Since being established around 35 years ago, Park Supplies and Playgrounds has been manufacturing and supplying full playgrounds and playground parts to school, councils, property developers and more across New Zealand. Well over 100 full playgrounds are made per year, as well as thousands of spare parts and part playgrounds.
Managing Director and co-owner Brian Dewar wants to continue providing safe playgrounds that challenge children and remain unbroken over a long period of time. He says that people often enjoy how children keep coming back to play on his playgrounds, instead of only playing on them once.
Local roots and future horizons
Dewar explains that while there are 4-5 main playground companies in NZ (including Park Supplies and Playgrounds), much of his competition relies on importing playgrounds from overseas, whereas Park Supplies and Playgrounds is 100% based on making playgrounds in New Zealand.
When thinking of the future, Dewar is looking to maintain the growth of the business while continuing to supply enjoyable, long-lasting playgrounds for NZ children.
“The business has been growing, and we just want to keep growing and keep providing really fun playgrounds that last a long time for kiwi kids…”
Why Park Supplies and Playgrounds is NZ made
Dewar enjoys co-owning an NZ made business from a social perspective. He’s able to employ a lot of kiwis, and he can also offer innovation and customisation by running operations locally.
“We like being a New Zealand made business from a social point of view. We employ a lot of people here and we can employ more by doing it here. For the customer, there’s a real benefit. There’s the innovation that can happen, and they can come and we can make things specifically for what they need.”
Being NZ made also provides environmental benefits. Dewar doesn’t import anything, cutting out the negative ecological impacts of that, and by having the playgrounds made locally using NZ resources, it makes recycling them much easier.
Dewar loves the positive reception his playgrounds get from children. When he comes back to his playgrounds 5-15 years after they’ve been opened and he sees kids still playing on them, that signals to him that he’s done a good job.
“The biggest thrill is when you open the playground, when that ribbon gets cut at a school or a public play space, and you see these kids flock onto that playground and enjoy the physical challenge of it, the imaginative side of it, the socialisation and the fun…”
