Pact of Steel - High School Friends Unite to Build Award-Winning Business

A pact to create a great business together has led to an award-winning venture for two former Hamilton Boys High School mates.

Ask Morgan Corkill and Aaron Burkhart how they’ve managed the phenomenal growth (plus 700 per cent over three years) of their Ngāruawāhia-based steel fabrication business and their answer is - our team. Not just the immediate team around them, but also tight relationships they’ve formed with external advisors including BNZ, Hamilton accountants Vazey Child and Icehouse.

Winning the Deloitte Fast 50 Manufacturing Category and ranking third in the Growth Index has put Pact Steel on the map, no mean feat given the business was only incorporated in 2020, however the plan to start a business was formulated a few years earlier in the UK.

“Morgan was working in the renewable energy space in England. He gave me a call and said he needed my help. I was on the plane a week later and we spent six months working together. We talked about setting up our own business, but I left with no set plans. When Morgan came back to New Zealand a few years later in Covid it all happened pretty quickly, with the business operating from my home office. We changed the business plan and focused on opening our own steel fabrication facility. We were lucky to find our current base here in Ngāruawāhia and started to generate a solid pipeline in the construction sector.”

Getting started

It was tough at the start, the pair were doing everything themselves from quoting through to welding. Larger residential construction projects started coming in and they got a break into commercial projects.

“We employed two staff and we had a plan. We had some aspirations for growth - but you have to be careful what you wish for,” Aaron adds.

Reflecting on the rapid pace of growth both agree it seems “crazy” looking back. Two staff became eight in 2022 and by 2023 there were 40 on the team.

Our staff believed in us, and they backed us, Aaron says. Some of those earliest team members are now in management. However, like so many others in fast growth, the main challenges have been scaling the workforce.

Dealing with the challenges

“At the time when we were growing fast and treading new ground there wasn’t a lot of skilled staff available, so we chose to look outside the structural steel industry, and we trained them ourselves. We also sourced skilled staff from offshore, but the process was a lot harder than we expected. It took up so much time - we thought five guys were turning up in two months, but it actually took seven! We haven’t needed to go offshore in the last two years, but we understand the process is better now,” Aaron says.

As the business grew, so did the need to figure out what equipment and machinery they needed and what assets should be purchased or what could be leased.

“We’ve been fortunate to have the support of BNZ to access capital and that’s enabled us to invest in the latest machinery, giving us a point of difference and managing the growth,” Morgan says.

A scholarship from the BNZ to attend the Icehouse Owner Manager Programme formed part of a package of support to deliver on Aaron and Morgan’s vision.

“The knowledge that was brought to our attention in the Icehouse opened a massive door for us. There were so many aspects of the business we had to work on, particularly understanding the importance of financial tracking and reporting processes which aligned with the work we were doing with our accountants Vazey Child. Managing cashflow and working capital was all new territory for us. With each new step of growth and additional throughput we have implemented new systems, processes, and procedures to keep up with the pace. We survive on getting the right information and making sure our clients are always benefitting from the continuous improvements we’re making to our systems,” Morgan says.

The power of the Icehouse network has also opened up opportunities, not only the knowledge learnt from others in the Programme, but also valuable business transactions.

Deloitte Fast 50 – Fastest Growing Manufacturing Business National Winner, Fast 50 Index 3^rd Place

Entering the Awards wasn’t on our radar Aaron says, until the BNZ suggested we give it a go.

“It’s confirmed we do like putting ourselves out there and it’s been rewarding for the team. Ever since day one it’s been all go here; we haven’t had many chances to reflect so being able to stop and celebrate with the team has made entering the Awards really worthwhile.”

The pace of growth has eased for the time being as the market readjusts however Morgan and Aaron have innovative plans on the drawing board for their local customer base and are looking to employ again in six months.