Amotai: More than building houses

Originally posted by Amotai on 13th January 2021 - click the link here to see the original article.


New Zealand's largest privately-owned building company, Mike Greer Commercial, has joined Amotai.

New Zealand's largest privately-owned building company, Mike Greer Commercial, has joined Amotai as an Aukōriki buyer member to help create deeper social impact by supporting quality supplier diversity.

Mike Greer Commercial is responsible for some of the largest build developments in the nation from community and social housing to retirement villages and commercial and retail properties.

Business Development Manager Rachel Gallagher says their newly-formed relationship with Amotai is one that has been long overdue.

“We are involved in both small and large scale NZ housing and, creating master plans for large blocks of land. We recently tendered for a project from one of our biggest clients and through that process we identified a need to do better for the communities we engage with and develop for. That same client introduced us to Amotai and we have been on such a great learning journey.”

As part of Amotai’s Aukōriki membership, every buyer member gets a dedicated relationship manager to help guide them through the new process of connecting buyers with local suppliers and, connecting businesses face to face with people behind a tender.

Amotai recently facilitated a meet and greet hui for a Mike Greer Commercial project in Whangārei. The hui brought together 15 local Māori business owners, all of whom also had whakapapa to the Northland region.

“We were introduced to carpenters, electricians, scaffolders, all these local businesses. When you get to meet the people behind the business in this way, you get a greater understanding that our work is more than just building houses,” Gallagher shares. “All these sub-contractors have their own stories. Many of them give back to their communities. We used to look at building houses as a transactional process, but it's bigger than that. Together we’re building homes for whānau to become a part of a community, for their kids to go to local schools, to join sports clubs, to make new friends. We are also in a position to be able to provide upskilling and income opportunities for the communities we work in by using local Māori and Pasifika businesses.

“We’re currently negotiating with a new partner on how we can help young people who want to work in the industry and are exploring possibilities to open up some of our sites for work experiences.”

Amotai Relationship Manager Kahurangi Malcolm is excited by the success of the recent Whangārei hui and says having companies like Mike Greer Commercial become Aukōriki buyer members is a “real game changer” for the industry.

“It signals to the rest of the market that they are serious about building supplier diversity and also providing opportunities that allow Māori and Pasifika to participate fully in the economy. With the recent government supplier diversity targets announced, it also gives their company a competitive edge for other government contracts.

“Mike Greer Commercial work nationwide and as Amotai continues to grow our supplier membership across the country, there will be many more opportunities to support projects right throughout Aotearoa. Mike Greer Commercial is already talking about the next meet and greet event and we continue to encourage Māori and Pasifika-owned businesses to become registered with Amotai to meet the demands of this company, and other buyers on our register.”