A and T Burt

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This is the corner of Suart and Cumberland Streets

A. & T. Burt Limited was a firm of plumbing and electrical engineers, metal founders and manufacturers. The business was established in Dunedin in 1862 by Scottish brothers Alexander and Thomas Burt and gained immediate impetus from the Otago gold rush and Dunedin's industrial boom. Having set up as plumbers and gas-fitters, the Burts rapidly expanded into manufacturing, producing drinking fountains, fire-fighting systems, bells, rabbit-exterminators, brewing and distilling equipment, passenger and goods lifts, and boilers. The firm was also involved in ship repair and marine engineering, and in the early 1900s branched into electricity, installing equipment on Auckland's power station and the Waipori hydro-electric scheme. Following the death of Thomas Burt in 1884, Alexander continued to manage the growing firm, which by 1910 had seven branches - in Dunedin, Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Timaru, Invercargill, and London. Business continued to thrive for A. & T. Burt into the 1920s with the manufacture of gold-dredges, which the firm supplied throughout New Zealand and as far afield as Australia, Malaysia, Brazil, and Russia. In 1920 Alexander Burt died, leaving his son William C. Burt as chairman of directors. In 1930 William Morley took charge, steering the company through the Depression. Under Morley's tenure, and that of his successor William Garrett, the firm's emphasis shifted from manufacturing to importing and merchandising, and during this period Burts opened branches in Wanganui, Palmerston North, Hastings, Tauranga, and Whangarei. Until 1950 Burts held the largest share of the New Zealand market in heating and ventilating equipment, and in the mid 1960s acquired the manufacturing plant of Vale & Co. By the end of the 1960s, however, the market was changing, and the firm underwent a structural overhaul. The company's head office shifted from Dunedin to Wellington, and Leslie Burt, grandson of Alexander, who had succeeded William Garrett in 1957, stepped down as chairman of the board. A. & T. Burt Limited, which for over a hundred years had been a family-run company, was taken over by Steel and Tube Holdings Ltd in 1974, although Burts continued to operate under its own name. (From: 'A. & T. Burt Ltd - general & electrical engineers, sanitary plumbers, brassfounders, coppersmiths, manufacturers & importers - company profile', Dunedin? [1985], and 'A. & T. Burt Ltd - a century of progress, 1862-1962' Dunedin, [1962].)


Taken from http://thecommunityarchive.org.nz/node/67787/description