b'KENNARDS HIRE Since 1948TAKING HIRE HIGHER | 20ANDREW KENNARDAndrew Harold Kennard, the youngest of Walter and Theos three children and their second son, was born on 18 December 1942. He went to boarding school at All Saints College Bathurst (where his cheekiness occasionally earned him six of the best) and then went on to Shore School in North Sydney. Later he began a degree in economics, but quickly decided it wasnt for him, saying he remembers the storylines of his black and white TVs midday movies better than anything he heard in lectures. After a year of academia, Andy and the university were ready to part ways so he could find a job. He worked in his familys business for twelve months, servicing mixers and installing roof racks, then moved on to a job with Qantas as a booking clerk. The job was far from thrilling, but he thought it would be a good opportunity to meet pretty ladies in the city. The ladies mustnt have been quite his cup of tea because he quit after only one year. When he was around twenty years old, Andy headed overseas to mature a bit. He admits he was naive, having led a sheltered life until then, so the trip was a way of proving that he could manage on his own. He took a ship to Greece and then travelled overland to London to pick apples and hops for seven months, before hitchhiking from Spain to Oslo to celebrate Christmas and his twenty-first birthday with Norwegian relatives. So I just travelled and bummed aroundI literally didnt achieve anything of any importance when I was in Europe, he reminiscesAbove Neville (left) and Andy, frankly. It was during this period of aimlessness that he received1966. | Right An early Kennards Hire theletter from his brother asking him to return home and helpadvertisement, 1969.withthe family business.Andy fostered a culture of innovation at Kennards Hire that has continued to this day, with teams being sent overseas to learn and, as Andy proudly calls it, plagiarise the best ideas.'