2024 has got off to a fast start at White Associates. It is exciting for us to announce the appointment of three new people into the business, all of whom are active and underway in their roles, underlining that our business continues to go from strength to strength as we track into 2024.
Doreen Chua, Senior Quantity Surveyor
A Senior Quantity Surveyor working in our Post-Contract team, Doreen joined White Associates in January to develop her successful track record in estimation and completing projects on time and with quality.
Applying a powerful combination of contractor-side experience and outstanding organisation and planning skills that she has gained in her 17-year QS career in New Zealand and Malaysia, Doreen’s experience across a wide range of sectors includes cost estimating, tendering, contract procurement and post-contract cost management across consultant and main contractor firms.
Multi-lingual across English, Malay and Mandarin, Doreen applies skills across the quantity surveying spectrum on projects as varied as those for government departments, the development of major multi-unit apartment blocks, school campus developments, local authority land upgrades, medical centres and retirement villages.
“I’m enjoying collaborating closely with project managers, architects, engineers, and subcontractors to ensure efficient communication and seamless project delivery,” says Doreen.
Liam Crane, Project Finance Analyst and Finance Consultant
Liam has long been known to White Associates through his previous role as a Contract Manager at the Department of Corrections, where he played a leading role in delivering the Modular Build Programme.
Joining our Bank Funding team at the outset, Liam is involved in examining precondition reports and drawdowns across numerous projects, also undertaking peer review quality assurance. Applying his attention to detail and analytical skills alongside his considerable abilities across contract management, financial modelling and negotiation, Liam also undertakes discovery for litigation.
In doing so, he also applies expertise he has gained over many years in contract analysis and management across major infrastructure projects, which have required working at pace and with the agility to refocus and reprioritise workloads as deliverables and timeframes change.
Moving out into White Associates from his Corrections role is a good step, he says. “I am keen to try the private sector, and the opportunity to grow my construction skills at White Associates was too good to pass up. I’m now working in bank funding, looking at precondition reports and drawdowns, helping out with projects, also doing some peer review QA. The intention is for me to branch out further into our Advisory business, using my skills in contract management and litigation / negotiation: great opportunities for me to explore new areas and gain knowledge.”
Sarah Turner, Business Manager
A highly organised business manager whose successful career to date has been based on attention to detail and communication, Sarah manages a range of core business activities across White Associates.
Coming to White Associates from managing the nationwide BNI business network, Sarah brings a community feel to the firm, driving our performance through building our team, helping our specialists to build their leadership skills alongside their technical skills and developing our workplace as a place where people want to come.
In doing so, Sarah actively contributes to the strategic planning of the organisation, aligning efforts with overarching goals and objectives.
Sarah says she found the role on LinkedIn. “The variety of the role drew me, as well as the experience in a more traditional business structure after working in franchise networks. In this very people and operations role there are many different parts to it, and all are ticking boxes for me. What I want to bring to White Associates is that we work ever-more strongly as a team – a business family at work, going from strength to strength – helping our skillful specialists to build softer skills alongside their technical expertise.”
Konrad Trankels, Managing Director of White Associates, says that White Associates has come a long way since we opened our doors on 1 April 2005. “Today, we continue to go from strength to strength, and these three new appointments demonstrate the quality of people we are now able to attract as we strengthen our team in a period of managed growth backed by systems and structure. We are active throughout New Zealand, delivering great outcomes for our clients and doing so when relying on our values, which have always been about delivering in the right way for people.”