North Shore Business Focus
Best of both worlds in shopfitting merger
Two of New Zealand’s leading joinery and shopfitting providers – CAMM4 of Albany and Shears & Mak of Panmure – have announced they are merging their businesses to create the country’s largest, full-service shopfitting one-stop shop.
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| Dine Restaurant at SkyCity – fitted out by CAMM4. |
“Current and future customers will benefit from the combination of CAMM4’s manufacturing and operational technology with Shears & Mak’s 22 years of experience in shop fitting, building works, and installation,” said managing director of CAMM4 Chris Stafford-Bush.
“Increased capacity will form a strengthened platform to take advantage of growing Australasian opportunities.”
“What became compelling for all parties was the realisation that the combination of CAMM4 and Shears & Mak would play to the strengths of both companies. So it will be ‘business as usual’ but it will also be a much better offering.”
Mr Stafford-Bush will lead the new company along with Patrick Moyne and Adam Begg, the operational directors of the current CAMM4 and Shears & Mak facilities in Albany and Panmure.
Julie Stafford-Bush of CAMM4 will lead the merged company’s new business development, working closely with Charlie Shears and Anthony L’Estrange of Shears & Mak.
“To facilitate future growth, Direct Capital Private Equity Partners recently acquired a minority shareholding in CAMM4,” Ms Stafford-Bush said.
“And Gavin Lonergan and Mark Hutton from Direct Capital have joined CAMM4’s Board.”
The new company will continue to be marketed under the two existing brands until a decision is made on combined marketing plan.
Prior to the merger, CAMM4 sub-contracted large-scale build and install work because of a lack of capacity while Shears & Mak sometimes sub-contracted major joinery work for the same reason.
Now, with CAMM4’s strength in computerised joinery manufacturing and its fully integrated production processes, plus Shears & Mak’s strengths in brand leadership and building installation, the merged company will be poised to become a true market leader.
“The new company offers a hugely strengthened value proposition for all our clients and will enable us to expand our retail customer base across New Zealand and Australia,” Mr Stafford-Bush said.
“We’re very confident that we’ll quickly improve efficiencies for our existing and new customers through economies of scale and providing a full, in-house, turn-key service.
“The merger will put the company in a strong position to pursue substantial trans-Tasman clients and New Zealand national chains because those sorts of companies tend to form long-term relationships with a single, trusted partner for their design and fit-out needs.
“Long-term partnerships enable them to maintain consistent pricing and give all parties the chance to learn from each job and make improvements on the next one.”
It’s expected that a transition period of 12 months will be needed to implement common IT and operational infrastructures, amalgamate purchasing to reduce supply costs, and combine human resource and other administrative roles to reduce common costs. During this time, both operations will carry on with business as usual under existing key leadership to ensure a smooth transition for staff and customers.
