A wealth of experience out West

Business owners in the greater Perth area in need of assistance with hydraulic hose repairs and related services, will be hard-pressed to find a more knowledgeable operator than 1800 HOSE VAN’s John MacAngus.

As well as being a qualified mechanic, John spent 15 years working on oil and gas rigs where he specialised in high pressure hoses and water jetting along with decommissioning of drilling machinery.

After growing weary of the extended time away from home that this career entailed, John began looking for opportunities where he could put his impressive skill sets to work, while becoming his own boss.

“Working in the oil and gas industry I could be away from home anywhere from three to six months of the year – I was looking for a change and also liked the idea of having more control and flexibility in my working life,” he said.

First John set-up a mechanical workshop where he began building-up a client base servicing and repairing ride-on mowers, tractors and other agricultural equipment, and in June 2016 he added to his range of services by becoming a 1800 HOSE VAN licensed business operator.

“Given my background and the sorts of customers I was dealing with on the mechanical side of the business, it made perfect sense to become involved with 1800 HOSE VAN,” John said.

“It was a straight forward process to become part of the 1800 HOSE VAN team, and aside from purchasing the van itself, there weren’t many other expenses in starting up especially for myself who had a lot of tools already.”

Running his workshop from Bedfordale about 30 minutes’ drive south of Perth, John is servicing a growing array of clients within a two hour radius of this home base.

“I’m building up my customers and working with clients in agriculture, construction and the mining industries,” John said.

“A lot of the work is coming through word-of-mouth referrals as well as getting some enquiries via the 1800 HOSE VAN website.”

Along with customers reaping the benefits of his industry knowledge and many years’ experience working with hydraulics, they also receive extremely high levels of service from John.

“I pride myself of delivering exceptional service,” he said.

“I’ve heard stories that some other providers expect the damaged or faulty hose to be removed by the time they arrive. They essentially turn-up, make the new hose and leave it with the customer to do the installation themselves.

“I do all of the work, I can diagnose, remove the culprit part, make a new one and refit – I’ll even replace seals and cylinders if need be, it’s all part of the service.”

Having now worked as a 1800 HOSE VAN licensed operator for over 12 months, John said he’s enjoying the role and would recommend it to others looking for a change.

“I’m enjoying the flexibility the job provides and dealing with a wide cross section of customers,” he said.

“I also absolutely enjoy being my own boss and if you work hard there are rewards to be had."