ABOUT US

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. In his downtime, Mick enjoys caravanning, fishing & a good gin. 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.

John joined Lawrence’s Irrigation over 10-years ago as a qualified electrician. In that time, he has evolved into one of the most sought-after irrigation technicians in the region, specialising in not only electrical, but automation & technical skills. Mentored by Paul Lawrence in the early days, John has definitely now forged his own path & is well respected in the industry & is now mentoring his own under-study’s in the industry.

In April 2025, John became a partner in the company by buying Paul Lawrence out of the business. This has seen a meteoric rise from a junior electrician to now a business owner & leader in his field. John is married to Amy, a Naracoorte local & they have two young children.

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 over the years he has passed on to our own John Sadler. 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. In April 2025, with Paul looking to slow down, he sold his share of the business to our Senior Electrician, John Sadler. Paul remains as a leader within the company & will start winding down over the next year or two, being sure to use up some of his long-service leaver spending time with wife Sue at their holiday house on the River Murray. Paul & Sue have an adult son who ironically also works in the industry in Adelaide.

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.

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 is married to April & 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.  Tom & Erin have recently had their first child & are thoroughly enjoying parenthood.

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!

Ned joined us straight from school a few years ago. In that time, he has been involved in all irrigation installs from domestic through to large commercial installs. He is very good with machinery operation & fast becoming a leader in what he does & if he is doing the same thing in 5-years’ time, he will more than likely have a team under him. Ned has recently spent some time overseas & the lure of pumping & irrigation has brought him back into the fold. In his spare time Ned doesn’t mind a cool drink on a hot day, four-wheel driving & time on his motorbike.

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.

Jordi is our apprentice electrician, having commenced his first year in September 2024. At 30 years old, he brings a wealth of experience that a much younger apprentice tradesman takes a while to learn. Born in the old country, Jordi has a noticeable accent but is fast becoming a local. He lives across the border on a small hobby farm with his wife Leisha & their young daughter. In recent years he was working as a farm hand, however wanted a change & wanted to become an electrician, so we were more than happy to have him on board!

Amelie joined us in November 2024 after finishing Year 12 & will work as a gap-year student through 2025. She is very keen to join the police force in 2026 & wants to spend a year or so working in an industry which involves a lot of lateral thinking, trouble-shooting & coming up with ideas outside of the square.

Working in the field will also see her gain some more fitness & build-up her muscles! In her downtime, Amelie is an avid hockey player & loves spending time with her friends & family.

Marc, a local through & through joined the team in December 2024 as an electrician, making him the third electrician we have on staff. Marc has strengths in commercial & domestic electrical work, however wanted to add another string to his bow & learn all things electrical in the pump & irrigation game, which is vastly different to a domestic electrician.  

Marc is married to Anne & has two children. In his spare time, he enjoys shooting & spending time with his family.

Ira has just migrated from the UK, joining his brother Jordi (also a Lawrence’s team member). Ira spent some time in the region a few years ago & enjoyed it that much, he has returned.

An avid fitness fanatic & gym frequenter, Ira will certainly find the often physical nature of this industry a doddle.

In his spare time, he enjoys mixed martial arts (MMA) & unlike in the UK, enjoys a cold beer here in Australia.

Jake started with us in April 2024 as an irrigation installer.  A boiler maker by trade, his attention to detail shone through & he now works with Will Lobban servicing & installing large submersible & turbine pumps for vineyards & pivots.  Jake also has a dogging ticket & recently completed his HR truck licence, so now he can run the crane truck on his own as required.  Being a tradesman, Jake also fabricates & constructs metal items relating to the industry & plays are part in the servicing & maintenance of machinery.  Jake lives with his partner, Lauren in Naracoorte.