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MARKHAM: “Adding life to concrete”

From its founding in 1996, concrete solutions business MARKHAM, founded by father-and-son duo Mark and Graham Smith, has enjoyed a lot of growth while providing a variety of sustainable concrete treatments.MARKHAM now has a staff of seventy and owns offices in places like Queensland, Victoria, New South Wales, and Western Australia. Despite their sizable overseas presence, CEO Mark Smith is committed to building quality concrete within New Zealand.“Our main base is here down in Napier. We’re...

Skeinz: High quality, high value natural yarn

Natural yarn shop Skeinz has been making and selling a variety of yarns to people right across New Zealand while remaining dedicated to good quality and incredible value. Skeinz's range includes merino, possum, silk, and wool yarns.Since the start of her involvement 17 years ago, Maree Buscke (a current manager) has seen Skeinz develop greatly, going from selling out of a tiny store at a mill to moving into a much larger space. Buscke estimates that Skeinz has grown close to 100x in size over he...

Ironclad: Auckland business fighting hard to maintain success

While brainstorming product ideas with her husband and a colleague, Kate Slavin was working with some pans that she had been given and wondered if they could make some of their own.Four years since being established, kitchenware business Ironclad now has over 10,000 pans in kitchens and restaurants all over New Zealand. As well as offering a wide selection of pans, Ironclad also provides customers with other cooking equipment like knives and aprons, all while making quality a top priority.Slavin...

Starex: Premium childcare furniture made here in NZ

Starex has been manufacturing furniture for childcare centres since 1983. Since buying the business in 2006, Managing Director Matt Cooke, alongside his wife Melissa, have grown the company and want to continue to supply and offer premium furniture.Cooke has increased the number of staff at Starex from 7 to 25, and Starex also now provides furniture to childcare centres in Australia. Cooke wants to stay true to the childcare industry, and his aim for the future is for Starex to keep pushing them...

Park Supplies and Playgrounds: NZ Playgrounds that Stand the Test of Time

Since being established around 35 years ago, Park Supplies and Playgrounds has been manufacturing and supplying full playgrounds and playground parts to school, councils, property developers and more across New Zealand. Well over 100 full playgrounds are made per year, as well as thousands of spare parts and part playgrounds.Managing Director and co-owner Brian Dewar wants to continue providing safe playgrounds that challenge children and remain unbroken over a long period of time. He says that ...

Waitemata Honey: Family business at the forefront of honey production

For more than 50 years, Waitemata Honey, a family-owned business in Auckland, has been supplying the market with honey products ranging from lozenges to clover, multiflora and manuka honey. In a good year, they might sell upwards of 120 tonnes of honey.Operations Manager Christopher Stuckey views the honey industry as a sustainable project, with bees aiding with our food and livability in environmentally-friendly ways. Stuckey places a lot of value in helping people get the food and nutrition th...

Stim Craftsmanship: Rejuvenating old timbers into new items

Based out of the Hawke’s Bay, husband-and-wife duo Paul and Sharron Freeman jointly run Stim Craftsmanship, a woodworking business that uses old wine barrels and recycled native timbers to supply customers with repurposed goods like chairs, tables, and bottle openers.Repurposing and recycling is of primary concern to the Freemans, who ensure that nothing is thrown away. Co-owner Paul Freeman estimates that roughly 95-98% of each barrel is used for making products, with scraps and sawdust findi...

Savvy Touch: Natural Products for all your Health Needs

Savvy Touch is an Auckland-based health business, offering a variety of natural products and covering a range of wellbeing needs, providing skincare, sunscreen, balm, and a respiratory health product called Rocket Fuel.For Savvy Steve, the owner and developer of Savvy Touch, the positive messages he got from customers on the benefits of his products was the piece of motivation that kept the business going.Savvy Touch is now a seven figure company with distributors in areas like Australia, the UK...

Corbin Rd: The future of skincare

Wendy Nowell-Usticke was once spending $15,000 annually on skincare, only for her skin to break down. When she came to the realisation that it wasn’t an allergy, and that the skincare was to blame, she founded Corbin Rd., a slow beauty business based in Napier.Nowell-Usticke started 35 years ago as a makeup artist, and has many years of experience dealing with skin. Her products are natural and organic, with Nowell-Usticke making use of NZ made ingredients.Armed with her knowledge of skin and ...

Storetech Industries: A family business set on outdoor living

For nearly 50 years, family-run Storetech Industries has offered outdoor space options for customers, striving to give New Zealanders confidence in the security of their outdoor equipment and personal environments.Starting out as garden shed providers, Storetech Industries has since expanded its product range to include options like fencing, from glass to soluble and aluminium slat fences.Ben Carney, one of the current Managing Directors, examines the development of Storetech Industries, detaili...

Firenzo: "I Want to Make the Best Fire in New Zealand"

Since 1974, Firenzo has been driven to make and supply the finest fireplaces in New Zealand. According to founder Peter Hewitson, it’s not about making the cheapest fire. It’s about producing the best fire. For almost half a century, Hewitson has strongly carried this belief alongside his 100% faith in Firenzo products.Simon Thacker, one of the Directors, has been working at Firenzo for 16 years, and the importance of this goal is something that really resonates with him. He understands that...

Earthwoven: Natural, Eco-Friendly Skincare for All!

After suffering long-term from bad skin, and taking note of the damaging chemicals in most skin-related products, Shaleah Lawrence founded skincare business Earthwoven in March of 2022. Her goal is to create and offer an exceptional product range that can be used over a long period of time, without harmfully affecting the environment.Lawrence remains committed to her mission of formulating and delivering safe, long term skincare solutions. According to Lawrence, her skincare range is particularl...

Centrix: The Home of NZ Credit Data

For 14 years and counting, Centrix have devoted their efforts to providing informative credit checks and reporting to many people throughout this country, all with a complete focus on New Zealand. Armed with data on over 4 million kiwi consumers, Centrix has the nation’s largest payment history database, with more information being added consistently.Ross Borrill, a Key Account Manager at Centrix, explains how there has always been a driving goal to provide innovative and unparalleled services...

Franklin Engineering: "Finding cool ways to do things"

Nigel Franklin had a plan. Once he was turning over enough money, he’d leave his job and run his own business full time. That big plan lasted two weeks, before Franklin, who couldn’t help himself, quit, bought a second-hand machine off of TradeMe, and gave his business venture a go.Equipped with a machinist background, Franklin created Franklin Engineering, which manufactures automotive parts under the brand Franklin Performance, and offers precision machining services across New Zealand, wi...

M2 Overland: Ute Systems for NZ Landscapes

M2 Overland are working hard to continue designing and providing adaptable products that fit the needs of fellow New Zealanders, delivering fit-for-purpose ute tray systems and service bodies on time that people can rely on.Nick Langan has been the General Manager of M2 Overland since the start of April 2020. When COVID was hitting people hard, to Langan it was a good time to push the brand and its capabilities, with Brandon Duncan, the Director, wanting to bring something unique to the market.Y...

Classic Sheepskins: Creating New Zealand Sheepskins For Over 50 Years

Staying strong over five decades after its establishment, Classic Sheepskins is now the only owned and operated sheepskin tannery in New Zealand, processing roughly 40,000 sheepskins per annum for a range of purposes, from seat covers to slippers.Kieran Callaghan, the General Manager of Classic Sheepskins, has a sense of pride in the company. Valuing premium products, Callaghan speaks in great detail about the process Classic Sheepskins undergo to maximise quality.The salted sheepskins are suppl...

Guaranteed Flow Systems: Getting the Work Done, No Matter What

29 years on from its establishment, Guaranteed Flow Systems (GFS) has developed from a pipeline and contracting company into a business that delivers water, waste water, and process solutions all across New Zealand, whilst offering continual support for clients.GFS houses a small but highly successful team. Despite only having a group of 15 workers, 5-10 million dollars in projects is turned over by GFS every year.Jackson Zheng, the Commercial Manager of Guaranteed Flow Systems, is very excited ...

Kind Face: Helping People Get Their Beauty Sleep

When lockdown hit, Chris Larcombe was left wondering what he could do to stay in business. After considering the large demand for face masks, he founded Kind Face, a company that has hand cut and hand sewn 15,500 face masks over the past few years.But it hasn’t stopped there. Kind Face has branched out into making products that improve people’s sleep and wellbeing, selling goods like weighted eye masks and pillows. Larcombe also values the environment, and ensures that all of Kind Face’s p...

Mactrap: Keeping our water safe

Because of the obligation businesses have to remove contaminants from any waste they put into water networks, Mactrap’s wastewater separation systems and associated pumping solutions are vital tools for businesses.Taking on the crucial responsibility of creating and selling machines that remove these contaminants, Mactrap, experts in wastewater separation in NZ, manufacture and supply everything from grease and sediment traps to oil interceptors and lint traps.Mactrap helps out their clients, ...

Glenn Jones Art: Capturing New Zealand in all Its Beauty

When Glenn Jones and his wife, Julia, looked for a way to use their unique skills to make a business that would allow them to work from home and spend more time with their children, they ultimately decided to make an art business, Glenn Jones Art, which sells artwork made by Jones that heavily incorporates kiwiana, nostalgia, and the unique culture we have in New Zealand.From images of jet planes soaring in the sky to a humorous depiction of a New Zealander ordering fish and chips, Jones is comm...

Hi-Tec Aerials: Connecting New Zealand, One Aerial at a Time

Hi-Tec Aerials supply aerials and technology to all kinds of people, businesses, and government agencies in New Zealand, improving communications and wireless solutions across the country.Elisha Nuttall, the current managing director of Hi-Tec Aerials, has been looking to bring in some fresh ideas, and take the skills, talents, and experience of the company and apply them to more markets and sectors after joining the company late last year.To Nuttall, it’s very important that he is able to und...

Maker Design Studio: Setting the World Alight

Founded in 2014 by Mat Macmillan, Tauranga-based Maker Design Studio continues to sell a range of lighting products using resources from New Zealand, producing solutions from Drum Pendants to Table Lamps that, according to Macmillan, improve in quality with time.Maker Design Studio has been growing “gradually but steadily”, Macmillan says. He has enjoyed this growth over the years, and is very proud of it considering how challenging his industry is. For Macmillan, this is all a dream come tr...

Untouched World: Caring For People and the Planet

41 years on from being established, Untouched World is still using sustainable practices to produce natural garments that have been worn by the likes of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. Peri Drysdale, Untouched World’s founder, stresses the importance of helping people and the environment, instead of being solely focused on growth.Drysdale saw that changes needed to happen around how humans treat the planet, and she has been able to make a successful business that heavily values sustainability a...

Harrison Frames: Doing Business with the Right Frame of Mind

A family business through-and-through, Harrison Frames have been producing a wide variety of picture frames and mouldings for a long time. 60 years on from the company’s establishment, Jack Harrison, the son of founder George Harrison, is so proud that his business is still surviving and thriving to this very day.As well as offering said frames and mouldings, in their factory at Mount Maunganui in Tauranga, Harrison Frames complete a lot of customised work for anyone who is interested. Harriso...

Buy NZ Made buys trademark infringement-spotting software Logo Hunter

Buy New Zealand Made has bought AI software Logo Hunter to help it protect the Kiwi country of origin logo, as well as that of its clients.Buy NZ Made bought the software for an undisclosed price from Wellington-based Arcanum to detect and monitor trademark infringements and unauthorised usage of logos.Executive director Dane Ambler said the investment was expected to pay for itself quickly."We'd see up to 100 infringements of the New Zealand-made logo per year," he said."This investment would p...