History

Since 1901 socks have been made in Ashburton.

Cip Sparrow remembers as a child in 1935 as he stood on his balcony one night and watched the sock factory across the road burn down. Little did he know that one day he would buy that business and see it grow into one of the country's major sock manufacturers.

Cip lived with his parents and 12 brothers and sisters on Allen's Road when the factory caught fire. After the fire, owner John Tilly Phaup passed the business on to his grandson Tom Phaup, who rebuilt the factory, in those days named Phaup's Hosiery. In 1980 Cip and his son Euan bought the factory.

Today Euan is the CEO and his dad, Cip still puts in a six hour day, five days per week, mainly in the packaging department, along with Euan's daughter Gabrielle who works as Brand Manager for the company.

2003 brought about the relocation from our Allen's Road factory to a new purpose-built factory in Ashburton's new Business Park.

Our company's directors had a goal to double the turnover and extend the size of the new building within the next five years - which was a huge success. The success of our company has been attributed to the focus on top quality product and knowing where to sell it.

As well as making our own products we also import from China, Pakistan and Poland. Everything we bring out of Asia is of the highest quality. Importing from Asia is a good addition to our business, to complement this new Sangiacomo plant is on order to further grow the Ashburton Factory. We recently purchased a labelling machine, the only one of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere. This machine has enabled us to significantly increase our output as the demand for New Zealand Sock Company socks is growing daily.

Knitting so many pairs of socks per week requires the best efforts of all staff, as well as investment in good machines, at the New Zealand Sock Company we strive to keep up with the latest technology so we can continue being at the forefront of our industry.

Our machines are in operation for 18.5 hours per day on average for 5-6 days per week.

As active lifestyles and specific activities place different demands on our feet, The New Zealand Sock Company will continue to research and develop to provide "the best socks you'll ever own".

We are constantly researching and trialing new yarn blends and fibres that will enhance the performance of our socks. However the main component in the majority of our socks is Merino Wool. The properties and benefits of Merino wool are second to none therefore our aim is to ensure that we continue to source the very best quality Merino Wool for our socks.

We are now supplying our product to Australia, the United Kingdom, America, Canada and through parts of Asia.

Now specialising in outdoor and fashion brands, we are the country's largest outdoor sock manufacturer.

The New Zealand Sock Company has all the resources required to produce "the best socks you'll ever own".