2022 was a year Leighs celebrated many project completions; The Langlands Hotel in Invercargill, Whangārei Boys’ High School, The Observatory Hotel, and the ICU Facility at Christchurch Hospital – which was delivered in record time. Despite being another year of disruptions, economic and political global uncertainty, and COVID affecting all aspects of our business, as well as the wider community.
As we look ahead to 2023 we have some important community projects underway, exciting new business on the horizon, and a passionate team of people who take pride in the excellence of their work and are the heart behind Leighs ongoing success.
Anthony Leighs, our founder, and director is very excited with what Leighs has ahead and is pleased to see how the company is evolving. Anthony
appreciates that change can feel uncomfortable, but knows it is essential for our continued growth and sustainability. You can’t help but be inspired by his passion and excitement for how well we are delivering on our current projects, and the strength of our forward workload.
He is proud and thankful to have a “new” board of directors, and offers a warm welcome to Albert, Anna, and Sinead, and acknowledgment to Brian and Paul for their ongoing service.
2022 has been a year of celebrating legendary long-service achievements, with 25-year celebrations for Matt Searle and Ross Stubbly, a 10-year milestone for our carpentry team that arrived post quakes from the Philippines, and plenty more committed long-service yellow-blooded employees.
Albert Brantley is pleased to chair the Leighs Board as Leighs moves into the next stage of its history. He shares “Leighs has a proud heritage that has produced a strong forward workload. From here the ongoing challenge will be to execute projects well, despite the challenges the construction sector is facing, such as staffing shortages, supply chain difficulties, and increasing subcontractor risks.” With risk comes opportunity, and Albert acknowledges we must drive the organisational improvements we need to make while remaining nimble to take advantage of the opportunities as they arise. The board wants to reinforce its desire to assist management wherever it can, and support management efforts to position Leighs for the future.
Gary Walker is proud of the perseverance and resilience shown by all Leighs staff. In turbulent and uncertain times our project teams have overcome many of the industry challenges that Albert has spoken about and continued to deliver well whilst supporting our growth and development as a company. Our continued focus on being a learning organisation has increased year on year, and despite the challenging economic backdrop we doubled down and increased our spending on training, staff development, innovation, and digital technology. Like all progressive companies, Leighs must continue to keep an eye on the horizon as we constantly adapt and evolve our service delivery with a common goal of putting our people first, so that we all continue to deliver exceptional outcomes for our clients.
The future looks bright at Leighs, and we know at the heart of it all are the people that make it happen. Thank you to everyone that has been part of 2022. We look forward to delivering excellence, growing our people, and making construction a better place in 2023.