About Us

Warren Taylor

General Manager

As General Manager, Warren holds overall operational responsibility for all work within Aotea Electric Southern, ensuring successful outcomes for all contracts, services, and projects. With over 30 years of experience in the construction and facilities management sector, Warren has managed businesses and held senior management roles in large healthcare organisations. His expertise spans managing facilities and projects from large-scale complex buildings to small residential properties, including asset and facilities management.

Appointed as GM for Aotea Southern in 2021, Warren has been successfully achieving the objectives of his role, guiding the company through its next phase of growth and diversification. Having worked with Aotea as a client for many years, Warren knew he was joining a fantastic company with immense potential for growth and opportunities for both staff and clients.

Warren is driven by his passion for supporting staff and seeing them succeed. He believes the secret to the firm’s success lies in exceptional customer service. Under his leadership, staff numbers have grown from around 80 to over 120, with new departments such as solar and industrial. Warren’s commitment to excellence and his strategic vision continue to propel Aotea Electric Southern forward.

Jason Walker

Financial Controller

Jason Walker, our Financial Controller (or chief bean counter), has been a vital part of Aotea Southern since 2014. With over 25 years of experience as a Chartered Accountant, Jason began his career with Ernst & Young in Dunedin before expanding into management and financial accounting roles both in New Zealand and overseas.

As Financial Controller, Jason holds overall responsibility for the accuracy and integrity of the financial reporting for Aotea Electric Southern Ltd, as well as other companies within the Aotea Group. His role is pivotal in supporting the firm’s management with project reviews, strategic planning processes, budgets, and cash flows. He also provides financial reporting and advice to the Board.

Jason is a Director and Shareholder of Aotea Southern, ensuring a strategic and risk-mitigation focus on the company’s overall financial health. His expertise and dedication are crucial to maintaining the financial stability and growth of the company.

David Ford

Business Development Manager

David’s journey with Aotea Electric Southern has taken him from apprentice to estimator, project manager, General Manager, and now Business Development Manager. David brings over 35 years of experience in the electrical industry, both locally and internationally.

With 20 years of experience in estimating and project management, he has significant expertise in diverse project types, including commercial construction, green star sites, sporting facilities, industrial process systems for mining, and the dairy industries.

As Business Development Manager, David is at the forefront of client relationships and negotiations. David is responsible for maintaining long-term relationships with clients and understanding how the wider firm can best serve their needs He is a Director and Shareholder of Aotea Southern, playing a critical role in supporting all teams in estimating, design, servicing and projects.

David enjoys being involved in projects from start to finish, ensuring that strong solutions are created for clients. His strong focus on customer service ensures that projects run smoothly.

Gordon Brocket

Project Director

Gordon is a Director and Shareholder of Aotea Southern, with a focus on values-based leadership and people. He values honesty, to himself, the company and clients. He is often heard to say “The best tool you have is your ears”.

Gordon brings over 35 years of experience in the electrical industry, both in New Zealand and overseas, including extensive project management expertise. His significant experience spans a diverse range of electrical project types, including commercial, residential, green star sites, the health sector, and industrial process systems.

Gordon quickly progressed to Contracts Manager and, in 2024, took on the challenge of Project Director for the New Dunedin Hospital Outpatients Project. This is the most significant project undertaken by Aotea Electric Southern to date. Gordon is overseeing and managing all aspects of the build, supported by an experienced and capable senior delivery team.

Ben Hanrahan

Industrial Manager

Ben has over 25 years’ experience in the electrical sector, initially working at Aotea until 2009, when he joined another firm to specialise in civic industrial electrical and deliver multi-million-dollar industrial projects and maintenance contracts within three waters, airfields, process plants and healthcare. Ben returned to Aotea in 2023 to establish and lead our industrial department, which was bolstered by the acquisition of two long-standing companies with extensive expertise.

Ben displays the Aotea Southern value of Innovation daily; the industrial field is always evolving and changing, and he thrives on the challenge of keeping plant running for clients and developing team members through their roles.
His team of ??? apprentices, electricians, senior electricians and project managers work for a variety of clients from large-scale mining to farming equipment and PLC programming.

With this capability, the team specialise in the wiring and installation of market leading building management systems, ventilation systems, variable speed drives, VRF air conditioning systems, industrial instrumentation, PLCs, verification of water metering, telemetry, and flow metering.

Andy Syme

Facilities and Building Compliance Manager

Andy Syme is our Facilities & Building Compliance Manager responsible for Building Compliance and Facilities Management portfolios. He joined Aotea in 2024 in a brand-new role, to support this successful department, continue to grow the services and implement more automated processes to support clients.

Andy has extensive experience working in both large organisations and local Dunedin businesses, bringing a wealth of building, facility and project management knowledge. Andy is responsible for the line management of the building compliance team and the facilities management portfolio, from repairs and maintenance to organising minor works for clients.

Andy has passion and drive for facilities management and takes immense pride in taking on issues for a client and resolving them. He thrives on addressing the “too hard basket” items, and utilising his additional knowledge in asset management.
Andy’s team includes in-house inspectors, IQP’s and various electrical trade specialists, all supported by a dedicated Service Coordinator. This is a knowledgeable team with over 15 years experience in IQP, including Michael Brandso, Building Compliance Team Leader.

Hayden Guise

Servicing Manager

Since starting as an apprentice in 2001, Hayden has grown through various roles within Aotea Southern, and since 2020 has been leading our servicing department. He oversees a team of 25+ residential and commercial technicians, being one of the largest dedicated servicing teams in the Dunedin area, this also includes specialists in commercial kitchen/catering equipment.

Our servicing team takes pride in the variety of work we do, providing expert problem solving and fault-finding to deliver best results for our clients. Our point of difference lies in our dedicated team and additional capacity through the other Aotea departments when needed, allowing us to guarantee fast response times and quick turnarounds. We can offer innovative solutions across a multitude of electrical installations including Solar, maximising the value of your investments.

Hayden and the team value their ongoing relationships with clients and supporting a wide range of customers and requirements, such as large commercial properties to events at our Forsyth Barr stadium. Hayden was instrumental in establishing a call centre of dedicated Service Coordinators, providing best customer service in a single point of contact for all our clients.

Luke Drinkwater

Contacts Manager

With nearly two decades of experience in the dynamic world of electrical contracting, Luke stands as a seasoned professional, well-versed in a myriad of environments ranging from bustling railway systems to expansive commercial sites, medical facilities, and the ever-evolving dairy industry.

Luke’s breadth of knowledge was hard-earned through his tenure on some of the most challenging projects. He has worked on and delivered multi-million-dollar projects across Europe and Australia —a testament to Luke’s capability and adaptability in handling complex, large-scale projects.

In his current role as a Contract Manager, Luke oversees a robust team of over 60 individuals, including Project Managers, Supervisors, Electricians, and Apprentices. His responsibilities are as extensive as they are critical: from providing unwavering support and expert guidance to the delivery team, to ensuring meticulous oversight of resource allocation across the entire contracting portfolio.

Luke’s leadership is marked by a commitment to excellence and an unwavering drive to deliver outstanding results. His considerable expertise not only enhances project delivery and fosters a culture of continuous improvement and professional growth among his team members.

Seth Dickinson

Communications and Audio Visual Manager

With over 38 years at Aotea, Seth has devoted most of his working career to specialising in communications and audio visual. Seth established the first Aotea Communications department in Dunedin in 1992, which is a service now also provided by a number of other Aotea branches across the country.

To his role of managing a team of over 24 communications and audio visual staff, Seth brings a wealth of knowledge from a previous telecommunications company in NZ, a passion for new technology, including audiovisual, and a musical background. He believes that people are the heart of what we do.

Seth was integral in the development an Aotea Communications National Standards Certificate (ACNSC) to address the lack of formal training in the telecommunications cabling industry.
This innovative and industry-leading framework not only recognises our staff’s skills and experience but also sets a new standard for the industry nationwide.

Communications looks after the ICT telecommunications services for all facets of the industry, from residential to industrial and commercial, including cabling, copper, fibre, Wi-Fi, UPS and audio visual home automation. Seth’s team is integration of multiple diverse skillsets, expertise brought together in one department.

Will Ransby

Information Here

Amber Faris

Corporate Services Manager

Amber joined the business as Corporate Services Manager in 2022, responsible for the line management of the business support team and the general administrative functions of the business. Amber thrives on coming up with creative solutions, engaging and collaborating with team members at all levels of the business.

Her expertise spans HR, recruitment, payroll, marketing, strategic planning, staff engagement and administration; and she is responsible for providing advice on these aspects of the business to the leadership team. Her hardworking team provides financial and administration support (particularly creditors, payroll and reporting) to the business, with a focus on customer service.

Amber brings extensive corporate experience and knowledge to Aotea, with over 20 years of experience in management in large organisations. She enjoys providing the technical support, policies, guidelines, and frameworks to contribute to the growth and development of the business.

Ewan Cuthbert

Health, Safety and Sustainability Manager

With over 43 years of experience in the electrical industry and more than 35 years at Aotea Electric Southern, it is safe to say that Ewan brings plenty of experience to the Health, Safety, and Sustainability Manager role.

His deep-rooted knowledge of health and safety comes from hands-on experience, with an extension background spanning a vast range of electrical projects, including commercial, industrial, housing developments, and healthcare. Ewan takes pride in maintaining safe sites and seeing the resulting positive impact on culture.

Ewan supports managers and staff, helping them understand their responsibilities and duties. He strives to keep everyone on the same page regarding health and safety and ensuring consistency across our large team. The sustainability portion of the role is an exciting new area with huge potential for growth and impact, and an area of interest for Ewan.