WHEN John Flowers arrived to take charge at Olex Cables, one of his new colleagues warned him that no factory manager there had ever lasted more than eight months.
"When I arrived the place was a bloody disaster," he says.
Twenty-nine years later, Mr Flowers is retiring from this position - or "moving on" as he prefers to say.
Back then, workplace practices were bad, the products reached suppliers and customers about a year late - import protection, including 45% tariffs, had made the industry complacent and inefficient.
One of the first things that had to be done was to touch base with the company's customers and suppliers.
"I went to every one of our customers in New Zealandand said: `Look, we're behind and we're not going to be able to make your deliveries on time'.
"A business owner from Canadaonce told me that the most important thing is to get close to your customers," he says. "If you tell them the truth they can usually accept it."
Later he and his wife Diane took this further, spending five days every fortnight living in Aucklandas that was where most of their customers were.
"The electricity industry in this country is very small so your reputation as a supplier and a person is very important," he says. "People don't do business with people they don't trust.
"You don't have to like them - some of them I find objectionable."
Mr Flowers' son is bipolar and this sometimes clashed with the need to be close to customers.
"At one point in the early 1990s, I was spending a lot of time with customers in the western USAand it seemed that every time I was away some disaster would happen."
Mr Flowers was brought out to New Plymouth from Englandin 1974 to work at what was McKechnie Metals. A few years later he was asked to run the Canzac Cables factory. In 1984, this was bought out by Australian company Olex and renamed Olex Cables New Zealand.
Mr Flowers says the company had perhaps three bad years since he arrived - mostly driven by the economy. Business is booming now. Olex was sold to Paris-based cable giant Nexans in November but, far from downsizing the 40-year-old Bell Block plant, about 30 more jobs have been created since the days in 2001 when it looked like the plant might be closed completely. The $A515 million deal means that Olex is now part of the world's largest cable company.
Government policy, good infrastructure and the booming house and commercial building market have all contributed to Olex's success.
"Whatever the Government do, they will probably never be able to kill housing," he says when asked how long he sees this boom as lasting.
"More and more people are moving here and a lot of our housing was previously very poor and very old.
"People are coming here from places where they are used to living in apartments or in good quality world-class housing."
Mr Flowers describes his upbringing in Englandas tough, and the move to New Zealandas the best thing he ever did.
"We didn't have money and I had to save my pocket money for three years before I could buy my first bike," he says. "Those experiences make your character because you work harder to better yourself. What I left behind in Englandwas the class system. I try here to treat people as I want to be treated."
"Moving on" will mean more time for golf - a game in which Mr Flowers describes himself as keen but not skilled. When I arrived at his office for this interview he was finishing a discussion with a colleague on the merits and pitfalls of a certain golf course nearby.
There will also be more time to spend with family. Mr Flowers' daughter has recently returned to New Plymouth with her family where they run a coffee house in the central city.
He was awoken a few days ago by a telephone plea for help dealing with the crowds at the shop. A few minutes later, being the type who thrives in a crisis, he was serving coffee.
"I've read two books in the last few days: One was basically about how to retire and the other was about how to be idle," he says.
"If you've been in a high-pressure business you've got to plan your retirement - you can't just suddenly wake up in the morning and think: `What do I do now?"'
Last Friday, Mr Flowers handed control over to Tony Dunstan, who comes from Olex Australia. He says he's leaving the business in good hands. Now, for that golfing swing.
Interiew courtesy of Sharon Marris. Photo courtesy of Nic Gibson.
Copyright Taranaki Daily News.