Our People

At the ripe old age of 14, Darrell got permission to leave school, buy a pair of work boots, and get stuck into sawmilling with his Dad, Geoff. Darrell is the fourth generation of his family to be involved in this business.

Under his ownership, the company has developed from a small processor employing extended family on Pigs Head Road, to a two-site operation that employs almost 70 people within the Whangarei and Waitakere communities.

Darrell has spent almost 50 years in the thick of the business. While it’s still not unusual to see him cruising around the Kauri yard on a forklift keeping an eye on things, he is finally starting to take some time for himself and ease into semi-retirement. Never content with sitting around for too long though, Darrell splits his spare time between bashing away at a golf ball chasing that elusive single-digit handicap or bashing away at his drum kit chasing that elusive Mel Gaynor drum solo.

After finishing up at uni, Felice moved home intending to work in the family business for only as long as it took to save money for an OE. Starting with operating the Boiler on the dreaded weekend shift, it wasn’t long before she discovered that the practical hands-on work suited her far better than business studies ever did.

Felice never went on that OE, instead preferring to spend the best part of a decade working in different Drymill production centres, including completing a Timber Machining apprenticeship. Felice has a particular passion for people and company culture. She is excited to support and lead an already capable and cohesive team move towards the company mission and achieve each of their individual goals.

Outside of work, you’ll find Felice mucking around with her old Mark II Cortina and trying to find a moderated balance between Chardonnay consumption and long-distance trail running, with a 100 km distance her personal best.

After ten years working in Sawdoctoring and Sawmilling production, Jeremy transitioned over to the sales team in 2018, to become our primary rep on the road. Given his processing background, Jeremy is an excellent source of technical advice for our timber customers and is great at helping them problem-solve through tricky situations or enquiries.

Jeremy enjoys getting out to see customers and has developed strong relationships with new and existing customers through his genuine and relaxed approach. You don’t need to ask him twice to take a few customers out for a more social catch up, particularly if the races are involved.

Even though he doesn’t have the professional rugby playing pedigree that Gus has, Jeremy still chooses to ignore old injuries and warning signs and get out and play rugby for our beloved Hikurangi on the weekends. He also has a classic car in the form of a Ford Galaxie that he imported from America and has spent countless of hours rebuilding.

If there ever was a company stalwart, it’s Chris, who has worked for three generations of the Croft family over a period starting in 1989, when the company set up their first Auckland yard in Albany. Chris came on board without knowing the family or business and turned out to be a committed and integral key to our success in moving to the Auckland market.

Chris still manages our Auckland distribution yard, which is now based in Waitakere. He is another one of our not so secret weapons when it comes to the quick and consistent service that our customers have come to expect. Chris will do whatever he can to make things happen for our customers and won’t let anyone down if he can help it. He takes pride in the level of service that he provides and works hard to lead the Auckland team cohesively to meet our customer expectations.

A lover of tinkering around with projects at home, Chris recently hand-built a mini trailer camper, affectionately called the “WeePod”, that he and his wife Lynn plan to take around the countryside exploring at weekends.

When Kylie joined the team in 2016, we couldn’t quite figure out how we managed to entice this tech-savvy, business suit-wearing, professional to our dusty timber processing shores. After initially starting as our Office Manager, Kylie’s role and skill set progressed, resulting in a full time move away from Office Management, and into Health and Safety Management.

Not long after she started, we discovered the real Kylie, when she happily ditched the professional attire and willingly embraced our banter, jeans and hoodie policy. With no hesitation in getting her very small-sized work boots on and traipsing out into the yard, Kylie never hesitates to get out alongside the guys to make sure they are looked after and feeling safe. Kylie has proven to be a passionate advocate for the team’s Health and Safety, and the crew have no problem approaching her with their concerns.

A dab hand at a bit of DIY, you can find Kylie on the end of a few power tools on the weekends knocking up entire outdoor furniture sets if she feels like it, or pacing away on the treadmill binge-watching the latest Netflix series.

A dream accountant for any company who wants someone that counts every company penny as if it’s her own, Ange has been with us through the good times, and then some very low times, including the GFC. Throughout it all Ange has always been committed and personally invested in the company’s viability and success.

Joining us in 2002 from a professional accounting firm, it didn’t take long for Ange to adjust to our very relaxed working environment. It’s sometimes easy to be fooled by Ange’s hard accountants exterior until you crack a joke in her presence and remember that she loves a laugh and is almost impossible to offend.

With a background in competitive swimming, Ange still enjoys her fitness, attacking the loop regularly and partaking in body pump every few days just in case we ever need her to get physical on the debt collecting front.

One of the newer members of our Executive Leadership Team, Angela started with us in May 2022. Angela has worked in a mix of industries before us, from Accounting Firms to Property Investment, Education, and most recently for the Whangarei RSA where she was an integral part of organising the momentous occasion in our community (as it is in most); the annual ANZAC dawn parade.

With a strong background in accounts administration, Angela is known for her organisation and resourcefulness, and her willingness to continue to learn anything new and develop. Building rapport quickly with our staff, suppliers and customers, Angela’s warmth and approachability is plain for all to see. She deals with whatever we throw at her and absolutely nothing is a problem. We never, ever see her lose her cool! Wait, is that a challenge?!

In her personal life, Angela loves to spend time with her children and grandchildren. Her other great passion is her horses, doing a mix of horse riding for recreation and in competition through the Northland Showhunter series – With her and her main steed Maximus recently taking out first place in the Autumn 2023 series. She’s not all serious competition and family, though, we’ve seen her at the end of a couple of cocktails and can confirm that she’s a fun time!

Coming from many years in larger, more corporate businesses, Antony started with us in October 2022 and has taken the shift into private enterprise (with its fewer resources!) well.

He thoroughly enjoys our hands-on approach and has brought many practical skills and expertise to our team, particularly in electrical engineering and preventative maintenance management. Approachable, energetic and inclined to follow through on his promises and not let anyone down, Antony is always willing to lend anyone a hand, no matter who they are in the business. With so many projects on the go at any one time and a need for resourcefulness that is the norm in private business, Antony has his work cut out for him, but from the start has taken it in his stride.

Like most people, Antony enjoys spending quality time with his family outside of work. In addition to that, however, he never ceases to amaze us with his range of hobbies and interests. From taking his maintenance skills home to rebuild farm machinery to writing children’s books, Antony always a project at home on the go.

Darren is based at our Whangarei Branch and is responsible for Northland sales and distribution. Darren joined us in 2007 and at that stage had already spent over ten years in the timber and hardware sales industry.

Darren is yet another example of our committed and genuine sales team, who is always striving to do right by his customers. He pulls through for his clients time and time again and is incredibly patient, no matter the enquiry or problem. Darren leads the Northland Despatch team and works hard to successfully get them on board with our goal of delivering the best possible service for our customers. Darren is also the critical export contact within our business and manages almost all of the phytosanitary and export documentation process himself.

If Darren isn’t out on the water chasing that elusive 20-pound snapper, you can find him being a complete sucker for punishment at home or Mt Smart Stadium supporting the NZ Warriors year after year.

Jonathan, who prefers the nickname JT, has been a part of the company for over four years and started as a labourer within our Sawmill division. JT’s commitment, integrity, and willingness to go above and beyond, no matter the role or responsibility, became evident pretty quickly. JT moved promptly through several internal promotions, and at the time of writing this in 2021, JT has worked in all of our Production and Sales departments.

JT recently accepted his biggest promotion yet – transitioning from a Whangarei-based sales support role to become our primary Auckland-based sales representative. Accepting this offer was no small feat for JT and his family, who had to be ready for the upheaval that comes with moving cities, schools and so on. If any of our Auckland customers haven’t yet met JT, you will no doubt soon cross paths with him and be able to experience firsthand his approachability, patience and responsiveness.

Family is JT’s number one priority, both immediate and extended. Originally hailing from Fiji, JT loves the coastline and getting out for a fish wherever possible – so don’t be surprised if he drops hints about getting some local fishing knowledge when he stops in for a sales visit. We also have it on good authority that all you need to encourage JT to carry a tune is a couple of nips of whiskey and Toto’s Africa playing in the background.

Meet Amyee, the primary sales support person at our company. Coming from a Northland-based sawmilling family herself, it seems like the industry is in her blood! She joined us in March 2023 and, right from the get-go, has been an integral part of our team, supporting our Sales team in providing the level of service that we are known for.

Amyee is a motivated, keen, and quick learner who takes everything in her stride. Helping the team and customers alike comes naturally to her, and she is always willing to go the extra mile to ensure that everyone is satisfied. With her ability to authentically connect with anyone in the business, Amyee has become an essential part of the team and is genuinely invested in supporting our customers to ensure their success.

Coming from the West Coast of Northland, Amyee’s hobbies focus on the outdoors with a bit of hunting and gathering. Fishing, free diving, biking, and boating are some of the things that she loves to do in her spare time. As if that doesn’t keep her busy enough, Amyee also donates her time to significant, worthy causes – Such as heading to Zambia last year with a group of family and friends to help build on a farm and interact with the children at an orphanage.

Starting with us in November 2011, Rodney (or Rods as we call him) is one of our many success stories that have come through our talent pipeline and ended up in a Leadership Position. Initially starting with us as a Labourer in the Sawmill, Rods had some experience in the industry but limited qualifications. From the beginning, he was prepared to get stuck in and give us his all, and we saw pretty quickly that Rodney’s walk matched the talk, and he became a motivated, dependable member of the team who, to this day, still embodies our core Relationships value effortlessly.

Rodney eventually moved into a shift operator role in our Heat and Treatment Plants, which then developed into a Supervisory role. After a few years as Drymill Supervisor, Rodney put his hat in the ring to apply for our Production Manager role when it became available in 2021, with his application clearly proving successful. Rodney’s background in processing, particularly in the complex area of Drymill with many sub-departments, means that he is able to quickly problem solve for our production team and customers, with a strong willingness to help anyone who needs it, whether it be a member of our team, a supplier or a customer.

Hailing from the hub of the north, Kaikohe, Rods is Northland born and bred and places a heavy emphasis on spending time with his immediate and extended family. He enjoys supporting his sons through their journey to become Northland soccer reps, and you will find him on the sideline of as many of their games as possible. Family aside, he loves to get out on the water fishing and diving with his brothers. We often hear of his success while gathering kaimoana, but we have to admit to rarely seeing any of this seafood making its way to the smoko room for the rest of us. What gives Rods??

Joining our team in late 2020 after many years in the health sector, Audrey made a bit of an industry change when she came to Crofts! But that background in health meant that she brought with her a natural enthusiasm for looking after the team’s best interests and wellbeing. A passionate advocate for our Wellness programme, Audrey works hard to ensure our team is supported in as many aspects as possible.

Audrey is a huge contributor to our positive culture in her role as HR Manager. She is engaging with an evident willingness to take the time to learn more about who she works with and their differing perspectives. Always patient and welcoming, anyone who comes into Audrey’s path is treated with respect, no matter who they are or whether they work within or outside the business. She strikes an outstanding balance between meeting the team’s needs and the outcomes required for the company.

A dab hand at Crosswords and Sudoku, you could be duped into thinking that Audrey is straight-laced and not up for a party! But when she doesn’t have her nose buried in the latest brainteaser, it’s not unusual to see her cruising around the North with her partner on a Harley, sniffing out the location of the closest cocktail.

Luke, Lucas, Lucozade, Lukey – A man of many names and talents who has been a part of our team since 2005. Starting in one of the most labour-intensive roles we have, stacking posts off the round table, it wasn’t long before Luke’s motivation and initiative shone through, moving him into a development pathway that resulted in his current position as our Northland Despatch Coordinator. Providing critical support to our Northland sales team, Luke and his despatching team of yard staff and truckies do everything to deliver in full and on time!

Known as incredibly approachable but always up for a laugh, Luke brings that friendly, casual style to his interactions with other despatching teams within our customer base. He does an expert job managing our many relationships with our transport contractors. Luke is always willing to help someone wherever he can, and it’s rare to see him without a smile plastered across his face.

Outside of work, Luke is one of a small number in our team who hasn’t succumbed to the Hikurangi Rugby pressure, choosing instead to play football for Tikipunga. He also enjoys less strenuous sports such as darts and pool, even playing in a local comp for both, which doesn’t seem to help him much if any of the games we’ve witnessed are anything to go by!