To celebrate 30 years of Airmaster, a commemorative publication has been produced documenting the company's history. The inclusion of Augmented Reality throughout the book also gives readers access to exclusive video interviews with Airmaster CEO Noel Courtney.
Celebrating 30 Years: Synopsis
Australia in the mid-1980s was a time of excess, opportunity, and of monumental technological change. Nothing was impossible. This was certainly the mindset of three friends and colleagues – Russell Seebach, Barry Page and Noel Courtney. Having met while employed by the now-defunct air conditioning manufacturer Atlas Air, the trio made a leap of faith to leave their jobs and set up what was to become one of Australia’s leading HVAC service and maintenance contractors.
Airmaster officially opened for business on 2nd February 1988 from a small factory in Ferntree Gully, in Melbourne’s outer east.
Having had established strong relationships with some of Melbourne’s biggest companies and property owners while at Atlas Air, news quickly spread of the founding trio’s new venture and the landline at Ferntree Gully soon began ringing. One of the earliest phone calls was from Fred Turnbull at Highpoint City Shopping Centre in Maribyrnong, in Melbourne’s west.
Airmaster quickly gained a great reputation, and soon were being invited to tender for business with companies that they had never dealt with before. Soon after, Airmaster was buying service vehicles and tools, and putting more and more staff on to fulfil its service obligations with its growing client base, including Box Hill’s Whitehorse Plaza and Chadstone Shopping Centre in Melbourne’s south-east.
However, it wasn't all smooth sailing for Airmaster. Statistically, the majority of businesses fail in their first three years. So when the “recession we had to have” hit Australia’s economy in late 1990, the threat to Airmaster was very real. The founding trio learned quickly that controlling costs would be the only way to keep Airmaster’s doors open.
Today Airmaster has grown to have 12 branches around Australia including offices in all capital cities and many regional centres. A workforce of over 750 staff, service in excess of 3,800 individual sites across a range of sectors.
The acquisition of Airmaster by Daikin Australia, which commenced on 3rd July 2017, brought two of Australia’s most respected brands together based upon principles of mutual respect and shared values.
On contributing to the publication, Airmaster CEO Noel Courtney enjoyed reflecting on the past 30 years. "It was great to revisit some the most exciting and challenging times in the company's history".
"It's fascinating to recall how much we have grown as a company, and we are more excited than ever to see what the future holds for Airmaster"