Firth's latest and greatest is now open for business
Talks first began in 2019, with the initial glimpse of the plans revealed in 2023, is Firth’s largest and most advanced concrete plant at Sims Road, Auckland.
The vision for this impressive new facility was to centralise the dispatch team for all of Firth Auckland and relocate operations from Firth’s plants at Leonard Road in Central Auckland and in the future Hamer Street in downtown Auckland.
“Sims Road will be key to Firth Auckland’s success over the next 10–20 years,” says Reon Bartie, Certified Area Operations Manager (Auckland) for Firth. “Its central location will improve delivery efficiency for our customers, and bringing the dispatch team together with the laboratory on site establishes Sims Road as the main operational hub for Firth Auckland. The investment in this state-of-the-art facility by Firth and Fletcher Building demonstrates our commitment to supporting our customers and the Auckland Construction market now and into the future.”
| The Firth Sims Road facility is a twin-lane, twin-shaft central-mix plant with a combined production capacity of 200m³ per hour, featuring a dedicated architectural line and another for structural concrete. |
“We have had the plant running for a few weeks now and are pleased to report that it is operating just as intended,” adds Reon. “We have already put it through its paces with a few early starts and some big days. It’s going very well - exactly as we had hoped.”
“Watching the first few batches leave the plant was exciting, as years of discussion, planning, and construction had finally come to fruition,” says Cameron Lee, General Manager for Firth.
“This plant will allow us to keep pace with the demand for housing, infrastructure, and commercial development in Auckland. The location right next to the Southern Motorway is the perfect spot to ensure we can supply our customers in central Auckland and support our other plants across the north, west, and south of Auckland when required.”
"A huge thank you to everyone who joined us at the karakia, and to Reon Bartie, Certified Area Operations Manager (Auckland), Luke Hoppe, Certified Logistics Manager (Auckland), Francis Leslie, Head of Asset Management & Northern Certified, and everyone involved in getting this plant up and running for our business. It's great milestone for our Firth Auckland team and the wider Firth business."
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A few facts and figures:
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Sims Road is blessed!
On 16 December team members from across Fletcher Building businesses and a variety of Firth’s customers and suppliers (Golden Bay, Winstone Aggregates, All West, Babbage, Dominion Construction, Conset Construction, BQH and PCI Projects) gathered before dawn to celebrate a karakia at our magnificent new concrete plant at Sims Road in Auckland.
Led by Matua David Wilson from Te Ākitai Waiohua iwi, the karakia was a time to reflect and acknowledge the land, the people and all the hard work that's gone into this amazing new facility for the Firth and wider Fletcher Building teams.
Congratulations Team Firth!
Christian May, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, and Peter Crowley, Chairman of the Board at Fletcher Building, joined Cameron Lee, GM of Firth, to cut the ribbon and officially open Sims Road