Well Equipped for the Role

The CEO of an equipment hire business started by his father learnt at a young age the importance of a strong work ethic.

- Alan Deans

Kids born into families with established businesses sometimes get hooked. Angus Kennard packaged nails and measured rope at home after school for his dad’s firm to sell with the equipment it hired out to builders, tradies and doit-yourselfers. “We liked to think of it as child labour but my dad thought of it more as an apprenticeship. We even used to package up explosive charges but you wouldn’t be able to do that these days. Learning a work ethic from a young age and working in and around the business was part of life.”

Since late 2016 Angus has been CEO of Kennards Hire. He is the third generation to take charge, although he is not on his own. Sister Kirsty sits on the board. So does his brother Rory, an industrial designer and collaborator on innovative high-tech equipment that the pair are developing. The youngest sibling, Cameron, runs the property arm, which has 165 stores, mostly owned by the family, in Australia and New Zealand.

Then there’s the new breed. “We have 14 of the next generation, ranging from 16 to two,” says Angus. “Whether any or some of them choose to work in the business, it will be their choice. We don’t want to put pressure on. It’s about pursuing people’s dreams. The most important thing is, for happiness, you pursue the thing you want to and then do the best you can. Hopefully there will be some interested in the hire business. At the moment I would say there are three or four, even though they are young.”