Running a successful civil contracting company has been a lifetime goal for director Taurus Taurima, who remains fiercely loyal to his Flaxmere roots. A respected leader of men and women Taurus’s proudest moment to date was when 17 of his staff graduated with EIT’s Level 3 Certificate in Infrastructure Works. Back in 2016 Taurus identified a gap in the market for specialising in small commercial and residential contracting projects in Hawke’s Bay. Already in the industry for more than a decade, Taurus had worked his way up from raking to running large crews. Now at Topline he has 50 staff supplying contracted work to nationally renowned civil contracting firms who work with Hastings District Council, Napier City Council, and Central Hawkes Bay District Council. The company also completes commercial and residential projects up and down the Bay. Taurus says it’s a privilege to come to work each day knowing that Topline and its staff provide a competitive service in civil contracting, asphalt and concrete solutions. Nā manawanui ko angitu! Determination breeds success!
With a career spanning 30 years Carl has worked on state highway and local authority networks carrying out area-wide pavement treatments, safety improvements, bridge repairs, asphalt and sealing work, and maintenance work. Carl holds a New Zealand Certificate in Engineering (Civil) REA and has 20 years experience as a divisional maintenance manager with the local Downer office. He has excellent communication skills and local network knowledge. He joined Topline in 2019 and works with Taurus on pricing calculations, tender submissions and construction projects. As well as Topline’s high standards and best value outcomes, Carl is proud to work with a company that values looking after its own people. He says Taurus’s vision and strength has created a company that can take on challenging projects while empowering staff to train and upskill.
As manager of health, safety, environment, quality and compliance, Ilona handles the complexities of civil contracting with a systems focused view and hands-on approach. With a Bachelor of Business Studies, Certificate in Small Business Management and over 20 years industry experience, Ilona has formidable compliance and management skills complementing her industry experience. She’s overhauled company processes from audits to contract management and spearheaded Topline’s accreditation in ISO 9001: 2015 Quality Management and ISO 45001 Health & Safety Management. Ilona is completing a Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety Practice (Level 6) giving her Institution of Occupational Safety and Health graduate registration. She’s held human resource managerial positions and is Human Resources Institute of New Zealand registered and Incident Cause Analysis Method (ICAM) trained.
Like all successful companies we’ve got someone with brilliant management and administration skills running the office. Topline’s office manager Sharlene Baker joined Topline in 2019 and personifies the professional culture that exists here. Sharlene is passionate about civil construction having worked in the industry for over 20 years with various civil contracting companies. Starting out as a traffic controller, labourer, and then assisting with programming, Sharlene’s initiative and communication skills saw her quickly pulled into administration and financial roles. At Topline Sharlene processes invoices, collects and collates claiming data, and problem solves most of the administrative queries. Her accounting and management practices are an asset for the company along with her loyalty to Taurus and his vision for the future.
As a skilled and experienced contracts manager, Brett’s talents in project management have been developed over a 35 year career. He is practically minded and an excellent communicator. After spending 25 years in natural gas distribution and local government, Brett joined the civil construction industry and hasn’t looked back. Having worked in corporates, privately owned business and for local councils, Brett has accumulated extensive knowledge in construction and maintenance of water, stormwater, solid waste, parks and reserves, housing and property assets, and State Highway bridge maintenance throughout the Hawke’s Bay and Central Hawke’s Bay regions. At Topline Brett provides top class, professional project management across all our clients and projects.
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