It's All About Diversity For Me

CEO PAUL THOMPSON WAS DRAWN TO ALLIGHTSYKES BECAUSE OF ITS INTERNATIONAL SPREAD, AND DIVERSITY OF BUSINESS.

- Oliver Featherston

With this century’s mining boom, the Australian economy enjoyed an unprecedented level of growth. Some commentators even credited it with not only mitigating but also overriding the effects of the GFC in Australia. All good things must come to an end however, and when the industry started to decline a great many businesses were at risk.

One such business was AllightSykes, a supplier of industrial equipment – pumps, lighting towers, generators and Perkins diesel engines – for several sectors, including mining and construction. But as part of the operating and investment conglomerate Seven Group Holdings, it had the support of a powerful parent company. AllightSykes CEO Paul Thompson credits Seven Group with helping the supplier through that post-mining boom, and the board and shareholders for setting a clear trajectory for success.

Paul has good cause to be appreciative of the Seven Group family; he’s worked across the company in several capacities, including WesTrac, and has had nothing but good experiences working with Seven Group head Ryan Stokes. When the position of CEO came up at AllightSykes, Paul had no hesitation about stepping in.

“It was a case of getting back into an organisation that I knew I enjoyed working with,” he says. “I’m working with equipment for both mining and civil infrastructure. It’s all about diversity for me. AllightSykes is a well-recognised organisation. We work with some fantastic brands – OEM brands like Perkins and FG Wilson, and the AllightSykes brand itself, as well as my colleagues at Coates Hire and WesTrac.”