Kennards Hire CEO Allen Besseling is leaving the company after more than two decades of service to start his own business venture.
With 25 years in the hire industry, including 20 years at Kennards Hire, the last three as CEO, Allen Besseling has absorbed a lot of knowledge about running a business and achieving innovative success.
At Kennards Hire, Allen worked his way up from a Serviceman-Driver to 2IC, through Branch Manager to Area Manager and then State Operations Manager for NSW, ACT and QLD. From there he proposed a partnership with Kennards Hire in the Lift & Shift business venture, which proved to be a runaway success for both parties.
Allen played a major role in Kennards Hire’s business expansion with Kennards Hire Lift & Shift quickly establishing itself as the company’s most successful specialist business division. In 2011 when Kennards Hire was restructured, he was appointed Specialist Business CEO and helped develop both the Pump & Power and Traffic divisions.
Allen Besseling was appointed CEO in 2012 signalling a watershed moment for Kennards Hire’s growth. Some of the performance highlights of the past three years include a 160+ branch milestone, an expansion of the branch network into New Zealand, revitalisation of the Kennards Hire internal culture and safety ethos, launch of a Rail division, and record results expected for this financial year.
Announcing Allen’s departure from the company, former CEO and current Chairman of the Kennards Hire Board, Peter Lancken acknowledged Allen’s contributions as CEO, having led and developed a great team, in addition to refining, elevating and clearly enunciating family-oriented culture at the organisation. Mr Lancken added that the company wished him well in his new endeavours and looked forward to celebrating the many achievements that lay ahead for him.
Liz Ward will take over as CEO on June 17 and will work with Allen to ensure a smooth transition for the Kennards Hire business. Her successful tenures at Sydney Trains, AUX Investments (the Qantas/Australia Post JV business), Centre Port Wellington (NZ) and Deep Cove Fisheries (NZ) convinced the Kennards Hire board that she could lead from the front.
Commenting on the appointment, Peter Lancken observes that Liz is an excellent fit for the Kennards Hire culture, and is confident her background and talent with people are assets that will help to strengthen the company’s market leadership position. He also looks forward to working with her on the next stage of the Kennards Hire journey.
