History

Award Plastics & Displays manufactures a wide range of Display items, Industrial Components for other manufacturers and the Hospitality trade to international companies, local companies and one-off retail sales.

My wife and I formed Award Plastics Ltd on 2nd December 1994 trading from premises at           
6 Stanley Street Sydenham Christchurch.

I had previously been employed in the plastics industry for 15 years before starting on my own. The first year I was working on my own before taking on my first employee in the second year of trading. The next year the purchase of my first locally made Vacuum Forming machine was then made which opened up a new market. Then 6 months later another company was purchased, a competitor Framic Plastics that had been established for 20 years with the owner retiring This produced a big increase in the customer base and acquired some specialist equipment. The acquisition of this company allowed Award Plastics to grow much faster with bigger premises now required and so taking over the unit next door.
But with increasing sales eventually these premises became too small and so then moved in June 1997 to 14 Coleridge Street still staying in Sydenham where the staff grew to six. A Computer Router was then bought which then gave the company something none of our competitors had.  This CNC machine opened up new markets and also the ability to manufacture products more accurately, better quality and more efficiently.

In September 1998 we became Telarc registered for the Q-Base quality system which gave the company a formal quality operating system.

In September 2001 due to further increases in production requiring more space was required and so the company moved to new purpose built premises at 16 Buchan Street, Sydenham, which also increased our profile, this gave us more showroom space and made the whole operation more efficient.

In February of 2005 we have moved yet again to larger premises at 42 Wordsworth Street which had approximately 50% more in the factory and larger showroom/offices. Still remaining faithful to the local area of Sydenham just on the other side of Colombo Street now.. We needed the space to purchase more machinery to increase the forming production. Our first German Geiss thermoforming machine was the first and being faster  and more precise than our first locally made machine which therefore increased our forming capacity.

Our first Laser cutter/engraver machine was purchased in July 2005. Two cheaper machines were imported to begin the learning curve of using laser technology. This proved very successful with this technology opening up markets.

In 2008 the trading name was changed to Award Plastics & Displays to better represent the range of products we stock for the retail industry.

In May 2009 Dean Jenkins joined the company as our first mobile salesman to increase our market share and for the first time making us proactive. Dean brings a background in the plastics industry of mainly selling sheet with firstly Cadillac Plastics the Mulford Plastics.

A new high quality Laser cutter/engraver machine was purchased in December 2009 being made in USA this machine is more powerful and increased the quality of our work and being a lot more productive.

In 2010 the company began a term of upgrading our forming machinery with firstly the purchase of a large Geiss T7 thermoforming machine and then a smaller machine also a Geiss making a total of 3 forming machines. These machines are German made and have sate of the art computer control systems making them fast and highly accurate. This then lead to the addition of a Geiss 5 axis trimming router. These machines have opened up new markets and increased our production capacity.

In 2012 there are staff of 12 and space has become at a premium in the factory and therefore are looking at larger premises again. Also the factory is a little damaged from the earthquakes and needs us to move to be repaired.
2013 has been good for the business with a return to what could be called normal business conditions after the earthquakes. The company has experienced steady growth this year especially with our new product “Easyfix” for the home double glazing market.
The major action for the year has been the purchase of a Palmerston North company “Plasti” which has led to the company opening a branch there. This will open up the lower North Island market.

February 2021, the purchase of another business, Talbot Technologies thermoforming division. This included their plant and customer base. This gave us some international clients and more modern forming machinery. 

October 2021, the Palmerston North was closed unfortunately, due to staffing. We we still provide the same products from our Christchurch office.

November 2023, we have purchased a new beam saw to increase our capabilities. The saw can cut 10 sheets on 3mm acrylic at one time. The guys love it.

By Ross Hall - Owner / Manager