ASPEN LANDSCAPES

Interviewee:

Stuart Baines (Co-Director)

Location: Wellington

Staff: 35

It’s just one of the many tricky challenges we are facing at the moment, on top of staff shortages and a wet winter. We’ve tried to keep our clients as up to speed as possible with regular communication, so at least they know where we’re at and why.

On a few occasions, if we have mostly finished a job except for an element or two that can’t be completed due to delayed materials, we will move onto the next job. It’s not the most efficient process, and we try to avoid it, but at least it keeps us all in work.

We’re also really fortunate to have a fairly large supply yard, so we can bulk purchase in advance. We also have good key accounts with several suppliers, which means they tend to look after us because of our level of spend. But that still doesn’t mean that we always get what we want when we want.

Because of this, our whole approach to business has become much more focused on planning. We make sure to regularly review all of our upcoming jobs and let clients know what materials are available, so we can place orders well ahead of time, usually months in advance.