Company Profile
BAMR – 75 years of consistency BAMR, the brainchild of Fred Duk, is celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2021, and remains a customer-focused, family-owned business.
F
red Duk, a major in the Airforce, returned from the Second World War in 1945 and had to find a means to earn an income – his first opportunity was as a commission agent. Using his background in engineering he explored the importation of instruments and founded British American Manufacturers Representatives on 22 May 1946. BAMR was born, “We have always used the acronym BAMR,” says Graham Duk, owner of BAMR and grandson of the founder Fred. Fred Duk quickly realised importing opportunities from other countries and changed the name to British Allied Manufacturers Representatives (BAMR). The company was the first importer of the Elcometer Coating Thickness Gauge in 1947. “Elcometer was the first manufacturers of the
coating thickness gauge and to this day coating thickness gauges are often referred to as Elcometers,” remarks current owner Duk. In its early days, the company focused predominantly on instrumentation in the coating industry with the Air Force being the first target focus with Fred’s background. To this day, the business remains loyal to its core business principles. BAMR is still supplying Elcometer instrumentation throughout Africa. “We have evolved to include Elcometer’s continually increasing and diversified product range. Other than the Protective Coatings Industry, Elcometer also supply instruments and equipment that are used for laboratory and physical test equipment, predominantly in the paint manufacturing industry,” says Duk. This includes:
BAMR, owner and grandson of founder Fred, Graham Duk, with the excellent BAMR staff.
18 | Coatings SA
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Viscosity cups Fineness of grind gauges Film applicators Elasticity and deformation testers Density cups Hardness and Scratch testers
From Top to Bottom: Fred Duk, founder of BAMR was a major in the South African Air Force. He is pictured with his squadron (top). Frank Duk, Graham’s Dad, is pictured in the bottom photo.
