Wild Geese: Colm Hamrogue, Christchurch, New Zealand
Colm Hamrogue: 'When you’re away from home with no local network and no family support, making good friends becomes really important.'
Hamrogue’s life was changed in an instant by the hit and run and, unsurprisingly, he became demotivated and despondent. A pep talk from his Mum, whom he describes as “a very wise woman”, made him realise that he could either let the accident dictate his future or dust himself down and start over.
“I was at a meeting in Holland where I met the chief executive of CRT and we hit it off very well,” Hamrogue says. “He invited me to come and look at New Zealand and what the company was offering. Shortly afterwards we packed our bags and took a massive leap of faith.“Having grown up in rural Ireland and been around farming all my life, I loved working in the co-op. Some of the farmers I met during those early days have become our best friends.
During his time at CRT, Hamrogue was heavily involved in its merger with the Farmlands Co-Operative Society which created the largest co-op in New Zealand, boasting 1,400 staff and a turnover equivalent to around €1.4 billion. As part of the merger, Hamrogue’s old job was scrapped and he had to reapply. He was subsequently appointed chief operating officer of the new operation and stayed in the position until he left Farmlands six years later to join the transport sector.
At the end of 2018, Hamrogue joined the family-owned HW Richardson transport group as group general manager for transport and, in 2022, he took up his current role as chief executive of TDX construction equipment based in Christchurch. TDX employs 350 people at 21 branches across Australia and New Zealand and is the distributor for several brands including Volvo heavy plant, Shell lubricants and Kohler.
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