2009 marks Tonkin & Taylor’s 50th year. From humble beginnings when three young, ambitious practitioners met while working on the Auckland Harbour Bridge approaches in 1959, Tonkin & Taylor has grown to become one of the country’s leading New Zealand owned, environmental and engineering consultancies…
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Pictured: The award winning Northern Gateway Toll Road project in North Auckland.
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It all began when Professor Peter Taylor (who will be well known by all, now older, engineers who graduated from Auckland University) suggested to Ralph Tonkin that they set up a laboratory in Auckland. Ralph agreed, provided he could set up “a consulting practice alongside”. When Don Taylor joined the consulting practice a few months later, Tonkin & Taylor was born.
Setting up a consulting practice in New Zealand was a brave move, even for two capable pioneers like Ralph and Don. The two combined their entrepreneurial flair, talent and high ethical standards to set about building a legacy based on hard work, commitment, client care and technical expertise. These core operating principles have stood the test of time and remain at the heart of the company.
Over the last five decades Tonkin & Taylor has enjoyed many interesting, challenging and hugely satisfying achievements. Some milestone projects have included the Whau Valley Dam, the Lower Waikato River Control Scheme, New Zealand Steel, Aniwhenua Hydro project in the Bay of Plenty, Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand, Redvale Landfill, Vector Tunnel (Penrose to Auckland CBD) and the Northern Gateway project (Orewa to Puhoi). Internationally, the Bukit Tagar Landfill project in Malaysia was awarded the Supreme Award for consulting engineering in South East Asia in 2008. Most recently Tonkin & Taylor was delighted to win a number of ACENZ awards including being part of the team to gain a Gold Award for the outstanding Northern Gateway Toll Road project in North Auckland.
Fifty years on, the Tonkin & Taylor family has certainly come a long way. From a small, engineering practice located in Kitchener Street, Auckland, the organisation is now a specialist environmental and engineering consultancy group employing over 600 people. Tonkin & Taylor has offices located throughout New Zealand as well as in Australia, Malaysia and the Philippines and operates extensively throughout Asia and the Pacific.
A key differentiating feature of Tonkin & Taylor, and a foundation for its success, is its organisational culture and the talented people who are attracted by this. Tonkin & Taylor is still proudly a New Zealand, employee owned business. Its widely distributed employee ownership, combined with a clear sense of identity and focus on specialist skills, contribute to its enormous success.
Tonkin & Taylor works hard to live up to its Goal to be “the best to work for and the best to work with” and looks forward to continuing to build its heritage as it makes its mark on the next 50 years.
For more information about Tonkin & Taylor please contact Pip Hair.
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