New staffer helps out after flooding

NEW QRS store person Pete Thompson got his feet wet in his new job from the minute he walked in.

Literally.

“I walked into a place that looked a bit disastrous.”

Pete started his job just days after half a metre of water flooded through QRS’s workshop and the lower floor of the main office. Cyclone Gabrielle had hit the company hard. Inside the workshop staff were still picking flood-damaged equipment up off the floor. Outside, the yard was filled with silt, mud, and sodden cars. 

A normal staff orientation wasn’t possible. “Instead I just walked in and tagged along behind the staff already working,” remembers Pete.

It was an unusual experience for Pete who has over 40 years’ experience in the automotive parts industry. “It was a crazy time for everyone and quite odd for me as I never got to see how the areas originally looked.”

Despite the soggy start, Pete is thrilled with his new job. “I really like it. It’s really neat and I have met a good bunch of people.”

Pete and his wife Deirdre moved to Wairoa three years ago after falling in love with a lifestyle property on the outskirts of town. Since moving on to the land they have connected basic utilities and moved a tiny house and a 40-foot container onto the site. They now spend as much time as they can further developing their piece of paradise.

When he’s not at work Pete also enjoys rebuilding American muscle cars and is grandfather to three grandchildren.

17 May 2023

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