Paul Buckley

At the beginning of 2019 with the downturn in the economy we decided to close down African Olive Trading and start up a new manufacturing company; Asha Joinery and Shopfitting.

Asha was structured to be more suitable to the prevailing economic conditions with a smaller dynamic team focused on a personalized approach to our relationships with our Clients, this has led Asha to be relatively successful in a short amount of time since our inception.

After 10 years at Wilson & Associates, in 2004 I decided to start my own specialist joinery and shopfitting business; African Olive Trading.

African Olive was started on a shoestring budget and a very small team of around 6 artisans and over a few years grew to be an extremely successful business with a staff compliment of around 80 people.

Our Client base included high-end residential and corporate, hospitality and retails Clients, we were preferred suppliers for significant brands such as Mercedes-Benz, RMB Private Bank and TAG Heuer.

I was employed by Wilson & Associates as a junior draughtsman, over the course of a few years I worked my way up through the company taking on more responsibility and becoming an integral member of the firm, I was promoted to a Project Manager and ultimately became Operations Director.

I was fortunate to work on many prestigious projects around the world for Wilson & Associates from the Palace at the Lost City to private Palaces in the UAE for the Royal Family. It was here where I received a personal commendation from the Crown Prince for my exceptional service contributing in the successful completion of his personal Palace in Abu Dhabi.

During my time at Wilson & Associates I traveled the world and gained valuable experience working in many countries from the United States to Singapore to the Europe and back home in South Africa.