Nous team rises to a new challenge
Juggling staff, subdivisions and planning permission is all part of the landscape for Development Nous owners Karl Carew and Matthew Holder.
And although working under lockdown is not usual, it’s one where the Nous team has risen to the challenge.
“Communication is always something that is key to our business. Everyone working remotely reinforced this. We work in an open plan team environment, where there are a lot of interactions going on all of the time, so ensuring a high level of understanding across the board simply took a lot longer than the normal face to face conversations and collaboration. The same goes for communicating to those outside our organisation,” Karl says.
Development Nous has a staff of around 20, offering a multidisciplinary service with expertise in surveying, urban design, engineering, town planning, landscape architecture, environmental consultation and project management. Karl says day to day jobs relate to development of some form — “hence the name”.
Some of those jobs include the greenfield developments of Northwood in Hastings, Brooklands in Havelock North and a 74-lot greenfield subdivision on Guppy Road, Taradale.
“More recently we have been, and continue to be, involved in the development of over 200 new builds for Kainga Ora Homes and
Communities in both Napier and Hastings. We have also been involved in a number of lifestyle, commercial and industrial developments across Hawke’s Bay.”
With plenty of practical experience, making sure everyone could keep the work flowing from home was another big job in itself.
“We had staff trucking out the door before the Level 4 lockdown with their computers, monitors, keyboards, the occasional desk, chair and the like. The office was fairly bare after that.”
Karl says the odd video conference has shown up “some interesting set-ups from home,” but systems which seem to be doing the trick.
“I was set up in my 12-yearold’s bedroom. Fortunately we had an IT system that has allowed staff to work remotely since we set up in 2016. The system hadn’t been tested with such a volume dialling in remotely, however it has performed better than expected. While it wasn’t quite a ‘plug and play’ situation, it wasn’t far off.”
Karl says while the lockdown was an opportunity for field staff to get on top of the office work, there have been follow-on effects on projects which rely on these tasks to be completed before the next phase can be started.
“The inability for our field teams to be able to undertake their normal field tasks on our sites has an impact. Fortunately we have managed to keep the majority of our staff busy throughout the lockdown which has been great, however tasks have tended to take a lot longer than operating under normal conditions.”
Although the Covid situation has had its obvious challenges for the company, Karl says they remain optimistic.
“We are looking at things positively for now. We operate in an industry where there is a lack of supply in terms of service providers. Many of our professions such as surveying, engineering and town planning have been stretched for years across the entire country, with many organisations continuously struggling to resource their teams with appropriately qualified staff. When you combine this with the existing housing crisis and low interest rates, there is still a big demand for the services we provide.”
Karl says nobody really knows what lies ahead for any of us in the next few months.
“No one wants to see their project delayed for any reason.
“Fortunately for the most part, people understand how serious this situation has been for all.
“We have been in a fortunate position to be able to progress tasks to some level, so many of our projects have continued to progress, albeit a little slower than everyone would have liked.”
With the change to level 3, staff began a slow transition back to work, with some in the field, some still working from home and a few basing themselves in the office where necessary.
“We are so very fortunate that we have been able to continue working, even if at a reduced capacity in many instances, throughout the lockdown period.
“We have been able to let some of our field crews return to the paddock, which has been great, teaming crews up where necessary to limit interactions. While there has been a mountain of Health and Safety paperwork to get through and plenty of hand sanitiser and cleaning wipes purchased, this will open up a lot more tasks for the team to continue with further down the chain.”