The Board of Directors of Tidd Ross Todd Limited and TRT (Aust) Pty Ltd have announced the appointment of current board member and independent director, Bruce Nixon to the position of TRT board chairperson.
Effective from 1 March 2022, the appointment was made due to the planned succession and retirement of the current chairperson Jerry Rickman. Rickman served as chairperson for more than 27 years.
“TRT has reached several key milestones in recent years. With TRT’s founder, Dave Carden (91), retiring from the board and the new business focus initiated by the Made Possible brand refresh, both in 2021, the time was right to progress this plan,” said Rickman.
“It’s been a pleasure working with the Carden family over many years, particularly with Dave Carden who is a rare mix of entrepreneur, brilliant engineer, and successful businessman. Dave has always recognised the importance of his team by putting people ahead of profits,” he said.
Nixon was appointed as an independent director to the TRT board in 2018, bringing with him a wealth of business and governance experience. In addition to his involvement with TRT, he also serves as an executive director of the Power Farming Group and as an independent director of Spectrum Dairies and Connell Contractors.
“Jerry has made a significant contribution in his long tenure to lead TRT to be in the strong position it is in today. I look forward to the opportunity to help guide TRT into its next phase of growth alongside directors Bruce and Robert Carden, and chief operations officer Lawrence Baker,” said Nixon.
TRT will look to appoint a new independent director in the coming months to replace the role vacated by Nixon.
New management
The company has also announced changes within its management structure designed to streamline customer support and to strengthen their ability to out serve customers in New Zealand and Australia.
TRT’s new roles are general manager (GM) of sales parts and service; national crane sales manager; and GM of sales for capital whole goods.
Gavin Halley, GM of sales parts and service, will be responsible for managing mechanical service, parts, and now crane service and parts. This aligns all parts and service functions cooperatively. These three teams already share many of the same objectives and work together closely on a day-to-day basis.
Gavin Halley
Dean Mcllroy has been appointed the role of national crane sales manager. Mcllroy will be responsible for leading TRT’s crane sales in New Zealand, now including Hiab equipment. Mcllroy’s appointment will connect all Hiab requirements together including the supply of the units, fabrication, and delivery of ongoing parts for their growing network of Hiab customers.
This role will be supported closely by the appointment of Hillary Naish in the new role, GM of sales for capital whole goods. Naish will have leading responsibility for the front-line focus on capital whole good sales. This includes TRT’s full range of cranes and other OEM manufactured products, including heavy haulage trailers, ESS platform trailers, crane trailers, and the TIDD Pick and Carry Crane.
TRT director, Bruce Carden, confirms: “We want a clear, cohesive, aligned customer-centric structure to provide better support for our growing customer base and a greater level of focus to out serve our customers, and this is what we have put in place.”
