Boustead also has a geospatial technology arm which distributes Esri geographic information systems to major markets across Australia and South East Asia.

The trading company specialised in import and export, offering goods such as banca tin, spices, saps, rattan, medicinal herbs, silk and tea widely available in South East Asia in exchange for Western products like cloth, oil and machinery.

Boustead & Co played a leading role as promoter and investor in the tin smelting facility on Pulau Brani, constructed by the Straits Trading Company.

By the 1860s, Boustead & Co entered the shipping and insurance business, to capture trading opportunities arising from the opening of the Suez Canal.

The company's shipping division was the largest in Singapore, with 1,000 vessels in port which represented 60 owners and handled 500,000 tonnes per year.

Boustead built a reputation as one of the most sought-after managing agencies of the Far East, and distributed and marketed brands such as Baileys, Bacardi, Cadbury's, Del Monte, Dornbracht, Dow Consumer Products, Dupont Corian, Gillette, Hennessy, Hisamitsu Pharmaceutical, Jacobs Manufacturing, Jim Beam, Jockey, Johnnie Walker, Kao, Lloyd's, Maidenform, Martini & Rossi, Moet & Chandon, Nestle, Nissan, Ovaltine, Pedigree, Poggenpohl, Procter & Gamble, Sandvik, Shell, Slazenger, Smirnoff, Speedo, Suzuki, Thomas Cook, Trebor and Villeroy & Boch.

After the split, Boustead Singapore lost control of most of the assets and properties, which by default went to Malaysia due to their geographical presence.

The nature of the company's businesses in Singapore also began to change, with activities focused mainly on manufacturing and technical services.

In 1996, Wong Fong Fui bought over Boustead Singapore, with the company centering its core operations on infrastructure-related engineering services and geo-spatial technology.

Boustead & Co had a successful investment business in commodities, ships and properties, bringing new companies to the London Stock Exchange and private investors.

One of these retirees was Captain Thomas Douglas Scott[6] who was master mariner of Laju,[7] the largest and fastest sailing ship on the China Seas in the late 1800s.

Boustead's business divisions by category: Energy engineering Real estate Geospatial Healthcare Boustead International Heaters designs, engineers and supplies process heater systems, waste heat recovery units, heat recovery steam generators and once through steam generators to the downstream oil & gas industries.