ADAPTING AND INVESTING

PEPPER CONSTRUCTION HAS STARTED 2025 WITH A BANG, SAYS COMPANY DIRECTOR ANDREW PEPPER.

After a challenging 2024, the business has launched into the new year with a surge of work on sites around Taranaki and fresh plans to continue its nearly 90-year legacy.

“We’re busy – and that’s from all the hard work connecting with people and offering our services last year, creating opportunities,” says Andrew, the third generation of the Pepper family to lead the company.

Projects are under way in Manaia, Bell Block, New Plymouth, Midhirst and Lower Hutt.

“It’s a lot of little jobs adding up to variety,” he says.

These include light commercial and industrial projects, as well as fit-outs.

Always looking for opportunities to adapt and expand, the company is keen to move into repurposing old commercial buildings – a trend that has taken off in Auckland and Wellington.

Pepper Construction sees a major opportunity to transform empty office spaces into residential apartments, has identified 10 potential sites and is assessing how feasible these are.

“You drive down the main street and there are all those empty buildings,” Andrew says.

General manager Craig Oliver says along with opportunities, there are challenges around these potential conversions.

“The biggest hurdle is actually the seismic strengthening,” he says. “The lenders don’t like to lend on a building that needs to be strengthened.”

However, Government regulations have given building owners more time to complete strengthening work, creating a window of opportunity for Pepper Construction.

Andrew says the plan to repurpose commercial buildings has great merit.

“It’s actually to control our destiny and add value to the community. We’ve always been general contractors at the whim of the market – very adaptable. But this gives us the opportunity to really give back to the place that we live in.”

Craig says one of the keys to Pepper Construction’s success is its ability to adapt.

“We’ve had to pivot,” he says. “We were doing a lot of K.O. (Kāinga Ora) work in

Wellington and had to shift out of that into light commercial and industrial.”

The business is now working on Project Maunga – the Taranaki Base Hospital redevelopment, including the Taranaki Cancer Centre, in partnership with Leighs Construction.

“It’s a different environment for the guys,” says Craig. “They’re learning a lot.”

The company’s builders have even taken up supervisory roles within these projects.

“They’ve been recognised for their skills and communication style.”

Andrew says the Taranaki Cancer Centre project is particularly meaningful.

“It’s a legacy project. In a few years, our guys will be able to drive past with their families and say, ‘I built that.’”

Meanwhile, Andrew is gradually stepping back from day-to-day operations in a graded transition from the company, started by his grandfather Len Pepper in 1936.

“The management team makes 90% of the decisions now, and they know if there’s a big one, we’ll stop and talk it through as a team,” he says.

But both Andrew and the company continue their dedication to the community. He has served on the WISE Charitable Trust board for a decade and recently joined the Taranaki Chamber of Commerce board.

The company is also part of the Taranaki Construction Safety Group, which runs the Apprentice Safety Challenge.

Sponsorships include the New Plymouth Old Boys Rugby Club, Westown Golf Club, Rotokare Tennis and various local initiatives.

Training and leadership development are other priorities of the company.

Office manager Paula Pepper, also responsible for human resources, says the company has three apprentices, who are all studying as well as working.

Project administration co-ordinator Donna Bates is studying to be a quantity surveyor, as is hockey star Lukas Chapple. The tech-savvy young man is based at Massey University in Auckland but works for the company in the holidays.

Donna is studying at WITT, along with senior foreman Cameron Duffy, who is moving into project management, so is doing a Level 6 Diploma in Construction.

“We also provide opportunities for our foremen on external leadership training,” says Paula.

The business has partnered with The Breakthrough Company to train its foremen in leadership skills beyond the building site. Internally the company has established the Pepper Future Leader Academy.

“The Academy is for our tradespeople who we have identified as future leaders but aren’t foremen yet,” says Craig. “The leadership training extends beyond work, equipping employees with life skills that set them up for the future.”

“Better people make better trades people,” says Craig.

The programme includes leadership training, financial literacy, and personal development.

“We’ve had investment advisors in, personality profiling, lean consultants –these are all things they would never have been exposed to,” says Paula.

“We ran a workshop last year on how to apply for a mortgage”.

Two staff members on the leadership programme then went on to buy their first homes last year. “They were really appreciative of us introducing them to the right people to guide them through the process,” she says.

“That’s part of that legacy thing,” says Craig, explaining how the management team gets staff buy-in to appreciate those personal development opportunities.

“They may not recognise it as a 25-yearold, but when they’re a 35-year-old, they certainly will.”