      Welcome back to the JPM newsletter.
In April JP Marshall & Co celebrated it's 65th Anniversary, rather than the usual newsletter this month we will be looking back in time at the journey so far and a having dig into the photo archives, we hope you enjoy this trip down memory lane.
The company officially started off in 1952 with a company named Ajax Engineers Ltd. In 1966 Ajax changed its name to JP Marshall & Co.
This was the beginning of the brand but the man behind it all Jock Marshall had been engineering long before 1952.
 Jock and the team outside the Te Rapa Road workshops back in 1956.
|
|
JP (Jock) started his business career repairing shock absorber's in a humble shed out the back of Dallas Motors on Victoria Street in 1950.
A short time later he moved on to London Street where he built his first small workshop.
After out growing the London Street premises in 1955 he relocated again out into Te Rapa, this time into a workshop on Te Rapa road (pic below) where he began repairing and producing tracks, rollers, idlers and drive sprockets for earth moving equipment.
In 2017 this is the Top Taste Lunchbar on Te Rapa Straight.
A few years later in 1959 JP purchased 3 1/2 acres of land further south on Te Rapa Road, there he built another workshop (pic below) and traded under the "Track Services" name, this company was sold to Track Weld in 1965.
 In 2017 this is now part of the Resene Colorshop building on Te Rapa Straight.
After the sale of Track Weld JP purchased approximately 20 acres of farmland with his then business partner Ken Davies (Davies Transport), this land has since been developed and is now Northway St, Sheffield St and Bristol Place.
In 1966 JP along with his business partners Jim Murray and John Gould built another workshop (pic below), this time on the brand new Northway St.
This location was where JP and his partners began trading as "JP Marshall & Co".
 In 2017 this is now the Department of Conservation Building on Northway St.
The company stayed at that location right through until 1976 when another new workshop was constructed in Bristol Place (pic below).
The Bristol Place workshop is still home to JP Marshall to this day.
JP passed away in 2004 but the introduction of his son Peter into the business back in 1980 ensured that the family company would continue in good hands. The relatively recent addition of Peters sons Chris and Adrian into the JP Marshall management team will ensure that the business stays in the family for many years to come.
Take a quick video tour with our CEO Peter Marshall - Here
|
|
If you would like to see some more old JP Marshall photos go over and have a look at our facebook page.
April has bough a lot of old pic's out of the woodwork.
See you next month! |
|
|
|
