Hands-on boss knows what job's about

Simon Hull is selling more than one-third of his company to raise cash for its expansion. Picture / Dean Purcell

In a company specialising in providing workers who roll up their sleeves, the managing director does a lot of it himself.

Although the labour hire firm he started 17 years ago is going public, Simon Hull still enjoys the practical aspects of the job - driving the company vans and firing up the barbecue at the end of each week, when Allied Work Force puts on sausages and beer for its workers.

The past few weeks have seen him in new territory, however, presenting the company's prospectus to brokers' analysts around the country.

Now the roadshow is over, he's looking forward to getting back around the sites and working with "the guys" on his management team.

Which is in keeping with his history of hard work and good leadership.

Hull is selling more than one-third of the company he calls "my baby", selling down to raise cash for its expansion. He will be worth $26 million when it lists on the stock exchange next month.

The move is by no means an exit strategy for the 45-year-old, who reckons there's still a lot of horsepower left in him yet. Listing is the realisation of a pipe dream he had at 28, but it's hardly finished business.

"We have an ambition to take this company to the point where it's first choice for employment, to industry and workers alike."

Hull, who has three school-aged sons, grew up on a farm on Auckland's North Shore. After finishing his school days at King's College, he started an engineering degree at the University of Auckland but quit after one year to milk cows on the family farm.

An interest in horticulture led him to develop a kiwifruit orchard in Kaukapakapa and, in the early 1980s, he took those skills to the Bay of Plenty, where he developed several orchards.

Returning to Auckland in 1987 to "make some money", he tripped over the concept of labour hire and thought it would fly.

Renting a small office in Penrose - now the urinal block at its head office - and a few vans, he started knocking on doors offering casual labour to the construction industry, somewhat incognito.

Those were the days after the sharemarket crash and the only substantial labour hire business at the time, VH Farnsworth, was close to receivership.

It wasn't a raid, but he took some of Farnsworth's construction workers and was gaining about 60 clients a month by the end of the first year.

Spotting the potential early on, Hull took the on-hire labour concept beyond the construction industry to all areas of blue-collar work.

With 6000 customers on its books today, construction is now only 31 per cent of Allied's business.

The company's footprint has also grown geographically.

After bedding in its first branch in Hamilton in 2000, it has rolled them out quickly from Kaitaia to Dunedin, boosting its manpower by 300 workers a day when it bought Wellington-based Quin Workforce for $3.63 million this year.

Hull says it's not a sexy business but it's practical and productive, supplying people to do anything from factory work to driving trucks, food processing or painting.

"Anywhere we see someone rolling up their sleeves, they could or should be one of our workers," he says.

In the hours before dawn, Allied Work Force buses take Hull's crews to the various branches where staff match them to the needs of their clients.

Times of economic uncertainty have proved good for the on-hire industry and Hull says Allied wins at both ends of the economic cycle.

"In boom times, companies need to hire more staff and, in down times, they look to casual workers to reduce their costs."

Allied is forecasting revenue of $74.2 million in the year to March 2006, which is almost twice its 2003 earnings of $38 million.

Revenue growth slowed in 2003-2004 when the company invested in staff and IT systems to improve the co-ordination of its crews across the 21 branches.

Hull believes listing is the next logical step on the growth path. He sees plenty of opportunity to buy small regional labour hire firms and plans to move into the horticulture industry, supplying seasonal pickers to orchards - a market few labour hire firms have tapped.

The importance of labour hire in a modern economy has only recently been recognised and New Zealand's market for on-hire labour has grown 56 per cent in four years.

With 0.7 per cent of its workforce casual, New Zealand is behind Australia on 1.1 per cent. But Hull expects New Zealand to catch up over the next five years.

For many, the casual work provides variety and flexible hours, with earnings on a par with full-time employees in the industries where they work. .

"Basically, there's as much work as they want if they are good workers."

Hull agrees a certain stigma has been attached to casual labour and is no stranger to being let down.

Managing people is something he cut his teeth on, overseeing large working gangs in his orchard days.

"You tell them what you expect of them, let them know when that's not being met and congratulate them when they exceed your expectations."

Five years ago, he bowed out of managing the Penrose branch to oversee regional growth and to focus on getting new customers.

There are no plans to move the head office from Penrose.

It's in the heart of industry and Hull doesn't want to lose sight of what the business is about.

"It's a service industry and we have to keep focused on that," he says. "We've got to keep doing it and keep doing it better."
THE CV


Simon Hull


Born: Auckland, aged 45.


Education: Attended Kings College in Auckland.


1979: Milked cows on the family farm.


1981: Left farming to develop kiwifruit orchards in the Bay of Plenty.


1988: Started Allied Workforce in Penrose.


On the job


Allied Work Force is the largest specialist blue-collar on-hire labour business.


It started in 1988 and employs people to hire to other businesses.


The company expects to raise $11.4 million when it lists on the NZSX on July 6.


It is offering 7.6 million shares at $1.50 each.


Its market cap will be $39.2 million (at issue price).


It has 8000 workers on its books and on a typical day provides about 3000 to work in 500 client businesses.


The company has 21 regional branches and is planning four more.