Equipment hire company, Kennards Hire has expanded into the Northern Territory with the acquisition of Top End Hire.
Following the acquisition of the business, Kennards Hire has become a fully national operator with a network of 121 equipment hire shops now extending into every state and territory in Australia.
Top End Hire has four branches in Darwin and Alice Springs. The changeover of the acquired branches at Palmerston, Winnellie, Coolalinga and Alice Springs took place on August 2.
Kennards CEO John Tolmie commented that the Northern Territory was the ‘missing link’ in the company’s branch network. He adds that Kennards intends to deliver the equipment and service expected by Top End Hire customers.
Kennards Hire would continue to meet the needs of a wide range of hirers from major construction and mining companies and local government bodies to smaller contractors, factories, retailers and home renovators. A range of new equipment would also be introduced to supplement operations in the Northern Territory.
According to Kennards director Angus Kennard, the biggest achievement over the last 63 years of operation has been that the company remains a family-owned business, totally committed to quality in every way.
Darren Gilpin and Duncan McKinstray, who started Top End Hire in 1995 and built it into a major general equipment hire business in the Territory, said several companies were keen to buy them out, but Kennards was always their preference because they liked the fact that Kennards was Australian and family-owned besides sharing similar business and customer philosophies.
