Born in Hamilton in 1936 and educated at Auckland Grammar School, Street studied accounting at Auckland University. After some years as an audit clerk, Street joined his father Sydney’s business, Fosters Chandlery, in 1959. Until then, Foster’s core business had been supplying machinery for steam engines; however, the company began shifting its focus towards providing fittings for the vast number of amateur-built pleasure boats. In the early 1970s, yachtsmen began seeking more sophisticated fittings, and Fosters obtained the Harken agency in 1975, which became a mainstay of their business.
Street was a passionate and powerful voice against the infamous 1979 Boat Tax and was one of the few to stand up to its architect,
