Our People

Our management team

Gerry Friel - Managing Director/Founder

With over 30 years’ experience in the construction industry both in New Zealand and in the UK, Gerry has been delivering safe, quality and innovative underground construction in Wellington since starting the business in 1999.He is highly skilled and experienced in pipe laying for all three waters holding the relevant certifications and qualifications.

Always looking for innovative solutions, he has become a specialist in trenchless techniques that can be applied to solve problems efficiently, reduce risk and provide value for money to our customers.

Passionate about people development, he has built a high-performing and dedicated workforce and enjoys being part of a thriving, market leading business in the region.

Dave Philipson - General Manager

A qualified Civil Engineer, Dave brings a background in project management across a variety of infrastructure projects in New Zealand and the UK to growing the business and maintaining a successful brand.

He is a strong communicator with the ability to efficiently cut to the heart of a problem, develop a solution and put together an action plan that will lead to success. His personable manner and methodical style make him an asset to any team and he will always look to add value in any situation.

His background in project management means that he is driven by production and can plan and organise activities and projects so that they achieve their goals.

Dave believes that protecting our people and those affected by our activities is a minimum standard and that our focus should be to work towards objectives that leave a legacy of health, safety, environmental and quality improvements for future generations.

Mike Antipas – Works Manager

Mike has over 35 years’ experience in the construction industry, providing underground infrastructure solutions across the greater Wellington Region. His experience covers the full range of services including water, power, communications, and gas.

Mike’s calm and methodical style that make him a natural leader and enables him to get the best out of his teams. His focus is on building and maintaining open and honest relationships with both staff and customers just as he builds high quality, resilient infrastructure.

A previous business owner, employing up to 25 staff in his own business, Mike is acutely aware of the importance of Health and Safety in the workplace. He is focused on making sure that we protect our people and support them with opportunities to grow, learn and develop.

John Walkinshaw - Workshop Manager

John is an experienced diesel mechanic and can apply his technical expertise to any item of mechanical plant diagnosing and affecting lasting repairs alongside carrying out preventative maintenance. He is equally comfortable applying a first principles approach to his work as he is in using diagnostic software tools.

John takes care of our entire fleet of plant including trucks, excavators, trenchless tools and supporting equipment. He keeps everything compliant and in good working order to ensure that it supports the work and can be called into service at any time.

John’s “no nonsense” style makes him an effective leader. He is able to get the best out of our supply chain and holds our people to account for caring for the plant and equipment with which they are entrusted.

Mark Kairua - Traffic Management Manager

Mark has over 20 years’ experience as a Traffic Manager (TM), delivering safe traffic management solutions for the construction industry. He manages a team of traffic management personnel to support all our construction activities across the Wellington region.

Mark has the vision to be able to adapt Traffic Management Plans to suit the work and environment, and a focus on delivering safe and productive outcomes for the business. Mark can actively manage traffic management movements through and around our worksites in complex situations and effectively ensures that the safety of the public is protected while work proceeds efficiently.

Mark has trained as a TM Mentor and Assessor and is passionate about developing the people that work with him to ensure that his team continue to be leaders in their field.

Damus Ogle – Engineer

A qualified Civil Engineer, Damus has over five years’ experience in three waters. With a background in asset management and maintenance he has deep knowledge of how the networks operate and the role of high-quality construction in delivering long term benefits to the customer.

Always ready for a challenge and using his initiative to solve problems, Damus is also passionate about high standards. He ensures that we rigorously record and document information from our sites to support our safety, environmental and quality management processes.

Keenly aware that people are our biggest asset, he works to support the team with information and feedback that enable and motivate. Damus looks for excellence in everything he does and is always seeking development opportunities.

Tori Leach – Engineer

Tori has 10 years’ experience in the construction industry working in the road corridor. With roles including supervisor, foreman, traffic controller and contracts administrator, she a strong understanding of how everyone plays an important role in project outcomes.

Tori is dedicated to supporting the team, working to ensure we can be safe and productive in everything that we do. She is skilled at interpreting contract documents and assessing risks, delivering high quality information and communicates it to the workface.

Customer focussed, she works hard to ensure we are open, honest, and transparent, keep good records and can handover a high-quality product as efficiently as possible. Tori is passionate about learning and thrives while working in a motivated team of experienced people who are all focussed on achieving great outcomes.