Bisleys revamps for new market conditions a brief history of the company, 1920-1985

Press, 18 December 1986, Page 35

Bisleys revamps for new market conditions a brief history of the company, 1920-1985

The move by Bisleys Industries, Ltd, to its new Shands Road premises marks the final phase of a revamping by the company of its entire operation.

All manufacturing activities have been moved to the North Island, the administrative and marketing functions will be centred at Shands Road, and a new South Island servicing centre has been established in Ashburton. The new Ashburton premises were opened recently. The Bisleys South Island sales and operations manager, Mr Dick Sutherland, says the company is moving with the times and the new structure will create a more efficient and responsive farm equipment servicing operation. “We recognised that the shake-down which farming has undergone would very quickly flow through

to the farm servicing sector and that the pressures on companies like ours to become more efficient would be no less severe than on farmers,” says Mr Sutherland. He says the moves reflect Equiticorp Holdings, Ltd’s desire to consolidate and strengthen its rural division, which he describes as an optimum mix of arable, horticultural and poultry wholesale and retail activities.

The Equiticorp primary production sector portfolio also includes Yates Corporation, Ltd, Harvey Farms, Ltd, Frank M. Winstone, Ltd, and the Auckland and Hamilton chain of Botannix drive-in garden centres. “Bisleys have completed a major restructuring which will allow us to make better use of capital resources and which we are certain will benefit our clients.”

Capital restructuring has entailed selling the

Carmen Road site which the company has owned since 1959, and operated since 1972. The new premises at Shands Road and Ashburton have been constructed for the company on a design, build, and lease-back basis.

The development of the Shands Road premises was arranged by Archibald and Govan Investments, Ltd, who won over North Island competition, the contract to provide the premises.

The new Christchurch premises which include a two-storey parts store and a sales showroom, offer many advantages, says the company’s South Island Administration Manager, Mr David Hall. “The design-build package has resulted in a building tailored precisely to our needs. It is also better sited. There is excellent access for the company to all freight modes and will be convenient and accessible for

our farming clients. Although we are on the south side of the city, clients from North Canterbury do not need to come through the city,” he said. Bisleys retains the marketing of its popular NuWay travelling irrigator and Mr Sutherland suggests that Bisleys may supplement this product with another precision-en-gineered irrigator range from Europe.

There has also been a slight rationalisation of the product range in irrigation equipment. Long known as a company specialising in servicing farmers’ water requirements, Bisleys has transferred all its irrigation manufacturing and the marketing of broad acre lateral and pivot irrigators to the Ashburton company, Briggs Irrigation, Ltd.

The company is a very experienced importer, a tradition commenced by the company’s founder

following World-War II when he returned from a visit to the United Kingdom with agencies for a wide selection of products. The comprehensive Sparex range of industrial spare parts evolved into, and remains, a very significant part of the Bisley operation. In Southland recently, Mr Sutherland further intimated that the company may start importing some interesting new cultivation implements in the near future.

The company is also active in the export field, with two major contracts for supplying grain handling systems won in the Pacific this year. Recently, a pilot lateral irrigator shipment went to New South Wales. Mr Sutherland, however, says the company intends to consolidte its mainstream role as a supplier of finely-engineered equipment for all phases of the South Island arable

farmer’s operations from crop establishment to storage. “Canterbury will remain the grain-bowl of the country and we intend to remain an important supplier of grain growers’ equipment needs.”

The “flagship” of this product range is Claas harvesting equipment, for which Bisleys have been sole New Zealand distributors since the early 50s. It has been estimated that the company has sold over 2000 Claas combine harvesters here since then.

Claas management in Germany recently informed Bisleys staff that there are more Claas harvesting combines for every head of rural population in Southland than in any other rural district in the world. The Claas range has more recently been expanded to include round and square balers, mowers, forage harvesters and hay-rakes.

Claas harvesters are imported by Bisleys as kits and assembled at Carmen Road. Much of the assembly will now take place in Ashburton, although some work will be done in Christchurch, which will also be the Claas parts base for the entire country.

The Shands Road establishment will also serve as the distribution centre for the company’s extensive South Island dealer network.

Clients will notice an even better service in Claas spares, as the Christchurch office will now deal directly with Germany, rather than through a North Island office, as in the past. Bisleys has long prided itself as New Zealand’s foremost combine harvester specialist, and Mr Sutherland says, the new company structure will offer customers better access to this experience and expertise.

© 1920 Grain, seed and produce company founded in Hamilton by Mr A. M. Bisley.

® 1932 Commenced manufacturing. © 1938 Registered as a public company with capital of $BO,OOO.

© 1945-1950 New Zealand agencies for several United Kingdom products secured. © 1947 Commenced selling irrigation equipment in the South Auckland area.

® 1948 Bisley’s Industries, Ltd, registered with a capital of $200,000 to assume the Bisley manufacturing role. 0 1953 Acquired Claas agency. © 1954 Took over Christchurch company, Diesel Engineering and Services, Ltd. ® 1957 Timaru branch

established. Moved to new Christchurch premises on corner of Horatio and Antigua Streets (an expensive site, considered a prime location close to the Square, the commercial centre, and saleyards). © 1958 Capitalised on the “bubble car” trend of the times by securing agency for the Messerschmidt — manufactured Isetta three-wheeler motorcar. To develop the , harvester market, undertook an education programme to encourage Waikato farmers to grow cash crops. O 1959 As part of a deliberate policy of diversification into the arable farming sector, imported New Zealand’s first ever corrugated steel silos from North Carolina (still standing

in Ashburton). Purchased Carmen Road, Hornby, site.

© 1962 Invercargill branch established. © 1964 Palmerston North branch established. Death of company founder. © 1966 Hamilton premises razed by fire.

© 1968 108 Claas combine harvesters imported and sold. @ 1972 Moved into new premises on Carmen Road (this was planned to occur much earlier but building requirements were more urgent in Hamilton and Palmerston North). © 1979 Ashburton branch established.

© 1985 Controlling interest purchased by Jedi Corporation, which was later bought out by Equiticorp Holdings, Ltd.