Ranger Lifting to Open Melbourne Facility

New South Wales-headquartered Ranger Lifting will open a new facility in Melbourne, Victoria this month (January) to meet on-going demand for its products and services.

The lifting and rigging equipment supplier will open the new site on the 18th of the month in Kensington, strategically located a few miles northwest of the central business district. Industry veteran Ian Jongen has joined the company in the role of state manager Victoria and will head-up the new operation.

Ashley Thacker, general manager at Ranger, said, “We have been steadily raising our profile in the Melbourne area for a period of time, but we could only place a footprint in the city once we had a figurehead of the right pedigree to execute our growth strategy. Ian is a lifting gear expert and brings to the position 30 years of relevant experience; we are keen to leverage that knowledge and contact base to become a go-to source for Melbourne’s existing and upcoming development projects.”

The Kensington facility will be stocked with AUS$250k-worth of products and house a 350t capacity press, test-bed and mobile test truck. The building, which Ranger has leased, is only two years old and is well suited to the manufacture and storage of the company’s range of slings, shackles, other below-the-hook equipment, and height safety solutions. It is anticipated that the site will also generate demand for custom products.

Jongen said, “I am excited by Ranger’s growth plans, particularly in Melbourne and the state of Victoria, and readily accept the challenge to expand a subsidiary that replicates what the company has achieved further up the east coast. There are remarkable synergies between Melbourne and Sydney, so we can approach the task with a tried and tested business plan, backed by an existing reputation for delivery of world-class product and expertise.”

Expansion into Melbourne chimes with National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA)-accredited Ranger’s development closer to home, where it is planning to move to a new warehouse three times the size of its existing location. It is also constantly evolving a fleet of distinctive vehicles and mobile testing trucks that remain the heartbeat of the business.

Thacker said: “We make no secret of our ambitions to become the country’s biggest force within the lifting marketplace. However, we understand that to achieve that we must expand steadily and astutely, only when personnel and market conditions allow us to implement growth plans. With Ian’s stature combining with the booming construction market, we are confident this significant step is the right one. Existing and prospective customers should expect us to expand further in the short- to mid-term future.”