One of our favourite tool shops is now a century old. 

2026 marks 100 years for the tool company Stihl, which has been in New Zealand for over 40 years. 

It’s been family-run since its inception – founded by Andreas Stihl in 1926 and passed on to his son, Hans Peter Stihl, before his grandson Dr Nikolas Stihl took the reins.  

He’s the Chair of the Advisory Board and Supervisory Board and told Mike Hosking that remaining a family-run model has been better for them in the long run.  

“Family-run businesses, they simply can take strategic decisions better than publicly owned companies,” Stihl says. 

“We don’t report to any boards outside of the family ... we are independent, and in the long run, at least for us, that has been a lot better.”  

With a turnover of €5.5 billion, equivalent to nearly $11 billion, 20 thousand employees, and manufacturing in eight countries around the world, Stihl is still continuing to grow. 

“We keep on growing,” Stihl told Hosking. 

“We’ve grown last year, and that wasn’t easy because of the world economy, but we did.”  

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