General Interest
Abseiling before Surfing off the ledge

At the age of 40 I was looking for a mortgage broker that might be able to get me a home loan on a very modest little Onehunga property with a 10% deposit. I was broke and aware that time was moving on pretty quickly! My wife and I had lost all the equity we had in property when we had sold our Hutt Valley home in 1994 (for a lot less than what we had paid in 1987) and moved to Auckland at that time. I had been running my own business in Wellington for 10 years prior (known as Hi glow window cleaning) and had been the first company to pioneer abseil access for window cleaning in that city. However we had sold everything and made the move to Auckland to help facilitate a youth group at a prominent City church at that time. After 3 years there, I had a real desire to get back into working at height.

I started ‘Off the Ledge' with no cash and a bucket of very unimpressive cleaning tools.

Marketing with pretty ugly business cards and minimal Auckland contacts I was however very motivated (keeping your family alive is motivating!). I was also very excited at the concept of starting up a company that specialized in high-rise abseil and difficult access. My dream was to build a company that was more than just a money making machine. I had always loved the physical aspect of high-rise window cleaning, and the challenge of turning very inaccessible buildings into “conquered mountains! “ My dream was to find a team of people that were equally passionate about the work, and set up a system to train them in the expertise that I had developed over years. More than that, I was wanting to build a team that was more like a family, so that work could be more than a job, more like a good day out with your mates .The family aspect of belonging and treating each other with respect was the goal I had in mind.

So, in 1997 I started trading as Off The Ledge. My wife and I seriously prayed (as you do when you have nothing!) and really believed that God was inspiring us to build a company that might present Him as relevant in the world of business. We quickly grew from my bucket and me, to a strong team of 6 by 2001. At that time we bought our own inner city premises, an old printing warehouse. We converted the top floor into a trendy apartment and have leased it out. We have kept the downstairs area for our work office and warehouse space.

We are now running a team of 13 employees and have an operations manager, a marketing manager and an accounts lady. We have expanded the scope of our work from high-rise window cleaning to now include all types of remedial work and rooftop anchor system installations.

We have become a one-stop shop for any maintenance work at height.

For me, I feel as if my dream to own a company that was not a mere money machine has been fulfilled. We have an amazing team of people that genuinely look out for each other, are passionate about the work they do, and know how to have fun and laugh a lot. We have a room at the back of our warehouse full of surfboards and wetsuits and when it is too wet or windy we will all pack into the work vehicles and get to surf together (most of the OTL employees are surfers).

We have had trips away together and are already planning our Christmas break up party (even tho its only august!) We have people wanting to join OTL purely because they want to join the family!

I must admit I'm pretty stoked with how it's all turned out!
 
PETER HOWCROFT
DIRECTOR
OFF THE LEDGE LTD
P:09 3020625