Peter Heaphy

The Contract Coatings founder says that his involvement started long before he was born, when his father, Brian Heaphy, began a painter’s apprenticeship in the mid 1930s with Jack Webb. Brian went on to enjoy a long career in the trade including estimating and management.

“My father served his apprenticeship and worked as a tradesman and got involved in the war effort locally,” says Peter. “He worked on the fort at Whangaparāoa when it was built, and he got involved in spray painting camouflage at the air bases and all those sorts of things.

“I outgrew the school environment and was going to go overseas and needed some money. My father was advertising a position at the Webb company for someone to train up as an estimator. I said, ‘What about me? I can count and generally do as I’m asked and told.’ So I went to work there and the rest is history.”

Peter later went on to found Contract Coatings in 1984, which is now one of New Zealand’s largest painting contracting businesses.

The only way is up

Peter’s serious interest in large-scale construction meant Contract Coatings has been part of many of the country’s most significant projects over the past 40 years.

“We were involved in some phenomenal projects in the Auckland market initially – the Sheraton Hotel and the Regent Hotel – and we’ve been involved with Auckland International airport for the last 30 years or so.

“We’ve also done a substantial amount of work in prisons in the last 25 years throughout the North Island. They’re effectively just hotels with more sophisticated locks!

“SkyCity was another marquee project for us – both the casino and the Sky Tower and more recently the New Zealand Convention Centre and Horizon Hotel in Auckland City.

People first

As well as helming Contract Coatings, Peter became a key figure in the wider painting industry thanks to his people-focused ethos, measured nature and strong relationships.

“The industry involves a significant number of salt-of-the-earth people and I became involved with what is now Master Painters New Zealand. I’m a life member and attended conferences for around 15-20 years all throughout the country.”

It was the opportunity to share knowledge with people of a similar ilk that Peter enjoyed, as well as connecting over shared interests.

“We met some thoroughly decent people and formed lifelong friendships. We travelled extensively with friends we met from throughout the country. They owned their own painting companies and we all had similar interests.”

Safety first

Another string to Peter’s bow is his genuine and impressive commitment to health and safety. He is one of the founding members of Site Safe New Zealand and was the chairman for eight years.

“The wider construction industry had always practiced health and safety by good luck and not good management, as there are many life-and-death situations on construction sites.”

The industry took a step forward with ACC and other industry bodies to attend a series of seminars around the country which led to the formation of Site Safe New Zealand.

“There was some resistance, I might add, from reasonably sound people who didn’t want to be told what to do. They viewed health and safety as a cost and not an investment.”

Peter was on the initial Board of Directors and travelled a lot, frequently flying around the country to meet with Government officials and source funding.

Peter was awarded a Site Safe Life Membership in 2012 in recognition of his dedication, significant contribution and personal commitment to promoting the culture of safety in the industry. He was influential in Site Safe becoming the New Zealand construction industry’s recognised health and safety body.

Among other organisations, Contract Coatings are also aligned with Mates in Construction, which focuses predominately on reducing the number of construction workers taking their own lives.

You’ve got a friend

“The best thing about Resene is that you’re dealing with real, genuine people. Some of the other brands are full of people climbing the corporate ladder, and the people you’re dealing with today are not who you’re dealing with tomorrow or next month.”

Peter concedes that the industry has changed significantly since 1984. “The fundamentals haven’t. You’re still putting liquid coatings onto surfaces and trying to do it in a manner that you can eke out a living,” he says. “But the manner in which you do it – the employment of labour contractors as opposed to direct employees – has changed quite markedly over the last 10-15 years.”

In the family

Peter’s daughter, Becky Trow, is a Director at Contract Coatings and bought into the business around 15 years ago.

Becky says their partnership with Resene is a strong one. “Resene is a family business and we are a family business. Looking after our people and dealing with good people is important to us,” she says. “We align really closely with Resene and we’ve got lifelong friendships with the likes of Ben Solly, Craig Cassidy and John Gerondis.”

Peter has recently moved into semi-retirement due to some health issues, but Becky says his legacy is a lasting one.

“Having someone like Pete as a mentor has helped us endure the different challenges that happen in business,” she says. “And not just in the painting industry – Peter is well known in the wider construction industry for being a firm, fair, level-headed, kind and clever man. He really does leave a legacy of being one of the good ones.”

As Peter sums it up, “I don’t have a trade background, but the best advice I’ve ever received and always try to practice is: ‘You’ve got two eyes, two ears and one mouth, and you use them in that ratio.’ Spend 80% of your time listening and looking and the other 20% of the time talking – you’ll learn something virtually every day.”