Ifor Williams Trailers NZ TowLab

In the last quarter of 2024, and following the retirement of Southern Trailers, Ifor Williams Trailers started the journey to reinvigorate the New Zealand market with the appointment of new Distributors of their products on the North Island of New Zealand.

When they saw several ads promoting a distribution opportunity for the North Island of New Zealand, both Jamie and Lance Hellyer jumped at the chance to apply. The Hellyer’s journey and desire to be part of the Ifor Williams Trailers world-wide story started some 15 years prior to 2025, when both Lance and Jamie completed separate overseas experiences in the UK.

“This is when we first became aware of the exceptional Ifor Williams Trailers brand and absolutely fell in love with the product. Ifor Williams Trailers became part of our daily lives for months on end while we were in the UK. Once we returned home, we quickly learned we couldn’t live without them. We have now been owners and advocates of Ifor Williams Trailers for well over a decade.

Our love and passion for the brand grew so much that we journeyed all the way from New Zealand to the factories in Wales in 2017 to personally inquire about distributing Ifor Williams Trailers back home in New Zealand. At that time, Ifor Williams Trailers were satisfied with the distributor setup they had in place. 

Since then, we’ve closely monitored Ifor Williams' progress, and waited, (a little impatiently) for a gap to arise in the market. When the application process commenced, we were excited and concerned in equal measures, to ensure that we got the successful outcome we had hoped for, over the last 8 years. We worked conscientiously to put together a first-class business plan, consulting with professionals and garnering support and advice from a wider team of family and friends, who were willing us on to achieve our business dream.

As expected, Ifor Williams Trailers were inundated with applicants and so their meticulous process of suitable selection started. We firstly met with Jac Williams from the Family Office who interviewed us, scrutinised our business plan and application. We and our support team, next met with the Directors and in this meeting, it became clear to us, that our values and ethos could be a great fit for the owners and key stake holders of Ifor Williams Trailers.

Late August, the selection process continued, and the Directors of Ifor Williams Trailers visited us in New Zealand, to meet us in person, see our location and to get to know us better."

Carole Williams, Director said, ‘It is rare for John and I to have the time to be so involved and part of the selection process for new Distributors, but we have learnt over the years, that our business is personal and it is very important to us, that those who represent us and our brand, do need to reflect the core values of our business. 

When we work in partnership with good people, who go the extra mile, to make sure that the customer is looked after properly, then everything works. The passion for our brand, demonstrated by Jamie and Lance, was palpable, and the tenacity and interest they have both shown over the last 15 years, in wanting to be part of this onward journey, made this appointment decision a well-earned conclusion.’

"We were delighted to be invited to Wales, for a four-day factory visit, where we met all the Senior and Middle Management of Ifor Williams Trailers, along with their wider and extensive teams. We visited 5 advanced manufacturing sites, on a hectic but inspirational tour and we received intensive product training from the Show Manager and Manufacturing Assembly site Managers, whose passion for what they do daily, is outstanding.

We spent down time with many of the ‘movers and shakers’ from the Company, who made us feel at home and part of the team and we visited some great local Welsh restaurants for working dinners.

Our visit to Wales extended over a weekend and we had the pleasure of dinner with some members of the Williams family, even calling by an IWT Distributor on the way to the restaurant.

When our time came to leave Wales, we felt that we knew an awful lot about the people, products and locations behind this iconic Welsh brand and as they say in Wales, ‘Teulu ydym ni’, we now feel like ‘We are Family’ and that we belong.

As proud owners of multiple Ifor Williams trailers, and now as newly approved Ifor Williams Trailers distributors, we cannot wait to see others derive as much satisfaction from the unmatched quality, reliability, and performance that Ifor Williams Trailers have provided us over the years. As you can tell, we are huge advocates of these exceptionally high-quality products and receive positive feedback all the time when the trailers are in tow.

We look forward, to meeting you, our customers, at our new premises and at the forthcoming trade shows this year. Helping others improve their daily business through the use of Ifor Williams Trailers is going to give us immense satisfaction."