OneFortyOne NZ ready to support economic recovery

30 Apr 20

Our Stories

OneFortyOne New Zealand (formerly Nelson Forests) is pleased to recommence business activities in its forest estate and Kaituna Sawmill as New Zealand moved to Alert Level 3 this week.

Timber processing at Kaituna Sawmill, NZ

OneFortyOne Executive General Manager Lees Seymour said the company was glad to be able to support Alert Level 4 objectives and had spent the four weeks preparing for a safe and effective return to business.

“The OneFortyOne New Zealand team has been dedicated to planning for a smooth return to business for our employees and suppliers. We were pleased to return to work safely and responsibly.”

“Whilst the country was at Alert Level 4 we were able to pay the team’s full salary and the wage subsidy did help us achieve that. We are now looking forward to getting back to work, supporting our employees, contractors and the economy.”

Over 50% of the timber from the Nelson Forest Estate is delivered to the domestic market and 60% of our timber customers are Australasian. Supporting New Zealand’s economy during the COVID-recovery period continues a long history of support for local jobs and domestic processors for OneFortyOne. Seymour says “We are a vertically integrated company, with forests and a mill. OneFortyOne continues Nelson Forests practice of offering log fibre first domestically and developing its strategy to increase domestic processing in New Zealand. We’ve had a local mill as a customer since the 1950s and have increased volume to a growing number of local customers over the last decade.”

In 2018 Australian company OneFortyOne purchased Nelson Forests and Kaituna Sawmill, near Blenheim. In March 2020 Nelson Forests adopted the OneFortyOne brand.

Seymour says the New Zealand team has decades of combined experience in the local forestry and processing sectors. It is exciting that as part of the business transition there is strong support for continued efforts in safety improvements and environmental care.

“The new branding has galvanised our sense of unity across Australia and New Zealand,” says Seymour. “The start to 2020 really has been unprecedented for us.”

“We had already started the rebranding project long before the pandemic was on the horizon,” Seymour says. “We feel fortunate that we took an approach that minimised waste and cost and so we felt we could finish the project pragmatically.”

“We are very mindful of the context in which we rolled out our new brand,” says Seymour. “OneFortyOne’s new brand represents the fibre that is at the heart of everything the company does. It encourages us to think about wood fibre, rather than just logs which means we are ready to think about innovative products that meet future customer needs.”

Seymour says the company had remained financially profitable in challenging markets and remains committed to the industry, region and local communities.

“We have supported the future of the industry by investing in education through curriculum development, scholarships, graduate roles, apprenticeships and vacation job programs.

“We have also supported the future of our communities by supporting initiatives that promote regions, culture and the environment.”

Ends

P: 0400 186 293 | jessica.douglas@onefortyone.com

Download media release here.


OneFortyOne acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and their deep connections to land, water, and community. We pay our respect to Elders past and present and extend that respect to all First Nations people today.

In Aotearoa New Zealand, Māori communities have a strong spiritual connection between people and the land – the wellbeing of one sustains the wellbeing of the other. We strive to build meaningful relationships with iwi as tangata whenua (people of the land/region), to be responsible intergenerational kaitiaki (stewards/guardians) of the land where our forests grow.