Being made redundant at the age of 22 was a key motivation for Anthony Leighs to start his own construction business which has branched out from Christchurch to become an emerging force throughout New Zealand.
Founded in 1993, the bright yellow Leighs Construction moniker can be seen on major projects from Dunedin to Auckland including the $125 million University of Otago Dental School and the $100m extension to Mount Eden Prison.
Having started the business with nothing more than his redundancy cheque, Leighs has progressively reinvested profits back into the business to strengthen his balance sheet as he took on bigger rivals in the main centres. “We’ve gone from a $50m turnover to a $250m turnover in the past five to six years and that’s been exciting. It’s about us continually stepping up, taking on opportunities that the bigger constructors would have traditionally done.”
A move into the Auckland market in 2015 was a critical part of the expansion process but Leighs says that introducing independent directors to the board has also helped accelerate growth and make it more sustainable. “I’m a real believer in the strength of good quality governance – it’s made a massive difference to our business” he says.
Having the tenacity and grit to box through tough times like the global financial crisis is part of his DNA, and Leighs has developed a culture that is focused on successfully completing challenging projects like the Hilary Field Centre in Antarctica and the New Zealand embassy in East Timor. Positioning the company as ‘an employer of choice’ has attracted talented employees. “Because we’ve been successful in winning against the largest constructors and then delivering well, in some cases delivering better, people have enjoyed being part of that successful journey.”
Establishing strategic alliances with international players has also helped. Teaming up with the US demolition company, Grant Mackay Demolition, gave Leighs a competitive advantage after the Christchurch earthquakes and his more recent joint venture with Australian-based Cockram Construction helped win the huge $215m Burwood Hospital redevelopment in Christchurch.
“We set ourselves up with joint-venture partners to be able to participate in some really big pieces of work and that gave us a great platform to build our business and balance sheet and then to grow our geographic footprint around the country.”
Not that it has all been plain sailing. In late 2017 the Leighs Cockram joint venture was ditched by the government as the preferred contractor for the new Christchurch metro sports facility after a breakdown in negotiations over a $75m blowout that would have pushed the cost up to $320m. Having invested considerable effort into the design phase, a disappointed Leighs said he respected the decision and hoped that Canterbury got the facility it wants in the near future.
Recognised with a raft of industry awards for various projects, Leighs chaired the Master Builders Federation for a decade until 2017. He was commended in the 2015 EY Entrepreneur of the Year Awards and also received a Special Commendation for his contribution to Canterbury at the Champion Canterbury Awards.
The 47-year-old lives with his wife Jane and daughters in a $4.6m Riccarton home, and in addition to being an associate partner of the Highlanders rugby franchise he recently acquired one of the world’s fastest mono hulls, an Elliot 35SS, to pursue his love of competitive sailing.