Alan Warner isn’t one to make a fuss. He doesn’t give much away when talking about Warner Construction making it to 40 years in business, and neither does he dwell too much on handing over the reins of the business to his son Adam.
And, while he’s not short of a story or two, Alan’s first reaction is to condense four decades of work into one key lesson.
“This wasn’t the plan at all,” he begins.
“It started with just the two of us and it’s just been a natural progression and a lot of hard work. It’s a hard game, and there’s been plenty of attrition across the industry in the last 40 years, but my approach has always been that if you do quality work, everything else will look after itself.”
If ever there was a succinct summary of 40 years, that might just be it. But, while quality is certainly a core pillar, there’s plenty more to the Warner Construction story.
From then to now
Warner Construction employs more than 130 people from its two bases in Bell Block and Taupo. They have two large, modern (largely self-constructed) offices/workshops, a huge vehicle fleet and no shortage of high-tech equipment.
They are trusted experts in a range of engineering services, from civil and mechanical projects to in-house manufacturing and design, construction and maintenance.
The business has a proven track record of overcoming complex challenges all over New Zealand, including for big name clients and on big name projects such as the Transmission Gully motorway, Tauhara Power Station and multiple other geothermal power and petrochemical plants.
Warners have become the go-to company for big, challenging, multi-disciplined projects that demand the very best workmanship.
But it wasn’t always like that. The expertise has always been there, but it’s taken blood, sweat and tears to become a thriving local business.
“We just used to work hard and chase work around the country,” Alan recalls.
“One time I won a contract building a tank on a farm in Timaru and doing all the pipe work. It was a six-week job, and people said it couldn’t be done. We flew down two days later, and three days after that my wife broke her leg. She was home with four kids by herself, but I couldn’t leave and she was great about that.
“We just had to get on with it. I stayed down there for the whole six weeks, had no contact with her at all (this was before the internet and FaceTime), and got it done on time.”
Today’s technology may have changed, but Alan’s attitude certainly hasn’t. Project by project, his dedication to doing what needs to be done has eventually led to Warners being the business it is today.
Made of Steel
Warner Construction has a hard-earned reputation for working through tough conditions – both physically and figuratively.
“Unless it’s a blizzard, we’ll be out there in our raincoats,” Alan says.
They’ve worked on 24-hour shifts through the night welding pipes under lights and fans during the cold Taupo winters.
Adam recalls not being able to tell one ute from the next during parts of the Transmission Gully project.
“There was just mud and rocks everywhere, up in the hills out of Wellington. They were brutal, cold days, but that’s what you have to do sometimes,” he says.
This attitude has been brought to life with the business’s new Made of Steel mantra. It refers to their literal steel craft, the determined character of their team, and their commitment to the local community.
There have been tough days on the business front too, as any 40-year old business could expect. Like many others of their size, Warner’s felt the pinch when a number of projects were put on ice in the post-Covid construction slump. However, as those times tend to do, Adam says it taught him an important lesson.
“We had 70-80 guys lined up for a job that got cancelled at late notice. That hurt. We just started hustling — talking to people and picking up bits of work here and there to get us through.
“The drive to keep pushing with opportunities was the staff we had. I knew the asset we had in our people and that it would help us to find more work, and that’s what happened. Our workforce was the antidote to the problem.
“During that time we picked up work for some great clients that we still work with today, and then shortly after that we landed a $65 million project at the Tauhara Steamfield, which was two and half years of being flat out. It was a game-changer.”
Nobody survives 40 years without picking up a few scars. In the case of Warner Construction, the lessons learnt in those times only serve to complement the culture they’ve always had.
Innovation
Another constant theme in the Warner Construction story is how the business has thought outside the box.
Creative thinking has helped Warners to do jobs smarter and faster, expand their skills into new specialist areas, and make savvy decisions to grow the business.
In the early days, Alan bought a six-seater airplane to ferry staff to and from projects in the South Island. He was paying up to $700 per head for a commercial flight, and with 80 or more staff working some jobs, flying themselves ended up being much cheaper.
The boom of oil and gas in Taranaki was an obvious sector to grow into in the mid-90s, and more recently the geothermal industry has been similarly productive.
“We expanded into Taupo 15 years ago, and it’s really taken off in the last 4-5 years with steamfields in Tauhara, Te Mihi and Te Huka,” Alan says.
“We saw something happening and so we moved to stay ahead. Geothermal is the same skillset — it’s pipe work, structural steel and site installation. It’s on a bigger scale, but it takes the same skillset to build it all.”
Behind every decision, expansion or stretch is the underlying commitment to doing things the right way. The company’s self-belief in doing things the right way has underpinned its growth, including in acquiring other businesses such as Traffic Management Solutions.
“We’re not scared to take a punt on something, and we empower our staff to make decisions even if they don’t end up working out,” Alan says.
“We do our own painting, earthworks, concreting…there are so many aspects to what we do now, and we’ve built up pretty much all the tools we need so that we can rely on our own people for a lot of it.
“We have a really good culture that comes back to quality in whatever it is — you look at anything we make and it looks like the same person welded it. The same goes across the entire business — I don’t care if things take longer, we take the time to do something properly the first time.”
Family
Warner Construction is a true family business. There are seven immediate Warner family members working across different departments, and many other instances of brothers, uncles and other relations among the staff.
Alan says their reputation as a good employer helps to bring through the next generation of young people.
“We were looking for apprentices recently and put the word out through our staff. We got three or four good young people from that — it’s great for us and it’s a nice way to keep a good level of connection among the people in the business.”
He’s clear it’s no free ride though, and everyone earns their position — including Adam.
“Adam’s in the big chair now because he’s the best person for the job. He started at the bottom 15-odd years ago, and if he wasn’t up to it, he wouldn’t be there. We have a neat family and it’s great to have so many of them in the business — I’m proud of them all and they’re all doing fantastic things to take it to another level.”
Adam says there’s also a big advantage in being family-run.
“We can make decisions in 20 minutes that take other businesses a lot longer. If you’re not growing, you’re almost going backwards. As a company, we don’t want to get much bigger but we’ll always be chasing innovation and new opportunities, and we have the ability and the confidence to make those calls and be bold with them.”
Alan will remain involved in the business, including advising Adam where it’s needed (and likely other times when it’s not), and focusing on some of his pet projects. He’s not ready to stop working yet, but is excited about having some flexibility in his schedule.
“If I’m in here, it’s because I want to be here. But I can also go off and do other things if I want, which I’m looking forward to.
“There’s a resilience in the business now that’s been built over 40 years — not just financially, but with people who really know what they’re doing. They’re experts in what they do, and I have no doubt that will continue over the next 40 years and more.”