Long local history

Press, 14 September 1988, Page 31

Long local history

The name Reese has been associated with the Christchurch building scene for over a century. As far back as the 1870 s Dan Reese was one of Canterbury’s major building contractors and during his time he included amongst the buildings he erected the Chief Post Office in the Square, the United Service Hotel, the Normal School, Lincoln College and the School of Arts. With such a strong background in the construction industry it was only appropriate that Dan’s two sons, Tom and Dan, went into partnership in 1905 as builders’ suppliers under the name Reese Bros Ltd. This was the start of the very successful Reese group of companies that Christchurch knows so well today. The Reese brothers soon established for themselves a thriving business

based essentially on their enterpreneurial talents. As well as builders’ supplies the company was a very strong importer, bringing to New Zealand a. host of different products. . From its very; early days it had substantial timber interests throughout the South island including Nydia Bay in the Marlborough Sounds. The Reeses were also instrumental in establishing the Port Craig Timber Company in Southland. Such was the level of business being undertaken that by 1912 the company had started its own shipping line with a boat plying between Greymouth, the Marlborough Sounds and Lyttelton. At its peak the company owned three ships and was a busy carrier until the rail tunnel was opened through the Southern Alps. The entrepreneurial

foresight of the brothers was also seen in other fields. Reese Bros Ltd established a concrete batch plant in Christchurch in association with. other builders, called Certified Concrete. It was also the first ; company in New Zealand , to make, polystyrene and it also introduced the revolutionary Rudnev cool y store panel into the freezing industry. In 1972 it established Canterbury Timber Products to manufacture medium density fibre board after much investigation and feasibility studies. It ho longer has a share in this company. Through, its ties with the North British Rubber Company it imported substantial quantities of belting, flooring and rubber garden hose prior to it being manufactured in this country. That agency was really the birth of Reese Flooring which celebrates a change of image and direction today with the opening of its new showroom. An off shoot of the rubber industry was the evolution of plastics, starting with the making of plastic extruded garden hose in 1959. From such meagre beginnings Reese Bros is the largest plastic injection moulding company in New Zealand with factories in Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland. The company’s extru-

sion division is concentrating on packaging and materials handling both for the domestic market and export. As well as making containers for the food packaging industry it also makes fish, bread and milk crates as well as sophisticated mouldings for other New Zealand manufacturers. . ; • - "We do keep our light hidden somewhat,” said the present chairman of the board of directors of the Company, Mr Mervyn Restall. Mr Restall is only the third chairman having followed Dan Reese, (1905-53), and his son David Reese, (1953-83). "In this time of gloom we have a plastic extrusion plant in Christchurch working 24 hours a day, seven days a week just to keep up with the demand from the Australia market,” he said. Reese Bros also has a‘ large engineering plant in Palmerston North producing farm equipment, hay mowers in particular, for Australian and New Zealand markets. It also exports to Chile and has just made a major breakthrough with sales into the United States. “Over the years we have been involved in a wide range of activities but this has been rationalised to a large degree and we are concentrating, with success, on the things we do best,” Mr Restall ?Said. , .