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then as now
Then as now – August 2012
TEN YEARS AGO in June, 350+ people packed out St Peter’s Church in Takapuna to farewell Brian Nelson, aged 84, part owner and retired Managing Director of Miles Nelson Manufacturing.
It was in the early 1950s that Brian entered the workforce, trying his hand at farming in the back blocks of Kaeo, before turning his hand
to what is now called logistics – delivering auto parts in Auckland on a bicycle.
Having started making equipment to assist with the war effort, manufacturing electric fencing and other products, at the end of WWII, Brian’s father’s business – Miles Nelson Manufacturing – began manufacturing builders’ hardware from its original Airedale Street site in central Auckland.
With his father’s sudden death in
1953, the 25-year-old Brian became
responsible for running the fledging
company, without experience or management support.
But business developed steadily, and a change of premises came with the opening of the Harbour Bridge.
A property in Milford was purchased in 1960 and this became the base of operations for the next 50 years, until 2012, when the company moved to its current premises in Albany.
Competitive, always a good sport, we noted at the time “Brian Nelson was small in stature, but larger than life, and wherever he travelled his positive energy affected all who met him.”
PAINT PROMOS REVIVE THE PAST
Ten years ago, the paint category was seemingly all about resurrecting past glories, both here and abroad.
Here in New Zealand, British Paints had revived the spirit of its ads from the 1970s and 1980s with TV personality and painter Rolf Harris, stating: “Trust British Paints – sure can!” and drumming the paint tin reassuringly.
Fast forward to 2012 now and British Paints had brought the much- loved entertainer back to
New Zealand TV to help launch its exclusive relationship with Bunnings.
While British Paints brought back Rolf to renew its connections with the past, in the UK 50-year-old UK masonry paint brand Sandtex had brought back the lighthouse!
British Paints brought Rolf Harris back to New Zealand TV screens back in 2012, while Sandtex in the UK also revived an iconic former ad campaign.
For the first time in decades, Sandtex was running a TV campaign that harked back to a “classic” campaign that showed a lighthouse keeper and his lighthouse battling the elements over the years.
Filmed at Norfolk’s historic Happisburgh lighthouse, said lighthouse keeper generally came off worse, while his lighthouse’s paint finish remained pristine as the day it was applied.
Also back in mid-2012, BuildLink’s conference was held at the Rendezvous Hotel in Auckland.
At the time, CEO Kevin Marevich compared business in the last year to ballroom dancing: “Two steps backwards, one forward, side to side... But as long as you’re still on the floor at the end of the dance then you’re in a good position to go forward.
“From the point of view of consolidating a few things, making plans and strategies, where we think we can go as a group I think that we’re well placed to improve as the marketplace improves.”
Other anniversaries from 2012 include the formation of the new Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment (MBIE) which came into being on 1 July 2012.
MBIE was made up of four foundation agencies: Science
& Innovation; Labour; Building & Housing; and Economic Development and was intended to “provide clear, coordinated and focused policy leadership and efficient and effective services for business.”
Then as now?
48 NZHJ | AUGUST 2022
MORE AT www.hardwarejournal.co.nz
Ten years ago we farewelled Brian Nelson.