By Karen Pasco
Almost 48 years ago David and Joan Ward returned early from their honeymoon to look into a business venture. The bakery and catering business they bought more than four decades ago has grown well beyond expectations. Joan and son Greg tell Canterbury Today how family business Continental has stood the test of time.
When a natural disaster hits the first response is to set up essential services. Through the chaos of February 22, 2011, people stopped what they were doing in order to help others. This took great fortitude as many were unaware of how their own friends, family or homes had fared. They also had to put aside thoughts of their own safety and the scariness of not really knowing what was to come, so they could ensure others were able to carry out their jobs.
Continental managing director Greg Ward received a phone call on February 22 asking if his company would be able to feed the people who had gathered at Hagley Park. Those people were either injured, were assisting in the search for others, waiting to hear of news about family members or just simply had nowhere else to go. “We fed 2,000 people that night,” he says, “despite having no power, water or other facilities on site. It is an emotional memory from my working life – it was probably a time when our company mattered most.”
The reason this catering, event and venue management and event hire company has succeeded is probably because of the strong family values which are at the backbone of this business, and its integrity in dealing with all of its clients. These family values descend from David and Joan. The couple were just 19 and 22 years when they married. It was on their wedding day they heard their wedding caterer was looking at slowing down and offered them a half share in the Rangiora business. They came home early from their honeymoon to find out more, but weren’t convinced straight away.
“We said no three times but the owner took a liking to us and said that he would support us when we took it over,” recalls Joan. Unfortunately three months later the former owner died, and so it was that David and Joan just had to get on with the job.
This adaptability has been a constant throughout the years, as the Wards have continued to strategise and plan in order to deliver their best for their clients. “When marquees were rough and bland (before Continental owned their own) we would put red table cloths on the tables to make it look more dressed,” Joan says.
When the operation began catering for events with thousands of attendees, the Wards decided they needed to make their own marquees. They already had their own supply of linen, crockery and cutlery, generators, glassware and kitchen equipment to ensure they would always have the quality equipment they needed. It then made financial sense to begin hiring the equipment to the public. The astuteness paid off with the hireage side of the business becoming a successful entity in its own right.
“We’ve always strived to be the best and to lead by example. We continue to reinvest in the plant and equipment, as well as our team and their skill base,” Joan says.
The earthquakes, although providing some opportunities, also presented the business with some of its biggest challenges. Many of the events that would provide business revenue for the summer were immediately cancelled and many of the venues where Continental catered were shut down – some indefinitely.
“We were right in the middle of our season with events planned all over the place,” Greg says. “But probably the most significant impact was the rapid demise of the meeting, conference and incentive industry events. We had developed our business around these areas for the past 10 years and all of it just disappeared.”
“We knew straight away that we had lost around 60 percent of our business with the February 2011 quake.” But all the company’s core Christchurch business was effected, as it was reliant on the many venues it was able to cater at throughout the city. “The shortage of venues has been one of the biggest challenges.”
They continued to cater for the welfare centres they had set up for the Salvation Army throughout the city for two to three months, and demand for marquee hireage increased. “The business changed, the income stream changed and margins changed incredibly, but we were still busy. We had wonderful support from staff, suppliers and partners as well as from central and local government and we managed to box on.”
However the family knew in order for the business to survive long term it needed to come up with a strategy for the future. An independent adviser was added to the Board and heavier use was made of the expertise from the accountancy firm they have used for the past 47 years. During such an uncertain period it was a difficult process. “There was only so much planning we could do because it was a time of constant change – there are still many unanswered questions.”
One lifeline was that the company’s focus had always been South Island-wide (albeit with a lot of business from Canterbury), meaning that while Canterbury business was in enormous upheaval there was still work to be done elsewhere. Many of those clients from other parts of the country contacted Continental. “There were occasions when we had clients phone to ask how they could support us. It was amazing. A couple of people even came down and worked for a week.”
Event catering is a highly seasonal and labour intensive business and while it’s always a juggle to match resource levels to demand, Greg says this has become more difficult as post-earthquake lead times have been shorter as clients leave decision making until the last minute, at a time when many casual workers have left the region for the time being.
“That’s put a lot of pressure on having the right resources to deliver the event.” Again because they own all equipment required to host a function and have such strong relationships with suppliers, the Wards have been able to fulfil their obligations to clients despite the pressure.
Now with confidence in Canterbury returning, Continental is undergoing more change. It has recently signed a lease for Newbury Lodge in Opawa – a wedding and function centre. Construction is also about to start on a new building in Southbrook, Rangiora, which will see all divisions of the business amalgamated into one site. “All of us being on one site – hires, catering, the production kitchen – will significantly help with productivity,” Greg says.
With such a small number of directors, Greg says there is definitely an upside. “There’s an ability to be nimble – to take quick action when an opportunity arises in a very competitive market.
“There’s lots going on (in Canterbury). We’ve been working on identifying which opportunities are worth spending a lot of our time on. There have been a lot of decisions to make. We’ve been looking at how we continue to evolve, how to position ourselves to be the best we can be as things develop. There’s great opportunity to grow – it’s just about determining the direction, taking into consideration what’s been before. It’s actually very exciting.”
In the early years, Joan says it was never an expectation that two of their children – Greg and Karen Abraham – would enter the business, but sometimes when living in an environment that involves the whole family, nurture wins over nature. (Their other son Andrew is Mount Cook Airline flight operations manager – although he has worked in the business as well.)
In fact, Greg wanted to follow in his brother’s footsteps and become a commercial pilot but it wasn’t to be – asthma put a stop to that career path, although he has a maintained a private pilot’s licence. Greg started off in the bakery then later, because he had a bit of computer nous, was brought in to establish the IT side of the business. He’s worked in the marquee hire division and as operational manager before becoming a shareholder and director.
Karen has also worked her way up through the ranks of the business. Having spent time in most areas of the business, including venue manager of Mona Vale Homestead for some years, she is now operations manager, which sees her ensuring the smooth running behind the scenes of events while service level expectations of clients and guests are exceeded.
The succession has been a relatively easy one, given the pitfalls that sometimes beset family businesses, with the close knit family able to discuss anything and everything. “When we started succession planning we looked at what we needed to achieve in the business,” Greg says.
“We have placed additional emphasis on up-skilling and further training our staff. Catering is at the heart of what we do so, for example, it’s vital our chefs continue to develop cuisine that meets market expectations. We do a lot of intimate special occasions as well as the big number events; whatever the size or budget of an event, people always have an opinion on the food.”
Greg notes that some of the team are second generation workers in the business while some of the clients are second, even third generation.
As well as the skills and passion for the family business, Greg says his parents have given him a strong work ethic and high integrity, morals and values. “They’ve taught us to do the right thing by clients, staff and suppliers.”
Despite being in the business for 48 years, Joan says she and husband David are happy to still play a part. “We’ve had a wonderful career. We’re still going and still supporting our team.” But Joan realises in order for Greg and Karen to continue and for the business to continue its success, it is her turn to now play the part her parents did – that of looking after their grandchildren. “My parents provided such wonderful support to us when we were young. It’s wonderful we can now do the same so our children can carry on – something we love doing.”
If the strength and support of this family is any indication of the business, no doubt it will continue to be a success for generations to come.
