Gerard gained his electrical apprenticeship at Southland Phosphate in 1975 and worked there for 5 years followed by 8 months working at the Southland Cool Stores Limited in Bluff. Over the next 20 years, he worked at NZPO, Telecom and Telecom South, gaining a wealth of knowledge and experience. Some of his areas of expertise included AC/DC power, standby and solar power. 

In 1997, Gerard was promoted to Manager in the Electrical Mechanical section until 1999. He stayed on until Alstom took over the Connectel contract where he applied to contract back to them in the same electrical role.

This application was successful so Gerard and his wife Deborah, established TelePower Ltd in 2000. I then approached John Butler as an equal partner to carry on the heavy work load that was required by Alstom. Both Gerard and John were accepted as Master Electricians through ECANZ and continue today contracting to Downer, Arrow International and Broad Spectrum for electrical as well as data and communication services across Southland and beyond.