Kōrero: Manufacturing – an overview

Wilson’s Cement works at Warkworth, shown here in 1902, was set up in 1886. At the back of the complex are kilns, built between 1895 and 1899. Wilson’s was the first commercial manufacturer of cement in New Zealand, and the company did well. Despite a series of mergers and takeovers, Wilson’s continued to trade under that name until 1988, when it became known as Golden Bay Cement, after a small plant at Golden Bay, Nelson. In the early 2000s it was part of the Fletcher Challenge group.