Paharakeke Trades United is becoming the go-to for Flaxmere developments

L-R Tuhirangi Smith, Andy Winitana co-founders of Paharakeke Trades United outside Flaxmere community centre. Photo/Warren Buckland

Six months ago Paharakeke Trades United (PTU) started out as a small idea with 18 smaller Flaxmere trades companies.

Now, more than 45 businesses strong, PTU looks to be one of the biggest construction cohorts in the North Island.

PTU was founded after two men came together and decided the best way to get Flaxmere-owned trade companies at the top of the pick for local developments was by creating a collective.

With the announcement of new housing developments coming to Flaxmere, local business owner Tui Smith from Everlast Roofing called for a meeting between the Hastings District Council and the trade businesses in Flaxmere to discuss the developments that were planned for Flaxmere in 2022-2025 and how local trades can be more involved.

It was noted by all tradies that attended that none of the local businesses had been used in the previous housing developments.

The Hastings District Council allegedly told those at the meeting this was because they were unaware of the local tradies.

Local IScaffold Aotearoa business owner Andy Winitana attended the meeting and knew straight away that what Flaxmere trades needed was to work together in a collective like he had been a part of in Australia.

After the meeting, Smith and Winitana both agreed with council that a group approach to the developments would offer an easier way for the developers to communicate with the local trades, and that was when Paharakeke Trades United (PTU) was started.

Council’s chief executive Nigel Bickle suggested the path forward for the local trades would be to form a cohort to give these developers an easy avenue to connect, Winitana said.

Hastings Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst and former Flaxmere councillors Henare O’Keefe and Peleti Oli have all been major supporters of PTU and its kaupapa from the very beginning and continue to support the collective after leaving the council.

Winitana explained that with the collective in place, Hastings council members told him that HDC would try to influence new developers into using local trades.

However, it is not the developers who do the building so Winitana knew it was the builders who he needed to ensure used the local tradies, “because the developers wouldn’t know of them because they are not local.”

Starting from the bottom Winitana has been the driving force behind PTU, creating a Facebook page gathering local businesses who wanted to be a part of the PTU and adding them to the page and promoting the work they do.

PTU started as a business hub for Flaxmere where the community could access local trades.

Tuhirangi Smith, left, of Paharakeke Trades United, Taneshia Gill and Israel McNabb, board members, Andy Winitana of Paharakeke Trades United outside Flaxmere community centre. Photo / Warren Buckland

Winitana noticed a lot of the community was reaching out to trades that were in Napier and the wider Hastings area because they just were not aware of the trades that were in Flaxmere.

“The first thing we did was just get the attention of the Flaxmere community and say look these are your tradies if you need any help or trade work in your home contact us and someone local, maybe even a neighbour, will come and price the work and fix your home,” he said.

From this, the idea that PTU was building Flaxmere from the inside out was formed and community trust was established.

However, as a business owner himself Winitana knew that PTU needed support and growth for the smaller businesses in the cohort.

PTU now has a big focus on educating the smaller and newer businesses on commercial construction avenues, with the help and support of the larger entities.

There was also a realisation that they didn’t have enough builders to make a significant dent in the number of houses about to be built.

Winitana reached out to builders he knew , asking if they would be willing to support PTU in the developments.

“They all said ‘yes, if PTU gets the build then they will come over and work with PTU’.”

“At that point, no one was 100 per cent sure that I knew what I was doing, or that it was going to actually work,” Winitana said.

He just kept going, pushing the council, while meeting with builders, programs teams, and communication people while continuing to update the Facebook page.

Now more than half a year in, PTU is making big strides and Winitana says the collective capacity for construction is “arguably one of the best in the North Island.”

“We believe as a cohort we have the capacity to build more houses than anyone else can.”

The co-founder believes it’s because he has “been pretty bloody stubborn and keeping everybody informed and making sure that everyone knows that it’s the real deal.”

PTU finished 2022 on a high note when the council announced the final developers and issued a letter of support for the PTU.

HDC chief executive Nigel Bickle explained as part of the council developments, there is an expectation to use local trades, “to ensure we build Flaxmere from the inside out” and that HDC has worked with PTU to help them prepare for the work that would become available.

“Through the dedicated leadership of the founders (Andy) Winitana and (Tui) Smith, the PTU has grown from being a collective of tradies to a fully functioning entity, operating under board governance,” Bickle said.

The chief executive said PTU understands that they have not been guaranteed any work and that they must put their best foot forward to the developers.

However, Bickle said Winitana and the PTU leadership team have been working with the individual businesses to ensure they are ready, have the capacity and have business policies and procedures in place to be able to quote for any work.