Neil Furnandiz’s career began back in the UK, working weekends with his dad on vac trucks before he was even old enough to drive one. Now based in Wellington, Neil brings decades of hands-on experience, a strong work ethic, and a love of a good challenge. We ran Neil through our Q&A.

Q. What made you want to work for HydroVac?
A.  Hydrovac is a big organisation which brings more variety to my role. Change can be a challenge but Hydrovac has looked after me since they opened this branch in Wellington. I enjoy working for them.

Q. What excites you about your role?
A. The variety of the role.

Q. What did you do before HydroVac?
A.  I have been in or around waste management for almost 40 years. My earliest memory of it was digging out glass from the back of a vac truck on a weekend when I was 12-13 years old – a weekend job, working with my dad. When I left school at age 16, I went into workshops working on Laithes & Millars but found I didn’t like being inside – I preferred working outdoors. So I got a job waterblasting and being second man on a vac truck, and also did a bit of drain laying. I moved to New Zealand in 2007 and started with H2O Contractors in 2008.

Q. What do you enjoy about working here?
A. I enjoy the culture at Hydrovac.

Q. Tell us about your family/home life…
A.  I moved from England to New Zealand in 2007. I married a Kiwi girl and we have two lovely girls who keep us busy.

Q. How do you relax?
A. I am a big sports fan especially boxing and premiership football. My team is Everton FC.  I enjoy cooking, especially BBQ’s.

Q. What would surprise us about you?
A.  I have 6 different BBQs.