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South Canterbury Toyota
Meet the team
Mark Patterson
CEO
Mark was born and bred in Timaru and is a local through and through. Mark joined the team here in 2008 as a Vehicle Sales Representative. In 2011 he moved onto the Sales Manager role and in August 2018 became the Branch Manager. He enjoys all aspects of the Vehicle industry but mostly the networking and friends made from both staff and customers. At home he enjoys spending time with his Wife Jannah and 3 young children.
Danny Tawhiti
Business & Fleet Sales Manager
Danny has been with us since 2019. He understands the importance of relationships in business and ensures every one of his customers is treated equally and respectfully. Danny is our dedicated Toyota Finance and Insurance specialist and can work with you to tailor a personalised package to suit your individual requirements.
John Neale
Vehicle Consultant
Born and raised in Timaru, John has spent the last 27 years selling cars and never tires of it. John came to us in 2002 after 12 years of service at Timaru Motors. A travel agent prior to selling cars, John did this both in Timaru and New Plymouth. An involved member of the RSA not surprisingly one of his interests is snooker. He also enjoys watching golf and motorsport.
Kieran Farr
Vehicle Consultant
Kieran joined the team in December 2013. He attended Otago University and gained a Bachelor of Arts and a Post Graduate Diploma in Political Studies. Kieran is our internet specialist.
Hannah Welsh
Vehicle Consultant
Hannah grew up in South Canterbury and returned back to Timaru after completing her Bachelor of Commerce Degree at Otago University. In Hannah’s free time you will find her at the lakes with family and friends or out tramping the amazing walks that the South Island has on offer.
Jody Wilson
Parts Manager
Jody joined our team in July 2020 bringing his vast knowledge of the Holden Franchise with him. Jody started his career as an apprentice mechanic and has worked his way up to Gold Certified Technician and has now taken on our Parts Manager role alongside the rest of our friendly & helpful parts & service teams. Jody spends his spare time riding his mountain bike and chasing his son around the country side with various biking activities. Jody is also a very well respected mechanic in motorsport spending time in Australia and the USA over the past few years.
Danny Johnston
Parts Representative
Having over 18 years experience in the automotive trade, the last 5 years as a sales rep for BNT Automotive, Danny enjoys working with a team to provide customers with the best service possible. Danny is a sports mad father of two boys who follow in his footsteps. He has been involved in coaching football at representative level for the last few years but has now taken up a new passion of lawn bowls.
Sammy Lawrence
Parts Representative
Sammy recently moved to Timaru from Tauranga and joined us in January 2022. She started in the motor industry in 2013 and has worked for a few different brands as a parts & service advisor. Since she has moved to Timaru, Sammy has done a lot of exploring with her partner and their little Husky dog. She thinks the South Island is beautiful. In her spare time, Sammy enjoys hunting, fishing and anything outdoors.
Gareth Heywood
Service Manager
Starting in 1997 here at South Canterbury Toyota as an apprentice, Gareth has worked his way up through all the roles in the workshop before becoming our Service Manager. Gareth is motorsport mad and assists in a crew for a Motorsports team. He also loves spending time with his children.
Macy Gallagher
Service Advisor
Macy joined the Service team in January 2024 as a Service Advisor. In her spare time, she loves riding motorbikes and hanging out with family and friends. She also enjoys sports, hunting, and going away camping in the weekends.
Melissa Bryce
Service Advisor
Mel joined South Canterbury Toyota in September 2022 & has spent most of her life in the customer service industry. She is a Southland girl who enjoys going to the gym, playing sports & has a passion for cars.
James Wilson
Service Assistant
James started with us in June 2021 part time as a general hand and took on a full time role in February 2022. James is working towards heading overseas for cycling which is his passion.
Ross Dransfield
Service Foreman
Ross started with us in 2006 as an apprentice technician and since then he has progressively become one of our senior technicians. In 2017 he became our workshop foreman, in 2018 a Toyota Diagnostic Master Technician and in 2019 a Toyota New Zealand Field Master Technician, one of only a handful in the country. Ross also has plenty of involvement in racing crewing for a motorsport team in the Toyota Racing Series and various other series.
Isaac Porter
Workshop Controller
Isaac joined our team originally as an apprentice technician and is now an integral part of our service team. Isaac enjoys working on cars and going to the track to watch motorsport.
Ben Ashby
Technician
Ben completed his apprenticeship with us here at South Canterbury Toyota. He enjoys working on his cars, spending time with family and his young son, and is also interested in motorsport.
Evan Thomas
Technician
Evan (known as ET) started at SC Toyota in 1985. He started here as an apprentice, left and came back as a Technician, moved into Service Manager & left again and has now returned to finish off his career where he started, as a Technician. In his spare time, ET enjoys cruising in his RX3 and spending time with his family. ET has finally returned home.
Gary Renshaw
Technician
Gary started with us in June 2021. He brings with him 22 years of experience, 19 of which were in the UK. Gary enjoys mountain biking and playing golf in his spare time. Being a typical Pom, he is also a mad football fan.
Jacob White
Technician
Jacob started with us in June 2021 as an apprentice, finishing his apprenticeship in 2023. He loves the outdoors and 4WDing.
Robert Clark
Technician
Rob moved to South Canterbury from Christchurch with his family and joined our team in October 2023. Rob brings to us more than 40 years of experience in the automotive industry. He enjoys motorbikes and spending time with his family.
Hannah Cartwright
Technician
Hannah joined our team in December 2020 as an apprentice technician after completing work experience with us through the year while at Timaru Girl High School. Hannah enjoys motorsport, drifting & go karting.
Harrison Walker
Technician
Harrison started with us in January 2022 coming straight to us from Timaru Boys High School. Harrison did some work experience with us in 2021 and loved it so much he wanted to join the team. In his spare time he enjoys 4WDing, hunting and fishing.
Stephen McMaster
Apprentice Technician
Stephen moved to New Zealand from South Africa 3 years ago. Him and his wife are expecting a baby which will soon take up a lot of Stephens time! Before starting as an apprentice with us in January 2022, Stephen worked for us for 3 months as an accessory fitter. Fishing and cars are his passion.
Liam Pelvin
Apprentice Technician
Liam started with us in November 2023 as an apprentice technician. Liam enjoys music, and cars are his passion.
Ryan Scott
Groomer
Ryan loves spending time with his partner and his two dogs. He’s quite often found building model ships, has annual cruise ship holidays onboard the Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth and is Holden mad!
Daryl Hunt
Car Washer
Daryl has been with us since 2004 and seems to be the fittest staff member, never running out of energy to keep our cars clean at a million paces. In Daryl’s spare time he expends more energy on his bike, and he likes golf and having a drink with his work mates.
James Carroll
Tyre Manager
James is the Manager of our in house Bridgestone Tyre Centre. He enjoys talking to customers and fitting the right tyre to meet their needs. James was with Firestone Church Street for 9 years prior to joining us in 2007. James enjoys mountain biking (which has ultimately caused a few broken ribs) and has been part of our winning corporate team at the 12 hour mountain bike race.
Regan Scott
Tyre Technician
Regan joined our team in February 2022. He has worked in numerous fields of work with 15 years experience in the dairy industry and previous experience at 2 different tyre companies as well as car sales. Regan is married with three children which take up a lot of his time. He also enjoys the art of distilling fine spirits in his spare time.
Brian Downing
Tyre Technician
Brian has been in the automotive industry since the mid-1990s, doing roles including vehicle grooming, parts department, and vehicle sales and management. Brian has four kids, and now four grandkids that he enjoys spending time with. He loves rugby, motorsports, and cars in general and keeps busy on his lifestyle block.
Beth Milliken
Administration Manager
Beth joined our service team in October 2016 after coming from a hospitality background. Outside of work she is kept busy with her 2 young children.
Stacey Robinson
Administration & Health and Safety Representative
Coming from a varied work history, Stacey loves being part of this fun, friendly and vibrant team. Stacey enjoys being social and spending time with family and friends and loves animals of all kinds. Her other interests are gardening, playing guitar, cooking, renovations, enjoying time outside, BBQ’s, or down at the river or beach with her Husband and kids on a nice day. She also enjoys going on road trips and enjoying our beautiful country.
Donella Hope
Administration & Receptionist
Donny started working with us in December 2018 as our Receptionist/Administration. She has worked in the motor industry for twelve years in various roles. Donny's interests include travelling, tramping and catching up with friends and family.
Talei Dickson
McDermid Group Admin Manager
Originally from a hospitality background Talei moved to South Canterbury in 1996 from Wellington. She had a brief stint at Lake Tekapo before joining our team as our Business Manager. She then moved into admin in 2004. In 2015 Talei became our Group Admin Manager when Rangiora & Ashburton Toyota joined our group of South Canterbury & Blenheim Toyota. In her spare time Talei doesn’t enjoy running but Chris Ward & Sharon Wood make her do it from time to time. She does enjoy water and snow skiing, sewing and spending time with her daughter.
Chris Ward
CRM
Chris was born and raised in Timaru before heading on a rather extended (12 year) OE. After seeing most of the “other side of the world” Chris returned to Timaru in 2006 and joined our team 3 days later! Chris’s background before joining South Canterbury Toyota was mainly in the banking sector. She enjoys skiing, running, cycling, travelling overseas and spending time with her daughters.
Sarah Campbell
CRM
Sarah was in the motor industry since 2014 as a Qualified Refinisher who then became a fulltime mother for 2years before joining us in January 2023. Sarah’s family consists of 2 kids, 2 dogs and her partner Gowan. She enjoys hosting events for friends and family, getting the family out for walks and their yearly camping trip to muscle car madness!
Laura Bradley
CRM
Laura has been in the motor industry for 11 years in different service based roles. She loves gardening, spending time with her kids and getting lost in the bush.
Paul Harford
Business Analyst
Paul has been in the Motor Industry since 2003 and comes from a background in Finance. Living in Kaiapoi, he and his family enjoy Waimak Football, camping, boating and the outdoors. Classics cars are also a time consuming and expensive passion.
Andy Wilson
Group General Manager for Used Vehicles
Andy has a tremendous amount of experience in the Motor Industry beginning in the summer of 1990! After relinquishing the reigns of Branch Manager at South Canterbury Toyota in August 2018 he has taken on the well-deserved challenge of Group General Manager for Used Vehicles for the McDermid Group. This entails managing the used vehicle inventory for Blenheim, Rangiora, Kaiapoi, Ashburton and Timaru branches. Andy and his wife Helen have a very full social life which includes spending a great deal of time with their four grandchildren.
Samantha Christie
HR and Payroll
Born and bred in Ashburton, Samantha started with us in 2015 as a member of the Ashburton admin department. Samantha took a couple of years to start her own wee family but remained a familiar face as over the years she has covered for staff on annual and parental leave. In her spare time, she likes to go hunting and explore new places with her family.
