EVENTS IN FOCUS
After following his girlfriend to Australia
in the mid 1990s, our current Victorian HRIA
President and Director of Cool Breeze Rentals,
Jeff Bernard found his way into the hire industry
almost by accident; creating his own start up
business opportunity when the chance arose. We
find out how it all began.
What has been happening at Cool Breeze Rentals?
On 6 September, 2012 one of our main
competitors, a national company with
branches in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane,
Perth, Adelaide and Townsville, went into
voluntary administration (VA). We had
been set on having a conservative year;
cutting back on capital expenditure and
paying down debt. This all changed with
the competition’s demise and the possibility
of the Australian temporary portable air
conditioning, heating and ventilation
market being flooded with thousands of
pieces of equipment as a result.
CBR has always wanted to open up
branches in Perth and Adelaide and now
with one of our main competitors leaving
the market we realised this was the time.
Our initial plan was to open in Adelaide
first because we had enough equipment
to adequately stock the Adelaide branch,
so we hired the key ex-employees of the
competitor company, leased a new factory
and got Adelaide up and running in early
October.
During this period we had submitted
our interest in purchasing the majority of
assets of the VA company. While there were
at least nine initial companies or groups
who had submitted an interest, CBR were
finally successful and ended up purchasing a
majority of the hire equipment, intellectual
property, contents of the Perth factory
including furniture, vehicles, computers, etc,
and leased the existing factory, to get a CBR
Perth Branch up and running.
What are the implications for Cool Breeze?
CBR now has a national footprint and is
able to service our national clients, mostly
mechanical service and facility management
companies. These companies mostly utilise
our portable air conditioning units under
10
kW, which are commonly used for
breakdowns in computer rooms, telephone
exchanges, banks, office buildings, etc.
Where is your business focus?
Over the past few years our focus has
been on events. This summer we completed
the President’s Cup at the Royal Melbourne,
followed by our work for Channel 7 at
the Australian Open and the Formula One
Grand Prix in Melbourne. This season we
completed our first year with the Victorian
Racing Club for the Melbourne Cup Spring
Carnival. The event side of our business
has grown significantly over the past five
years and we are doing quite a few of the
major as well as smaller events along the
east coast. We are now dedicating more
resources to the mechanical services and
facilities management part of the business,
with increasing demand and recent surge
in stock of portable air conditioning units
under 10kW.
How long have you been in the industry?
I started CBR in 2001, presenting a
business plan to the partners at Moorland
who became 50/50 partners. We purchased
a modest amount fo refrigerative and
evaporative coolers along with some
pedestal fans and commenced trading
out the back of Moorland Hire. We
remained at Moorland Hire for under a
year and then moved into a small factory in
Dandenong. CBR continued to grow over
the next couple of years with a milestone
winning the Formula One Grand Prix air
conditioning contract in 2005 which we
continue to service.
Another milestone was buying out our
partners at Moorland Hire when Boom
Sherrin bought Moreland Hire in 2007. We
received great support from our banker and
were successful in 100% ownership. CBR is
now coming into its 12th summer season.
How did you get into the industry?
I came to Australia in 1996 after a seven
year career working for tour companies
in the States. I grew up in California and
attended University in Utah on a football
scholarship (real football) and got my first
job working for College Tours in Phoenix
Arizona. My last job before coming to
Australia was at Contiki Holidays as a
Tour Manager where I met my wife. After
chasing my new Contiki friend to the
other side of the Pacific, I began as a driver
storeman for Applied Climate Control,
working my way up to Victoria State
Manager over five years before starting
Cool Breeze Rentals in 2001.
For more information visit website:
www.coolbreeze.net.au
HR
Coolly facing the future
16
| HIRE
AND
RENTAL
NEWS
| FEBRUARY 2013