Batescrew/The Team

may we introduce ourselves...

A small workshop of long-tenure engineers, machinists and customer-facing staff. The phone is answered by a person — at the factory in Tocumwal.

Combined service · 94 years

The team.

Managing Director

Michael Bate, B.E. (MECH) MIE

Second-generation pump manufacturer · 39 years

Michael Bate is the second generation of the family at the head of Batescrew. Mechanical engineer by training — B.E. (Mech) and member of the Institution of Engineers, Australia — he carries the design tradition his father set in motion in 1951 into its current form.

Thirty-nine years on the Tocumwal site means a working memory of the catalogue and the field. When a customer rings about a pump installed before mobile phones, the conversation does not need to be looked up.

The Bate approach to a contract — install a system, not a single pump; document everything; keep the parts file open — is set from the top of the company.

Managing Director · Mechanical Engineer · MIE

The Team

May we introduce ourselves.

A small workshop, on the Newell

Christopher George

Sales Engineer

43 years with Batescrew

Four decades of duty-point conversations and the corresponding stack of project files in the archive. The first call most customers make.

Paul Darvel

Production Manager · Turner & Fitter

10 years with Batescrew

Hands-on production engineer. Schedules the floor, balances the jobs, makes sure the machines keep cutting.

Antony

Stores · Parts & Despatch

Just over a year with Batescrew

Runs the store. Parts enquiries, stock in, stock out — the person on the other end when you ring about a serial number or a despatch.

Sharon

Office Administrator

Just over a year with Batescrew

Front desk, sales support, accounts, scheduling. The voice on the other end of the line — usually the first person you'll speak to.

Practice

How we work.

Three commitments

Answer the phone.

A person at the Tocumwal factory will pick up. Sales and engineering questions go to people who know the answer, not a queue.

Keep the file open.

Every pump we have shipped since 1951 has a file. Drawings, materials, modifications. The next service call has the previous one to read.

Train the next ones.

A working apprenticeship programme ensures the trade — fitters, turners, machinists — survives in regional NSW. The shop has hosted apprentices for decades.