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Aspiring Enterprises is a small manufacturing business owned by a family partnership of Alice Shanks and Lindsay Main. The business was established in 1980 to make climbing harnesses, which were superior to those available at the time. The business grew rapidly, expanding during the 1980s to manufacture outdoor equipment for climbing, tramping, and caving, and was later registered as a company under the name Aspiring Safety Products Ltd.
Setting anchors in an unexplored Mt Arthur cave
Lindsay Main has been climbing for 30 years, and has accomplished many alpine climbs, including five ascents of Mt Cook, several new routes in the Southern Alps, and a number of climbs overseas. These experiences were associated with a strong interest in the technical aspects of climbing, which gave him the background for writing the NZ Mountain Safety Council's Mountaincraft Manual in 1980, followed by a second edition in 1987. There was also an involvement in climbing instruction, both amateur and professional, including two summer seasons working with the NZ Antarctic Programme's snow survival school in the early 1980s.
In the mid 1980s he became involved in caving, and has explored many of New Zealand's deepest caves, in particular organising and leading a dozen ten-day expeditions to New Zealand's biggest cave, Bulmer Cavern.
Alongside these recreational activities Lindsay took a professional interest in height-safety, working on scaffolding at one stage and as a steeplejack, as well as starting New Zealand's first rope access operation in 1978.
Lindsay has also been closely involved in rock climbing for 30 years, particularly in the Christchurch area, He published a guide to climbing on the Port Hills in 1998, co-edited South Island Rock in 2004, and remains a member of the Christchurch Alpine and Cliff Rescue Team. He has made over 200 first ascents of rock climbs in the Christchurch area.
Starting from a single product over 20 years ago, Aspiring Enterprises now supplies a broad range of products for outdoor activities, including climbing, caving, tramping, and outdoor education. Fabric and webbing products are manufactured in our factory in Christchurch, while rope and hardware are imported from the USA and Europe.
Since establishment 20 years ago we have manufactured approximately 30,000 harnesses, and numerous other webbing items, such as webbing slings. Our outdoor education harnesses are the industry standard in New Zealand, and are also used in Australia.
We have worked closely with the Adventure Tourism industry during the last decade, and now produce a number of specialised items for this industry, such as webbing slings and harnesses used in bungy jumping operations throughout New Zealand.
Twelve years ago we became involved in the fall protection market, manufacturing harnesses for people working at height. Our first licence from Standards New Zealand was granted in 1994. As part of the background for this product area, Lindsay has represented New Zealand manufacturing interests on the joint standard committee responsible for the height-safety standards since 1993.
During the last four years we have expanded our range of height-safety products, both by obtaining further certifications for the webbing products we make on site, and by increasing our range of imported products, and we are now beginning to take a more prominent role in the fall-protection market-place.
Our well-lit main sewing area
We currently employ a total of six people, and are located
in comfortable premises of 200 square metres. We have cutting areas for
both fabric and webbing, which is cut on treadle-operated hot cutters
for a clean cut.
Our sewing room is equipped with six regular and heavy-duty sewing machines,
as well as four machines for more specialised work, including a Juki computer-controlled
pattern-stitcher, two Brother bar-tack machines, a Pfaff box-and-cross,
.
We specialise in designing and manufacturing webbing products, and stock
a wide range of webbings, buckles, and other and components. Buckles and
webbings are sourced from the UK, Italy, France, and the USA, as well as
being made to our own requirements.
Apart from our own manufacturing capability, we also rely on the expertise of a number of overseas companies who are leaders in the outdoor and height-safety fields. These include:
Testing rope grabs onsite
We have the expertise to advise on any height safety problem, and can organise training if required. We attend meetings of the Standards Australia SF15 committee, which reviews the height safety standards. This helps us keep up to date with new developments.
We have testing facilities on our premises for harness testing, with a hydraulic jack monitored by a Dillon 50 kN dynamometer, and we can also call upon independent test laboratories where appropriate.
We hold a licence from Bureau Veritas NZ (formerly the certification branch of Standards New Zealand) for manufacturing safety harnesses, lanyards, and pole straps under AS1891.1:1995, Safety Belts and Harnesses.
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