Keeping the peace (of mind)

Noise Control Services

Case study


Noise Control Services Limited Managing Director Paul Rayner knows a lot about noise and how to keep it down, but he’s not the man to call when your neighbours get rowdy. “We get a lot of calls from people who look up noise control in the phone book and think we’re the guys who go around shutting down noisy parties,” he laughs. “We get people ringing up on a Monday morning wanting their stereos back.”

The particular noises that Paul’s company keep under control are those of an industrial and commercial nature. Paul set up the company in 1981 when he won the contract to meet the environmental sound requirements for the “Think Big” era’s Ammonia Urea Plant in Taranaki. Since then his company has become New Zealand’s leading industrial noise control company using techniques and systems designed and manufactured by Paul and his staff. These can range from attenuators for air conditioning systems, to sound enclosures for machinery, to the design and construction of complete noise secure buildings.

Paul’s first contact with what was then Pricewaterhouse, came in the early eighties when Noise Control Services undertook to gain ISO registration. “Typically, for a small engineering based company, we didn’t have a business plan. David Dorrington wrote that for us – and twenty years down the track our relationship is still with him.”

Over that time David has advised and assisted on a wide range of issues, especially those relating to the company’s growth. Over the last five years the company has expanded its operation here and off shore.

“PwC helped us set up our Brisbane office three years ago. That was invaluable, especially taking care of the tax situation there and getting us an Australian Business Number, the equivalent of a GST number here.

“David also assisted us in computerising our accounting system some years ago. It’s a good system which we have upgraded a few times. As well as looking after the business, David has also looked after my family, updating the family trust and advising on investments

“These days I tend to regard PwC as a one-stop shop. I go to David for all sorts of advice where previously I might have called a lawyer. At the moment David is assisting in the sale of 50 percent of the company shares to a long-term employee. In the future I can see that employee relationship contracts will be an area that David will be able to help with.

“The most important thing for me is to have that complete peace of mind that everything is under control from a financial point of view. I know I can ring David any time and get a straight answer and that within PwC the expertise is there, no matter what comes up.”

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