Successful Porirua Businesses
This section profiles some of Porirua's successful businesses.
On this page:
Effuzi International
Setting up business in Porirua was a “no brainer” for Murray Treweek, managing director of Effuzi International.
That was 20 years ago and although they have moved from their original home to larger premises, the company still operates out of Porirua.
"I’ve lived around the area for more than 35 years so it really was a no brainer to set up business here." Read more.
NorthSouth GIS Ltd
Over the past few years, local company NorthSouth GIS Ltd has gone global in a big way.
The company that started off as a husband and wife team working from home in Whitby, Porirua, now has a presence in the United States and India as well as a large share of the New Zealand geographic information systems market.
David and Beryl Pimblott decided to set up the company 20 years ago from Whitby because they didn't want to have to commute into Wellington.
They are still doing it all from Whitby although it looks a bit different now. Read more.
First Windows and Doors
Expanding a business and keeping it profitable are two different things, says Alex Laplanche, Director of First Windows and Doors, Elsdon, Porirua.
"As the company has grown and expanded we’ve had to learn how to live in our new skin many times. Size doesn’t always mean better efficiency."
Two years ago the company realised they were doing a lot of work but were growing too big. Read more.
Whittaker’s Chocolates
Think Peanut Slab and the chances are you’ll think of Porirua chocolate manufacturers, Whittaker’s. First launched in the 1950s, Whittaker’s Peanut Slab is still one of the best-selling chocolate bars in the country today.
The company, originally founded in 1896 by James Henry Whittaker in Christchurch moved to Wellington in 1913 and then to a larger factory site in Porirua in 1969.
Forty years later the local company is still on the same site in Elsdon and continues to go from strength to strength currently expanding its factory. Read more.
