From a young age I knew I wasn’t going to be following the pathway of my siblings and parents who all ran farming operations - my interests were centred around building and design.

A solid education gained from the local schools helped bring out the career pathway I was to pursue. Being able to use the technical drawing experience alongside wood working seemed a natural fit which eventually led to the establishment of my own building business immediately following my carpentry apprenticeship.

Starting my own business right after the 1987 stock market crash meant work was hard fought for, so to be able to offer a point of difference by drawing the plans meant I had a real tangible advantage over the competition. This proved a successful model eventually taking me into the Wellington market where work was coming easy and the size of our crew grew to accommodate the work.

After building around 80 odd inner-city apartments it was time to invest in some property closer to home - in fact over my back fence where a request from my neighbour to build a wall on the boundary led to a discussion to purchase the block. This was somewhat typical of how opportunities have presented and been taken throughout our journey.  I had never set out a business plan for where I wanted to go with our business but rather, I was keen to explore opportunities that kept popping up in front of me. This particular opportunity introduced me to a retirement village development. Before long I was committed to a 36-unit retirement village in Levin the same year I married Bridget in 1998. This little village took a bit to get going but we eventually sold all units - then before long we had sold the whole lot to a village company who were looking to expand their holding.

Our focus as a company shifted to developing and building turn key lifestyle block properties starting with Western Rise - a small farm we purchased from family to supply the lifestyle option into a rather hot market. This period was rather fruitful and took us right through to the global financial crisis (GFC) at a good pace. Our development of Western Rise was almost complete when the GFC hit which put a stop to sales. A few tough years followed trying to shift the last two or three blocks/homes. The effects of the GFC were to last a good five years with district wide building numbers through the floor. However, downturns present opportunities and I was able to capitalise on a failed subdivision on the southern side of Shannon.

In 2013 we were running out of land to build on and I was looking for a sizeable development opportunity - not long after this a front-page news article declared that Kimberley Hospital was to be offered for tender after eight years under a claim. It didn’t take me too long to get excited about this opportunity and here we are now looking at an almost completed village of some 700 to 1000+ residents across nearly 619 homes.

Speldhurst has let us realise some pretty amazing local development opportunities and to have 1000 homes/units ahead of us is almost unimaginable. What a ride the next 15 years are going to be!

I look forward to sharing this experience with my wife and six children, my staff (currently around 150) and our wider family of support staff/subcontractors. The legacy of this company will be displayed around the district by the number of communities we create within it and the people who get to enjoy these spaces and those who have created them.