Family ties bind Rakon together

Brothers Darren (left) and Brent Robinson at Rakon's first annual general meeting in 2006. Photo / Kenny Rodger

Like many Kiwi companies, Rakon began in a garage.

The business was started by Warren Robinson at his Howick home. But it wasn't his first venture, nor his last.

Before Rakon was established in 1967 - the suitably high-tech sounding name was dreamed up by his wife Marjorie - Robinson made marine radios under the name Marlin Electronics.

A key component was quartz crystals - one for each receive and transmit channel. But crystal supply, controlled by the Post Office, was erratic and customers sometimes waited months for a working radio.

Robinson's solution was to establish Rakon and make his own.

In the late 70s his son Brent began an apprenticeship at the PYE electronics factory in Waihi.

"Each year it would take three or four apprentices. It was a really good operation," Brent recalls.

After PYE was bought by Philips, and the factory switched from TVs to toasters, he decided to move to Rakon to finish his apprenticeship.

By 1986 he was managing director - a position he still holds.

Meanwhile, the interest in radio that led his father to start Marlin found a new outlet in computers. Robinson senior wrote the software to manage Rakon's crystal-making business, then set up Rakon Computers, which distributed the Unix operating system.

"He loved Unix and thought it was the way of the future," says Brent. But the business "didn't go anywhere - I think he was a bit ahead of his time".

Younger son Darren joined Rakon from his father's computer business and, in 1990, became marketing director.

The three Robinsons (Warren is now 76) make up half of the Rakon board, which also includes chairman Bryan Mogridge, as well as Bruce Irvine and Peter Maire.

The combined shareholding of Robinson family interests is more than 23 per cent, and Tahia Investments - of which Navman co-founder Maire is the sole director - owns 5.6 per cent.

"Us Robinsons have worked together for a long time," Brent says. "Darren and I have been joined at the hip since the early 1990s."