Pooles Joinery is one of the oldest businesses in New Zealand, with a rich history dating back to 1882. Named after George Pool (1850-1915) and originally known as George Poole & Sons, the business has always been based in Invercargill and began as a timber merchant before expanding into joinery sometime prior to 1900. George and his wife Elizabeth (1852-1954) were originally from Shropshire in England, before travelling to New Zealand on the Western Monarch sailship.
An early advertisement for Pooles notes a commitment to quality from the very beginning, proudly proclaiming how ‘all classes of woodware can be turned out by the firm as good as can be produced by anywhere in the Dominion and superior to most.’ This dedication to the craft was instilled in George’s three sons, who continued the family business and oversaw its steady expansion. In turn, they handed over Management to their own sons, and the 3rd generation of the Poole family quickly set about modernising the business.
The large chimney stack from the Pooles site would become a landmark of Invercargill, reaching up to the sky and emblazoned with the company name. The height was increased in the early 1920s and it would continue to dominate the city Skyline until 1975, when the business moved and the chimney was demolished.
By then, Harold Poole had grown the business considerably and had continued to take on larger, commercial projects. This included joinery for the Kelvin Hotel (1965) which was, at the time, one of the largest hotels in New Zealand. Other notable work from this period included the Alliance freezing works and Manapouri Village, a new development and by-product of the hydro-scheme. Then there was joinery for the Southland Harbour scheme in Bluff, an assortment of offices in and around the growing Invercargill centre, churches, and projects from further afield.
Throughout this period, the company remained much the same in many respects. As was noted in a publication from the mid 1970s, “the greatest strength the firm has is its reputation for quality goods and the ability to call on three generations of expertise to provide a service to customers.”
While it’s true that much has changed as we get closer to 150 years in business, our greatest strength hasn’t. We still enjoy the very same reputation for quality. We can still rely upon the expertise from multiple generations, too. Hayden Smith and his sons, Mitchell and Jackson, continue to uphold the values of Pooles and we’re still a family business. We’ve invested heavily in new machinery and today we’re pleased to combine the very best of innovation with traditional standards of craftsmanship.
The results can be seen in award-winning commercial buildings across New Zealand.
The majority of the joinery we craft for commercial projects doesn’t exist until we make it. Developers, architects and builders have to trust us to turn their intent into reality, and they have to trust us to do this on time and on budget.
And they do trust us. That’s because we take ownership and make everything easy. We work exceptionally hard to ensure both the experience of working together and the finished product exceed expectations. We want both to be remarkable. In fact, we stake our business on it.
It's also about delivering an assurance of quality. Nothing leaves our premises unless it's good enough to make you stare at it for a few minutes, then cross your arms, stand back and go 'wow - that's impressive'.
It's an ideas-through-to-installation thing, where every step of the way we look to deliver the assurance you need to know Pooles is the right choice for your project.