Speak to any of our franchisees and they’ll tell you one of the biggest reasons for joining Sentinel Homes is because our approach to business matched theirs.
Since we first started, we’ve been focused on doing more than just building houses – we want to make a difference in the future of New Zealand.
“The first half of my career was about success, but now it’s about significance. I want to leave something that’s helping to improve things for people,” says director Stu Shutt.
Our franchisees all agree, and at a local level do a lot to support their communities. They sponsor teams and organisations, give to charity and support their staff to follow their hearts too.
At a group level, we’ve built-in process, giving and policies that work to create better outcomes for people and the planet, not just profit.
Parenting Place supports families right from the beginning. It helps parents through pregnancy and the newborn stage, provides counselling for children going through trauma and for struggling parents, and educates parents and teachers with special needs kids. For a few years, we’ve been making cash contributions to Parenting Place through our Charity Homes scheme.
Now with market shifts making that less feasible, we’ve committed to donating to them for every house built, which will total over $100,000 this year. They’ll use the money to offer more courses to parents and reach out to more people. In the long run, they’ll help create a stronger, happier New Zealand, which is better for all of us.
The building industry is notoriously hard on the environment, producing lots of waste and carbon. We’re doing our best to counter those impacts.
Producing carbon is inevitable, but our tree-planting initiative is helping offset it. Through our partner organisations, we’ve committed to planting enough trees to offset 100 tonnes of carbon – some of those trees will be planted with our own hands, too. Many of the trees will add to native bush, restoring the ecosystems around riverbanks and protecting against erosion.
The bulk will be pine in forestry plantations, which, perhaps counterintuitively, deliver much better carbon offset stats. They mature to their full-carbon-eating capacity much faster and as each is cut down, the carbon is sunk – that is, stored – in wood for construction projects. Then, the tree is replaced to kick-start multiple cycles of carbon absorption.
Rather than heaving our construction waste into a big bin, wherever we can, we divide it up so that some can be recycled and some repurposed by specialist companies. This minimises the amount that goes to landfill.
Whenever our franchisees need to travel around New Zealand, they always pay a bit more to offset the carbon emissions from the flight. That’s compulsory, but a policy our owners are more than happy to comply with.
We know our impact goes well beyond what we do day to day – from our suppliers to the materials they provide. That’s why, when we’re choosing suppliers, we don’t just consider the bottom line. We look at much wider criteria, prioritising home-grown businesses, manufacturers and materials and those that are investing in initiatives like staff training, apprenticeships and environmental protection. We factor in how they treat their workers, which is as important to us as how well they get the job done. We believe that’s the right way to do business and go out of our way to support other organisations who think that too.
All of that adds up to what the NZ government is calling “broader outcomes” – which essentially means that we’re running our business to support people and the planet alongside profit.
“We’d like to leave the world a better place. There’s no point in creating beautiful things and ruining the earth in the process,” stays Stu.
Let’s get together for a free, no-pressure meeting with one of our team, at your place or ours.
We can't wait to hear your ideas!
