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hard news Changing of the guard at MiTek WE CAUGHT UP with long time MiTek NZ’s Richard Poole on the eve of his retirement after 43 years with the company. Richard finished an engineering qualification in 1973. In January 1976, he joined MiTek and until March this year has been there ever since. “I started as a timber engineer working on roof truss and timber building design,” he says. “In 1979 I moved into marketing and became Marketing Manager in 1982. I stayed in that position until 1995 when I became Managing Director.” Key to Richard’s and indeed MiTek NZ’s success during his 24 years as MD has been the conscious decision to always have the best possible team around him. “Then, as now, we had a very strong management team with expertise in engineering, software, research, manufacturing, marketing and finance. “With that in place I set about growing market share and growing the business.” Also key to this growth has been the shift into the digital domain: “We used to spend a week on the engineering detail, drawing up a house manually on A1 paper. “Today, that same house would be done in three quarters of a day using software. The efficiencies provide a much, much better result.” MiTek continues to be recognised as a winner, having taken out the Supplier of the Year – Hardware category in the annual Hardware Awards for seven years in a row, and Richard readily admits that he’ll miss seeing the staff ’s delight at winning and celebrating with the tradition of doughnuts all round at morning tea. Outside of MiTek, for the last seven years Richard has not only chaired the Greater East Tamaki Business Association (the country’s largest) but he has also been on the board of the Building Industry Federation, which he says continues to represent “a real opportunity to influence change”, to the Building Code and Government policy in particular. Having worked 46 years without a break, Richard has no plans to get back into the business community any time soon and instead is going to enjoy his “other” passions, which are boating and fishing. And he’s happy to be leaving MiTek in “a very strong position as dominant market leader – I’m happy with what I’ve achieved.” DESIGNED FOR NZ CONDITIONS Our new Intelli-Flow Extraction System is so smart it: Senses bathroom humidity and automatically adjusts extraction Doesn’t need a wall switch – bathroom users never have to turn it on Adjusts airflow speed to spikes in humidity Always maintains air quality with Constant Trickle Extraction Add real value to your next bathroom project. Fit an Intelli-Flow Extraction System. To find out more, email nz.sales@weiss.co.nz or call our sales team on 09 274 4113 www.weiss.co.nz INTRODUCING THE WORLD’S SMARTEST EXTRACTOR FAN SRP from $440.85 MORE AT www.facebook.com/nzhardwarejournal MAY 2019 | NZHJ 11