Our history
Our story goes back to the 1950s where our roots were firmly established in roading construction and surfacing with many of the South Islands earliest roads being sealed by Isaac Construction.
Early projects include the Homestead Road deviation from Domett to Cheviot, Memorial Avenue in Christchurch, several West Coast Roads, parts of the Dunedin motorway, numerous hydro developments and the Christchurch Airport. Bitumen sealing services began in 1959 followed by site works in 1962 and quarrying in 1965.
The Isaac Group grew to acquire Simcox Construction in 2018 and Liddell Contracting in 2019, both businesses with extensive track records themselves.
Established in 1984 Simcox made their name laying much of the drainage for the Marlborough District Council. They secured the initial Rivers Maintenance Contract when Marlborough District Council and has been trusted to hold it ever since.
Liddell has grown from a one-man-band to a full team since the early 90s, making their mark on the region with such projects as the Otira Viaduct, Candy's Bend upgrade and Cass Bridge.
We do good work for a good cause
The Isaac Group is owned by the Isaac Conservation and Wildlife Trust. As far as we know we are the only construction company in the world like this. Since the Trust’s formation, conservation and the protection of endangered species has seen the creation of Peacock Springs, a unique wildlife habitat covering 1000 hectares of land on the outskirts of Christchurch. It is now highly regarded as one of the best examples of quarry restoration in the world.
Peacock Springs is home to a number of species including kakī (black stilt), pāteke (brown teal), kākāriki karaka (orange fronted parakeet), tūturuatu (shore plover), and whio (blue duck). All of the species here are managed through recovery programmes and bred and reared to be released into the wild for future generations to enjoy.
People matter at Isaac Group
We treat our people right for the good work they do and there’s a real family feel within our team. Our people enjoy fair pay, a safe work environment and healthy culture. Many of our people have been with us for a long time. We believe in supporting our people to be good and do good – not just at work, but at home and in their communities too.
Our people learn skills that set them up for life and have real opportunities to get ahead with our award-winning development programme and career choices across the three businesses. We also invest in training and graduate programmes with local schools in our regions. In association with industry partners, we run secondary school pathway programmes to develop practical skills in vertical and horizontal construction.
