2022 Business of the Year Awards: Sock-maker wins supreme award

NZ Sock Co, established by the Sparrow family in 1980 after they took over a local hosiery, also won the Technology and Innovation Award. Their history of making socks spans across three generations.

Eight category winners were also announced at the awards’ formal gala dinner, held in the Mt Hutt Memorial Hall. The awards were sponsored by ANZ and hosted by the Ashburton District Council and Ri Ra Events.

Ashburton Mayor Neil Brown chose the supreme winner and said most people in the district likely had a pair of NZ Sock socks.

“It’s a privilege to give this award to such an outstanding and locally-grown family business. Your socks have been worn by winners on the sports field, in the boardroom and by armies on the march. You have shown that sock-making is a real science and one that can happen in our own town.”

The inaugural awards attracted 70 entries, which went before a judging panel last year.



Council Community Services Group Manager Steve Fabish it was plain to see that many businesses had taken a step forward, in spite of some challenging times in the past two years.

“The awards have shown just how innovative and world-leading some of the businesses in this district are. It was our first time running the awards and we’ll consider all the feedback we have gathered along the way and look at how we might improve them for when we next run this event.

“There will be regular updates on our website and lots of information to share ahead of the next awards.”