In his 80s, the irrepressible Garth Barfoot of the country’s biggest privately owned real estate company Barfoot & Thompson has retired, leaving behind big shoes to fill.
He was the second generation in the family business, becoming a director in 1968 of the company founded in 1923.
Before he retired, Garth devoted many years to the company, which is 90 years old, and for a long time insisted on interviewing all the agents the company hired.
Peter Thompson and Kiri Barfoot, the grandson and granddaughter of the original owners Val Barfoot and Maurice Thompson, who were posthumously inducted into the NZ Business Hall of Fame, are now company directors, while Garth’s son, Henry, and his nephew, Stephen, are also involved in the business.
As competitive in sports as he as in business, Garth competed in hundreds of triathlon events, entered 33 ironman events, completing 20 of them.
He was proud of the company that sells one in three Auckland houses every day giving it a 40% share of the Auckland and Northland residential markets.
Barfoot & Thompson, unlike many other real estate companies around the country has resisted the urge to expand beyond Auckland and Northland and now employs 1700 residential and commercial agents.
The company is a major sponsor of rugby, netball, horse racing, theatre and community events such as the Lantern Festival and Diwali Festival of Lights.
It is also a proud sponsor of the Starship Foundation, raising $2.5 million since 2003.