Full throttle

A national-level motocross rider in his high-school years, Sam still enjoys getting out on his 125 at the weekends.

Owning his first home was a major goal for Taranaki apprentice Sam Hutterd— and he’s achieved this and more at just 21.

Sam is in the final year of his Masterlink apprenticeship and works at Stratford-based Penniall Jordan. Photograph by Glenn Jeffrey.

Getting into a trade, working hard and saving hard has paid off for 21-year-old Sam Hutterd. Earlier this year, his dream of home ownership became a reality. Sam, who is in the final year of his fouryear plumbing and gasfitting apprenticeship with Masterlink, says he moved in just after lockdown and is looking forward to doing some work on the house in the coming months.

“Completing my apprenticeship and passing my tradesman exams is my current goal and after that completing my exams to be a certified plumber, gasfitter and drainlayer,” he says.

Sam is grateful to have worked under the Masterlink banner since 2016, and is hosted by Savvygas.

Savvygas owners Andrew Wratt and Guy Ormrod bought plumbing, drainage and gas business Penniall Jordan in March, enabling them to expand their services from New Plymouth to Stratford, where Sam works alongside two qualified plumbers and gasfitters, a home heating specialist and a labourer.

“Masterlink take the pressure off the host company,” he says. “They do a lot of organisation of the apprentice’s training. It makes it more attractive for a company to take on an apprentice rather than having to handle everything on their own.”

Sam also appreciates the fact that Masterlink arranges and pays for his block-course accommodation, as he has to travel to Wintec in Hamilton for his off-job training.

Lockdown was announced just after he’d turned up for his latest course, so he had to head home again, but he still hopes to complete his qualification by next February.

Sam’s Year 13 at Francis Douglas Memorial College in New Plymouth was organised with a career in the trades in mind. Rather than doing conventional subjects, he went through the school’s Career Pathway and Gateway programmes.

He says the variety of work experience was great. “I did three days a week work experience and two days doing more life skills-based paperwork at school, like trades paperwork, rather than mainstream school.

“Earlier in Year 12, I started doing Gateway one day a week working for an engineer. In Year 13, I did electrical, plumbing and building work plus worked with a stock agent as well.”

Sam admits it was a close choice between electrical and plumbing for his apprenticeship. “Through work experience, I got to know the guys and the boss in Stratford and I really liked the variety of plumbing.

“We do all sorts here in Taranaki from installing pipes in new houses, new heating units, water heaters, repairing old pipework, fixing taps and shower units, through to log fire installations and servicing out in the back country. That appealed to me.”

Back country work has included a spell working on a disabled complex at the Whangamomona Hotel in the Whanganui National Park—New Zealand’s most remote country hotel.

“We stayed for a couple of nights and worked 12 to 13 hour days to get the job done,” says Sam. “We were out of cellphone reach, so we had to make sure we took in everything we would need.”

Being part of a team of like-minded characters is what makes Sam look forward to going to work every day. “It is great having workmates you can bounce ideas off and discuss jobs with, especially here travelling around the countryside, which is probably my favourite part.”

Another reason he chose plumbing was because of the major shortage of plumbers. “You will always be able to get a job pretty much. The main thing is to be a good listener and be open to learn from different people.”

Text based on an article by Peter White, which first appeared in Issue #18 of Leaving School magazine from Oliver Lee Publications. www.oliverlee.co.nz