Busy contractor scotches rumour

One of Masterton's oldest businesses is still kicking and that's not going to change, says its boss - despite a "malicious" rumour to the contrary.
Civil contractor Bruce Buchanan has been battling rumours circulating among Wairarapa's business community that the 60 employee-strong group is going under.
Wayne Buchanan, managing director of the company started by his father in 1959, said work was steady and looking up despite downsizing during the recession by 25 per cent.
He believed the rumour had started in mid-November after the voluntary redundancy of four people, although he didn't know who started it.
After that, Mr Buchanan started receiving up to 10 calls a day from clients and sub-contractors, forcing him to write a letter to the Wairarapa Chamber of Commerce to set the record straight.
"At the end of the day from my point of view you can just leave it and let it gain its momentum or you can quash it and get on with what you do and what you do best," Mr Buchanan said.
Although their workload - relating to drainage, cabling, concrete, building projects - was cut in the last two years, the company had preserved workers.
Mr Buchanan said they had chosen not to replace staff that left and reduced work hours to meet the smaller number of contracts on their books.
The company has also had to travel outside the region to places in Wellington and Manawatu.
Mr Buchanan said this wasn't ideal - "it gets costly, it gets hard on the families being away from home all the time" - but they had to take work where they could get it.
"From here though, the workload is looking pretty good. I think next year will be a little bit better but I don't think it will get back to where we were 3-4 years ago."
The company, which does fibre-optic cabling, was also keeping close tabs on the government's ultra fast broadband scheme.
Mr Buchanan has worked on the company for 31 years and took over as managing director from his father about 10 years ago.
In September 2010 the company purchased Wairarapa Aggregates and also partners with Wellington company Purser Contracting. Wairarapa Aggregates supplies aggregates from its Featherston, Carterton, Masterton and Taipo quarries to the local and Wellington area.
"We have had some good feedback and support, as much as it's a bad thing, it's had a good outcome out of it."