46 | MANUFACTURING Wade Group Rachel Graham Boom in specialty vehicle builds Wade Group holds contracts with Wellington Free ambulances and New Zealand Police. If you have ever wondered about the process to transform a standard vehicle into a police car or ambulance – Wade Group have the answers. For close to thirty years Wade Group has been customising, adapting, and fitting out vehicles. Wade Group has three divisions made up of a Horse Truck Division which produces top end luxury horse trucks and motorsport transporters. The second division is the Commercial Division which manufactures ambulances, patient transport and prisoner escort vehicles, and the third division is the Emergency Division producing police vehicles which demand performance. Carl Fitzwater is the company’s Group Operations Manager for commercial vehicles. Wade Group holds the national contract with the New Zealand Police to manufacture all police and associated vehicles. The company also holds contracts with Wellington Free ambulances, along with supplying many of St John Ambulances vehicles and prisoner escort vehicles for the New Zealand Department of Corrections. Wade Group also builds other speciality vehicles, such as hearing test vehicles, mobile forensics labs, and Armed Offender response vehicles. Carl Fitzwater says clients come to Wade Group with many and varied requests. It is the job of the design team to turn those, sometimes vague, wishes into concrete concepts which they can then manufacture. “They come to us with an idea,” says Carl, “and we then tease out that idea. We develop a specification and a 3D model. And then we will work with them to get the concept refined to meet all their needs and ensure it is fit for purpose.” It takes around six weeks for smaller projects and between six weeks and six months for the larger more complicated jobs. There are over 70 staff at Wade Group, including coach builders, general hands, cabinet makers, fabricators, and design engineers. The company does buy in some items, such as seating and electronics, but predominantly the team at Wade Group manufacture most of the bespoke parts to get the job just right for their clients. Carl says the team take their work seriously and they always ensure it is done to the very high standard and quality. He says they are conscious that the vehicles they are producing are frequently used in the most high-pressured circumstances, where people need to be able to rely on their equipment. The vehicles also need to be built tough. “We pride ourselves on delivering that service, and on the relationship that we have with our customers. “We work with them to make sure that they have everything they need when they need it, and we’re able to deliver on our promises and create that added customer value we are continually striving for.” He says for example they know that the prison escort vehicles they build need to provide a safe environment for the prisoners being transported, as well as for the prison officers. Carl says the designs are constantly evolving, and they are always working with clients to ensure they can incorporate the latest technology and features they need. Wade Group started out making equine coaches, and it is still a key part of their business. The luxury coaches are pure quality inside and out and it feels like you are staying in an exclusive super-yacht. The equine coaches allow the horses to travel in comfort and safety in the back, while the family stay in luxury up the front. The motorsports coaches are similar, with space in the back for high end sports and race cars, so you can always travel in style. The equine and motorsports coaches are proving increasingly popular, with sales around New Zealand and in Australia. With business booming Wade Group has just expanded its operations in Te Rapa, Hamilton, adding two new buildings. Carl Fitzwater says in everything Wade Group does it prides itself on ensuring its work is done to a very high standard, and that, he says, is why their customers keep coming back.
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