History

Gough, Gough & Hamer Limited was founded by Edger C. Gough, Harry H. Hamer and Tracy T. Gough. The company initially dealt in electrical goods.

Gough, Gough & Hamer Ltd. secured the Caterpillar franchise from A. S. Paterson Ltd.

Gough, Gough & Hamer Ltd. won the Export Sales award for being the world sales leader for non-USA Caterpillar dealers. Also, the then Minister of Works, Bob Semple, drove a Caterpillar RD8 tractor over a wheelbarrow, crushing it to reinforce his government's pledge to "do away with the wheelbarrow." A broken handle of the wheelbarrow remains at head office today.

Gough, Gough & Hamer Ltd. gained the John Deere agricultural tractor and farm machinery franchise.

On-site servicing of Caterpillar equipment was started for both the New Zealand and United States Antarctic Programmes.

Gough, Gough & Hamer developed the first nationwide computerized distribution network in Australisia.

D8 and D9 track-type tractors and DW21 Scrapers supplied to the Benmore Dam project.

The first Scheduled Oil Sampling laboratory in Australasia was set up to identify abnormal mechanical wear from oil samples.

Head Office was moved from the center of Christchurch to Hornby.

A deal was signed to supply eight excavators, three D7 track-type tractors and three 955 traxcavators to the main contractors installing the Maui Natural Gas pipeline.

MONARC, a totally integrated on-line, realtime computer system was installed on the company's mainframe.

The MONARC computer system was phased out and replaced with Caterpillar's all-encompassing Dealer Business System (DBS).

The Caterpillar business unit of Gough, Gough & Hamer simplified its trading name to Goughs, and changed its logo.

Mining company GRD Macraes signs a $180 million contract with Goughs to supply Caterpillar equipment, parts and services to its Macraes Flat gold mine in Otago. The order is the largest single order ever placed with Goughs, with the initial order for approximately NZ$73 million of equipment, with the balance over the next seven years.

Appointed the authorised New Zealand dealer for the Bitelli range of paving equipment.

Successfully achieve DBSi production status in April 2004. The dealership is the fifth dealer in the Asia-Pacific region and sixteenth Caterpillar dealership worldwide using DBSi.  
Goughs signs a preferred supplier agreement with Works Infrastructure which sees Works commence major investment in new Caterpillar machinery.

Goughs Power Systems is launched as a separate division to recognize the growing potential in the marine and power generation markets.

Goughs celebrates 75 years as the New Zealand Caterpillar dealer.

In the two biggest sales in its 81-year history, Goughs supplys 95 pieces of Caterpillar machinery, worth $120 million, to Solid Energy’s Stockton opencast coking coal mine north of Westport.

Appointed the Haulmax dealer for New Zealand. Haulmax, an Australian manufacturer, designs and builds haulage trucks for the mining industry.

Goughs, in association with Caterpillar becomes the exclusive global sponsor of the Crusaders rugby franchise in a three-year deal that brings together two of the world’s leading brands in their respective fields.