Congratulations to Quality Roading and Services people and capabilities manager Jeremy Harker who has just finished a post-graduate diploma in business.
Sea, salt, wind and rain are constantly reshaping Whangawehi Harbour so this month Quality Roading and Services staff have been working tidal shifts as they repair parts of the narrow coastal road.
A modern fit-for-purpose operations hub will unleash our business efficiency and potential, says Quality Roading and Services chief executive Nigel Pollock. “QRS is very grateful to have been given this opportunity by the Provincial Growth fund to allow our locally-owned and operated civil contracting company to continue helping grow the Wairoa community.
The Provincial Growth Fund investment of $3.78 million in Wairoa will create much needed economic stimulus and jobs, Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. PGF projects include a $2 million loan to Quality Roading and Services Wairoa Ltd (QRS) to construct an operations hub
A bunch of “top men and women” working together to improve the roads around Mahia say their uniquely-collaborative approach provides a great model for the future.
A BUNCH of “top men and women” working together to improve the roads around Mahia say their uniquely-collaborative approach provides a great model for the future.
Announced by the Provincial Growth Fund in February, the Mahia Roading Resilience grant allocated $1 million to seal the road that leads to Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1. In addition, Wairoa District Council (WDC) received $300,000 to look at options for around the Peninsula and the Nuhaka-Opoutama Road; $6 million to fix issues around sealing, drains, culverts and safety on 12.5-kilometre Mahia East Coast Road; and $1 million for further sealing in 2021.
To get that big $6 million job done Wairoa lead contractors Quality Roading Services (QRS) took a novel approach, bringing in long-time competitors Fulton Hogan in a role more like a partnership than the sub-contracts traditionally used in the industry.
And WDC transport asset manager Mike Hardie says it's been a great success.
“We traditionally see companies use a sub-contracting model but because of the scale of the Mahia project, and the tight timescale, having QRS and Fulton Hogan work together has given us some great gains in efficiency.
“Both companies have pushed the project along by working to their strengths, and having a Wairoa company like QRS take the lead is definitely good for the region.”
As Engineers Rep for WSP New Zealand, Aaron Bright said the company worked with the contractors and council to provide a fit-for-purpose design to improve road quality and safety, that would come in on time and on budget.
“Good communication right from the beginning is key to achieving that,” he says, “and having the two big contractors working hand-in-hand has definitely streamlined the project.”
Meanwhile, leading the project for QRS is capital manager Mike Wilson, who has a long relationship with the Mahia area.
“My grandmother had a bach in Mahia from the 1920s and about a decade ago my dad moved there permanently so, as a family, we spend a lot of time on that Mahia East Coast Road,” he says.
“It's always been challenging and you'd never know what was coming around those winding corners . . . these days you might even be confronted by a rocket on a truck!
“So between us we're investing a lot of energy in fixing drop-offs, widening the road and straightening corners to improve sight-lines. Working to make it safer for everyone has been really rewarding.”
The Mahia East Coast Road project was due to be finished at the end of May 2020 but delays caused by the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown – and bad weather – may hold things up a little longer.
“But the fact that we're as far advanced as we are is credit to the co-operative relationship we have established,” Mike Wilson says.
Figuring out how the labour would be divided was easy – a Council-Controlled Trading Organisation owned by WDC, QRS already looks after the region's unsealed roads, with Fulton Hogan taking care of those that are sealed.
So while the scale of earthworks required at Mahia has kept QRS and local subbies Pryde Contracting busy, Fulton Hogan has concentrated on pavement stabilising, construction and sealing the road and will return in 2021 to add another seal coat.
“As well as being able to play to our strengths, working together meant we could accelerate the project start-up, saving months of time often spent on red tape and process,” says Fulton Hogan contracting divisional manager Rick Gardner.
“Working to align strategies and principles is certainly my preference and in this case it's worked particularly well, much of that being down to the attitudes and behaviours of all parties involved. Basically, we've all been “top men and women” working together to get the job done to a high standard.”
The QRS/Fulton Hogan mateship is a collaborative approach that is smiled upon by WDC, and QRS chief executive Nigel Pollock says it sets Wairoa up to deliver larger and more contracts locally.
He describes the Mahia contract as a high-trust, low-ego model that sees the two companies and WDC focused on shared objectives.
“There are advantages in terms of efficiency. But the most important thing is that the decisions we make together are solely focused on what is best for the project, rather than for any individual company, and that's a win for everybody.”
Caption: Operator Tui Paikea and truck driver Jade Beattie from Quality Roading and Service take a break from widening a corner on section two of the Mahia East Coast Road improvement project.
Expert heavy transport operator Joe Culshaw retired from Quality Roading and Services this month leaving a legacy of driver training education for his colleagues.
Residents and forestry planting contractors are thrilled with Quality Roading and Services’s repair work to fix a half-metre slump that cut a path through Kinikini Rd eight days ago.
By morning smoko Wattie Te Amo may already have driven more than 200 kilometres. “You have to get to every site that needs you and the crews tend to start early,” says the Quality Roading and Services fuel tanker driver.
ISA Robertson is well familiar with big machinery – after leaving Wairoa for the “bright city lights” of Sydney, she worked for a time as a forklift driver – so joining Quality Roading and Services made her feel right at home.
Retired builder and town footpath repair veteran Bob Drysdale has great advice for any Wairoa residents who might be grumpy while their pavement’s being repaired.
A Havelock North couple stranded near Kotemaori on Friday afternoon has thanked QRS project supervisor Aaron Hoskin for lending them a hand.
Quality Roading and Services’s Quintin Baty has earned his Certificate in Highway Engineering (Civil) and overcome a fear of maths in the process!
MAY 4 was set to be a big day for Wairoa's Reynolds-Smith whanau. Thirteen-year-old Kaylah Reynolds and mum Joanne Reynolds were heading south for Kaylah's first big Swimming New Zealand competition, while stepdad Arnold Smith was to be on his last day of the annual duck shooting opening weekend. But.....no one went anywhere.
Quality Roading and Service staff helped health officials with surveillance testing this morning in a collective effort to keep the COVID-19 virus under control in Wairoa. "We're really proud of those who volunteered to be tested and have done their bit to get New Zealand to alert level 2,” says QRS people and capabilities manager Jeremy Harker.
Quality Roading and Services staff were “amped” to get back to work this morning after having their temperature taken and briefings on how to work safely during New Zealand’s level 3 lockdown.
BY the fourth week of lockdown Quintin Baty had spent lots of quality time with his wife and teenage son, done more jobs around the house than he ever thought possible, and made so many trips in caring for his health-compromised parents he'd lost count! As asset engineer at Quality Roading and Services Mr Baty is itching to get back on the job full-time. He and the rest of the QRS staff begin work tomorrow under level 3 lockdown restrictions.
A combination of caring for people and good management and planning means Quality Roading and Services goes into a post-pandemic future thriving, says chief executive Nigel Pollock.
The New Zealand Government has will shift the COVID-19 status to Level 4 tonight (Wednesday 25 March) to fight the spread of COVID-19. In light of this, the offices of Quality Roading and Services in Wairoa will be closed until further notice and any current work in the region will cease.
As the coronavirus (COVID-19) situation develops in New Zealand we are monitoring it closely and following Ministry of Health guidelines to keep our staff safe. QRS continues to operate as per usual. However, in an added effort to reduce the spread of the virus we would like to advise anyone considering visiting QRS at its Kaimoana Rd Wairoa depot to stay away at this time if you are unwell.
As Quality Roading and Services farewells chief financial officer Karen Burger, succession planning means most of the financial portfolio can be picked up by a top performing QRS staffer. Finance administrator Siobhan Storey will take over a large amount of the financial strategy and reporting tasks previously managed by Karen who finishes this month to take on a new role at Thames-Coromandel District Council.
Finance administrator Siobhan Storey will take over a large amount of the financial strategy and reporting tasks previously managed by Karen Burger who finishes this month to take on a new role at Thames-Coromandel District Council.
It’s 4.30am when dedicated teenage athlete Kaylah Reynolds hears her mother’s knock on her bedroom door. Bleary-eyed but eager Kaylah rises to eat peanut buttered toast then heads back to bed for another hour. By 6am she’s carving up lengths in Wairoa’s Community Centre pool under the watchful eye of coach Sara Bird. Kaylah is preparing for this year’s New Zealand Division Two Championships and Quality Roading and Services is doing all it can to help her succeed.
After 15 years in Australia Waa ‘Toots’ Rowlands is immersing himself in Maoritanga and life at Lake Waikaremoana. Toots arrived in New Zealand in 2018 from Perth. His Tuhoe partner was keen to be reunited with family and the pair have settled at Tuai with their children. Toots says the differences between Perth and Lake Waikaremoana, are of course, marked, but he’s embraced the changes and is enjoying finding out more about himself and the area he lives in.
Although he was born in Waipukurau, new QRS board member Fenton Wilson grew up on the inter-generational Frasertown farm he now runs and says Wairoa is in his bones.
When you start at the bottom it’s important to be recognised as you move up within your chosen industry, says one of three civil construction stalwarts who gained Civil Trades Certification at Quality Roading and Services (QRS) last month.
Senior Quality Roading and Services staff have paid credit to fellow Hawkes Bay civil construction company McNatty Construction this month after it received a New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) monthly award.
Locally owned Wairoa civil construction and roading company Quality Roading and Services has made a record-breaking $1.1 million profit following a period of significant growth.
Wet feet are a thing of the past on the stunning Lake Kaitawa Fairy Springs track now that Quality Roading and Services (QRS) have rebuilt a portion of the walkway.
At 16 years old Kauri Gray, Ngāti Kahungunu, is the youngest member of the Quality Roading and Services team but his determination makes him a man with potential.
With a stake in the future as an automotive engineer, young Quality Roading and Services labourer Tiakiwai King has a foot in the past with his love of old school cars.
THE team in Quality Roading and Services' workshop have new competition for the title of company grease monkey. Freshly-appointed administrator and receptionist Melissa Stanaway is a vintage motorbike rider as well as secretary/treasurer of the Wairoa Motorcycle Sports Club. While she admits husband Graeme takes care of most of the actual grease work, Melissa is still the owner of a 1954 James motorcycle and a 1972 Indian MT 125.
Guy Gaddum knows the value of hard graft – growing up near Gisborne, his quarrier dad would wake his sons at 4am to head off to work – and that's what's it's taken to turn Quality Roading and Services into a high-functioning, profitable company.
Davena Morunga, Rongomaiwahine, is making sure the region’s newest road safety measures don’t disrupt existing utilities.
QRS has been helping apply a temporary repair to the Mahia East Coast Road near the Waitapatu Culvert where coastal erosion has dramatically undermined an old wooden crib wall causing it to fail and the section of road above it to drop into the sea.
Quality Roading and Services newest director has worked on significant transport projects in every corner of New Zealand and his knowledge is invaluable, says board chair Guy Gaddum. Mr Gaddum’s comments come as he welcomes highly experienced roading and transport expert David Proctor to QRS.
He knew they could fix it, he just didn't think they would fix it, so when the Wairoa-to-Napier rail line reopened Sam Jury was right on board.
Well-known Wairoa businessman Ian Redshaw farewelled Quality Roading and Services as a director last week saying he’s optimistic about its future and that he’ll miss his involvement with the dynamic company.
As a student at Wairoa College, Rose Campbell, Rongomaiwahine, was perhaps best-known for her fine vocal skills, but soon she'll be singing to a different tune. Rose is joining the New Zealand Police and while she's waiting for her intake, she is honing her people skills at Quality Roading and Services.
A training hub in Wairoa for Hawke’s Bay’s civil contracting sector is one step closer thanks to a Provincial Growth Fund grant announced last week.
IF there is anything Michelle Hedley knows – it’s roading; and now she’s chosen to take the road that leads back to Wairoa!
When Robert Mayhead says he's ready for a new challenge, he doesn’t think small! A relative newcomer to QRS, the automotive engineer has in the first instance joined the team to manage the workshop that takes care of the company's large machinery. But that's just the start: as time goes on, Rob will oversee the design and construction of a new workshop.
Having started work at QRS straight out of Wairoa College, Arnold Smith already has nearly seven years of service as a labourer under his belt . . . and he's only 24.
When we caught up with QRS project supervisor Aaron Munro he was anxiously waiting for a new digger to arrive from Auckland. “Not sure where it is…must be walking it from Auckland!” jokes the good-natured father of four.
Quality Roading and Services (QRS) has started the year by securing $29 million in contracts around Hawkes Bay and the East Coast.
DON'T be fooled by the air of calm that surrounds Quality Roading and Services staffers Nick Murray and Phillip Tipu . . . in their decades on the job, they've seen a bit of drama!
Looking after the environmental challenges associated with landfills and recycling are key components of waste management and it needs a company with a greater level of expertise to do it, says Quality Roading and Services (QRS) chief executive Nigel Pollock.
Machine operator Tui Paikea delicately opened and poured a bottle of beer with a five-and-a-half tonne digger to take first place in this month’s regional advanced excavator operator competition.
A 30-tonne excavator and a 40-tonne dump truck, as well as smaller civil contracting machinery, come under the hammer at an extraordinary Quality Roading and Services (QRS) auction this week.
A robust turnaround in fortune saw revenue at Quality Roading and Services up by $2.4 million to $15.8 million, the company’s latest accounts reveal.
AS an accountant Karen Burger is used to watching the pennies but there are times when she loves to loosen the purse strings.
WITH weeks of bad weather behind them and their first big event due on Thursday, the guardians of Wairoa's new Mountain Bike Park called for help from one of their staunchest supporters . . . Quality Roading and Services.
Camaraderie and common sense saw an estimated 1000 cubic meters of slip material with at least half covering the main Lake Waikaremoana road safely removed by Quality Roading and Services last month.
Dividing his time between work sites and the office Paul Eaglesome says he has the best job in the world. “My job is to make sure everyone gets home safely at the end of the day and you can't get better than that,” he says.
Peter Wairau doesn’t really have a word to describe a big chunk of the work he does at QRS. The health and safety, and training manager, part of his role is easy to describe, but there’s a whole other job he does too. “I guess you could call it a communicator,” says Peter, who is Ngāi Tahu, Rongomaiwahine and Ngāti Kahungunu.
QRS’s signs technician Aaron Hoskin is synonymous with dozens of others Aucklanders taking advantage of the Wairoa housing market and sunshine!
They don't call Phillip Tipu “Papa Phil” for nothing - after more than two decades of driving a lawnmower, he's the honorary grandfather of Wairoa's parks and reserves.
Since she joined QRS in mid-2017 payroll administrator Jacquie Burrows has yet to see the day when a colleague does not get paid but, she laughs, “if that happened I'd certainly be the first to know”.
When it comes to keeping things ship-shape at QRS HQ, Stefini Burling-Claridge knows what she's talking about . . . her first job was working in finance and administration for the New Zealand Navy.
QRS would grind to a halt if it weren't for four fabulous administration team members including Emma Wills. Read her story here.
A woman in labour was one of the last people across the old Waitahora Bridge on Friday adding to the drama as Quality Roading and Services completed a bridge replacement in just three days!
Quality Roading and Services Wairoa will make local transport history in the weekend when the Waitahora Bridge is dismantled, strengthened, and rebuilt in just 68 hours.
QRS, Wairoa’s second biggest employer, has declared a return to profitability today and the board chair has publicly thanked its staff.
“E Tū” . . . “halt!” That's the message from QRS courtesy of its shiny new bilingual signs being used at the Ngāti Kahungunu Kapa Haka Regional Competitions 2018 this Saturday - thanks to traffic safety worker Ria Waerea, Ngāti Rakaipaaka, Ngāti Kahungunu.
AFTER only three years at QRS, Shar Hawkins is a great example of paving a pathway for future female operators in the roading industry.
Frances Lee and her colleagues mow the equivalent of Auckland to Cairns every year as part of QRS’s road maintenance contract for Wairoa District Council.
Wairoa College’s First XV training squad is blessed with raw talent says new coach JJ Solomon, and QRS is backing them all the way.
Newly introduced regular driver assessments at QRS have been met with universal endorsement.
THREE veteran Quality Roading and Services staff have gained Civil Trades Certification this week giving them industry recognition as skilled tradespeople.
He's built police stations in the Soloman's and worked in Western Australian mines, but QRS project manager Mike Wilson says Wairoa's new adventure playground is one job he's truly loved!
Since coming on board with QRS, project manager Mike Wilson has overseen some significant QRS roading projects particularly along State Highway 38.
Malcolm (Muzz) Tuahine, Ngai Tuhoe, is thrilled Te Wharehou o Waikaremoana developed by Ngai Tuhoe has won a prestigious architecture award this month.
Malcolm (Muzz) Tuahine, Ngai Tuhoe, has plenty to keep him busy in the job he loves at QRS.
QRS has helped make a small, but welcome difference, to a rest area south of Wairoa.
A proposed significant restructure at Quality Roading and Services Wairoa could help the company win contracts and keep operating, says new Chief Executive Nigel Pollock.
Late last month QRS supervisor Rob Ruru received a shout out for his grader expertise. Here he talks a little bit about his love of all things machinery.
Not long after Nigel Pollock started as the boss of Quality Roading and Services, the QRS office took a charged up call from a member of the public.
Wairoa man Nigel Pollock has seized the chance to take the reins of the district’s biggest civil construction and maintenance company Quality Roading and Services (QRS).
Disclaimers and Copyright
While every endeavour has been taken by the to ensure that the information on this website is
accurate and up to date, shall not be liable for any loss suffered through the use, directly or indirectly, of information on this website. Information contained has been assembled in good faith.
Some of the information available in this site is from the New Zealand Public domain and supplied by relevant
government agencies. cannot accept any liability for its accuracy or content.
Portions of the information and material on this site, including data, pages, documents, online
graphics and images are protected by copyright, unless specifically notified to the contrary. Externally sourced
information or material is copyright to the respective provider.
© - https://www.qrs.co.nz / +64 6 838 9030 / office@qrs.co.nz
