History of
The New Zealand Sock Company
116 years of
sock making history stands behind us here in Ashburton with nearly 40 years
across 3 generations of the Sparrow family. Through those generations, the
passion and commitment for the business has been passed down and grown, driving
the company forward as one of the world's foremost innovators of sock
technology.
The New
Zealand Sock Company started off its life as Phaups Hosiery in 1901 with John
Phaup. In 1980 Cip Sparrow and his son Euan bought the factory and began the
process of creating The New Zealand Sock Company that we know and love. After
37 years Euan still sits at the helm of the company as CEO today along with the
3rd generation of the Sparrow family - Euan's daughter Gabrielle as our
International Sales Manager and his son Paul as our Operations Manager.
Under Euan and
our boards direction the company has expanded exponentially, moving into a
purpose built factory. New plant and Machinery are purchased on a regular basis
with 54 machines currently running on site for an average of 24 hours a day.
While much of
the business has moved with the times, some of our processes have not changed
much over the years and that’s just the way we like it. All of our socks are
still checked by hand as a final quality control and the personal touch is
still very much a large part of how we operate.
Sparrow Family in The New Zealand Sock Company's modern plant
Original Phaups Hoisery machine lines
Original knitting machine instruction booklets
An original Machine sits pride of place in the entry of the new plant
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