Business View Oceania | April 2021

59 60 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA APRIL 2021 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA APRIL 2021 URBAN MA INTENANCE SYSTEMS NEW ZEALAND (UMS-NZ) with a small start-up called Greencycle that is able to safely recycle invasive plant species that would otherwise go to general landfill. UMS-NZ also undertakes energy and water audits at the buildings it services, always striving to go above and beyond targets set by Council. In addition, they have teams that go out to measure the soil moisture at sports fields, to ensure they’re executing sustainable irrigation practices. Reducing the company’s carbon footprint is another driver for UMS-NZ. Lochery proudly notes, “Council sets our carbon reduction at 5 percent each year, which we’re knocking out of the park.” As part of their drive to continually evolve and improve, UMS-NZ is trialing the use of electrical equipment instead of petrol-powered equipment, such as lawn mowers, weed eaters and the like. According to Lochery, besides the obvious environmental benefits of this switch to electrical or battery-operated equipment, there five within the next five years. It’s an ambitious goal but one UMS-NZ believes can be achieved through organic growth, new service lines and joint ventures and acquisitions. “Ultimately,” says Allan, “these ambitious goals are achievable because UMS-NZ offers a fundamentally great service. At heart, UMS-NZ is a company that cares about all its many stakeholders, as much as it cares about all that it does in the New Zealand market. That “care factor” is what will see our strong growth continue.” are also health and safety benefits for workers, such as not having to lug around heavier petrol- powered equipment. Robotic grass cutters are also being investigated, based on collaborated learning gleaned from the City of Edinburgh Council in the UK. The Road Ahead For UMS-NZ Looking three to five years down the road, Allan has his eye firmly focused on “sustainable growth.” The intent is to have organic growth in New Zealand, in and beyond Auckland. Another longer-term strategy is to build relationships with trusted suppliers and partners to further improve their customer experience, whilst also developing in-house to be able to self-deliver more service lines. Allan also speaks about what he dubs his ‘BHAG’ or ‘Big Hairy Audacious Goal,’ which is to effectively make the business grow by a factor of PREFERRED VENDORS/ PARTNERS n Tubman Heating Limited www.tubman.co.nz auckland@tubman.co.nz n NZ Facilities Limited www.nzfacilities.co.nz