About Us
Sykes Group was established in Australia in 1967 to service
the growing Australian mining and construction industries.
Today, 41 years later, Sykes is one of the largest auto prime
pump manufacturers in the world.
We’ve recently joined forces with leading Australian
manufacturer and distributor of world-class equipment brands, Allight. Best-known
for its mobile lighting towers, Perth-based Allight is also an exclusive
Australasia distributor of Perkins engines, FG Wilson power generators, Rotair
compressors and their own range of dewatering pumps.
Following Allight’s parent company’s purchase of Sykes Group, the
Allight brand has been reinvigorated to represent our position in the
marketplace as a distributor of world class equipment brands. These brands include
not only Allight lighting towers and Sykes pumps, but also FG Wilson
generators, Perkins engines and Rotair compressors.
Under the new brand, AllightSykes; we take great pride in
offering our customers total equipment solutions for a variety of industries and
a spectrum of applications.
We design, manufacture, distribute and commission standard
and custom built equipment for some of the most challenging applications in the
world.
We provide an unmatched combination of application and
product expertise.
We offer one of the broadest selections of equipment
technologies and product designs.
And we are dedicated to helping our customers achieve the
best performance, whatever the industry.
In the
beginning…
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Sykes was established in Australia in 1967 by UK pump group
Henry Sykes Plc. The company traded as
Henry Sykes Pumps Pty Ltd importing pumps and equipment from the UK until 1974
when local manufacture commenced in Gateshead, Newcastle NSW.
Sykes Pumps manufactured pumps to suit the specific requirements
of the demanding Australian mining and construction industries.
In 1977 Sykes became part of another UK group Hanson
Plc. The company traded as Hanson Sykes
Pumps Pty Ltd in Australia. In 1987 Jon
Collins joined the board in Australia after more than 18 years with Hanson Plc
in the UK.
In 1988 Jon Collins was appointed managing director of Hanson
Sykes Pumps Pty Ltd and the head office was moved from Chatswood in Sydney to
the manufacturing plant in Gateshead, Newcastle.
In 1992 the ownership of the business changed when Jon
Collins was part of an MBO thus ending the association with all UK companies
allowing the company to focus on its Australian operations. Shortly after, the
company changed its name to Sykes Pumps Australia Pty Ltd when manufacturing
operations moved to Cardiff, Newcastle.
In early 1997 Sykes sold its hire division to Coates Hire Ltd
and focused on manufacturing and selling pumps worldwide. In 1998 Jon Collins
became the sole owner of Sykes Pumps Australia Pty Ltd.
In 2003 the company changed its name to Sykes Group Pty Ltd,
the purpose of this change was to reflect the company’s global market focus as
well as to show that ‘The Group’ were more than just a pump company.
This year, Sykes Group was acquired by National Hire Group
Ltd; parent company of Allight and 46.1% shareholder of Coates Hire. Following
the acquisition, the combined group has a greater capacity to meet customer
demand for sales and support of pumps, lighting towers and other equipment
solutions.
Andrew Aitken, Managing Director of National Hire said: “This
is a company transforming acquisition for National Hire’s equipment sales and
support business. Sykes Group provides scale, volume and distribution
opportunities for National Hire that will help underpin future growth.”
Sykes Chairman Jon Collins added; “Combining Sykes with
National Hire is very exciting because the businesses operate in common markets
and appear to have similar core values. Like Sykes, the Allight brand is very
well respected, and being in the same family as Westrac and Coates Hire will
enable Sykes to raise its profile and access resources to create even more
growth opportunities for all stakeholders.”
Find out more at www.allightsykes.com
