HamiltonJet has appointed Sam Hamilton as chairman, extending the New Zealand waterjet manufacturer’s family leadership into a fourth generation.
Hamilton, the great-grandson of founder Sir Bill Hamilton, succeeds his father Mike Hamilton, who has chaired the board since 2000.
Mike remains a governing director after 50 years with the company to provide continuity during the handover.
“I wanted Sam to take it on while I am still here to support him,” said Mike Hamilton. “He has the board, the leadership team and the family behind him.”
Sam has served on the board since 2019 and is the company’s technical director.
He said HamiltonJet would remain a family business, guided by the values on which Sir Bill built the company: ‘resourcefulness, trustworthy engineering, resilience and looking after people’.
“Dad remaining as governing director means we keep his experience while I learn the chair role,” Sam said.
“I intend to keep building on what he, the generations before him, and everyone working here today have made.”
Long-term approach
HamiltonJet remains privately owned, mainly by the Hamilton family, and has stayed under New Zealand ownership throughout its history.
Managing director Ben Reed said the change reflected the company’s long-term approach.
“Four generations of family leadership is rare anywhere in the world,” said Reed.
“Family ownership lets us plan in decades, not quarters, and that is exactly how we intend to keep operating.”
Sam will chair the board from HamiltonJet’s new office on Lunns Road, Christchurch, opening this month on the site occupied by the company since 1944.
Founded in 1939 at Irishman Creek Station, HamiltonJet designs and manufactures waterjets and vessel-control systems for commercial, defence, rescue and patrol craft.
The Christchurch-based company has regional offices in Singapore, Seattle, London and Perth, supported by a global distributor network.
