‘Really proud’: Why Rotorua’s ‘Patchell people’ are still going strong after 50 years – Rotorua Daily Post

All staff photo. A Stoney Creek Patchell embroidered shirt was given to each staff member to keep, as worn here. Photo / Supplied

It all started in 1972 in a small general engineering workshop in Rotorua.

Now, the Patchell Group employs more than 200 people across nine sites.

The specialist transport trailers and equipment manufacturing company has grown
from strength to strength, and is this year celebrating 50 years in business.

The company’s chief executive, Brent Whibley, said he was “really proud” of his team.

“It is not just one individual – we are a team. Everyone is critical to this piece of puzzle.

“It’s one of the things that makes me wake up in the morning.”

The 50-year milestone comes as the company celebrates a number of achievements this year.

Last weekend, the Patchell Group was crowned Supreme Winner at the Tompkins Wake Rotorua Business Awards 2022.

All staff photo. A Stoney Creek Patchell embroidered shirt was given to each staff member to keep, as worn here. Photo / Supplied

The group’s founder Ian Patchell was inducted into the Transport Hall of Fame last month.

Peter Rickard also celebrated 40 years of working in the business.

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“It has been a really great year for us.”

Where it all began

In 1969, founder Ian Patchell left Rotorua Boys’ High School at age 17 to pursue a career as a boilermaker at Kinleith Mills in Tokoroa.

Patchell returned to Rotorua in 1972 to start a small engineering workshop on View Rd. This was where Patchell Industries Ltd was born.

In the beginning, Patchell focused on repairing and manufacturing attachments for bulldozers, loader equipment, and log transport equipment for local contractors.

By the early 1980s, Patchell collaborated with transport company owners and customers from Rotorua, Kawerau, Tokoroa, Taupō and Napier and expanded the business.

In 1986, Patchell fitted one of the first onboard weigh systems onto log transport equipment, and, in 1995, formed New Zealand onboard weigh system company SI Lodec.

Manufacturing its own on- and off-highway logging trailers, associated truck equipment, in-forest tracked log loaders and attachments, Patchell Industries Ltd quickly became a leader in New Zealand transport equipment manufacturing.

In 2004, Patchell added a stainless tank manufacturing division, and in 2005, its procurement of the highly-regarded Swinglift-brand container side loader.

Today, the Patchell Group has grown to a company of more than 200 staff working across manufacturing facilities that occupy nine sites across Rotorua.

Whibley said he was blessed to be part of that growth, adding that the company had about 240 staff at its peak, and it was currently looking for more people to join the team.

“I call them artists because they are so clever in what they do.”

Brent Whibley and the Board of Directors Ian Patchell, John Galbraith, and Stuart Weston. Photo / Supplied

As a Rotorua company, Patchell Group also actively supported local charities and events.

Whibley’s office was filled with items the company has bought at charity auctions, like the signed All Blacks jersey hanging proudly on the office wall.

“We are invested in this community,” he said. “It will always be our home. It will always be our base.”

Whibley has been working for the company for years and remembers applying for a job.

“I was interviewed by the whole leadership team, including Ian Patchell.

“I felt really comfortable with the team.

“My introduction to the board at the time was around a company that was highly motivated and passionate about their product, brand, and its people.”

Whibley said it had been a challenging last few years since the initial Covid-19 lockdown in 2020, with the company having to navigate a logging downturn, shipping delays, financial pressures, and rising diesel costs.

“Our team has been outstanding.

“They have stepped up at times when it has been really difficult. They are still putting product out at the best standard.”

The company also had to keep adapting to a changing environment and has invested heavily in highly-advanced automation.

By 2014, with the implementation of automation, Patchell had produced the first of six robots to work in its production.

Whibley said it recently installed another robotic welding machine.

“It shows the engineering skills this company is founded and based on. It’s all around innovation to benefit the customers and finding engineering solutions.

“That’s what this company is known for. That is why the brand is so strong.”

Workplace wellbeing was also important, Whibley said.

Ian Patchell and his partner of more than 20 years, Caroline Handley. Photo / Supplied

Staff often compete in events such as the women’s adventure race Spirited Women and the Rotorua Tough Guy and Gal Challenge, as well as taking part in fundraising initiatives such as Gumboot Friday and dressing in pink for Breast Cancer awareness week – as part of team bonding, he said.

About five vans were also supplied to bring about 35 employees from Tauranga, Te Puke, Taupō, and Tokoroa to the Rotorua base each day, he said.

Employees were also given things like heated vests for winter, supermarket vouchers at Christmas time, and hot meals in winter, he said.

Whibley said the group liked to encourage and support young people to get into the industry. It had 23 apprentices in its apprenticeship training programme.

Patchell made a mandate to retain an annual count of at least 10 per cent of its labour force in apprenticeships in 1991.

Many of those come out of Rotorua Boys’ High School’s Engineering Trades Academy, a Patchell Group partnership reconnecting Patchell with his school and bringing his vision of delivering highly skilled tradesmen to fruition.

The Engineering Trades Academy imparts trade skills onto the school’s Year 13 students and is designed to help build the practical engineering trades skills pathway for students.

“If they are keen to work, we are keen to have them.”

Patchell, who was currently in Europe, said in a written statement he was “humbled” to have been inducted into the Transport Hall of Fame.

“Patchell are not transport companies. We supply road transport equipment to those companies, and it is they that I and my Patchell people thank.”

Patchell said the company has grown large and has been successful for many reasons.

“But for me, it boils down to great staff looking after our many loyal customers. As a leader, with the right people around me, I have got it made.

“What matters to me is that they will always be ‘Patchell people’, and I remain immensely proud of them all.

“As a group of companies and divisions, we have had our trials. Who doesn’t, in 50 years?

“In the end, when it comes down to it, there is a genuine passion for the product right through the company.

“Patchell build such an excellent product because of that passion, and it oozes out onto the road.”