You get so much more from Firth …

Steve Crossland - Technical Specification & Innovation Advisor (Masonry)

“I am here to help and to assist architects, specifiers, Councils and consulting engineers at all levels with our masonry products and their performance,” says Steve. “I also am available to undertake technical presentations to Consulting Engineers, Specifiers, Architects and Councils.”

Currently the Technical Advisor for all Masonry products for Firth, Steve has been in the industry for 23 years. He has also been the Technical Officer for the Master Brick and Blocklayers Assn. for the past 10 years and has been on the committee for the Concrete NZ Masonry Assn. for 20 years.

With a NHD in Civil Engineering, Steve is our resident guru on our permeable paving systems, and regularly holds sessions for anyone interested in finding out about the benefits of permeable paving for the built environment.

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Greg Illing - Construction Systems Specialist (RibRaft HotEdge range)

“I provide professional product information and technical support to specifiers, customers and building control authorities for Firth’s concrete construction systems. This includes presentations to specifiers, builders and regional Councils to help them to better understand the design, construction and consenting of projects that use Firth’s systems.”

Greg joined the Firth team in 2018 and holds a diploma in Construction Management and Quantity Surveying.

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Alistair Bennett – Senior Materials Manager (Lower North Island and Upper South)

"I try to add value for customers by providing advice on mix selection, concrete performance, low carbon concrete, high performance and special concretes, concrete construction methodology and how to achieve good outcomes on site.”

Alistair has been with Firth since 1999 and has held a number of positions within the business, including Area Operations Manager, Product Manager and Head of Technical.

He holds a Bachelor of Engineering, a Postgraduate Diploma in Business, is a Chartered Professional Engineer and is a member of the Readymix Sector Group Technical Committee and CNZ Learned Society Council.

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Jared Mason – Materials Manager (Northland Hibiscus Coast)

“Where a ‘standard’ mix won’t do the trick I add value for our customers by designing special high performance concrete mixes by drawing on my engineering skills and the experience of our wider technical team to solve problems.”

Jared joined Firth in the role of Materials Engineer in November 2020 (after holding Graduate Engineer and Site Engineer positions with Fletcher Construction) and was then promoted to Materials Manager.

Jared holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Civil Engineering and is a Chartered Professional Engineer.

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Rob McKinnon - Materials Manager (Northern)

“I’ve been involved in many iconic projects over the years – including the Auckland Airport runway replacement, Mangere harbour crossing, Waterview tunnel, Victoria Park Tunnel and Central Interceptor. I cover pretty much anything to do with readymix concrete, design, troubleshooting, durability, sustainability.”

After 25 years with Firth in a range of roles across IT, Operations, Dispatch, Management and Engineering, Rob is the ‘go to’ man when it comes to working through the complex calculations required to get to the GWP of Firth ECOMix 10-50%.

Rob holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) and a Diploma of Engineering from Auckland University and is a Chartered Professional Engineer.

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Charles Mah – Materials Manager (Central & South Auckland)

“Experience working abroad has given me the ability to adapt to the New Zealand customer market base. Taking time to listen and understand our customer’s needs to provide the best practical solutions for big and small projects is my focus.”

Charles has been with Firth since 2022 and holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Chemical & Materials) from University of Auckland and Concrete Technology & Construction Practical Applications from the Institute of Concrete Technology.

He has completed a Concrete Practice Course from Cement Concrete & Aggregates Australia and will complete his Master of Business Administration from the University of Newcastle in August this year. He is also a Registered Engineering Associate (REA).

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Tim Bulmer - Materials Manager (Bay of Plenty)

“Where possible, I’m really keen on value engineering. This is the opportunity to have a chat with our customers and suggest more effective products for the job and also talk through the risks and rewards of the construction techniques they might not have considered. Being a chartered professional engineer, I’m also able to talk directly with the design engineers to help speed up the approval process of new or different approaches from design. This can save a lot of headaches and time for our customers who otherwise play email ping pong trying to get our solutions over the line.”

Starting in Auckland for Firth in July 2018 as a Graduate Engineer, Tim was promoted to Regional Materials Manager in 2022.

Tim has a Bachelor of Engineering, is a Chartered Professional Engineer and has completed the Institute of Concrete Technology (UK) – General Principles and Practical Applications of Concrete Technology diploma.

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Simon Odendaal – Regional Materials Manager (Waikato/Taranaki)

“I help by providing on site and technical support to our sales teams and customers and also operational and production advice to improve quality and efficiency at our Certified plants. Concrete NZ/NZS3104 compliance and maintaining certification is one of my top priorities.”

Simon immigrated to New Zealand in late 2022 to take up his current role with Firth. He holds a BScEng (Hons) from University of Cape Town (UCT) and REA registration in New Zealand.

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Nan Jiang – Regional Materials Manager (South)

“As a plant engineer, I am predominantly focused on preparing concrete mix designs to comply with project specifications and deliver the best result, along with answering customer queries and providing technical advice.”

Nan immigrated to NZ from Northern China in 1996 having studied and worked as a structural engineer. He completed a master’s degree in civil engineering at the University of Canterbury in 2000 and went on to work in the industry as a Technical Engineer and a Quality Engineer for 10 years before joining Firth in 2010.

He was recently invited to join the Plant Audit Committee of Concrete NZ as an Auditor. This committee runs the Plant Audit Scheme which provides an independent and rigorous audit of the quality systems in place at Ready Mixed Concrete plants throughout New Zealand.

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Trevor Sawyer – Head of Technical at Firth

“This industry has stood still for well over 30 years with pretty much all of the innovation and ‘out of the box’ thinking done between 1945 and the 1990s. This is a time of change and the need for a transparent and ethical reduction in carbon is driving this. It is such an exciting time to be involved as we drive change. I hope we will be remembered for the contributions we are making to a sustainable future.”

Trevor took on the role of Head of Technical for Firth this year after holding a position in the Technical Team for Fletcher Building’s Concrete Division. With 30 years of experience and knowledge in the concrete, cement and admixture industries, Trevor has held senior technical, commercial and managerial roles. He also holds a master’s degree in advanced Concrete Technology and is pursuing a PhD in Civil Engineering at the University of Auckland.

Dene Cook - Divisional Technical Manager for the Concrete Division of FB

“Concrete is an amazing building material and one that has stood the test of time due to its strength and durability. Yet we know the concrete products we use today are very unlikely to be the ones we are using in 10-20 years’ time. Building for climate change is a huge imperative for generations to come and this requires us to invest in getting the solutions right today.”

Dene first joined Firth in March 2007 as the National Technical Manager. He went on to take on many roles within Fletcher Building and was appointed as the Divisional Technical Manager of the Concrete Division in 2016.

Dene currently heads the Concrete Innovation Laboratory in Christchurch which was established to fast track the development of new concrete products and solutions with a particular focus on innovating to decarbonise concrete - the aim being to support customers as their building needs and specifications change in response to the need to build for climate change.

Dene is Chartered Professional Engineer and was made a fellow of Engineers NZ for his contribution to NZ Concrete Standards.  He is currently the chair of Concrete NZ and active in many technical committees.