Latest / Best of Business / Grant Porteous: G.J. Gardner higher-up on the company's plan to grow the franchise by 30 percent

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Grant Porteous: G.J. Gardner higher-up on the company's plan to grow the franchise by 30 percent · Best of Business

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  Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from News Talks'd be follow
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  Speaker 1: this and our wide range of podcasts now on iHeartRadio.
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: Now.
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  Speaker 3: New Zealand's biggest residential builder has announced plans to get
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  Speaker 3: even bigger.
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  Speaker 2: GJ.
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  Speaker 3: Gardner Homes wants to grow from thirty one franchises to
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  Speaker 3: forty in the next year. It's interesting timing considering that
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  Speaker 3: the housing market isn't in the greatest shape at the moment.
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  Speaker 3: Grant Portius is the joint managing director of Deacon Homes,
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  Speaker 3: which is GJ. Gardner's master franchiser.
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  Speaker 2: Hey Grunt, Hello Heather, how are you very well? Thank you?
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  Speaker 3: As I just said it interesting timing. So is this
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  Speaker 3: a case of you guys taking advantage of a downturn?
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  Speaker 2: I think there's a lot of things involved. So people
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  Speaker 2: will lose sight of the fact that in the downturn,
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  Speaker 2: they're still demand for housing. It's just a best threat amount.
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  Speaker 2: So you need to be more competitive to make sure
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  Speaker 2: you get your share and look after your businesses.
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  Speaker 3: How do you even have the ability to do it
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  Speaker 3: given that, I mean, you guys must have taken a knock.
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  Speaker 3: Given what's going.
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  Speaker 2: On we have, we'd be about a third down I
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  Speaker 2: thing is and reported. However, the way we do this
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  Speaker 2: as we just keep looking for opportunity and we measure
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  Speaker 2: the calls we're getting to our franchise ees a's surrounding
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  Speaker 2: franchises and new areas, or to a head office, go
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  Speaker 2: and do some analysis in an area. You look at
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  Speaker 2: the competition in an area and you're back yourself that
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  Speaker 2: you can, with the right people move in and create
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  Speaker 2: a new business in that area. And we've got new
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  Speaker 2: misproven success models and achieving that.
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  Speaker 3: And so is it a case of because others are
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  Speaker 3: hurting at retrenching and maybe even going under, that leaves
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  Speaker 3: market share for you guys to take advantage of it.
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  Speaker 2: Certainly does. We are New Zealand's biggest builder. We have
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  Speaker 2: a very competitive proposition and it's not always about wanting
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  Speaker 2: to hurt others. It's about a market meeting a good
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  Speaker 2: competitive housing as we know across New Zealand, and we're
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  Speaker 2: a business that can do that. So it's matching ourselves
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  Speaker 2: and the systems we provide with a very good local
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  Speaker 2: couple who often need a hand up to move from
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  Speaker 2: being very good builders of a few homes to having
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  Speaker 2: the capability to build forty or fifty homes for their
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  Speaker 2: region and their area.
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  Speaker 3: Greg, I see that you say that they're strong demand
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  Speaker 3: for growth in regions, especially outside of Auckland. Are you
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  Speaker 3: seeing a different story emerging here between what's happening in
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  Speaker 3: Auckland what's happening outside of Auckland.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, certainly, the Auckland market remains challenging. Land remains challenging.
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  Speaker 2: A new land coming on streams going to be some time,
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  Speaker 2: and I think as we all know, there has been
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  Speaker 2: a lot of people moving from Auckland and taking the
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  Speaker 2: advantage of going to regions where land's cheaper, so you're
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  Speaker 2: in housing product comes through the better price and just
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  Speaker 2: for that quality of life away from some of the
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  Speaker 2: challenges we face living in Auckland.
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  Speaker 3: Are you still seeing you know, that thing that happened
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  Speaker 3: during lockdown where everybody wanted to move to the Coramandal
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  Speaker 3: because you know you could have a beautiful life, good
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  Speaker 3: life balance and still be able to work remotely. Is
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  Speaker 3: that still happening.
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  Speaker 2: I don't think it's quite so much that people are
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  Speaker 2: looking to move to those resort pliant places, but it
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  Speaker 2: we have the franchise and the Coraman that performs very well,
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  Speaker 2: but more christ you just become a market with the rebuild.
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  Speaker 2: It's a modern city. There's a lot of opportunity there
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  Speaker 2: and a lot of growth, and I do think New
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  Speaker 2: Zealanders are starting to really see out in the rural regions.
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  Speaker 2: It's not just about affordability, and it's not and the
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  Speaker 2: work opportunities that do exist. It's all about lifestyle. Are
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  Speaker 2: getting connecting back to nature, getting out of mountain bikes
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  Speaker 2: and enjoying all those sorts of things. And I think
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  Speaker 2: people from COVID is the alying the fact that they
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  Speaker 2: want to work to live, not live to work. Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: Look, I look at what's happening in the housing market
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  Speaker 3: and measures that have been taken by the likes of
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  Speaker 3: the Reserve Bank and the government and stuff like that,
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  Speaker 3: the detis and all that kind of stuff. I do
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  Speaker 3: not see the market ever picking up and running as
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  Speaker 3: full noise hot as it has in the past.
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  Speaker 2: What do you think I'd support you with that? I
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  Speaker 2: think anything. You have to realize though, when we had
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  Speaker 2: demand of fifty thousand permits, we were never building to
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  Speaker 2: that level. At best, we had a capability in New
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  Speaker 2: Zealand of around thirty five thousand permits. And I never
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  Speaker 2: look and say, well, the best decade was this, So
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  Speaker 2: that's going to push repeat once we come out of
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  Speaker 2: this lower time, you look an assess, well, what's in
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  Speaker 2: front of us and what can we do and what
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  Speaker 2: games and we played to participate in that. So part
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  Speaker 2: of that for us is about them growing our skill set,
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  Speaker 2: growing our resources, moving into density building, moving with the
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  Speaker 2: new typologies that are coming available, and looking where we
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  Speaker 2: can help in that area to build homes with great amenity,
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  Speaker 2: but medium density and homes that people can enjoy it.
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  Speaker 3: How long do you think before the market does start
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  Speaker 3: picking up.
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  Speaker 2: We have seen a list right now and I'm not
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  Speaker 2: saying that just to be positive. On the new Plymouth.
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  Speaker 2: As I speak to you, I've just come from a
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  Speaker 2: new show home where they're actually thinking about asking people
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  Speaker 2: make appointments because there are salespeople went out to get
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  Speaker 2: a break during the day. They're having over thirty couples
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  Speaker 2: visit a day on weekends and still getting demand during
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  Speaker 2: the week I left wrong Ano yesterday and most people
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  Speaker 2: wrong and he's looking beautiful and I've done a wonderful
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  Speaker 2: job there. The council heads up to them and as
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  Speaker 2: I left, I've got a call from one of our
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  Speaker 2: team and they just conceded a twenty two house contract
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  Speaker 2: signature to build some new homes through there. So things
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  Speaker 2: have certainly happen. I mean, I don't ever count, hope
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  Speaker 2: by or worry too much about what governments are now
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  Speaker 2: look at what's in front of us. And so we're
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  Speaker 2: seeing increased numbers through our show homes in the rural areas,
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  Speaker 2: increased numbers of clients paying to us a deposit to
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  Speaker 2: get concepts drawn, and we've certainly seen that uplist in
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  Speaker 2: the last two months. It's been quite incredible.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, brilliant stuff. Hey, Grant, thank you, really appreciate talking
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  Speaker 3: to you, and best of luck with your plans. It's
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  Speaker 3: Grant Portius, JJ Gardner Holmes.
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