Factory Began In Garage

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31678, 14 May 1968, Page 11

Factory Began In Garage

Some of the first hair fashion products to be manufactured in New Zealand, were prepared in a garage in New Plymouth about 21 years ago by two brothers, Mr Peter Colmore-Williams and Mr Logan Colmore-Williams.

Sales went so well that the brothers soon bad their wives assisting with the manufacturing while they travelled selling the products. The garage quickly became too small to cope with all the orders and it was decided to move the business to the largest city—Auckland. Each week-end the two families travelled to Auckland to work on the building of a factory at New Lynn to be known as Sonata Laboratories Ltd, and by 1950 they had moved to Auckland permanently. Soon after this they took over the manufacture of hair fashion products under licence to the Wella Company of Germany and later began preparing Coppertone products for the Plough Company of the United States and men's and women's toiletries for the Shulton Company of the United States. At the same time they formed a new company which became known as Consolidated Chemicals. Mr Peter Colmore-Williams is now the managing-director of Consolidated Chemicals and his brother is managing-director of Sonata Laboratories Ltd.

From a very small company making a small, but high quality range of hair care products, Sonata Laboratories Ltd, has grown rapidly until today it is preparing more

than 300 hair care and hair fashion products. The Auckland factory has moved from New Lynn to Avondale where the present building covers an area of 40,000 sq. ft. Branches have been opened in Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin and altogether 200 persons are employed. To cope with increased business a special hair dressing division has been established, with staff trained to assist in any hair fashion problems.