Taylor-made

At its recent conference the NZCF awarded Charlie Taylor life membership as thanks for more than 20 years’ service.

Charlie Taylor is not a man who likes to talk about himself. For someone who’s given over 20 years of service to the Contractors’ Federation he’s reluctant to talk about his achievements, even though he’s recently been honoured with National life membership.

For Charlie, the federation work he’s done from branch to national executive and president is all about the members.

“I was told some wise words when I became president by the then federation CEO Richard Michael. He said ‘as long as you remember that the work we do is not for ourselves it’s for the 18,000 federation members’ employees who rely on us to keep their jobs, then you’ll do okay.’ I’ve carried that thought with me since then, and in every meeting with a minister or out in the field. It’s about working to help 18,000 people and their families.”

Charlie has been CEO of Taylors Contracting since 2005. He and brother Matt are on the management team and have continued the Nelson-based business his late father, Bob Taylor, began nearly 40 years ago.

Taylors has grown to become a medium-sized company, now undertaking contracting projects around the country, but it still retains that family feel to it. And that’s something Charlie says is still at the heart of the industry.

“If you look behind most of the really big contractors there’s a family name and brand because they all started off as a small family business.”

When pushed, Charlie does admit to his federation presidency as being one of the key milestones of his career.

“My old man would have been really proud. He was the one who urged me to join way back when I was in my 20s. I was reluctant, but he was right into it and could see the benefits. He was on the national executive, but he never got to be president and I know he would have been chuffed that I did.” 

Current federation president David Jewel (pictured presenting Charlie with his life membership of the federation) of Fletcher Construction says Charlie is well-respected.

“Charlie typifies the backbone of the federation – a determined and skilled business owner with a real passion for the industry. He has always impressed me with his big picture thinking, and his desire to improve industry conditions and practices through a strong commitment to training and safety.”

Charlie has shown that firm commitment to training by making sure his staff has access to the latest programmes, and he’s even led by example.

“I had started a Bachelor of Commerce and was struggling a bit, then unbeknownst to me,  the staff took the results I have on the B.Com and enrolled me for the InfraTrain national diploma of business and got me cross credited.  They presented the diploma as a complete surprise at a Christmas do.”

Over his 20 year involvement with the federation, Charlie has witnessed a lot of change. “There have been huge changes in the Resource Management Act and environmental requirements, which are all positive but required an industry shift. Then there’s been a real shortage of skilled people and it’s been a huge issue that has to be dealt with. And now we’re into these large infrastructure projects. The largest roading job in the late nineties was about $25 million an now they’re up to $400 million, so, in a 10 year period,  work has risen hugely.”

Charlie says when the federation was established 65 odd years ago, they saw the value of a collective industry and that hasn’t changed.

“Right now, it’s the strongest it’s ever been and with the tough times, people need the support of an industry body and they need to be heard.  And the only way to do that is collectively.  The industry here is big and it’s very healthy, compared to a lot of countries.”

Charlie says the biggest issue facing the industry at the moment is ongoing workload. “We’ve got a government who’s putting in this stimulus package to build infrastructure and really trying to stimulate the economy by that, but we’ve got lots of local bodies going the opposite way. They’re getting a kicking for rates so they try to pull back their spending and they’re not going in the same direction as the government.”

It’s that strategic thinking that Charlie says he’s learnt from his federation roles.

“I do enjoy looking at the big picture, I don’t claim I’m great at it, but I have liked that chance to provide future direction for our members. And I hope to continue offering support to the federation. I’m still on committees and boards, so they haven’t let me go completely. As long as they want my input I’m happy to give it.”