When Daile Jones first walked through the doors of the old Pyne Gould Guinness building on Cashel Street in Christchurch in 1983, it was after she had been working down the road at New Zealand Farmers Co-op. Having been made redundant when Wrightson NMA took over Farmers Co-op, Daile’s step-father - who serviced the air conditioning at PGG - heard there might be a vacancy.

“He just asked if there were any jobs going, so I got an interview and started as the mail girl shortly after.”

However what eventuated wasn’t just a job, but a lifetime of friendships and even a husband thrown in for good measure. And while she spent many years away from the business, Daile returned seven years ago as the Store Manager in Methven to find that plenty of things were still the same. 

“It was always a great place to work. And it still is! 

“I remember all the camaraderie and so many young people coming through the company at that time. You started at the bottom and worked your way up.”

At 17 years old, Daile spent her days delivering mail between departments throughout the large Cashel Street building as well as other administration duties.

“The mail boys, Joe Blakiston and Craig Miller, would collect the big canvas mail bags from the post office twice a day,” she says. “Then we’d stand in the mail room opening all the mail and sorting everything going out to all the different departments.”

And it was in those early weeks that she first heard people talking about a mysterious figure known simply as ‘Gee’.

“Everyone kept mentioning this fella Gee, but I never saw him because he was away. Then about three weeks after I started, he came back to work and I got introduced to Graeme Jones.”

That introduction would then shape the rest of her life. The pair got to know each other as Daile continued making her daily mail rounds between floors of the building and by November, they attended a Seed and Grain Association function - together. The couple became engaged the following year and married in November 1985. Now, 42 years later, both remain closely tied to PGG Wrigthson. Graeme has worked continuously with the company since 1978 and is now the Arable Business Manager with PGG Wrightson Seeds.

For Daile, life took her in several different directions before eventually bringing her back in 2019. 

“The Store Manager role in Methven came up,” she says. “I’d just finished at Young Farmers because the funding had ended, and Graeme said, ‘You should apply for it.’” Daile applied at 5pm on the final day applications closed and secured the role.

“I’d worked managing a jewellery store previously, so while it was similar, it was also very different - it felt like starting all over again. I remember HR asking me in the interview what I thought would be the hardest thing, and I said definitely product knowledge. 

“I had heard all the names of the products over the years with Graeme being in the industry, and I remember thinking, “gee, I wish I’d paid more attention to what all these products were actually used for.”

Despite the steep learning curve, Daile quickly found her feet and within just 18 months, the Methven store achieved national recognition, placing second nationally in the 2020 to 2021 financial year - something she is very proud of. 

Today, Daile says one of the biggest differences between the company she first joined in the 1980s and the business it is now is culture.

“Back then all the men wore ties and the managers wore suits. It was very formal. You would never have had a female grain agent back then and you definitely didn’t call your superiors by their first names.”

She also remembers the smoky offices, the busy basement tea room where you could watch all the feet of people walking down the street outside and the strong social culture that existed throughout the company.

“Every Friday night people would head across to The Snug after work,” she says. “And every Christmas there’d be a huge company function with dinner and dancing at the  Christchurch Town Hall.”

But while the culture and dress standards may have changed, Daile believes one thing has remained consistent, the relationships.

“It’s amazing who you bump into over the years,” she says. “People who worked together many years ago are still connected through the rural industry.” In fact, many of the guests at Daile and Graeme’s wedding had ties back to PGG and the wider agricultural sector.

“A lot of them stayed in the industry in some form,” she says. “You don’t always see people for years, but then suddenly you reconnect again.”

Daile says she is impressed with how much the PGGW has evolved, particularly around opportunities for women and staff development.

“If you’ve got the experience and the ability now, they won’t say you’re too young or too old or you’re female,” she says. “That’s a huge change from where the company was in the early 1980s.”

She also credits the modern business with investing heavily in training and staff support.

“There’s so much education available now through the training systems and supplier programmes. The business is very focused on upskilling people and supporting staff.”

While Daile says she has no desire at this stage of her career to ‘climb the ladder’, she certainly appreciates knowing those opportunities exist for younger employees entering the industry. Her advice to the next generation? Enjoy the people around you and take every opportunity to learn.

“The relationships are the biggest thing,” she says. “When I look back now, it’s the people and the memories you remember most.”

And after more than four decades connected to PGGW in one way or another, Daile says she still feels proud to have been part of its story.

“It’s still a great company to work for,” she says.