After leaving school in 1975 at the end of my 6th form year I became an apprentice Motor Mechanic with the then NZ Post Office, progressing to become workshop foreman and achieving my Advanced Trade Certificate in 1981. In 1989 I moved to works Maintenance and Construction/Works Civil Construction/Works Infrastructure and once again I progressed to become Plant Manager for East Coast Lower North Island. While in this position I managed vehicle and plant fleets and workshops from Gisborne across to New Plymouth and down to and including Wellington. Operator Training and Health and Safety were also major parts of my job responsibilities. In this position I had to set and
achieve budgets for both the fleets and workshops.
I was also coordinating the movements of major items of plant from major construction site to site within the lower North Island. Purchasing and disposal of major capital items was another area of responsibility.My wife and I have also owned an orchard in Gisborne where we grew oranges and avocados which I fully maintained, i.e. sprayed, mowed, pruned, harvested etc.
In 2003 I started work for New Zealand Estates as a Manager on their Delta Vineyard Development (85 ha) then in 2005 we took on the neighbouring, Delta Wine Company 40Ha Vineyard that PML still manages.
For many years I was heavily involved in a number of sports and was very fortunate to represent my country in 3 of them. This sporting involvement gave me a very good understanding of teamwork, dedication and how to set and achieve goals.