Meet Gary & Michele Mays the Owners of Whywait Plumbing Services
These days Whywait Plumbing Services is a dynamic, family based and orientated Queensland company. This was not the case when Gary Mays founded the company in 1976 it was a general plumbing company mainly working for builders on new construction projects.
With the demise of traditional skill based builders into project managers entirely focused on price and with little concern for quality Gary Mays decided in 1990 to change the direction and focus of Whywait Plumbing.
The evolution and development into a specialist maintenance service company with a focus on exceptional customer service, preventative maintenance, sustainability and environmental plumbing began in earnest in 1991. Today Whywait Plumbing Services runs a fleet of 12 vehicles providing a 24 hour, 7 day service to our clients from our office in Waterway Drive, Coomera which also has a showroom displaying exclusive products as part of the Wondrous group.
Gary Mays began his plumbing career in 1972 and has wide experience in all aspects of plumbing. Gary specialises in sustainable plumbing solutions with an emphasis on environmentally sustainable solutions.
Gary Mays founded Whywait Plumbing Services in 1976
Gary has undertaken projects and consultancies throughout Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Canada and United States. Gary has been instrumental in the design and development of waterless urinals, water filtration, sustainable water use technologies and heat pump hot water units. Gary has also assisted in the development with partners in Canada of Pipe-Shield which will allow for existing copper and galvanised potable water pipes to be relined internally ultimately saving building owners the cost of complete pipe replacements.
With a passion for education and ongoing professional development Gary was instrumental in bringing GreenPlumber training to Queensland to benefit in the upskilling of plumbers throughout the state and was the first plumber to obtain accreditation in Queensland. Like all the staff at Whywait Plumbing, Gary has an array of qualifications:
- licensed plumber and drainer in Queensland and New South Wales
- licensed plumbing contractor in Queensland and New South Wales
- license endorsement for domestic and residential fire sprinkler systems
- Water Efficiency Assessor with Queensland Water Commission WEA1, WEA2, WEA3, WEA4
- licensed GreenPlumber
- Queensland restricted electrical licence from ESO
Membership and active participation in professional associations is seen by Gary as critical in being proactive in the ongoing changes and updating that are part of a dynamic and ever evolving business.
- member Master Plumbers and Mechanical Services Association of Australia
- Queensland representative on Environmental Plumbing Division
- member of World Plumbing Council & The Service Roundtable
- member and secretary of Gold Coast North Chamber of Commerce
- secretary of Gold Coast Combined Chamber of Commerce
- member of Chamber of Commerce & Industry Queensland
- delegate to Chamber of Commerce & Industry Queensland, Gold Coast board
Michele Mays, Administration Manager at Whywait Plumbing Services
In 1978 when Gary and Michele Mays were married Michele was a nurse working in a cardiology ward. As Michele has discovered her nursing qualifications have been beneficial to owning Whywait Plumbing over the years. Obvious advantages are dealing with medical ailments of employees. Less obvious is the ability to liaise with employees and clients over the theory of plumbing system operations because the way a body circulation system operates has many similarities with the plumbing and drainage systems in a building.
As Whywait Plumbing expanded so did the role of Michele in the everyday administration. In 1998 the juggling of a nursing career in conjunction with her workloads at Whywait Plumbing and the demands of 4 children saw Michele decide to concentrate on Whywait Plumbing.
These days Michele is the full time Administration Manager at Whywait Plumbing as well as co-ordinating training and professional development for all employees. The successful completion of courses in Train the Trainer and Service Management have enabled Michele to upgrade the skills of all employees.
Michele sets the tone for success at the top of Whywait Plumbing and it flows throughout the entire company. Especially the plumbing service technicians who carry out the task to make people comfortable in their homes. As Michele says “We are guests in every clients home and we want to make a positive impression from the moment we walk in the door, and they are trained to listen and respond appropriately and respectfully.”
Innovation and sustainability drive both Gary and Michele Mays. They love introducing new products and services that can make life easier and more comfortable for Whywait Plumbing clients. Generally those products are also more sustainable, efficient, saving energy and money from which both the client, the community and the environment benefit.
