A former fitter and turner who makes a product for some of the world's biggest household names has been named the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year.
Bill Buckley of Buckley Systems in Auckland is the global leader in the manufacture and supply of precision electromagnets to 90% of the world's ion implant system.
He designed and built the machine that puts the silicon in the chip, and ships his product to clients including Sony, Intel and IBM. His company employs more than 500 people.
He launched Buckley Engineering in 1978 but needed to sell a majority stake to stay afloat. In 1986 he started Buckley Systems and capitalised on the IT boom in Silicon Valley.
He puts his success down to hard work and a product that is too complicated to copy.
"We've got the years of experience, we've grown up with the market, we were virtually the founders of the market - and we build a good product ... Our quality has been second to none, and that's helped us."
Mr Buckley says winning the award gives his company credibility and helps it to retain the best tradesmen.
