Winepress - October 2024

SUCCESSION PLAN

Opening the new Ormond Nurseries facility, from left, Susie, Frances, Ben and Marcus Wickham

Accidental successors

Marcus and Susie Wickham had no intention of taking over Ormond Nurseries from their parents but innovation and business flair is in their DNA

KAT PICKFORD

SHARING AN interest in innovation, a nose for opportunity, and a strong work ethic, the second generation of the South Island’s only vineyard nursery are excited to continue the legacy started by their parents almost 50 years ago. Ben and Frances Wickham established Ormond Nurseries as a vegetable seedling and kiwifruit orchard in Ormond, north of Gisborne in 1974. Owning a nursery was a dream come true for Ben, who grew up on a dairy farm in Taranaki with an entrepreneurial spirit and “horticulture in the genes”. In 1977 a neighbour who was planting a vineyard suggested Ben have a go at grafting grapevines. With only one or two nurseries in the country propagating phylloxeraresistant vines at the time Ben, who had never had any interest growing grapes, could sense the opportunity.

“The industry was screaming out for them,” Ben says. “There was lots of trial and error. Grafting rootstock is notoriously difficult, but I’ve never been one to give up easily and it was only through pure obstinacy that I eventually succeeded.” Over the next 15 years, the business grew steadily as new winegrowing regions around the country were established. As demand from Marlborough outpaced other regions, Ben and Frances bought some land near Blenheim with the intention of moving operations and their young family south. But in 1993, disaster struck after a fungal disease spread through their nursery vines, wiping out 95 percent of stock, Frances says. While it was an absolute calamity at the time, in hindsight it was a blessing.

“Up until that point, Ben was everything in the business,” she says. “Our accountant made us realise we needed to document our systems and procedures and hire some quality staff so Ben could work on the business, rather than in it.” After recovering from the disaster that almost put them out of business, they moved to Marlborough in 1995 and over the next decade growth continued as wave after wave of vineyard developments rolled out across the region.

Meanwhile their four children, who weren’t the slightest bit interested in the family business, left home to pursue their own careers. Marcus, who had dreams of being a sheep and beef farmer, studied a bachelor of commercial

agriculture majoring in farm management at Lincoln University. Seeing the growth of the wine industry, he also completed a post-graduate diploma in viticulture before returning to Marlborough to manage the family vineyard for six months. In 2003 he picked up a job as vineyard manager for New Zealand Wineries, where he helped develop and manage 400ha of new vineyards in the South Island. In 2008 he and his good friend, Nigel George, invented KLIMA, a mechanised vine-pruning system.

Then the global financial crisis hit, and the wine industry was caught in an oversupply situation. Dark days followed with vineyard development ceasing and winery owners going out of business. Vine orders fell off a cliff and by 2010 Ormond Nurseries was fighting for survival. “Before the GFC there were about 35 grapevine nurseries in New Zealand and all but a small handful disappeared in the following years,” Ben says. “We had what we called a $3 million bonfire of all the vines we couldn’t sell.”

Marcus, who had come on board as a shareholder with his wife Samantha a few years before, was a huge ally, he says. “He helped us with some very difficult decisions during that time when we had to let go of staff and break contracts with suppliers.”

Their youngest daughter, Susie, who had been working in the office of the nursery when the GFC hit, was one of the 70-odd staff who suddenly found themselves without work. She decided to follow her interest in business and studied accounting in Auckland, where she picked up work with Lion Breweries. Working her way up, she eventually landed a full-time finance role with Lion, while providing some financial analysis for her parent’s business on the side.

In 2012 Marcus, who wanted to spend more time in Marlborough with his young family, joined Ormond Nurseries part-time, while running the trellising side of KLIMA. In 2013, vine orders started picking up again, bringing the company back from the brink of extinction. By 2016, Ben decided he wanted to step away from running the company, leaving the door open for Marcus, who took on the role on the proviso Susie came on board as chief financial officer. Since then, the pair have continued their parents’ work, with a focus on innovation, building a team, and creating a “grown up” business, capable of weathering the industry’s volatility. “It’s absolutely incredible what Mum and Dad have done,” Marcus says. “Mum has a very strategic business brain and Dad’s a very instinctual plantsman, but he also carried this whole place on his back for 30-40 years – he’s a human dynamo.”

One of Marcus and Susie’s first projects was to build a new 3,000 sqm processing facility, which enabled them to increase their production capability to two million vines a year, meet biosecurity obligations, and improve production efficiency and staff safety. The facility opened at 13 Rowley Cres this year.

Despite being “accidental” successors, the siblings are proud to continue their parents’ work and excited by the possibilities, Susie says. “It was never our dream to work here, but there are some nephews and nieces in the wings who might want to one day – our job is to look after the business, make sure it’s a great place to work, that it runs well, and attracts and retains quality people and customers.

“Most of all, we don’t want to lose that flair of the founder. We are constantly innovating and trying new stuff, even if things fail, it’s all just part of the journey.”

Early days planting, mid 1990s. The new facility, 2024

Ben and Marcus down the Sounds, late 1990s

“Marcus helped us with some very difficult decisions [after the GFC] when we had to let go staff and break contracts.” Ben Wickham