Frankly, I had never imagine that I would found and run a roofing company in Australia – I was trained as a toolmaker in Germany where I was born! But… THAT’S LIFE which is full of wonders and surprises!

I and my wife Heike migrated to Australia in 1991. Unfortunately, after we arrived in Australia (Adelaide), the company that was supposed to employ me was suffering financially under the recession. They could no longer employ me which threw me completely into a spin – it was the most distressful time I’ve ever had in my life!

I had to somehow create an income stream quickly to support my family (we have 2 children who were before school age at the time). But it was very difficult to find a job at the time, especially for a migrant, due to the recession. I thought I’d be better off if I could have my own business to support my family… As I found that there was a high demand for skilled labour in the guttering and roofing industry, I decided to give it a go.

With the practical and financial support I received from a government program, New Employment Incentives Scheme (NEIS), I managed to get my roofing company up and running in the same year (1991)! Yes, it started out with my wife and myself, but after 2 years, we started to expand and employ other people.

Our first office was in a backyard caravan. We moved to a ‘proper’ office in Littlehampton in 1999, and then to our current office in Mt. Barker in 200X.

Also, our company name was first registered as “Adelaide Hills Gutter Service”, as we specialised only on guttering service initially. It was changed to “Joe Haffer Guttering and Roofing” when we included roofing work. I decided to change the company name again to “Haffer Roofing” in 2000. And then in 2004, “Haffer Carports” was registered as an additional trading name.

Currently, we have 15 permanent staff… and we’re looking at employing more staff soon as Haffer Roofing is growing rapidly in size and reputation. Since we placed great emphasis on providing high quality roofing products and great customer service, we employ our staff very carefully based on their attitude, skills, reliability and team spirit to ensure that we can deliver everything we promise our customers.

As our employees (roof plumbers) live in and around the Adelaide metropolitan area and the Adelaide Hills, we are able service most areas in South Australia (click here to find out the areas we service).

 Brook Fowler is our on-site supervisor… he is also Phil’s ‘right-hand’ man! Normally, you’ll only see him in the office early in the morning. Because, for the rest of the day, he keeps busy measuring up on sites, supervising workers, checking current jobs, carrying out final inspections on finished jobs to issue a clearance certificate, etc…
 
Brook learned his amazing roofing skills from his father when he was 17 years old, and he has earned a living with his skills ever since. He began working for Haffer Roofing in 2000 and took over the role as supervisor from Phil in the following year.

Brook has worked on many high profile projects including the Submarine Base, Entertainment Centre, the Velodrome, and the Tram Barn at Morphetville.

In his spare time, Brook loves to go camping in his ‘motorhome’… take his Harley for a spin or spent time with his incredible family.

Richard Patridge is our customer relations officer.  He will be contacting you in regular intervals to keep you up to date with anticipated start date, when materials will arrive, the progress of the job, etc.

Richard joined Haffer Roofing in 2008, initially as our Safety Officer but we soon expanded his role to include ordering of materials, coordinating the workers and communicating with our customers. 

Mark Hutchinson, our maintenance guru, has over 30 years experience. He first completed his apprenticeship as a plumber in 1973, and then changed to roofing in 1977.

Mark joined Haffer Roofing in 2002 and he is looking after most of the small charge up jobs. With his extensive experience, he also helps other staff when they encounter some tricky problems or issues in their projects.  In general it will be Mark that looks over your finished job and conducts the inspection 3 months after completion.

Some of the major projects that Mark has worked on included the Submarine Base, Yatala and Mobilong Prisons, Ipec Complex at Adelaide Airport, Vietnamese Cultural Centre and Hollywood Plaza Shopping Centre.

And… we have a further sixteen staff working on site including…

Brendan Allen completed an apprenticeship originally as a cabinet maker. But after working for several years as a cabinet maker, he searched for a change and decided to give roofing a go.

So, he joined Haffer Roofing in 2005. His previous trade experience and his attention to detail has served him very well in adapting to his new trade. He is now an integral part of Haffer Roofing.

Patrick Anderson started out as an apprentice in another roofing company in 2005. For some reasons, he could not continue his apprenticeship with that company, hence he transferred to Haffer Roofing in 2006, to continued his apprenticeship.  He recently finished his apprenticeship winning the award for Best Roof Plumbing Apprenctice over 4 years in 2009.

If you play rugby, you would love to meet Patrick. He is a keen rugby player and won the Premiership with his club side in 2006!