covid, while people can’t travel overseas. Build Picton is completing new homes as well, with an architecturally designed home currently under construction at Redwood Pass near Blenheim. “We work all around Marlborough, we worked in the Sounds in the winter building decks on to jetties for DOC. The variety is what makes Marlborough such a special place to live and work. “One day you’re building a new house in town, the next you’re building a jetty in the middle of the Sounds, and that the cool thing about living here.” But it’s the renovations that offer the chal- lenge Steve craves. A current project has Build Picton renovat- ing two 1950s flats in Picton, with the engineer specifying repairs required to earthquake damaged concrete. “We got that sorted out, then we got under the floor and found some rotten joints. We’ve had to climb under there and put in a row of piles, and that’s the work of a specialist. “Those awkward jobs require someone who knows what they’re doing, someone who’s been there and done it before.” We pride ourselves on Service & Reliability For all your scaffolding & propping requirements both Residential & Commercial PROUD TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH BUILD PICTON