About Us - Hill Laboratories

A Brief History of Hill Laboratories

R J Hill Laboratories Ltd is a 100% privately owned New Zealand company, also known by the trading name Hill Laboratories, or as many of our long term customers refer to us, “Hill Labs”. From small beginnings back in the early 80’s, Hill Laboratories has grown into the largest independent analytical laboratory in New Zealand. We service a large number and range of clients – everyone from internationally recognised global corporations to private individuals - from across New Zealand and all around the world.

Key milestones

1984		Hill Laboratories established in Von Tempsky St in Hamilton, in the North Island of New Zealand to provide a range of agricultural based analyses for soils, plants and waters
1986		Environmental testing begins
1987		Because of growth, also occupied the adjoining premises in Von Tempsky Street
1988		Achieved TELARC certification, one of the first laboratories to achieve this
1990		Moved to larger Te Aroha Street site in Claudelands, Hamilton
1991		Resource Management Act comes into effect in New Zealand resulting in a big increase in environmental testing
1993		Expansion of Te Aroha Street site to include nearby site for organics testing
		First Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) instrument purchased
1995		Purchased an agricultural testing laboratory in Cambridge, Analytical Services LTD
1997		Hill Laboratories move into a 2400m2 four storey building at 1 Clyde Street in Hamilton East beside the Waikato river
		TELARC accreditation becomes IANZ against the New Zealand Code of Laboratory Management Practice
1998		Pesticide residue analyses developed to meet requirements for apple export testing
1999		IANZ changed further to the internationally recognised IANZ accreditation against ISO 17025
2000		Food & Bioanalytical division established
2004		Hill Laboratories became a sponsor of the Harvest Award as part of Ballance Farm Environment Awards (BFEAs)
		Air Quality testing laboratory set up at Te Aroha Street site
2005		Microbiological Lab set up in Christchurch with the purchase of Envirolink to give Hill Laboratories a base in the South Island of New Zealand
2006		The Food & Bioanalytical division moves to the Waikato Innovation Park on the outskirts of Hamilton
2007		Hill Laboratories opens an office in Japan to facilitate the management and transportation of samples from across Asia
2008		Hill Laboratories South Island operations in Christchurch shift to their current, larger premises in the suburb of Hornby
2010		New custom built lab acquired in Melville, Hamilton for research and development work
		Achievement of Enviro-Mark Diamond certification for Clyde Street Laboratory
		Hill Laboratories wins a Deloitte Fast 50 award for fastest growing mature business in the Central North Island region and takes out the Westpac Business of the Year Supreme Award at the Waikato Business excellence awards
2011		Introduction of Canister Sampling Service for air quality testing
2012		Chinese language website launched
		Laboratory opened in Blenheim at the top of the South Island