Mowbray Collectables celebrates 50 years in Ōtaki

John and Jane Mowbray. Photo / David Haxton

Mowbray Collectables, New Zealand’s largest stamp and coin dealer, is celebrating 50 years in Ōtaki.

A celebration was held at the iconic business today attended by past and present staff, Kāpiti Mayor Janet Holborow and Ōtaki MP Tim Costley.

Founder director John Mowbray became interested in stamp collecting as a child and, by the time he was a student at Wellington’s Scots College, he had started his business trading stamps.

In 1974 he shifted his Wellington-based mail-order stamp business to Ōtaki.

Mowbray bought the Pacey Engineering building in Dunstan St for $6000 and set about looking for customers nationally and overseas.

“With a staff of two, we started a postal auction which realised $1100 in its first year and got Ōtaki’s first photography machine.”

By 1984, the business had outgrown the building, so the large Dalgety’s building on Main Highway was bought, where it remains with a staff of 16.

Mowbray Collectables has been based in Ōtaki for 50 years and in its present building for 40 years. Photo / David Haxton

“To date, we have sold over $100 million stamps, coins and notes, and exported over $50 million from Ōtaki.”

Some of the many highlights over the years range from starting a World Wildlife Fund stamp collection in Australasia, which lasted more than three decades and raised more than $1m for the charity, to getting Ōtaki’s first fax machine, which sped up connections with overseas customers.

John Mowbray held important positions including being on the board of stamp dealer Stanley Gibbons in London and world president of the International Federation of Stamp Dealers.

He travelled the world and recalled a five-day exhibition in Hong Kong where the queue stretched around two blocks.

Mowbray praised the staff, past and present, and thanked its printers Graphic Press and NZ Post and especially the Ōtaki community, who had assisted in the growth of the business “in many ways”.

“It has been a wonderful experience to be in Ōtaki and help put it on the map internationally.”

This New Zealand stamp from 1906 is valued at $25,000. Photo / David Haxton

Managing director David Galt said Mowbray had demonstrated “that you can develop and run a hugely successful venture in Ōtaki”.

“It’s part of Ōtaki but part of the world.”

Costley congratulated everyone involved in the business.

The business proved “we can be successful from Ōtaki – nothing is stopping us”.

“We want to see more people coming into this region, bringing their talent, bringing their skills, creating opportunities, like you [John] and the team have. It’s a fantastic role model.”

Holborow said the business was “iconic”.

“Ōtaki wouldn’t be what it is if you [John] hadn’t created this business here.”

She noted its “mixture of history and innovation”, which embodied “what Ōtaki is”.

“It’s a place with such a rich past but a place that embraces change and the future.”

Mowbray, a Kāpiti Business Hall of Fame inductee, noted economic times were tough for businesses locally and encouraged them to think beyond local and develop a broader-based business plan.

“It’s up to each retailer to promote themselves. The world is getting far smaller with technology. Use it and let’s get Ōtaki moving again. It’s a unique town and the opportunities are endless.”