History
History
Where do we start? Doing justice to 88-odd years of NZI history is a daunting task.
If you're the bite-sized executive-summary type, then please see below.
If you want a real-deal historical record, then download a brilliantly-written article which appears in Temuka Through The Years, published in 2009. To download the full (6MB) NZI article click here.
NZI HISTORY - SHORT VERSION
We became New Zealand Insulators when National Electric (NEECO) took over the Canterbury Pipe & Tile Company in 1924. Tiles, pipes, bricks and some insulators had been made on our site since Joseph Whitehead established the Temuka brickworks in 1868 - quite a legacy, which we treasure.
Using the clay deposit found in the Kakahu Valley and with NEECO's capital/distribution - insulator production got into full swing.
In 1930, NZI's 3rd Manager Arthur Toplis also diversified into producing pottery. Toplis, a skilled potter, got Temuka Pottery going on a commercial scale with a contract to supply electric jugs, and later the Railways crockery. Arthur Toplis can take credit for New Zealand's much-loved brand Temuka Pottery.
The 1930's Depression hit NZI hard but during WW2 NZI was declared an 'essential industry' by the Government and insulator volumes grew quickly.
The Thomas Street site was partially destroyed by fire in 1950, which meant the business could rebuild and install new generation kilns. The expanding New Zealand economy in the 50's & 60's saw infrastructure spending, and NZI's workforce grew to around 250.
In 1966 Cable Price took over NEECO (and therefore NZI) who phased out making tiles in 1970, but pivotally engaged Jack Laird of Nelson to revive the flagging pottery product range in 1971. It was Jack Laird who designed the iconic brown Riverstone series which made Temuka Pottery a household name in New Zealand. We had specialist shops and sales reps supporting a significant pottery enterprise. Of course the cultural cringe of the pink-and-grey 80's saw to the demise of the Riverstone (and other) designs.
Variously we were then owned by Brierley Investments (1988), Skellerup Group (1993), and the ill-fated Maine Investments (1996). Across the 80's and 90's NZI had some boom years, and was split into three divisions with the Low Voltage division having it's own site in Ashburton. The business at peak employed more than 300 people, and many many staff stayed with NZI for their entire working lives.
So far however, the 21st Century has been difficult for New Zealand Insulators. Well-organised importers dealt a telling blow to NZI's market share. And rightly or wrongly, following 80-odd years of being the only show in town, we decided to stand our ground on price. It proved to be an expensive call, with sales declining quickly and some 150 jobs being lost - as NZI failed to compete against cheaper imports. Temuka Pottery also lost the contract for Crockpot liners in 2002. The company retrenched several times, closing the Ashburton site in 2007, closing the Temuka Pottery Shop in 2009, shifting Wholesaler clients to sister company ESC in 2010 - shrinking to annual sales of NZ$6.5million with just 35 staff.
From $18mill sales to a third of that in eight short years. It's a credit to NZI's unique strengths that we've been able to survive such a dramatic decline.
During 2011 however, we made some positive moves. New catalogue, product range additions, extended North Island sales representation, refocusing on manufacturing rather than importing, market pricing, adding the DTR polymer insulator agency to our range - we worked hard to get NZI back on the front foot.
We're not crying about having lost market share, we've set off to see if we can't win some back.
Last year, production staff in Temuka grew from 28 to 40 as we responded to the increasing demand.
OK, it's early days, but we've had some successes.
This brings us to 2012, our 88th year. We're part of Tom Sturgess's Tiri Group www.tiri.co.nz and enjoy supportive well-funded private ownership. Our newly updated Catalogue is out on 16/1/12 and our new Auckland warehouse opens on 1/2/12. We'll chip away all year to win customer support, to ensure our new initiatives bed down, to make NZI strong from the inside out.
If you're in a position to help us, please do.
Where do we start? Doing justice to 88-odd years of NZI history is a daunting task.
If you're the bite-sized executive-summary type, then please see below.
If you want a real-deal historical record, then download a brilliantly-written article which appears in Temuka Through The Years, published in 2009. To download the full (6MB) NZI article click here.
NZI HISTORY - SHORT VERSION
We became New Zealand Insulators when National Electric (NEECO) took over the Canterbury Pipe & Tile Company in 1924. Tiles, pipes, bricks and some insulators had been made on our site since Joseph Whitehead established the Temuka brickworks in 1868 - quite a legacy, which we treasure.
Using the clay deposit found in the Kakahu Valley and with NEECO's capital/distribution - insulator production got into full swing.
In 1930, NZI's 3rd Manager Arthur Toplis also diversified into producing pottery. Toplis, a skilled potter, got Temuka Pottery going on a commercial scale with a contract to supply electric jugs, and later the Railways crockery. Arthur Toplis can take credit for New Zealand's much-loved brand Temuka Pottery.
The 1930's Depression hit NZI hard but during WW2 NZI was declared an 'essential industry' by the Government and insulator volumes grew quickly.
The Thomas Street site was partially destroyed by fire in 1950, which meant the business could rebuild and install new generation kilns. The expanding New Zealand economy in the 50's & 60's saw infrastructure spending, and NZI's workforce grew to around 250.
In 1966 Cable Price took over NEECO (and therefore NZI) who phased out making tiles in 1970, but pivotally engaged Jack Laird of Nelson to revive the flagging pottery product range in 1971. It was Jack Laird who designed the iconic brown Riverstone series which made Temuka Pottery a household name in New Zealand. We had specialist shops and sales reps supporting a significant pottery enterprise. Of course the cultural cringe of the pink-and-grey 80's saw to the demise of the Riverstone (and other) designs.
Variously we were then owned by Brierley Investments (1988), Skellerup Group (1993), and the ill-fated Maine Investments (1996). Across the 80's and 90's NZI had some boom years, and was split into three divisions with the Low Voltage division having it's own site in Ashburton. The business at peak employed more than 300 people, and many many staff stayed with NZI for their entire working lives.
So far however, the 21st Century has been difficult for New Zealand Insulators. Well-organised importers dealt a telling blow to NZI's market share. And rightly or wrongly, following 80-odd years of being the only show in town, we decided to stand our ground on price. It proved to be an expensive call, with sales declining quickly and some 150 jobs being lost - as NZI failed to compete against cheaper imports. Temuka Pottery also lost the contract for Crockpot liners in 2002. The company retrenched several times, closing the Ashburton site in 2007, closing the Temuka Pottery Shop in 2009, shifting Wholesaler clients to sister company ESC in 2010 - shrinking to annual sales of NZ$6.5million with just 35 staff.
From $18mill sales to a third of that in eight short years. It's a credit to NZI's unique strengths that we've been able to survive such a dramatic decline.
During 2011 however, we made some positive moves. New catalogue, product range additions, extended North Island sales representation, refocusing on manufacturing rather than importing, market pricing, adding the DTR polymer insulator agency to our range - we worked hard to get NZI back on the front foot.
We're not crying about having lost market share, we've set off to see if we can't win some back.
Last year, production staff in Temuka grew from 28 to 40 as we responded to the increasing demand.
OK, it's early days, but we've had some successes.
This brings us to 2012, our 88th year. We're part of Tom Sturgess's Tiri Group www.tiri.co.nz and enjoy supportive well-funded private ownership. Our newly updated Catalogue is out on 16/1/12 and our new Auckland warehouse opens on 1/2/12. We'll chip away all year to win customer support, to ensure our new initiatives bed down, to make NZI strong from the inside out.
If you're in a position to help us, please do.
