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Legend: From Electric Fences to Global Success: The Sir William Gallagher Story
New Zealanders are constantly exhorted to take a clever idea and go global. Easier said than done. But one iconic company has been doing just that for over 75 years. The Gallagher Group began in a Hamilton shed in the late 1930s, when a self-taught engineer, Bill Gallagher, came up with a design for an electric fence that helped to transform New Zealand farming.
His sons took over the business in the 1970s, and Bill junior brought the business savvy and driving ambition that would turn it into one of New Zealand’s most successful companies. Today it employs 1000 staff in New Zealand and around the world, and its animal containment and security products are sold worldwide. Even Buckingham Palace is protected by a Gallagher security system.
Gallagher products are world leading, and the company’s achievement the stuff of envy. And along the way Bill Gallagher, now Sir William, has managed to have plenty of adventure — including diving for sunken treasure with Wade Doak and the late Kelly Tarlton. This fascinating book shows how Kiwi can-do can be transformed into global success — for the long haul.
His sons took over the business in the 1970s, and Bill junior brought the business savvy and driving ambition that would turn it into one of New Zealand’s most successful companies. Today it employs 1000 staff in New Zealand and around the world, and its animal containment and security products are sold worldwide. Even Buckingham Palace is protected by a Gallagher security system.
Gallagher products are world leading, and the company’s achievement the stuff of envy. And along the way Bill Gallagher, now Sir William, has managed to have plenty of adventure — including diving for sunken treasure with Wade Doak and the late Kelly Tarlton. This fascinating book shows how Kiwi can-do can be transformed into global success — for the long haul.
420 pages, Unknown Binding
First published March 1, 2013
4 people are currently reading
8 people want to read
About the author
Paul Goldsmith
18 booksPaul Goldsmith has written extensively about the lives of leading New Zealand businessmen and political figures, as well as about aspects of Maori history and politics. In November 2011 he was elected as a Member of Parliament in New Zealand. He lives in Auckland with his wife, Melissa, and their four children.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 7, 2019
This is a very intriguing NZ business story. It was an especially good choice to start the book by narrating how Gallagher was stabbed by robbers but the thing that bothered him was not being hospitalised, but being unable to attend a scheduled trade summit. A telling story that depicted the impressive personality.
Gallagher's firm went through almost all typical phases of modern company expansion from scratch to going global. From delegating regional distributors to centralise the network on scale, a lot of decision making looks familiar for the exporting industry. The core recipe for success is still the good product, which the first-generation family developed and patented themselves. But then there were years of painstaking marketing and business development by the second generation before things paid off. It was interesting though that instead of relying on market research, almost all relationship development were through hunch and direct visits.
The uniqueness lies in the family's "stubbornness" to retain control by resisting being listed. The same thing also prevented Gallagher from seeking rapid expansion through frantic acquisition. The few acquisitions made were vertical, seeking complementary products. There were interesting bidding wars when the family business failed to take over its major domestic competitor Speedrite but nevertheless weakened its performance through distraction.
Gallagher's personal story, especially the early years that may not necessarily relate to the main plot, was still indispensable. But then you can see that the line between business story and autobiography is somewhat blurred. It is interesting to see young Gallagher's passion of diving and how this hobby was put to use by public services, making one rethink about different options about ways of life.
This book also gives us a chance to closely examine how policies and regulations play a big part in business survival. Furthermore, there are glimpses of how the business coped with international protectionism, bureaucracy, and even the intricacies caused by the semantic deviation of the same language in a different culture.
Overall, I guess one can only come up with the conclusion that after ruthlessly confronting with so many challenges, the knighthood is a well-deserved honour.
Gallagher's firm went through almost all typical phases of modern company expansion from scratch to going global. From delegating regional distributors to centralise the network on scale, a lot of decision making looks familiar for the exporting industry. The core recipe for success is still the good product, which the first-generation family developed and patented themselves. But then there were years of painstaking marketing and business development by the second generation before things paid off. It was interesting though that instead of relying on market research, almost all relationship development were through hunch and direct visits.
The uniqueness lies in the family's "stubbornness" to retain control by resisting being listed. The same thing also prevented Gallagher from seeking rapid expansion through frantic acquisition. The few acquisitions made were vertical, seeking complementary products. There were interesting bidding wars when the family business failed to take over its major domestic competitor Speedrite but nevertheless weakened its performance through distraction.
Gallagher's personal story, especially the early years that may not necessarily relate to the main plot, was still indispensable. But then you can see that the line between business story and autobiography is somewhat blurred. It is interesting to see young Gallagher's passion of diving and how this hobby was put to use by public services, making one rethink about different options about ways of life.
This book also gives us a chance to closely examine how policies and regulations play a big part in business survival. Furthermore, there are glimpses of how the business coped with international protectionism, bureaucracy, and even the intricacies caused by the semantic deviation of the same language in a different culture.
Overall, I guess one can only come up with the conclusion that after ruthlessly confronting with so many challenges, the knighthood is a well-deserved honour.
November 5, 2020
Interesting, if you can stick with it.
A lot of back and forth in the chronological time line, with too much emphasis on figures. Fascinating story of how life is never made easy, and you do have to work for your money
A lot of back and forth in the chronological time line, with too much emphasis on figures. Fascinating story of how life is never made easy, and you do have to work for your money
December 3, 2013
(Rebecca) Warmly and engagingly written, this is the story of a New Zealand ‘legend’, a hungry, dedicated, energetic and innovative philanthropist with a vision of growth and a relentless quest to dominate the international market. But Legend is not just a business story it also includes Bill’s adventures, with stories of his first wife’s kidnapping, his own stabbing, and tales of diving for sunken treasure with the late Kelly Tarlton thrown into the mix. An interesting read!
Want to read
September 17, 2014I got this book for Father's Day 2014 as a thinly disguised prompt to take one of my ideas and make a go of it. It taunts me from the nightstand, as yet unopened, two weeks later.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews