When Mark and Wendy Hinton bought Hinton Contracting in 2002 they were building on an already strong family tradition begun by Jack.
They have grown the business to the stage where it now operates up to 26 tractors and 100 implements.
Mark and Wendy had a Mr Whippy ice-cream franchise till they bought Hinton Contracting.
“Contracting was completely different to selling ice-creams. We sold our property, business and lived in the house at the depot. It was a big step as we gave up all of our assets to get into the business,” Wendy says.
“Selling ice-creams was anti-social because we worked after school, during holidays and weekends but contracting is similar during summer. We haven’t really had a free summer or summer holiday since we bought the ice-cream business.”
A day doesn’t just happen. A great deal of planning is involved to ensure the right equipment turns up to the right farmer at the right time on a busy day.
“It’s pretty stressful trying to keep everybody happy and constantly working around the weather. We employ 30 staff during our busy summer period and it’s important to have them all going in the right direction at the right time and to not over-work them,” Wendy says.
“You’re continually thinking up to five days ahead but within that, the plan is constantly changing. Often you’ll get a phone call and have to scramble to make a job happen for a farmer. We could turn the job down because we already have that day planned but then we wouldn’t be doing our job. We aim to get the job done without impacting other jobs.”
Mark and Wendy never really get away from work. They usually go home at night thinking they’re done for the day but they’re not because they’re still talking and thinking about work.
“You must stay on top of it. You can’t just do half a day each because it’s really difficult to get your head around it again. It’s pretty complex,” she says.
“If you know the job history and have taken all of the phone calls it’s easier than if you’ve come in without having all the details. Once you have that booking in your head you’re already thinking three or four days ahead.”
Their business is built on effective communication and having reliable and responsible staff to do those jobs.
Communication is the name of the game from the office to the field.
“The farmers we’ve worked with for many years trust us and know we’ll be there when we say we will. They’re not panicking and ringing us at crazy hours any more,” Mark says.
They rely on their staff and are constantly in touch by radio. A farmer might want the tractor to go to a certain gate so those details must be accurately taken down and relayed to the drivers.
It might simply be a case of the equipment being too big to go through a particular gate and needs to go to a gate further along. Often the drivers arrive at a property at night so there is often a lot of detail that needs to be captured and passed on. And those messages must be clear and accurate.
“That’s where our core staff come to the fore. They’ve been to the farms before and know where the potential hazards are and each farmer’s preferences. They can also relay that to our new staff,” Wendy says.
Their seasonal staff are mostly from Britain with many returning each year, which simplifies matters because they know the clients and their farms.
“We have enough staff on hand that we don’t need to do the long hours that some contractors put in. But we’re normally always in the office until everyone is on their last job. During the busy season we don’t usually leave the office until 9pm-1am,” Mark says.
The company’s size means there are always back-up drivers and equipment available. This gives them the ability to change things around if needed. It is an added expense but gives farmers assurance jobs will be completed on time.
Once a crop is on the ground they are committed and it’s a priority to get the job done in the agreed timeframe.
“It’s vitally important for us to set a time and arrive punctually. We’ve become better at organising and doing our jobs so that panic phone calls at odd hours of the night are now a thing of the past. Most farmers now ring during office hours or are preempting and becoming much more proactive,” Wendy says.
“We don’t say yes until we know for certain that we can do a job. I don’t think we’ve ever not got to somebody when we said we would, unless the rain came a day earlier than forecast. We’d rather say no than take the risk and leave a farmer in the lurch.”
Now son Daniel and his partner Sheridan Standen are taking over the business. Daniel started from the bottom working as a driver to learn the ropes.
“We’ve done 17 years now and while we still want to be part of it we just don’t want to be in control all of the time any more. It’s time to let someone else take the helm. We get tremendous satisfaction knowing that the business is staying in the family,” Mark says.
Daniel and Sheridan are up for the challenge and have already formed good relationships with clients and staff. They will seamlessly transfer into their ownership-management roles and continue to grow Hinton Contracting.
He has many skills in contracting, understanding all areas of the business including the effluent side. He has been managing that department for a number of years and has taken courses to ensure his knowledge is growing and correct.
Daniel and Sheridan aim to focus on doing things the way they have always been done. It’s proved to be an efficient way to do business and has enabled the company to grow and build up a loyal customer base. The business is built on reliability and they want to ensure they carry that on.
Sheridan formerly worked as an environmental scientist at a New Plymouth consultancy so has a lot of transferable skills but realises there is a lot to learn in her new role.
The couple have an 11-month old son, Ivor, who is already showing an interest with his third word after “mum” and “dad” being “tractor”.
