Blakely Puts Down Roots In Timaru

BLAKELY PUTS DOWN ROOTS IN TIMARU

South Island forestry company Blakely Pacific has established a Timaru office to take advantage of local broadband network availability.

The office, which employs five full-time staff, serves as a base to manage Blakely Pacific’s extensive South Canterbury forest holdings. They were previously managed from Herbert, south of Oamaru.

The new Latter Street location has enabled Blakely Pacific to implement a Telecom-supplied high-speed private data network to connect its offices in Christchurch, Timaru and Tauranga, using Telecom’s broadband technology.

Managing director Michael Buchanan says the network is a cost-effective solution to the difficulties of distance. “Before the network went live last month, our offices operated as if they were separate companies,” he says. “Telecom’s network adds structure to the business, allowing us to meet our New Zealand-wide IT needs from one server, based in Christchurch, rather than duplicating servers and databases in each office.”

The Private Office Network, which relies on Telecom’s broadband technology, was designed to link companies’ geographically separated offices to a centralised database and enable the fast and secure exchange of large amounts of data.

The establishment of Blakely Pacific’s Timaru office coincided with the company’s purchase of the 3,628-hectare Waimate Forest from the Christchurch-based Ngai Tahu Property Group in June. Its other major South Island holdings are the 5350ha Geraldine Forest and the 4618ha Herbert Forest.

Blakely Pacific is a New Zealand forestry company, based in Christchurch. It owns or manages a total of 27,472ha of forest in New Zealand, including 4,005ha in the North Island and 23,467ha in the South Island. Its parent company is Seattle-based Port Blakely Tree Farms.

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