Only four men headed big contractor

Press, 5 July 1983, Page 31

Only four men headed big contractor

In 50 years as one of New Zealand’s leading construction firms, Downer and Company has had only four managing directors. The first was the founder, Mr Arnold Downer, who retired in 1962 after 29 years. His successor was Mr Callum McLean, who held a single share in the original company formed in 1933. The ' McLean family played an important part in the development of Downer and Company and its parent company, Cable Price Downer, Ltd.

Mr Callum McLean was the son of a Wellington builder, Mr George McLean, who in 1932 was involved in a gold mining syndicate with Mr Downer, unsuccessfully working the Aylmer Lead at Ruatapu, Westland. Callum’s brother, Arch, was the first secretary of

Downer and Company and, later, chairman of Cable Price Downer, while another brother, Fraser, was a director of Downer and Company in the early days. Mr Callum McLean was a carpenter by trade and worked on all the early projects before becoming more involved in administration as the company grew. Major projects in which he had a hand included the Waipori, Waitaki and Roxburgh hydro schemes, the Homer and Rimutaka tunnels, and Paraparaumu, Whenuapai and Momona airports. He retired in 1971 but remained on the Cable Price Downer board, to which he was appointed in 1969, until his death in 1976.

Mr McLean’s successor was Mr Doug Williamson, who had joined the company

in 1949 as an engineer during a further stage of work at the Dunedin City Council’s Waipori hydro-electric project. He later worked as a project manager on railway construction contracts, and as Dunedin branch manager before being transferred to head office as chief engineer.

One of Mr Williamson’s most important contributions was in streamlining contract estimating procedures, and introducing new management concepts. He was responsible in the 1970’s for the introduction of the highly-successful regional organisation which has developed responsibility for all domestic operations to bases in Auckland, Wellington and Dunedin. The re-organised structure positioned Downer and Company to ' handle boom

conditions of the mid-19705, when high government spending placed intense pressures on the entire construction industry. And it worked as well when tighter economic conditions followed the oil shocks and international recession led to the marked reduction in construction activity in the late 19705. Mr Williamson retired in 1982 and was succeeded by the present managing director, Mr Alex Swainson. That appointment was a continuation of the remarkable succession, of family involvement in the Downer organisation. His father, Mr Alex Swainson, snr, was a highly regarded earthworks superintendent who worked on coal mine overburden stripping operations throughout New Zealand

and the Roxburgh Hydro construction project. Mr Swainson, jnr, joined Downer in 1949 and spent two years as site engineer for the Morrison KnudsenDowner joint venture building the Rimutaka rail tunnel. After seven years as Dunedin manager, he was appointed manager of the civil engineering division at head office in 1963 before going to Tokaanu in 1968 to head the Downer and Associates joint venture which built the 7.2 km long Tokaanu tunnel on the Tongariro power scheme. Promoted to general manager in 1973, Mr Swainson has, in the last three years, overseen the company’s move into the international construction market with contracts in the Caroline Islands, Papua New Guinea and Fiji.