RETURNED MEN OPERATING GROWING CONCERN

Chronicle (Levin), 23 April 1946, Page 4

RETURNED MEN OPERATING GROWING CONCERN

U'lSGE7 OF ERIVATE ENTERPRISfe No better illustration of thg iirge of private enterprise? which characterises the Nei$ 2/eai^ri-d- ffg-hti-rig- rriari criuld bd t'ound than in a co-operativd coricefn st'arte'd by four returned frien iri Auckland. Operat--ing a growing concern whicH deals in waste paper, the nieli all agr.ee' that tne only solutiori is: iri being their 'own bos^, and bhe sUccess of the enteTprisd c'ari foe gauged by the fatt that in the tirst 12 months of business the nuriiber .employed has doubled. .. •• The four founders of. the cOnc'ei'n arg Messrs. W. J. Hargreaves,. J. J. Kirrane, W. Matheson .and V". Haswell. All of- them ex-Kiwis, three of the four have seen service in the Middle East and one in the Paciflc". Messrs. Hargreaves .and Kirrane w'Cre both lriembers of the 18tli Battalion. Hargreaves went over^ seais with the 3rd Echeloii and saw service in Greece, Crete and the desert, before being invalided home after the E1 Alaihein show. Kirrane has 4-2- years to his credit, also with the 18th Battalion, and was in Oreece, Crete and the desert, get'tirig as far as Tripoli before joining one of the furlough drafts for NeW Zealdrid. Haswell served in a Field Laundry unit in the Pacific and Matheson with a similar unit in the Middle East.

Initiative During the war years in NeW Zealand, when the country was mobilised for a total war effor't, every scrap of waste was vital. Wast'e depots sprang up all over the country to handle anythirig from. old correspondence flies and saucep'ans to tyres and hot-water bottles. Such a depot was situate'd at 57 Albert Street, Auckland. When the activities of the patriotic organisation began to wane, the suggestion was made to the 2nd N.Z.E.F. Association iri Auckland that it might be a wort-hwhiie enterprise for ex-servicemen to carry on into peacetime. Presiderit of the' association, K. Cohen, east aroiind fof some likely-lookirig Kiwis and approached Hargreaves with the idea. Convinced of its possibilities, Hargreaves promptiy iOUrid three feliow Kiwis to operate the depot on a co-operative oasis. Efficiently Run Aided by a rehabffitation loari, the four Kiwis st-arted on April 1, 1945, with two helpers who had previouzly been with the depdt when it.was run by the patriotic ' orgafiisation. It turned but to be no' April Fo'Ol's Day stunt, arid 'ttow,on their first anniversary, they eiriploy two girls, one in the; office dnd one at a machine, and six young men — a total employed iri the depot which is exactly twice as many as a year ago. The Kiwis operate two large trucks, and frorii - the bright ideas they have about the future, their concern will not stand still. Not too muGh can be said of the nCw ide'as being developed by these enterpr-ising young men, and they were not pressed to divulge any of their business secrets. Their priricipal job is in collecting all types o'f waste paper, sorting it and despatching it to the Whakatane Paper Mills, where it is used for a variety of purposes. Apart froiri their business interest, the four Kiwis feel that they are doing a woith while job, for the bulk of the waste-paper they colleCt goes into the manufacture of wallboard to be used in homes for their mates. Another worthwhile purpose is iri making cigarette ' cartons and matchboxes. Each of the four partners has a separate department to supervise, and the organisation gives every appearance of being an efficieritly-run concern. One of the main headaches of the partners seems to be the difficulty in securing enough waste paper. They estimate that their available supplies dropped by at least half when the waste paper regulations were repealed. They could do with twice as much paper. They are not letting this problem get them down, however, and are showing their enterprise by branching out in various other uses of paper, some of which appear to have distinct possibilities. Assistance 'IThe four Kiwis speak most erithusiastically of the assistance they have received by a number of Auckland business men, who helped them start the concern and who are now giving valuable advice. They mention Major Higgins, who operated the depot in wartime days, of Mr. Norman B. Spencer, a prominent Auckland businessman who "keeps a fatherly eye on them," and of their accountant, Mr. R. S. Harrop. The four Kiwis probably do not realise it, but theirs is the type o'f spirit which made New Zealand what it is to-day — a spirit of enterprise and initiative which has founded mariy of the most prosperous concerns in the Dominiori.