People go potty for Hastings plumber

Kenny Geenty winner of the Zealand plumber, gas fitter or drain layer of the year award (centre) stands with Advanced Plumbing bosses Mark Watkins (left) and Bevan Gully (right).

Hawke's Bay has gone potty for Kenny Geenty's plumbing - so much so that he found himself in Queensland accepting a Plumber of the Year title.

Currently working for Advanced Plumbing in Hastings, Geenty certainly has a handle on things working in the industry for 21 years.

From installing the new pipe system on Xero boss Rod Drury's house, revamping a Kopanga Rd homestead, to working on London apartments, Geenty certainly knows his pipes.

"For the awards my bosses had to answer three questions about me, basically about what I do within the industry, jobs I've done and all sorts of things. They made a portfolio with a few photos and sent that in and it all went from there," he said.

By May 31, Geenty found himself sitting at the back of the ballroom at the InterContinental Sanctuary Cove Resort, little did he know he was about to take out the 2019 Plumber, Gas fitter or Drain layer of the Year title.

"I was pretty nervous and didn't think I had a chance because they sat me at the back and I thought 'oh well this isn't good, they must be trying to tell me something', but then all of a sudden my name flashed up on the screen and I was pretty amazed.

"The morning after the awards I got a text message from Rod Drury saying congratulations, so that was pretty cool."

He had to get up and walk through a strong crowd of 350 plumbers from around New Zealand to accept his title and trophy.

Geenty started working in the industry for a Napier company in 1997 while still at high school.

"At the end of the school holidays they asked me if I wanted to work as an apprentice for them, so I must have done something to impress them. So I started the apprenticeship in 1998 and I've been a plumber ever since."

With the recent housing boom and population increase, Geenty said there was no sign of work going down the drain.

"It's just taking off, I love my work because you face different situations everyday, you're always meeting new clients and I really enjoy building good relationships with them. I like the range of work we do as well, it's plumbing, drain laying and gas fitting as well."