It’s a trophy life for 125-year-old firm A J Parkes & Co

One of AJ Parkes & Co’s first jobs when it opened 125 years ago was to make buttons for the troops heading to the Boer War. Now the company has its sights set on the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.

Derek Walton CEO, of Trophy maker AJ Parkes has been celebrating the victories of Queenslander for more than a century.

When Brisbane jeweller Arthur J Parkes hung out his shingle in the late 1890s, one of his first jobs was to make buttons for the troops heading to the Boer War.

This week the firm founded by Parkes celebrates its 125th anniversary, a milestone that makes it one of the oldest continuously operated businesses in the country.

AJ Parkes & Co, which moved from military buttons to trophy and badge manufacturing in the early part of the 20th century, is now run by a practical, no-nonsense Scotsman Derek Walton who only ended up at the head of the iconic business by chance.

Walton, who hails from a small village near Glasgow, was working as a jazz pianist on a cruise ship in Florida when he met and fell in love with the ship’s hairdresser Heather Faux. Heather Faux was the granddaughter of Eric Faux, the man who bought the business from Parkes in the 1940s. Young Derek was given the option of emigrating to Australia with his new bride to help run the family business.

Derek Walton CEO, of Trophy maker AJ Parkes has been celebrating the victories of Queenslander for more than a century.

“I remember my father-in-law taking me through the business in the 1980s and there was a guy smoking a cigarette and operating a huge old hammer machine,” says Walton. “In another corner they were painting badges by hand.” These days the industrial revolution-era machinery has been replaced by laser printers and computer-assisted design producing badges, name tags, trophies and shields, for blue-chip clients including Qantas, Virgin, Aldi and Star Group.

“We made all the name tags and badges for the major airlines,” says Walton. “We also produced 30,000 medals for the volunteers at the Sydney Olympics.”

Arthur J Parkes.

Walton also has expanded the business overseas, with AJ Parkes these days operating in Japan, India, Singapore and New Zealand.

“We have had to diversify because of the costs of manufacturing in Australia,” he says. “If you were to ask me what has been the secret of our success I would say happy customers.” Walton says it’s a good business that celebrates the positive occasions in life.

Each year, AJ Parkes produce 15,000 trophies celebrating wins in everything from school sports to academic achievement. The company produces hundreds of thousands of badges at the same time. “It is all about reward and recognition,” says Walton, who is planning a quiet dinner with staff and clients at Goma on Friday to celebrate the anniversary

On occasions, the company has used silver and gold to make super expensive trophies for top-end of town occasions. Its biggest trophy was for the Gold Coast Titans, appropriately made out of titanium. Walton says the firm aims to win some work from the Brisbane Olympics, by which time the company will be 136-years-old.

FOOD FROM THE HEART

COVID-19 has knocked many hospitality businesses for six but one young couple in north Brisbane is not letting that get them down.

Pratana ‘Gifty’ Langkapinth and Prathompong ‘Prince’ Khamakaew have recently opened Vega cafe in Lutwyche and are wowing the local community with their unique take on vegan dishes that include crispy eggplant, tomato relish and scrambled tofu, tofish and chips and its signature Jacky Burrito, a mix of Mexican rice, black bean, peas, corn and pickled red cabbage. with crispy hashbrowns,

Originally from Thailand, the couple’s first venture was a Paddington cafe called Cafe de Siam about a decade ago and they have since worked in several other restaurants across Brisbane. Gifty (pictured) tells City Beat that their food is produced with “love from the heart.” “We have provided balance and healthy food with an Asian twist,” says Gifty, who became a vegan a decade ago due to health concerns.

Vega is located in a delightfully restored old Queenslander in Chalk St just down from the Lutwyche Shopping Centre and opposite the newly opened Vera Canale Park.

The cafe has already attracted its fair share of celebrity vegans including former football star Willie Carne who popped in last week for lunch. Gifty and Prince have plans for an outdoor licenced beer garden at the rear of the cafe set to open in the new year.

Vega joins a growing number of food outlets committed to meat-free menus. IBISWorld says Australia’s meat consumption is at its lowest point in 25 years as Australians increasingly move towards environmentally conscious dietary habits. IBISWorld says the country’s meat consumption per capita currently sits at 99.5 kilograms annually, levels not seen since 1996.

Pratana (Gifty) Langkapinth. Photo: Glen Norris

JACK’S LEGACY

OUR story last week on Great Southern Bank sponsoring the Brisbane Heat raised some memories for reader Judy Harvey.

Judy is the widow of Jack Harvey, the founder of the Credit Union of Australia (CUA), the financial institution that eventually became Great Southern Bank. Judy explains that CUA was started to help postal workers with loans and other financial services.

“It started in 1966 and was founded by my husband Jack Harvey and a small group of like-minded friends who wanted to give the postal workers a better option than banking,” says Judy. “It was named Queensland Post Office Co-Operative and as it grew it then included Telecom workers and became Post and Telecom Credit Union and much later Credit Union Australia.” Jack Harvey died six years ago. Great Southern Bank is now the country’s largest customer-owned bank.

Jack Harvey of Credit Union Australia pictured in 1996

IT’S A WRAP

INSURANCE lawyer Marissa Coward loves nothing better than wrapping up her Christmas presents. So much so that she has volunteered to wrap gifts for everyone else too – and for the past four years has volunteered for the Wesley Mission Queensland’s gift-wrapping service at Westfield Chermside shopping centre.

This year, Coward is taking along a team of her colleagues from DWF Australia, who’ll be spending a few hours this week at the wrapping counter. Last year volunteers beautifully wrapped thousands of Christmas gifts for the local community and in the process, raised over $33,000 for people in need. The fund supported emergency relief services right across Brisbane were able to help more people needing extra support through the holidays.