Foster Construction

People, Passion and Opportunity

Passion for business

Leonard Gardner says he noticed a big difference when he became a director and shareholder of the Foster Construction Group.  “Moving from being an employee to being an employer required a huge mindset change.  Literally overnight I moved from collecting a wage to being responsible for ensuring eighty staff received their pay that week.”

Recently selected by the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants as their Young Accountant of the Year, Leonard started his career in 1995 at KPMG.  Although he had always intended to be a journalist, he “fell into accounting by luck” and has never looked back.

Even early on Leonard was adamant that he didn’t want to be crunching numbers all his life.  “I was always interested in business.  I love business - the interactions between companies and customers and the challenges of making a business grow and get better.  Business is a mix of theory and practice.  I wanted to gain some experience in a reasonable sized company before getting into a business of my own,” he says.

He found a job at Hamilton’s Foster Construction in the paper.  They wanted an accountant who could also help the company.  “The role of an accountant has really changed in most organisations.  The days of sitting at a desk all day crunching numbers have really gone out the window.  There are systems and other people who can do all that today,” Leonard says.

“Accountants now have to understand trends and understand the company.  Only if they understand the business can they hope to understand what needs to be measured and how business can be improved.  Chartered accountants can take ideas and back them up with numbers.”  He believes the change has seen accountants moving to become total business advisors who are accountable to stakeholders and clients and willing to meet their standards.

Putting in the hard yards

While he was working at Foster Construction, he also owned and ran a Wendy’s franchise and raised three kids.  “It was a pretty busy time!” he recalls with a laugh.  “I learnt a lot from running the Wendy’s.  Sales doubled and I began to understand how to manage a workforce and cashflow.” 

Armed with two years experience at Foster’s and his successful Wendy’s store, he approached his boss to say he was moving on.  “I went to him and said that I had done some good things around improving systems but that I really wanted to run my own business.  My boss looked at me and said ‘well why don’t you do that right here?’  I sold the Wendy’s and bought some shares!”

Leonard then became the commercial manager at Foster Construction Group, a 35 year old company with a turnover of more than $40m a year.  His role covers legal, human resources, marketing and setting the company image as well as understanding how the business works and managing cashflow. 
In his role, Leonard relies on a close network of advisors on legal, insurance, banking and accounting issues for specialist knowledge and to bounce off ideas.  “It is really important to get excellent people around you who can share with you their wisdom and knowledge,” he says.

People and passion

“People make the difference.  I believe you have to look after them as much as possible and build a real team environment.  Money is just an indicator that business is doing well.  Business should not be about focussing on the money.  Companies should concentrate on looking after their people, encouraging them to be proactive and looking for opportunities to make the business better.    Business involves taking risk, you need to try things, celebrate the successes, and learn from the mistakes,” says Leonard.

Passion is a word which many people apply to the way Leonard approaches his work.  “Passion gives people confidence.  Describing ideas to clients with a bit of genuine passion gives them confidence you are on their side and that you can make it happen.  It is actually very easy to generate passion about construction.  There are not many jobs where you get a site and a picture and your job is to make it a reality.” 

“We dig the holes, pour the concrete, build the walls and roof and, after six months or so, leave a building that will be there for the next 50 years.  People will live and work in what we have made.  When you stop and think about the big picture, it is easy to get excited and passionate about construction.  We turn our clients’ plans on paper into a real building.  You can show your work to your grandkids in twenty years time,” Leonard says.

In recent years Leonard believes he grown up a little and become a little more calculated and mature (although he concedes there is still plenty of growing up to do).  His passion for business still shines through and was one of the major reasons he was picked as the Young Accountant of the Year.  Since the win, he has spoken to a dozen different organisations to inspire them about business and about being in business.  “The award got heaps of publicity.  It has been good for me personally and great for business,” he says.

As a manager, director and shareholder, Leonard believes one of the keys to good business is making the most of opportunities.  “It is more than just taking opportunities as they arise, you need to create opportunities.  They won’t always arrive on a plate.”

Developing the business

This philosophy has seen Foster Construction recently acquire a number of associated suppliers.  “For example, two years ago we took over the Hebel Autoclaved Aerated Concrete distributorship.  Hebel is basically man-made pumice that can be used as a cladding or in the main structure of a building.  This is an environmentally-friendly alternative to products such as polystyrene.  ”

“We had identified that the world was turning green and moved to take advantage of that trend by offering a product that is a green solution.  It gives Foster’s a competitive edge when dealing with clients who care about the environment.  It also allowed Fosters some exposure to the residential construction market which spread the risk out of just commercial construction.” Leonard says.

In his experience, Leonard believes the keys to good business are people, passion and opportunity.  Numbers and money don’t get a mention from this accountant.