Waikato Business News November/December 2019

32 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS November/December 2019
SMITH & SONS
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Smith and Sons Hamilton win accolade
From page 31
Phillip who is also a qualified
builder and licensed building
practitioner. They usually
have eight or nine carpenters
working on projects at any
given time.
“We’re very particular
about who we take on,”
Charlie Robinson says. “We
require a high level of craftsmanship.
We often need our
carpenters to have those ‘old
school’ skills, particularly
when they’re working on
100-year-old villas, and other
older buildings. But we also
take on apprentices and are
happy to take on builders who
are keen to learn a variety of
new skills.”
Smith and Sons offer a
complete design, plan and
build package. “In the first
instance we’ll talk to the customer,
discuss what they want
and their intended budget,”
Charlie says. “We’ll then
bring in the designer to do an
initial plan. There’s usually
a bit of to-ing and fro-ing as
we set about completing much
more detailed plans and do
more accurate costings. We
try to ensure there are no big
surprises once construction is
underway.”
The beauty of offering a
three-fold service, design,
plan, build, means that a
Smith and Sons representative
is the single liaison person
from start to finish. Charlie is
all too aware of how stressful
a building project can be. “We
want all our projects to run as
smoothly as possible and fit
within the customer’s budget.”
In September this year,
Smith and Sons Hamilton
moved from Claudelands to
new premises in Tawa Street,
Melville.
The performance of the
Hamilton franchise has
impressed the franchise’s
North Island general manager
Reon Paterson. He says the
Hamilton business is consistently
good in turnover and
performance. “They’re profitable,
and you can’t run a business
if you’re not, and they’re
known for looking after their
clients well. They have a good
reputation in Waikato.”
Smith and Sons require all
franchisees to be owned and
operated by licensed master
builders and Reon Paterson
says every franchisee is
required to keep very detailed
records. “They do monthly
reporting that covers the total
business — costs, profits,
sales, customer service — and
it’s those results month on
month that determine the franchisee
of the year.”
Charlie was surprised and
delighted to take the national
franchisee title, having won
the North Island title in 2018.
He takes it as a signal that
they’re doing everything well
most of the time. “The month
by month reporting means
we’re continually analysing
the business, looking to
Continued on page 34
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