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The new owner of Central Landscapes in Warkworth has swapped a long career in civil construction for a new path in landscape supplies.
Rob Elliott has taken over from Julian and Marg Barnard, who set up Central Landscapes in Morrison Drive, Warkworth nine years ago.
Rob previously ran his own drainage and earthmoving company, operating between Tuakau and Kaiwaka.
“I’ve been a long-time customer of Central Landscapes and I had often thought I would like to buy a yard,” he says.
“The Central Landscapes group sells some excellent products such as quality garden mix, topsoil and mulches, not to mention a great range of organic certified composts and fertilisers, and wooden sleepers and ponga logs are popular for garden projects.
“In this wet, rainy season, I’m keeping good supplies of GAP metals, drainage products and plenty of driveway mix on hand and I’m using my long years in drainage work to offer advice where people need to make their properties more resilient.”
Rob says he won’t be rushing in to make any big changes until he has had time to get some feedback from customers.
“The previous owners have put a lot of hard work into setting up a really good operation, so my job will be to build on that. I’ll be listening to customers because, at the end of the day, we are here to meet their needs.”
Rob says he has already noticed that the business is good at helping customers work out the right quantities they need for their jobs.
“There’s nothing worse than starting a job and finding out that you’ve under-estimated what’s needed.
This often happens when people are compacting materials, where you really need to allow another 30 per cent or more.”
Rob says he is not envisaging having a lot of time off while he settles into the new seven day a week business, but when he does, he likes to run and is a keen motorcycle trialist.
