history

The longstanding Arbuckles brand is about to fade into oblivion as the manchester chain's new owner, Jan Cameron, liquidates stock in preparation to close the stores.

Ms Cameron, the former Kathmandu owner, is expected to use the sites to launch a new chain of homeware stores called Dogs Breakfast Trading Company, which she has already set up in Australia.

Ms Cameron, who has a wealth of $320 million according to the 2008 National Business Review Rich List, bought Arbuckles two weeks ago for $4 million from Postie Plus Group. She took over 13 stores throughout New Zealand, bought all the stock and re-employed most of the staff. Those stores were now advertising closing down liquidation sales.

Arbuckles was founded 35 years ago by John Arbuckle, who started the chain out of a van in Christchurch. He and his wife Vicki sold it to Postie Plus in 2003 for $9.5 million.

Ms Cameron could not be reached directly, but a spokeswoman at Arbuckles' head office in Christchurch said she had told staff she did not want to comment.

Dogs Breakfast Trading Company sells furniture, homeware, crockery and premium pet food, according to the store's Australian website.

Ms Cameron owns a chain of five homeware stores in New Zealand, called Nood. It was not known if she would use some of the former Arbuckles stores to expand Nood.

Union Relevance in Aotearoa in the 21st Century

Laila Harré
National Secretary
National Distribution Union

Stefan Preston, it has to be said, has an office many men would kill for.  Above his desk is a large framed print of a woman in sexy pink lingerie that could have been lifted from a soft porn magazine. And there is plenty more where that came from.  The clean white walls of his spacious office feature quite a few framed images of gorgeous girls in gorgeous knickers that, in any other company, would probably land the occupant in trouble with HR.

In fact, it's hard to know quite where to look when visiting Bendon's flash new headquarters on the outskirts of the aerotropolis that now dominates Mangere. Almost every surface is decorated with an image of a naked or semi-naked woman - some larger than life-size.

"There were some moments early on that were interesting," Preston grins. Like the time one of the models in a lingerie show took exception to the chief executive slaving away on his laptop while she strutted her stuff. She grabbed Preston's computer, thrust her boobs in his face, and cooed: "What are you doing that's so important that you're not looking at me?"

Five-and-a-half years after taking on the top job at New Zealand's favourite lingerie company, pert breasts and firm buttocks no longer faze the 44-year-old. In fact, you get the impression the saucy side of the business is a bit wasted on Preston, who has done such a superb job of trying to understand his overwhelmingly female customers that he probably knows far more about women's complicated relationships with their bodies than his own wife.

He was originally a structural engineer who, after completing an MBA at Stanford, somehow ended up being Eric Watson's fix-it man for companies as various as U-Bix, Cogent Communications, Whitcoulls and Pacific Retail Group. And, ahem, the dotcom disaster that was online retailer Flying Pig.  A much more revealing insight into his psyche than his office art is the pile of management books stacked on his impeccably tidy desk. They include, of course, Jim Collins' Good to Great, as well as rather more dreary titles such as Customer Experience Management and The Experience Economy.

His children's masterpieces are also proudly displayed, and the kids - who are primary school age - are in fact one of the main reasons he announced to staff yesterday that he was leaving.  "I've given it a fair shake and I've achieved what I set out to do," he explains. "You have to sit there and say 'I've got to commit myself to the next five years and the sort of life that will represent'. I've got young kids and, realistically, it's going to be more of the same now. The back's been broken, we've built the infrastructure, we've broken into the markets we needed to, we've developed a profitable position in those markets, and now you have to take a deep breath and run a different game to get that benefit out.  "And it requires me to spend more and more time in the Northern Hemisphere and so on. There are probably people in the world who can do that job better than me because they've got more experience and more focus and more connections in those markets."

A global search is already under way for a new chief executive, who might even be based overseas. It's unclear whether it will happen in the short term, but it certainly looks as though yet another iconic Kiwi brand might eventually be headed offshore.  Could New Zealand really be about to lose Bendon? "It depends how you define New Zealand," Preston replies.  The turnaround in Bendon's fortunes in recent years is indeed a textbook example for other New Zealand companies of how to go global.

When Watson's Pacific Retail Group took over the company in 2002, by a somewhat messy manoeuvre, it was in a "reasonably parlous" state, says Preston.  Watson had originally invested in the company because he could see it had enormous potential. "Clearly it hadn't had anything spent on it. It had been through five pretty tough years of manufacturing and exporting and it had been one of those businesses where people had tried to rescue the profit margin by cutting costs, and of course the costs they cut were the very costs that support the revenue - things like training, and so on."

Its warehouse was old-fashioned, and management worked in an executive suite with big windows, while the rest of the staff toiled in a semi-air-conditioned space.  "We were based out in East Tamaki, and I don't know what vintage the building was, but it looked like it hadn't been touched since the 70s. The computer system was 12 years old and, if something went wrong with it, people would switch it off at the wall, and switch it back on and pray. There was only one person alive who knew anything about it."

What the company did have, however, was some strong brands, including a potentially huge partnership with Australian supermodel Elle Macpherson.  Preston fell into the top job after getting involved in doing due diligence for Watson. He took over temporarily when managing director Hugo Venter parted ways with the company, and after a few months decided he wouldn't mind staying. 

Unlike most other turnarounds Preston has overseen, Bendon was complex. It not only designed and made its own products, but also sold them through various channels in various countries, including wholesale, third-party retail, franchise stores, its own shops, and discount outlets.  On his first day, he got a letter from Bendon's largest customer, saying it would no longer be stocking the company's flagship brand, Elle Macpherson Intimates. And Macpherson herself was not happy that sales of the brand were declining, while private label products were growing.

It was clear what had to be done: he needed to stabilise and fix the domestic business, then build the infrastructure to support growth, then grow the business internationally.  First off, it was a matter of working on some fast-moving lines and sorting out delivery issues. This had a "surprisingly quick" effect, he says.

Working on Macpherson took a bit longer. The Aussie icon told the Australian Financial Review recently: "I explored other avenues before I decided to expand with Bendon. But I chose the company because it has a young attitude, it is interested and open to my ideas. It doesn't have brand image baggage."  One of the tricky issues was working out how to develop the Elle Macpherson brand without having her continue to be "The Body" who modelled the products.  "I guess what we thought is, if the brand is dependent on her being in the photography, then we're in trouble, because she's not going to be in the photography forever," says Preston. "But if Elizabeth Arden can be dead and her brand is alive, then it doesn't really matter."

The answer was a deliberately controversial ad campaign which, Preston admits, was "almost queasily voyeuristic". The campaign was spectacularly successful and won a swag of awards in Australia and Britain (where Bendon spent just £70,000 ($199,000). Even now, he says, there is strong demand for the Elle Macpherson brand in countries where Bendon does not yet sell.

Hiring the right people was also a crucial part of the strategy. Almost the entire senior team was replaced.  In order to turn the business from a manufacturing-led culture to a marketing culture, he hired marketers with a background in fast-moving consumer goods. An enormous amount of research was done to improve the company's retail experience, for example. Initially, its flagship store, Bendon on Broadway, existed just to build the brand, says Preston. But all its stores have now been revamped as separately themed, upmarket boutiques with excellent service and customer-friendly changing rooms. The stores won the fashion, apparel and footwear category in the Top Shop awards last year.

The next growth spurt required another change, to a more design and marketing-led approach. In other words, rather than asking consumers what they wanted and giving it to them, the company had to use its own knowledge of the industry and its customers to create products no one had yet thought of, like the Bendon sports bra. The latter approach has required a much more collaborative culture, and has meant the company has undergone two cultural transformations in just five years.  However, Preston is now very happy with the team that's in place.  "The core group of people here work together really well. We felt we were on a great adventure - this plucky, irreverent group of New Zealanders who just want to have a go, but with the brains and experience to make the right calls."

Bendon's determination to break into the hypercompetitive United States market is a case in point.  "You've got to start out with a bit of recklessness," he says. "You've got to be willing to get on the plane and give it a go. But you won't get anywhere unless you're fully committed to it. A lot of New Zealand exporters think they can develop their brand overseas through distributors, and not really fly anywhere and not really put any staff on the ground. They see some orders come in and think they can build a business, but all that is is a bunch of retailers looking for something new. Unless you're willing to be on the ground and commit, it's not really going to happen."

It also goes without saying that you need to have a unique selling point. In Bendon's case, he says, that is a surprisingly uncommon blend of comfort and creative design. Most lingerie, he insists, either looks good but doesn't fit, or fits but doesn't look good.  It took a year of listening, networking and radically transforming what it was doing in the US before the company's patience began to pay off. And again, clever and inexpensive marketing was crucial. One of Bendon's stunts was to clad a 16-storey building on the Long Island Expressway with a giant billboard during New York Fashion Week. The billboard gave the impression that the brand was much bigger than it was - it also helped that a planning violation was committed, which meant that it made the TV news.

Bendon now sells in several top department stores in the US, and has an office in New York that also services Canada. But its initial efforts did require bravery on the part of the board, he concedes.  "I think a lot of boards lack the vision ... You can't write a business plan that tells you exactly what's going to happen. You just know you've got to reach a break-even position in one of the world's largest markets. What you do with that later is going to be subject to what you learn, but you have to have the willingness to commit to get to that level."

That said, Preston admits he's deliberately kept a low profile during his tenure at Bendon because of some of the risks the company has had to take. Its biggest hiccup was when it introduced its global enterprise resource planning system, intended to integrate all its data and processes into a unified system. He's glad it wasn't a public company at that point.  Other infrastructural investments have included a $14 million state-of-the-art distribution facility at its new headquarters in Mangere. The 7000sq m facility, which opened a year ago, handles up to 1 million packages a month. The company also has a warehouse in Seattle, and China.

So far, all the company's growth has been funded from retained profits. "Since we've grown the business we've been able to lever it up as well, so it's been reasonably efficient."  Five years ago, Bendon's turnover was around $80 million, and the kiwi was hovering around US40c. Last year turnover was $154 million, and the kiwi was around US70c. More than two-thirds of its products are now exported, and that's all organic growth.  In the previous companies he's been asked to turn around, the task has been relatively straightforward, says Preston: "You replace most of the management team, fix up all the basic operating parameters, put a bit of leadership into it, think up some fairly basic ideas about how to market it, and off you go."

But Bendon has been much more interesting, he says, because the possibilities are almost endless. "The company is in an interesting position now because it's developed a global reputation, and it's done that on the back of successful retail, off the number one position on the floors of some of the top-level department stores in Europe and the US. There is no theoretical limit to how you want to grow it, because you can take on the whole world if you want to - the only limit being your creativity and ability to come up with products that are differentiated in a meaningful way."

But unlike some other local export success stories, such as Icebreaker clothing, there is actually nothing about Bendon that is intrinsically Kiwi, other than perhaps its design aesthetic and its attitude, he muses.  Its sales in Australasia are run from Melbourne, and its European sales are run from London. It also has a chain of retail stores in the Middle East, run by an Arab partner.  As a result of its latest licensing agreement, with top British fashion designer Stella McCartney, it will be exporting to 16 countries from the beginning of next year, including Italy, Germany, France and Russia. Only 200 of its 500 staff worldwide are based here.

Preston admits it has become increasingly difficult to find in New Zealand the skilled staff the company needs, simply because New Zealand no longer has any apparel industry of any note. "In New York I can hire the people I need just like that."

Which is ironic, given the company has been hailed as the future of manufacturing, whereby thousands of low-skilled workers would be replaced by high-skilled ones.  He insists that the country is still better off than when Bendon employed hundreds of machinists on low wages. "Now it's full of marketers and designers and product engineers, and the value per capita that we're generating is far greater."

But by the same token, he concedes he can already feel the centre of gravity in the company moving north, especially now that it is establishing a design team in New York.  Hence his desire to finally end his relationship with the London-based Watson, and find another local challenge in which to immerse himself.  "The one thing that would attract me to going overseas is a more interesting, more scalable, more remunerative business environment. But I love this country. I was born here and I just love living here. I love the outdoors, the sea and the fishing and the boating and the mountains and the hiking and skiing, and I think my children love it."

Between running Bendon, and keeping fit with various sporting activities, he is involved with New Zealand Trade and Enterprise's Beachheads programme, which helps exporters break into new markets, and also Better by Design, which is obviously design-focused. They are both fantastic programmes, he gushes, for companies wanting to grow.  While he has found the experience a little depressing, because of companies' conservatism and New Zealand's lack of commitment to exporting, he has also been encouraged by some "tremendously cool" examples of companies doing some "really amazing" things, like Icebreaker, Pumpkin Patch, and Phil and Ted's buggy company.

And it upsets him that New Zealand seems to lack role models for people who've been able to create intrinsic value and successfully export their wares.  "Our business heroes tend to be people who are just ripping off public assets, or rearranging the deckchairs on existing companies or whatever, and then taking the money and going overseas."

And he's even prepared to commit sacrilege and slag off 42Below.  "It's a good example of branding, but it doesn't make much money, and now it's gone so it doesn't help New Zealand any more.  "I think we need to have a bit more intellectual rigour about how we judge a business that's good for New Zealand or not."

What we need are more Icebreakers, he enthuses.  "I'm quite passionate about businesses like that and I think there are more businesses in New Zealand that could blaze that trail as well. But unfortunately many of them are stuck with owners who do not have the skills, experience, commitment or capital to take them any further than they have."

In the creative industries, in particular, there are many companies that hit $10-$15 million in revenue, then stop.  "I could name eight companies like that. Each one, I believe, could be turned into a $200 million business, but they've got the wrong owners, the wrong management ... "  At the risk of sounding a little like Linda Clark, he is keen for his next project to be working alongside people "who believe in the vision of New Zealand, of growing this country, and contributing to this country".

He is, after all, a cerebral fellow. While he was able to create the intellectual stimulation he needs through Bendon, "I don't see any reason why I couldn't create it through some other project, and I can afford to spend the time working on that - and who knows what will come of it?"  So far, he has nothing specific in mind. But he is also clearly ready for a new, uniquely New Zealand challenge.  "My passion is New Zealand and I look around and think, 'What if I had some spare time and I could go and look at solving some of those problems?'

"It's just so exciting to me to think I could learn how to take some New Zealand company and learn how to make it a global business. What about the other ones out there that I could work on? I have just no idea what form that would take, but I think that's just an interesting thing, and I need a new project and something to get excited about."  Because frankly, stars in their bras no longer cuts it, it seems.

Bendon - a brief history
1947: Ray Hurley, a demobilised naval officer, joins forces with his pattern cutter brother Des to found Hurley Bendon. The new company offers lingerie that can literally "bend on" to the body, freeing women from heavy wire, steel and bone foundation garments.
1963: Introduces stretch strap bras and stretch bodyfashions.
1964: Sales top $1 million.
1966: Becomes the market leader in intimate apparel in New Zealand.
1977: Bendon range introduced to Australia.
1982: Publicly floated on the New Zealand stock exchange.
1986: Begins manufacturing in China.
1987: Merges with Ceramco Corporation.
1989: Strikes licensing agreement with Australian supermodel Elle Macpherson.
1999: Announces nearly 400 staff will be laid off as manufacturing moves to Asia.
2000: Buys the insolvent retail chain Bennett & Bain, as well as the Fayreform brand.
2001: Breaks into the United Kingdom.
2002: Management buyout fails. Acquired by Pacific Retail Group for $59 million.
2004: Revamps its retail stores as upmarket themed boutiques.
2005: Breaks into the United States, Canada, Middle East, and Hong Kong. Turnover reported to be $113 million.
2006: Auckland headquarters moves from East Tamaki to Mangere.
2007: Buys chain of independent retail stores in Australia. Strikes licensing agreement with UK fashion designer Stella McCartney. Turnover reaches $154 million.

PARA RUBBER remains one of New Zealand's best known retail brands despite its chequered history.

The company was founded in 1910 by Christchurch businessman George Skellerup, mainly to supply a wide range of rubber- based products to farmers. After World War II, Skellerup also founded Skellerup Industries which made many of the products sold in the Para Rubber stores.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the chain grew steadily and its shops, with their eclectic mix of foam mattresses, gumboots, jandals and ubiquitous Para Pools, became a fixture in most big towns and suburban shopping centres.

But the chain started on a slow decline after it was acquired by Brierley Investments in the 1980s, and the individual stores were franchised. Over the next 20 years it went through several changes in its ownership structure and by the time it was acquired by Auckland businessman Ross Van Horn in 2000 there were just eight stores left, none of them in Auckland.

In 2003, Van Horn opened a Para outlet at Mt Roskill in Auckland as the flagship store and kept the franchise for it himself.

But last year he sold the Para Rubber master franchise to the Plastic Box retail chain, a co- operative of 33 owner operated stores. It intends to revitalise the Para brand and expects to eventually have about 35 Para stores throughout the country.

The Mt Roskill store is now well established and Van Horn has decided to sell that also and concentrate on his other business, a bathroom supplies maker.

He said the store was now turning over more than $1 million a year and was very profitable.

He said he had been running it under management and had stayed in the background with "my foot on the chequebook", but said a hands-on husband and wife team assisted by a couple of staff could "pull out $100,000 a year quite comfortably".

The prices of the goods sold range from $15,000 for a large Para Pool package to just a few cents for the rubber feet for table and chair legs.

The biggest product category by turnover is the pools, though sales have been hit by this summer's weather.

The next biggest category is foam and rubber sheeting, sold as ready-made products such as mattresses or by the piece, which is cut to order for people doing their own upholstery work.

Footwear is also a big seller - gumboots and jandals sell equally well all year round, as do cheap canvas topped sneakers, a mainstay since the 1970s.

Van Horn has listed the business for sale as a going concern with Jeff Bracegirdle of Re/Max Central at $410,000 including stock.

A company's image is always reliant on how its staff interact with customers and clients. And there are plenty of businesses that have decided a corporate wardrobe is one way to stand out from the crowd. By Patricia Moore.

Once there were 'staff uniforms'. Today there are 'corporate wardrobes'. And they're no longer the preserve of flight attendants and posties.

As a growing number of companies realise that every member of their staff is a potential brand ambassador, businesses of all types and sizes are providing fashionable, wearable gear for employees.

Brand building may be one reason for a uniform approach to business but there are other advantages, says the managing director of Career Classics Corporate Wear, Carol Gribble.

* The company's image is improved when the staff project a clean, professional appearance.

* Identification - a company uniform clearly identifies who to go to for information.

* Security - authorised company personnel are easily identified.

* Building team spirit and productivity.

* Employee and employer benefits - wearing a uniform saves personal expense; the supply of uniforms can be included in a wage package and is deductible as a company expense.

Deane Apparel's national sales and marketing manager, Corey Mulligan, says the whole market for work-related clothing is continuing to grow as more companies look to enhance their company image. He says that this includes a good number of smaller businesses.

Deane Apparel has been in business for 65 years in New Zealand and is the largest marketer of work-clothing in the country. Its range covers everything from corporate clothing to overalls.

The company has been in Australia since 1996 and its clothing is either manufactured at one of its three Christchurch factories or imported.

Gribble says it's important to spend some time considering specific requirements when choosing work apparel.

"What is the reason a company is moving into corporate apparel? A uniform will be a reflection of their company brand, so what are their brand values? Are there any OSH issues?" Other considerations include the amount of wear and tear a garment will be subjected to, consistency of supply and the availability of branding options.

And, says Gribble, who in a previous life wore the Air New Zealand uniform, researching staff requirements is also vital.

Deane Apparel's Mulligan says work clothing, in general, is becoming much more stylish and fashionable and, while he doesn't want to talk specifics, it is a very affordable way for companies to upgrade their image.

Amongst the trends Mulligan points to is a desire for fabrics that are easy to care for and companies finding the right "look" for their staff - the clothing must be something staff want to wear.

There are a number of approaches companies can take when thinking staff wardrobes; generic (off-the-shelf) apparel, which ranges from polo shirts and casual jackets through to smart corporate wear, and made-to-order designs involving value requirement contracts. This is more often the choice of larger corporates. Another option is a combination of ready-to-wear and made-to-order giving companies a point of difference without straining the budget.

But think twice before sourcing a bunch of shirts from a local retailer and having them branded; chances are they won't be able to repeat the style when you turn up for replacements. Consistency of supply is essential for wardrobes to work.

At Ezibuy Corporate around 60 percent of corporate business is in the generic or casual corporate area, says business unit manager Delena McAtamney.

The company was formed 12 years ago when mail order company Ezibuy found it was receiving a growing number of requests from small businesses to supply corporate apparel.

Today its customer base ranges from clients with as few as one or two staff through to companies employing thousands and, says McAtamney, the market's growing.

"Every year we have customers who change their total look and there are many others discovering the benefits of a total branded look for their people and moving into the uniform arena for the first time."

She says the focus of their corporate range is to provide a solution for smaller businesses but adds their importing expertise and buying power is also a major attraction for large companies with major uniform requirements.

At Career Classics most product is currently made in New Zealand and Gribble says this has meant closer control over quality.

"However in the last 10 years we have lost more and more of the skills required for this industry and as each factory closes down we have to look more towards an importing base." She says this isn't easy as overseas importing requires large quantities not so suited to specialised company uniform demands.

Industry players also highlight the importance of working with a supplier who can not only supply apparel to a company's specifications and within budget, but has the necessary IT logistics and reporting systems in place to guarantee delivery as and when needed.

And, says Gribble, "Do your homework. Ask for references, visit the company premises and meet the team. Deciding to have a company uniform usually means a long-term commitment and you want to work with people who are prepared to work for and with you in the future."

The case for staff uniforms

Office & General Cleaning Services - winner of two major categories in the 2003 Golden Service Awards sponsored by Kimberly Clark - is typical of many companies whose staff are uniformly clad.

Director Raewyn Phillips says it's important for security reasons that staff are easily recognised while working on client sites but says, in addition, a well presented and visibly branded uniform increases the company profile and ensures staff are presenting a professional image on their behalf, at all times.

"Because our staff [totalling around 200] perform a wide range of duties we have a range of uniforms to suit every situation."

She says these include cleaners' uniforms which must combine practical considerations with their requirement for a professional image, corporate attire for senior operations and customer services staff and OSH garments for hazardous specialist work.

All garments - with the exception of the corporate suits - feature the Office & General logo.

Phillips says a jade colour scheme was chosen because it's flattering for most complexions and reflects their brand colours.

"The colours of the uniforms tie in with everything else the client sees - from our website to invoices and customer communication logbooks - all helping to ensure a complete and consistent brand experience."

Consistency of product is very important for Office & General, says Phillips. "Our supplier needs to have stock on hand so there's a minimum delay when we place an order. When we need uniforms we often need them immediately."

Tourism Transport and South Auckland Glass are considerably smaller companies, but staff uniforms are just as important to them.

Graeme Dobson, marketing director at Tourism Transport, which runs Super Shuttle, says its current uniform is the result of a re-branding exercise.

"We needed to provide a mechanism for relaunching an existing business brand and integrating another smaller brand under one umbrella that encapsulated and reinforced the service we offered."

He says their look is 'corporate casual' and they've chosen garments which look smart with a minimum of care. And, he says, their choice of supplier was driven by a mix of pricing, choice of designs and warehousing arrangements.

Initial mock-ups were run past the staff and they're very happy with the outcome. Dobson says there has been some tweaking of designs since the introduction of the uniform. "We've introduced some new items including bomber jackets which suit the women a lot better," he says.

Durability and comfort, plus an opportunity to advertise, were the drivers when South Auckland Glass chose its company uniforms. Director Steven Chittenden says they keep it fairly simple with shirts and sweaters all carrying the company logo.

They've chosen generic gear and decided on their supplier because of the ease of ordering and excellent service offered. Chittenden believes his team projects a professional look and has been pleased with the reaction from clients.

"We've had some wanting the same thing for themselves."

Noel Rudkin was a Christchurch businessman of high principles and strong commitment to family values.  Mr Rudkin, who died on November 11, aged 87, built up the family clothing manufacturing company of Lane Walker Rudkin (LWR), which he joined straight from school.

Born in Christchurch in 1915, he attended St Andrew's College, where he was an able but not outstanding student and an accomplished middle-distance runner.  Leaving school at 15, in the Depression, he joined his father in LWR at Sydenham. The company had been formed long before by a merger of the Rudkin garment business with Lane and Walker's wool scouring and spinning firm in Ashburton.

He studied accountancy part-time at Canterbury University before the outbreak of World War 2, when he enlisted in the army. However, after six months of training at Burnham, he was -- despite his protests -- commandeered back to LWR by the Government just as he was preparing to be shipped overseas. He had wanted to fight for his country, but he instead immersed himself in the war-effort production in which LWR was heavily involved.

He married Margery Skjellerup, from a well- known Christchurch family, in 1940. They had three daughters and two sons.

The company grew rapidly, establishing satellite factories in many small South Island towns. Noel Rudkin believed a successful business had a responsibility to provide employment so people could live with dignity, his son, Peter, says.  "He was a serious man with a very moral, responsible attitude. His honesty and integrity were beyond reproach." He taught the children the importance of honesty and not benefiting at the expense of others, Peter Rudkin says.  This view generated loyalty among his staff. Families of staff members used to go out of their way to help the company when difficult deadlines had to be met.

Many people who became leaders in the clothing trade had their training under Noel Rudkin. He showed his staff respect, chatted to them, and knew hundreds by their names. This respect was reciprocated, especially after some of the many kindnesses Mr Rudkin extended to staff members in difficulties.

After the war, he visited several countries to explore new products and manufacturing technology. One trip led to the securing of licences to produce the Jockey brand of underwear, which marked a turning point for LWR.  When his colleague Arthur Lee died in 1964, Mr Rudkin became the company's managing director and chairman. On his retirement, 15 years later, at the age of 65, LWR staff numbered more than 4000.

Outside his work, Mr Rudkin was a keen hunter. He loved the outdoors and took his family skating, skiing, boating, and tramping. He was fond of cars and took meticulous care of a succession of Mercedes Benz cars which he owned.  He bought a bach at Charteris Bay and often took the family there for holidays, swimming, boating, and water skiing. Later, he bought a bach in the Marlborough Sounds, where he and Mrs Rudkin spent much time in their retirement.

Peter Rudkin remembers his father's dismay when the 1980s Labour Government ushered in Rogernomics. His feelings were with the poor, the unemployed, the downtrodden, the ill- educated, and against the levels of wealth being created for the few.  This was not the way New Zealand should be, he said. "The poor cannot understand how some people earn millions, while they work hard for peanuts," he told his son.

Mr Rudkin was "a quiet but generous benefactor". He supported many causes but liked to remain anonymous. --Mike Crean

* Noel Herrick Rudkin, born September 10, 1915, Christchurch. Died November 11, 2002, Christchurch. Survived by his wife Margery, daughters Pamela, Diana, and Kathryn, and sons Keith and Peter, and their spouses, and 14 grandchildren.

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CAPTION:
Noel Rudkin: believed a successful business had a responsibility to provide employment so people could live with dignity.