HamiltonJet, the world’s leading manufacturer of waterjet propulsion systems, has appointed Sam Hamilton as Chairman of its Board of Directors. Sam is the great-grandson of founder Sir Bill Hamilton, and his appointment makes him the fourth generation of the Hamilton family to lead the company.
The handover took place at an extraordinary meeting of the Board, held at Irishman Creek Station in the Mackenzie Basin. The station is where Bill Hamilton began the business in 1939, and it is where the company’s first annual general meeting was held in 1946.
Sam succeeds his father, Mike Hamilton, who has been Chairman since 2000 and has been involved with the company for fifty years. Mike remains on the Board as Governing Director, the same role his own father, Jon Hamilton, held after handing the chair to Mike. The chair has now passed directly from father to son across four generations: Bill, Jon, Mike and Sam.
“My father had the role land on him with very little warning,” said Mike Hamilton. “I wanted Sam to take it on while I am still here to support him. He has the Board, the leadership team and the family behind him.”
Sam Hamilton has served on the Board since 2019 and is the company’s Technical Director. “HamiltonJet is a family business, and will remain that way,” he said. “Bill built this company on resourcefulness, trustworthy engineering, resilience and looking after people. Those values have carried us for more than eighty years, and can be seen in the way people here design, make and back our products every day.”
“Dad remaining as Governing Director means we keep his experience while I learn the chair role, and I’m grateful for that. I intend to keep building on what he, the generations before him, and everyone working here today have made.”
HamiltonJet remains privately owned, mainly by the Hamilton family, and has remained in New Zealand ownership throughout its history despite interest from overseas.
Managing Director Ben Reed said the transition reflected the long-term thinking that sets the company apart. “Four generations of family leadership is rare anywhere in the world,” he said. “Our customers, our distributors and our people value the stability that comes with it. 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, which opens this month on the site the company has occupied since 1944.
About HamiltonJet
HamiltonJet (C.W.F. Hamilton & Co Ltd) was founded in 1939 at Irishman Creek Station by Bill Hamilton, who went on to make waterjet propulsion practical and accepted worldwide. With more than 80 years of experience designing and manufacturing waterjet propulsion systems, HamiltonJet remains a market leader in waterjets and vessel controls.
Headquartered in Christchurch, New Zealand, the company designs and manufactures waterjets for commercial, defence, rescue and patrol vessels, supported by regional offices in Singapore, Seattle, London and Perth and a global distributor network. Trusted the world over for its expertise and innovation, HamiltonJet represents the latest in efficient, robust, high-performance propulsion technology. Its mission is to continually optimise performance, efficiency and safety through innovation.
