Mills Albert Ltd

Now, the proudly Māori-owned earthmoving and forestry enterprise employs around 120 staff and covers multi-million-dollar projects between Taranaki and the Wairarapa. But like many start-ups, Mills Albert has navigated speed bumps too, since launching from the basement of Dave and Lisa’s Paraparaumu home.
 
After buying Philip out of the business in 2006, the market was hit, and subdivisions stopped being built within the region. Mum of three Lisa recalls having to let four of their 26 staff members go, which was one of the company’s hardest moments.
 
“We hadn’t quite got ourselves structurally right and our staff are our biggest asset, so from there we agreed we weren’t going to get into that kind of situation again. We put important steps in place.”
 
It meant bringing in the right amount of supervision, or as Dave calls it, ‘getting the layers right’, so management could filter down the business.
 
They welcomed Paul Albert as operations manager, another of Lisa’s brothers who’s now the company’s general manager. Then, the employment of their first contract manager saw structure start to take shape.

When Mills Albert entered the Horowhenua Electra Business Awards in 2017, they won the health and safety category, but missed out on the finals for Overall Business of the Year.

“It made us think about the heart of who we are and our values. Internally, we had structure, but it wasn't really reinforced with any set principles,” Lisa says. “So, our staff put time into building our values and company mission.”

Based on core Māori principles, the values are now displayed on a wall in reception at their expansive Nikau Palm Road headquarters, which is home to 12 trucks in various sizes and around 50 items of plant machinery.

Mills Albert also introduced teams for contractual management human resources, health and safety, and environmental components.

As a result, significant planning goes into every project to prevent the impact on native and endangered species, and the company recycles and reuses as much as possible to minimise waste.

In late 2023, they made another bold move and purchased a dairy farm in Taranaki with the purpose of extracting rock for placement supply. 

“The region is going to keep requiring river and sea wall protection, so it’s a given that this rock needs to be used,” says Dave, who was originally paying farmers a royalty for their rock.

A recent project at Poets Park in Upper Hutt saw Greater Wellington Regional Council use Mills Albert as an example to demonstrate carbon offset.

“We stripped 1400m3 of topsoil for hardstand areas and excavated 2300m3 of material for garden hollows. All Kelly blocks and rocks that lay unused were then re-purposed into raised garden features,” Dave explains.

“We also covered disestablished hardstand areas with the leftovers and the only material taken off site was scrap metal and other waste material.”

In August 2023, Mills Albert entered the Horowhenua Electra Business Awards again, winning three categories including Construction and Trades and Overall Business of the Year. Then they took out the Health and Safety category at the Wellington Gold Awards.

For 2024, they’re developing a dedicated training facility and pilot programme that goes beyond traditional qualifications to provide advanced skills necessary for civil construction projects that’ll help manage the shortfall of skilled workers in the industry. Additionally, it’ll upskill locals and welcome more rangatahi into the civil industry, teaching budgeting and time management, operation of machinery, health and safety, and overall well-being based on Te Whare Tapa Whā.

“It’s supported by the Civil Contractors Federation and we’re working with Kāpiti Coast District Council, Te Puni Kōkiri and Ministry of Social Development” enthuses Dave, who still lives with Lisa in the home where they raised their children and started Mills Albert.

“We’re really proud of what we’re doing.”