ABOUT US

An electrician by trade, Paul started in the Irrigation Industry in 1981 joining his father & brothers at Lawrence’s Water Systems, the same building where Lawrence’s Irrigation currently stands. Paul played an active role in the business doing anything & everything especially in the early days. As time went on & the business became larger, the brothers took on various roles within in the business & Paul being the electrician took on this role including all the technical aspects of the business. In the 90’s when the vineyard industry really took off, Paul undertook all the automation design & installs for these vineyards which included hard-wire, radio & pump automation. Paul was very highly sought after for this unique skillset, which he has now passed on to John Sadler, our senior electrician. Initially hands-on when Lawrence’s Irrigation started in 2010, Paul now is found in the shop selling, designing & mentoring the younger staff. Paul in recent years has developed his design skills using AutoCAD & does all his own sprinkler designs & even small vineyards. His knowledge in the industry is second to none & would be one of the industries most experienced in the Limestone Coast.

Paul is married to Sue & has one older teenage son. Sue often spends time in the business too, particularly in the summer & also helps with accounts each month. Paul still enjoys riding his bicycle when he gets a chance & spends time on the Murray River in his holiday house.

Mick Started in the irrigation industry in early 2000 working for a corporate company where he met Paul & Brian. Having worked there for 10-years, half of which as Manager, he became frustrated with the red-tape a corporate brings & decided to leave & start Lawrence’s Irrigation with Paul & Brian. Mick has vast experience in retail & has a Diploma in Business Management. Mick generally oversees the operation of the business, with the retail arm of the company being his pride & joy.

Having been in the industry for 25 years, Mick has a vast knowledge of pumps & irrigation & specialises in domestic, rural & vineyard irrigation. Like Paul, Mick does all his own design work using AutoCAD. He has a great network of contacts in the industry & if he doesn’t know where to source something, then it probably doesn’t exist!

Mick is married to Shannan & celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary in February 2024. Mick has two teenage daughters. Mick plays hockey as does the rest of the family & in his downtime enjoys caravanning & fishing. Mick & his wife also own the local surf clothing store, Limestone Surf.

Matt joined Lawrence’s Irrigation with 16 years of experience at Treasury Wine Estates, as a highly regarded diesel mechanic in the South East. He has had several trips overseas to both expand on & share his knowledge of vineyard machinery. As a result of being involved in the viticulture industry for most of his working life, Matt has brought a great skillset to the business.

Matt has had extensive experience managing staff. Matt oversees the completion of offsite work, supervising & assisting the field crew as required. Customers also benefit from his mechanical & auto electrical knowledge.

Matt & his fiancé, Fiona, are kept busy with their young son & Matt`s two daughters. In his spare time, Matt enjoys fishing & catching up with friends & family.

A printer by trade, Craig started with Lawrence’s over 10-years ago & is the longest serving employee. He ran the field crew for most of this time & was also involved the installation & servicing of turbine & large submersible pumps. Craig also does most of the small pump repairs in the workshop. He is very hands-on & knowledgeable in all aspects of the business. Craig has a Dogging licence & is also a Class B electrician. Craig is married to Brigitta who works for local company Bull Bros in Naracoorte & has two kids. When not ferrying the kids to sport, he loves shooting, water-skiing & camping.

John joined Lawrence’s almost 10-years ago & behind Craig is our other long-serving employee. John is married to Amy, a teacher at Sunrise Christian School & they have two young kids.  John can do everything in the business, but his expertise is the technical aspect. He is the lead on all automation projects & oversees two other electricians.

Will has been with the company since leaving school. He has specialises in the removal & servicing of large bore pumps, in particular turbine & submersible. He does everything involved in the installation from installing the pump, connecting the engine, pump shed & concreting. He is also very good on the construction of the manifold using electrofusion poly pipe & the installation of filters & gensets. Will has a Dogging licence which is essential to his line of work. Being with the company for such a long time, Will too can do almost anything that is thrown at him. Will has been with fiancee April for many years & enjoys camping & 4WD at any opportunity he gets.

Tom has been with Lawrence’s for many years, before that working on the family farm. Tom at any one time leads a team of up to five blokes installing vineyard irrigation. He is a very quick learner & with this skill he has become very adept in all aspects of the business, making him a valuable member of the team. Tom has a long-term fiancee in Erin & have recently purchased their first house & are renovating it.

Like Will, Grant came straight from school to Lawrence’s to take on the role of an apprentice electrician under the guidance of John. Grant became a fully-qualified electrician in December 2023. Grant has picked-up all aspects of the business & is just as comfortable serving behind the counter or installing a variable frequency drive, & yes ladies, Grant is looking for love! Grant is involved with they Kyby footy club & like most young men his age, he doesn’t mind a cool drink on a Saturday night.

Andrew, or “Dokes” as most people know him comes with experience from working in the Vineyard Industry & most recently worked with the local council in the Parks & Gardens for 12-years. Dokes came across to us in mid-2023 looking for a change. He brings with him a lot of experience & knows Naracoorte inside & out. Dokes is a good mentor for the younger crew & keeps them all in line! Dokes is married to Rachel & has a great family all with his work ethic. Dokes is an avid hockey player & life member of the Naracoorte & District Hockey Association. Oh, & we mustn’t forget his love for the Richmond Footy Club!

Ryan “Rhino” McDonald started with us in late 2023. Moving 100km south from his hometown of Keith following his partner who manages local business Cox Rural, Ryan was looking for some casual work. When he told us he was a Boilermaker by trade & had done his apprenticeship with another local pump company, we just had to have him. Rhino brings with him a vast knowledge & works side by side with Will, some would say he is the Ying to Will’s Yang! Rhino is very thorough & can do anything he puts his mind to, a great lateral thinker & gun welder. Outside of work Rhino has a great partner in Ash & enjoys doing things around the home & is looking for a new house with rural living in Naracoorte to make his own.

Henry done all his schooling in Albury, however, has roots in Naracoorte where many of his family live. He moved back to Naracoorte when he finished school in late 2023 to take on a casual role. Henry fitted in well with all the crew & enjoyed his job, which led to full-time employment. Still learning, Henry is a strong young fella who can lift heavy things & keen to learn all aspects of the trade. An avid sportsman, he is already playing basketball & will be playing footy for Kyby this year. Ladies, Henry is on the prowl for a companion!

Ian has been with us for several years after moving from Melbourne to Goroke. Ian has spent his whole life servicing & installing domestic irrigation systems & whilst he is a bit slower than he used to be, there isn’t anything he doesn’t know about this field. For many years he owned his own business in Melbourne before he made the move to the quiet town of Goroke. Ian has rapidly developed a loyal following with customers asking for him by name, each year doing their pop-up services. Outside of work, Ian loves cars, mountain biking, jet-skiing & many other adventures. Ian may be older in years, but is young at heart.

Sally was born & raised in Naracoorte before moving & living in Adelaide for 35-years. Sally has a vast experience in all things valves & fittings & there isn’t much about stainless steel she doesn’t know, having been in that field many years with many sales into wineries in SA. Sally moved back to the region a couple of years ago & had a couple of casual jobs before starting with Lawrence’s in the latter part of 2022. Sally is very thorough in what she does & if she says she is gonna do something, she will. Sally is married to Greg & they currently live in Edenhope but have a block in Harrow where they are about to start building their forever house.

Jude has been with the company for 8-years now & works one day per week over winter & up to two
days in the busier summer months. She pays the supplier accounts & more importantly staff wages!

Jude is married to Ashley & has two teenage boys. She is heavily involved with the boys sport with
Kyby Footy Club & is also a trainer with the club. Her family has a holiday house & Robe & they spend
a lot of time there when they can.