Founded in 2010 by Craig Tuhoro, Global Metal Solutions (GMS) is a proudly whānau-owned and led business with its roots in Ngāti Maniapoto, providing premium metal recycling services in Aotearoa and the Pacific to help ensure a safer, cleaner future for Planet Earth. With processing sites in Hamilton, Papakura and New Plymouth, GMS specialises in ferrous and non-ferrous metal recycling, bin clearance services, logistics, trading, secure destruction and stewardship.
“Everything is processed to international standards and exported overseas,” says Craig. “We’re ISO accredited and have been for the last six years. Those standards and accreditations are very important to our staff. Every year, we get audited so we’re always working to maintain them and achieve other standards as well.”
GMS also supports other family businesses and industries throughout New Zealand to export their recycling materials to the world, assisting them with logistics, process and capital. “We also support many South Pacific countries with exporting their waste streams and recyclables to various destinations,” adds Craig.
Up to 70 staff, including 18 family members, are employed across GMS’s three processing sites. Of the remaining 52 staff members, 85% are Polynesian, and 50% are female. Hands-on physical roles include loading and unloading containers to sort materials for later processing; machinery operators; and people involved in the processing of ferrous and non-ferrous metal for recycling.
Machinery ranges from small forklifts to large forklifts capable of lifting containers, large loaders and material handling equipment ranging from 1 tonne right up to 36 tonnes. “I find that our women workers take really good care of the equipment,” says Craig. “We’re investing in a whole lot of new gear and like to reward our better operators with the new equipment first.”
“We like to bring people in and start them in a role in which they feel comfortable, then look to develop their skill sets.”
Leaving school at 15, absent of formal education, Craig says he has been fortunate to have worked at the very top of the scrap metal industry in six different countries – honing and polishing his knowledge, business acumen and international business connections. Perhaps it is on the back of his humble beginnings that Craig also looks at the opportunities he can give his people, and it is a testament to a positive workplace culture that the majority of people who start with GMS stay distant.
“We have a good range of opportunities that we can offer our people. We like to bring people in and start them in a role in which they feel comfortable, then look to develop their skill sets. We’re currently looking at a few opportunities, including a trainee management programme. There’s a young graduate from Otago University who wants to get involved in metal recycling and has asked if he can join the team. So, we’re looking at developing a trainee management programme to cater to him. He will start at the bottom and move his way around the business to get an understanding of the industry.”
Craig goes on to tell the story of a young team member whom he calls his ‘brother’s adopted son,’ and who was found on the street, a father of five, riding a skateboard without too many prospects in life. “He has ended up being one of our better operators. Since working with us, he has gotten married, sorted his life out and moved to New Plymouth. That’s something my brother is very proud of.”
Providing support to a wide range of sporting and cultural groups within the local community is also very important to the GMS team; support that Craig refers to as Passion Projects. “It has been quite tough over the last twelve months, but we’re hoping to get some spare capital and do more passion projects this coming year because it makes people happy.”
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