Wellsford-born Glen Inger has been busy since he left The Warehouse Group more than a decade ago after founding it with Sir Stephen Tindall. Not even 13 major operations and the removal of 25 tumours has hindered Inger’s entrepreneurial streak.
Inger is a director and/or shareholder of no fewer than 32 companies, spanning retail, property development, farming and forestry. Along with Joanne, his wife of 34 years, “everything is jointly ours,” Inger says.
Their property portfolio includes the consented Kowhai Falls 15,000sq m retail block in Warkworth, a 28ha block near Wellsford’s shops, and a 66-lot subdivision at Langs Beach. Pukekohe’s The Zone Shopping Centre, worth $50m, remained a “jewel in the crown,” Inger recently told his local paper.
They also own shares in a mussel farm in South Australia’s Port Lincoln and a resort on Fiji’s Toberua Island, although they plan to sell the resort soon.
Other investments include the Harbour Edge Avocado venture with Hamish Alexander’s capsicum company, Southern Paprika. So far, 25,000 trees have been planted on 100ha in Tapora, with about 150ha remaining.
But the Mercer Mushrooms venture has not been smooth sailing since 2016. A spat with a rival company over the type of compost used saw it temporarily shut down production. New health standards will allow Mercer to import the compost as long as strict conditions are met.
In spite of another hiccup last year involving Waikato residents living near the Pukekawa mushroom farm, who rallied against a new on-site composting facility, Inger says Mercer has invested $15m in a new plant that will triple mushroom growth to over 60 tonnes a week.
Inger’s seven-year fight with stage four melanoma has made him more focused and stronger, he says. As a result, many of his priorities have changed. Because of various surgeries, he now has “many missing body parts”, and this has resulted in some physical challenges.
Some of his business interests have had to be divested and repositioned. "However, each day is a gift that I embrace with enthusiasm and passion," he says. "If I stay positive, eat the right food and keep healthy, then every day is a great day above group."
He’s also taken on the role of mentoring his four adult children. Michaela is the owner of the Mikko chain of shoe stores, Greg is the head buyer of Crackerjack (formerly The Clearance Shed), Craig is Mercer’s production manager, and Vicky is a project manager with the Business Intelligence Group.
Inger says he and his family try to keep a relatively low profile, but he's is keen to share with his children a “lifetime of knowledge gained through experiences, successes and mistakes” - and hopes they'll be successful in their own right “and, like my wife Joanne and I, proud to be sixth-generation New Zealanders.”
2018: $170 million