IN FOCUS / EMPIRE CRANES
RISE OF AN EMPIRE In a crane yard, not so far away and not too long ago, two mates agreed on a philosophy to create a dry hire equipment company with a difference. They identified a niche for a business providing cranes to end users on large projects and supporting the largest crane companies on their Tier 1 mega projects. Thus, Empire Cranes was born.
Empire Cranes has cranes working on tunnel projects in Melbourne and Sydney and remote transmission lines projects. 46 / CAL January 2022
EMPIRE CRANES WAS FOUNDED BY Jarrod Belsey and Jared McDonald in 2019. They met a couple of years prior, working at a construction hire business, McDonald as the national crane operations manager and Belsey in capital sales. “Starting our own business was something both of us always wanted to do, we started hanging out at lunch together and discussing it more and more each day. We just decided one day, why not? Let’s give this a crack!” said Belsey. “I have spent most of my working life in the construction hire industry, nearly 20 years! Starting out at a local Coates Hire Branch in Campbellfield. From there I have worked all over Australia in national sales roles, building relationships with people all over the country.’’ McDonald’s passion for cranes and running his own crane business began at an early age through a family-run cranes and rigging business. “When I left school, I started working in mid to large infrastructure projects as a rigger, before moving into supervision and construction management for the bulk of my career,” he said. www.cranesandlifting.com.au
