Brosnan - Building a Winning Culture
Industry
Building remediation, refurbishment, and restoration
Products
Location
Brosnan has made full use of the EMA’s range of services, from AdviceLine, to policy templates as well as tapping the Advocacy, Legal and People Experience teams.
Brosnan gives clients the confidence that their most valued asset is in safe hands.
Overview
Brosnan remediates, refurbishes, restores, upgrades, and maintains existing multi-unit residential and non-residential buildings.
With 345 employees across Brosnan and carpentry company Bettabuilt, it works all over New Zealand and has offices in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Queenstown – and one in the Bay of Plenty opening soon.
Brosnan has projects underway, scaling from $1 million to over $50 million. It also has assets under management in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Queenstown, ranging in value from $5 million to $90 million.
Its largest remediation project by room has been the 275-apartment Imperial Gardens project in Auckland. Currently, its largest commercial project is Oaks Shores in Queenstown, which is currently at Stage 2, with a value of $54m and 161 apartments requiring remediation.
Brosnan has partnered with the Ministry of Education for many school remediation and refurbishment projects. The largest current MoE project is in Picton, where $17m has been budgeted to remediate and add new buildings to Queen Charlotte College.
Brosnan has built a strong pipeline of work for the next 2-3 years in the commercial building sector’s remediation, restoration and refurbishment areas. In addition, its building asset management business is expanding with assets under management across the country.
Key Projects
Oaks Shores: a four-block hotel/apartment complex on the shores of Lake Wakatipu in Queenstown, upon completion, Oaks Shores will be one of New Zealand’s largest remediation projects. In a logistically challenging alpine environment, the steep and constrained site presents material and employee movement challenges. Innovative solutions, such as a bespoke materials handling unit, have been developed as works continue on Stage 2. There have been scope changes and unforeseen challenges, however, the relationship with the Body Corporate remains excellent.
Spencer on Byron: a 21-storey, 249-room hotel and apartment building in Auckland, the project comprised a full-scale remediation of a functioning hotel, with a maximum of 28 rooms allowed to be worked on at any time. To achieve this, a world-first suspended scaffolding system was designed. The fully enclosed two-storey system enabled works to take place in 28-room segments, fulfilling the client’s requirement for minimal disruption while providing a safe and efficient work platform for employees.
The Challenges
In the short term, the construction industry faces the challenge of its cyclical nature, closely tied to economic cycles, leading to periods of feast or famine. During prosperous times, it’s all hands on deck, while cost-cutting becomes essential for survival during downturns.
In the current to medium term, the industry struggles to keep pace with the increasing complexity of buildings. The rate of complexity outstrips the industry’s ability to enhance its skills to keep up.
Looking ahead to the long term, there’s a critical need for education initiatives targeting the general population. The industry faces stiff competition in the battle for talent with other industries. We need young people choosing careers in construction.
EMA Partnership
In a small to medium-sized business, it is immensely useful to tap into additional resources you may not be big enough to carry yourself, such as employment advice, templates for policies, economic updates, and an advocate for business sentiment.
The EMA provides these services and many more at affordable cost, whilst remaining open to discussion from Members regarding services they could provide or changes they could make. We have been very pleased with the value of our membership with EMA and strongly recommend joining.
Brosnan has made full use of the EMA’s range of services, from AdviceLine, to policy templates as well as tapping the Advocacy, Legal and People Experience teams.
The Quarterly Member Briefings have been very useful to obtain recent and current economic data and government indicators, updates on legislation changes, and general business commentary.
These are regularly attended by Finance and HR staff, with the HR team staying for additional employment case updates.
