How KiwiSpan Helped Fieldtorque Grow Their Business With a Customized Building

Fieldtorque started in 2006 and by 2012 the business was booming… it was time for a new building. A tractor and farm machinery business, Fieldtorque had started out in an old press printing building. “You’ve got to start somewhere, but it wasn’t ideal for a tractor shop” says Carl Hinton, General Manager and Director.

With more staff to support the growing business, Fieldtorque needed a bigger premise with a layout to better support their business operations. Their franchises were also putting pressure on the team about the appearance of the building… it was time to set a new standard with a more modern, appealing building to attract and welcome new customers.

“Word of mouth led us to Joel over at KiwiSpan – we talked to other companies as well, but it was Joel that won us over”, says Carl. “He was easy to get on with and understood us – we knew he’d be approachable for anything we needed to talk about during the project, and that was important to us”, adds Carl.

Fieldtorque initially looked at using their current site and changing the building around, but after looking at designs with Joel at KiwiSpan, quickly realised it was going to cost more, and even then, they’d still not get their ideal building. ”We talked to Joel about the designs for our site – it just wasn’t going to work. The land area wasn’t right and we’d need a new premise. It took until 2018 to get the right site”, says Carl.

Fieldtorque’s own builder started doing some demo work and clearing the site while building preparations got underway with the KiwiSpan team. The designs didn’t change much from when they’d originally discussed the business needs back in 2012. “Joel really understood what the building had to do for us – he pretty much nailed the design and all we changed were a few offices and hallways”, says Carl.

Fortunately, during the design phase Fieldtorque were thinking about the finished building and had already begun looking at signage. “We had a great looking sign proposal, but it didn’t fit the building. We talked to Joel and he was great – he lengthened the front of the building and changed the roof line to give us the best street frontage”, says Carl.

“We started building at the end of 2019 and put our original premise on the market. It sold faster than we expected and we had to move out… fast!” says Carl. At this stage, only the foundations had been poured.

“We rented a temporary site in town and asked Joel to prioritise building the workshop”, says Carl. “We knew this would delay the overall building timeframes, but it gave us a better location to operate from. Joel was magic. He pulled builders out of everywhere and got that workshop built ASAP for us.” Fieldtorque’s sales and support teams continued to work in town but importantly, they had a great facility for the heart of their operations, with their new workshop. “We worked out of two sites for about ten months”, says Carl.

“Joel was so approachable – it really helped us through this transition. He was easy to talk to, open to changing scope as needed, and he talked us through the options. The whole time, he was focused on what our business needed”, says Carl.

With the workshop up and running, Carl could see what was happening with the build on a daily basis. “I had questions all the time, and to be fair, they did too”, says Carl. “The various trades could ask me exactly how we wanted things, so we were able to make lots of small changes just by being there at the right time.”

“KiwiSpan’s foreman did a great job of staying on top of all the daily changes and feeding them back to Joel. The project management worked really well”, says Carl.

Once the walls were up, the Fieldtorque team realised a key meeting room wasn’t as big as they’d hoped. After talking through the options they made the decision to remove an adjoining office to allow for a much larger boardroom. “By this stage we felt really comfortable talking about anything with Joel and his foreman, so this was an easy conversation”, says Carl. “It cost us a bit extra in structure reworks but we’re super pleased we did it.”

Fieldtorque moved completely into their building in May 2021. “The new premise has exceeded our expectations – turnover has lifted due to the improved presence and sharp new look”, says Carl. “It’s nice to have people walk right in and feel welcome in our inviting, modern showroom.”

Fieldtorque are now getting on with business and enjoying their investment with KiwiSpan. “Knowing our premise is built to last with heavier steel and heavy duty bolts, means we can relax knowing the place won’t fall over”, says Carl. “We wanted to build the place properly and not worry about ongoing repairs and costly, distracting fixes all the time. We’d recommend KiwiSpan every time.”

Whether it’s a commercial or industrial building you need, KiwiSpan has a customised shed solution for you. Contact us HERE today to get the ball rolling on your next project.