Master Plumbers
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Time to reconnect
The impact of Covid-19 has had a silver lining for Joel Eddington, who is now happier with the shape of his plumbing company and the work-life balance it affords him. AUTHOR: MATTHEW LOWE
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he Covid-19 pandemic and the resultant loss of about one-third of their workload overnight forced Joel Eddington to downsize the Aucklandbased Your Local Plumber business he took charge of in 2015. Through the early years, Joel had increased the company’s number of vans on the road from seven to 13 but was forced to cut back to seven tradespeople once coronavirus struck.
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The restructure also saw the company ditch its Onehunga site—only retaining a lock-up for some equipment—and shift to having staff working remotely across the city. “Everyone goes from home to their jobs, which is achievable with so much being digital now,” says Joel. “We also found we did not need the huge premises we had in Onehunga and leaving there has reduced costs and kept the company alive.
“I’ve actually found the smaller company is much more to my liking. I did not like running such a big company where I felt disconnected from the staff and the jobs we were doing. Since downsizing, we have a more personal, family touch. While we’re not such a big company, we are a more smoothly run and profitable enterprise that can weather the strange environment we’re dealing with at the moment.” Another benefit of the digital era has been the extra time Joel has with his family—wife Claire, who also works for the company, and two daughters Charlie, six, and Georgie, three. They have enjoyed making the most of a lockdown-free summer exploring the North Island. “I enjoy the ability to work remotely and have worked out of a tent on numerous occasions when we’ve been away,” he says with a laugh. “The digital era is great for that. It’s made family life brilliant and given me the flexibility to help out with the kids and do school pick-ups, which has created a great work-life balance. I’m still putting in 50hour weeks, with work into the evening
