INDUSTRY PEOPLE
Taking the Pressure Off BOA
Hydraulics
“Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, feed him for a
(Attributed to Lao Tzu)
lifetime.”
The company has a long history spanning three
You can be forgiven for thinking that what’s actually
generations. Started by Neville Boakes in 1963, the
happening in the above proverb is that a fisherman is
company originated as an auto electrical business.
giving away his craft, his skill-set. His livelihood. Why
Several evolutions and name-changes of the business
would anyone want to teach someone else their specialist
led it to become an automotive electrical parts distributor,
craft so they could do it themselves? Wouldn’t it be more
and by 2014, the company completed its evolution to
profitable to be the sole supplier, and everyone buys from
hydraulic hose and fittings. A name change to
you?
“The boa constrictor, they BOA Hydraulics in 2016 was the final part of
One New Zealand hydraulics hose replace
say, is the “powerful, big, the transformation. They are now located in
ment company is challenging this idea.
fast, yet flexible king of Silverdale, north of Auckland.
They’re called BOA Hydraulics. Just like the pressure.”
Both Simon and Greg Boakes have been with
constrictor in their logo. The boa constrictor,
the
business
through its various incarnations.
they say, is the “powerful, big, fast, yet flexible king of
“We’ve
always
been pretty progressive, in that we’ve
pressure.”
Simon and Greg Boakes, Directors of BOA Hydraulics, outside their Silverdale premises.
This is a monthly series on businesses in our industry. We profile one business per month to find out how our hard-working
business owners, employees and contractors manage to run these specialist businesses and what makes them tick in the
New Zealand trade business environment. These are the stories of our CAM people.
w w w. c a m m a g a z i n e . c o . n z
CAM February 2019
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