A major focus for Lloyd Logging since it started in 2017 has been to invest in staff and training. It’s no surprise then that company staff member Channing Green took out the emerging talent award at last year’s Northland Forestry Awards and was up for the trainee of the year in 2019.
“Channing has only been in the industry for four years but his credits, units and productivity are more like he has been working here for ten years,” says Lloyd Logging owner Isaac Lloyd. “He’s my foreman now and has come a long way in a short time. He’s earning more money than he was before entering the forestry industry and he and his wife have just been able to build a house so they are in a really good position now.”
Isaac, who has nearly 20 years industry experience, owns the company with wife Sheree Beehre. They employ eight staff and Isaac has four siblings working in the business making Lloyd Logging a real family-oriented company. “This makes for a good company culture. Communication is good and we all look out for each other,” Isaac says.
The firm’s culture and success were recognised at this year’s Northland Forestry awards where it won the Northern Forest Products Ltd Forestry Family of the Year. The company was originally called Combined Logging and had been in existence for around 20 years before Isaac and Sheree purchased it. Lloyd Logging contracts to Summit Forests, which manages forests in the region.
Iwi and Summit Forests were also a big help to Isaac in starting his business. Lloyd Logging is a cable logging crew working on steeper and more challenging terrain to remove logs safely and with minimal impact to the environment. The couple have been focusing on investing in equipment, purchasing a new Komatsu excavator, processing head and vehicles as well as getting maintenance on other equipment up to date.
They have hired new employees and got involved with forestry training group Competenz. Summit Forests also completes some staff training. Lloyd Logging has also got involved with local schools hosting students on their site so young people can see the many career opportunities available in the logging industry.
Health and safety are another important focus and Lloyd Logging is involved with Top Spot, a nationwide auditing tool for individuals and crews. Isaac says this helps drive high standards in Lloyd Logging and also helps benchmark the company against competitors. Lloyd Logging also has Safetree Contractor Certification, which provides forestry with an industry standardised assessment of a contractor’s suitability to work.
Since it started Lloyd Logging has been working at Kohumaru forest and will be there another one and a half years before moving onto another site for Summit Forestry. Isaac says he is lucky to have such a good client, particularly as product is destined for the New Zealand market so has not been hit by international price drops recently.
“Summit Forestry is a great forest management company in terms of culture, values and health and safety. We look forward to assisting them for many years to come.”
Photo: Winners are grinners: Lloyd Logging won the Forestry Northern Forest Products Ltd Forestry Family of the Year at this year’s Northland Forestry Awards. Source & Photo: Business North newspaper, Issue 4, 2019 – Published by Waterford Press)
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