Fletcher Building

Fletcher Building is a New Zealand-listed construction and building-products group headquartered in Auckland. Its activities extend across the construction supply chain, from the manufacture of materials and distribution of building supplies to residential development, construction management and infrastructure-related work. The group operates primarily in New Zealand and Australia, with additional exposure to Pacific markets. The business has roots in New Zealand’s building-supply and construction industries. Its retail history reaches back to a building-supply site opened in Dunedin in 1910. The company’s distribution operations later developed around PlaceMakers, which has been the principal trading brand for Fletcher’s nationwide building-supply retail network since 1954. PlaceMakers serves trade customers and other building participants through a substantial store network, including a significant presence in Auckland. Fletcher also operated the Building Depot retail chain until selling it in 2003. Fletcher Building’s operating structure has included four broad divisions: Light Building Products, Distribution, Heavy Building Products, and Residential and Development. Light and heavy building-products activities cover materials used in residential, commercial and infrastructure construction. Distribution activities connect manufacturers and suppliers with builders, tradespeople and other customers. Residential and development operations are involved in housing and property projects, while construction-management activities have delivered major commercial and public-facing projects. The group faced a major operational and financial setback following the 2019 fire at the New Zealand International Convention Centre project in Auckland. The fire, which began when roofing materials were ignited by a worker’s blowtorch, affected the SkyCity precinct and caused extensive disruption. The incident contributed to substantial costs and was followed by Fletcher Building’s decision to discontinue its vertical-construction arm of Fletcher Construction. In 2025, SkyCity Entertainment Group announced legal action seeking NZ$330 million from Fletcher Building and Fletcher Construction over alleged project delays and associated losses. Fletcher rejected the alleged contractual breach and said it would defend the claim. The COVID-19 pandemic produced another significant disruption. In 2020, Fletcher Building introduced substantial pay reductions for senior executives and for employees who were not working, and it announced plans to reduce its New Zealand workforce by approximately 1,000 employees. The company also expected a large loss for the financial year ending June 2020, reflecting the effects of pandemic restrictions and reduced construction activity. Fletcher’s position in New Zealand’s plasterboard market became a subject of intense public and regulatory scrutiny during the 2021–22 supply shortage. Its Winstone Wallboards business supplied the dominant share of the country’s plasterboard market, and the company began rationing orders in February 2022. Builders, retailers and developers reported delays, while some sought imported supplies and products from competing manufacturers. The Commerce Commission opened an investigation into competition and market-entry issues in the building-materials sector. In June 2022, video footage indicated that Fletcher Living had received preferential access to plasterboard from Winstone Wallboards, contrary to Fletcher’s internal policy. Fletcher subsequently outlined measures including increased production, additional Australian imports and plans for a new factory. Government ministers also established a taskforce to examine ways to relieve the shortage. Fletcher Building remains an active, diversified participant in the New Zealand and Australian construction ecosystem. Its brand portfolio and operating businesses serve both professional trade customers and large-scale project markets, while its history illustrates the risks associated with major construction projects, concentrated building-materials markets and cyclical housing and infrastructure demand.

Fletcher Building developed from New Zealand’s long-established construction and building-supply industries. Its historical roots are associated with the Fletcher organization founded by Sir James Fletcher, and its retail distribution history reaches back to a building-supply site opened in Dunedin in 1910. The group’s later development reflected the integration of building-material manufacturing, trade distribution, construction services and residential development. PlaceMakers became the principal trading identity for Fletcher’s building-supply retail operations in 1954. Over time, the network expanded across New Zealand and became an important channel for builders and trade customers. By 2019, the chain had 62 stores, including 11 in Auckland, with its head office in Penrose. Fletcher also operated Building Depot, a smaller retail chain that had ten stores, including five in Auckland, before it was sold in 2003. The buyer subsequently faced receivership of the business in 2004. Fletcher Building’s modern operating model has been organised around four broad areas: Light Building Products, Distribution, Heavy Building Products, and Residential and Development. This structure gives the group exposure to both upstream production and downstream customer channels. Its products and services support residential construction, commercial buildings and infrastructure works, while its development businesses participate directly in housing and property projects. Major construction projects have also shaped the company’s recent history. The New Zealand International Convention Centre in Auckland, developed as part of the SkyCity precinct, was affected by a serious fire on 22 October 2019. Cardboard beneath the roofing cap sheet began smouldering after being ignited by a worker’s blowtorch. The fire spread through much of the central Auckland project area, closed the Sky Tower and wider SkyCity precinct for a period, and injured four people through fire and smoke exposure. The event imposed costs that were expected to reach hundreds of millions of New Zealand dollars and contributed to Fletcher Building discontinuing the verticals arm of Fletcher Construction. The project continued to generate legal and commercial consequences. In June 2025, SkyCity Entertainment Group filed a claim seeking NZ$330 million from Fletcher Building and Fletcher Construction. SkyCity alleged that the convention centre took approximately ten years rather than three years to complete and sought compensation for losses, including effects associated with the 2019 fire. Fletcher disputed the alleged breach and stated that it would defend the claim. The COVID-19 pandemic placed additional pressure on Fletcher Building. In April 2020, senior executives accepted salary reductions of 30 percent as part of a broader response to the financial effects of the crisis. Employees who were not working were subject to progressively larger proposed reductions. In May, the company announced plans to remove about 1,000 New Zealand positions, equivalent to roughly one-tenth of its workforce. The company later indicated that it expected a loss of NZ$196 million for the year ending June 2020, attributing the result to pandemic effects. The group’s market position in plasterboard became a central issue during the national building-materials shortage of 2021 and 2022. Winstone Wallboards held an estimated 94 percent share of New Zealand’s plasterboard market at the time. Fletcher began rationing orders in February 2022, and shortages contributed to project delays and severe pressure on builders and developers. The Commerce Commission opened a probe in late 2021 into competition, market access and the cost of building materials. Some firms and retailers sought imported plasterboard from countries including China and Thailand, as well as products from domestic competitor Elephant Plasterboard. In June 2022, evidence emerged that Fletcher Living had received preferential access to plasterboard from Winstone Wallboards, despite the group’s internal policy against such treatment. The episode intensified criticism from customers, shareholders and competitors. Simplicity Living cancelled a contract with Fletcher because of supply delays and imported plasterboard from Thailand. Fletcher’s chief executive Ross Taylor said the company would increase factory output, import more material from Australia and plan a new Tauranga facility. The company also announced a target of producing one million square metres of plasterboard between June and September 2022. The government established a ministerial taskforce to consider alternative supplies and other ways of easing the shortage. Fletcher Building continues to operate as an active, listed New Zealand group under a portfolio model spanning building products, distribution, construction-related activity and residential development. Its recent history has been defined by both the breadth of its construction ecosystem and scrutiny arising from project execution, market concentration and supply-chain management.

• 2025

  SkyCity brings convention-centre damages claim

  [1]Fletcher Buildingen.wikipedia.org

  SkyCity announces a NZ$330 million lawsuit concerning alleged delays and losses associated with the Auckland convention-centre project.

• 2024

  Andrew Reding becomes group chief executive

  [1]Fletcher Buildingen.wikipedia.org

  Andrew Reding starts as Fletcher Building’s Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director in August.

• 2022

  Plasterboard rationing and supply response

  [1]Fletcher Buildingen.wikipedia.org

  Fletcher rations plasterboard orders amid a national shortage and announces increased production, imports and plans for a new Tauranga factory.

• 2021

  Commerce Commission building-materials probe

  [1]Fletcher Buildingen.wikipedia.org

  The Commerce Commission begins examining competition and market-entry conditions in New Zealand’s building-materials sector.

• 2020

  COVID-19 restructuring response

  [1]Fletcher Buildingen.wikipedia.org

  Fletcher introduces executive and non-working staff pay reductions and announces approximately 1,000 New Zealand job cuts.

• 2019

  Auckland convention-centre fire

  [1]Fletcher Buildingen.wikipedia.org

  A fire at the New Zealand International Convention Centre project causes extensive disruption and contributes to the later withdrawal from vertical construction.

• 2003

  Building Depot is sold

  [1]Fletcher Buildingen.wikipedia.org

  Fletcher sells its Building Depot retail chain, which had operated ten stores.

• 1954

  PlaceMakers becomes the main retail trading brand

  [1]Fletcher Buildingen.wikipedia.org

  PlaceMakers becomes the principal trading identity for Fletcher’s nationwide building-supply stores.

• 1910

  Early building-supply retail operation opens in Dunedin

  [1]Fletcher Buildingen.wikipedia.org

  Fletcher’s retail distribution history is traced to the opening of its first building-supply site in Dunedin.

A leading New Zealand construction and building-products group serving trade, residential, commercial and infrastructure customers across a vertically connected supply chain.

• Building-supply distribution · 1954

  PlaceMakers

  PlaceMakers is Fletcher’s principal building-supply retail brand in New Zealand. Its stores serve builders, tradespeople and other construction customers with materials and related supplies. The network dates from the 1950s and had 62 stores in 2019, including 11 in Auckland.

• Plasterboard and wall systems

  Winstone Wallboards

  Winstone Wallboards is Fletcher’s plasterboard business and a major supplier to the New Zealand construction market. Its dominant market position became a focus of public and regulatory attention during the 2021–22 plasterboard shortage, when Fletcher introduced order rationing and later pursued additional production and imports.

• Construction materials

  Heavy Building Products

  The Heavy Building Products division covers materials used in substantial residential, commercial and infrastructure works. The available reference material identifies the division but does not provide a complete product-by-product catalogue.

• Construction materials

  Light Building Products

  The Light Building Products division supplies materials and systems used in building construction. The division forms part of Fletcher Building’s broader manufacturing and distribution platform, although the supplied reference does not enumerate every product line.

• Residential development

  Residential and Development

  Fletcher’s Residential and Development activities participate in housing and property projects. The business is connected to the wider Fletcher supply chain and became publicly relevant during the 2022 plasterboard shortage after Fletcher Living was shown to have received preferential access to material from Winstone Wallboards.

• 2025

  SkyCity convention-centre lawsuit

  SkyCity Entertainment Group sued Fletcher Building and Fletcher Construction for NZ$330 million, alleging extended construction delays and associated losses. Fletcher denied breaching its contract and said it would contest the claim.

  Source

• 2022

  Preferential plasterboard allocation during national shortage

  Evidence indicated that Fletcher Living received preferential access to plasterboard from Winstone Wallboards while other customers faced rationing. The allocation was described as contrary to Fletcher’s own policy and intensified criticism of the group’s market conduct.

  Source

• 2019

  New Zealand International Convention Centre fire

  A fire at the Auckland convention-centre project caused extensive disruption, injured four people through fire and smoke exposure, and generated major costs and subsequent scrutiny of Fletcher’s project execution.

  Source

Read more

• 2022

  Response to plasterboard shortageStrategy

  Background

  A nationwide shortage affected builders, retailers and developers, while Fletcher’s Winstone Wallboards business held a dominant share of New Zealand’s plasterboard market.

  Action taken

  Fletcher rationed orders, committed to higher factory output, arranged additional Australian imports and planned a new Tauranga factory.

  Aftermath

  The response was accompanied by continued scrutiny from the Commerce Commission, government, shareholders, customers and competitors. The company also stated that it aimed to produce one million square metres of plasterboard between June and September 2022.

  • Elephant Plasterboard — Criticised Fletcher Building’s dominant position in the New Zealand building-materials market.

  Source

• 2020

  Pandemic pay and workforce measuresStrategy

  Background

  COVID-19 restrictions sharply disrupted New Zealand construction activity and created material uncertainty for the group.

  Action taken

  Senior executives accepted 30 percent salary reductions, while the company proposed larger reductions for non-working staff and announced approximately 1,000 New Zealand job cuts.

  Aftermath

  Fletcher expected a substantial loss for the financial year ending June 2020 and continued to manage pandemic-related operating disruption.

  Expected annual loss. NZ$196 million loss expected (Year ending June 2020)

  Source

• 2019

  Discontinuation of the vertical-construction armStrategy

  Background

  The Auckland convention-centre fire and the resulting financial and operational consequences placed significant pressure on Fletcher Construction’s vertical-project activities.

  Action taken

  Fletcher Building decided to discontinue its verticals arm of Fletcher Construction.

  Aftermath

  The decision narrowed the group’s direct exposure to vertical construction while leaving it active in building products, distribution, residential development and other construction-related activities.

  Source

1. 1Fletcher Buildingen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Fletcher Building official websitefletcherbuilding.com