New South Wales, Australia-based Ranger Lifting won the Lifting Equipment Engineers Association (LEEA) Customer Service Award, presented during last week’s LiftEx trade show in Milton Keynes, UK.

The prize was claimed by Ashley Thacker, general manager at Ranger, who was present during the inaugural awards dinner, held after the opening day of LEEA’s annual flagship event. He collected the weighty silverware from Dr. Ross Moloney, CEO of the association, and celebrity guest speaker Matt Dawson, a retired England rugby union player and now a familiar face on UK television.
Ranger was among a number of victors on the night, as LEEA revealed the winners from previously announced shortlists. In what can be viewed as a double success, Ranger also made the final three of the Kevin Holmes Award, developed to reward companies, teams, and individuals who display excellence in people development. The accolade is named after the late Kevin Holmes, himself an advocate of learning and development, and stalwart of the industry.
Thacker said: “To be shortlisted for two of the most coveted prizes up for grabs and to actually win one was a true honour. We were alongside some of the biggest names in the global lifting equipment business, which was humbling in itself, but to earn the judge’s recognition for customer service demonstrates that we are setting world-class standards.”
Entries were closely scrutinised by LEEA’s panel of judges. Thacker said: “When we were invited to submit supporting information, we were careful to focus on real customer service success stories and recent case studies that showcased the extent of our commitment to clients.”
He added: “Our business is underscored by a Service Through Knowledge mantra. As the principal source of that education is LEEA, it’s really the association we should credit for allowing us to provide such globally recognised, knowledge-based customer service.”
And concluded: “We became Australia’s first full member of LEEA in 2011. It’s extremely important that the industry has a third party to deliver the same training content all over the world, tailored to each geography’s standards. We advise industry not to use anyone to inspect their equipment that has not been trained to the highest standards by LEEA. The association makes sure personnel and their employers are properly qualified to carry out their lifting equipment-related work.