Part of the condition of the rights purchase was that Fisher’s four-pan tile with its bitumastic emulsion coating was to be made from galvanised steel, thereby ensuring a different product.
Returning to Auckland from the UK in 1957, Fisher started producing coated and chipped panels from galvanised steel for roofing and cladding.
Fisher also experimented with crushed shells and bricks before natural stone chips became the top choice for their aesthetics and durability.
AHI’s coated steel tiles were the first major innovation in residential roofing for more than thirty years.
The growing success of metal tile technology as an export product resulted in the commissioning of new manufacturing plants under licence, in Denmark, Malaysia and the United States by the late 1980s.
It was during this period that the company moved to acrylic coating technology (for improved chip adhesion) and launched the Colortile product on the New Zealand market.
The Gerard worldwide operation (excluding the United States) was purchased by Carter Holt Harvey in 1989 and the CoronaShake product was launched in 1992 and Oberon in 1995.