Waikato Business News September/October 2017

32 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS September/October 2017
Bill Foreman’s legacy remembered
James William Ferguson Foreman ONZM
28 March 1927 – 30 August 2017
Bill Foreman’s leadership,
vision and the
workplace culture he
engendered were remembered
recently at a function for the
plastics pioneer who died on
August 30.
A former employee of
his father Mortie’s company
Plastic Products, in 1971 Bill
Foreman joined John Gibb
and Bill Armstrong to establish
Trigon Plastics. By 1995
the Te Rapa-based company
had achieved global turnover
of $140 million, with overseas
manufacturing sites at Telford
and Cambridge in the United
Kingdom, Atlanta and Seattle
in the United States and Singapore,
when sold to United
States company Sealed Air
Corporation.
Recently, original Trigon
shareholders John Gibb, Russell
Cassey and Brien Higgins,
together with past employees
from both companies and three
of Bill’s family gathered at the
Verandah at Hamilton Lake to
farewell Bill.
Bill was remembered at the
function as a born leader with
an extraordinary memory, as
a great communicator with a
distinct sense of humour who
didn’t suffer fools easily.
But Bill genuinely cared
about people and like his father,
the company he led set
out to build a culture based on
team work and family values.
Bills’ daughter Penny spoke
about his “Trigon family” and
how important this was to him.
Employee welfare was important
- credit union, superannuation,
medical insurance
and social club were all part of
the Trigon package. Bill could
Founding Trigon shareholder
John Gibb, left with Kevin Chubb.
be very generous, recognising
and rewarding extraordinary
effort. The Trigon Group Employee
Shareholding Scheme
was established at the beginning,
ultimately encompassing
140 employees.
Bill recognised talent in
people early on and surrounded
himself with doers. Russell
said “People felt inspired by
Bill, he changed their lives,
gave them a purpose, encouraged
them to believe in themselves
and painted a vision for
their careers”.
Bill was a prolific reader,
his favoured read was The
Economist which he read
cover to cover, every week of
his business life. He would
underline passages and wrote
comments with his “exclusive
green pen”. He was visionary,
a global thinker who saw the
big picture, often becoming
very excited about possibilities,
though not all ideas were
equal. John Gibb, a founding
Trigon shareholder, recalled
Bill advocating the virtues of
exporting snails to France.
Like another idea of exporting
New Zealand native trees to
the Middle East, the idea fortunately
didn’t progress.
Russell said, “Internationalisation
was a very bold thing
to do in those days. Overseas
was always on his radar, going
global was part of his plan.”
Bill was a great networker,
renowned for connecting withcustomers,
suppliers, employees,
politicians, bureaucrats
and other industry leaders.
Attending major international
The late Bill Foreman.
packaging and speciality food
exhibitions was embedded in
the annual calendar. He knew
the importance of technical
superiority, regularly sharing
technology with selected overseas
companies.
He had the highest level
of honesty and integrity, was
loyal and expected these qualities
in return. He was focused,
worked long hours, believing
that “persistence and hard
work always paid dividends.”
Whilst sharing experiences
from the very early days, John
Gibb’s wife Eleanor noted that
“only in the dictionary does
success come before work”.
Work hard, play hard was the
Trigon way.
Described as complex, Bill
had an unwavering determination,
drive and passion. He was
decisive and forceful at times,
occasionally pig headed and
could be very tough on people,
even those totally committed
Continued on page 33
Crestline marks thirty years with new premises
Hon David Bennett giving the opening address.
We live in a rapidly
changing world;
politics, communications,
IT ,and the big one
that affects all of us on a day
to day basis - our work environment.
During 30 years helping
Waikato businesses with their
furniture needs, Crestline
Furniture Systems has embraced
the changes that have
come and has now made the
big move to new premises at
19 The Boulevard, Te Rapa
Park. A function in September
served to introduce the new
premises, celebrate the landmark
of those 30 years , thank
many that have helped along
the way and show appreciation
to a great team.
The high-stud showroom
provides a dramatic venue for
the wide range of contemporary
furniture; height-adjustable
desks, partitions, computer
accessory fittings, soft
seating, and the exciting new
“Square” range of reconfigurable
ABW furniture.
Guests were invited to
have a walk-through of all
the work areas to appreciate
the way workplace layout
and practice has evolved over
the last few years. Activity-based
working is the latest
talked-about development.
Crestline’s approach has been
to provide height-adjustable
desks for all staff. Each person
has their own desk but can
use focus rooms, collaborative
breakout spaces, private meeting
rooms for client discussions
and highback chairs in
a sunny spot when they need
to unwind. The staff kitchen is
tastefully done and has comfortable
booth seating.
Crestline was privileged
to have Hamilton MPs David
Bennett and Tim Macindoe
address the gathering and acknowledgements
were made
to Noel Jessop Architects and
Jeff Downey Construction for
the great design and outcome
of the building project and to
Suz and Samantha of Yellow6
Design for collaborating with
the design and co-ordination
of the colours, lighting and
layout of the showroom and
offices.
Crestline’s stated focus is
to make office transformation
an effortless experience
for their clients. This means
advising on up to the minute
concepts that suit the unique
way that each business operates,
and providing the right
furniture to meet those needs.
Finally they pledge to complete
projects “on time, in full,
on spec, every time.”
Connect at www.crestline.
co.nz or better still, call in at
19 The Boulevard.
crestline.co.nz
visit us
19 The Boulevard
Hamilton MPs, Hon Tim Macindoe
and Hon David Bennett with Crestline
Directors; Owen, Richard, Dean and Jon.