About
HYDRAULIC COUPLINGS, BALLVALVES & CHECK VALVES IN CARBON AND STAINLESS STEEL
Holmbury Limited. Tower House, Vale Rise. Tonbridge. Kent TN9 1TB Tel: +44 (0)1732 378912 Fax:+44 (0)1732 357666
The Holmbury Success Story:
David French, the founder of the Holmbury Group, marketed the first user friendly flat-faced coupling in 1982.
Initially only two sizes were released, 3/8 & ½ to conform to the American HTMA standard.
The flat-faced couplings were unique in that they totally stopped the ingress of dirt and air from getting into
the hydraulic system and were also 100% leak free upon disconnection.
Major construction machine OEM’s soon realised the benefits of the new couplings over the existing
agricultural type couplings that were the norm and came to Holmbury for all of their coupling
requirements.
Over the next few years Holmbury introduced many more sizes of flat-faced
couplings to accommodate customers requirements. Various thread forms
were also introduced to include BSP/BSPT/SAE/JIC/NPT and many mounting
options followed as more users across the globe became more
demanding in what was available.
Other coupling manufacturers brought there own versions of flat-faced couplings to
the market and the International Standards Organisation called a meeting of the
manufacturers in 1999 to create the ISO 16028 standard to ensure
interchangeability and test specifications. Holmbury were selling more of
this type of coupling globally than any other manufacturer and therefore
the standard followed the Holmbury pattern. The ISO 16028 standard was
amended in 2006 to show that the impulse cycles to test the design had to
endure 1,000,000 cycles as opposed to the 100,000 cycles previously
required.
Holmbury’s couplings comply with this amendment.
To serve an ever more demanding customer base, Holmbury expanded the range of all types of couplings
and also designed and made specialised valves to customer requirements. Standard ball/check and diverter
valves were added and also a comprehensive range of AISI 316 couplings and valves for process control,
offshore, nuclear and pharmaceutical use completed the ranges.
Although Holmbury had been dealing with customers around the globe for many years through distribution
company’s and directly, in September 2003 Holmbury opened Holmbury Inc. in the USA. This stand alone
subsidiary has grown tremendously and is an important part of the Holmbury group of companies. Holmbury
Inc. serves the North American, Latin American and Canadian markets.
David French remains as the Chairmen of the Holmbury group and is still actively involved in the operations
and decision making processes.
