Page 14 - HW Dec-Jan 2023

hard news
PlaceMakers repositions Christchurch Hub
Who are 2022’s top
young builders?
The 2022 National Finals of the Registered Master Builders Apprentice of the Year, in Partnership with CARTERS, took place mid last month at CONZTRUCT Auckland North.
Top dog for 2022 and National Apprentice of the Year was Auckland regional winner and now national winner Dane Schnell (photo top), who’s employed by Costal Concepts.
Having excelled in his interview, Dane’s practical challenge (a rocket ship) was “very impressive”, completed first and to an extremely high standard.
Big congratulations also to Northern region winner, Paulo Oliveira (photo above left), who took out second place.
Employed by TP Builders, Paulo’s place in this year’s competition is “a testament to his hard work and dedication. He puts a lot of effort into advanced prep, not only for this competition but his work
– he even has a basket of technical and product information in his car.”
Third place went to Waikato regional winner Chris Foy (photo above
right), the youngest competitor in
the competition at 21 years old, who’s employed by Urban Homes.
“Chris has a focus on the future and is open to how that may look,” said the judges.
BCITO | Te Pukenga was the training advisor to all three top apprentices.
www.apprenticeoftheyear.co.nz
PLACEMAKERS’ HORNBY STORE on Shands Road is to be decommissioned by the
end of 2023 in favour of a new store on
a greenfield site in Rolleston, plugging
a gap in the rapidly growing Selwyn district.
A PlaceMakers’ Facebook post says: “To continue to provide the best building supplies and solutions service to our customers, we need to ensure our branches are in the right locations.
“This means we can continue to optimise our delivery services across
our Christchurch Hub, providing you with ‘easy to access’ local points of contact, driving better efficiency for your business, no matter where your project is located.”
Planned to open in late 2023, and co-located with a Mico, the new PlaceMakers Rolleston store will be on the corner of Link Drive and Hoskyns Road.
Once the new store has opened, the plan is to decommission the Hornby branch and for the current Hornby team to move to the new store, which will feature green initiatives, like daylight harvesting, energy-efficient lighting
and electric forklifts, “all integrated to minimise PlaceMakers environmental footprint.”
PlaceMakers Hornby has been a starting and/or stopping off point for many up-and-coming members of Team Blue over the years.
www.placemakers.co.nz
Mitre 10 reveals
first EV charging station
MITRE 10 AND EV charger specialist JOLT have unveiled the first of 30+ store-based EV fast-charging stations.
The Mitre 10 Ponsonby installation represents the first step in both organisations’ national EV charging networks which will roll out over the next three years.
Using the JOLT network, EV drivers can receive 7kWh of fast free charging every 24 hours, providing 40-50km of range. The free service is paid for by advertising on the charging station.
Both Mitre 10 and JOLT plan to extend their charging networks further across the country.
Mitre 10 will install charging stations at all stores not covered by the JOLT partnership, while JOLT has plans for hundreds of chargers to be rolled out in urban and destination areas across New Zealand.
Minister of Transport Michael Wood formally unveiled the first JOLT EV fast- charging station at Mitre 10 Ponsonby at the same time revealing that the
Government’s National Charging Plan should see the light of day by the end of this year.
www.mitre10.co.nz https://joltcharge.co.nz/
At the Mitre 10 Ponsonby fast charger launch (L-R): Grant Fraser (Mitre 10), Michael Wood (Minister of Transport) and Doug McNamee (JOLT).
12 NZHJ | DECEMBER 2022/JANUARY 2023
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