Tauranga's Hamish Denize takes out top Australia, New Zealand award

Tauranga's Hamish Denize has taken out a top award. Photo/File

Tauranga engineer Hamish Denize has scooped a top Australasian award, being named the most client-focused consulting engineer in Australia and New Zealand.

Denize, who worked at Beca, took the award at an awards ceremony held in Melbourne on March 14.

The AFR Client Choice award finalists are selected from the results of the Beaton independent research reports, which canvas the opinions of more than 16,000 individual clients of professional services firms - including engineering, legal and accounting across Australia and New Zealand.

The nominees for the most client-focused consulting engineer result from clients' answers to a specific question asking them to name and rate the most client-focused practitioner with whom they have worked. Denize was nominated multiple times with an exceptionally high score to win this award.

Denize has lived in Tauranga since 2004 and is the fire engineering discipline lead for Beca globally. He advises clients around New Zealand and Asia Pacific on how to create safe, cutting-edge buildings that are fire safe. He has worked with Beca for 14 years.

Beca's Bay of Plenty regional manager Gavin Frost said this was a "fabulous achievement", describing Denize as someone with "an outstanding focus on his clients across Bay of Plenty and internationally".

"I see him in action every day. It's his integrity that leads the way and clients know they can rely on him to listen to them and deliver the best solution as cost-effectively as possible."

Denize said he was "absolutely blown away" when he won his category.

"There was such stiff competition from international engineering consultancies across Australia and New Zealand in this research. I don't know which clients nominated me but I'd like to thank every one of them very much," he said.

Outside of work, Hamish has an avocado farm with 15 steers, which he runs with the help of his two children, Angus, 9, and Maggie, 11.