$5000 of fuel for 55 years in Nelson

For 55 years NPD has been delivering and retailing fuel around the Nelson and surrounding regions and to celebrate, chief executive Barry Sheridan is giving away $5000 worth of fuel over five weeks in the lead-up to Christmas.

Barry took over full ownership of NPD in May this year after 33 years with the company, the last 15 as its chief. In that time Barry has overseen huge growth of NPD – or Nelson Petroleum Distributors – from just a couple of stations up to 114 to date, with 100 of those in the South Island.

Barry says a strong and committed team, operating within a flat management structure, a laser-focus on quality and a great team culture has fuelled NPD’s success.

“Everything we do we aim for the highest quality, if you look at our pumps, our canopies, our trucks, they are all of the very best standards.  The ‘Southern Feast’ chicken range at our Refresh retail stores is proving extremely popular with our customers.  Our positive reviews received from their experiences is awesome to hear.”

Barry lives on a 100 acre farm in Teapot Valley, near Brightwater, with his wife, daughter and son. He says he spends most of his spare time with his family in the outdoors, fishing, whitebaiting, hunting and trying to keep up with his 12-year-old son on his motocross bike.

“We also have a few animals at our place in Teapot Valley so it all keeps us pretty busy.”

That sense of pride in the local community spills over from Barry’s private life to his company. Just last year, NPD donated more than 30,000 ‘Player of the Day’ certificates and prize packs to local children playing various sports including netball, rugby, football, hockey, as well as supporting local mountainbiking and motocross groups. He says the focus for NPD is on the youth and families within our communities.

“We love to give back to the youth, to encourage them and reward them when they apply themselves and work hard in what they are doing. We look to donate ‘player of the day’ certificates in markets where we have our Refresh retail stores, so not just Nelson but Blenheim, Christchurch, Queenstown and other areas too.”

To celebrate NPD’s 55 years in Nelson, Barry says they will be giving away $1000 of fuel each week for five weeks at various NPD stations, including St Vincent St, Motueka, Parkers Rd, Brightwater and Lower Queen Street Richmond. Alongside free fuel, NPD will be running barbeques, giving away food, ice creams and other merchandise for their customers.

“We’re proud to be a 100% Nelson family-owned business. While we’ve been pretty aggressive about our growth strategy we haven’t lost sight of quality, innovation or integrity and all of that comes from our roots in Nelson so this is an opportunity to give back and say thank you to Nelson for supporting and helping make us the company we are today.”