It is often said that the diffident forfeit their ambitions to destiny, while the diligent judiciously utilise opportunities and achieve success in their career and life, overcoming odds and challenges.
Patton Limited Chief Executive Sameer Handa belongs to the latter.
A professional to the core, he has been steering the destiny of what is now one of the most progressive companies of New Zealand, with a well planned and impressive expansion programme that would secure its position among the best in the corporate world.
Managing a Company which accounts for an annual turnover close to $60 million (it was only $11 million when he joined the team 16 years ago) and a complement of 150 staff in New Zealand, Australia, Thailand and India may seem formidable but just how he goes about his business could well be a lesson in management of financial, material and human resources.
A man of precision, he has a simple and direct approach to business and people. “Challenges motivate people to bring out the best in them and success will not betray those who persevere and persist in their endeavours,” he said.
Born in Delhi to the late Balwant Rai (a respected journalist at the Urdu newspaper Tej) and Usha Rani, Mr Handa displayed restraint, discipline and quietude that have remained his main attributes in life and career.
Graduating from the Delhi College of Engineering, he worked for three years with Escorts Limited and Blue Star Limited before leaving for Muscat, Oman.
He arrived in Australia in 1988 to pursue his MBA at the University of Sydney, following which he secured a job as Manager Manufacturing at Punja & Sons in Fiji. Three years later, he migrated to New Zealand in search of new opportunities. It took him just five weeks to secure appointment as Engineering Sales Manager at Patton.
Progress was meteoric; he became Sales Manager and General Manager over the next two years and in 1998, the Company promoted him to the post of Chief Executive, when he was 33 years of age (that must be a record).
Under his able leadership, Patton Limited has launched an ambitious but carefully designed plan of expansion that will see it achieve $217 million in annual turnover by 2016. The plan includes a manufacturing plant in India, enhanced production in New Zealand, Australia and Thailand and a more aggressive marketing strategy worldwide.
His belief in empowering young men and women to grow as successful businesspersons encouraged him to sponsor the ‘Best Young Entrepreneur of the Year’ Category of the Indian Newslink Indian Business Awards in 2010 and again this year.
Married to Dori, the couple has a son (Sidney) and daughter (Allegra).
Read Patton announces impressive plans for India under Homelink.
