Matt Henderson

Foreman/operator

Foreman/operator for the Civil team Matt Henderson has been working with Taylors for two-and-a-half years after relocating from Auckland with his partner. “We wanted to move south somewhere. My partner applied for a job with AgFirst in Motueka and got it. I saw an opportunity for a multiskilled operator at Taylors and was successful.”

Matt had previously worked for a small contracting business as a foreman on projects in South Auckland and North Waikato, so working for Taylors has certainly been a change in terms of the scale of the business.

Since starting with Taylors, Matt says that he’s impressed with the way that the business looks after its people and by the interesting projects that he and the team get to do.

“The guys are good to work with. The Taylors boys tend to look after everyone well. Our work is good work. Once you finish and stand back a bit you can be proud of the work that you’ve done. It’s also really satisfying seeing it lead to future work, as opportunities pop up from it as well.”

Matt enjoys the team he gets to work with and loves the role of foreman,  which utilises a range of different skills.

“You definitely need to have leadership and people skills and knowledge of the industry. It’s also important to have good management above you.”

Being an operator, especially when he gets to operate the grader, is also something he enjoys. Matt describes his typical day as “rocking up to work, doing our pre-starts, having a meeting, moving some dirt, and making things look tidy!”

Matt’s modesty and willingness to go above and beyond to get the work at hand done has been noticed by his colleagues and managers within the business.

“Matt is willing to learn new things and step up to lead the team as and when required,” says Charlie Taylor. “We have heard that he has even worked with other team members to learn some surveying techniques and undertaken some site testing, both of which are outside the scope of his role, so that he can help provide those necessary aspects of a job when needed in support of other staff. On a recent job, Matt provided insights for site engineers that saved the client time and money. He shows great initiative, over and above doing his job as lead operator with skill.”