Business has grown exponentially over the past five months for Tauranga’s Andrew Boyd (pictured). His calendar is jam-packed with to-dos.
Andrew has a steady hold on business though after he was among the recipients of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples (MPP) Pacific Aotearoa Regional Enterprise Fund in November last year.
He owns and operates the Mount Maunganui-based Boydies Services, which specialises in residential building and construction, crane hire and operations, insulation, decking and fencing – nationwide.
Since he received the fund in November, Andrew has equipped staff with the tool belts and machinery they need to carry out the services they offer.
What is most astounding about the growth of his business is that the fund enabled him to employ six new staff to keep up with the demand for building and construction in the Bay of Plenty.
“We have also branched out into landscaping and this fund [Pacific Aotearoa Regional Enterprise] has allowed us to do that,” Andrew says.
“We were once a third-tier company, but we are now competing against bigger companies for bigger contracts.”
Andrew was born and raised in the South Auckland suburb of Otahuhu.
He worked in scores of similar construction and building roles across New Zealand, but he developed his own skill-set enough to branch out on his own.
Andrew says he owes a great deal to his wife Stevie Boyd for allowing him to put in the hard work towards getting his business off the ground.
“My wife was an occupational therapist and sacrificed four years of work so I could get my company up and going… she held the fort at home.”
Andrew says the Pacific Aotearoa Regional Enterprise Fund has also significantly boosted morale among his staff, particularly those who are Pacific Islanders.
“About 70 percent of my staff are of Pacific descent.
“There was a lot of stress on many of our staff who didn’t have the work equipment or the tools they needed to carry out their jobs.
“When you don’t have the equipment, you feel like a liability… and that’s how many of our staff were feeling, particularly our Pacific staff.
“The fund has enabled our company to buy the tools that our workers needed.”
Pacific Business Village
On April 29, MPP will launch a new initiative, the Pacific Business Village, along with partners Pacific Growth Services, in Tauranga.
The Village is an exciting development for Pacific business in Aotearoa, with the aim to provide more localised support to Pacific businesses in regional New Zealand, through targeted funding.
Visit the MPP website for information on current funding opportunities.