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by Sarah Thornton
Old school approach to getting stuff done
Ian Hutchinson (aka Hutch), principal engineer, and founder of Hutchinson Consulting Engineers in Orewa, is not one to make a fuss. A self-described ‘westie’ who attended Auckland’s Kelston Primary, Intermediate and Boys’ High School, Hutch has always had a pragmatic, no-nonsense attitude to getting stuff done. He also reckons he has never worked a day in his life … “It’s fun. I love coming to work and never for one second have I ever got out of bed in the morning to make a dollar”.
After graduating from the University of Auckland with a Bachelor of Engineering in 1983 and a Master of Engineering completed on the drip feed while working, Hutch started out at Repco in Auckland. In 1985, he took a role as a graduate engineer at Rodney County Council, something he did for three years.
During his time working for Council, he developed a passion for working with the local community. “I learned a tremendous lot and had a fantastic time, and I hold Rodney very dear to my heart because it was a good place with a lot of great people. It’s a big reason why I like to support the local community – there’s a history there.”
Living in a flat at Red Beach before building a home at Stanmore Bay, then later moving to Point Wells in 2000, he founded Hutchinson Consulting Engineers in 1988, imbuing it with his principles of honest, hard yakka. Heading up a team of some 30 engineers, many of them in their twenties and thirties, Hutch says the company motto is, “We only do it (the work) because we want to do it.” That work often involves large-scale structural, civil and geotechnical engineering projects, many of them in Rodney and benefitting the public. Recent projects include the Te Ara Tahuna Estuary cycleway and walkway in Orewa, the Tamahunga pedestrian/cycle bridge in Matakana, and Whale Cove seawall and boat ramp in Red Beach.
This public good mindset extends to the pro bono services Hutchinson does every year for local schools and charities such as the Matakana Coast Trail Trust (MCTT). In dollar terms, its significant and although Hutch would be the last one to talk about such philanthropy, his company’s generosity has benefitted many. In the time Hutch has been working with MCTT, a relationship which came about through his friendship with trust co-founder Allison Roe, his company has gifted more than $150,000 of pro bono work to help with the development of the trail network. It has also provided MCTT with dedicated, inhouse engineers to push through design, consenting and construction work. To date, Hutchinson has completed or is in the throes of completing numerous projects for the Trust, including:
• A detailed design document for the Point Wells Community to Matakana Farm Park trail section (2.2km in road corridor).
• Departure from standards application – AT approval form for Point Wells Community trail section.
• Assessing complex sections of Matakana Road.
• Four engineering designs for wooden bridges on a farm forestry trail, on Roger (Hops) Trotter’s farm on Hamilton Road.
Hutchinson will also complete engineering detailed design plans for Lawrie’s Scenic Reserve trail sections, Grange to Muncaster Trail section and the concept design for an underpass on Sandspit Road.
Hutch says Covid has generally been kind to professional businesses provided they were not in the travel or hospitality trade. While he acknowledges the disruption Covid caused in certain areas, including supply chain issues, he reckons he and his company have continued, business as usual. He recalls having one company meeting with all his staff when Covid first hit in March 2020 – the one and only time everyone had been in one room at the same time – to reassure everyone that their jobs were safe, and everyone would remain on full pay no matter what happened. Hutch said, ‘I’d sell the shirt off my back before letting anyone go’. Thankfully, that day never came and the company has come out the other end relatively unscathed.
Now living on a 133-hectare lifestyle farm in Ahuroa, about 10 kilometres inland from Puhoi, Hutch and his wife Maggie spend their spare time breeding pedigree Red Devon cattle and Wiltshire sheep. The farm has been in Maggie’s family for four generations and while she does the lion’s share of the work during the week, Hutch still rises at 4am each day to move stock and do anything else which needs to be done, before heading to his ‘day job’ in Orewa. It sounds like a busy life for the almost 65-year-old, who plans to retire on March 31, 2025, and hand the business over to his ‘younger and smarter engineering team’ who he considers family. But, Hutch wouldn’t have it any other way.
