Our People at Watermatic Irrigation
James Simpson-Lee – Director
James has been in the horticulture and irrigation industry since 1990. His strong interest in managing water and its relation to horticulture has developed into a career.
In 1991 James attended Ryde TAFE and completed an Associate Diploma in Applied Science (Landscape). During this time he was employed at a retail plant nursery where he gained valuable horticultural and retail customer service experience.
James has also completed his Certificate 3 in Irrigation and is an Accredited Backflow Installer. He is fully licensed in Urban Irrigation with the NSW Department of Fair Trading and is a Certified Irrigation Installer with Irrigation Australia.
Following 4 years in the nursery James assisted in the establishment of a residential landscape and irrigation company based at the nursery. James spent another 4 years building that business and learning much about business management.
In 1999 he established his own irrigation contracting business called Watermatic Irrigation. Initially this was a contracting only business serving the high end residential market.
In 2002 James opened the first Watermatic Irrigation store in Hornsby. Since then James has grown the business to become a leader in the irrigation and water management industry. Over this time the business has developed from only residential contracting to sales and specialist commercial installations.
James has a lot of experience in estimating and project management gained over his career. He is passionate about smart water management and has completed projects in storm water harvesting for local Council, pump and filtration stations, water processing and general irrigation installations.
He is committed to see a more measured and scientific approach to water management for irrigation use.
James also sits on the Board of the Sydney Region Committee (SRC) of Irrigation Australia, whilst also being involved in the Landscape Contractors Association of NSW. Like his colleagues at Watermatic Irrigation James is keen to see the professional identity of the industry raised.
Looking towards the future James's passion is to use his experience and the available technology to create the most water efficient projects possible. He finds it exciting that there is so much improvement that can be made when it comes to the use of water, whether that is in domestic gardens, new developments, municipal parks and gardens or general open space areas.
Robert D’Hyon – Operations Manager & Senior Estimator
Robert has been involved in water management since the mid 1990's. His passion for managing water has led him to a career in the water industry.
His first job in the industry was in 1995 for a sewage treatment company that worked nationally. The role included construction and commissioning of on site sewage treatment plants that dispersed the treated water through irrigation systems.
In 1996 Robert became a Sales Manager for an irrigation company in Sydney. During his 5 years there he was responsible for overseeing the operation of the shop, managing service work and resources for all installation projects. Some of the work Robert was a part of included major installations at exclusive private schools in Sydney, the Manly beachfront and The Domain in Sydney.
Robert then had a brief stint as Irrigation Sales Manager at a commercial plumbing outlet. He spent 18 months building the irrigation side of the business; marketing, merchandising and selling. He enjoyed the satisfaction of growing the irrigation division, but also complemented his irrigation experience with specialist plumbing knowledge.
In 2002 Robert was an integral part of the team that established the first Watermatic Irrigation store. As the Sales Manager he manages the operation of the shop and co-ordinates the service work.
More recently Robert has taken on the role of estimator. He enjoys using his analytical skills plus his vast industry and product knowledge to put together the estimates for the larger projects.
From a technical viewpoint Robert offers his customers vast experience when it comes to designing and sizing pump and filtration systems.
As the Sales Manager at Watermatic, Robert enjoys working with a highly professional team to meet the challenges of the irrigation and water management industries. He strives to exceed his customer's expectations and is proud of that commitment.
Sheldon Were – Business Development & Sales Manager
Sheldon has been involved in irrigation and water management since 1993. His passion for irrigationand water efficiency has led him to a long career within the industry.
In 1993 he took a job working for a small family run irrigation business. Whilst gaining practical experience on site he attended Ryde TAFE and Hawkesbury Agricultural College where he attained theoretical knowledge in Urban Irrigation. More recently he obtained his qualification as an Accredited Backflow Installer.
Sheldon has worked as an installer on residential jobs through to large commercial work. Some of these projects include; Curtin University in Perth, Breakfast Point in Sydney,The Governor General's Residence in Darwin, The Casino Foreshore in Sydney, Darling Island and numerous sports fields for local Councils across Sydney.
Sheldon gained a large deal of experience in the late 1990's working on or around the Sydney Olympic site. During his time on various sites he has gained experience with storm water harvesting, bore's, pump and filtration stations, water processing and general irrigation installations.
In 2005, following his time as an installer Sheldon accepted an offer to work as a Sales Manager in a retail/wholesale irrigation outlet in Sydney. This experience increased his industry knowledge and gained him valuable experience in business management and operations. Sheldon is extremely proud of his achievement of taking a start up business and creating a thriving business with a loyal customer base.
In 2009 Sheldon took up the position of Business Development and Operations Manager at Watermatic Irrigation. Sheldon enjoys the challenge of this role where he uses his technical and management experience to help grow the business of his many customers and that of Watermatic's.
His mission centres around helping all his customers; whether that is contractors to grow the irirrigation business, homeowners achieve efficiency in their irrigation systems or commercial customers to better manage their irrigation water use through more efficient application or finding alternate water sources.
Sheldon is also an active member of the Sydney Region Committee (SRC) of the Irrigation Association of Australia and the Landscape Contractors Association of NSW. He is tenaciously working with Ryde TAFE and the SRC to assist colleagues within the industry achieve recognition for their prior learning, leading to certification and licensing, in an effort to raise professionalism within the industry.
