Tim Morris fits head gear, Paladin's first product, on to Napier Old Boys Marist player Brad Campbell at McLean Park. Photo / Duncan Brown
Tim Morris fits head gear, Paladin's first product, on to Napier Old Boys Marist player Brad Campbell at McLean Park. Photo / Duncan Brown
Tim Morris was never your usual farmer, graduating with a double major in maths and physics before becoming an actuary and merchant banker.
In summer, he would walk to the Auckland waterfront in his three-piece suit and roll up his pants, bare feet dangling while he ate his lunch.
Aftermarrying wife Kaaren, a farmer's daughter from Waipawa, the couple bought 40ha in Maramarua.
The budget was tight when he went to buy bull calves to first stock the farm. Prices were high but the last lot was affordable and he won he auction, before realising they were heifers.
Despite the embarrassment, he prospered as a farmer, buying a nearby block and then agreeing with his wife's family that if he was serious about farming he should buy in Hawke's Bay where farm prices were more affordable than the Auckland fringe.
Kaaren's father suggested several farms for Tim to cold call and he bought a farm 15 minutes drive from Havelock North. Several years later he bought Kiwirua Station on the Napier/Taihape road.
He intensified the farm, turning 15 paddocks into 80 and grazed Castle Peak, a 971ha Roger Dickie pine plantation.
"I was always conscious you have to have a balanced income. Farming has been through some pretty hard years so we started doing these reading glasses."
It was his own idea - cheap reading glasses, now a common feature in department stores.
Searching for a business venture, he was aware of the high costs of shipping, so searched for something small with a good margin.
Tim was aware of the difficulty New Zealand firms often had when expanding onto Australia.
"I thought, why not do the opposite? Build up your market base in Australia then copy it to New Zealand."
He met with buyers for department chain Big W, who liked his proposition, especially their 300 per cent mark-up.
Tim wasn't a fan of their terms and sold out of the spectacle business, becoming averse to retail.
Ten years ago, the couple also sold Kiwirua Station and moved to Sydney, so son David could realise his potential as a swimmer.
Tim and David Morris on their first Hawke's Bay farm on Middle Rd.
David later switched to rugby and was selected for the Australian national schoolboy team, playing the New Zealand equivalent three months before a trip to Europe.
Tim is an ardent fan of the game, playing club rugby while a student in Auckland and coaching the Te Aute College and Havelock High School first XVs.
He didn't know what to expect when David asked to meet him "to share some news".
"He said he was going back to New Zealand. He said, I faced the haka and realised I was on the wrong team."
The family returns to Hawke's Bay in 18 months' time once daughter Jemma finishes university.
They won't be returning to full-time farming. David set them in a different direction when he forgot to bring his gear bag home after rugby practice at a shared sports ground.
The rugby uniform was easily replaced but his headgear proved more difficult. It was the end of the season and none were on retail shelves.
"Online Canterbury headgear was $146 and I thought, this is wrong."
Tim visited Chinese online website Alibaba and emailed manufacturers, who sent samples.
A prototype was designed and sent to Ireland where the International Rugby Board gave its approval so he travelled to China and arranged manufacture.
With the help of three fathers, befriended on their sons' rugby side-line, he formed apparel company Paladin Sports.
Today, headgear forms just one per cent of business. Last year, sales included 20,000 rugby jerseys to 2500 schools and clubs. Paladin has offices in Australia, Singapore, New York, London and New Zealand.
Tim owns the New Zealand arm of Paladin and signed the Hawke's Bay Rugby Union to a three-year sponsorship and apparel agreement starting this season.
He said it was his greatest measure of success so far, because it completed the circle with Hawke's Bay.
He is still averse to retail but has made an exception with Hawke's Bay rugby gear, selling replica rugby jerseys through Mitre 10 because of the hardware chain's sponsorship of the National Provincial Championship - the Mitre 10 Cup.
