Wellingtonian Stalwarts of the Burger Cause

BARRY

Barry, originally from Central Otago, is an Upper Hutt local who loves the urban provincial lifestyle that it offers. When asked what he loves about Wellington, his wry response is “It’s not Auckland”, which sums Barry up nicely. A hard case, with a heart of gold.

Barry became a franchisee in 2008, opening his first store, BurgerFuel Johnsonville. He was drawn to the idea of being a part of a Kiwi brand and liked where it was positioned in the market. He felt it was a brand that was accessible to all walks of life and the music and atmosphere in the stores made it very distinctive, when compared to other multi-national franchises he had worked in previously.

“I really am quite passionate about this brand”, says Barry, “People leave and come back time and time again, both in our stores and at HQ level. That is quite unique. There is something intangible about it”.

He enjoys the people in the brand and while of course there are ups and downs in any franchisee/franchisor relationship, he has always felt supported, particularly in times of crises, such as the current Covid-19 circumstances. He believes head office has shown strong support to the network of franchisees and it has brought that connection closer during times like this. “When the chips are down, I really wouldn’t want to be anywhere else”.

Barry embraces the ‘Speed & Custom’ culture of the brand through his own love of cars. His BurgerFuel car is a ’73 Ford Falcon and is no stranger to the drag strip. Being a keen drag racer is a pastime that he introduced to his wife and they both now share a passion for. And because “you can’t drive them all”, he has reduced his fleet of customs and classics to a ’56 Packard, ’71 Holden Ute and ’71 XY Falcon, to name a few. And they are all purple, of course.

MATT

Matt first started out in hospitality in 1986 in Napier and 7 years later found himself running two of the busiest fast food restaurants in London, before returning to NZ in ‘96 to continue along a similar vein of work. In 2006 he opened his BurgerFuel store and hasn’t looked back since.

At the time, BurgerFuel was the new kid on the block, with a fresh face, and he wanted to be part of the exciting new brand. It had a harder edge that he could really relate to and it was all about custom classics and hotrods, something close to his heart. Matt is a prolific collector with an extremely vast collection from wartime memorabilia to… you guessed it, cars.  Matt has multiple vehicles that he dedicates every spare moment to custom designing and building with a team of specialists in the field.

Matt has made a name for himself nationally in the drag racing scene and is at the top of his game. One of his favourite things to do is participate in charity Hotrod runs and he has a selection of cars to choose from. His BurgerFuel machines are a ’75 HJ Holden Ute (383 Holden stroker with Nitrous oxide, for those in the know) and a ’69 Chevrolet Camaro (Number 3 in the NZ Superstreet 2020), both painted in the iconic custom 3-tone pearl fadeaway paint job.

Matt feels a real pride in creating jobs for young locals and gets a lot out of public speaking and sharing his experiences about his journey and how he became a multi-business owner, hoping he can inspire others to follow their dreams, work hard and do the same.