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Welcome to the Chamber Business Podcast.
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I'm Simon Bridges, CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber, and here each and every week I talk to a business person about their business and what makes them tick.
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The same basic questions, but some very different guests who all have their own unique take on business in New Zealand.
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I know you'll enjoy it and heck you might even learn something to help you on your own unique business journey.
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All guests are proud members of the chamber, but whoever you are, member or not, sit back, relax, and come along for the ride.
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Because at the Auckland Business Chamber, we're here to help.
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We make it easier for you to do business.
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Today's special guest is Daniel Berry, Managing Director of Dalton Electrical Company Limited.
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Welcome to the Chamber Business Podcast.
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Great to have you on, Daniel.
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Yeah, afternoon.
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How are we doing?
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Oh, you know, look, pretty not bad, not bad.
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How about you?
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What have you done today?
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Yeah, yeah, it's been it's been busy.
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I'll tell you what, um, last last year was a bit a bit flat, but um she's all going now.
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It's it's looking up.
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So yeah, we're in a in a good mood.
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Sun's out, it's um all blacks on this weekend.
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So yeah, yeah, it's all good, mate.
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Yeah, no, fantastic.
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Well, that's great.
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I mean, I because I wondered, do you ever get I mean, Dalton Electrical, were you just saying off air um about 170 employees?
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That's right.
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So do you ever I I imagine you are a trained electrician, but do you ever get on the tools?
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I not so much anymore.
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Not so much anymore.
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I do the odd weekend with with the team just to help out.
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I like to uh I like to still, you know, still say that I've got my electrical registration, say that I use it.
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Yeah, I um I hop a bit of flack, no doubt.
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But um no, no, or the whole management team's actually um registered trained electricians, so um sort of I guess that that gives everyone a bit of a bit of confidence that we're doing uh you know making decisions for the right reasons.
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Yeah, fantastic.
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Look, we are going to talk um Dalton Electrical a a fair bit, but before I get to that, give me the sell me the the the the case, the dream of being an electrician.
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Because there, I mean, I my sense is you know it's pretty good earning.
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And you know, you go and get a BA or as some used to call them the bugger all from the uni, and or you could actually, you know, go and do something like electrician, you'd probably be better off.
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Quite funny, actually.
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I um I I left high school and went into university um because that's what everyone did.
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Um I went and uh I I I can't say I studied law.
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I was enrolled in law, I studied drinking, I think.
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Um but yeah, I I worked out pretty pretty quick that that wasn't for me, right?
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Right.
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Um and had um I'd always been pretty pretty practical.
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Um Well, look, I did law.
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Maybe I maybe if I'd done maybe you you could have been at the chamber and I could have been Dalton Electrical.
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Yeah, no worries.
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Um but yeah, no, I I had I had friends who were doing apprenticeships and um you thought, you know, that that looks like a bit of me and got into it.
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Um I was actually lucky enough.
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I I started my apprenticeship with Dalton Electrical um 20 odd years ago and um sort of never left.
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So um it's it's been all good for me.
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But yeah, I mean I I love it because it's I mean, no two days are the same.
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Um we're we're seeing all sorts of crazy manufacturing, you know, awesome technology in New Zealand, um, all sorts of machines, how stuff's made.
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It's kind of like you know, the Discovery Channel TV, yeah, TV show.
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Um but that'd actually be right, wouldn't it?
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Like even 20 years ago, but definitely, you know, 40 years ago, it would have been a fair bit more basic.
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Whereas now you've got to sort of know a bit about, I don't know, I mean, I'm just riffing here but robotics and kind of sophisticated technologies.
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Very, very broad, eh?
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Like New Zealand manufacturing is um you you've still got that kind of uh machine built in the 50s or 60s that's kind of pretty mechanical, and if it if it ain't broke, don't fix it, you know.
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Um but then you've also got really flash tech.
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So, like you say, robotics is is big.
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Um,
Load full transcript
we're doing lots of intra-logistics sort of work, lots of conveying systems and yeah, the automation and in everything now.
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Of course, you've got AI and sort of predictive maintenance things, so it's it's touching you know all layers of of manufacturing.
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So, yeah, really interesting stuff.
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Brilliant.
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And as I said, we should talk Dalton.
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So tell me about Dalton electrical uh company.
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I mean, is uh am I right?
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Been going 60 something years or whatever it is.
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60 years, this yeah, yes.
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So yeah, yeah, no, we're um yeah, sort of family, family business.
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I guess Dave Dalton started it um in in 66.
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Um he he did his apprenticeship uh back in the Ministry of Works, sort of railways, um sort of had a fairly tough apprenticeship, I think.
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Um back back then it was it was pretty pretty rough and ready.
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Um didn't learn a lot and and got treated fairly poorly too, I think.
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So kind of his mantra when he started Dalton's was to to you know train people well and and kind of give them the apprenticeship that that he didn't get.
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Um so that's that's really worked through the business and is is a big part, you know, a big driver of what we do, kind of, you know, train and retain technically superior people is the is the overall purpose.
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So that's um that's really stuck stuck true.
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And as I understand it, I mean you are and I have a sense of this, but you are an industrial electricians.
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Um what does that mean?
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What does that mean?
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It it it means, I suppose, when the phone rings at two in the morning that uh everything's electrical until we can prove otherwise.
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We basically get the phone call, hey, my machine's not working, come on down and have a look.
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Um I mean we work in sort of plastics or aggregates or food and beverage or dairy or it's it's literally anything you can think of.
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Yeah, but it also means I I take it, but maybe I'm completely wrong.
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You're not doing house calls, you're not coming around to 37 Glory Avenue.
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That's right.
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You're you're you're doing business and industry.
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Yeah, yeah, I suppose the only oven we touch is kind of baking um, you know, big muesley bars or or or cookies on a manufacturing sort of scale rather than in someone's kitchen, right?
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And is that quite different electrician work?
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Very, very different, I guess.
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Sort of different skill sets.
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I mean, um, would I trust myself to wire my house?
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Um sure it'd work, but it might look pretty average, you know.
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There's there's different skill sets um for sure.
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But the the technicality and the training involved is is quite different.
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So um, I mean we can't just hire anyone off the street and say, hey, you're an industrial electrician now, go out and you know, do what we do really well.
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So um that's why we put so much effort into training the apprentices and that sort of thing.
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Is it quite competitive?
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Do people have a joy, you know, if you're um, you know, foodstuffs or whoever it is, do they they have a choice of you know um uh electrical providers?
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And and I suppose the question is why would they choose you guys?
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Oh, I mean there's only one choice, right?
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That's why we're here.
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Um oh there is, there is, yeah.
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Um there's lots of lots of um Sparkies around Auckland who do a who do a great job.
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But um we're probably I suppose our our claim is we've got the full turnkey.
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So um, you know, you you work in a lot of projects where some electrical engineer is doing design and drawings, um, they've passed on uh a concept to someone else who does some programming, someone else does some wiring, something goes wrong, and they're all pointing at each other and sort of going, you designed it wrong, no, you drew it wrong, no, no, whatever.
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So I mean we're we're essentially one kind of neck to ring.
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So we'll we'll take all of that under our control, we'll design it, we'll work with the client, concept it.
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We'll have we've got guys programming it, people wiring it, and it's kind of it's all under one roof.
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So it I mean, it saves cost, it saves time, it's clearer communication, it's it's just all in the one spot, essentially.
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Right, right.
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It's a significant business.
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Um is it still a family owned?
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It is, it is, yeah.
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So so Dave's son, Bruce, um he he sort of came on board uh very early 90s.
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Um he's still around, yeah.
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Um he he had uh a bit of foresight to kind of uh see a few people in the business
to who were you know doing really well um and to sort of kind of keep them involved and keep them really engaged.
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He um he developed a bit of a share sale system.
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So um, you know, we've got probably 70% of the business is is owned by a group of um managers within the business.
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So that that kind of platform, I guess, is set up for for the next generation and the next generation, so it's going to keep people involved over over the long term and and a bit of skin in the game sort of helps.
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Yeah, brilliant.
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And I suppose that's a c what what does that mean, do you think, to the business?
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Does it does that change the way you run it and how it's how it how it operates?
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Yeah, look, I I mean, um doing you know, do doing a bit of sort of case study material on what good governance looks like, and um I guess we we buck the trend a little bit, not not just for the sake of it.
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Um we certainly get in help where we think it's needed.
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But um I think not having an external massive governance board developing a strategy and then saying to people, hey, go and do this, this is where we want you to take it, and then kind of report back.
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It's um having owners and managers in the business developing that strategy.
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You know, it's their idea, it's their baby, they're then going and enacting it and owning it and reporting back to to themselves, essentially.
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You know, the group keeps keeps each other accountable.
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Um and it works really well for us.
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Yeah.
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And skin in the game.
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Absolutely, skin in the game.
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Your business, you're working on it, you own it, um, you want it to go well, you want it to make some money, um, and have a good reputation and all that stuff.
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That's it.
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That's it.
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Yeah.
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You I think said earlier, 20 years in the business.
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Started I presuming out there taking calls and going out to the factory or whatever it is.
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How'd you land yourself in as MD, boss of the thing?
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Yeah, I I mean, I I suppose that's uh that's that's a journey.
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It's um yeah, lots of people have have their own journeys for how careers have gone.
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I mean, I I yeah, I went through my apprenticeship.
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That was sort of three and a half, four years.
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Um I did a bit of work,
we were probably um, I don't know, 20 odd staff maybe at that stage um when I finished my apprenticeship.
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Um we we sort of went through periods of fairly steady growth, nothing, nothing crazy, um, but you know, just consistent and sustainable, um, which has been a big driver recently, especially to keep that under control.
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Um But yeah, I I spent time uh across the different facets of our business, kind of a lot of service technical work, a bit of a bit of time with our projects team.
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Um I was doing automation for quite some time.
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I guess as we grew um and we just needed, you know, a bit a bit more process and and sort of purpose behind what we were doing because um it was more than a handful of people now.
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Um I stepped into an ops manager role um and just grew from there.
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So um, yeah, I guess right place, right time.
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But um, you know, you make your own luck to some extent.
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So um, you know, the business has has done really well because there's a lot of people in involved and engaged in it.
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Absolutely, but but it you know, be a sophisticated, significant business at this scale it is.
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I'm sure it's sort of tens of millions of or many millions, potentially more than that, of of revenue.
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What what have you um two different questions?
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What what what's been involved for you in terms of upskilling into that?
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Um and also, you know, what have you what have you learned, would you say?
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I mean, I'm sure there's a heap that we you know if you sat down and thought about for a couple of hours, you'd have a lot, but you know, yeah, that comes to mind.
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Yeah, yeah.
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I mean, upskilling is is massive.
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Um, you know, we we focus a lot with our staff on the the technical aspects, I suppose.
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So they're you know, they're they're they're training to be really good electricians.
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Um but there's so much more involved in um I don't know, keeping keeping people engaged.
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Like we don't make uh a product and sell it.
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You know, our our our service and our technicality is is what we you know what we sell.
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Um so so without the people we can't do that.
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So keeping people engaged, keeping people happy and you know, wanting to live in Auckland, wanting to work for us is is a massive um a massive undertaking.
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And it's it's fluid, it's it's constant, it's ongoing.
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Um But yeah, I mean as the as the business grew, uh, number of staff, number of people, um, the the processes I mentioned before sort of were getting bigger.
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It's um you kind of you you don't really get away anymore with going, oh, I'm just a sparky giving it a go.
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It's kind of you've got to take things a bit more seriously and and put a bit more work in behind the scenes um because there's a lot more at stake now, right?
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Um I've done I've done quite a few short courses, I suppose.
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I didn't um personally didn't really have my sights set on an MBA or anything for the for the certificate, I suppose.
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Because I I mean I'm not looking to to fill a CV to then go on and do bigger and greater things.
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In the future, I guess that sort of skin in the game scenario means that, you know, this is my career, I'm locked in.
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So I'm I'm looking at training in terms of what can I learn to go to work tomorrow and do something better or differently, rather than you know, what's 10 years in my next job look like.
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So yeah, something something really tangible that that works for what we're going through at the time, I think.
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Um couple of courses, like like good good networks you meet in that sort of learning.
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I've done, you know, sort of IOD um company directorship course, um uh a postgrad business diploma with with the University of Auckland.
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And you know, there's you know, people ask you what was the you know the one light bulb moment.
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There might not have been any of those, but it's it's lots of little snippets that you're picking up.
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It's people you're meeting.
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Experiential, right?
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You learn to learn from how long have you been the the boss now?
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Uh oh it's been five years, say, yeah.
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And and to that other part of it, what what would you say then you've um what have you what have you learned?
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What have I learned along the way?
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Yeah.
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I mean it's it's um again going back to people, I think um I can think of a couple of instances actually where we had people who were really amazing at their job.
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They were really technical, they were, you know, they were kicking goals, but they just possibly didn't didn't quite fit the culture.
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They weren't quite the right people, they you know, they weren't weren't moulding with the team quite so well.
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Um and we probably put up with that for a
little bit longer than we should have, just because, you know, we we thought, man, that yeah, if if these guys if these people left, we we would be, you know, we would be up up the creek without a paddle.
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Um But I I suppose looking back now, sort of having been through that and and seeing them move on, um i it it it gives an opportunity for other people to really spread their wings.
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So I mean that that people fit culture attitude is is everything.
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I think that's um it's been a bit a bit of a bit of a light bulb, kind of, you know, maybe too late at some times, but um yeah, it's all learning, right?
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Yeah, no, fantastic.
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Um and where would you say um Dalton's is is going if we say, I don't know, let's say five years out.
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Um is there scope in the you're just Auckland, right?
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We're just Auckland.
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Is there scope in the Auckland market to double again or Yeah, I mean uh double in five years is probably a big ask.
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Um I mean a big focus for us is is sustainability.
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Um, you know, again, um possibly going back, another learning is kind of if you're if you try and grow too fast, that comes with a whole lot of growing pains.
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You know, if you don't get the structure right, um sure you might you might have one great year of revenue or whatever, but you you certainly pay for it in terms of everything else, right?
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So um knowing that that growth is over the horizon and that you're working towards it, you want to keep it sustainable, but you want to build the structures not for today, but for five years' time, right?
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So what's what's over the horizon, what's around the corner?
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You want to be constantly developing people.
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Um we've got to focus on a few different branches.
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We've got we've got um actually just opening a building in East Hammerkee um in the next couple of months, which is really cool.
00:16:34.559 --> 00:16:42.480
Um not too far around the corner from our Penrose branch, but um East Hammerkee's you know one of the industrial hubs of Auckland.
00:16:42.639 --> 00:16:55.759
Um and if we're not if we're not growing, uh I guess the people that we're developing don't have opportunity that I mean they don't necessarily see themselves where where am I in five years?
00:16:55.919 --> 00:16:57.759
Is there a spot for me in this business?
00:16:57.919 --> 00:17:05.920
So you kind of need that growth to keep the people that you've worked really hard on in invested in the business and seeing themselves there long term.
00:17:06.160 --> 00:17:11.599
So um, yeah, I mean for us, um, you know, we've got a few local branches scattered around Auckland.
00:17:11.680 --> 00:17:15.039
Um helps with the traffic, helps with that customer relationship.
00:17:15.200 --> 00:17:16.799
They're working with a much smaller team.
00:17:16.960 --> 00:17:24.000
It's it's a bit more of a family feel um with the backup of the head office for um for resourcing if they need it.
00:17:24.240 --> 00:17:30.640
Um but yeah, I mean the the that branch structure seems to be working really well.
00:17:30.880 --> 00:17:35.599
Um on top of that, we're launching uh Dalton Automation as as a brand.
00:17:35.759 --> 00:17:47.599
Um sort of machine automation instrumentation, um, sort of SCADA and and HMI, which is kind of the you know the operator interface to the machines controlling these things.
00:17:47.839 --> 00:17:58.240
Um I suppose when you when you see uh Dalton electrical, it it doesn't necessarily explain that side of the business sort of coherently in the name.
00:17:58.400 --> 00:18:05.039
Um although we've done that and we've got a team of of 30 odd engineers doing automation all day, every day.
00:18:05.200 --> 00:18:10.640
Um without that name, um, I I think it it it wasn't really clear to the market.
00:18:10.799 --> 00:18:14.400
So um that's something we're launching this year that we're really excited about as well.
00:18:14.720 --> 00:18:15.359
Fantastic.
00:18:15.519 --> 00:18:31.519
And um I'm not asking you to be political reading there, but if you think you know election year, are there things there in the business environment of your business specifically that you'd say, well, that's an issue, or that's an impediment to growth, or that's a hassle in a regulatory or red tape sense?
00:18:31.599 --> 00:18:36.880
Or yeah, I mean, we're um we're doing a lot of work with um sort of apprentice training.
00:18:36.960 --> 00:18:43.440
I mean, we've we've been through two or three iterations of kind of vocational education changing back and forth.
00:18:43.519 --> 00:19:04.079
And um I think um as an industry um Master Electricians especially has been very vocal in um kind of working, uh working towards getting industry representation onto a onto the industry kind of uh board, sort of uh developing qualifications and that sort of thing for for the apprentices.
00:19:04.400 --> 00:19:11.359
So um I think we've done a bit of work ourselves on actually going, uh I mean, there's an issue there, let's try and get it sorted.
00:19:11.519 --> 00:19:24.799
But um I mean I d uh I think uh especially this year from what we're seeing, um I wonder if there's a little bit of hesitancy to actually sit back and go, uh actually, uh are things turning around?
00:19:24.880 --> 00:19:26.000
Are we doing all right?
00:19:26.160 --> 00:19:28.640
You know, is everyone a little bit scared to say that?
00:19:28.880 --> 00:19:32.880
Um I mean, we're pricing a lot of work across all sorts of different industries.
00:19:33.039 --> 00:19:34.319
It's not any one spot.
00:19:34.480 --> 00:19:41.759
It's um yeah, uh aggregates and food and beverage and you know, and the and the pipeline of work is seeming very promising.
00:19:42.079 --> 00:19:46.720
Um I mean to me that that seems like the the country's, you know, looking up.
00:19:46.880 --> 00:19:52.480
Um but but everyone still seems to be a little bit stuck in kind of the last couple of years of of doom and gloom.
00:19:52.559 --> 00:19:59.200
But um, yeah, I mean look, I but as I say, this could age me because you know things change so fast, don't they?
00:19:59.279 --> 00:20:01.039
But you know, we did have momentum in the economy.
00:20:01.119 --> 00:20:09.839
We've had the Middle East War, which got in the way of that in a big way, but with that kind of touch would being sort of through some stability.
00:20:10.160 --> 00:20:14.799
Um you know, the there are some levels no reason to think it can't pick up again.
00:20:14.960 --> 00:20:17.599
I think I suppose the election gets in the way of that a bit.
00:20:17.680 --> 00:20:28.079
I think that creates some um Yeah, maybe just a wee buffer there hesitancy, but I think I think I think the point you make is a um a very good one.
00:20:28.480 --> 00:20:44.880
And you know, um you're a member of the organ business change, I know chamber, I know you you were um uh winner uh central uh Auckland Employer of the Year, uh winner best of the best employer of the year uh last year in 2025.
00:20:45.200 --> 00:20:51.519
You know, um give us a sense of that and you know any other value you've had out of the the the chamber.
00:20:51.920 --> 00:21:01.039
Oh the chamber is um uh yeah, yeah, very very good to be a member of the the awards we found um an interesting experience.
00:21:01.200 --> 00:21:26.319
Yeah, we've we've done a lot of work on um electrical industry awards previously, but that's all kind of UI'd that thing really well, or that's a really cool project, or you know, so for us it was it was a little bit daunting to to step back and say, actually, how do we stack up as a business with what we're doing across across industries, across regions, or you know, uh across across all sorts, um not just other trade businesses.
00:21:26.559 --> 00:21:38.880
Um so the learning uh the feedback we got from the judges and the learning uh from from that feedback and just from talking to other members and and other you know entrants about what they're doing.
00:21:38.960 --> 00:21:43.440
And I mean you get to meet so many cool people, um, you get to hear so many cool stories.
00:21:43.519 --> 00:21:49.279
Um there's a lot of there's a lot of awesome things happening in business in in New Zealand and Auckland in general.
00:21:49.440 --> 00:21:53.200
So um that networking aspect was was really awesome for us.
00:21:53.440 --> 00:21:58.720
Um I mean, aside from that, it's you know you've got you've got heaps of um heaps of cool stuff going on.
00:21:58.799 --> 00:22:00.400
I see you just partnered with Zoho.
00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:02.240
That's um that's something we'll be looking into.
00:22:02.640 --> 00:22:04.319
Speaking of fantastic.
00:22:04.559 --> 00:22:05.519
Speaking of processes.
00:22:05.759 --> 00:22:07.839
No, well, they are a really big company, actually.
00:22:07.920 --> 00:22:09.279
So, no, really good.
00:22:09.359 --> 00:22:20.799
I mean, you know, and winning that employee one, congratulations, because I think, you know, to what you've said, you know, there's the technical aspect of what you do, uh, but beyond that, in the end, it's all about people, isn't it?
00:22:20.880 --> 00:22:26.319
And um, you know, I think that comes through loud and clear um with what you've said.
00:22:26.559 --> 00:22:34.400
Well, it's uh it's a great story from law student uh to Sparky to uh big big boss.
00:22:34.640 --> 00:22:37.920
Um, and uh yeah, no, thanks so much, Daniel, for coming on.
00:22:38.000 --> 00:22:39.119
We really appreciate it.
00:22:39.200 --> 00:22:42.400
Um, great having you on the show, and thanks to all who are listening.
00:22:42.559 --> 00:22:45.039
Um, you've been listening to the Chamber of Business Podcast.
00:22:45.119 --> 00:22:48.720
You can listen to our back catalog in future episodes on Spotify.
00:22:48.880 --> 00:22:50.240
Talk again soon.