Every business has a beginning, and ours was pretty humble. Ascon started in Ōtara, working out of a family garage, with an idea of what we wanted to build and plenty to learn. We didn’t have it all sorted. What we did have was construction experience, a strong work ethic and a real desire to create opportunities for our people.

It’s been a journey, and we’ve learnt a hell of a lot along the way.

Where It All Began

It was the end of 2020, and COVID had turned life upside down. Lockdowns, closed borders, and projects struggling to find experienced workers, especially in specialist areas that had relied on people from overseas.

Aaron and I could see it, and we asked ourselves... Why were we so dependent on overseas workers? Why weren’t we training the people already living here? Good people in our communities wanted to work. Some had experience but couldn’t find steady mahi. Others had the right attitude and needed someone to give them a go.

Then an opportunity came through Auckland’s City Rail Link. Experienced Kiwi tunnellers working overseas wanted to come home, and COVID had made life hard for their whānau. The project needed them, and it was a win for everyone. It also let us build Ascon in an industry we understood.

So we took the chance.

Two People on City Rail Link

We started with two people, and they were very different.

Our first placement was a carpenter who joined our steel fixing team on Queens Wharf. He’s also a mate. He barely picked up a hammer. Instead he got stuck into tunnelling and water treatment. The other was a worker’s son, fresh out of school and keen to get started.

Suddenly two people were relying on us, and a client was trusting us to deliver.

Over time, that grew, and so did our workforce. Our people have worked across tunnelling, civil construction, site logistics, machine operation and supervision, including under Karanga-ā-Hape, on the Normanby Bridge foundations, and at Beresford Square. Some came with years of experience. Others were stepping onto a major infrastructure project for the first time. Some have stayed through several stages, and others have moved on with what they learnt.

Learning How to Run a Business

Running a labour hire business involves a lot people never see. Recruitment, payroll, compliance, health and safety, training and managing people, all while keeping the lights on.

Everything was on paper and in files, which is fine until you need to find something on a Tuesday arvo. We implemented an HR system with a health and safety section we didn’t use at first. Then we realised Tōtika mattered for the government panels, so we built our own systems for labour hire. Marketing barely existed for us until a salesperson encouraged us to bring in a marketing team.

We’ve had our share of ups and downs. Workers who didn’t work out, difficult conversations, and times we had to rethink how we were doing things.

We didn’t have systems, a plan or a mentor. Good intentions are a fine start, but they need good systems behind them. We’ve made mistakes and had to make some hard calls. Since then we’ve put a lot of effort into health and safety, recruitment and support. Some of that has been slower than we’d like. We’re still learning, and we’re still stuffing up now and then.

The People Behind the Business

If there's one thing this journey has taught us, it's how much people matter.

We’ve watched people go from needing a hand on site to being the ones others turn to. We’ve seen the pride that comes from learning a skill or being trusted with more responsibility. Some people have moved on, and that’s part of the story too.

Behind every worker is a whānau, and we know what the mahi asks of them: early starts, night shifts and time away from home. One of the reasons we started Ascon was to create more opportunities for local people. Four years on, that still matters to us.

What Mahi with Mana Means to Us

Mahi with Mana reflects the values we were raised with: respecting people, taking responsibility, looking after one another, working hard when no one's watching and being proud of that mahi.

Those values are easy to talk about when things go well. The real test is when things get hard, when someone needs support, a worker makes a mistake, or a client raises a concern. For us, that has meant difficult conversations, clear expectations and holding ourselves accountable.

We don’t always get everything right. But we care about getting it right, and we’re prepared to do the mahi.

Looking Ahead to 2025

As we come to the end of 2024, we’re proud of how far Ascon has come. We want to keep developing skilled workers, supporting local employment and building relationships with clients who value what our people bring. That’s kotahitanga, a team pulling the same way.

To everyone who has been part of Ascon's journey so far, ngā mihi nui.

Here's to another year of hard work, good people, and opportunities ahead.

Mahi with Mana. In all ways. Always.