It’s rare to hear of staff member staying with firm for 60 years – but at Christchurch company Skellerup, Monk Jones, 75, has hit the record books.
Skellerup’s longest-serving staff member, Jones has lived and worked in Woolston, Christchurch, all his life and has no plans to retire. He’s the only remaining staff member who has met its founder George Waldemar Skjellerup, known as GW, Danish Australian immigrant who established his first Para Rubber store in Christchurch in 1910.
A family ethos of management has marked Skellerup as special kind of place to work, says the company’s group human resources manager Diane Evans.
“It drives culture of friendliness and egalitarianism within the business, something that is not always easy to find in public company. People who are new to Skellerup find quickly that the people within the company at all levels are down-to-earth.”
Evans says it is not place where managers sit in their offices all day or wear ties. Casual attire is accepted and the organisational structure is as flat as possible, she says.
“We make complex issues simple. So there’s no place for hierarchies, power games or arrogance in our culture,” she says.
Agri experts warn New Zealand’s food and fibre future could arrive by default rather than by design
Management Editorial Team
June 24, 2026
Despite near universal optimism in the rural sector, a panel of New Zealand’s leading food and agri minds say the sector must be intentional about its future path if it’s to successfully navigate the social, economic, environmental and technological forces impacting its operating environment.
