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# Faces of the Day
- URL: https://goodoil.news/face-of-the-day-1346/
- Published: 2025-11-25T17:30:39.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-25T17:30:38.000Z
- Description: The company is “clinging on when it seems like Wellington is in freefall”, chief executive Simon Smuts-Kennedy told Stuff.
- Author: Good Oil Staff
- Tags: Face of the Day

> Its clients have included the government, Air New Zealand and the All Blacks, while Lady Gaga, Willie Nelson and Tāme Iti are among its high-profile fans.  
>  
> But one of New Zealand’s oldest manufacturing companies is “doing it so tough” that the chief executive had a stroke and now the family business is asking fellow Kiwis for help to stay afloat.  
>  
> Hills Hats, an internationally renowned milliner since 1875, should be planning a big party for its 150th anniversary this year, but instead, the family business has launched a [Pledge Me campaign](https://www.pledgeme.co.nz/projects/8695-hills-?ref=goodoil.news) in a desperate attempt they’re calling “the last roll of the dice”.  
>  
> The fundraiser is also to raise awareness of the severe challenges facing Kiwi businesses, particularly in the capital.  
>  
> The company is “clinging on when it seems like Wellington is in freefall”, chief executive Simon Smuts-Kennedy told *Stuff*.  
>  
> Stuff

[Read More](https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360896283/last-roll-dice-150-year-old-family-business-forced-crowdfund-survive-wellingtons-freefall?ref=goodoil.news)