Key People

Andrew Campbell (Managing Director)
Andrew joined the company in 2004 as a Project Manager and was later appointed the General Manager of the Contracting Division of United Carriers.  In 2006, Andrew became a shareholder and the Managing Director of the newly formed United Civil Construction and has since overseen a 300% growth in company revenues.

Andrew, who holds a Bachelor of Civil Engineering and a New Zealand Certificate in Civil Engineering, has extensive experience in civil engineering design, management and construction supervision.  While his primary focus is the management and growth of the business, he maintains an overview of various construction projects undertaken by the company.

Prior to joining United Civil, he spent 11 years working for the engineering consultancy company, BECA, including a 5 year stint as Resident Engineer and Project Manager of road and bridge construction projects in the Central American country of Belize.

Paul Mandeno (Operations Manager)
Paul has extensive experience in the construction of high value and complex civil engineering works and is the company’s most senior project manager.  He has been responsible for the successful delivery of several projects with values in excess of $10 million, with particular experience in the water and wastewater reticulation and road construction projects.

Some of the high profile projects completed by United Civil for which Paul was the Project Manager include Stage III of the Whangarei Sewerage Scheme, the civil works at Northport’s deepwater port and the civil works for the Carter Holt Harvey LVL facility at Marsden Point.

Paul holds a New Zealand Certificate in Civil Engineering and is a shareholder and Director of United Civil Construction.

Rafael Ballen (Contract Manager, Kamo)
Rafael Ballen is a Senior Contracts Manager with a background in the construction management of major civil, oil and gas and commercial infrastructure projects throughout South America, New Zealand, Australia and the Middle East. He is at present the United Civil Contracts Manager on the Kamo Bypass Stage II State Highway 1 road construction project in Whangarei.

Elsewhere in New Zealand he has worked in key and senior roles for Fletcher Construction and Hawkins Infrastructure, helping deliver large projects including the Northern Busway and Upper Harbour Highway bridge and causeway widening in Auckland and the upgrade of the entry to the Wellington Railway Station.

"Rafa" takes a proactive approach to the management and delivery of projects under his control and is well known for his innovative abilities and "thinking outside the square". Utilising his thirty (30) years of experience in the construction of large span bridges, tunnels, retaining walls, deep foundations, rail systems, pavements and highways, he invariably delivers added value and superior outcomes for the client and other stakeholders.

In all instances, Rafael seeks to develop and maintain effective working relationships with consultants, contractors, local authorities and create an environment where all parties can work collaboratively and in a manner that is best for project and where the expectations of all stakeholders are fully realised.

Barry Stenberg (Contract Manager)
Barry has worked in the civil contracting industry for 46 years and is a past Chairman and Life Member of the Northland Branch of the NZ Contractors Federation.  Barry’s experience in the civil construction industry is extensive and includes the construction of pipelines, pump stations, tunnels, quarries, dams, industrial site works, and both local authority and national highways.

Barry started his work life at Green and McCahill Contractors in 1963 as an engineering cadet and progressed through the company to become Engineer on the Whau Valley Dam in Whangarei and later, Project Manager for the Ngaruranga Gorge lane widening contract in Wellington.  He subsequently formed, along with Andrew Connery, earthmoving company which successfully completing three stages of the Whitby subdivision north of Wellington.

Barry’s involvement with United Carriers began 30 years ago with his appointment as the Contracts Manager to the civil contracting division. He eventually became a Director and shareholder of the Company.
During this period some of the major contracts completed under Barry’s management included the Waipoua Forest Seal Extension, Brynderwyn Crawler Lanes, Northport Export Terminal Pavement, Carter Holt LVL Plant Civil Works at Marsden Point and the Whangarei Heads Sewerage Reticulation (Stages I and II).
Barry is currently employed by United Civil as Contracts Manager, providing support to the company’s Project Managers, overseeing the commercial aspects of construction projects and providing technical advice where required.  He is also involved in the preparation of tender submissions and liaison with our customers

Wayne Pepperell (Project Manager)
Wayne has been a Project Manager with United Civil since 2006.  His principal responsibilities have included the supervision and management of various civil engineering works including roads, sea walls, and sewer and drainage reticulation. 

Wayne brings strong site based leadership to his role and is very customer focused; ensuring that projects are completed on time and to a high standard.

Prior to joining United Civil, Wayne had gained experience in the road construction and maintenance, having spent two years as a Project Manager with Works Infrastructure, overseeing the site investigation, design and construction of area wide pavement treatments (AWPT) on the Waikato State Highway network.  Wayne has also worked for the Tanlaw Corporation as Contract Engineer on the East Waikato General Road Maintenance and the company Quality Assurance Manager. 

Wayne holds a New Zealand Certificate in Civil Engineering and an electrical trade qualification.

Rob Wilson (Project Manager)
Rob, who holds a New Zealand Certificate in Civil Engineering, has 30 years of experience in the civil engineering industry working both in New Zealand and Australia.  In this time Rob has acquired an extensive knowledge of local conditions and resources within Northland, primarily from his previous project management roles in road maintenance contracts throughout the region.

His role with United Civil is wide ranging and varied and includes business development, tendering and preliminary planning, project management and control as well as the on-site supervision of physical works.  He is very experienced in resource management and staff supervision and has developed good working relationships with local engineering consultants and council representatives.

In addition to road construction and maintenance, Rob has particular expertise in the development and construction of residential subdivisions.  Large land development projects recently completed under Rob’s management include the Matauri Bay Properties subdivision at Matauri Bay and the Landcorp Estates subdivision at Haruru Falls.

Andrew Garratt (Corporate Compliance Manager)
Andrew has over 20 years of senior management experience in a number of large companies.  His roles in these organisations have mainly focussed on the quality assurance, health & safety, training, human resources and environmental management aspects of the business.  The industries in which he has worked have a strong industrial flavour, and include mobile cranes, port operations, tug & barging, heavy transport engineering and maintenance, tyre manufacture and retreading, aircraft tyre retreading, civil construction, ship building and ship repair.

Andrew has managed companies and organisations at the highest level, having been General Manager of Intertruck Distributors (North) Ltd and Chief Executive Officer of the Collision Repair Association.  He is also the Managing Director of his own company, Safe Solutions Ltd, which has markets electrical maintenance status tags (MainTag) throughout New Zealand.  In the mid 2000’s Andrew was instrumental in the national implementation of his own concept; the ACC backed DriverSafe programme which is now the recognised out of cab truck driver safety training programme  This programme has contributed directly to the reduction of injuries in the transport industry.

In his role with United Civil, Andrew oversees the operation and the ongoing development of our health and safety, quality assurance and staff training systems.

Andrew is a qualified engineer with a New Zealand Certificate in Mechanical Engineering and is currently studying for a Diploma in Highway Engineering.

Ajit Balasingham (Director)
Ajit Balasingham is a Chartered Accountant who joined United Carriers Limited, a large transport, logistics and civil construction company as its Financial Controller in 1995 and subsequently became its Managing Director.  In 2003 Ajit led a management buy-out purchasing United Carriers and in 2008, sold the transport and logistics business to Toll the largest logistics operator in Australasia.

At the time of the sale United Carriers had a turnover of $80 million with over 350 Staff and seven depots from Kaitaia to Auckland with a significant market share in Northland.

United Carriers Limited has retained a 50% shareholding in United Civil Construction, and Ajit, although not involved in the day to day running of the business, is a Director of the company who brings with him significant experience and expertise in business development, strategy and finance.

Ajit is member of the Rotary Club of Whangarei is a Paul Harris Fellow and a Director of Northland Rugby Union.