When opportunity knocks, seize the day and open the door – that is exactly what Digz and Soph Degerholm did when a local electrician decided to sell a pump business five years ago.
The timing could not have been more perfect. Digz, a qualified aircraft engineer and builder had been running a construction company for a number of years and just happened to be looking towards the next chapter in life’s journey.
The opportunity to establish a family business involving Digz, Sophie and their young daughter Ailish was perfect and DSA Northland Ltd trading as Keri Pumps was born – located in the heart of Keri Keri township.
While the business had already established a good name for itself when Digz and Soph took it over, the couple has injected huge amounts of passion, enthusiasm and focus into their new venture and business is really pumping.
“The business has grown and grown to the point that we’ve now got three full time employees with another about to be hired for the workshop. Soph does all the administration work and has a good knowledge of pumps, helping out in the shop.
“My role is overall management of the operation, but I do all the farm reticulation and irrigation design and oversee the workshop.”
Digz admits it has been a massive learning curve; discovering that as the business grew and developed there was even more to learn.
He says it has been quite a journey in an industry he loves and which he wishes he had discovered much earlier. Keri Pumps’ core business is pumps, irrigation and filtration systems.
Operating out of a large shop stocking a wide range of water pumps, filtration systems and all the usual fittings, the business services and repairs all types, brands and applications of water system in its well equipped workshop.
Keri Pumps also operates a mobile service, providing an after hours emergency call out service with a large selection of loan pumps available.
Digz says that pumps and moving water is one of the main things that the business does—anything from farm reticulation, design, installation to repairs as well as domestic house water pumps, along with commercial pumps and farm pumps like wash down and stock water pumps. “We do a lot of domestic and commercial filtration installations and servicing.
The lion’s share of filtration work would be domestic—UV/carbon filters and the like. We also look after quite a few community water supplies—anything from 20-120 households.
“ The bulk of Keri Pump’s irrigation work is repairing upgrading and servicing of media filters, controllers, and solenoid valves.
“Growers might also want to split up their block a little bit more and we will help with alteration to their irrigation systems. We’ve also helped with fertigation.”
Digz has noticed that as horticulture around Keri Keri’s has declined in favour of housing development, the demand for sophisticated residential irrigation systems has increased—things like pop up lawn sprinklers and automated irrigation.
Keen to keep up-skilling, Digz says that going forward he will be making use of the training and resources available through Irrigation New Zealand.
This article was brought to you in association with the following businesses…
