Wellington electrical company, Seven Electrical, won the top excellence award at the 2024 Master Electricians Awards ceremony at the Pullman Hotel in Auckland on Friday evening, 25 October, which was attended by Hon Chris Penk, Minister of Housing and Construction.(Pictured left with Alexandra Vranyac-Wheeler, Chief Executive Officer of Master Electricians New Zealand).

In addition to scooping the Master Electrician of the Year Award, Seven Electrical took the Excellence Award for a Project (over $5 million) for its work on the purpose-built Tākina Wellington Convention and Exhibition Centre. Tākina is a multi-architectural award-winning building with an iconic design brought to life by customised LED strip lighting.

Electrical companies were declared winners across this year’s other Excellence Awards categories – Emerging Business, Lighting Design, Sustainability, Innovation, and the other two Project Awards: $1 to $5 million and under $1 million. The winner of the Industry Champion Award was also announced, along with Apprentice Challenge winners.

“We had a record-breaking 85 entries for the 2024 Master Electricians Excellence Awards,” says Alexandra Vranyac-Wheeler, Chief Executive Officer of Master Electricians New Zealand. “This was our largest event to date and our judges had their work cut out for them by the exceptional quality of entries. The judges undertook an intensive 3-week journey across New Zealand and were impressed by the innovation, leadership and commitment to sustainability that was demonstrated in many of the projects.

Kinetic Electrical was awarded the Excellence Award for an Emerging Business – for outstanding achievement in the new business space within the last seven years. The Wellington-based company set up in mid-2018 inspired the judges with its business planning and bold commitment to growth through multiple challenges including the Covid-19 pandemic and ongoing business and stakeholder turbulence.

The Sustainability Award went to Planet Electrical, which embeds environmental sustainability in every aspect of their operations, ranging from hiring process and training to community support, a fully electric fleet, and sustainable products and materials. Sustainable solutions are their core business: installing solar panels and smart EV chargers.

 

Industrial Controls South Canterbury won the Innovation Award for a turnkey design build project for Road Metals Ltd at its Rolleston quarry. Interlinking fully automated installations and design work included the installation of a 1.15 kilometre overland conveyer system delivering 10 tons of pit gravel per minute to the crushing plants bulk storage area.

Davco Electrical (right)secured the Lighting Design Award for its Mahurangi Riverbank lighting art installation for the Te Hokinga Mahara (Collection of Memories) project. This complex electrical lighting installation with cultural and ecological dimensions had challenging civil, health and safety, and technical parameters.

 

A project for AgResearch Lincoln earned Aotea Electric Canterbury the Excellence Award for a Project ($1 to $5 million). This encompassed electrical installation of two adjoining buildings and a separate Dangerous Good Store – one office block and the other comprising of PC2 and PC3 Labs

The Excellence Award for a Project (under $1 million) went to McKay Electrical for the NIWA Kingfish Aquaculture Recirculation Project, which required an extensive electrical scope to support efficient operations and sustainability impact.

Tim Kennedy, Contracts Manager for Aotea Electric Canterbury, won the Industry Champion Award. Highly respected within the industry, Tim’s valued contribution to industry and the Master Electricians brand has included governance roles at the local and national level.

Master Electricians Apprentice Challenge winners were announced at the ceremony. The 2024 Master Electricians Apprentice Challenge, in association with Etco, was held from July to October at 12 locations across New Zealand. With a record 340 apprentices registered, sparks flew nationwide and over two intense days at the Pullman Hotel (October 24-25) as five finalists in each of two categories – Domestic/Commercial and Industrial – battled for electrical apprentice supremacy.

Comments from the 2024 Finalists of the Apprentice Challenge 2024 included:

• “I chose electrical as it’s always interested me, and I think it will become one of the most important trades in the future.”
• “The electrical industry has a lot to offer already, and it is always changing. Having such a large variety of paths to take allows me to better find a position that I am the most passionate about.”
• “As someone who became an apprentice later in life after changing careers, winning would show the industry that there is a space for older apprentices, and we have just as much to offer as those fresh out of school.”
• “My goals and aspirations are to keep learning and asking questions so I can get a bit better and be more helpful at work.”
• “It would mean a lot to me; I have lots of support and really want to do well for everyone.”

Along with the awards, this month Master Electricians launched Trade Master, a one-stop CPD shop for the electrical industry to keep pace with the adoption of new technologies, products, and concepts that will drive the electrification of New Zealand.

At the awards dinner, Alexandra Vranyac-Wheeler also announced that next year Master Electricians will host New Zealand’s first ever electrical conference, a must-attend event for industry stakeholders as electrification and supply / demand issues gain prominence in the green energy transition.

The Master Electricians Excellence Awards is a biennial competition, which aims to identify and recognise excellence within the electrical contracting industry.

The sponsors of the 2024 Master Electricians Excellence Awards are Simpro, Ideal Electrical Suppliers, Marley, Halcyon, NHP, Powerbase and Active Electrical Suppliers. The Industry Champion Award is sponsored by JA Russell.

The Silver and Bronze winners of the Excellence Awards are:

The Excellence Award for an Emerging Business – for outstanding achievement in the new business space within the last 7 years – Sponsored by Simpro

Silver – Illuminex, Wellington

Bronze – SEA Electrical, Waiheke Island

Sustainability Award – Sponsored by Ideal Electrical Suppliers

Silver – EMF Electrical – Reuse and reuse again

Bronze – Industrial Controls South Canterbury Ltd

Innovation Award – Celebrating innovative thinking with new initiatives to the industry – Sponsored by Marley

Silver – Aotea Electric Southern for University of Otago, Science III Building – Passive Optical LAN (PoL) Installation

Bronze – Elektron Group Ltd for Hamilton Boys High Cricket Dome

Lighting Design Award – Demonstrating the use of the latest advanced lighting technology, with energy efficiency and lighting – Sponsored by Halcyon

Silver – Caldwell & Levesque Ltd for The Pullman Hotel Fitout – Auckland Airport

Bronze – Pretty Sweet Lighting for Queensberry Residence

Project Award $1-$5 million – Sponsored by NHP

Silver – Team Cabling Ltd for Te Arai Links Project

Bronze – Industrial Controls South Canterbury Ltd for Road Metals Co Ltd – Conveyor System

Project Award Over $5 million – Sponsored by Powerbase

Silver – Millars Electrical for Whitmore St – BNZ Tower

Bronze – ICE Electrical Ltd for Frimley Park and Eastbourne Water Treatment Plants

 Project Award Under $1 million – Sponsored by Active Electrical Suppliers

Silver – Aotea Electric Cromwell for the Rock House

Bronze – Simpson Electrical Ltd for Herne Bay Residential Project