Working With New Zealand Businesses Since 1908.

In 1901, a visionary young New Zealand electrician, Alfred Evelyn Brown, set up his own business as an electrical contractor. He quickly established a reputation for innovation and excellence, manufacturing pelton wheels for private power plants and supplying generating units. Alfred and his younger brother Phillip Harper Brown established a partnership in 1908 and Brown Brothers Engineers was born.

The company specialised in electrical engineering, and was one of the first suppliers of electrical power to the City of Christchurch. With the opening of a state-owned, hydro electric station at Lake Coleridge in 1915, the company was forced to diversify. Drawing on their electrical expertise, Brown Brothers Engineers were soon as successful with pumps as they had been as electrical contractors, with their products and services in demand throughout New Zealand.

In 1926 the company was appointed the first export distributor outside the USA for the world-famous Briggs and Stratton petrol engines. Over the next 62 years Brown Brothers sold over 1,000,000 engines.

The imposition of import controls in 1935 again initiated a change in direction, with Brown Brothers Engineers moving into pump manufacture - contracting the work out to a local firm.

On the death of Alfred Brown in 1943, the partnership was dissolved into a private company and Brown Brothers Engineers Limited was formed. The company opened its own factory, manufacturing an increasingly wide range of pumping equipment for farm, household and industrial uses.

In 1980 Brown Brothers Engineers was acquired by the Mace Group of Companies. In addition to its Christchurch Head Office, the Company has branches in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Dunedin and Timaru.

In late 1994 Brown Brothers formed an Australian Company, Brown Brothers Engineers Australia Pty Ltd, and established an office in Sydney. Two years later the Company opened an office in Melbourne. In May 2007, Brown Brothers Australia acquired Lowara Pumps Queensland and established a Brisbane office.

In May 2004, Brown Brothers Australia acquired Kelair Pumps Australia Pty Ltd, Headquartered in Sydney, with Branches in Brisbane, Melbourne, Launceston, Perth and Mackay, and in March 2005 acquired Rob Laine Pumping Solutions Pty Ltd in Melbourne.

In 2018 Brown Brothers became a member of the AxFlow group, the Fluids Handling Solutions business group within Axel Johnson International.

Late 2020 saw Brown Brothers acquire SPX Flow Technology New Zealand, rebrand it Brown Brothers Engineers Flow Technology and become the exclusive NZ distributor for SPX Flow equipment.

The group continued its growth in 2021, with the acquisition of Galbraith Engineering Ltd the leading provider of fire pumps and pump stations for industrial and commercial fire systems in New Zealand. With the addition of Galbraith's to the group, it saw Brown Brothers became Oceania's largest fluid handling supplier.

Over the decades, Brown Brothers Engineers NZ has grown and thrived, playing a leading role in the NZ pump industry and is the New Zealand distributor for many of the world's leading pump manufacturers.

Today collectively the Pumps Group employs over 150 people in 13 locations throughout Australia and New Zealand. The business continues to evolve in response to the ever changing needs of a varied and growing market.

Pumps are an often hidden but vital part of modern society. They supply water for agricultural and domestic use, as well as performing pivotal roles in manufacturing and industrial processes and for potable water supplies and sewage treatment schemes.

Pumps are vital to our nations economy, fulfilling many and varied functions. The pump is the second most common item of machinery in the world, outnumbered only by the electric motor.