Our Timeline

Leaving British Pavements in the mid-1950s Dan set up his own drainage and road repair business in loose partnership with others. Undertaking mostly small jobs (although one of the highlights was the ‘Waverley Project’), a contract to pave six miles of State Highway between Waitotara and Waverley gave Dan the break he needed. Working seven days a week, heating bitumen in a roadside kettle, and using rudimentary machinery (some home-made), the job was eventually completed. Dan had stuck his stake in the ground...

Another significant contract from this era was laying storm-water pipers under Main Street in Palmerston North - including

tunneling under the main trunk-line that ran through the town centre.

In 1958, eldest son Pat, fresh from an automotive apprenticeship and military call-up duties, joined Dan to form D Higgins & Son. Higgins was officially born. Pat did not become a full partner until 1960 - buying his way in with the purchase of a small mobile crushing plant.

Based in a small workshop at Child Bros transport depot in Albert Street, Palmerston North, Higgins continued with its drainage and roading contracts around the Manawatu, utilising a lot of basic equipment, as machinery was still hard to come by.

The '60s was the decade that Higgins began establishing the reputation that continues today. The first two full-time employees were hired: Sam Cameron and Wally Cooper - who both stayed with the company until retirement in the '90s.

Equipment became easier to get and modern machinery (back hoes, diggers, tankers, sprayers) allowed Higgins to take on some more challenging work, including the construction of the foundations for the Wellington TV tower at Mt Kau Kau. The increasing workload saw Higgins purchase its first site at Roxburgh Crescent, Palmerston North, where a gravel crushing operation was housed. By the late '60s Higgins had outgrown its old home at Child Bros and its first office and headquarters were also established at the Roxburgh site.

Dan and wife Phyllis wanted their children to learn skills that would be useful outside of contracting and Michael, being clever with numbers, went into accounting. He joined the company that did the books for Higgins and by 1968 the volume of work at Higgins was so great he joined the business full-time in the small two-room office - this building now forms part of the workshop area.

With the £10-assisted passage program (from the UK) in full swing, new immigrants swelled the New Zealand population. And these new immigrants needed housing, so Higgins entered the housing subdivision market which included several state housing projects.

The '70s was a decade of rapid expansion as Higgins built on the solid reputation they'd carved out in the '60s. Roading was fast becoming big business so Higgins bought the Belspray asphalt manufacturing business in Hawke's Bay in 1971 to bulk up supplies. Continued growth called for more support staff and the first section of the current office complex was built in 1972 to house them.

Dan's third son, Bernard, joined the company in 1974 after training as a fitter and turner. Dan, now 65, was able to leave more of the day-to-day duties to his three sons - although he continued to be active well into his twilight years.

With more subdivision and construction work being won, Higgins became a major user of concrete and decided to move into the ready-mixed concrete business - establishing Higgins Redimix in 1976. This also brought the total number of Higgins employees to 100. Collier Contractors of Levin was purchased in 1977 and Pavements (Wellington) Limited hotmix was bought from Purser Belwood in 1978.

Several major contracts were undertaken in the '70s which included the building of the Manfield racing circuit, construction of the Palmerston North Airport runway, the Napier Airport runway, sealing of the Ohakea air force base runway, and a joint venture to supply asphalt to the Wellington Port container terminal.

Growth continued into the '80s, with more emphasis on roading and subdivision contracts, and less on drainage work. The Higgins reputation spread outside New Zealand when it was awarded the contract to build the airport runway on Norfolk Island.

Back home, the concrete side of the business was forging ahead and in 1984, Higgins purchased Domett Redimix in Feilding - which was then combined with the purchase of Sanson Metal to form a self-supporting concreting operation. To further secure metal supplies in the region, Higgins purchased land alongside the Manawatu River between Ashhurst and Palmerston North, and in the following years established an aggregate quarry in Te Matai.

Another milestone was reached in 1987 when Russell Asphalt of Hawkes Bay was purchased, followed soon after by the acquisition of the Ray Withers gravel pit at Roy’s Hill in Hawkes Bay. In 1995 it was renamed Higgins Contracting - the first time the Higgins name was used on a business outside of Manawatu, and the Roy Withers name was replaced by Higgins Aggregates. It also saw the consolidation of the now familiar green paint scheme on all Higgins trucks and plant.

Employee numbers moved past the 200 mark as the company expanded through the centre of the North Island.

More overseas work came at the start of 1990 when Higgins, working with Fletchers, was involved in contracts on a number of Pacific islands. The first was Tonga - constructing the island’s airstrip, using local coral as the base-course, then building a number of inland roads in Western Samoa in 1992. Higgins returned to Tonga in 1995 to build 30km of road.

Around the same time, Higgins also took part in the construction of the Summerhill Drive flyover project to alleviate congestion in Palmerston North, expanded the city’s airport runway and, more unusually, built a German-designed firing range for the NZ Army at Linton.

Higgins began expanding further south of Manawatu / Horowhenua in the 1990s, first purchasing Purser Belwood in Wellington to become the Higgins Contracting branch in the capital. Two years later Higgins Concrete was established in Wellington, followed in 1995 by the joint purchase of the Horokiwi Quarry near Petone, where the Pavements Ltd asphalt plant also operates. These moves consolidated the Higgins business in the southern North Island.

At the same time, Higgins also looked further north, opening Pavements BOP in Mt Maunganui in 1994 in partnership with Brent Glover. Shortly after, Higgins purchased the 50% Glover share-holding, the name changed to Higgins BOP, and all the trucks turned green. Strong subdivision growth and Council infrastructure development has seen considerable branch growth since then.

Higgins total employment now numbered more than 500.

Expansion north was in full swing in 2000 with the setting up of an Auckland operation in East Tamaki. This coincided with the commencement of the major infrastructure projects in the Northern Waikato and Auckland Regions. Higgins, in partnership with Fletchers, won the first of these contracts - the Rangiriri to Ohinewhai Expressway. Higgins' position as a key player in the Auckland roading scene was further strengthened by its participation in the Grafton Gully Motorway to Port link project between 2001 and 2003. This was the first major project constructed in New Zealand under an Alliance contract model. The traffic management company Maverick Services was added to the group in 2000 along with the specialist road signage company, Approach Signs.

Sadly in 2001, the Higgins family bade farewell to Higgins' founder - Dan passed away aged 93.

Northern momentum did not take the Higgins focus away from continuing to build a stronger presence at the other end of the island. In 2004 a brand new ready-mix concrete plant and depot was established at Porirua to coincide with an increase in housing and commercial construction in the greater Wellington region.

Engineering company Penny Engineering became a part of the Higgins family of companies in 2004.

Also in 2004, Higgins filled in more gaps in its North Island coverage, buying Glover Contractors in Hamilton, renamed the Higgins Waikato branch, and also set up a new branch in Taupo.

It also became involved in several new green energy projects - wind farms, providing the roading and foundation work for Te Apiti near Ashhurst in 2004, the T3 expansion at Tararua, and in 2007, starting the West Wind site at Makara, Wellington.

Close to 50 years after the company began, Higgins established a new group office in Church Street, Palmerston North in 2005.

As a result of the February 2004 floods, Higgins Contractors were involved in major works to get damaged road networks up and running again. 2006 saw a continued strengthening of Higgins' position in the market with the winning of the Best Roads Maintenance contract again and significant projects in Wellington.

Numbers of staff was now hovering at around 800.

Higgins Contractors Taupo opened a new permanent asphalt plant. Higgins Waikato moved to a new purpose built site. Significant project were won by Higgins Contractors including MHX alliance, Avalon Drive, D2P (Dowse to Petone) highway upgrade, and the Westwind wind farm development.

Higgins acquired 50% ownership in Roadrunner Roadmarkers.

A Manawatu lifetime business award was presented to the Higgins brothers for services to the community.

In 2008, Higgins celebrate 50 years in business.

A Manawatu lifetime business award was presented to the Higgins brothers for services to the community.

Higgins purchased the Oldfields Group - a family business with contracting and concrete operations in Wairarapa, Wellington, and Nelson.

In 2008, Higgins Contractors become a allliance member of the the Manukau Harbour Crossing Project, Auckland.

2009

Higgins became an alliance member of the Auckland Victoria Park Tunnel project - at the time, the largest tender ever let by the NZTA.