Agserv Melbourne: From Humble Beginnings to Southern Expansion
Humble Beginnings. The Year Was 1907.
Thomas Bent was the Premier of Victoria. World War I was a good 7 years away. Rugby League was officially born. The first ever interstate phone call between Sydney and Melbourne was made.
And Agserv Melbourne was busy supplying chemicals to the Australian defence department, under the name C. Rudduck Pty Ltd.
- Fast forward to 1958, and C.Rudduck has already begun manufacturing and distributing a range of natural Pyrethrin products to both the defence force and the pesticide industry
- In that same year, a small wing of Geigy Australia (now Ciba-Geigy Australia) opened as the equipment and spraying arm of the company. In 1970, it broke free and became an independent business – owned by the Hess family
- By 1990 – when Bob Hawke was still PM – C.Rudduck became fully active in distributing pest control chemicals and equipment to operators in the industry
- At this time the company was run by Jim Westhead, David Rogerson and a very young Eris Hess (now MD)
- C Rudduck & Agserv worked closely together and were both owned by the Hess Familiy, on the 1 April 2007 they were merged to form one company “Agserv”
- With a unified vision, the company set about creating a larger portfolio of products – becoming the choice distributor for companies like Bayer, Dow Elanco and Crop Care (now Syngenta)
- It wasn’t until 2007, however, that a National Identity for the organisation was realised as a necessity – and the company changed its name to Agserv Pty Ltd!
Agserv Melbourne – Southern Expansion
Agserv Melbourne has come a long way since its early days in 1907. Today, we have expanded significantly, embracing our PCO reach into the south and west to include Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia.
David Rogerson is still with us (thankfully!) and David Fielder and Jo Valencic are valued members of our Melbournite sales teams. And our branch has seen a huge amount of success over the past decades.
What do you get when you partner with Agserv Melbourne?
- Quality relationships with real life pest control experts, who can help you with products, sales, equipment and advice
- Brilliant pesticide and chemical knowledge – we can show you what to use, how to use it and what to do to save on costs
- Equipment assistance and maintenance – let us repair your tools in-house!
- Great value in the way of training courses and programs, the annual Pestech Conference and a range of supplier workshops
- Monthly emailed newsletters that bring you great tips, advice and announcements to help make your business more competitive
Kick-start your relationship with Agserv Melbourne today!
Come visit us down in Port Melbourne or contact us anytime on (03) 9676 4444 or [email protected].