Allan has been in business with his brother for 40 years. His first job was delivering newspapers, both night and morning. Punga Logs Unlimited was their first business venture. Selling products has been at the core of all their business growth, and they now have annual turnover of $200 million, of which half is retail sales and the balance is property development and associated works. Garden centres have been a major part of Allan’s business for many years and he has his own nursery in Southland as his source of supply. He started Willowridge Property development in Wanaka in 1993.To date he has concentrated his efforts in Otago and Southland and he cited a shortage of staff as a limiting factor in the growth of their businesses. His two main messages for success in business were (a) the importance of repeat customers, and (b) the benefits of vertical integration in the property development sector, where they control as many of the inputs as possible.
