Gurbir Singh:
‘Hip Hip Hooray’ – this is how the Link2 Group broke the news on its website after winning the Westpac Auckland Business Award – Best of the Best under the ‘Employer of the Year’ category, and ‘Supreme Excellence Business’ 2018 award.
The Business Awards are delivered annually by Auckland Business Chamber in partnership with Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development, and have been a highlight of Auckland’s business calendar for over 10 years.
These prestige awards won by the Link2 Group of Auckland, are a fitting tribute to an Indian immigrant family’s working mantra of Attitude, Punctuality and Efficiency that has helped their business grow to this level.
Initially started in the year 2000 from their home garage in Pakuranga by husband-wife team of Indra and Manasa Sirigiri, the company has now flourished with over 400 staff, and has its head office in East Tamaki.
Link2 Group clients include big brands such as Farmers, DHL, Cotton On, The Warehouse, Kmart, Briscoes, Mainfreight, and Fliway.
East Auckland-based Link2 Group consists of Link2 Services that provides contract logistics services, Link2 Solutions, an in-house warehousing facility and the recently acquired, Stirling Recruitment that specialises in industrial and technical work, especially in food and beverage.
The company is the only logistics contract service provider in Auckland offering clients the flexibility to choose from a unit price or hourly rate for services and the ability to choose their location.
The Link2 Group received the ‘Best of the Best Employer of the Year 2018’ at the Westpac Awards Ceremony held on March 14, 2019 and was an endorsement of the Company’s exemplary role as a responsible employer.
Treating staff like a family has helped to retain employees, and one third of the workers have been with the company since its inception and more than half for over three years, thus, giving credence to their winning the best Employer Award. Nearly, 75 per cent of the workforce is of Indian ethnicity.
“Getting something like this shows that we look after our staff. We are extremely proud of our employees,” commented Rahul Sirigiri, CEO.
The family’s concept of ‘growing together’ – a collaborative approach towards improvement through feedback, was the foundation on which the Link2 Group has thrived today.
The Sirigiri family, consisting of Indra and Manasa (founder-Directors), their son, Rahul (current CEO), and their daughter, Sowmya, have come a long way since they first moved to New Zealand from Hyderabad (India) in 1997.
Like most immigrants, the couple found it difficult to find suitable jobs on arrival. Indra was a qualified civil engineer from Jawaharlal Nehru Govt. Polytechnic, Hyderabad (India) and that qualification,unfortunately, was not recognised in this country.
His wife, Manasa was the first to find a job in a local plastic production house, working on the machines, and Indra later secured employment in the printing industry.
“A job came up at the factory for Mum to recycle plastic hangers,” their son, Rahul says. “She was so fast and efficient that they asked her and dad to quote on doing this as a contract. They saw there was a market for doing this sort of handling for companies, at a unit rate, on their site and set up the business. Clients liked it because they knew their costs up front.”
Indra Sirigiri adds, “Pleased with her efficiency and sincerity, Manasa’s employers encouraged her to start her own business in May 1998. I started helping her in the evenings and on weekends. Those were the beginnings of our own enterprise and Link2 Services Limited was officially launched in December 2000.”
Manasa was “known for her team work, understanding and compassion.” These qualities made her a good employer and Link2 Services began to grow from the $2200 savings with which it was initially started. The family business expanded with the acquisition of Apparel Solutions in 2013 (rebranded as Link2 Solutions in 2017) and Stirling Recruitment in 2018.
As the Chairman & Managing Director, Indra continues to be involved in a governance role at Link2 Group. Being a founding Director, Manasa still leads by example with her strong work ethic and determination.
Their son, Rahul who was only 11-years-old when the family immigrated, grew up in a business-oriented family and inherited the passion for entrepreneurship. He joined the family business in 2008 after finishing his Bachelor of Science at the University of Auckland. He is now a Director & CEO of the group.
While Rahul’s focus is on sales growth and systems implementation, his wife, Jaya is the ‘finance whiz’ of the company.
Amongst several other prestigious awards won over the years, Link2 Group was also the recipient of the Westpac Auckland Business Awards Excellence in Strategy & Planning (South) in 2017.
Determined to use these Business Awards as their marketing tool to reassure clients and prospects of the company’s quality employees, Link2 Group is pursuing vigorously its vision to be the “leading brand in the recruitment industry.”
