LOWE CORPORATION
HEAD OFFICE
The headquarters of the company is situated in Coventry Road in Hastings, next to the tannery, Graeme Lowe Hastings.
About 20 people are employed at HQ and this is where managing director Andy Lowe and his management team work. All the sales, marketing, shipping, finance., IT and administration services are based there.
GRAEME LOWE
HASTINGS TANNERY
About 50 people work at this tannery. The primary function of Graeme Lowe Hastings is the processing of hides, skins and pelts.
The cattle hides are cured to a wet blue or wet slated state. Wet salted calf skins are also done here.
The capacity of the plant, which has 21 processing vessels, is about one million units. The hides are exported and turned into a wide range of products, including automotive products, furniture, garments, shoes and handbags.
The company has two main export markets and 60 per cent of hides from Graeme Lowe Hastings go to Europe (Italy in particular), while the remaining 40 per cent goes to China.
Plans are afoot to increase capacity at the Hastings tannery and a number of Lowe Corporation plants around New Zealand have been closed with the intention to create a super site in Hastings.