As the rural services company marked that anniversary, Mr Guerin said it was a story of New Zealand and one that saw a number of the same things still being done nearly two centuries later.
It was May, 1851 when George Gould opened Christchurch’s first general store and, following various mergers and acquisitions, PGG Wrightson was formed in 2005 through the merger of Pyne Gould Guinness Ltd and Wrightson Ltd.
The business still collected wool from farmers — except it was transported by truck rather than by horse and dray — and it still traded livestock and sold merchandise while also providing a host of other services, he said.
It now served rural New Zealand with a nationwide footprint of retail stores, saleyards, wool stores, water branches, real estate offices, distribution centres, and a research station.
The other aspect that had not changed was the relationship with clients. Agriculture was a sector where personal connections remained important and knowing and supporting clients through both the ups and downs, he said.
The anniversary was about recognising long-serving team members and intergenerational customer relationships that had shaped the business, celebrating its shared history, reaffirming its commitment to invest in the future, and standing alongside customers through change, he said.
It success came down to its people and the relationships that it had on-farm and in orchards and vineyards.
There were times in its history that it had done well and other times that it had not done so well, when it lost focus on its people and customers, but it had learned from that and it was in a good space, he said.
Mr Guerin, who was appointed chief executive in June, 2019, said the company had survived through droughts and other climatic events, and wars.
Asked how the current geopolitical situation rated in his tenure, he said Covid was more challenging.
However he acknowledged nervousness about the present situation, saying he was worried about the supply chain and price impact on customers. Fuel costs were another concern, not just for the PGG Wrightson business but also for the farming community.
And as he headed towards his own seven-year anniversary, he said succinctly that he still loved his job.
"Our staff, our customers, our suppliers ... they are good people. Our competitors are good people," he said.
