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Top-quality training
Career starters
TOP-QUALITY TRAINING
Training up apprentices to become high-calibre tradespeople brings Jack Rogers huge enjoyment and pride—and he says he was over the moon to have been awarded for his efforts.
AUTHOR: MATTHEW LOWE
Jack Rogers has notched up more than 50 years in the industry. The Managing Director of Rogers and Rogers in Kaitaia, he still remains active in the business at 70 and says one of his proudest achievements is helping train nearly 20 apprentices over the years. “I enjoy bringing young people through and putting them into a trade,” he says. “It comes from me having gratitude for someone doing that for me.”
Another reason for his focus on training staff is the challenge of trying to recruit plumbers to this Northland town. “It’s hard to get a plumber to move here and, if you do, you have to kind of retrain them because plumbing in the Far North is different to city plumbing,” he explains.
“They’re not used to septic tanks and water pumps—it’s a whole new ballgame for them, and so in many ways it’s better to train your own staff up and get them thinking how you want them to. I have trained many a plumber and roofer, and my first apprentice, who started when he was 16, is still with me… and he’s now 56.” It had to be a trade Jack served his own apprenticeship with Whitefield, Kimber and Wilson in Kaitaia. He had been unsure of what career to pursue but says his father wouldn’t let him leave school until he had a job—and it had to be a trade.
“My dad was a builder and one day he said, ‘I think I’ve found a job for you; how would you like to be a plumber?’ I said, ‘That sounds like me,’ and then added, ‘What does a plumber do?’ That was in 1966. I started my apprenticeship in August that year and I have been plumbing ever since.”
Jack remained with Whitefield, Kimber and Wilson until teaming up with his father, Mick, to form Rogers and Rogers in 1975. Mick and his colleagues would build houses, with Jack completing the plumbing, roofs and drainlaying. Jack’s youngest brother Victor was also part of the building team but died of an aneurism at an early age.
In the early 1980s, the building work started to dwindle and Jack put more
focus into the plumbing side of the business, which today employs 18 people, including plumbers, roofers, drainlayers and gasfitters. The company remains a family affair with his wife, Heather, responsible for much of the invoicing, and their children, Jen and Craig, both qualified plumbers. Besides his work with apprentices, Jack is also involved in the Plumbing World Young Plumbers Club, and the Young Plumber of the Year Competition in the Far North.
He uses the services of Masterlink for his apprentices because he says they successfully mentor and manage the apprentice. “They see them through their course, manage their accommodation away, and monitor their progress, which means we can focus on the tools.”
The training for plumbers today is considerably different from what Jack experienced learning the trade, he says. “The concept of apprenticeships is the same but, because of new technologies and learning by computer, you can progress a lot quicker. You can also now do a whole house in waste pipes in two hours. The piping is plastic, and they are all push fittings, whereas back in the day it was copper pipe and brazing. It was a very labour-intensive era compared to today.”
Stepping back… but not too much Jack is now contemplating spending less time in the business and devoting more time to fishing and the many trees he has planted at his two-acre lifestyle property. “Throughout COVID-19, because I’m over 70, I was confined to barracks. I thoroughly enjoyed every day of it! I’m trying to step back from the business, but not too much. I still enjoy coming to work, I enjoy the trade, the social activity and being with the staff, meeting people, solving problems.”
Jack’s efforts over the years led to him landing the Graeme Victor Smith Contribution to Industry Award at the 2020 New Zealand Plumbing Awards. “I’m totally rapt and over the moon about the award because I have always prided myself on training people up to become tradespeople of a high standard,” says Jack. “The essential thing is that they provide quality workmanship, do a job once and do it right and ensure customer satisfaction.”
Much like his boss Jack Rogers, apprentice George Steed was uncertain what career he would choose when he finished school. Now the 20 year old is relishing the daily challenges work as a plumber brings.
George signed up as a Masterlink apprentice with Rogers and Rogers in December 2017 after completing a Gateway Programme through Kaitaia College, which saw him spend one day a week with the plumbing company for about two years.
“We had a careers person at college who you could talk to about what you’re interested in,” explains George. “They organised the Gateway Programme for me and that’s how I got into plumbing. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do when I left school but I was doing lots of farm work with my dad and fixing water leaks on the farm. I enjoy finding problems and fixing them. I also like the variety of work you get to do as a plumber. It’s not repetitive and every job has its own challenges.”
George is also gaining recognition for his efforts and scooped one of the three Plumbing World Scholarships at the 2020 New Zealand Plumbing Awards, which he says has given him a good boost. “I feel pretty honoured to have won the award and it gives me more confidence in myself,” he says. “It’s good to get that money [$1,000 scholarship], get more tools and be able to do more jobs.”
A keen rugby player and fisherman, he hopes to stick with Rogers and Rogers once he finishes his apprenticeship in 2023. “Hopefully one day I will have my own business.”
