Updates & Happenings

This month, we welcome another new member to the Hamptons family. Mike has arrived after a very long gestation period with several other well-known building supply merchants.

 

The first thing you will notice when you meet Mike will be his Canadian accent (and yes, he does apologise for Nickelback). Don’t be fooled by his accent, he has been in New Zealand for almost 20 years and Vancouver is a distant memory.

In fact, Mike is the living embodiment of the Kiwi dream with two beautiful and sporty daughters, a wife who is a teacher, and a house near Cromwell. When not working, Mike loves getting involved with cross-fit and belongs to the aptly named Alpha-Fitness. With a huge amount of experience under his belt, he is ready to take on the role of an older brother to the Hamptons family and we look forward to having him see us right. 

While we operate in this stimulated market, it continues to put pressure on us all to work through stock availability with our customers along with the high number of price increases and our job is to work with you to ensure we can supply product when required.

Some steps you can take to ensure your stock is available from Hamptons ITM are:

• Get your orders in early. Plan and work with your Account Manager to plan your requirements – i.e. let’s talk cladding right upfront
• Ensure your product requirements and order quantities are accurate.
• Communicate potential product challenges with your customers, specifically clauses or contracts that make mention of fixed pricing or late delivery penalties
• You can be assured that when it comes to maintaining supply we are doing our very best, along with many of our suppliers and, where appropriate, we are working hard to identify second supply alternatives to meet your needs. We are doing our utmost to ensure “we’ll see you right.”

Over the Easter break, several Hamptons staff took the pulse of the regions with most corners of the South Island covered by our intrepid explorers.

Courtney visited Reefton and its environs and reported warm weather every day of her camping trip. Sarah chose the ever sunny Nelson for her caravan holiday and it lived up to its reputation.

Don and Tracy both visited Arrowtown and Queenstown where it was extremely busy but still highly enjoyable. Karl also took in a flying visit to Queenstown, but it was Craig Harris that clocked up the most miles with a motorcycle tour that encompassed Wanaka, Queenstown, Mossburn, Invercargill, and Balclutha.

All of our travellers report that all is good in New Zealand, with the beer cold, the pies warm and the sun in the sky.

Our recent humour has been builder focused, so here’s one for all our Joinery customers:

“I just received “Employee of the month” at the Kitchen Joinery factory where I work.
However, some of my colleagues say it’s only because I’m counter-productive.”

On Saturday the 9th of April, locally employed carpentry apprentices competed in the 2022 New Zealand Certified Builders Apprentice Challenge Sponsored by ITM.  Many thanks to the team at Hamptons ITM, who once again supported NZCB Canterbury and hosted this fantastic event! 

This year’s competition saw nine talented apprentices competing to build a Bench Seat, which were sold, and proceeds raised donated to The Cancer Society of New Zealand. 

This year, we even managed to attract six Members of Parliament who attended and stayed on for the prize giving and photos at the end of a long day’s competition.  Congratulations and good luck to Daniel Michael of Taylormade Construction who came first and will now represent Canterbury at the national final later this year.

Again, many thanks to Hamptons ITM for your support and commitment to this annual NZCB event.  We look forward to working with you again at next year’s Apprentice Challenge.

Nick Matthews – NZCB Industry Pathways & Apprenticeship Manager

Everyone is an expert at Hamptons ITM – and not just when it comes to building products!

Each month one of our staff will offer up a top 5 from one of their specialist subjects outside of the building industry.

This month, Marshall insisted on sharing with us his top 5 Green Day songs. A massive fan since he was a kid, Marshall thinks these are the songs you need to hear next time you’re going on a road trip.

Marshall is always ready for a good Green Day conversation, so be sure to give him your opinion on what the best Green Day song is the next time you see him.

Best wishes,David & Wendy, Don, Carolyn and the rest of the team at Hamptons ITM