OLD NAME, NEW BEGINNINGS - ANCRA CARGO & ANCRA TOOLS
ANCRA IS BORN
Fifty five years ago in 1969, Ancra Cargo first opened its doors in the United States. Initially concentrating on enhancing safety and security in material handling within the airline sector, the company soon expanded its scope to engineer high-quality products suitable for all market segments that moved high volumes of cargo. Thus, Ancra’s extensive product ranges came into existence and have continued to expand ever since.
EXPANSION INTO AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND (ANZ)
Ancra's success and growth, driven by their expertise and quality products, led to the establishment of Ancra Australia in 1985 and Ancra New Zealand in 1989. With the rapid economic growth in Oceania and an increasing dependence on road transport for cargo distribution, Ancra quickly emerged as the preferred brand for load restraint in both countries, credited to their reliable customer service and superior products.
THE HEICO COMPANIES
In 1996, as part of the global acquisition of Ancra International, Ancra ANZ became part of the The Heico Companies (Heico). Founded in 1979, Heico now has almost 10,000 employees, spread over 70 companies, located in 19 countries around the world. Benefiting from almost 30 years of support and structure from Heico’s Applied Solutions Group (ASG), Ancra ANZ have experienced exponential growth across many areas, with more products, more local sites and more staff enabling us to service our customers better.
ADDING BRANDS, INCREASING SCOPE
Over the years, as opportunities presented locally and from abroad by Heico - Ancra ANZ have acquired competing brands and brought new brands into the fold to increase our range in existing markets and take steps to move into new areas:
- 2008 – Ancra New Zealand takes on local agency for REMS Pipe Tools and associated products
- 2010 – Ancra Australia takes on local agency for REMS Pipe Tools and associated products
- 2015 – Heico acquires Spartan Tools – Sewer and Drain Cleaning Equipment
- 2016 – Ancra Australia acquires Secure-A-Load – competitor in load securement products
- 2016 – Ancra New Zealand acquires Gavan Container Products – suppliers of container parts and associated products
- 2018 – Ancra ANZ acquires Waterplex – includes Eco Sac and Reo Sac patented rainwater storage bladder products and LiquA Flexitank distribution and servicing rights
ANC DISTRIBUTION AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND
In 2020, after over 30 years of carrying the Ancra name, our Australian and New Zealand organisations made a change – becoming ANC Distribution. At the time, the reality of representing so many brands across such a diverse range of industries made the change feel right.
Despite this transition, our core operations remained unchanged—same team, same products, and the same structure, separated geographically.
OLD NAME, NEW BEGINNINGS
After 4 years of operating as ANC Distribution, we realised our identity couldn’t be redefined by a simple name change – because our identity is defined by people.
Our vendors, our colleagues, our customers - and their areas of expertise.
Aligning our business with this philosophy, we returned to our heritage and the name familiar to our customers for over 30 years.
While legally we have returned to trading as Ancra Australia Pty Ltd and Ancra New Zealand Limited, we have restructured our people to align with the way we interact with the world every day.
We are ANCRA AUSTRALASIA, trading as:
&
Welcome to our new beginning - we look forward to serving you better.