North Shore local Sir David Levene has long been a massive giver to the community. All he has done for business and philanthropy in New Zealand was recognised in September by his local community when he was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the inaugural North Harbour Business Hall of Fame dinner held at The Wharf at Northcote Point.
Sir David's story is an interesting one and those who attended the dinner heard his passion for what he does and what he has done when he gave his inspirational acceptance speech after the presentation.
As a young lad, David worked most holidays in his father (Lewis Levene) and uncle’s paint shop. He would fill the bottles and tins with turpentine, weigh out the putty and serve any customers.
"My Dad was a painter and I can remember him coming home and saying to my Mother, there’s no money this week – we have to pay Philips and Impey’s account," explained David during his acceptance speech. "I was never hungry but there was always a feeling of unease."
At the end of 1942, Lewis announced that David would finish his education as a boarder at New Plymouth Boys High School. David’s best subject at school was mathematics and he developed some mastery in Latin. In the first few weeks at New Plymouth Boys High, David set himself some goals: to pass the university entrance exam; to represent the school in rugby; and, to be a prefect. He attained every one. He was always conscious of the large sum of money his father handed over each term for him to be at New Plymouth.
David reflected on how he joined the family firm. "One night I got home cold, wet and tired and was complaining. My dad said 'as a chemist (a career being considered) you’ll only have one shop, why don’t you come and work in your uncle’s and my paint shop'. I thought that sounded great – I could ride in the warm car with Dad on the way to and from work, read my book at the back and serve the occasional customer, so I went into the paint business."
In 1960, David married Billie Arkle and they moved into an old roughcast house on the water’s edge at Milford with Elizabeth, the first of their two children. Their son, Mark, was born a few years later. After many alterations, David continues to live in their house at Milford.
On a business trip to the United States in 1959, David was exposed to trends that were to influence the future direction of the firm profoundly. The most important of these changes were the advent of supermarkets, the rise of the shopping centre and the need for parking for any successful retailing. As David later expressed, “it was like having tomorrow’s newspaper.”
"At 22 I said to my dad and uncle 'you guys have been around as long as Smith & Smith and Tingey & Co, and you have one shop and they are all over NZ! – and it’s because you don’t sell paint to painters!' My dad said 'we’re not giving credit to painters – we know how hard it is to make a living painting'. I kept nagging and in the end my Dad said 'Okay, you do it your way and if you lose it all, it’s on your head'. There wasn’t much to lose – we had about 10,000 pounds a year in revenue."
By 1994 there were 52 Levene retail stores, plus paint and wallpaper factories and David decided to sell the Levene chain to Skellerup
"In 1994 I sold the business – minus buildings – to Skellerup Industries and within three and a half years they had wrecked it. When it went into receivership it was one of the worst days of my life when 1000 of my people were put out of work without holiday pay and no redundancy."
When selling the Levene chain David changed his business to Lewis Holdings Limited (in memory of his father). This new company is still the investment vehicle for a large proportion of the family investments. In 1995, David formed a property company called Quadrant Properties which is a significant commercial property developer and owner. So property and investing in mainly startup businesses has been the main focus.
"We have built a successful property investment business and I like to back young people with good ideas in about 30 startup businesses. This is very satisfying because it ensures that I mix with the young people and not old fuddy duddies like myself!"
Giving time is just as important as giving money and the David Levene Foundation is a generous benefactor to many charitable, educational and sporting organisations.
David was awarded an KNZM and OBE, has received an honorary doctorate in Literature from Massey University and an honorary doctorate in law from Auckland University. He has been inducted into Manukau City’s Business Hall of Fame, the North Harbour Business Hall of Fame and New Zealand Business Hall of Fame.
Sir David started his speech by referring to himself as "a boy originally from Ponsonby" (although the Shore has been home for around 60 years!). He concluded by saying... "And so a little boy from Ponsonby wishes to thank the North Harbour Club for this enormous honour."
