On Monday 12 February, Steel & Tube officially kickstarted the move into our brand new, customer-centric facility with a dawn karakia by Ngāti Māhanga.
Steel & Tube has invested in our Waikato customers, with a brand-new roofing site, purposely designed to process orders faster and meet the demand for roofing products across the region.
Photo: Ngāti Māhanga, followed by CEO Mark Malpass
The new site, 49 Chalmers Road, is positioned alongside our near-new distribution site, 4 Chafer Place. The new location has proved valuable to our customers, being positioned between connecting roads Wairere Drive, Avalon Drive, Te Rapa Road, and State Highway 1C, providing close access to Hamilton and the wider districts across Waikato.
As well as the convenient location, 49 Chalmers hosts a range of smarter layout choices, providing more space for staging, loading, and production. We'll have much greater order capacity to meet Waikato's roofing needs.
Photo: The Steel & Tube Hamilton Roofing team in their new facility
“The move went incredibly well. I’d like to pass on some appreciation to our team and contractors who put in a mammoth effort to ensure the move went smoothly and our production line could restart for our customers.” Harmon Tupaea, Roofing Area Manager.
All thanks to the team behind the move, we are pleased to report that Hamilton Roofing opened well ahead of schedule and is operating better than ever.
When it was decided to open Hamilton’s new roofing facility with a dawn blessing, Steel & Tube’s Te Ao Maori advisory team connected with local iwi Ngāti Māhanga to help correctly and respectfully establish our presence on the site from the beginning.
Photo: Steel & Tube staff ready for a stay at Hui Te Rangiora Marae
After the initial hui (meet), the date for a dawn karakia was set and the organising began.
“As part of the Te Ao Māori advisory group, we thought it was important to keep in line with tikanga maori, so a pōwhiri and noho marae was organised at Hui Te Rangiora Marae in Hamilton.” Steve Johnson, Waikato Account Manager.
After the pōwhiri, Steel & Tube staff enjoyed a few stories about the history of the marae, tīpuna, and connections to other iwi, followed by kai and waiata practice, before waking up at 4:00 am to pack up, clean behind us, and head to the karakia.
For some of our staff involved with Hamilton Roofing’s build, this was their first ever time experiencing Māori culture like this, and many, particularly those from other nationalities will share this memory for a life time.