Fleet Focus

When a young Ron Taggart set up in business in 1953 it’s a fair bet he wouldn’t have expected the company to a) last for more than 70 years, b) have grown out of all proportion from its modest beginnings and c) all those years later still be owned and managed by his family – but that’s the case with Christchurch-based Taggart, prominent in several sectors, including civil construction, demolition and three waters.

Previously known as Taggart Earthmoving, in 2017 the company was rebranded to better reflect this wider range of competencies.

Ron wasn’t the most enthusiastic of students at Papanui Tech (now Papanui High), so when at 15-years-old he rode his mot... ... 

Start the old North of England business-related quote and Murray Robson will finish it off seamlessly: “Where there’s muck, there’s money, that’s very true. But what’s even more important, you have to work really hard to find it.”

With just a handful of months to go to rack up a half-century in the business of muck, Murray has seen highs and lows beyond number. And far from it being an automatic source of wealth, a steady golden-brown stream if you will, the muck has at times being a capricious will ‘o’ the wisp – fluctuating with changes in agricultural fashions, coming and going in response to regulatory changes, shrinking temporarily in the face of competitive ... ... 

It hasn’t been part of a formal business plan, but one truck per year is a rough average for the step-by-step growth of Laurent Contractors.

The rural transport company at Waharoa, just north of Matamata, turns 10-years-old in early December. So, the maths of reaching a decade in business suggests the Laurent fleet should now number 10 red trucks.

Which is pretty much spot on… there are 10 red trucks (but one is for sale) plus a new MAN spreader in pristine white that’s set to be painted red as soon as it can be taken out of the work rotation for a few days. So yes, let’s call it 10 years to build the fleet to 10 trucks.

You get the first impression... ...