The story of PAE New Zealand starts on a ski field in the Austrian Alps in the 1970’s. Founding Director Ian Robertson was working as a ski instructor and one of his students turned out to be a manager within PAE LLC. Ski instructing soon gave way to a facilities management role at a US military base in Germany.
A decade later, on the advice of the New Zealand Government, it was concluded that New Zealand’s armed forces should focus on military activities and outsource support services. Sensing an opportunity, Ian approached PAE LLC, and initiated a joint approach to win the contract.
In 1991 PAE was awarded its first military contract and PAE New Zealand was born.
As the saying goes, success breeds success – along with a tonne of hard work – and PAE New Zealand has been on a path of continuous growth ever since.
Defence contracts have been complemented by contracts with the police, district councils, hospitals, schools and tertiary institutions, big dairy and supporting the US Antarctic Program, allowing us to become the second largest facilities management company in New Zealand.
Throughout all the ensuing 30 years what’s sustained the organisation is our people. While PAE New Zealand is a standalone company incorporated in New Zealand, we’ve benefitted greatly from having the same two shareholders since the business was established: PAE LLC and Stantec Inc. With Kiwis running the show from Wellington, and trusted employees and subcontractors in every region, the company has been able to diversify its services and support its communities.
