Greg Gilmour – Mardi Gras Event Hire

When Work and Income in Napier approached Hawkes Bay's biggest party and event hire company Mardi Gras with the opportunity to employ two new staff members, Managing Director Greg Gilmour jumped at the chance.

Mardi Gras - formerly known as McEntee Hire, started out under new ownership a little over a year ago and Greg needed to quickly develop a competent team that would carry the company through the peak summer event season. In December 2010, WINZ referred two young men with a limited skillset - something Greg says he would normally shy away from. However, coupled with the security of WINZ subsidising a percentage of the men's wages for the first six months, Greg gave the pair a chance and says he hasn't looked back since.

20 year old Thomas Skipper and 21 year old Anthony Taueki were both graduates of the Limited Service Volunteers course run in Trentham and came to WINZ with glowing references. By his own admission, Greg says he "threw them both in the deep end on minimum wages when they started, and they worked like Trojans". Work and Income provided a subsidy of 15 hrs per week for a twenty week period at $13.50 per hour. They've since obtained their forklift licenses and are both on fulltime employment contracts.

Greg Gilmour's words of advice for other employers looking at taking on unproven staff, is to form strong relationships with recruitment agencies and your local WINZ work brokers. He says he would recommend trialling new staff under the Subsidy because it takes the guess-work out of vetting prospective employees and for him, was more time and cost efficient in the long run. It gave Greg the ability to invest more money into upskilling the pair and progressing them through the licensing ranks, faster. Thomas and Anthony have become two loyal and efficient team members for Mardi Gras Event Hire, which directly relates to the profitability of the company.

Mardi Gras are contracted to provide everything from marquees to dessert spoons for some of Hawke's Bay's biggest tourist events, including the annual Mission Estate concerts. With 20 years experience in event hire, Greg Gilmour knows what he needs when it comes to staff members. He believes the  Subsidy took the gamble out of using traditional forms of recruiting, saved him money on advertising and most of all, saved him time. The incentive for Greg Gilmour to take a chance on two inexperienced employees has paid off, and it too could do the same for your business.

If you would like to find out more about the Flexi-Wage Subsidy or enquire if someone qualifies for the subsidy, please call:

Employer Line: 0800 778 008