After 90 years in business Firth is a far cry from its humble beginnings as a small concrete yard established in 1925 beside the railway line at Rangiriri, near Huntly. Back then it was a family business operated by Ned and Blanche Firth and their sons Ted and Tony. Originally they made and sold concrete boilers for washing clothes. Then, after surviving the tough years of the depression, the Firth family expanded, moving the factory to Frankton.
In the late 1960s the company was heavily into expansion and became a public company in 1963. Expansion and diversification continued through the 1970s until 1978 when Fletcher Industries launched a successful take over bid for the company. Fletcher already had a variety of concrete operations at that time and rapidly acquired more brands between 1979 and 1984. Fletchers recognised the strong ‘Firth’ brand and retained the name and brand for its overall concrete operations.
The first board meeting of Firth Concrete Industries. Pictured from left to right Ted Firth, Tony Firth, Charles Stales and Peter Humphrey
Firth supplied the concrete for the Whenuapai airport in 1942
A dominant theme throughout Firth’s 90 years has been the development of new products and the ability to find new ways of doing things. This first began with co-founder Ted Firth and has continued through the years, which have seen rapid change in the technology of concrete, the scale of concrete operations and the way concrete was manufactured.
Today Firth boasts 70 plants with 650 staff and 410 trucks – a far cry from the small plant the Firth’s started 90 years ago.
Happy birthday Firth!