Angelique Boileau turns Hungarian refugee childhood into business and philanthropic success in Adelaide
Angelique Boileau and (inset) the landmark offices of Boileau Business Technology on the Sir Donald Bradman Drive-Marion Road corner at Cowandilla.
Images courtesy thenewcomerblog.net
Angelique Boileau turned a scary escape from her native Hungary into becoming a successful member of the South Australian business and philanthropic communities.
After World War II, Boileau's father decided it was best for the family to leave Soviet-occupied Hungary. He and an uncle successfully made the risky journey to Austria but the guide he sent to collect the family was caught. Boileau’s mother found another guide but he doublecrossed her and she was sent to jail for two years and her father’s butcher shops were taken by the government.
Boileau, and later her mother, spent years with an aunt in a village 300 kilometres from their Budapest home. Her father sent them parcels of used clothing, Cadbury’s chocolates and nylon stockings, hidden in the hems of the clothes so the government wouldn’t confiscate them. Boileau’s job, at seven, was to sell those items, with persistence, to villagers.
During the 1956 student uprising, the family finally escaped Hungary. They arrived in Adelaide in 1960, 11 years after the father, who greeted them at the city railway station.
Boileau’s first job as an airline hostess took her to Melbourne where she married and had two children, After that first marriage ended when her children were young, Boileau started her adult sales career – with photocopiers. That’s how she met her second husband Michael, a photocopier engineer.
After 13 years as the top salesperson at the photocopier company, Boileau resigned but was overwhelmed by offers from competing companies. One of those, Xerox, offered Boileau and her husband its Adelaide dealership. In 1989, Boileau Business Technology was born in Adelaide. The business flourished after early financial risks but never going into overdraft.
The first Boileau move into philanthropy was sponsorship with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. This came from a dinner at the Adelaide Zoo rotunda when they were impressed by the passion of orchestra musician Geoffrey Collins seated at their table. Since then, they supported many charities and community groups including the Service to Youth Council, Hutt Street centre, Little Heroes Foundation and Zoos SA.
In 2021, Boileau Business Technology continued to evolve with a new digital signage division. The company planned to roll out LED screen technology, known as Fujivision, as exclusive distributor in South Australia. Fuji Xerox Australia changed to Fujifilm Business Innovation Australia after the end of the technology agreement between the technology giants.
The restructure also signalled a move from Fuji Xerox’s traditional printer and document solutions business into cloud, artificial intelligence and the internet of things – a trend Boileau had been following in recent years.