
Meet Our Expert Team at GGE
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Janani Grant
General Manager / Director
Janani’s journey with GGE began in 2004 as a young apprentice. 2024 will mark his 20 years of service at the company. After gaining trade certification in heavy fabrication and working his way up through GGE’s draughting, detailing and QA departments, Janani has learnt GGE’s processes from beginning to end. He has been exposed to all areas of the business, most recently adopting the role of director in September 2022.
In 2018, Janani stepped sideways from his general manager role to become the company’s contracts manager, realising that this was a side of the business he wanted to work ‘hands-on’ in. This role has allowed him to develop a strong team mentality, basing his own success on how each staff member is able to thrive and achieve in their roles.
Janani lives by the phrase, “There’s no CAN’T in George Grant” – an apt description of GGE’s culture. His driving goal is to foster strong client relationships and trust. Any time away from the office is spent with family, or building guitars.
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Manish Pandya
Commercial Manager / Director
Manish brings 33 years of experience to GGE in his role as estimating director. After training as a civil engineer, Manish worked as a quantity surveyor for one of the largest consulting firms in the Indian state of Gujarat, before moving on to form his own consultancy business. He moved to New Zealand in 2005 and undertook further study at Unitec, to bring him up to speed with the country’s construction practices.
Manish has loved civil engineering from a very young age. Today, he is particularly proud of how influential the accuracy and detail of his QS work can be on a construction project. An early career highlight for Manish was his involvement with the 14-storey Novotel Airport Hotel, a challenging build with tight deadlines. Outside of GGE, Manish is passionate about cricket, badminton and carrom (a table game.)
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Richard Fletcher
Operations Manager / Director
Richard has over 40 years’ experience in various aspects of the steel industry, including 20 years as a company director and various senior roles in operations. He is a self-declared ‘enthusiast’ of structural steel for its practicality, sustainability and architectural beauty.
Richard is responsible for production operations, from purchasing through to despatch of finished assemblies and everything in between.
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Shaun Nel
Project Manager
Shaun joined GGE in 2018 as a Site Lead Hand. Shortly afterwards, he was appointed as Site Forman and eventually Project Manager. His extensive skill set includes supervising and coordinating crane, rigging, steel erecting, fabricating activities in construction, mining, offshore oil, and gas activities.
His New Zealand credentials includes Cranes, Occupational Health & Safety, Lifting Equipment, Construction and Lean Manufacturing.
His main responsibilities at GGE include Program Management, Health & Safety, ensuring that all projects are profitable, done on time and provide the highest level of improvement in processes, techniques, and operations.
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Cynthia Popham
Financial Controller
Cynthia joined GGE in 2008 after being a Financial Manager at a prominent distribution company. Her extensive skill set includes accounts, payroll, budgeting, forecasting and helping to look after the day-to-day running of the business.
In Cynthia’s words, the team at GGE are, “A great bunch of people”. She describes them as easy-going, but also determined to get the job done right.