Kiwi firm takes Fastway to success

Turning over $485 million a year, the original company is now focused entirely on the franchising side of the business, no longer directly owning and running vans.

The man who started it all was Bill McGowan, now semi-retired, said chief executive Bruce Speers.

Mr McGowan saw a gap in the Hawke's Bay market in 1983 and, as a 29-year-old, decided he could fill it.

Two vans were bought and an hourly pickup and delivery service between the Hawke's Bay cities of Napier and Hastings started.

That first year was incredibly successful and more vans were added to the fleet, then called HB Couriers, said Mr Speers.

"Couriering was very, very expensive then, so there was a significant hole in the market."

The level of business and the realisation that he was running his van far more efficiently than his employees were their vehicles, spawned the franchise idea.

"Bill was running pickups and deliveries, and saw that he got better fuel economy and achieved more, so he realised bringing on self-employed couriers was the answer."

The 12-month anniversary also saw a name change, to Fastway Couriers.

And the business just kept growing - the franchises spreading across New Zealand.

In 1993, 10 years after those first vans hit the road, the model was taken over to Australia, where success was immediate.

Six years later the company was offering master franchises.

These saw the company select suitable people to take on country- wide franchises in England, Scotland, Wales, Germany, Ireland, Northern Ireland and South Africa - bringing the total number of vans to 1600.

No more countries were on the agenda at the moment, said Mr Speers.

"Once we get over this economic blip there might be more, but right now we're consolidating in South Africa [started two years ago] and maintaining the core business."

And even after all that growth Fastway Couriers was still run from the Hawke's Bay, a long way from New Zealand's usual international head office cities of Auckland and Wellington. That was unlikely to change, said Mr Speers. "We've got massive loyalty to Hawke's Bay," he said.

"It's where we all started. There are lots of advantages - lower overheads and high-quality loyal staff. And electronic media has negated any of the old disadvantages of being away from the big cities."

- © Fairfax NZ News