Thomas
Henry Harvey (current
management’s great grandfather), came to
Australia from Wales in 1882. In 1892 he graduated with a diploma with
merit as
a Master Plumber from Sydney Technical College.
In
approx. 1895 he purchased the plumbing and tank making section of Murray
Bros. and set up business alongside
JH Murray at 117-123 Church
St Parramatta, The business was called TH Harvey & Co.
His successor on his death in 1932 was Thomas Henry Harvey (Jnr). He
became a prominent person in the Parramatta
business community having
worked on Parramatta council for several years and becoming Deputy
Mayor from 1940-1943.
He was also a founding member of Parramatta Rotary.
In addition to plumbing, the company became a general merchant for hardware
and plumbing fittings. This company still
operates within the group today.
In
1958, Thomas junior’s son, Philip Harvey (Toby) purchased land
on the corner of Macarthur & Fennell Streets
Parramatta. While the plumbing
business still operated from Church St, Harveys Parramatta was
growing as a general
sheet metal manufacturer. This land holding was expanded
and today remains the primary business site.
Harvey Air Conditioning Pty Ltd was formed in 1961 with
Harveys becoming an agent for Carrier in Australia. It
undertook some key contracts
in Parramatta - including David Jones, Parramatta Courthouse, etc,
as well as domestic installations.
Newcastle was becoming a major industrial site centered around aluminum
smelting and steel production.
Harveys began manufacturing in Newcastle in 1967 and in 1970 established
Harveys Newcastle Pty Ltd as a
separate company. It was involved in the
manufacture of sheet metal work and all air conditioning and dust extraction
installations. Early projects included BHP No 2 Blast Furnace, Liddell
Power Station and many telephone exchanges around Newcastle.
In 1971, Harveys was broadened further to incorporate
centrifugal fan manufacture, - these fans being required for
industrial and
mining projects. The manufacturing
company became known as the Fan and Blower Company of Australia
Pty Ltd.
FBA is today the largest Australian manufacturer
of centrifugal fans. Cutting fan components with the computerised
plasma machine
to the final
test run of fan assembly is all undertaken at our dedicated Parramatta
facility.
The current Managing Director of Harvey Industries is Peter Harvey,
the fourth generation of the original founder
and a mechanical engineer
who continues to expand the business. He has used his engineering expertise
to automate
the factory and workplace methodology, with plasma machines, computer
scheduling, computer selection programs etc.
Peter
Harvey represents the air conditioning industry
on the Australian Industry Group (AIG) Council, which meets
each month to discuss
industry
matters. In recent years he has served as the NSW and National President
of the Air
Conditioning and Mechanical Contractors Association of NSW
( AMCA).
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