66 | Westimber Ltd TIMBER INDUSTRY T T Rosa Watson Timber merchant continues to thrive The company has a broad offering, including pre-nails and trusses, SG8, F1 and F2 farming rails, posts, decking, fence palings and custom processing. After 60 years in business, the West Coast sawmill and timber merchant, Westimber, is still filling a vital role in the local economy. The company has a broad offering, including pre-nails and trusses, SG8, F1 and F2 farming rails, posts, decking, fence palings and custom processing. There are 80 staff members employed across three sites. Head office is at Ngahere, along with the sawmill, treatment plant and dry processing. The retail yard and timber panel division is based in Christchurch, and a third site at Rangiora is a frame and truss plant for housing. The company also owns the ITM Greymouth store. Westimber had its beginnings when G Gibson & Sons, an independent family business, was established in 1912, milling native timber on a very small scale. In 1937, the company moved to the Red Jacks Road site at Ngahere. In 1994, native logging started to slow down and the Kopara sawmill was sold to the Donaldsons/Gibsons and renamed as Westimber Ltd. They also acquired Ngahere Processing Co Ltd, needing to upscale their production to process pinus radiata. In 1997, the Donaldson family approached the Gibsons to move to a larger site as a joint venture. The name Westimber was born, along with Ngahere Processing Co Ltd. Over the next 17 years the two families worked hard to build up a successful, resilient, and diverse timber processing company. In October 2014, cousins Phil and Paul Gibson solely acquired Westimber and still own the company today. There are more than 10 extended family members involved in the business, working across all sites, including brothers, sisters, inlaws and partners. In a devastating blow, a fire in 2017 totally destroyed the green chain and grading/sap stain workstation at the sawmill. Fortunately, it did not enter the sawmill building itself. Support from local West Coast businesses in the timber industry helped to keep the company afloat and ultimately showed the hardiness of the wider Westimber group, operations manager Kira Lane says. “We came back stronger than ever, as less than two years after the fire we acquired the Rangiora Frame & Truss Division and ITM Greymouth within the same year.” Kira says lean margins and rising operational costs are the company’s biggest challenges. “You see and hear this from other sawmills nationally – pricing is very competitive in the timber industry right now with a lot of lower-grade materials flooding the market – pallet material, fencing and landscaping material.” Continuing changes in government regulations and compliance have also hampered growth in recent years. “The costs associated with ever-changing health and safety compliance is taking a massive financial toll, more specifically things such as chemical and location compliance, machinery guarding for personal protection.” However, housing is continuing with an upward trend. “New housing plays an important role in enticing people to the region. People need houses to live in to match the new job they might have been successful in securing.” Sales were increasing in the DIY division for the “everyday handyman”, Kira says. “An example would be that our Ngahere rural sales yard has seen some of the best sales numbers on record this year, which is PROUDLY SUPPORTING WESTIMBER LTD 50YEAR GUARANTEE TRUST Get superior, long-lasting protection for all your projects by selecting Genuine Tanalised® Timber. The Tanalised® 50 Year Guarantee is your assurance that you are using timber that will stand the test of time with unmatched durability and quality. Trust GENUINETANALISED® Products
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