Page 49 - HW June-July 2021

then as now
A business built
ON RELATIONSHIPS
WITH ITM TURNING 30 this year, in a “Then as Now” special, the company’s four CEOs share their stories of ITM’s history.
ITM’s founding CEO, Kevin Marevich, recalls that Independent Timber Merchants was officially formed in a Kaikohe accountant’s office in 1991.
But Kevin’s memory stretches back to 1989, relocating ITM’s baby steps to the Tikipunga Tavern, Whangarei. Whatever, the reasons for both meetings remain the same.
“I was frustrated at how the market operated,” recalls Kevin, who was to become ITM’s founding CEO.
“It was difficult for independent merchants to sell building supplies because of monopolies on distributorships. I had an overriding sense of the lack of fairness in the industry, and was young enough, cocky enough and ignorant enough to think I could change it. I thought, Let’s get a group together.”
The 1989 pub get-together was followed by a year of sweet talking and cajoling, culminating in 1991’s formal talks about
Current ITM CEO, Darrin Hughes.
creating the new company.
“[That meeting] became more and more positive, with the
energy of people with a common cause,” remembers Kevin Marevich.
“We had the right personalities; they were people you could like and trust, who had different skills but were very good at driving their businesses.”
Among the dozen or so present were the important figures of Lindsay Gray and Shayne Heape, already major players in Northland’s building industry.
The latter – better known in the industry as “Uncle Shayne” – and Lindsay Gray are still part of the ITM family.
Some crucial early members like Noble Bardell and Tony Oetgen (“He was like a second father to me,” says Kevin Marevich), have since passed on, but ITM was up and running.
GET YOUR BRAND OFF MY TV
If Kevin Marevich painted a picture of what the business could
26 years of ITM CEOs (L-R):
Scott Duncan (2014); Gordon Buswell (2000); and Kevin Marevich (1991).
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JUNE/JULY 2021 | NZHJ 47