The Fletcher
Trust Archives

The Fletcher Trust Archives preserves a unique record of New Zealand’s history, with the goal of helping New Zealanders learn more about the commerce and business life of our country and its interaction with the wider world.

Above:

Fletcher Construction:
Chateau Tongariro, Mt Ruapehu
completed, 1929

Above:

Fletcher Construction:
Truck, 1919

Right:
Fletcher Development & Construction:
New Hapuawhenua Viaduct, 1987

Far right:
Fletcher Construction:
Auckland University Clock Tower
1921

The strategic, operational and informational records of several hundred New Zealand companies and international subsidiaries, and their predecessors, which came to form the Fletcher Challenge Group, provide an insight into New Zealand business dating back to the 1840s.

They shed light on the economic development of New Zealand, the relationship between the business sector and government, and the impact and contribution made by thousands of people employed within the businesses over more than a hundred years.

Right:
Fletcher Development & Construction:
New Hapuawhenua Viaduct, 1987

Far right:
Fletcher Construction:
Auckland University Clock Tower
1921

Left:
Placemakers
North Shore, Auckland, 1986

The Companies

Companies with records in the collection include some of the most significant names and brands in New Zealand’s business history. Some of the sectors and businesses represented are:

  • Commercial construction and civil engineering (e.g. Fletcher Construction)
  • Pulp and paper industry (e.g. Tasman Pulp & Paper)
  • Building materials and merchanting (Placemakers and Winstone)
  • Stock and station agents (e.g. Wright Stephenson and Wrightson NMA)
  • Concrete and cement (e.g. Firth and Golden Bay)
  • Steel manufacture and merchanting (e.g. Pacific)
  • Oil and gas exploration, processing and transmission (e.g. Petrocorp)
  • Residential housing construction (e.g. Fletcher Residential)
  • Forestry and wood processing (e.g. Fletcher Forests and Fletcher Wood Panels)
  • Agriculture, meat and fishing (Challenge Meats and Fletcher Fishing)
  • Financial services (Marac and Broadbank)

Left:
Placemakers
North Shore, Auckland, 1986

Right:
Wright Stephenson & Co:
Dunedin manure store, 1908

This extensive collection of documents, photographic materials, audio-visual and sound recordings, maps, architectural drawings, company newspapers and publications is available to the public for research.

Browse the Archives

Right:
Wright Stephenson & Co:
Dunedin manure store, 1908