History »

In the late 1940’s Douglas Spackman began making plumbing related fittings on a lathe under his house in Wellington.

From that beginning Spackman Engineering Co. Ltd was incorporated in November 1953.

In the late 1950’s a site in Kingsford Smith Street, Rongotai, Wellington was acquired and a new building erected, and over the next several years several additions were erected to cope with sales growth.

Sales grew on two fronts; the company was successful in introducing new and innovative Plumbing solutions for a burgeoning building industry in New Zealand at the time. In addition to supplying  High Quality Brass fittings for the Plumbing Industry the company also supplied contract componentry to such high profile companies as Electrolux, National Radiators, General motors to name but a few.

In 1967 Douglas Spackman decided to pursue other Engineering interests and approached Consolidated Metal Industries (C.M.I.) a New Zealand Public Company that had  several subsidiaries producing Nails, Fencing Products, Saucepan ware and other engineering related products to see if they were interested in acquiring his business as he felt this would be a good fit for his Engineering business.

C.M.I. then went on to buy Douglas Spackman out in 1967 and changed the name of the business to Spartan Engineering Co Limited in early 1968.

The company then expanded its range of equipment and consequently more sophisticated componentry contracts were gained. At the same time the range of Plumbing products also continued to grow and expand.

In the mid 1980’s when Import Licensing tariffs were largely abolished Spartan began exporting Plumbing Fittings to Australia. Most of their customers were manufacturers who found Spartan could manufacture high quality products at more affordable prices than they could obtain locally, as a result exports grew over this time to eventually account for 30% of sales revenue.

During 1982 through 1987 Brierley Investments Ltd. built up a shareholding in Spartan.

Then in late 1987 Brierleys took complete control of Spartan but then went on to sell Spartan to Fletcher Steel in March 1988

From there Fletcher’s then divested a number of C.M.I. Subsidiaries – Spartan being one of those.

So the next significant stage in Spartan’s history began as Spartan was bought from Fletchers under a management buyout led by Mr. Rowland Ward and a consortium of 5 other staff members as minor shareholders.

In 1991/2 Quality Accreditations were gained for ISO9002, Australian Standard 3688 and Australian Standard 2642 which enhanced Spartan’s ability to gain local and export contracts.

In 1994 the Australian manufacturing customers moved their purchasing further offshore again which enabled Spartan to concentrate fully on the New Zealand Plumbing Industry resulting in the expansion of product into supplementary categories additional to the key focus on Brassware.

In 1995 Spartan led the way, in an industry first, putting its registered Trade Names/Marks on all Products making it easier for End Users to identify Spartan branded products whilst reinforcing Spartans commitment to its brand and quality.

During this period Spartan relocated to new premises in Rongotai, Wellington and staff exceeded 50 Full time employees.

By the late 1990’s it became clear that the actual Manufacturing would have to be shifted offshore for Spartan to maintain viability. Spartan embraced this challenge and began a lengthy process to identify and secure only manufacturers of high quality imported products, to supplement those that were able to remain manufactured in New Zealand. Using Spartans own Manufacturing drawings and machinery alongside considerable training and support Spartan began the transition to Importing its  product, whilst always insisting upon the use of only the highest quality brass in any manufacturing process. With over 300 line items to produce this proved to be a lengthy process but  Spartan’s commitment to ensuring that only the highest quality products bore the companies name also resulted in some industry leading innovation in the manufacturing process.

In 2009 the impending retirement of the significant Spartan shareholder created an opportunity for new ownership. This new ownership led by  Managing Director John Alexander and his fellow shareholders  has seen the company move to another exciting phase of its development, as well as move physically to more modern premises.  This move ably demonstrates Spartans  increased investment in innovation as well as being well placed to deliver  on their expansion in the product range offered to the New Zealand Plumbing industry.

By Mid-2010, and focusing on “back of Wall” products Spartan began increasing its range of plumbing products in several key categories including Stainless Steel hoses, Wastes, Taps and connectors.

 In late 2010 Spartan further expended our product offer and launched a complete range of Compression fittings for use in both gas and water situations. The “Shires” brand of compression fittings continues to grow and has gained the confidence of many Plumbers and Plumbing Merchants across the country. At this time Spartan recognized the need to provide customers with higher levels of service and analysis, causing Spartan to further invest in their own  IT, resulting in a significant investment  in their new Navision platform. This IT platform has been purpose built to meet stringent criteria around customer service and analysis which Spartan believes will only contribute admirably to their already established reputation for Superior Service.

In 2011 Spartan acquired Plumpak Products Ltd in a move which opened up further new categories for the company whilst also consolidating supply to Key Customers, in addition to the current Spartan range of products the company now added, Ball Valves, Valve Boxes, Rainwater Products, Holderbats, Copper Fittings, Wastes and an extensive range of associated Gas products to compliment Spartans existing range.

Today sees Spartan continuing to strive for improvement and sees Spartan focus heavily on providing both superior products and service to an ever growing customer base. As a leading supplier to the New Zealand Plumbing Industry Spartan is fully committed to industry innovation and development.