Like so many intergenerational family businesses in New Zealand, Simkin Construction started with a man and a van (or in this case a flat deck Bedford truck), in 1971 in Napier.

CF Simkin Ltd. developed a reputation in Hawke’s Bay for hard work, done well while building the growing city’s state housing stock. It was a dawn-to-dusk operation that showed sons, Terry and Steve, what it meant to work hard and succeed.

After time on the tools for other businesses learning the trade and then moving into quantity surveying and contract management, Terry joined forces with his brother and foreman Kip Rasmussen in the early 1980s and quickly developed a reputation for high quality construction work in the education sector in Hawke’s Bay.

This soon expanded into commercial and architectural residential building and the company now has a nimble and experienced team of around 25.

With Terry’s daughter, Olivia, now part of the management team, Simkin Construction is into its third generation and continuing to build on its reputation as one of Hawke’s Bay’s leading construction firms.