Conal Dempsey

I feel like I’ve spent a lifetime working in this industry
— hang on, it has been a lifetime.

At age 17, I was employed as a chainman for a small land surveying company, then as a survey cadet for Harrison Grierson, where I learned the importance of accuracy in construction set-out. My civil experience in NZ includes working for some of the best family-owned civil contracting companies in Auckland.

In ’93, Tony and I decided to seize an opportunity: we put our names on a two-tonne tip truck and, together with Jeff Lowry, drove it — and our family-owned business — to founding success.

My roles have evolved as needed, covering the full suite: from shovel, pricing, and finance, to all the bits in between. But the part I loved best was building teams of hardworking individuals, of good moral standing — and together, getting stuff built, in the right place, to a high standard, with plenty of laughs along the way.

That’s how we roll.

These days, my activities include regular strategy catch-ups with my partners Simon and Mike, governance on the board, working with our advisors Peter and Nick, and engaging with both longstanding clients and shiny new ones. But sometimes, the best part is catching up with our group of ten-year veterans — our blue coats.

This industry can be brutal at times, and we all have battle scars.
It’s certainly no place for the fainthearted, and to succeed, it takes something special, and why we do it.

We do it because we love it.