The low-profile Caughey family owns the long-established upmarket department store Smith & Caughey’s in Queen St, Auckland with a branch in Newmarket. But the Caugheys have been in the headlines over the past year for the closure of the Caughey Preston rest home and hospital in Remuera.
Opened in 1950, in recent years the 108-bed facility had been losing money through falling revenues and rising expenses. It was operated by the Marianne Caughey Smith-Preston Memorial Rest Homes Trust Board, which owns 48% of Smith & Caughey Holdings and was the original shareholding of founder Marianne Smith.
She started a draper’s store in 1880 and was joined in the business by her husband, Wllliam Smith, and her brother-in-law Andrew Caughey. They later formed a partnership, Smith & Caughey, although Marianne didn’t become a director until 1916 after her husband’s death.
Apart from the trust, the holding company has about 60 shareholders, mainly members of the extended Caughey family. Managing director Andrew Caughey is the fourth generation to run the firm, having succeeded his cousin Sir Harcourt Caughey.