Farmers department stores’ founder Robert Laidlaw was one of New Zealand’s most successful business people. But he was also a man of deep faith who for most of his career gave half his earnings to charity.
Murray Kennedy recalls reading Ian Hunter’s biography Robert Laidlaw: Man for Our Time in his 20s and says the entrepreneur’s story still inspires him.
“I enjoy the challenge of making something profitable and making money, but that you can also make a difference,” says Kennedy. “In some senses, that’s frowned upon in the not-for-profit sector; it’s like, ‘You’re a capitalist, you can’t be this, too.’ But I think you can be a capitalist and a socialist, and that’s what Laidlaw was. He made no excuses
