Classifieds Hard work pays off for city business man

Employed as a service person/driver for Hire Services back in 1995, Richard Marrah could never have guessed that just over 20 years later, he would be running his very own hire company.

Working his way through the ranks at Hire Services, Richard soon moved into a customer service role within the business, where he served customers, ordered parts, organised quotes and helped out with customer inquiries.

Under the guidance of owner Barry Robertson, Richard developed a sound knowledge of the industry, a great rapport with both customers and staff and approached every challenge head-on, becoming Operations Manager after eight years in the business.

As Operations Manager, Richard took particular interest in the sales side of the business, promoting Hire Services throughout the wider Southland region.

Two years later, in 2005, Hire Services was purchased by corporate Hirepool and Richard was promoted to Branch Manager. This role proved a significant challenge as he learnt to adapt to the corporate world in comparison to the previous owner/operated business.

Some of the senior managers didn’t really rate the southern-bred manager and were fairly vocal about it on occasion.

‘‘There was so much to learn,’’ Richard says. ‘‘When I took over the job, it was either sink or swim. It was very much where I developed my stubborn attitude.

‘‘If someone tells me I can’t do something, I go to the ends of the earth to prove them wrong.’’

They soon discovered that Richard was a force to be reckoned with as he made a significant leadership contribution to the Lower South Island (Otago Southland) area, effectively as 2IC to the Area Manager.

Richard’s very realistic approach, exceptional leadership and committment to his customers soon resulted in the branch becoming one of the best performing in the country, where it remained under his management.

One of the many highlights of his time as Branch Manager of Hirepool Invercargill was in 2010 when the company was hit hard by the New Zealand economic recession. Throughout this financial year, the Invercargill branch was the only one in the country to exceed their budget.

Richard was retained as Branch Manager when Hirepool merged with Hirequip in 2013, moving to the Hirequip premises and bringing the two teams together as one under the Hirepool banner.

An opportunity arose in 2014 for Richard to help set up a new, privately-owned hire company for the Invercargill market. Under his management, this new entity quickly became a very credible competitor to the already established hire company.

In 2016, Richard left the industry, having fulfilled the personal goals he had set himself within equipment hire, further enhancing his skill set with a completely different challenge.

In 2017, Richard was approached by the Phillips Group who were keen to launch their own hire com- pany, but only if he would agree to come on board as a shareholder.

‘‘At the time, I was quite settled in my new role, so it was a really tough decision,’’ Richard says.

‘‘The fact that it was a hire company that I was going to be able to shape and put my own spin on, was what sealed the deal for me.’’

Another greenfield business, the new hire com- pany was built from the ground up, just six weeks prior to opening day, July 3 last year.

It was a massive undertaking by Richard and Lloyd Phillips as they had to initially build a brand, market it, set the premises up, purchase equipment, brand the equipment and source integral members of the team in order to have the business ready to trade in the short time frame allocated.

Ten months down the track, Richard is happy with the businesses progress and says they are well on the way to their mission of being recognised as an industry leader and solution provider in their field.

‘‘We have put a lot of time into our processes and systems within the business, and are working extremely hard to provide the key values in our business - quality equipment and great customer service at a fair price,’’ Richard says.

‘‘We have a good range of equipment that we are consistently adding to as the need arises.’’

Richard has partnered with a range of very carefully selected suppliers and brands to ensure he delivers on his promise to deliver high quality, modern equipment to Invercargill Hire’s customer base in and around Southland.

From service person to owner and everything in between, Richard is proof that if you start at the bottom, show enthusiasm, work hard and seize every opportunity that is thrown at you, your dreams can come true.

‘‘If I look at my whole career, my time with Hirepool is what shaped me into the business person I am today,’’ he says.

‘‘And for that, I am thankful.’’