Doug Austin Divex Asia Pacific

After lengthy discussions with the principle shareholder of Divex Ltd in the UK, Doug Austin persuaded him to invest in a partnership to develop a smaller, lightweight version of the Divex deep diving system for the Asia Pacific region. Fighting the UK’s preference to base the new company in Singapore, Doug convinced his investors that the expertise, real estate, subcontract skills and marine experience in Western Australia would be the best location for the new venture. In 2003, Divex Asia Pacific was born. The company became the first in the world to design and build truly portable, modular systems, which can be transferred from one mother ship to another, and yet still achieve the high demands of Classification by Lloyds Register of Shipping – a standard only previously attained by heavy, built-in systems. With the oil industry boom taking off, Divex Asia Pacific was perfectly positioned to take advantage of the increase in demand for deep diving systems and, over three years, won seven multi-million dollar projects. Meanwhile, in the military sector, Divex produced highly efficient diving rebreathers that allow divers to remain underwater longer, increase their safety, and enable them to work safely in minefields with totally silent and non-magnetic diving systems. As a result, the company developed a strong reputation in both the commercial and military markets in Australia and the region. By the end of 2008, Divex had a multi-million dollar turnover, having achieved consistent sales and profit growth of over 30% over each of its first five years. Over the next five years, Doug intends to expand into the US and Europe. Recognising that the market for new diving systems is finite, he also plans to structure the business with a focus on product support – helping customers to maximise their investment in Divex equipment.