OUR HISTORY

FROM HUMBLE BEGINNINGS, GREAT THINGS EVOLVE

Holmwood Highgate has evolved from a simple operation on the outskirts of Brisbane back in the 1950’s to become Australia’s leading manufacturer of bulk liquid tankers as well as a globally recognised name for military and humanitarianism relief products.

To date, Holmwood Highgate is now located in both Queensland and Victoria, with a plethora of product and capability across a wide spectrum of applications.

Holmwood Highgate way has been a family owned and operated business since the beginning. We are proud of our heritage and we continue to evolve the business and its products into the future..

Our story, is as follows….

VISION

Holmwood Highgate as we know it today has had several name changes over the years. It all started back in 1950 with £25.00 and the foresight of three men, Adams, Mellish & Anderson

AMA Industries was formed.

BUILD IT

The first tank created by AMA Industries was delivered in 1951. The following year, AMA Industries would establish its first relationship with Shell. AMA later would become Holmwood Industries, spanning from 1963 through to 1980, with the name stemming from where the founder, Sid Mellish spent time with his wife, Vera.

GROWTH

In 1985, after years of growth and development, Holmwood Industries acquired Highgate Engineers, and thus, Holmwood Highgate was born. In order to further strengthen the brand, the two directors, Colin Mellish and Eddie Gumbelis joined forces with Alex Stables to create our Melbourne branch.

In 1994, tanker production ceased at the Ford Road workshop in Rochedale, and moved to a new facility in Underwood. Our Ford Road facility continued to operate, building fuel tanks for the truck industry.

1999 saw the birth of Runaway Bay Pontoon Boats which was integrated into our Ford Road facility thus expanding our capability into new avenues.

In 1999 Holmwood Highgate purchased Narwhal Transport Equipment, giving birth to Narwhal Fluid Quip.

Our site at Ford Road, now known as Highgate Engineers and Runaway Bay Pontoon Boats.

EVOLUTION

At the start of the year 2000, the Hockney Alcan business was purchased by Holmwood Highgate. Hockney was started in the 70’s by Phil Hockney and was quickly established as a market leader, and strong competitor in aluminium road tankers. Hockney (as part of the Alcan enterprise) also diversified into aluminium tray manufacture, and in fact the very first one-tonne aluminium tray was the legendary ‘Alcan’ tray. This is still made today. Hockney was absorbed into the Holmwood Highgate division, whilst Hockney Engineers operates as a specialised truck and tray body manufacturer.

By 2008, we had outgrown our Underwood facility and the decision was made to purchase land and construct a brand new, purpose built factory in Loganholme where we are today.

In 2014, Holmwood Highgate successfully entered the defence supply chain network with a contract to supply Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles Australia (RMMVA) under the Department of Defence's Project LAND 121 Phase 3B.

TODAY

Holmwood Highgate Is still owned by the Mellish Family and the third generation sons hold key positions in the company today. The three brothers - Wade, Michael and David - continue the legacy and ensure the high standards continue to be maintained.

The Stables Family continue to operate our Melbourne facility with Mark running the business on a day to day basis. In recent years, Melbourne have taken the lead in the aviation refueller side of the business where they are now a key supplier in this market.