Proctor, Philip

As Managing Director of Dunlop New Zealand Limited and founder of the local tyre factory, Philip Proctor was an important figure in Upper Hutt life from the late 1940s until the 1970s. His father Charles Proctor had founded the first Dunlop office and warehouse in Christchurch in 1896. He eventually became Managing Director of Dunlop Limited, probably in the 1940s. Son George Philip was born in Australia in 1902; the family returned to England in 1910, but Charles was given Dunlop responsibilities in France and Germany. Philip grew up there until World War I broke out; then, his father was interned in Germany for trying to close the Dunlop factory, while Philip and his mother returned from France to England; Philip had to 'cram' English before schools would accept him, and was always more fluent in French and German.

After gaining an engineering degree he worked in America for two years, and then joined Dunlop, who were looking for engineers with American experience. After time in Czechoslovakia and England he was sent to New Zealand in 1937 to rebuild the Dunlop organisation. There were talks with the Labour government about tyre manufacture in 1938 and 1939, with the government wanting to increase employment, and Dunlop reluctant; there was also a proposal to collaborate with Reidrubber. The government wanted 51% of the company; Dunlop insisted on control.

World War II stopped proceedings. Philip was recalled to Dunlop England in 1941, and was also used (by government?) as a translator. In 1944 it was known that the New Zealand government was again talking tyre manufacture, and Philip was to be flown back early in 1945; he had to sail from Colombo to Perth, as the only air route was flown by Qantas using Catalina flying boats with extremely limited freight and passenger capacity; the flights averaged 28 hours, and could take 32.

Further talks about collaboration with Reidrubber proved fruitless. In April 1945 the government advertised that applications for licences for tyre manufacture would be accepted; after applications and objections, and further appeals had been heard, three licences were issued, to Reidrubber (Auckland), Dunlop (Wellington area) and Firestone (Christchurch). Philip returned to England October 1945-February 1946 to report on events and arrange details for the proposed company and factory.

Dunlop New Zealand Limited was registered on July 5, 1946, with Philip Proctor as Managing Director, and in addition to starting to build a tyre factory, controlled Dunlop imports, and acquired a Christchurch factory from Australia's Barnet Glass. Finding materials for the tyre factory proved difficult, but the factory was nearly complete when it was opened by the Prime Minister on June 10, 1949; it had produced its first Goodyear and Dunlop tyres in March.

When Philip retired as Managing Director in April 1965, the factory was bursting at the seams, and the first large new buildings were under way; he continued on the Board of Directors until December 1974, by which time the factory had just reached its final size, and been equipped with new machinery for mixing rubber, and for making radial tyres. Proctor was awarded a C. B. E in 1961 for outstanding services to manufacturing and the community, and was knighted in connection with the founding of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award scheme.