12 | HIRE
AND
RENTAL
NEWS
| NOVEMBER 2013
INDUSTRY IN FOCUS
Q: How long have you been in the
hire industry?
A:
I have been in the hire industry
for 42 years. The first 10 years
working for a local hire company
and 32 years with my wife Heather
and I on our own.
In November 1981 the company I
worked for, Geelong Hiring Service,
was sold to Wreckair and after
three weeks I had a meeting with
the manager over an issue I wasn’t
happy with. During the conversation
he told me the only reason they
bought the company was because
they wanted their big customers. I
was surprised at the comments since
80% of their customers were small
contractors. I went home that night and
told Heather about my issue and what
he had said and she said to me: “What
are you going to do about it.” It took me
about 30 seconds and I said to Heather
I’d like to have a go at starting our own
hire business. It was 1981-82 and the
country was in a recession at that time
so it probably wasn’t a good time to do
something like that, but I was sure I could
make a go of it.
I went through a process in the next few
weeks selecting the most popular type of
equipment we would need and getting
prices to see what start up would cost.
I had no money; a mortgage on the
house and payments owing on the family
car. I borrowed $15,000 from my parents
and tried to get a loan of $30,000 from the
bank. Not the sort of problem to have in
poor economic times but I was so confident
I would succeed I was determined to go
ahead and I got my loan from the bank on
Christmas Eve 1981.
Q: How was the hire industry when you
started?
A:
When we started I had a goal to achieve
half the turnover of my old employer
within 10 years. We did it in six. We poured
every bit of profit back into the business,
purchasing equipment to satisfy demand,
mostly to the small customer base.
By 1988 we purchased land just down
the road and built our current main hire
yard. In 10 years we succeeded in not only
winning over the small customers from
our opposition but most of the larger ones
as well. And within eight years we were
doing more business than the competition.
Giving it your all and loving it
Q: What’s your secret recipe for success?
A:
It isn’t about discounting our
opposition. It is about good old fashioned
service. That’s what they appreciated about
us then and it’s still happening today. I only
have one price list for all of my customers.
Most importantly our main focus is to do
what we do well and don’t worry about
our opposition, believe me it works. I have
to say having 10 years experience working
in the hire industry prior to starting our
own business was the major contributing
factor to our success.
Q: What do you think it takes to succeed
in hire today? Is there still room for the
independent operator?
A:
I would hate to be in a position in
today’s environment starting out in hire if
you had no experience. One of the hardest
is trying to find staff who understand the
industry.
Poaching from other hire companies
seems to happen quite a lot in the
capital cities but is certainly rarer in
smaller regions. Now you spend tens
of thousands of dollars training staff,
following government, OHS regulations,
unionised sites, workplace safety rules and
regulations, security issues both property
and equipment and high insurance costs
and so on. Certainly not as easy as when
we first started 32 years ago.
Those small companies that have had
family come through the business ranks,
are now being strongly influenced by the
next generation and they are staying on
longer with a new lease on life to help
with the transition. I have always said the
big boys can’t and never will have it all
because that’s the way people are in
this industry; once they’re in, they’re
hooked. As you see by our annual
industry conventions – we’re like one
big family, all willing to help each
other.
Q: Why should anyone enter the
Hire Industry Excellence Awards?
A:
When Phil Newby, Peter Lancken
and I initiated the concept many
years ago our idea was to use the
awards as a means of improving the
standard of the industry.
We believed those who were keen
to be involved and proud of their
hire yards would jump at the chance
to get recognition for their efforts
and it would grow from there. We were
lucky when we appointed judges, Tony
Dormer and Ross Hogan who have been
the catalyst for the rising status of the
awards.
The reason to enter is, I will speak for
myself here and I don’t think I would be
too far off the mark for everybody else;
Heather and I have spent most of our
hire life building a business we are both
very proud of and there is no greater
satisfaction than to be recognised by those
in your industry.
We have always believed we had the
best yard in Australia, not that it was,
but that was our belief and awards
like these give you an opportunity to
compare yourself with your fellow industry
members. The most important part is the
advice you receive from Tony and Ross on
the good things you have done and where
you can improve and that’s why we think
we won on our second entry attempt.
Q: What did you take away from the
experience?
A:
Last year we won the Victorian Hire
company of the year and the Victorian
committee decided from then on every
company that won the award would be
able to hold a general meeting at their
yard the following year.
We had it on the 13th of August and
had around 80 people there. It was a real
buzz showing people around the yard and
getting great compliments from them.
Hopefully they can take in what they saw
and implement things from what they
saw to benefit them. And that’s what the
awards are all about!
HR
The winner of the 2013 Rental Co of the Year Kerr’s Hire’s owner and Manager, Gary Kerr takes a moment out of the day-to-day
running of a busy Victorian based hire business (or two) to give us some inside intel on what it takes to succeed in the hire industry
today.
Gary Kerr (left) with son Jarrod (centre) and HRIA SA President,
Mark Burns at the 2013 Hire Industry Excellence Awards
