Our People

Our Story

Our History

W.M. Bamford and Company Limited (or Bamford as we are more commonly known) was established in 1952 by William Martindale Bamford. 

William was a naval officer and navigator during the second world war. Post war, he purchased an agency for wool gauze and a licence to import from the UK – an agency that Bamford still holds today, albeit under a new name and for a much-modernised product. 

In 1978, William’s oldest son, Alaister, joined Bamford. As a trained engineer and ex Unilever, Alaister grew the business, taking on new agencies and successfully building the family business over the next 37 years. In 2011, Alaister’s youngest son, Alex, joined Bamford. Finance and Economics trained with experience at Ernst & Young as a consultant, Alex is now the General Manager and leading the company into the future. 

Although now semi-retired, Alaister still maintains an active role in the company in his position as Governing Director. 

So, three generations later, the Bamford team has grown from 1 to 20 and the offices have moved 4 times to keep up. Still Wellington based, but with Auckland and Christchurch offices and warehousing, Bamford has transitioned from being a purely indent stockist to one of New Zealand’s most successful Medical Device Distributors and Medical Logistics Providers. 

Bamford – keeping it in the family with products that have supported the New Zealand Healthcare industry for over 65 years. 

Where we are going 

We will continue to identify, import and distribute medical products from companies around the world. We have our existing international network of suppliers and manufacturers from whom we can readily source products which will add value to the New Zealand healthcare market. Or, as needed, we will locate products from new suppliers to ensure our customers have access to product that best suits their needs. We aim to continue to expand on our own portfolio of manufactured products (soft packs, basic dressings, general consumables, etc.) This allows us to have direct control over the manufacturing process ensuring we make products that are specific to the New Zealand market and the end user. This also means we can manufacture products in smaller volumes and streamline the supply chain. Most importantly, this results in time and cost savings to the customer. 

We currently successfully partner with a number of international medical device companies to provide them with a direct presence into the New Zealand market through back office and customer service support, stock management and distribution. We aim to continue to grow this part of our business offering international companies a cost-effective entry point into the New Zealand healthcare market along with a local support team who understands New Zealand’s healthcare customers and logistical demands. 

Our Values/Vision

Purpose:

Making the supply of medical products easy to enable our customers to deliver better health outcomes

We do this by:
• Having smart and simple supply chain processes delivering continuous, dependable supply. 
• Supplying quality medical products at a fair price. 
• Developing/maintaining agile, astute, partnerships with our Customers, Suppliers and our People. 

Values

Take Pride - We are proud of our story and what we stand for.  We are excited about where we are going and stand behind our work and collective achievements. 

Be Agile - We are solutions focused and open to feedback and change.  We stay sharp, are driven, proactive and flexible. We rapidly adapt to provide innovative, smart and efficient solutions.

Provide the Personal Touch - We care about our people who in turn value our customers. We are committed to helping each other, earning lasting trust, and making a difference through every interaction.

Value Relationships - We have enduring partnerships by being respectful and genuine. We consider the needs of others and can be relied upon. We openly collaborate and work as a team to make us stronger.

Social Responsibility

We operate in the industry of medical consumables which can result in large amounts of waste for several reasons.  As a company we understand this and operate in a manner that helps to reduce the impact on the environment as much as possible. This includes ensuring our products and packaging contains as much recyclable material as possible.  Internally we use electric forklifts and reach trucks, have a recycling collection system for our waste and aim, through technology, to become a paperless office.  

Being a family owned and run company, our people are our greatest asset. We are therefore passionate about providing an environment of fairness and equitable treatment to all our people. We strive to create and foster a supportive and inclusive culture in which everyone can achieve success and be rewarded.  Examples of this include ensuring everyone is on or above the living wage, offering a peer nomination awards scheme and ensuring all staff are involved in a bonus scheme based on company performance. 

We are proud to support charities by donating stock or funds including Wellington Medical Research Foundation – Research for Life and Friends of Fiji.  We also make available to local organisations and charities short dated or expired stock which also forms part of our aim to limit waste. 

We are committed to providing a safe environment for our employees, suppliers and visitors at our offices and warehouses. We continuously work to identify and mitigate any potential risks in the work place, monitor incidents and comply with the New Zealand Health and Safety at Work Act.

The above are not only standards which we place upon ourselves, but they are also a key factor when selecting our international and local suppliers and service providers.