1997 – 2002
Although at the time it was not known, Aquatite's history really began in 1997 when Chris Withers returned from Australia to New Zealand having been born here but having spent the majority of his schooling years and subsequent trade training in Australia where he gained his Trade Certificate in carpentry followed by a Skill Share Certificate in Tiling, after moving there with his father and two brothers as a young lad. It was during this 5 year period that Chris plied his tiling skills in the Wellington area and time and again would be asked to repair rotten bathrooms which had rotted out as a result of water ingression. At one point, while carrying out such a repair, Chris spent two days in Lower Hutt hospital with severe respiratory problems, having inhaled the poisonous white spores which form on Stachybotrys mould. Stachybotrys is a toxic mould that grows in damp conditions and can suppress your immune system, making you more susceptible to colds or anything caused by a virus and can also cause allergic reactions and asthma. After this short lived but frightening experience, Chris decided it was time to do something about this problem.
2002 – 2008
2002 was the year the initial Aquatite product came into being. While Chris continued to work full time as a tiler, twelve different models were constructed utilizing true Kiwi ingenuity. During this first year, beginning with a simple design made from an empty tube of silicon with a lid, models using DAS modelling clay and plastic containers a final design was settled on.
Although the idea to develop these units was good, it did not bring any money in so Chris continued to work full-time utilizing his tiling skills while after hours the design process continued unabated for the next 12 months until the point was reached in early 2003 to pursue the idea through to commercialisation. Chris continued to work full-time in his tiling business through until mid-2004 when he split his time 50/50 between Aquatite and tiling through until mid-2006.
It didn't take too long before the reality of the fact that this type of venture requires funding sunk in. During 2004 a Trade and Enterprise grant from the then Labour government, totalling around $11,000.00 was secured. This grant, along with funding from family members and Chris's accountant, which secured their shareholding in the company, was used to take the products to the next stage.
In early February 2005 a meeting with the Department for Building and Housing (DBH) was organised. The reason for this initial meeting was to seek advice on how to go about initiating change to the NZ Building Code and Compliance Documents. This proved to be the beginning of a very arduous journey as changes to anything in law take years to successfully achieve. The directors knew that unless the Building Code recognized the functionality of their products, it would always be difficult to gain any traction in the industry because, if it was not a requirement to have them included, they would quite simply not be included in any project no matter how much marketing to the trades was undertaken. As it turned out this was the beginning of a battle that was to last for years to come.
At or about mid 2005 Chris approached his friend and local builder, Stephen Jackson, asking him to assist in perfecting the design of the Aquatite caddy system. This turned out to be a prudent move as no one has all the skill sets needed in developing new products and the experience of a qualified builder who was up to date with what was happening in the industry paid off. It was at this time that the designs were perfected to the point where they could go into production and moulds were manufactured in preparation for production runs. The first stock rolled out of the ejection moulding machines in January 2006. Steve continued to have significant input into those early designs and models and became a shareholder in early 2006.
In mid-2006 the patent process was embarked on with provisional patent applications being lodged in New Zealand, Australia, and the USA on 08 July. Securing patents is an extremely expensive process to go through costing around $20,000.00 per country, so going global was never going to be a realistic option for the Aquatite shareholders as the bulk of their finances had already gone into product development and there was an understandable reluctance to go after outside funding and in the process relinquish control of the company. The other mitigating factor (apart from lack of finance), in making a decision not to protect the IP of the company globally is that you have to secure patents on a country by country basis—there is no such thing as a 'global' patent! To top this off, the legal fraternity of the patent world have made the decision to leave you a window of opportunity of only 12 x months from the time the first patent has been applied for, to be able to embark on the process in any other county; outside this timeframe is too late! There was however, sufficient funding available from amongst themselves to begin patent protection proceedings in China which were started on 14 April.
2006 was a busy and financially challenging year for Aquatite as the company's foundation stones were put in place. Not only were patent proceedings begun, the final product design settled on, and moulds made, but the company's first website was established and a BRANZ appraisal for New Zealand was applied for and granted on 11 August. BRANZ is an independent testing laboratory that tests the performance and standard of products associated with the building industry. The testing process is simply to ascertain whether or not the product does/performs according to what the manufacture claims that it does and that it complies to the requirements of the New Zealand Building Code. This appraisal certification carries significant weight in the eyes of both the building industry, with architects and with local Councils both in New Zealand and Australia.
With the product design now finalised and in production the next huge hurdle to overcome was how to market it to the masses, another potentially expensive exercise. With the knowledge that funding was extremely tight, Aquatite decided in August/September 2005, to approach the two largest plumbing merchants in NZ. After some discussions it was collectively decided that the best way to get the product into the hands of the consumer and tradesperson and quickly gain market penetration was to set up an exclusive distribution arrangement with a plumbing distribution company. One national plumbing retail company with around 40 outlets around the country was also selected. The exclusive agreement was signed in late 2005 with the first order of $100,000.00 being delivered in Feb 2006 and was in plumbing retail stores by March 2006.
What was entered into in good faith by all parties was effectively a death knell for Aquatite. Although the product and what it did as far as providing protection for the consumer was brilliant, the pricing of it was a long way off the mark and it proved simply too expensive for the market. By late 2007 Aquatite was in a financially grave position having accumulated debts way beyond its ability to service and zero stock movement following that initial order. The owners of both the distribution company and the retail company became disillusioned as did the Aquatite shareholders and it became apparent that something had to be done quickly in order to stave off bankruptcy, a very real possibility. The exclusive arrangement with the distribution company was terminated in June 2007.
Late in the first half of 2008, with the beginnings of an economic slowdown really starting to be felt in New Zealand, Kevin Turley approached a family member of Stephen Jackson, expressing an interest in becoming involved in the company and possibly even purchasing it outright. Kevin had just exited a couple of property development projects he had been involved in and was looking around for his next venture, and although Kevin did not know of the financial difficulties the company faced, because he believed in the product and what it offered back to the consumer, he felt there was significant potential on a local and global scale for it. By June 2008 Kevin began due diligence on Aquatite and on the 25th of September that year an Agreement was reached with the directors of the old company whereby the IP of the company was taken over in exchange for paying the accumulated debtors. Kevin began officially working full time in the new company, which retained the name Aquatite Enterprises Limited, on 01 October 2008.
In late October 2008 Kevin and Chris went on an exploratory trip to Australia visiting Victoria, New South Wales, ACT, and Queensland in order to gauge whether there was an interest/demand for such a product there. As it turned out, the interest was significant and the return trip to NZ was filled with anticipation and expectation. Kevin and Chris knew that in order for this company to really succeed, off-shore opportunities had to be explored....New Zealand was simply too small to support this type of enterprise on its own.
2009
Because of the Christmas period and the significantly dramatic slowdown of the construction industry, things began pretty slowly on a sales front and the company was living on a day to day basis making just enough profit to survive. New Zealand was well and truly in the midst of an unprecedented market slowdown with the lowest number of Building Consents for new homes being issued in the past 13 years. It was apparent now, more than ever, that in order for the company to survive it had to expand into off-shore markets with Australia being the obvious first choice seeing as they are so closest to NZ geographically and economically.
Kevin set about establishing the new company structure and by 16 April 2009 the new shareholding of the company was set in place. Chris, Steve, and CMS —a construction marketing company from Auckland collectively hold 49% of the new company, and Kevin holds the remaining 51%.
It was obvious that the company needed a fresh approach to marketing, for as we all know, one of the definitions of madness is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result from last time. The decision was made to market directly to the consumer via the Building Consent Lists from various Councils around the country. Along with this approach the company would continue battling the DBH for changes to the Building Code and its relevant Compliance Documents and target the most consumer oriented building merchant which we felt was Mitre 10 by offering them a very attractive 'add-on' sale process (they were already selling significant amounts of tap and other bathroomware including shower mixers, so why not offer that same shopper a simple device that would effectively give them a 50 year insurance policy against water damage and rot). This simple approach to Mitre 10 not only had benefits for the stores involved, but if implemented properly by the individual stores and their floor staff, was a very effective way of gaining access directly to the consumer. The other angle taken was to approach all the local insurance companies (via the Insurance Council of NZ) and sell them on the benefits of the product which would in turn get us directly to the consumer. This proved to be the most effective of the new initiatives, as the cost of gradual deterioration claims to both the insurance industry and the consumer amounted to multiple millions of dollars annually in NZ alone. The company hadn't even touched on the Australian insurance industry at that stage.
The process of establishing a new company in Australia (a wholly owned subsidiary of Aquatite Enterprises Limited), was embarked upon and the final clearance was obtained from the relevant Australian authorities on 6 April. A new company named Aquatite Enterprises Australia Limited was now a reality and a bank account was opened with Commonwealth Bank of Australia (Martin Place, Sydney), on 07 May.
In line with the requirement for a new marketing strategy the company developed a new website which included an online store. This initiative was completed in July. Along with this a new company logo and brochure were also developed.
Principal subsidiaries
2009: Aquatite Enterprises Australia Limited (100%).