Wellingtonian Hamish Whyte moved to Hawke’s Bay for a better lifestyle, and it’s one he’s not prepared to swap.

“There was a time when I thought bigger was better, but family and lifestyle are my number one priorities.”

Whyte’s company Furnware Ltd was established in 1934. “Our address is P.O Box 1, Hastings, I’m very proud of that,” says Whyte. We’re truly a local company and one of Hawke’s Bay’s oldest brands.”

Over the years the company has had a series of owners, and has made everything from coffins and caravans to tubular steel furniture. Since the early 1950’s it has been manufacturing school furniture and is currently New Zealand’s largest supplier.

But it’s their latest development in this area that’s winning them international recognition.

“Four years ago we embarked on a research project to find out what really happens in a classroom and have since developed a new range called Bodyfurn. This has transformed the company into huge growth here and internationally,” says Whyte.

So how easy is it to operate out of Hawke’s Bay?

“We’re a national company with six account managers throughout New Zealand and we have excellent freight companies based here in Hawke’s Bay to service our needs. The Port of Napier is world class and we have no issues servicing our international customers from here.”

Whyte says email and the web have made the company accessible to all markets and they receive a lot of enquiries from their website. Air travel to and from the region is something Whyte would like to see improved and he cites the size of the skilled labour market as a hurdle to business in the region.

But that doesn’t worry manufacturing colleagues elsewhere in the country. “Most of them would swap the lifestyle tomorrow.”


Article courtesy of NZBusiness magazine