Kennards Hire is an Australian equipment hire company.

History

In 1948 Walter Kennard founded W Kennard Agencies in Bathurst selling equipment and machinery and becoming an agent for

Caltex Caltex is a petroleum brand name of Chevron Corporation used in the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East, and Southern Africa. It is also the brand name of non-Chevron petroleum companies in some countries (such as New Zealand, and previously ...

Hillman Hillman was a British automobile marque created by the Hillman-Coatalen Company, founded in 1907, renamed the Hillman Motor Car Company in 1910. The company was based in Ryton-on-Dunsmore, near Coventry, England. Before 1907 the company had b ...

Humber The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers Ouse and Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between th ...

and Lightburn, In 1951 the Kennard family moved to

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

with W Kennard Agencies operating out of the garage of the family home in

Mosman Mosman is a suburb on the Lower North Shore region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mosman is located 8 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local governm ...

.Kennards Hire 75
Kennards Hire Having diversified into the manufacture of

roof rack A roof rack is a set of bars secured to the roof of a motor car. It is used to carry bulky items such as luggage, bicycles, canoes, kayaks, skis, or various carriers and containers. They allow users of an automobile to transport objects on the ...

s, in 1954 the business was rebranded as W Kennard Industries with operations relocated to Dickson Avenue,

Artarmon Artarmon is a suburb on the lower North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, 9 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Willoughby. History ...

, then in 1960 to the Pacific Highway,

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

. In 1967 a second branch opened on Victoria Road,

Rydalmere Rydalmere ''(formerly "Field of Mars")'' is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Rydalmere is approximately 21 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Parrama ...

followed in 1969 by a third on Botany Road,

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

. In 1972 the Greenwich branch was relocated to Herbert Street, Artarmon. In 1973, Kennards diversified into the

self storage Self storage (a shorthand for "self-service storage," and also known as "device storage") is an industry that rents storage space (such as rooms, lockers, containers, and/or outdoor space), also known as "storage units," to tenants, usually on ...

sector with six self store garages built at the rear of the

Moorebank Moorebank is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Moorebank is located 27 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Liverpool. Moorebank features a mix ...

hire store. Initially branded as Kennards Mini Storage it was renamed Easi-Stor in 1979. By 1990 Kennards had 14 branches in Sydney,

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

and

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

. In 1991, Andy and Neville Kennard who had taken over the business from their father, decided to split the business, with Andy retaining the hire equipment business and Neville taking the self storage business. In 1992, Kennards Hire purchased eight stores from

GKN GKN Ltd is a British multinational automotive and aerospace components business headquartered in Redditch, England. It is a long-running business known for many decades as Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds. It can trace its origins back to 1759 an ...

. In 1994 it purchased the remaining 10 GKN stores taking its total to 32. Through a series of acquisitions and greenfield developments by 2000 Kennards Hire had a presence in all mainland states. In 2012, Kennards Hire entered the New Zealand market with the purchase of McEntee Hire. As at 2021, there were 146 branches, 125 in Australia and 21 in New Zealand.

Sponsorships

Since 2017, Kennards Hire has been the

naming rights Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization whereby a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event, typically for a defined period of t ...

sponsor of

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was fo ...

.Sydney FC and Kennards Hire Agree Partnership

13 July 2017

References

{{Reflist Companies based in Sydney Construction equipment rental companies 1948 establishments in Australia